Far Off; Or, Asia and Australia Described: With Anecdotes and Illustrations — John Shaqi
Far Off; Or, Asia and Australia Described: With Anecdotes and IllustrationsMortimer, Favell Lee
Religion
Far Off; Or, Asia and Australia Described: With Anecdotes and Illustrations
Mortimer, Favell Lee
Asia -- Description and travel; Australia -- Description and travel
The clergyman was lodged in a small cell spread with carpets and
cushions, and he was waited upon by the monks.
These monks think that they lead a very holy life in the desert. They eat
no meat, and they rise in the night to pray in their chapel. But God does
not care for such service as this. He never commanded men to shut
themselves up in a desert, but rather to do good in the world.
One day the monks told the traveller they would show him the place where
the burning bush once stood. How could they know the place? However, they
pretended to know it. They led the way to the chapel, then taking off
their shoes, they went down some stone steps till they came to a round
room under ground, with three lamps burning in the midst. "There," said
the monks, "is the very spot where the burning bush once stood."
There were two things the traveller enjoyed while in the convent, the
beautiful garden full of thick trees and sweet flowers; and the cool pure
water from the well. Such water and such a garden in the midst of a
desert were sweet indeed.
The Arabs, who accompanied the traveller, enjoyed much the plentiful
meals provided at the convent; for the monks bought sheep from the
shepherds around, to feed their guests. After leaving the convent,
Suleiman was taken ill in consequence of having eaten too much while
there. The clergyman gave him medicine, which cured him. The Arabs were
very fond of their chief, and were so grateful to the stranger for giving
him in medicine, that they called him "the good physician." Suleiman
himself showed his gratitude by bringing his own black coffee-pot into
the tent of the stranger, and asking him to drink coffee with him; for
such is the pride of an Arab chief, that he thinks it is a very great
honor indeed for a stranger to share his meal.
But the traveller soon found that it is dangerous to pass through a
desert. Why? Not on account of wild beasts, but of wild men. There was a
tribe of Arabs very angry with Suleiman, because he was conducting the
travellers through _their_ part of the desert. They wanted to be the
guides through that part, in hopes of getting rewarded by a good sum of
money. You see how covetous they were. The love of money is the root of
all evil.
These angry Arabs were hidden among the rocks and hills; and every now
and then they came suddenly out of their hiding-places, and with a loud
voice threatened to punish Suleiman.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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