The Ship-Dwellers: A Story of a Happy CruisePaine, Albert Bigelow
General
The Ship-Dwellers: A Story of a Happy Cruise
Paine, Albert Bigelow
Middle East -- Description and travel
The red fez predominates as to head-gear, and sanguinary waves of them
go by. But there is every manner of turban, too, and the different kinds
are interesting. Some of them are bound with rope or cord; some with
twisted horsehair (those are Bedouins, I believe); some are wound with
white muslin--these are worn by priests--and some are wound or bound
with green, which indicates that the wearer is a descendant of Mohammed
himself--that is, a "Son of the Prophet." The Prophet seems to have a
good many descendants--not so many as Israel had in the same length of
time, but still an industrious showing.
One might suppose that these wearers of the green turban would be marked
for special honor, and perhaps they are, but by no means are they all
men of leisure. I saw one "wearer of the green" tooling a tram to the
Seven Towers, and another son of the Prophet--a venerable man--bowed
beneath a great box until his white beard and the rear elevation of his
trousers nearly dragged in the dust.
I think, by-the-way, I am more interested in the Turkish trousers than
in any other article of national dress. They are rather short as to leg,
but what they lack in length they make up in width and general
amplitude. There is enough goods in the average pair of Turkish trousers
to make a whole suit of clothes with material left for repairs. They are
ridiculous enough from the front and the rear, but I rather like a side
view best. The long after-part has such a drooping pendulous swing to
it, and one gets the full value of the outline in profile and can
calculate just what portion of it is occupied by the owner, and can lose
himself in speculation as to what the rest is for. I like freedom and
comfort well enough, too, in my clothes, but I would not be willing to
sacrifice in the length of my trousers for the sake of that laundry-bag
effect in the rear. I can admire it, though, and I do, often.
At the Stamboul end of the Galata bridge is the most picturesque group,
I believe, in the Orient. A coffee-house is there, and in front of it
all the picture types of the East are gathered, with not a single
Caucasian face or dress. When I used to look at the gorgeously
extravagant costumes and the flowing beards and patriarchal faces of the
paintings and illustrations of the East, I said: "No, they do not
really exist. They may have done so once, but not to-day. I have seen
the Indian of my own country in his native sage-brush. And he is no
longer the Indian of the pictures. His dress is adulterated with
ready-made trousers and a straw hat; his face is mixed in color and
feature; with the Orient it must be the same."
[Illustration: KEYEFF]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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