The Boy Travellers in the Far East, Part Fourth: Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey to Egypt and the Holy Land — John Shaqi
The Boy Travellers in the Far East, Part Fourth: Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey to Egypt and the Holy LandKnox, Thomas Wallace
General
The Boy Travellers in the Far East, Part Fourth: Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey to Egypt and the Holy Land
Knox, Thomas Wallace
Egypt -- Description and travel -- Juvenile literature; Palestine -- Description and travel -- Juvenile literature
"There is no change of fashion among the women of Egypt. They wear the
same kind of garments from one year to another, and as all are veiled,
except among the very poorest classes, they all look alike. Every lady,
when she goes out, covers her face with the _yashmak_ or veil, so that
only her eyes are visible; her body is wrapped in a black mantle which
reaches the ground, and, though she looks at you as if she knew you, it
is impossible to penetrate her disguise. We are told that when the
European ladies residing here wish to call on each other, and have
nobody to escort them, they put on the native dress, and go along the
streets without the least fear that anybody will know them.
"The wives of the high officials have adopted some of the fashions of
Europe in the way of dress; they wear boots instead of slippers, and
have their dresses cut in the Paris style, and they wear a great deal of
jewellery mounted by Parisian jewellers. Their hats or bonnets are of
European form; but they cling to the veil, and never go out-of-doors
without it, though they often have it so thin that their features can be
seen quite distinctly. We have seen some of them riding in their
carriages, and if they had been friends of ours we think we should have
recognized them through their thin veils.
"How much we wish we could understand the language of the country!
Doctor Bronson says the peddlers on the streets have a curious way of
calling out their wares, quite unlike that of the same class in other
countries. For instance, the water-carrier has a goat-skin on his back
filled with water, and as he goes along he rattles a couple of brass
cups together, and cries out, 'Oh ye thirsty! oh ye thirsty!' A moment
after he repeats the call, and says, 'God will reward me!' And sometimes
he says, 'Blessed is the water of the Nile!' Those who drink the water
he offers usually give him a small piece of money, but if they give
nothing he makes no demand, and moves on repeating his cry.
"The seller of lemons shouts, 'God will make them light, oh lemons!'
meaning that God will lighten the baskets containing the lemons. The
orange peddler says, 'Sweet as honey, oh oranges!' And the seller of
roasted melon-seeds says, 'Comforter of those in distress, oh
melon-seeds!' Behind him comes a man selling flowers of the henna-plant,
and his cry is, 'Odors of Paradise, oh flowers of henna!' The
rose-merchant says, 'The rose is a thorn--it bloomed from the sweat of
the Prophet!' We could make a long list of these street cries, but have
given you enough to show what they are.
[Illustration: A WOMAN CARRYING WATER.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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