The Old Man May Have Fallen
Down A Precipice And Died, Leaving His Lamp Still Alight; But It Would
Be Unfair To Interfere With The Original Legend, Which Must Remain With
The Usual Clouds And Uncertainties That Obscure The Tales Of Centuries.
About 250 feet above the monastery the ridge of a spur afforded a level
space beneath some tall pines which threw a welcome shade, and would
have been a convenient camping-ground.
This spot was occupied by the
roughest of log-huts, which had been erected by a shepherd as his summer
residence when the goats should be driven from the low ground to the
mountain pasture. This man was originally a Turk, and formed one of a
peculiar sect known in Cyprus as Linobambaki (linen and cotton). These
people are said to be converts to Christianity, but in reality they have
never been troubled with any religious scruples, and accordingly never
accommodate their principles to the society of their neighbourhood. In a
Turkish village the Linobambaki would call himself by a Turkish name, as
Mahomet, or Hassan, &c., while in a Christian community he would pass as
Michael or Georgy, or by other Greek appellations. The name "linen and
cotton" applied to them is expressive of their lukewarmness and
time-serving, their religious professions fluctuating according to the
dictates not of conscience, but personal interest. It is supposed that
about 1500 of these people exist in various parts of Cyprus; they are
baptised in the Greek Church, and can thus escape conscription for
military service according to Turkish law.
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