I
Quite Tolerated The Christianity Of Mahometan Countries,
Notwithstanding Its Humble Aspect And The Damaged Character Of Its
Followers.
I went further and extended some sympathy towards those
who, with all the claims of superior intellect, learning, and
industry, were kept down under the heel of the Mussulmans by reason
of their having OUR faith.
I heard, as I fancied, the faint echo
of an old crusader's conscience, that whispered and said, "Common
cause!" The impulse was, as you may suppose, much too feeble to
bring me into trouble; it merely influenced my actions in a way
thoroughly characteristic of this poor sluggish century, that is,
by making me speak almost as civilly to the followers of Christ as
I did to their Mahometan foes.
This "holy" Damascus, this "earthly paradise" of the Prophet, so
fair to the eyes that he dared not trust himself to tarry in her
blissful shades, she is a city of hidden palaces, of copses and
gardens, and fountains and bubbling streams. The juice of her life
is the gushing and ice-cold torrent that tumbles from the snowy
sides of Anti-Lebanon. Close along on the river's edge, through
seven sweet miles of rustling boughs and deepest shade, the city
spreads out her whole length. As a man falls flat, face forward on
the brook, that he may drink and drink again, so Damascus,
thirsting for ever, lies down with her lips to the stream and
clings to its rushing waters.
The chief places of public amusement, or rather, of public
relaxation, are the baths and the great cafe; this last, which is
frequented at night by most of the wealthy men, and by many of the
humbler sort, consists of a number of sheds, very simply framed and
built in a labyrinth of running streams, which foam and roar on
every side. The place is lit up in the simplest manner by numbers
of small pale lamps strung upon loose cords, and so suspended from
branch to branch, that the light, though it looks so quiet amongst
the darkening foliage, yet leaps and brightly flashes as it falls
upon the troubled waters. All around, and chiefly upon the very
edge of the torrents, groups of people are tranquilly seated. They
all drink coffee, and inhale the cold fumes of the narghile; they
talk rather gently the one to the other, or else are silent. A
father will sometimes have two or three of his boys around him; but
the joyousness of an Oriental child is all of the sober sort, and
never disturbs the reigning calm of the land.
It has been generally understood, I believe, that the houses of
Damascus are more sumptuous than those of any other city in the
East. Some of these, said to be the most magnificent in the place,
I had an opportunity of seeing.
Every rich man's house stands detached from its neighbours at the
side of a garden, and it is from this cause no doubt that the city
(severely menaced by prophecy) has hitherto escaped destruction.
You know some parts of Spain, but you have never, I think, been in
Andalusia:
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 153 of 170
Words from 80275 to 80801
of 89094
