If The Villagers Therefore Find A Man Waiving This
Right To Oppress Them, And Offering Coin For That Which He
Is
entitled to take without payment, they suppose at once that he is
actuated by fear (fear of THEM, poor
Fellows!), and it is so
delightful to them to act upon this flattering assumption, that
they will forego the advantage of a good price for their provisions
rather than the rare luxury of refusing for once in their lives to
part with their own possessions.
The practice of intimidation thus rendered necessary is utterly
hateful to an Englishman. He finds himself forced to conquer his
daily bread by the pompous threats of the dragoman, his very
subsistence, as well as his dignity and personal safety, being made
to depend upon his servant's assuming a tone of authority which
does not at all belong to him. Besides, he can scarcely fail to
see that as he passes through the country he becomes the innocent
cause of much extra injustice, many supernumerary wrongs. This he
feels to be especially the case when he travels with relays. To be
the owner of a horse or a mule within reach of an Asiatic
potentate, is to lead the life of the hare and the rabbit, hunted
down and ferreted out. Too often it happens that the works of the
field are stopped in the daytime, that the inmates of the cottage
are roused from their midnight sleep, by the sudden coming of a
Government officer, and the poor husbandman, driven by threats and
rewarded by curses, if he would not lose sight for ever of his
captured beasts, must quit all and follow them. This is done that
the Englishman may travel. He would make his way more harmless if
he could, but horses or mules he MUST have, and these are his ways
and means.
The town of Nablus is beautiful; it lies in a valley hemmed in with
olive groves, and its buildings are interspersed with frequent
palm-trees. It is said to occupy the site of the ancient Sychem.
I know not whether it was there indeed that the father of the Jews
was accustomed to feed his flocks, but the valley is green and
smiling, and is held at this day by a race more brave and beautiful
than Jacob's unhappy descendants.
Nablus is the very furnace of Mahometan bigotry; and I believe that
only a few months before the time of my going there it would have
been quite unsafe for a man, unless strongly guarded, to show
himself to the people of the town in a Frank costume; but since
their last insurrection the Mahometans of the place had been so far
subdued by the severity of Ibrahim Pasha, that they dared not now
offer the slightest insult to an European. It was quite plain,
however, that the effort with which the men of the old school
refrained from expressing their opinion of a hat and a coat was
horribly painful to them. As I walked through the streets and
bazaars a dead silence prevailed; every man suspended his
employment, and gazed on me with a fixed, glassy look, which seemed
to say, "God is good, but how marvellous and inscrutable are His
ways that thus He permits this white-faced dog of a Christian to
hunt through the paths of the faithful."
The insurrection of these people had been more formidable than any
other that Ibrahim Pasha had to contend with. He was only able to
crush them at last by the assistance of a fellow renowned for his
resources in the way of stratagem and cunning, as well as for his
knowledge of the country. This personage was no other than Aboo
Goosh ("the father of lies" {39}), who was taken out of prison for
the purpose. The "father of lies" enabled Ibrahim to hem in the
insurrection and extinguish it. He was rewarded with the
Governorship of Jerusalem, which he held when I was there. I
recollect, by-the-bye, that he tried one of his stratagems upon me.
I did not go to see him, as I ought in courtesy to have done,
during my stay at Jerusalem; but I happened to be the owner of a
rather handsome amber tchibouque piece, which the Governor heard
of, and by some means contrived to see. He sent to me, and dressed
up a statement that he would give me a price immensely exceeding
the sum which I had given for it. He did not add my tchibouque to
the rest of his trophies.
There was a small number of Greek Christians resident in Nablus,
and over these the Mussulmans held a high hand, not even permitting
them to speak to each other in the open streets; but if the Moslems
thus set themselves above the poor Christians of the place, I, or
rather my servants, soon took the ascendant over THEM. I recollect
that just as we were starting from the place, and at a time when a
number of people had gathered together in the main street to see
our preparations, Mysseri, being provoked at some piece of
perverseness on the part of a true believer, coolly thrashed him
with his horsewhip before the assembled crowd of fanatics. I was
much annoyed at the time, for I thought that the people would
probably rise against us. They turned rather pale, but stood
still.
The day of my arrival at Nablus was a fete - the new-year's day of
the Mussulmans. {40} Most of the people were amusing themselves in
the beautiful lawns and shady groves without the city. The men
(except myself) were all remotely apart from the other sex. The
women in groups were diverting themselves and their children with
swings. They were so handsome, that they could not keep up their
yashmaks. I believe that they had never before looked upon a man
in the European dress, and when they now saw in me that strange
phenomenon, and saw, too, how they could please the creature by
showing him a glimpse of beauty, they seemed to think it was better
fun to do this than to go on playing with swings.
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