diff options
Diffstat (limited to '29257.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 29257.txt | 9519 |
1 files changed, 9519 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/29257.txt b/29257.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3b40bca --- /dev/null +++ b/29257.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9519 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Book of Khalid, by Ameen Rihani + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Book of Khalid + +Author: Ameen Rihani + +Release Date: June 27, 2009 [EBook #29257] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOOK OF KHALID *** + + + + +Produced by Todd Fine, Dan Horwood and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + + + + + * * * * * + +Transcriber's Note regarding the illustrations + + "The Book of Khalid" contains illustrations drawn by Khalil + Gibran, the other early Arab-American writer (author of "The + Prophet"), that are well-known and exceptional. There are no + captions in the original book, and are very difficult to describe + in words. Their locations in the text have been marked with the + text '[Illustration]'. The reader is encouraged to view these + illustrations in the HTML version of this ebook. + + * * * * * + + + + + THE BOOK OF KHALID + + + + + THE + BOOK OF KHALID + + BY + AMEEN RIHANI + +[Illustration] + + + + + NEW YORK + DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY + 1911 + + + + + COPYRIGHT, 1911 + BY DODD, MEAD & COMPANY + + _Published, October_, 1911 + + + + +CONTENTS + +BOOK THE FIRST + +IN THE EXCHANGE + + CHAPTER PAGE + AL-FATIHAH v + TO MAN 3 + I PROBING THE TRIVIAL 5 + II THE CITY OF BAAL 14 + III VIA DOLOROSA 25 + IV ON THE WHARF OF ENCHANTMENT 34 + V THE CELLAR OF THE SOUL 46 + VI THE SUMMER AFTERNOON OF A SHAM 58 + VII IN THE TWILIGHT OF AN IDEA 70 + VIII WITH THE HURIS 83 + +BOOK THE SECOND + +IN THE TEMPLE + + TO NATURE 97 + I THE DOWRY OF DEMOCRACY 99 + II SUBTRANSCENDENTAL 115 + III THE FALSE DAWN 125 + IV THE LAST STAR 130 + V PRIESTO-PARENTAL 143 + VI FLOUNCES AND RUFFLES 154 + VII THE HOWDAJ OF FALSEHOOD 167 + VIII THE KAABA OF SOLITUDE 181 + IX SIGNS OF THE HERMIT 192 + X THE VINEYARD IN THE KAABA 202 + +BOOK THE THIRD + +IN KULMAKAN + + TO GOD 217 + I THE DISENTANGLEMENT OF THE ME 219 + II THE VOICE OF THE DAWN 231 + III THE SELF ECSTATIC 239 + IV ON THE OPEN HIGHWAY 249 + V UNION AND PROGRESS 274 + VI REVOLUTIONS WITHIN AND WITHOUT 287 + VII A DREAM OF EMPIRE 298 + VIII ADUMBRATIONS 311 + IX THE STONING AND FLIGHT 325 + X THE DESERT 333 + AL-KHATIMAH 341 + + + + +AL-FATIHAH + + +In the Khedivial Library of Cairo, among the Papyri of the Scribe of +Amen-Ra and the beautifully illuminated copies of the Koran, the +modern Arabic Manuscript which forms the subject of this Book, was +found. The present Editor was attracted to it by the dedication and +the rough drawings on the cover; which, indeed, are as curious, if not +as mystical, as ancient Egyptian symbols. One of these is supposed to +represent a New York Skyscraper in the shape of a Pyramid, the other +is a dancing group under which is written: "The Stockbrokers and the +Dervishes." And around these symbols, in Arabic circlewise, these +words:--"_And this is my Book, the Book of Khalid, which I dedicate to +my Brother Man, my Mother Nature, and my Maker God._" + +Needless to say we asked at once the Custodian of the Library to give +us access to this Book of Khalid, and after examining it, we hired an +amanuensis to make a copy for us. Which copy we subsequently used as +the warp of our material; the woof we shall speak of in the following +chapter. No, there is nothing in this Work which we can call ours, +except it be the Loom. But the weaving, we assure the Reader, was a +mortal process; for the material is of such a mixture that here and +there the raw silk of Syria is often spun with the cotton and wool of +America. In other words, the Author dips his antique pen in a modern +inkstand, and when the ink runs thick, he mixes it with a slabbering +of slang. But we started to write an Introduction, not a Criticism. +And lest we end by writing neither, we give here what is more to the +point than anything we can say: namely, Al-Fatihah, or the Opening +Word of Khalid himself. + +With supreme indifference to the classic Arabic proem, he begins by +saying that his Book is neither a Memoir nor an Autobiography, neither +a Journal nor a Confession. + +"Orientals," says he, "seldom adventure into that region of fancy and +fabrication so alluring to European and American writers; for, like +the eyes of huris, our vanity is soft and demure. This then is a book +of travels in an impalpable country, an enchanted country, from which +we have all risen, and towards which we are still rising. It is, as it +were, the chart and history of one little kingdom of the Soul,--the +Soul of a philosopher, poet and criminal. I am all three, I swear, for +I have lived both the wild and the social life. And I have thirsted in +the desert, and I have thirsted in the city: the springs of the former +were dry; the water in the latter was frozen in the pipes. That is +why, to save my life, I had to be an incendiary at times, and at +others a footpad. And whether on the streets of knowledge, or in the +open courts of love, or in the parks of freedom, or in the cellars and +garrets of thought and devotion, the only _saki_ that would give me a +drink without the asking was he who called himself Patience.... + +"And so, the Book of Khalid was written. It is the only one I wrote in +this world, having made, as I said, a brief sojourn in its civilised +parts. I leave it now where I wrote it, and I hope to write other +books in other worlds. Now understand, Allah keep and guide thee, I do +not leave it here merely as a certificate of birth or death. I do not +raise it up as an epitaph, a trade-sign, or any other emblem of +vainglory or lucre; but truly as a propylon through which my race and +those above and below my race, are invited to pass to that higher +Temple of mind and spirit. For we are all tourists, in a certain +sense, and this world is the most ancient of monuments. We go through +life as those pugreed-solar-hatted-Europeans go through Egypt. We are +pestered and plagued with guides and dragomans of every rank and +shade;--social and political guides, moral and religious dragomans: a +Tolstoy here, an Ibsen there, a Spencer above, a Nietzche below. And +there thou art left in perpetual confusion and despair. Where wilt +thou go? Whom wilt thou follow? + +"Or wilt thou tarry to see the work of redemption accomplished? For +Society must be redeemed, and many are the redeemers. The Cross, +however, is out of fashion, and so is the Dona Dulcinea motive. +Howbeit, what an array of Masters and Knights have we, and what a +variety! The work can be done, and speedily, if we could but choose. +Wagner can do it with music; Bakunin, with dynamite; Karl Marx, with +the levelling rod; Haeckel, with an injection of protoplasmic logic; +the Pope, with a pinch of salt and chrism; and the Packer-Kings of +America, with pork and beef. What wilt thou have? Whom wilt thou +employ? Many are the applicants, many are the guides. But if they are +all going the way of Juhannam, the Beef-packer I would choose. For +verily, a gobbet of beef on the way were better than canned +protoplasmic logic or bottled salt and chrism.... + +"No; travel not on a Cook's ticket; avoid the guides. Take up thy +staff and foot it slowly and leisurely; tarry wherever thy heart +would tarry. There is no need of hurrying, O my Brother, whether +eternal Juhannam or eternal Jannat await us yonder. Come; if thou +hast not a staff, I have two. And what I have in my Scrip I will +share with thee. But turn thy back to the guides; for verily we see +more of them than of the ruins and monuments. Verily, we get more +of the Dragomans than of the Show. Why then continue to move and +remove at their command?--Take thy guidebook in hand and I will +tell thee what is in it. + +"No; the time will come, I tell thee, when every one will be his own +guide and dragoman. The time will come when it will not be necessary +to write books for others, or to legislate for others, or to make +religions for others: the time will come when every one will write his +own Book in the Life he lives, and that Book will be his code and his +creed;--that Life-Book will be the palace and cathedral of his Soul in +all the Worlds." + + + + +BOOK THE FIRST + +IN THE EXCHANGE + + + + +[Illustration] + +TO MAN + + +_No matter how good thou art, O my Brother, or how bad thou art, no +matter how high or how low in the scale of being thou art, I still +would believe in thee, and have faith in thee, and love thee. For do I +not know what clings to thee, and what beckons to thee? The claws of +the one and the wings of the other, have I not felt and seen? Look up, +therefore, and behold this World-Temple, which, to us, shall be a +resting-place, and not a goal. On the border-line of the Orient and +Occident it is built, on the mountain-heights overlooking both. No +false gods are worshipped in it,--no philosophic, theologic, or +anthropomorphic gods. Yea, and the god of the priests and prophets is +buried beneath the Fountain, which is the altar of the Temple, and +from which flows the eternal spirit of our Maker--our Maker who +blinketh when the Claws are deep in our flesh, and smileth when the +Wings spring from our Wounds. Verily, we are the children of the God +of Humour, and the Fountain in His Temple is ever flowing. Tarry, and +refresh thyself, O my Brother, tarry, and refresh thyself._ + + KHALID. + + + + +CHAPTER I + +PROBING THE TRIVIAL + + +The most important in the history of nations and individuals was once +the most trivial, and vice versa. The plebeian, who is called to-day +the man-in-the-street, can never see and understand the significance +of the hidden seed of things, which in time must develop or die. A +garter dropt in the ballroom of Royalty gives birth to an Order of +Knighthood; a movement to reform the spelling of the English language, +initiated by one of the presidents of a great Republic, becomes +eventually an object of ridicule. Only two instances to illustrate our +point, which is applicable also to time-honoured truths and +moralities. But no matter how important or trivial these, he who would +give utterance to them must do so in cap and bells, if he would be +heard nowadays. Indeed, the play is always the thing; the frivolous is +the most essential, if only as a disguise.--For look you, are we not +too prosperous to consider seriously your ponderous preachment? And +when you bring it to us in book form, do you expect us to take it into +our homes and take you into our hearts to boot?--Which argument is +convincing even to the man in the barn. + +But the Author of the Khedivial Library Manuscript can make his +Genius dance the dance of the seven veils, if you but knew. It is +to be regretted, however, that he has not mastered the most subtle +of arts, the art of writing about one's self. He seldom brushes +his wings against the dust or lingers among the humble flowers close +to the dust: he does not follow the masters in their entertaining +trivialities and fatuities. We remember that even Gibbon interrupts +the turgid flow of his spirit to tell us in his Autobiography that he +really could, and often did, enjoy a game of cards in the evening. And +Rousseau, in a suppurative passion, whispers to us in his Confessions +that he even kissed the linen of Madame de Warens' bed when he was +alone in her room. And Spencer devotes whole pages in his dull and +ponderous history of himself to narrate the all-important narration +of his constant indisposition,--to assure us that his ill health more +than once threatened the mighty task he had in hand. These, to be +sure, are most important revelations. But Khalid here misses his cue. +Inspiration does not seem to come to him in firefly-fashion. + +He would have done well, indeed, had he studied the method of the +professional writers of Memoirs, especially those of France. For might +he not then have discoursed delectably on The Romance of my Stick Pin, +The Tragedy of my Sombrero, The Scandal of my Red Flannel, The +Conquest of my Silk Socks, The Adventures of my Tuxedo, and such like? +But Khalid is modest only in the things that pertain to the outward +self. He wrote of other Romances and other Tragedies. And when his +Genius is not dancing the dance of the seven veils, she is either +flirting with the monks of the Lebanon hills or setting fire to +something in New York. But this is not altogether satisfactory to the +present Editor, who, unlike the Author of the Khedivial Library MS., +must keep the reader in mind. 'Tis very well to endeavour to unfold a +few of the mysteries of one's palingenesis, but why conceal from us +his origin? For is it not important, is it not the fashion at least, +that one writing his own history should first expatiate on the humble +origin of his ancestors and the distant obscure source of his genius? +And having done this, should he not then tell us how he behaved in his +boyhood; whether or not he made anklets of his mother's dough for his +little sister; whether he did not kindle the fire with his father's +Koran; whether he did not walk under the rainbow and try to reach the +end of it on the hill-top; and whether he did not write verse when he +was but five years of age. About these essentialities Khalid is +silent. We only know from him that he is a descendant of the brave +sea-daring Phoenicians--a title which might be claimed with justice +even by the aborigines of Yucatan--and that he was born in the city of +Baalbek, in the shadow of the great Heliopolis, a little way from the +mountain-road to the Cedars of Lebanon. All else in this direction is +obscure. + +And the K. L. MS. which we kept under our pillow for thirteen days +and nights, was beginning to worry us. After all, might it not be +a literary hoax, we thought, and might not this Khalid be a myth. And +yet, he does not seem to have sought any material or worldly good +from the writing of his Book. Why, then, should he resort to +deception? Still, we doubted. And one evening we were detained by +the sandomancer, or sand-diviner, who was sitting cross-legged on the +sidewalk in front of the mosque. "I know your mind," said he, +before we had made up our mind to consult him. And mumbling his +"abracadabra" over the sand spread on a cloth before him, he took up +his bamboo-stick and wrote therein--Khalid! This was amazing. "And I +know more," said he. But after scouring the heaven, he shook his head +regretfully and wrote in the sand the name of one of the hasheesh-dens +of Cairo. "Go thither; and come to see me again to-morrow evening." +Saying which, he folded his sand-book of magic, pocketed his fee, +and walked away. + +In that hasheesh-den,--the reekiest, dingiest of the row in the Red +Quarter,--where the etiolated intellectualities of Cairo flock after +midnight, the name of Khalid evokes much resounding wit, and sarcasm, +and laughter. + +"You mean the new Muhdi," said one, offering us his chobok of +hasheesh; "smoke to his health and prosperity. Ha, ha, ha." + +And the chorus of laughter, which is part and parcel of a hasheesh +jag, was tremendous. Every one thereupon had something to say on the +subject. The contagion could not be checked. And Khalid was called +"the dervish of science" by one; "the rope-dancer of nature" by +another. + +"Our Prophet lived in a cave in the wilderness of New York for five +years," remarked a third. + +"And he sold his camel yesterday and bought a bicycle instead." + +"The Young Turks can not catch him now." + +"Ah, but wait till England gets after our new Muhdi." + +"Wait till his new phthisic-stricken wife dies." + +"Whom will our Prophet marry, if among all the virgins of Egypt we can +not find a consumptive for him?" + +"And when he pulls down the pyramids to build American Skyscrapers +with their stones, where shall we bury then our Muhdi?" + +All of which, although mystifying to us, and depressing, was none the +less reassuring. For Khalid, it seems, is not a myth. No; we can even +see him, we are told, and touch him, and hear him speak. + +"Shakib the poet, his most intimate friend and disciple, will bring +you into the sacred presence." + +"You can not miss him, for he is the drummer of our new Muhdi, ha, ha, +ha!" + +And this Shakib was then suspended and stoned. But their humour, like +the odor and smoke of gunjah, (hasheesh) was become stifling. So, we +lay our chobok down; and, thanking them for the entertainment, we +struggle through the rolling reek and fling to the open air. + +In the grill-room of the Mena House we meet the poet Shakib, who was +then drawing his inspiration from a glass of whiskey and soda. Nay, he +was drowning his sorrows therein, for his Master, alas! has +mysteriously disappeared. + +"I have not seen him for ten days," said the Poet; "and I know not +where he is.--If I did? Ah, my friend, you would not then see me here. +Indeed, I should be with him, and though he be in the trap of the +Young Turks." And some real tears flowed down the cheeks of the Poet, +as he spoke. + +The Mena House, a charming little Branch of Civilisation at the gate +of the desert, stands, like man himself, in the shadow of two terrible +immensities, the Sphinx and the Pyramid, the Origin and the End. And +in the grill-room, over a glass of whiskey and soda, we presume to +solve in few words the eternal mystery. But that is not what we came +for. And to avoid the bewildering depths into which we were led, we +suggested a stroll on the sands. Here the Poet waxed more eloquent, +and shed more tears. + +"This is our favourite haunt," said he; "here is where we ramble, here +is where we loaf. And Khalid once said to me, 'In loafing here, I work +as hard as did the masons and hod-carriers who laboured on these +pyramids.' And I believe him. For is not a book greater than a +pyramid? Is not a mosque or a palace better than a tomb? An object is +great in proportion to its power of resistance to time and the +elements. That is why we think the pyramids are great. But see, the +desert is greater than the pyramids, and the sea is greater than the +desert, and the heavens are greater than the sea. And yet, there is +not in all these that immortal intelligence, that living, palpitating +soul, which you find in a great book. A man who conceives and writes a +great book, my friend, has done more work than all the helots that +laboured on these pyramidal futilities. That is why I find no +exaggeration in Khalid's words. For when he loafs, he does so in good +earnest. Not like the camel-driver there or the camel, but after the +manner of the great thinkers and mystics: like Al-Fared and +Jelal'ud-Deen Rumy, like Socrates and St. Francis of Assisi, Khalid +loafs. For can you escape being reproached for idleness by merely +working? Are you going to waste your time and power in useless +unproductive labour, carrying dates to Hajar (or coals to Newcastle, +which is the English equivalent), that you might not be called an +idler, a loafer?" + +"Indeed not," we reply; "for the Poet taking in the sea, or the woods, +or the starry-night, the poet who might be just sharing the sunshine +with the salamander, is as much a labourer as the stoker or the +bricklayer." + +And with a few more such remarks, we showed our friend that, not being +of india-rubber, we could not but expand under the heat of his +grandiosity. + +We then make our purpose known, and Shakib is overjoyed. He offers to +kiss us for the noble thought. + +"Yes, Europe should know Khalid better, and only through you and me +can this be done. For you can not properly understand him, unless you +read the _Histoire Intime_, which I have just finished. That will give +you _les dessous de cartes_ of his character." + +"_Les dessons_"--and the Poet who intersperses his Arabic with fancy +French, explains.--"The lining, the ligaments."--"Ah, that is exactly +what we want." + +And he offers to let us have the use of his Manuscript, if we link his +name with that of his illustrious Master in this Book. To which we +cheerfully agree. For after all, what's in a name? + +On the following day, lugging an enormous bundle under each arm, the +Poet came. We were stunned as he stood in the door; we felt as if he +had struck us in the head with them. + +"This is the _Histoire Intime_," said he, laying it gently on the +table. + +And we laid our hand upon it, fetching a deep sigh. Our misgivings, +however, were lighted with a happy idea. We will hire a few boys to +read it, we thought, and mark out the passages which please them most. +That will be just what an editor wants. + +"And this," continued the Poet, laying down the other bundle, "is the +original manuscript of my forthcoming Book of Poems.--" + +Sweet of him, we thought, to present it to us. + +"It will be issued next Autumn in Cairo.--" + +Fortunate City! + +"And if you will get to work on it at once,--" + +Mercy! + +"You can get out an English Translation in three month, I am sure--" + +We sink in our chair in breathless amazement. + +"The Book will then appear simultaneously both in London and Cairo." + +We sit up, revived with another happy idea, and assure the Poet that +his Work will be translated into a universal language, and that very +soon. For which assurance he kisses us again and again, and goes away +hugging his Muse. + +The idea! A Book of Poems to translate into the English language! As +if the English language has not enough of its own troubles! Translate +it, O Fire, into your language! Which work the Fire did in two +minutes. And the dancing, leaping, singing flames, the white and blue +and amber flames, were more beautiful, we thought, than anything the +Ms. might contain. + +As for the _Histoire Intime_, we split it into three parts and got our +boys working on it. The result was most satisfying. For now we can +show, and though he is a native of Asia, the land of the Prophets, and +though he conceals from us his origin after the manner of the +Prophets, that he was born and bred and fed, and even thwacked, like +all his fellows there, this Khalid. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE CITY OF BAAL + + +The City of Baal, or Baalbek, is between the desert and the deep +sea. It lies at the foot of Anti-Libanus, in the sunny plains of +Coele-Syria, a day's march from either Damascus or Beirut. It is a +city with a past as romantic as Rome's, as wicked as Babel's; its +ruins testify both to its glory and its shame. It is a city with a +future as brilliant as any New-World city; the railroad at its +gate, the modern agricultural implements in its fields, and the +porcelain bath-tubs in its hotels, can testify to this. It is a city +that enticed and still entices the mighty of the earth; Roman +Emperors in the past came to appease the wrath of its gods, a German +Emperor to-day comes to pilfer its temples. For the Acropolis in +the poplar grove is a mine of ruins. The porphyry pillars, the +statues, the tablets, the exquisite friezes, the palimpsests, the +bas-reliefs,--Time and the Turks have spared a few of these. And when +the German Emperor came, Abd'ul-Hamid blinked, and the Berlin Museum +is now the richer for it. + +Of the Temple of Jupiter, however, only six standing columns remain; +of the Temple of Bacchus only the god and the Bacchantes are missing. +And why was the one destroyed, the other preserved, only the six +columns, had they a tongue, could tell. Indeed, how many blustering +vandals have _they_ conquered, how many savage attacks have they +resisted, what wonders and what orgies have they beheld! These six +giants of antiquity, looking over Anti-Lebanon in the East, and +down upon the meandering Leontes in the South, and across the +Syrian steppes in the North, still hold their own against Time and the +Elements. They are the dominating feature of the ruins; they tower +above them as the Acropolis towers above the surrounding poplars. And +around their base, and through the fissures, flows the perennial +grace of the seasons. The sun pays tribute to them in gold; the rain, +in mosses and ferns; the Spring, in lupine flowers. And the +swallows, nesting in the portico of the Temple of Bacchus, above +the curious frieze of egg-decoration,--as curious, too, _their_ art of +egg-making,--pour around the colossal columns their silvery notes. +Surely, these swallows and ferns and lupine flowers are more +ancient than the Acropolis. And the marvels of extinct nations can +not hold a candle to the marvels of Nature. + +Here, under the decaying beauty of Roman art, lies buried the +monumental boldness of the Phoenicians, or of a race of giants whose +extinction even Homer deplores, and whose name even the Phoenicians +could not decipher. For might they not, too, have stood here +wondering, guessing, even as we moderns guess and wonder? Might not +the Phoenicians have asked the same questions that we ask to-day: Who +were the builders? and with what tools? In one of the walls of the +Acropolis are stones which a hundred bricklayers can not raise an inch +from the ground; and among the ruins of the Temple of Zeus are +porphyry pillars, monoliths, which fifty horses could barely move, and +the quarry of which is beyond the Syrian desert. There, now, solve the +problem for yourself. + +Hidden in the grove of silver-tufted poplars is the little Temple of +Venus, doomed to keep company with a Mosque. But it is a joy to stand +on the bridge above the stream that flows between them, and listen to +the muazzen in the minaret and the bulbuls in the Temple. Mohammad +calling to Venus, Venus calling to Mohammad--what a romance! We leave +the subject to the poet that wants it. Another Laus Veneris to another +Swinburne might suggest itself. + +An Arab Prophet with the goddess, this time--but the River flows +between the Temple and the Mosque. In the city, life is one such +picturesque languid stream. The shop-keepers sit on their rugs in +their stalls, counting their beads, smoking their narghilahs, waiting +indifferently for Allah's bounties. And the hawkers shuffle along +crying their wares in beautiful poetic illusions,--the flower-seller +singing, "Reconcile your mother-in-law! Perfume your spirit! Buy a +jasmine for your soul!" the seller of loaves, his tray on his head, +his arms swinging to a measured step, intoning in pious thankfulness, +"O thou Eternal, O thou Bountiful!" The _sakka_ of licorice-juice, +clicking his brass cups calls out to the thirsty one, "Come, drink and +live! Come, drink and live!" And ere you exclaim, How quaint! How +picturesque! a train of laden camels drives you to the wall, rudely +shaking your illusion. And the mules and donkeys, tottering under +their heavy burdens, upsetting a tray of sweetmeats here, a counter of +spices there, must share the narrow street with you and compel you to +move along slowly, languidly like themselves. They seem to take Time +by the sleeve and say to it, "What's your hurry?" "These donkeys," +Shakib writes, quoting Khalid, "can teach the strenuous Europeans and +hustling Americans a lesson." + +In the City Square, as we issue from the congested windings of the +Bazaar, we are greeted by one of those scrub monuments that are found +in almost every city of the Ottoman Empire. And in most cases, they +are erected to commemorate the benevolence and public zeal of some +wali or pasha who must have made a handsome fortune in the promotion +of a public enterprise. Be this as it may. It is not our business here +to probe the corruption of any particular Government. But we observe +that this miserable botch of a monument is to the ruins of the +Acropolis, what this modern absolutism, this effete Turkey is to the +magnificent tyrannies of yore. Indeed, nothing is duller, more stupid, +more prosaic than a modern absolutism as compared with an ancient one. +But why concern ourselves with like comparisons? The world is better +to-day in spite of its public monuments. These little flights or +frights in marble are as snug in their little squares, in front of +their little halls, as are the majestic ruins in their poplar groves. +In both instances, Nature and Circumstance have harmonised between +the subject and the background. Come along. And let the rhymsters +chisel on the monument whatever they like about sculptures and the +wali. To condemn in this case is to praise. + +We issue from the Square into the drive leading to the spring at the +foot of the mountain. On the meadows near the stream, is always to be +found a group of Baalbekians bibbing _arak_ and swaying languidly to +the mellow strains of the lute and the monotonous melancholy of Arabic +song. Among such, one occasionally meets with a native who, failing as +peddler or merchant in America, returns to his native town, and, +utilising the chips of English he picked up in the streets of the +New-World cities, becomes a dragoman and guide to English and American +tourists. + +Now, under this sky, between Anti-Libanus rising near the spring, +Rasulain, and the Acropolis towering above the poplars, around +these majestic ruins, amidst these fascinating scenes of Nature, +Khalid spent the halcyon days of his boyhood. Here he trolled his +favourite ditties beating the hoof behind his donkey. For he +preferred to be a donkey-boy than to be called a donkey at school. +The pedagogue with his drivel and discipline, he could not learn to +love. The company of muleteers was much more to his liking. The open +air was his school; and everything that riots and rejoices in the +open air, he loved. Bulbuls and beetles and butterflies, oxen and +donkeys and mules,--these were his playmates and friends. And when he +becomes a muleteer, he reaches in his first venture, we are told, +the top round of the ladder. This progressive scale in his +trading, we observe. Husbanding his resources, he was soon after, by +selling his donkey, able to buy a sumpter-mule; a year later he +sells his mule and buys a camel; and finally he sells the camel and +buys a fine Arab mare, which he gives to a tourist for a hundred +pieces of English gold. This is what is called success. And with the +tangible symbol of it, the price of his mare, he emigrates to +America. But that is to come. + +Let us now turn our "stereopticon on the screen of reminiscence," +using the pictures furnished by Shakib. But before they can be used to +advantage, they must undergo a process of retroussage. Many of the +lines need be softened, some of the shades modified, and not a few of +the etchings, absolutely worthless, we consign to the flames. Who of +us, for instance, was not feruled and bastinadoed by the town +pedagogue? Who did not run away from school, whimpering, snivelling, +and cursing in his heart and in his sleep the black-board and the +horn-book? Nor can we see the significance of the fact that Khalid +once smashed the icon of the Holy Virgin for whetting not his wits, +for hearing not his prayers. It may be he was learning then the use of +the sling, and instead of killing his neighbour's laying-hen, he broke +the sacred effigy. No, we are not warranted to draw from these +trivialities the grand results which send Shakib in ecstasies about +his Master's genius. Nor do we for a moment believe that the +waywardness of a genius or a prophet in boyhood is always a +significant adumbration. Shakespeare started as a deer-poacher, and +Rousseau as a thief. Yet, neither the one nor the other, as far as we +know, was a plagiarist. This, however, does not disprove the contrary +proposition, that he who begins as a thief or an iconoclast is likely +to end as such. But the actuating motive has nothing to do with what +we, in our retrospective analysis, are pleased to prove. Not so far +forth are we willing to piddle among the knicknacks of Shakib's +_Histoire Intime_ of his Master. + +Furthermore, how can we interest ourselves in his fiction of history +concerning Baalbek? What have we to do with the fact or fable that +Seth the Prophet lived in this City; that Noah is buried in its +vicinity; that Solomon built the Temple of the Sun for the Queen of +Sheba; that this Prince and Poet used to lunch in Baalbek and dine at +Istachre in Afghanistan; that the chariot of Nimrod drawn by four +phoenixes from the Tower of Babel, lighted on Mt. Hermon to give said +Nimrod a chance to rebuild the said Temple of the Sun? How can we +bring any of these fascinating fables to bear upon our subject? It is +nevertheless significant to remark that the City of Baal, from the +Phoenicians and Moabites down to the Arabs and Turks, has ever been +noted for its sanctuaries of carnal lust. The higher religion, too, +found good soil here; for Baalbek gave the world many a saint and +martyr along with its harlots and poets and philosophers. St. Minius, +St. Cyril and St. Theodosius, are the foremost among its holy +children; Ste. Odicksyia, a Magdalene, is one of its noted daughters. +These were as famous in their days as Ashtarout or Jupiter-Ammon. As +famous too is Al-Iman ul-Ouzaai the scholar; al-Makrizi the historian; +Kallinichus the chemist, who invented the Greek fire; Kosta ibn Luka, +a doctor and philosopher, who wrote among much miscellaneous rubbish a +treaty entitled, On the Difference Between the Mind and the Soul; and +finally the Muazzen of Baalbek to whom "even the beasts would stop to +listen." Ay, Shakib relates quoting al-Makrizi, who in his turn +relates, quoting one of the octogenarian Drivellers, _Muhaddetheen_ +(these men are the chief sources of Arabic History) that he was told +by an eye and ear witness that when this celebrated Muazzen was once +calling the Faithful to prayer, the camels at the creek craned their +necks to listen to the sonorous music of his voice. And such was their +delight that they forgot they were thirsty. This, by the way of a +specimen of the _Muhaddetheen_. Now, about these historical worthies +of Baalbek, whom we have but named, Shakib writes whole pages, and +concludes--and here is the point--that Khalid might be a descendant of +any or all of them! For in him, our Scribe seriously believes, are +lusty strains of many varied and opposing humours. And although he had +not yet seen the sea, he longed when a boy for a long sea voyage, and +he would sail little paper boats down the stream to prove the fact. In +truth, that is what Shakib would prove. The devil and such logic had a +charm for us once, but no more. + +Here is another bubble of retrospective analysis to which we apply the +needle. It is asserted as a basis for another astounding deduction +that Khalid used to sleep in the ruined Temple of Zeus. As if ruined +temples had anything to do with the formation or deformation of the +brain-cells or the soul-afflatus! The devil and such logic, we repeat, +had once a charm for us. But this, in brief, is how it came about. +Khalid hated the pedagogue to whom he had to pay a visit of courtesy +every day, and loved his cousin Najma whom he was not permitted to +see. And when he runs away from the bastinado, breaking in revenge the +icon of the Holy Virgin, his father turns him away from home. +Complaining not, whimpering not, he goes. And hearing the bulbuls +calling in the direction of Najma's house that evening, he repairs +thither. But the crabbed, cruel uncle turns him away also, and bolts +the door. Whereupon Khalid, who was then in the first of his teens, +takes a big scabrous rock and sends it flying against that door. The +crabbed uncle rushes out, blustering, cursing; the nephew takes up +another of those scabrous missiles and sends it whizzing across his +shoulder. The second one brushes his ear. The third sends the blood +from his temple. And this, while beating a retreat and cursing his +father and his uncle and their ancestors back to fifty generations. He +is now safe in the poplar grove, and his uncle gives up the charge. +With a broken noddle he returns home, and Khalid with a broken heart +wends his way to the Acropolis, the only shelter in sight. In relating +this story, Shakib mentions "the horrible old moon, who was wickedly +smiling over the town that night." A broken icon, a broken door, a +broken pate,--a big price this, the crabbed uncle and the cruel father +had to pay for thwarting the will of little Khalid. "But he entered +the Acropolis a conqueror," says our Scribe; "he won the battle." And +he slept in the temple, in the portico thereof, as sound as a +muleteer. And the swallows in the niches above heard him sleep. + +In the morning he girds his loins with a firm resolution. No longer +will he darken his father's door. He becomes a muleteer and +accomplishes the success of which we have spoken. His first beau ideal +was to own the best horse in Baalbek; and to be able to ride to the +camp of the Arabs and be mistaken for one of them, was his first great +ambition. Which he realises sooner than he thought he would. For +thrift, grit and perseverance, are a few of the rough grains in his +character. But no sooner he is possessed of his ideal than he begins +to loosen his hold upon it. He sold his mare to the tourist, and was +glad he did not attain the same success in his first love. For he +loved his mare, and he could not have loved his cousin Najma more. +"The realisation is a terrible thing," writes our Scribe, quoting his +Master. But when this fine piece of wisdom was uttered, whether when +he was sailing paper boats in Baalbek, or unfurling his sails in New +York, we can not say. + +And now, warming himself on the fire of his first ideal, Khalid will +seek the shore and launch into unknown seas towards unknown lands. +From the City of Baal to the City of Demiurgic Dollar is not in fact a +far cry. It has been remarked that he always dreamt of adventures, of +long journeys across the desert or across the sea. He never was +satisfied with the seen horizon, we are told, no matter how vast and +beautiful. His soul always yearned for what was beyond, above or +below, the visible line. And had not the European tourist alienated +from him the love of his mare and corrupted his heart with the love of +gold, we might have heard of him in Mecca, in India, or in Dahomey. +But Shakib prevails upon him to turn his face toward the West. One +day, following some tourists to the Cedars, they behold from +Dahr'ul-Qadhib the sun setting in the Mediterranean and make up their +minds to follow it too. "For the sundown," writes Shakib, "was more +appealing to us than the sunrise, ay, more beautiful. The one was so +near, the other so far away. Yes, we beheld the Hesperian light that +day, and praised Allah. It was the New World's bonfire of hospitality: +the sun called to us, and we obeyed." + + + + +CHAPTER III + +VIA DOLOROSA + + +In their baggy, lapping trousers and crimson caps, each carrying a +bundle and a rug under his arm, Shakib and Khalid are smuggled through +the port of Beirut at night, and safely rowed to the steamer. Indeed, +we are in a country where one can not travel without a passport, or a +password, or a little pass-money. And the boatmen and officials of the +Ottoman Empire can better read a gold piece than a passport. So, +Shakib and Khalid, not having the latter, slip in a few of the former, +and are smuggled through. One more longing, lingering glance behind, +and the dusky peaks of the Lebanons, beyond which their native City of +Baal is sleeping in peace, recede from view. On the high sea of hope +and joy they sail; "under the Favonian wind of enthusiasm, on the +friendly billows of boyish dreams," they roll. Ay, and they sing for +joy. On and on, to the gold-swept shores of distant lands, to the +generous cities and the bounteous fields of the West, to the Paradise +of the World--to America. + +We need not dwell too much with our Scribe, on the repulsive details +of the story of the voyage. We ourselves have known a little of the +suffering and misery which emigrants must undergo, before they reach +that Western Paradise of the Oriental imagination. How they are +huddled like sheep on deck from Beirut to Marseilles; and like cattle +transported under hatches across the Atlantic; and bullied and +browbeaten by rough disdainful stewards; and made to pay for a +leathery gobbet of beef and a slice of black flint-like bread: all +this we know. But that New World paradise is well worth these passing +privations. + +The second day at sea, when the two Baalbekian lads are snug on deck, +their rugs spread out not far from the stalls in which Syrian cattle +are shipped to Egypt and Arab horses to Europe or America, they +rummage in their bags--and behold, a treat! Shakib takes out his +favourite poet Al-Mutanabbi, and Khalid, his favourite bottle, the +choicest of the Ksarah distillery of the Jesuits. For this whilom +donkey-boy will begin by drinking the wine of these good Fathers and +then their--blood! His lute is also with him; and he will continue to +practise the few lessons which the bulbuls of the poplar groves have +taught him. No, he cares not for books. And so, he uncorks the bottle, +hands it to Shakib his senior, then takes a nip himself, and, +thrumming his lute strings, trolls a few doleful pieces of Arabic +song. "In these," he would say to Shakib, pointing to the bottle and +the lute, "is real poetry, and not in that book with which you would +kill me." And Shakib, in stingless sarcasm, would insist that the +music in Al-Mutanabbi's lines is just a little more musical than +Khalid's thrumming. They quarrel about this. And in justice to both, +we give the following from the _Histoire Intime_. + +"When we left our native land," Shakib writes, "my literary bent was +not shared in the least by Khalid. I had gone through the higher +studies which, in our hedge-schools and clerical institutions, do not +reach a very remarkable height. Enough of French to understand the +authors tabooed by our Jesuit professors,--the Voltaires, the +Rousseaus, the Diderots; enough of Arabic to enable one to parse and +analyse the verse of Al-Mutanabbi; enough of Church History to show +us, not how the Church wielded the sword of persecution, but how she +was persecuted herself by the pagans and barbarians of the earth;--of +these and such like consists the edifying curriculum. Now, of this +high phase of education, Khalid was thoroughly immune. But his +intuitive sagacity was often remarkable, and his humour, sweet and +pathetic. Once when I was reading aloud some of the Homeric effusions +of Al-Mutanabbi, he said to me, as he was playing his lute, 'In the +heart of this,' pointing to the lute, 'and in the heart of me, there +be more poetry than in that book with which you would kill me.' And +one day, after wandering clandestinely through the steamer, he comes +to me with a gesture of surprise and this: 'Do you know, there are +passengers who sleep in bunks below, over and across each other? I saw +them, billah! And I was told they pay more than we do for such a low +passage--the fools! Think on it. I peeped into a little room, a dingy, +smelling box, which had in it six berths placed across and above each +other like the shelves of the reed manchons we build for our +silk-worms at home. I wouldn't sleep in one of them, billah! even +though they bribe me. This bovine fragrance, the sight of these fine +horses, the rioting of the wind above us, should make us forget the +brutality of the stewards. Indeed, I am as content, as comfortable +here, as are their Excellencies in what is called the Salon. Surely, +we are above them--at least, in the night. What matters it, then, if +ours is called the Fourth Class and theirs the Primo. Wherever one is +happy, Shakib, there is the Primo.'" + +But this happy humour is assailed at Marseilles. His placidity and +stolid indifference are rudely shaken by the sharpers, who differ +only from the boatmen of Beirut in that they wear pantaloons and +intersperse their Arabic with a jargon of French. These brokers, +like rapacious bats, hover around the emigrant and before his +purse is opened for the fourth time, the trick is done. And with +what ceremony, you shall see. From the steamer the emigrant is led +to a dealer in frippery, where he is required to doff his baggy +trousers and crimson cap, and put on a suit of linsey-woolsey and a +hat of hispid felt: end of First Act; open the purse. From the dealer +of frippery, spick and span from top to toe, he is taken to the +hostelry, where he is detained a fortnight, sometimes a month, on +the pretext of having to wait for the best steamer: end of Second Act; +open the purse. From the hostelry at last to the steamship agent, +where they secure for him a third-class passage on a fourth-class +ship across the Atlantic: end of Third Act; open the purse. And now +that the purse is almost empty, the poor emigrant is permitted to +leave. They send him to New York with much gratitude in his heart +and a little trachoma in his eyes. The result being that a month +later they have to look into such eyes again. But the purse of the +distressed emigrant now being empty,--empty as his hopes and +dreams,--the rapacious bats hover not around him, and the door of +the verminous hostelry is shut in his face. He is left to starve +on the western shore of the Mediterranean. + +Ay, even the droll humour and stolidity of Khalid, are shaken, +aroused, by the ghoulish greed, the fell inhumanity of these sharpers. +And Shakib from his cage of fancy lets loose upon them his hyenas of +satire. In a squib describing the bats and the voyage he says: "The +voyage to America is the Via Dolorosa of the emigrant; and the Port of +Beirut, the verminous hostelries of Marseilles, the Island of Ellis in +New York, are the three stations thereof. And if your hopes are not +crucified at the third and last station, you pass into the Paradise of +your dreams. If they are crucified, alas! The gates of the said +Paradise will be shut against you; the doors of the hostelries will be +slammed in your face; and with a consolation and a vengeance you will +throw yourself at the feet of the sea in whose bosom some charitable +Jonah will carry you to your native strands." + +And when the emigrant has a surplus of gold, when his capital is such +as can not be dissipated on a suit of shoddy, a fortnight's lodging, +and a passage across the Atlantic, the ingenious ones proceed with the +Fourth Act of _Open Thy Purse_. "Instead of starting in New York as a +peddler," they say, unfolding before him one of their alluring +schemes, "why not do so as a merchant?" And the emigrant opens his +purse for the fourth time in the office of some French manufacturer, +where he purchases a few boxes of trinketry,--scapulars, prayer-beads, +crosses, jewelry, gewgaws, and such like,--all said to be made in the +Holy Land. These he brings over with him as his stock in trade. + +Now, Khalid and Shakib, after passing a fortnight in Marseilles, and +going through the Fourth Act of the Sorry Show, find their dignity as +merchants rudely crushed beneath the hatches of the Atlantic steamer. +For here, even the pleasure of sleeping on deck is denied them. The +Atlantic Ocean would not permit of it. Indeed, everybody has to slide +into their stivy bunks to save themselves from its rising wrath. A +fortnight of such unutterable misery is quite supportable, however, if +one continues to cherish the Paradise already mentioned. But in this +dark, dingy smelling hole of the steerage, even the poets cease to +dream. The boatmen of Beirut and the sharpers of Marseilles we could +forget; but in this grave among a hundred and more of its kind, set +over and across each other, neither the lute nor the little that +remained in that Ksarah bottle, could bring us any solace. + +We are told that Khalid took up his lute but once throughout the +voyage. And this when they were permitted one night to sleep on deck. +We are also informed that Khalid had a remarkable dream, which, to our +Scribe at least, is not meaningless. And who of us, thou silly Scribe, +did not in his boyhood tell his dreams to his mother, who would turn +them in her interpretation inside out? But Khalid, we are assured, +continued to cherish the belief, even in his riper days, that when you +dream you are in Jannat, for instance, you must be prepared to go +through Juhannam the following day. A method of interpretation as +ancient as Joseph, to be sure. But we quote the dream to show that +Khalid should not have followed the setting sun. He should have turned +his face toward the desert. + +They slept on deck that night. They drank the wine of the Jesuits, +repeated, to the mellow strains of the lute, the song of the bulbuls, +intoned the verses of Al-Mutanabbi, and, wrapping themselves in their +rugs, fell asleep. But in the morning they were rudely jostled from +their dreams by a spurt from the hose of the sailors washing the deck. +Complaining not, they straggle down to their bunks to change their +clothes. And Khalid, as he is doing this, implores Shakib not to +mention to him any more that New-World paradise. "For I have dreamt +last night," he continues, "that, in the multicoloured robes of an +Arab amir, on a caparisoned dromedary, at the head of an immense +multitude of people, I was riding through the desert. Whereto and +wherefrom, I know not. But those who followed me seemed to know; for +they cried, 'Long have we waited for thee, now we shall enter in +peace.' And at every oasis we passed, the people came to the gate to +meet us, and, prostrating themselves before me, kissed the fringe of +my garment. Even the women would touch my boots and kiss their hands, +exclaiming, '_Allahu akbar!_' And the palm trees, billah! I could see +bending towards us that we might eat of their fruits, and the springs +seemed to flow with us into the desert that we might never thirst. Ay, +thus in triumph we marched from one camp to another, from one oasis to +the next, until we reached the City on the Hills of the Cedar Groves. +Outside the gate, we were met by the most beautiful of its tawny +women, and four of these surrounded my camel and took the reins from +my hand. I was then escorted through the gates, into the City, up to +the citadel, where I was awaited by their Princess. And she, taking a +necklace of cowries from a bag that hung on her breast, placed it on +my head, saying, 'I crown thee King of--' But I could not hear the +rest, which was drowned by the cheering of the multitudes. And the +cheering, O Shakib, was drowned by the hose of the sailors. Oh, that +hose! Is it not made in the paradise you harp upon, the paradise we +are coming to? Never, therefore, mention it to me more." + +This is the dream, at once simple and symbolic, which begins to worry +Khalid. "For in the evening of the day he related it to me," writes +Shakib, "I found him sitting on the edge of his bunk brooding over I +know not what. It was the first time he had the blues. Nay, it was the +first time he looked pensive and profound. And upon asking him the +reason for this, he said, 'I am thinking of the paper-boats which I +used to sail down the stream in Baalbek, and that makes me sad.'" + +How strange! And yet, this first event recorded by our Scribe, in +which Khalid is seen struggling with the mysterious and unknown, is +most significant. Another instance, showing a latent phase, hitherto +dormant, in his character, we note. Among the steerage passengers is a +Syrian girl who much resembles his cousin Najma. She was sea-sick +throughout the voyage, and when she comes out to breathe of the fresh +air, a few hours before they enter the harbour of New York, Khalid +sees her, and Shakib swears that he saw a tear in Khalid's eye as he +stood there gazing upon her. Poor Khalid! For though we are +approaching the last station of the Via Dolorosa, though we are +nearing the enchanted domes of the wonder-working, wealth-worshipping +City, he is inexplicably sad. + +And Shakib, directly after swearing that he saw a tear in his eye, +writes the following: "Up to this time I observed in my friend only +the dominating traits of a hard-headed, hard-hearted boy, stubborn, +impetuous, intractable. But from the time he related to me his dream, +a change in his character was become manifest. In fact a new phase was +being gradually unfolded. Three things I must emphasise in this +connection: namely, the first dream he dreamt in a foreign land, the +first time he looked pensive and profound, and the first tear he shed +before we entered New York. These are keys to the secret chamber of +one's soul." + +And now, that the doors, by virtue of our Scribe's open-sesames, are +thrown open, we enter, _bismillah_. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +ON THE WHARF OF ENCHANTMENT + + +Not in our make-up, to be sure,--not in the pose which is preceded by +the tantaras of a trumpet,--do the essential traits in our character +first reveal themselves. But truly in the little things the real self +is exteriorised. Shakib observes closely the rapid changes in his +co-adventurer's humour, the shadowy traits which at that time he +little understood. And now, by applying his palm to his front, he +illumines those chambers of which he speaks, and also the niches +therein. He helps us to understand the insignificant points which mark +the rapid undercurrents of the seemingly sluggish soul of Khalid. Not +in vain, therefore, does he crystallise for us that first tear he shed +in the harbour of Manhattan. But his gush about the recondite beauty +of this pearl of melancholy, shall not be intended upon the gustatory +nerves of the Reader. This then we note--his description of New York +harbour. + +"And is this the gate of Paradise," he asks, "or the port of some +subterrestrial city guarded by the Jinn? What a marvel of enchantment +is everything around us! What manifestations of industrial strength, +what monstrosities of wealth and power, are here! These vessels +proudly putting to sea; these tenders scurrying to meet the Atlantic +greyhound which is majestically moving up the bay; these barges +loading and unloading schooners from every strand, distant and near; +these huge lighters carrying even railroads over the water; these +fire-boats scudding through the harbour shrilling their sirens; these +careworn, grim, strenuous multitudes ferried across from one enchanted +shore to another; these giant structures tickling heaven's sides; +these cable bridges, spanning rivers, uniting cities; and this +superterrestrial goddess, torch in hand--wake up, Khalid, and behold +these wonders. Salaam, this enchanted City! There is the Brooklyn +Bridge, and here is the Statue of Liberty which people speak of, and +which are as famous as the Cedars of Lebanon." + +But Khalid is as impassive as the bronze goddess herself. He leans +over the rail, his hand supporting his cheek, and gazes into the ooze. +The stolidity of his expression is appalling. With his mouth open as +usual, his lips relaxed, his tongue sticking out through the set +teeth,--he looks as if his head were in a noose. But suddenly he +braces up, runs down for his lute, and begins to serenade--Greater New +York? + + "On thee be Allah's grace, + Who hath the well-loved face!" + +No; not toward this City does his heart flap its wings of song. He is +on another sea, in another harbour. Indeed, what are these wonders as +compared with those of the City of Love? The Statue of Eros there is +more imposing than the Statue of Liberty here. And the bridges are +not of iron and concrete, but of rainbows and--moonshine! Indeed, both +these lads are now on the wharf of enchantment; the one on the +palpable, the sensuous, the other on the impalpable and unseen. But +both, alas, are suddenly, but temporarily, disenchanted as they are +jostled out of the steamer into the barge which brings them to the +Juhannam of Ellis Island. Here, the unhappy children of the steerage +are dumped into the Bureau of Emigration as--such stuff! For even in +the land of equal rights and freedom, we have a right to expect from +others the courtesy and decency which we ourselves do not have to +show, or do not know. + +These are sturdy and adventurous foreigners whom the grumpy officers +jostle and hustle about. For neither poverty, nor oppression, nor both +together can drive a man out of his country, unless the soul within +him awaken. Indeed, many a misventurous cowering peasant continues to +live on bread and olives in his little village, chained in the fear of +dying of hunger in a foreign land. Only the brave and daring spirits +hearken to the voice of discontent within them. They give themselves +up to the higher aspirations of the soul, no matter how limited such +aspirations might be, regardless of the dangers and hardship of a long +sea voyage, and the precariousness of their plans and hopes. There may +be nothing noble in renouncing one's country, in abandoning one's +home, in forsaking one's people; but is there not something remarkable +in this great move one makes? Whether for better or for worse, does +not the emigrant place himself above his country, his people and his +Government, when he turns away from them, when he goes forth propelled +by that inner self which demands of him a new life? + +And might it not be a better, a cleaner, a higher life? What say our +Masters of the Island of Ellis? Are not these straggling, smelling, +downcast emigrants almost as clean inwardly, and as pure, as the +grumpy officers who harass and humiliate them? Is not that spirit of +discontent which they cherish, and for which they carry the cross, so +to speak, across the sea, deserving of a little consideration, a +little civility, a little kindness? + +Even louder than this Shakib cries out, while Khalid open-mouthed +sucks his tongue. Here at the last station, where the odours of +disinfectants are worse than the stench of the steerage, they await +behind the bars their turn; stived with Italian and Hungarian fellow +sufferers, uttering such whimpers of expectancy, exchanging such +gestures of hope. Soon they shall be brought forward to be examined by +the doctor and the interpreting officer; the one shall pry their +purses, the other their eyes. For in this United States of America we +want clear-sighted citizens at least. And no cold-purses, if the +matter can be helped. But neither the eyes, alas, nor the purses of +our two emigrants are conformable to the Law; the former are filled +with granulations of trachoma, the latter have been emptied by the +sharpers of Marseilles. Which means that they shall be detained for +the present; and if within a fortnight nothing turns up in their +favour, they shall certainly be deported. + +Trachoma! a little granulation on the inner surface of the eyelids, +what additional misery does it bring upon the poor deported emigrant? +We are asked to shed a tear for him, to weep with him over his blasted +hopes, his strangled aspirations, his estate in the mother country +sold or mortgaged,--in either case lost,--and his seed of a new life +crushed in its cotyledon by the physician who might be short-sighted +himself, or even blind. But the law must be enforced for the sake of +the clear-sighted citizens of the Republic. We will have nothing to do +with these poor blear-eyed foreigners. + +And thus our grievous Scribe would continue, if we did not exercise +the prerogative of our Editorial Divan. Rather let us pursue our +narration. Khalid is now in the hospital, awaiting further development +in his case. But in Shakib's, whose eyes are far gone in trachoma, the +decision of the Board of Emigration is final, irrevokable. And so, +after being detained a week in the Emigration pen, the unfortunate +Syrian must turn his face again toward the East. Not out into the +City, but out upon the sea, he shall be turned adrift. The grumpy +officer shall grumpishly enforce the decision of the Board by handing +our Scribe to the Captain of the first steamer returning to Europe--if +our Scribe can be found! For this flyaway son of a Phoenician did not +seem to wait for the decision of the polyglot Judges of the Emigration +Board. + +And that he did escape, we are assured. For one morning he eludes the +grumpy officer, and sidles out among his Italian neighbours who were +permitted to land. See him genuflecting now, to kiss the curbstone +and thank Allah that he is free. But before he can enjoy his freedom, +before he can sit down and chuckle over the success of his escapade, +he must bethink him of Khalid. He will not leave him to the mercy of +the honourable Agents of the Law, if he can help it. Trachoma, he +knows, is a hard case to cure. And in ten days, under the care of the +doctors, it might become worse. Straightway, therefore, he puts +himself to the dark task. A few visits to the Hospital where Khalid is +detained--the patients in those days were not held at Ellis +Island--and the intrigue is afoot. On the third or fourth visit, we +can not make out which, a note in Arabic is slipt into Khalid's +pocket, and with a significant Arabic sign, Shakib takes himself off. + +The evening of that very day, the trachoma-afflicted Syrian was absent +from the ward. He was carried off by Iblis,--the porter and a few +Greenbacks assisting. Yes, even Shakib, who knew only a few English +monosyllables, could here make himself understood. For money is one of +the two universal languages of the world, the other being love. +Indeed, money and love are as eloquent in Turkey and Dahomey as they +are in Paris or New York. + +And here we reach one of those hedges in the _Histoire Intime_ which +we must go through in spite of the warning-signs. Between two +paragraphs, to be plain, in the one of which we are told how the two +Syrians established themselves as merchants in New York, in the other, +how and wherefor they shouldered the peddling-box and took to the +road, there is a crossed paragraph containing a most significant +revelation. It seems that after giving the matter some serious +thought, our Scribe came to the conclusion that it is not proper to +incriminate his illustrious Master. But here is a confession which a +hundred crosses can not efface. And if he did not want to bring the +matter to our immediate cognisance, why, we ask, did he not re-write +the page? Why did he not cover well that said paragraph with crosses +and arabesques? We do suspect him here of chicanery; for by this +plausible recantation he would shift the responsibility to the +shoulders of the Editor, if the secret is divulged. Be this as it may, +no red crosses can conceal from us the astounding confession, which we +now give out. For the two young Syrians, who were smuggled out of +their country by the boatmen of Beirut, and who smuggled themselves +into the city of New York (we beg the critic's pardon; for, being +foreigners ourselves, we ought to be permitted to stretch this term, +smuggle, to cover an Arabic metaphor, or to smuggle into it a foreign +meaning), these two Syrians, we say, became, in their capacity of +merchants, smugglers of the most ingenious and most evasive type. + +We now note the following, which pertains to their business. We learn +that they settled in the Syrian Quarter directly after clearing their +merchandise. And before they entered their cellar, we are assured, +they washed their hands of all intrigues and were shrived of their +sins by the Maronite priest of the Colony. For they were pious in +those days, and right Catholics. 'Tis further set down in the +_Histoire Intime_: + +"We rented a cellar, as deep and dark and damp as could be found. And +our landlord was a Teague, nay, a kind-hearted old Irishman, who +helped us put up the shelves, and never called for the rent in the +dawn of the first day of the month. In the front part of this cellar +we had our shop; in the rear, our home. On the floor we laid our +mattresses, on the shelves, our goods. And never did we stop to think +who in this case was better off. The safety of our merchandise before +our own. But ten days after we had settled down, the water issued +forth from the floor and inundated our shop and home. It rose so high +that it destroyed half of our capital stock and almost all our +furniture. And yet, we continued to live in the cellar, because, +perhaps, every one of our compatriot-merchants did so. We were all +alike subject to these inundations in the winter season. I remember +when the water first rose in our store, Khalid was so hard set and in +such a pucker that he ran out capless and in his shirt sleeves to +discover in the next street the source of the flood. And one day, when +we were pumping out the water he asked me if I thought this was easier +than rolling our roofs in Baalbek. For truly, the paving-roller is +child's play to this pump. And a leaky roof is better than an +inundated cellar." + +However, this is not the time for brooding. They have to pump ahead to +save what remained of their capital stock. But Khalid, nevertheless, +would brood and jabber. And what an inundation of ideas, and what +questions! + +"Think you," he asks, "that the inhabitants of this New World are +better off than those of the Old?--Can you imagine mankind living in a +huge cellar of a world and you and I pumping the water out of its +bottom?--I can see the palaces on which you waste your rhymes, but +mankind live in them only in the flesh. The soul I tell you, still +occupies the basement, even the sub-cellar. And an inundated cellar at +that. The soul, Shakib, is kept below, although the high places are +vacant." + +And his partner sputters out his despair; for instead of helping to +pump out the water, Khalid stands there gazing into it, as if by some +miracle he would draw it out with his eyes or with his breath. And the +poor Poet cries out, "Pump! the water is gaining on us, and our shop +is going to ruin. Pump!" Whereupon the lazy, absent-minded one resumes +pumping, while yearning all the while for the plashing stone-rollers +and the purling eaves of his home in Baalbek. And once in a +pinch,--they are labouring under a peltering rain,--he stops as is his +wont to remind Shakib of the Arabic saying, "From the dripping ceiling +to the running gargoyle." He is labouring again under a hurricane of +ideas. And again he asks, "Are you sure we are better off here?" + +And our poor Scribe, knee-deep in the water below, blusters out +curses, which Khalid heeds not. "I am tired of this job," he growls; +"the stone-roller never drew so much on my strength, nor did +muleteering. Ah, for my dripping ceiling again, for are we not now +under the running gargoyle?" And he reverts into a stupor, leaving the +world to the poet and the pump. + +For five years and more they lead such a life in the cellar. And they +do not move out of it, lest they excite the envy of their compatriots. +But instead of sleeping on the floor, they stretch themselves on the +counters. The rising tide teaches them this little wisdom, which keeps +the doctor and Izraeil away. Their merchandise, however,--their +crosses, and scapulars and prayer-beads,--are beyond hope of recovery. +For what the rising tide spares, the rascally flyaway peddlers carry +away. That is why they themselves shoulder the box and take to the +road. And the pious old dames of the suburbs, we are told, receive +them with such exclamations of joy and wonder, and almost tear their +coats to get from them a sacred token. For you must remember, they are +from the Holy Land. Unlike their goods, they at least are genuine. And +every Saturday night, after beating the hoof in the country and making +such fabulous profits on their false Holy-Land gewgaws, they return to +their cellar happy and content. + +"In three years," writes our Scribe, "Khalid and I acquired what I +still consider a handsome fortune. Each of us had a bank account, and +a check book which we seldom used.... In spite of which, we continued +to shoulder the peddling box and tramp along.... And Khalid would say +to me, 'A peddler is superior to a merchant; we travel and earn money; +our compatriots the merchants rust in their cellars and lose it.' To +be sure, peddling in the good old days was most attractive. For the +exercise, the gain, the experience--these are rich acquirements." + +And both Shakib and Khalid, we apprehend, have been hitherto most +moderate in their habits. The fact that they seldom use their check +books, testifies to this. They have now a peddleress, Im-Hanna by +name, who occupies their cellar in their absence, and keeps what +little they have in order. And when they return every Saturday night +from their peddling trip, they find the old woman as ready to serve +them as a mother. She cooks _mojadderah_ for them, and sews the +bed-linen on the quilts as is done in the mother country. + +"The linen," says Shakib, "was always as white as a dove's wing, when +Im-Hanna was with us." + +And in the Khedivial Library Manuscript we find this curious note upon +that popular Syrian dish of lentils and olive oil. + +"_Mojadderah_," writes Khalid, "has a marvellous effect upon my humour +and nerves. There are certain dishes, I confess, which give me the +blues. Of these, fried eggplants and cabbage boiled with corn-beef on +the American system of boiling, that is to say, cooking, I abominate +the most. But _mojadderah_ has such a soothing effect on the nerves; +it conduces to cheerfulness, especially when the raw onion or the leek +is taken with it. After a good round pewter platter of this delicious +dish and a dozen leeks, I feel as if I could do the work of all +mankind. And I am then in such a beatific state of mind that I would +share with all mankind my sack of lentils and my pipkin of olive oil. +I wonder not at Esau's extravagance, when he saw a steaming mess of +it. For what is a birthright in comparison?" + +That Shakib also shared this beatific mood, the following quaint +picture of their Saturday nights in the cellar, will show. + +"A bank account," he writes, "a good round dish of _mojadderah_, the +lute for Khalid, Al-Mutanabbi for me,--neither of us could forego his +hobby,--and Im-Hanna, affectionate, devoted as our mothers,--these +were the joys of our Saturday nights in our underground diggings. We +were absolutely happy. And we never tried to measure our happiness in +those days, or gauge it, or flay it to see if it be dead or alive, +false or real. Ah, the blessedness of that supreme unconsciousness +which wrapped us as a mother would her babe, warming and caressing our +hearts. We did not know then that happiness was a thing to be sought. +We only knew that peddling is a pleasure, that a bank account is a +supreme joy, that a dish of _mojadderah_ cooked by Im-Hanna is a royal +delight, that our dour dark cellar is a palace of its kind, and that +happiness, like a bride, issues from all these, and, touching the +strings of Khalid's lute, mantles us with song." + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE CELLAR OF THE SOUL + + +Heretofore, Khalid and Shakib have been inseparable as the Pointers. +They always appeared together, went the rounds of their peddling orbit +together, and together were subject to the same conditions and +restraints. Which restraints are a sort of sacrifice they make on the +altar of friendship. One, for instance, would never permit himself an +advantage which the other could not enjoy, or a pleasure in which the +other could not share. They even slept under the same blanket, we +learn, ate from the same plate, puffed at the same narghilah, which +Shakib brought with him from Baalbek, and collaborated in writing to +one lady-love! A condition of unexampled friendship this, of complete +oneness. They had both cut themselves garments from the same cloth, as +the Arabic saying goes. And on Sunday afternoon, in garments spick and +span, they would take the air in Battery Park, where the one would +invoke the Statue of Liberty for a thought, or the gilded domes of +Broadway for a metaphor, while the other would be scouring the horizon +for the Nothingness, which is called, in the recondite cant of the +sophisticated, a vague something. + +In the Khedivial Library MS. we find nothing which this Battery Park +might have inspired. And yet, we can not believe that Khalid here was +only attracted by that vague something which, in his spiritual +enceinteship, he seemed to relish. Nothing? Not even the does and +kangaroos that adorn the Park distracted or detained him? We doubt it; +and Khalid's lute sustains us in our doubt. Ay, and so does our +Scribe; for in his _Histoire Intime_ we read the following, which we +faithfully transcribe. + +"Of the many attractions of Battery Park, the girls and the sea were +my favourite. For the girls in a crowd have for me a fascination which +only the girls at the bath can surpass. I love to lose myself in a +crowd, to buffet, so to speak, its waves, to nestle under their +feathery crests. For the rolling waves of life, the tumbling waves of +the sea, and the fiery waves of Al-Mutanabbi's poetry have always been +my delight. In Battery Park I took especial pleasure in reading aloud +my verses to Khalid, or in fact to the sea, for Khalid never would +listen. + +"Once I composed a few stanzas to the Milkmaid who stood in her wagon +near the lawn, rattling out milk-punches to the boys. A winsome lass +she was, fresh in her sororiation, with fair blue eyes, a celestial +flow of auburn hair, and cheeks that suggested the milk and cherry in +the glass she rattled out to me. I was reading aloud the stanzas which +she inspired, when Khalid, who was not listening, pointed out to me a +woman whose figure and the curves thereof were remarkable. 'Is it not +strange,' said he, 'how the women here indraw their stomachs and +outdraw their hips? And is not this the opposite of the shape which +our women cultivate?' + +"Yes, with the Lebanon women, the convex curve beneath the waist is +frontward, not hindward. But that is a matter of taste, I thought, and +man is partly responsible for either convexity. I have often wondered, +however, why the women of my country cultivate that shape. And why do +they in America cultivate the reverse of it? Needless to say that both +are pruriently titillating,--both distentions are damnably suggestive, +quite killing. The American woman, from a fine sense of modesty, I am +told, never or seldom ventures abroad, when big with child. But in the +kangaroo figure, the burden is slightly shifted and naught is amiss. +Ah, such haunches as are here exhibited suggest the _aliats_ of our +Asiatic sheep." + +And what he says about the pruriently titillating convexities, whether +frontward or hindward, suggests a little prudery. For in his rhymes he +betrays both his comrade and himself. Battery Park and the attractions +thereof prove fatal. Elsewhere, therefore, they must go, and begin to +draw on their bank accounts. Which does not mean, however, that they +are far from the snare. No; for when a young man begins to suffer from +what the doctors call hebephrenia, the farther he draws away from such +snares the nearer he gets to them. And these lusty Syrians could not +repel the magnetic attraction of the polypiosis of what Shakib likens +to the _aliat_ (fattail) of our Asiatic sheep. Surely, there be more +devils under such an _aliat_ than under the hat of a Jesuit. And +Khalid is the first to discover this. Both have been ensnared, +however, and both, when in the snare, have been infernally inspired. +What Khalid wrote, when he was under the influence of feminine curves, +was preserved by Shakib, who remarks that one evening, after returning +from the Park, Khalid said to him, 'I am going to write a poem.' A +fortnight later, he hands him the following, which he jealously kept +among his papers. + + I dreamt I was a donkey-boy again. + Out on the sun-swept roads of Baalbek, I tramp behind my + burro, trolling my _mulayiah_. + At noon, I pass by a garden redolent of mystic scents and + tarry awhile. + Under an orange tree, on the soft green grass, I stretch my + limbs. + The daisies, the anemones, and the cyclamens are round me + pressing: + The anemone buds hold out to me their precious rubies; the + daisies kiss me in the eyes and lips; and the cyclamens + shake their powder in my hair. + On the wall, the roses are nodding, smiling; above me the + orange blossoms surrender themselves to the wooing + breeze; and on yonder rock the salamander sits, complacent + and serene. + I take a daisy, and, boy as boys go, question its + petals: + Married man or monk, I ask, plucking them off one by one, + And the last petal says, Monk. + I perfume my fingers with crumpled cyclamens, cover my + face with the dark-eyed anemones, and fall asleep. + And my burro sleeps beneath the wall, in the shadow of + nodding roses. + And the black-birds too are dozing, and the bulbuls flitting + by whisper with their wings, 'salaam.' + Peace and salaam! + The bulbul, the black-bird, the salamander, the burro, and + the burro-boy, are to each other shades of noon-day sun: + Happy, loving, generous, and free;-- + As happy as each other, and as free. + We do what we please in Nature's realm, go where we + please; + No one's offended, no one ever wronged. + No sentinels hath Nature, no police. + But lo, a goblin as I sleep comes forth;-- + A goblin taller than the tallest poplar, who carries me upon + his neck to the Park in far New York. + Here women, light-heeled, heavy-haunched, pace up and + down the flags in graceful gait. + My roses these, I cry, and my orange blossoms. + But the goblin placed his hand upon my mouth, and I was + dumb. + The cyclamens, the anemones, the daisies, I saw them, but I + could not speak to them. + The goblin placed his hand upon my mouth, and I was + dumb. + O take me back to my own groves, I cried, or let me speak. + But he threw me off his shoulders in a huff, among the daisies + and the cyclamens. + Alone among them, but I could not speak. + He had tied my tongue, the goblin, and left me there alone. + And in front of me, and towards me, and beside me, + Walked Allah's fairest cyclamens and anemones. + I smell them, and the tears flow down my cheeks; + I can not even like the noon-day bulbul + Whisper with my wings, salaam! + I sit me on a bench and weep. + And in my heart I sing + O, let me be a burro-boy again; + O, let me sleep among the cyclamens + Of my own land. + +Shades of Whitman! But Whitman, thou Donkey, never weeps. Whitman, if +that goblin tried to silence him, would have wrung his neck, after he +had ridden upon it. The above, nevertheless, deserves the space we +give it here, as it shadows forth one of the essential elements of +Khalid's spiritual make-up. But this slight symptom of that disease we +named, this morbidness incident to adolescence, is eventually overcome +by a dictionary and a grammar. Ay, Khalid henceforth shall cease to +scour the horizon for that vague something of his dreams; he has +become far-sighted enough by the process to see the necessity of +pursuing in America something more spiritual than peddling crosses and +scapulars. Especially in this America, where the alphabet is spread +broadcast, and free of charge. And so, he sets himself to the task of +self-education. He feels the embryo stir within him, and in the +squeamishness of enceinteship, he asks but for a few of the fruits of +knowledge. Ah, but he becomes voracious of a sudden, and the little +pocket dictionary is devoured entirely in three sittings. Hence his +folly of treating his thoughts and fancies, as he was treated by the +goblin. For do not words often rob a fancy of its tongue, or a thought +of its soul? Many of the pieces Khalid wrote when he was devouring +dictionaries were finally disposed of in a most picturesque manner, as +we shall relate. And a few were given to Shakib, of which that Dream +of Cyclamens was preserved. + +And Khalid's motto was, "One book at a time." He would not encumber +himself with books any more than he would with shoes. But that the +mind might not go barefoot, he always bought a new book before +destroying the one in hand. Destroying? Yes; for after reading or +studying a book, he warms his hands upon its flames, this Khalid, or +makes it serve to cook a pot of _mojadderah_. In this extraordinary +and outrageous manner, barbarously capricious, he would baptise the +ideal in the fire of the real. And thus, glowing with health and +confidence and conceit, he enters another Park from which he escapes +in the end, sad and wan and bankrupt. Of a truth, many attractions and +distractions are here; else he could not forget the peddling-box and +the light-heeled, heavy-haunched women of Battery Park. Here are +swings for the mind; toboggan-chutes for the soul; merry-go-rounds for +the fancy; and many devious and alluring paths where one can lose +himself for years. A sanitarium this for the hebephreniac. And like +all sanitariums, you go into it with one disease and come out of it +with ten. Had Shakib been forewarned of Khalid's mind, had he even +seen him at the gate before he entered, he would have given him a few +hints about the cross-signs and barbed-cordons therein. But should he +not have divined that Khalid soon or late was coming? Did _he_ not +call enough to him, and aloud? "Get thee behind me on this dromedary," +our Scribe, reading his Al-Mutanabbi, would often say to his comrade, +"and come from this desert of barren gold, if but for a day,--come out +with me to the oasis of poesy." + +But Khalid would only ride alone. And so, he begins his course of +self-education. But how he shall manage it, in this cart-before-the-horse +fashion, the reader shall know. Words before rules, ideas before +systems, epigrams before texts,--that is Khalid's fancy. And that +seems feasible, though not logical; it will prove effectual, too, if one +finally brushed the text and glanced at the rules. For an epigram, +when it takes possession of one, goes farther in influencing his +thoughts and actions than whole tomes of ethical culture science. You +know perhaps how the Arabs conquered the best half of the world with an +epigram, a word. And Khalid loves a fine-sounding, easy-flowing word; a +word of supple joints, so to speak; a word that you can twist and roll +out, flexible as a bamboo switch, resilient as a fine steel rapier. +But once Shakib, after reading one of Khalid's first attempts, gets up in +the night when his friend is asleep, takes from the bottom drawer of the +peddling-box the evil-working dictionary, and places therein a grammar. +This touch of delicacy, this fine piece of criticism, brief and neat, +without words withal, Khalid this time is not slow to grasp and +appreciate. He plunges, therefore, headlong into the grammar, turns a +few somersaults in the mazes of Sibawai and Naftawai, and coming out +with a broken noddle, writes on the door the following: "What do I care +about your theories of nouns and verbs? Whether the one be derived from +the other, concerns not me. But this I know, after stumbling once or +twice in your labyrinths, one comes out parsing the verb, to run. +Indeed, verbs are more essential than nouns and adjectives. A noun can +be represented pictorially; but how, pictorially, can you represent a noun +in motion,--Khalid, for instance, running out of your labyrinths? Even +an abstract state can be represented in a picture, but a transitive state +never. The richest language, therefore, is not the one which can boast of +a thousand names for the lion or two thousand for the camel, but the +one whose verbs have a complete and perfect gamut of moods and tenses." + +That is why, although writing in Arabic, Khalid prefers English. For +the Arabic verb is confined to three tenses, the primary ones only; +and to break through any of these in any degree, requires such +crowbars as only auxiliaries and other verbs can furnish. For this and +many other reasons Khalid stops short in the mazes of Sibawai, runs +out of them exasperated, depressed, and never for a long time after +looks in that direction. He is now curious to know if the English +language have its Sibawais and Naftawais. And so, he buys him a +grammar, and there finds the way somewhat devious, too, but not enough +to constitute a maze. The men who wrote these grammars must have had +plenty of time to do a little useful work. They do not seem to have +walked leisurely in flowing robes disserting a life-long dissertation +on the origin and descent of a preposition. One day Shakib is amazed +by finding the grammars page by page tacked on the walls of the cellar +and Khalid pacing around leisurely lingering a moment before each +page, as if he were in an art gallery. That is how he tackled his +subject. And that is why he and Shakib begin to quarrel. The idea! +That a fledgling should presume to pick flaws. To Shakib, who is +textual to a hair, this is intolerable. And that state of oneness +between them shall be subject hereafter to "the corrosive action of +various unfriendly agents." For Khalid, who has never yet been +snaffled, turns restively from the bit which his friend, for his own +sake, would put in his mouth. The rupture follows. The two for a while +wend their way in opposite directions. Shakib still cherishing and +cultivating his bank account, shoulders his peddling-box and jogs +along with his inspiring demon, under whose auspices, he tells us, he +continues to write verse and gull with his brummagems the pious dames +of the suburbs. And Khalid sits on his peddling-box for hours +pondering on the necessity of disposing of it somehow. For now he +scarcely makes more than a few peddling-trips each month, and when he +returns, he does not go to the bank to add to his balance, but to draw +from it. That is why the accounts of the two Syrians do not fare +alike; Shakib's is gaining in weight, Khalid's is wasting away. + +Yes, the strenuous spirit is a long time dead in Khalid. He is +gradually reverting to the Oriental instinct. And when he is not +loafing in Battery Park, carving his name on the bench, he is +burrowing in the shelves of some second-hand book-shop or dreaming in +the dome of some Broadway skyscraper. Does not this seem inevitable, +however, considering the palingenetic burden within him? And is not +loafing a necessary prelude to the travail? Khalid, of course, felt +the necessity of this, not knowing the why and wherefor. And from the +vast world of paper-bound souls, for he relished but pamphlets at the +start--they do not make much smoke in the fire, he would say--from +that vast world he could command the greatest of the great to help him +support the loafing while. And as by a miracle, he came out of that +chaos of contending spirits without a scratch. He enjoyed the +belligerency of pamphleteers as an American would enjoy a prize +fight. But he sided with no one; he took from every one his best and +consigned him to Im-Hanna's kitchen. Torquemada could not have done +better; but Khalid, it is hoped, will yet atone for his crimes. + +Monsieur Pascal, with whom he quarrels before he burns, had a +particular influence upon him. He could not rest after reading his +"Thoughts" until he read the Bible. And of the Prophets of the Old +Testament he had an especial liking for Jeremiah and Isaiah. And once +he bought a cheap print of Jeremiah which he tacked on the wall of his +cellar. From the Khedivial Library MS. we give two excerpts relating +to Pascal and this Prophet. + + "O Monsieur Pascal, + + "I tried hard to hate and detest myself, as you advise, and I + found that I could not by so doing love God. 'Tis in loving the + divine in Man, in me, in you, that we rise to the love of our + Maker. And in giving your proofs of the true religion, you speak + of the surprising measures of the Christian Faith, enjoining man + to acknowledge himself vile, base, abominable, and obliging him + at the same time to aspire towards a resemblance of his Maker. + Now, I see in this a foreshadowing of the theory of evolution, + nay a divine warrant for it. Nor is it the Christian religion + alone which unfolds to man the twofold mystery of his nature; + others are as dark and as bright on either side of the pole. And + Philosophy conspiring with Biology will not consent to the + apotheosis of Man, unless he wear on his breast a symbol of his + tail.... _Au-revoir_, Monsieur Pascal, Remember me to St. + Augustine." + + "O Jeremiah, + + "Thy picture, sitting among the ruins of the City of Zion, + appeals to my soul. Why, I know not. It may be because I myself + once sat in that posture among the ruins of my native City of + Baal. But the ruins did not grieve me as did the uncle who + slammed the door in my face that night. True, I wept in the + ruins, but not over them. Something else had punctured the + bladderets of my tears. And who knows who punctured thine, O + Jeremiah? Perhaps a daughter of Tamar had stuck a bodkin in + thine eye, and in lamenting thine own fate--Pardon me, O + Jeremiah. Melikes not all these tears of thine. Nor did Zion and + her children in Juhannam, I am sure.... Instead of a scroll in + thy hand, I would have thee hold a harp. Since King David, Allah + has not thought of endowing his prophets with musical talent. + Why, think what an honest prophet could accomplish if his + message were put into music. And withal, if he himself could + sing it. Yes, our modern Jeremiahs should all take music + lessons; for no matter how deep and poignant our sorrows, we can + always rise from them, harp in hand, to an ecstasy, joyous and + divine." + +Now, connect with this the following from the _Histoire Intime_, and +you have the complete history of this Prophet in Khalid's cellar. For +Khalid himself never gives us the facts in the case. Our Scribe, +however, comes not short in this. + +"The picture of the Prophet Jeremiah," writes he, "Khalid hung on the +wall, above his bed. And every night he would look up to it +invokingly, muttering I know not what. One evening, while in this +posture, he took up his lute and trolled a favourite ditty. For three +days and three nights that picture hung on the wall. And on the +morning of the fourth day--it was a cold December morning, I +remember--he took it down and lighted the fire with it. The Pamphlet +he had read a few days since, he also threw into the fire, and +thereupon called to me saying, 'Come, Shakib, and warm yourself.'" + +And the Pamphlet, we learn, which was thus baptised in the same fire +with the Prophet's picture, was Tom Paine's _Age of Reason_. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE SUMMER AFTERNOON OF A SHAM + + +For two years and more Khalid's young mind went leaping from one swing +to another, from one carousel or toboggan-chute to the next, without +having any special object in view, without knowing why and wherefor. +He even entered such mazes of philosophy, such labyrinths of mysticism +as put those of the Arabian grammaticasters in the shade. To him, +education was a sport, pursued in a free spirit after his own fancy, +without method or discipline. For two years and more he did little but +ramble thus, drawing meanwhile on his account in the bank, and burning +pamphlets. + +One day he passes by a second-hand book-shop, which is in the +financial hive of the city, hard by a church and within a stone's +throw from the Stock Exchange. The owner, a shabby venerable, +standing there, pipe in mouth, between piles of pamphlets and +little pyramids of books, attracts Khalid. He too occupies a +cellar. And withal he resembles the Prophet in the picture which was +burned with Tom Paine's _Age of Reason_. Nothing in the face at +least is amiss. A flowing, serrated, milky beard, with a touch of +gold around the mouth; an aquiline nose; deep set blue eyes canopied +with shaggy brows; a forehead broad and high; a dome a little frowsy +but not guilty of a hair--the Prophet Jeremiah! Only one thing, a clay +pipe which he seldom took out of his mouth except to empty and +refill, seemed to take from the prophetic solemnity of the face. +Otherwise, he is as grim and sullen as the Prophet. In his voice, +however, there is a supple sweetness which the hard lines in his face +do not express. Khalid nicknames him second-hand Jerry, makes to him +professions of friendship, and for many months comes every day to +see him. He comes with his bucket, as he would say, to Jerry's well. +For the two, the young man and the old man of the cellar, the +neophite and the master, would chat about literature and the makers +of it for hours. And what a sea of information is therein under that +frowsy dome. Withal, second-hand Jerry is a man of ideals and +abstractions, exhibiting now and then an heretical twist which is +as agreeable as the vermiculations in a mahogany. "We moderns," said +he once to Khalid, "are absolutely one-sided. Here, for instance, is +my book-shop, there is the Church, and yonder is the Stock Exchange. +Now, the men who frequent them, and though their elbows touch, are +as foreign to each other as is a jerboa to a polar bear. Those who +go to Church do not go to the Stock Exchange; those who spend their +days on the Stock Exchange seldom go to Church; and those who +frequent my cellar go neither to the one nor the other. That is why +our civilisation produces so many bigots, so many philistines, so +many pedants and prigs. The Stock Exchange is as necessary to +Society as the Church, and the Church is as vital, as essential +to its spiritual well-being as my book-shop. And not until man +develops his mental, spiritual and physical faculties to what +Matthew Arnold calls 'a harmonious perfection,' will he be able to +reach the heights from which Idealism is waving to him." + +Thus would the master discourse, and the neophite, sitting on the +steps of the cellar, smoking his cigarette, listens, admiring, +pondering. And every time he comes with his bucket, Jerry would be +standing there, between his little pyramids of books, pipe in mouth, +hands in pockets, ready for the discourse. He would also conduct +through his underworld any one who had the leisure and inclination. +But fortunately for Khalid, the people of this district are either too +rich to buy second-hand books, or too snobbish to stop before this +curiosity shop of literature. Hence the master is never too busy; he +is always ready to deliver the discourse. + +One day Khalid is conducted into the labyrinthine gloom and mould of +the cellar. Through the narrow isles, under a low ceiling, papered, as +it were, with pamphlets, between ramparts and mounds of books, old +Jerry, his head bowed, his lighted taper in hand, proceeds. And Khalid +follows directly behind, listening to his guide who points out the +objects and places of interest. And thus, through the alleys and +by-ways, through the nooks and labyrinths of these underground +temple-ruins, we get to the rear, where the ramparts and mounds +crumble to a mighty heap, rising pell-mell to the ceiling. Here, one +is likely to get a glimpse into such enchanted worlds as the name of +a Dickens or a Balzac might suggest. Here, too, is Shakespeare in +lamentable state; there is Carlyle in rags, still crying, as it were, +against the filth and beastliness of this underworld. And look at my +lord Tennyson shivering in his nakedness and doomed to keep company +with the meanest of poetasters. Observe how Emerson is wriggled and +ruffled in this crushing crowd. Does he not seem to be still sighing +for a little solitude? But here, too, are spots of the rarest literary +interest. Close to the vilest of dime novels is an autograph copy of a +book which you might not find at Brentano's. Indeed, the rarities here +stand side by side with the superfluities--the abominations with the +blessings of literature--cluttered together, reduced to a common +level. And all in a condition which bespeaks the time when they were +held in the affection of some one. Now, they lie a-mouldering in these +mounds, and on these shelves, awaiting a curious eye, a kindly hand. + + "To me," writes Khalid in the K. L. MS., "there is always + something pathetic in a second-hand book offered again for sale. + Why did its first owner part with it? Was it out of disgust or + surfeit or penury? Did he throw it away, or give it away, or + sell it? Alas, and is this how to treat a friend? Were it not + better burned, than sold or thrown away? After coming out of the + press, how many have handled this tattered volume? How many has + it entertained, enlightened, or perverted? Look at its pages, + which evidence the hardship of the journey it has made. Here + still is a pressed flower, more convincing in its shrouded + eloquence than the philosophy of the pages in which it lies + buried. On the fly-leaf are the names of three successive + owners, and on the margin are lead pencil notes in which the + reader criticises the author. Their spirits are now shrouded + together and entombed in this pile, where the mould never fails + and the moths never die. They too are fallen a prey to the worms + of the earth. A second-hand book-shop always reminds me of a + Necropolis. It is a kind of Serapeum where lies buried the kings + and princes with the helots and underlings of literature. Ay, + every book is a mortuary chamber containing the remains of some + poor literary wretch, or some mighty genius.... A book is a + friend, my brothers, and when it ceases to entertain or instruct + or inspire, it is dead. And would you sell a dead friend, would + you throw him away? If you can not keep him embalmed on your + shelf, is it not the wiser part, and the kinder, to cremate + him?" + +And Khalid tells old Jerry, that if every one buying and reading +books, disposed of them in the end as he himself does, second-hand +book-shops would no longer exist. But old Jerry never despairs of +business. And the idea of turning his Serapeum into a kiln does not +appeal to him. Howbeit, Khalid has other ideas which the old man +admires, and which he would carry out if the police would not +interfere. "If I were the owner of this shop," thus the neophite to +the master, "I would advertise it with a bonfire of pamphlets. I would +take a few hundreds from that mound there and give them the match +right in front of that Church, or better still before the Stock +Exchange. And I would have two sandwich-men stand about the bonfire, +as high priests of the Temple, and chant the praises of second-hand +Jerry and his second-hand book-shop. This will be the sacrifice which +you will have offered to the god of Trade right in front of his +sanctuary that he might soften the induration in the breasts of these +worthy citizens, your rich neighbours. And if he does not, why, shut +up shop or burn it up, and let us go out peddling together." + +We do not know, however, whether old Jerry ever adopted Khalid's idea. +He himself is an Oriental in this sense; and the business is good +enough to keep up, so long as Khalid comes. He is supremely content. +Indeed, Shakib asseverates in round Arabic, that the old man of the +cellar got a good portion of Khalid's balance, while balancing +Khalid's mind. Nay, firing it with free-thought literature. Are we +then to consider this cellar as Khalid's source of spiritual +illumination? And is this genial old heretic an American avatar of the +monk Bohaira? For Khalid is gradually becoming a man of ideas and +crotchets. He is beginning to see a purpose in all his literary and +spiritual rambles. His mental nebulosity is resolving itself into +something concrete, which shall weigh upon him for a while and propel +him in the direction of Atheism and Demagogy. For old Jerry once +visits Khalid in his cellar, and after partaking of a dish of +_mojadderah_, takes him to a political meeting to hear the popular +orators of the day. + +And in this is ineffable joy for Khalid. Like every young mind he is +spellbound by one of those masters of spread-eagle oratory, and for +some time he does not miss a single political meeting in his district. +We even see him among the crowd before the corner groggery, cheering +one of the political spouters of the day. + +And once he accompanies Jerry to the Temple of Atheism to behold its +high Priest and hear him chant halleluiah to the Nebular Hypothesis. +This is wonderful. How easy it is to dereligionise the human race and +banish God from the Universe! But after the High Priest had done this, +after he had proven to the satisfaction of every atheist that God is a +myth, old Jerry turns around and gives Khalid this warning: "Don't +believe all he says, for I know that atheist well. He is as eloquent +as he is insincere." + +And so are all atheists. For at bottom, atheism is either a fad or a +trade or a fatuity. And whether the one or the other, it is a sham +more pernicious than the worst. To the young mind, it is a shibboleth +of cheap culture; to the shrewd and calculating mind, to such orators +as Khalid heard, it is a trade most remunerative; and to the +scientists, or rather monists, it is the aliment with which they +nourish the perversity of their preconceptions. Second-hand Jerry did +not say these things to our young philosopher; for had he done so, +Khalid, now become edacious, would not have experienced those +dyspeptic pangs which almost crushed the soul-fetus in him. For we are +told that he is as sedulous in attending these atheistic lectures as +he is in flocking with his fellow citizens to hear and cheer the idols +of the stump. Once he took Shakib to the Temple of Atheism, but the +Poet seems to prefer his _Al-Mutanabby_. In relating of Khalid's +waywardness he says: + +"Ever since we quarrelled about Sibawai, Khalid and I have seldom been +together. And he had become so opinionated that I was glad it was so. +Even on Sunday I would leave him alone with Im-Hanna, and returning +in the evening, I would find him either reading or burning a pamphlet. +Once I consented to accompany him to one of the lectures he was so +fond of attending. And I was really surprised that one had to pay +money for such masquerades of eloquence as were exhibited that night +on the platform. Yes, it occurred to me that if one had not a dollar +one could not become an atheist. Billah! I was scandalized. For no +matter how irreverent one likes to pose, one ought to reverence at +least his Maker. I am a Christian by the grace of Allah, and my +ancestors are counted among the martyrs of the Church. And thanks to +my parents, I have been duly baptized and confirmed. For which I +respect them the more, and love them. Now, is it not absurd that I +should come here and pay a hard dollar to hear this heretical +speechifier insult my parents and my God? Better the ring of +Al-Mutanabbi's scimitars and spears than the clatter of these +atheistical bones!" + +From which we infer that Shakib was not open to reason on the subject. +He would draw his friend away from the verge of the abyss at any cost. +"And this," continues he, "did not require much effort. For Khalid +like myself is constitutionally incapable of denying God. We are from +the land in which God has always spoken to our ancestors." + +And the argument between the shrewd verse-maker and the foolish +philosopher finally hinges on this: namely, that these atheists are +not honest investigators, that in their sweeping generalisations, as +in their speciosity and hypocrisy, they are commercially perverse. +And Khalid is not long in deciding about the matter. He meets with an +accident--and accidents have always been his touchstones of +success--which saves his soul and seals the fate of atheism. + +One evening, returning from a ramble in the Park, he passes by the +Hall where his favourite Mountebank was to lecture on the Gospel of +Soap. But not having the price of admittance that evening, and being +anxious to hear the orator whom he had idolised, Khalid bravely +appeals to his generosity in this quaint and touching note: "My +pocket," he wrote, "is empty and my mind is hungry. Might I come to +your Table to-night as a beggar?" And the man at the stage door, who +carries the note to the orator, returns in a trice, and tells Khalid +to lift himself off. Khalid hesitates, misunderstands; and a heavy +hand is of a sudden upon him, to say nothing of the heavy boot. + +Ay, and that boot decided him. Atheism, bald, bold, niggardly, brutal, +pretending withal, Khalid turns from its door never to look again in +that direction, Shakib is right. "These people," he growled, "are not +free thinkers, but free stinkards. They do need soap to wash their +hearts and souls." + +An idea did not come to Khalid, as it were, by instalments. In his +puerperal pains of mind he was subject to such crises, shaken by such +downrushes of light, as only the few among mortals experience. (We are +quoting our Scribe, remember.) And in certain moments he had more +faith in his instincts than in his reason. "Our instincts," says he, +"never lie. They are honest, and though they be sometimes blind." And +here, he seems to have struck the truth. He can be practical too. +Honesty in thought, in word, in deed--this he would have as the +cornerstone of his truth. Moral rectitude he places above all the +cardinal virtues, natural and theological. "Better keep away from the +truth, O Khalid," he writes, "better remain a stranger to it all thy +life, if thou must sully it with the slimy fingers of a mercenary +juggler." Now, these brave words, we can not in conscience criticise. +But we venture to observe that Khalid must have had in mind that +Gospel of Soap and the incident at the stage door. + +And in this, we, too, rejoice. We, too, forgetting the dignity of our +position, participate of the revelry in the cellar on this occasion. +For our editorialship, dear Reader, is neither American nor English. +We are not bound, therefore, to maintain in any degree the algidity +and indifference of our confreres' sublime attitude. We rejoice in the +spiritual safety of Khalid. We rejoice that he and Shakib are now +reconciled. For the reclaimed runagate is now even permitted to draw +on the poet's balance at the banker. Ay, even Khalid can dissimulate +when he needs the cash. For with the assistance of second-hand Jerry +and the box-office of the atheistical jugglers, he had exhausted his +little saving. He would not even go out peddling any more. And when +Shakib asks him one morning to shoulder the box and come out, he +replies: "I have a little business with it here." For after having +impeached the High Priests of Atheism he seems to have turned upon +himself. We translate from the K. L. MS. + +"When I was disenchanted with atheism, when I saw somewhat of the +meanness and selfishness of its protagonists, I began to doubt in +the honesty of men. If these, our supposed teachers, are so vile, +so mercenary, so false,--why, welcome Juhannam! But the more I +doubted in the honesty of men, the more did I believe that honesty +should be the cardinal virtue of the soul. I go so far in this, that +an honest thief in my eyes is more worthy of esteem than a canting +materialist or a hypocritical free thinker. Still, the voice within +me asked if Shakib were honest in his dealings, if I were honest in +my peddling? Have I not misrepresented my gewgaws as the atheist +misrepresents the truth? 'This is made in the Holy Land,'--'This is +from the Holy Sepulchre'--these lies, O Khalid, are upon you. And +what is the difference between the jewellery you passed off for gold +and the arguments of the atheist-preacher? Are they not both +instruments of deception, both designed to catch the dollar? Yes, you +have been, O Khalid, as mean, as mercenary, as dishonest as those +canting infidels. + +"And what are you going to do about it? Will you continue, while in +the quagmires yourself, to point contemptuously at those standing in +the gutter? Will you, in your dishonesty, dare impeach the honesty of +men? Are you not going to make a resolution now, either to keep silent +or to go out of the quagmires and rise to the mountain-heights? Be +pure yourself first, O Khalid; then try to spread this purity around +you at any cost. + +"Yes; that is why, when Shakib asked me to go out peddling one day, I +hesitated and finally refused. For atheism, in whose false dry light I +walked a parasang or two, did not only betray itself to me as a sham, +but also turned my mind and soul to the sham I had shouldered for +years. From the peddling-box, therefore, I turned even as I did from +atheism. Praised be Allah, who, in his providential care, seemed to +kick me away from the door of its temple. The sham, although effulgent +and alluring, was as brief as a summer afternoon." + +As for the peddling-box, our Scribe will tell of its fate in the +following Chapter. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +IN THE TWILIGHT OF AN IDEA + + +It is Voltaire, we believe, who says something to the effect that +one's mind should be in accordance with one's years. That is why an +academic education nowadays often fails of its purpose. For whether +one's mind runs ahead of one's years, or one's years ahead of one's +mind, the result is much the same; it always goes ill with the mind. +True, knowledge is power; but in order to feel at home with it, we +must be constitutionally qualified. And if we are not, it is likely to +give the soul such a wrenching as to deform it forever. Indeed, how +many of us go through life with a fatal spiritual or intellectual +twist which could have been avoided in our youth, were we a little +less wise. The young _philosophes_, the products of the University +Machine of to-day, who go about with a nosegay of -isms, as it were, +in their lapels, and perfume their speech with the bottled logic of +the College Professor,--are not most of them incapable of honestly and +bravely grappling with the real problems of life? And does not a +systematic education mean this, that a young man must go through life +dragging behind him his heavy chains of set ideas and stock systems, +political, social, or religious? (Remember, we are translating from +the Khedivial Library MS.) The author continues: + + "Whether one devour the knowledge of the world in four years + or four nights, the process of assimilation is equally + hindered, if the mind is sealed at the start with the seal of + authority. Ay, we can not be too careful of dogmatic science in + our youth; for dogmas often dam certain channels of the soul + through which we might have reached greater treasures and + ascended to purer heights. A young man, therefore, ought to be + let alone. There is an infinite possibility of soul-power in + every one of us, if it can be developed freely, spontaneously, + without discipline or restraint. There is, too, an infinite + possibility of beauty in every soul, if it can be evoked at an + auspicious moment by the proper word, the proper voice, the + proper touch. That is why I say, Go thy way, O my Brother. Be + simple, natural, spontaneous, courageous, free. Neither + anticipate your years, nor lag child-like behind them. For + verily, it is as ridiculous to dye the hair white as to dye it + black. Ah, be foolish while thou art young; it is never too late + to be wise. Indulge thy fancy, follow the bent of thy mind; + for in so doing thou canst not possibly do thyself more harm + than the disciplinarians can do thee. Live thine own life; + think thine own thoughts; keep developing and changing until + thou arrive at the truth thyself. An ounce of it found by thee + were better than a ton given to thee _gratis_ by one who + would enslave thee. Go thy way, O my Brother. And if my words + lead thee to Juhannam, why, there will be a great surprise for + thee. There thou wilt behold our Maker sitting on a flaming + glacier waiting for the like of thee. And he will take thee + into his arms and poke thee in the ribs, and together you will + laugh and laugh, until that glacier become a garden and thou + a flower therein. Go thy way, therefore; be not afraid. And no + matter how many tears thou sheddest on this side, thou wilt + surely be poked in the ribs on the other. Go--thy--but--let + Nature be thy guide; acquaint thyself with one or two of her + laws ere thou runnest wild." + +And to what extent did this fantastic mystic son of a Phoenician +acquaint himself with Nature's laws, we do not know. But truly, he was +already running wild in the great cosmopolis of New York. From his +stivy cellar he issues forth into the plashing, plangent currents of +city life. Before he does this, however, he rids himself of all the +encumbrances of peddlery which hitherto have been his sole means of +support. His little stock of crosses, rosaries, scapulars, false +jewellery, mother-of-pearl gewgaws, and such like, which he has on the +little shelf in the cellar, he takes down one morning--but we will let +our Scribe tell the story. + +"My love for Khalid," he writes, "has been severely tried. We could no +longer agree about anything. He had become such a dissenter that often +would he take the wrong side of a question if only for the sake of +bucking. True, he ceased to frequent the cellar of second-hand Jerry, +and the lectures of the infidels he no longer attended. We were in +accord about atheism, therefore, but in riotous discord about many +other things, chief among which was the propriety, the necessity, of +doing something to replenish his balance at the banker. For he was now +impecunious, and withal importunate. Of a truth, what I had I was +always ready to share with him; but for his own good I advised him to +take up the peddling-box again. I reminded him of his saying once, +'Peddling is a healthy and profitable business.' 'Come out,' I +insisted, 'and though it be for the exercise. Walking is the whetstone +of thought.' + +"One evening we quarrelled about this, and Im-Hanna sided with me. She +rated Khalid, saying, 'You're a good-for-nothing loafer; you don't +deserve the _mojadderah_ you eat.' And I remember how she took me +aside that evening and whispered something about books, and Khalid's +head, and Mar-Kizhayiah.[1] Indeed, Im-Hanna seriously believed that +Khalid should be taken to Mar-Kizhayiah. She did not know that New +York was full of such institutions.[2] Her scolding, however, seemed +to have more effect on Khalid than my reasoning. And consenting to go +out with me, he got up the following morning, took down his stock from +the shelf, every little article of it--he left nothing there--and +packed all into his peddling-box. He then squeezed into the bottom +drawer, which he had filled with scapulars, the bottle with a little +of the Stuff in it. For we were in accord about this, that in New York +whiskey is better than arak. And we both took a nip now and then. So I +thought the bottle was in order. But why he placed his bank book, +which was no longer worth a straw, into that bottom drawer, I could +not guess. With these preparations, however, we shouldered our boxes, +and in an hour we were in the suburbs. We foot it along then, until we +reach a row of cottages not far from the railway station. 'Will you +knock at one of these doors,' I asked. And he, 'I do not feel like +chaffering and bargaining this morning.' 'Why then did you come out,' +I urged. And he, in an air of nonchalance, 'Only for the walk.' And +so, we pursued our way in the Bronx, until we reached one of our +favourite spots, where a sycamore tree seemed to invite us to its +ample shade. + +"Here, Khalid, absent-minded, laid down his box and sat upon it, and I +stretched my limbs on the grass. But of a sudden, he jumped up, opened +the bottom drawer of his case, and drew from it the bottle. It is +quite in order now, I mused; but ere I had enjoyed the thought, Khalid +had placed his box at a little distance, and, standing there beside +it, bottle in hand, delivered himself in a semi-solemn, semi-mocking +manner of the following: 'This is the oil,' I remember him saying, +'with which I anoint thee--the extreme unction I apply to thy soul.' +And he poured the contents of the bottle into the bottom drawer and +over the box, and applied to it a match. The bottle was filled with +kerosene, and in a jiffy the box was covered with the flame. Yes; and +so quickly, so neatly it was done, that I could not do aught to +prevent it. The match was applied to what I thought at first was +whiskey, and I was left in speechless amazement. He would not even +help me to save a few things from the fire. I conjured him in the name +of Allah, but in vain. I clamoured and remonstrated, but to no +purpose. And when I asked him why he had done this, he asked me in +reply, 'And why have you not done the same? Now, methinks I deserve my +_mojadderah_. And not until you do likewise, will you deserve yours, O +Shakib. Here are the lies, now turned to ashes, which brought me my +bread and are still bringing you yours. Here are our instruments of +deception, our poisoned sources of lucre. I am most happy now, O +Shakib. And I shall endeavour to keep my blood in circulation by +better, purer means.' And he took me thereupon by the shoulders, +looked into my face, then pushed me away, laughing the laugh of the +hasheesh-smokers. + +"Indeed, Im-Hanna was right. Khalid had become too odd, too queer to +be sane. Needless to say, I was not prone to follow his example at +that time. Nor am I now. _Mashallah!_ Lacking the power and madness to +set fire to the whole world, it were folly, indeed, to begin with +one's self. I believe I had as much right to exaggerate in peddling as +I had in writing verse. My license to heighten the facts holds good in +either case. And to some extent, every one, a poet be he or a cobbler, +enjoys such a license. I told Khalid that the logical and most +effective course to pursue, in view of his rigorous morality, would be +to pour a gallon of kerosene over his own head and fire himself out of +existence. For the instruments of deception and debasement are not in +the peddling-box, but rather in his heart. No; I did not think +peddling was as bad as other trades. Here at least, the means of +deception were reduced to a minimum. And of a truth, if everybody were +to judge themselves as strictly as Khalid, who would escape burning? +So I turned from him that day fully convinced that my little stock of +holy goods was innocent, and my balance at the banker's was as pure as +my rich neighbour's. And he turned from me fully convinced, I believe, +that I was an unregenerate rogue. Ay, and when I was knocking at the +door of one of my customers, he was walking away briskly, his hands +clasped behind his back, and his eyes, as usual, scouring the +horizon." + +And on that horizon are the gilded domes and smoking chimneys of the +seething city. Leaving his last friend and his last burden behind, he +will give civilised life another trial. Loafer and tramp that he is! +For even the comforts of the grand cable-railway he spurns, and foots +it from the Bronx down to his cellar near Battery Park, thus cutting +the city in half and giving one portion to Izraeil and the other to +Iblis. But not being quite ready himself for either of these winged +Furies, he keeps to his cellar. He would tarry here a while, if but to +carry out a resolution he has made. True, Khalid very seldom resolves +upon anything; but when he does make a resolution, he is even willing +to be carried off by the effort to carry it out. And now, he would +solve this problem of earning a living in the great city by honest +means. For in the city, at least, success well deserves the +compliments which those who fail bestow upon it. What Montaigne said +of greatness, therefore, Khalid must have said of success. If we can +not attain it, let us denounce it. And in what terms does he this, O +merciful Allah! We translate a portion of the apostrophe in the K. L. +MS., and not the bitterest, by any means. + +"O Success," the infuriated failure exclaims, "how like the Gorgon of +the Arabian Nights thou art! For does not every one whom thou favorest +undergo a pitiful transformation even from the first bedding with +thee? Does not everything suffer from thy look, thy touch, thy breath? +The rose loses its perfume, the grape-vine its clusters, the bulbul +its wings, the dawn its light and glamour. O Success, our lords of +power to-day are thy slaves, thy helots, our kings of wealth. Every +one grinds for thee, every one for thee lives and dies.... Thy palaces +of silver and gold are reared on the souls of men. Thy throne is +mortised with their bones, cemented with their blood. Thou ravenous +Gorgon, on what bankruptcies thou art fed, on what failures, on what +sorrows! The railroads sweeping across the continents and the steamers +ploughing through the seas, are laden with sacrifices to thee. Ay, and +millions of innocent children are torn from their homes and from their +schools to be offered to thee at the sacrificial-stone of the +Factories and Mills. The cultured, too, and the wise, are counted +among thy slaves. Even the righteous surrender themselves to thee and +are willing to undergo that hideous transformation. O Success, what an +infernal litany thy votaries and high-priests are chanting to thee.... +Thou ruthless Gorgon, what crimes thou art committing, and what crimes +are being committed in thy name!" + +From which it is evident that Khalid does not wish for success. Khalid +is satisfied if he can maintain his hold on the few spare feet he has +in the cellar, and continue to replenish his little store of lentils +and olive oil. For he would as lief be a victim of success, he assures +us, as to forego his _mojadderah_. And still having this, which he +considers a luxury, he is willing to turn his hand at anything, if he +can but preserve inviolate the integrity of his soul and the freedom +of his mind. These are a few of the pet terms of Khalid. And in as +much as he can continue to repeat them to himself, he is supremely +content. He can be a menial, if while cringing before his superiors, +he were permitted to chew on his pet illusions. A few days before he +burned his peddling-box, he had read Epictetus. And the thought that +such a great soul maintained its purity, its integrity, even in bonds, +encouraged and consoled him. "How can they hurt me," he asks, "if +spiritually I am far from them, far above them? They can do no more +than place gilt buttons on my coat and give me a cap to replace this +slouch. Therefore, I will serve. I will be a slave, even like +Epictetus." + +And here we must interpose a little of our skepticism, if but to +gratify an habitual craving in us. We do not doubt that Khalid's +self-sufficiency is remarkable; that his courage--on paper--is quite +above the common; that the grit and stay he shows are wonderful; that +his lofty aspirations, so indomitable in their onwardness, are great: +but we only ask, having thus fortified his soul, how is he to fortify +his stomach? He is going to work, to be a menial, to earn a living by +honest means? Ah, Khalid, Khalid! Did you not often bestow a furtive +glance on some one else's checkbook? Did you not even exercise therein +your skill in calculation? If the bank, where Shakib deposits his +little saving, failed, would you be so indomitable, so dogged in your +resolution? Would you not soften a trifle, loosen a whit, if only for +the sake of your blood-circulation? + +Indeed, Shakib has become a patron to Khalid. Shakib the poet, who +himself should have a patron, is always ready to share his last dollar +with his loving, though cantankerous friend. And this, in spite of all +the disagreeable features of a friendship which in the Syrian Colony +was become proverbial. But Khalid now takes up the newspapers and +scans the Want Columns for hours. The result being a clerkship in a +lawyer's office. Nay, an apprenticeship; for the legal profession, it +seems, had for a while engaged his serious thoughts. + +And this of all the professions is the one on which he would graft his +scion of lofty morality? Surely, there be plenty of fuel for a +conflagration in a lawyer's office. Such rows of half-calf tomes, such +piles of legal documents, all designed to combat dishonesty and fraud, +"and all immersed in them, and nourished and maintained by them." In +what a sorry condition will your Morality issue out of these bogs! A +lawyer's clerk, we are informed, can not maintain his hold on his +clerkship, if he does not learn to blink. That is why Khalid is not +long in serving papers, copying summonses, and searching title-deeds. +In this lawyer's office he develops traits altogether foreign to his +nature. He even becomes a quidnunc, prying now and then into the +personal affairs of his superiors. Ay, and he dares once to suggest to +his employer a new method of dealing with the criminals among his +clients. Withal, Khalid is slow, slower than the law itself. If he +goes out to serve a summons he does not return for a day. If he is +sent to search title-deeds, he does not show up in the office for a +week. And often he would lose himself in the Park surrounding the +Register's Office, pondering on his theory of immanent morality. He +would sit down on one of those benches, which are the anchors of +loafers of another type, his batch of papers beside him, and watch the +mad crowds coming and going, running, as it were, between two fires. +These puckered people are the living, moving chambers of sleeping +souls. + +Khalid was always glad to come to this Register's Office. For though +the searching of title-deeds be a mortal process, the loafing margin +of the working hour could be extended imperceptibly, and without +hazarding his or his employer's interest. The following piece of +speculative fantasy and insight must have been thought out when he +should have been searching title-deeds. + +"This Register's Office," it is written in the K. L. MS., "is the very +bulwark of Society. It is the foundation on which the Trust Companies, +the Courts, and the Prisons are reared. Your codes are blind without +the miraculous torches which this Office can light. Your judges can +not propound the 'laur'--I beg your pardon, the law--without the aid +of these musty, smelling, dilapidated tomes. Ay, these are the very +constables of the realm, and without them there can be no realm, no +legislators, and no judges. Strong, club-bearing constables, these +Liebers, standing on the boundary lines, keeping peace between +brothers and neighbours. + +"Here, in these Liebers is an authority which never fails, never +dies--an authority which willy-nilly we obey and in which we place +unbounded trust. In any one of these Registers is a potentiality which +can always worst the quibbles and quiddities of lawyers and ward off +the miserable technicalities of the law. Any of them, when called +upon, can go into court and dictate to the litigants and the +attorneys, the jury and the judge. They are the deceased witnesses +come to life. And without them, the judges are helpless, the marshals +and sheriffs too. Ay, and what without them would be the state of our +real-estate interests? Abolish your constabulary force, and your +police force, and with these muniments of power, these dumb but +far-seeing agents of authority and intelligence, you could still +maintain peace and order. But burn you this Register's Office, and +before the last Lieber turn to ashes, ere the last flame of the +conflagration die out, you will have to call forth, not only your fire +squads, but your police force and even your soldiery, to extinguish +other fires different in nature, but more devouring--and as many of +them as there are boundary lines in the land." + +And we now come to the gist of the matter. + + "What wealth of moral truth," he continues, "do we find in these + greasy, musty pages. When one deeds a piece of property, he + deeds with it something more valuable, more enduring. He deeds + with it an undying human intelligence which goes down to + posterity, saying, Respect my will; believe in me; and convey + this respect and this belief to your offspring. Ay, the immortal + soul breathes in a deed as in a great book. And the implicit + trust we place in a musty parchment, is the mystic outcome of + the blind faith, or rather the far-seeing faith which our + ancestors had in the morality and intelligence of coming + generations. For what avails their deeds if they are not + respected?... We are indebted to our forbears, therefore, not + for the miserable piece of property they bequeath us, but for + the confidence and trust, the faith and hope they had in our + innate or immanent morality and intelligence. The will of the + dead is law for the living." + +Are we then to look upon Khalid as having come out of that Office with +soiled fingers only? Or has the young philosopher abated in his +clerkship the intensity of his moral views? Has he not assisted his +employer in the legal game of quieting titles? Has he not acquired a +little of the delusive plausibilities of lawyers? Shakib throws no +light on these questions. We only know that the clerkship or rather +apprenticeship was only held for a season. Indeed, Khalid must have +recoiled from the practice. Or in his recklessness, not to say +obtrusion, he must have been outrageous enough to express in the +office of the honourable attorney, or in the neighbourhood thereof, +his views about pettifogging and such like, that the said honourable +attorney was under the painful necessity of asking him to stay home. +Nay, the young Syrian was discharged. Or to put it in a term adequate +to the manner in which this was done, he was "fired." Now, Khalid +betakes him back to his cellar, and thrumming his lute-strings, lights +up the oppressive gloom with Arabic song and music. + +----- + + [1] A monastery in Mt. Lebanon, a sort of Bedlam, where the + exorcising monks beat the devil out of one's head with clouted + shoes.--EDITOR. + + [2] And the doctors here practise in the name of science what + the exorcising monks practise in the name of religion. The poor + devil, or patient, in either case is done to death.--EDITOR. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +WITH THE HURIS + + +From the house of law the dervish Khalid wends his way to that of +science, and from the house of science he passes on to that of +metaphysics. His staff in hand, his wallet hung on his shoulder, his +silver cigarette case in his pocket, patient, confident, content, he +makes his way from one place to another. Unlike his brother dervishes, +he is clean and proud of it, too. He knocks at this or that door, +makes his wish known to the servant or the mistress, takes the crumbs +given him, and not infrequently gives his prod to the dogs. In the +vestibule of one of the houses of spiritism, he tarries a spell and +parleys with the servant. The Mistress, a fair-looking, fair-spoken +dame of seven lustrums or more, issues suddenly from her studio, in a +curiously designed black velvet dressing-gown; she is drawn to the +door by the accent of the foreigner's speech and the peculiar cadence +of his voice. They meet: and magnetic currents from his dark eyes and +her eyes of blue, flow and fuse. They speak: and the lady asks the +stranger if he would not serve instead of begging. And he protests, "I +am a Dervish at the door of Allah." "And I am a Spirit in Allah's +house," she rejoins. They enter: and the parley in the vestibule is +followed by a tete-a-tete in the parlour and another in the +dining-room. They agree: and the stranger is made a member of the +Spiritual Household, which now consists of her and him, the Medium and +the Dervish. + +Now, this fair-spoken dame, who dotes on the occult and exotic, +delights in the aroma of Khalid's cigarettes and Khalid's fancy. And +that he might feel at ease, she begins by assuring him that they have +met and communed many times ere now, that they have been friends under +a preceding and long vanished embodiment. Which vagary Khalid seems to +countenance by referring to the infinite power of Allah, in the +compass of which nothing is impossible. And with these mystical +circumlocutions of ceremony, they plunge into an intimacy which is +bordered by the metaphysical on one side, and the physical on the +other. For though the Medium is at the threshold of her climacteric, +Khalid afterwards tells Shakib that there be something in her eyes and +limbs which always seem to be waxing young. And of a truth, the +American woman, of all others, knows best how to preserve her beauty +from the ravages of sorrow and the years. That is why, we presume, in +calling him, "child," she does not permit him to call her, "mother." +Indeed, the Medium and the Dervish often jest, and somewhiles mix the +frivolous with the mysterious. + +We would still follow our Scribe here, were it not that his pruriency +often reaches the edge. He speaks of "the _liaison_" with all the rude +simplicity and frankness of the Arabian Nights. And though, as the +Mohammedans say, "To the pure everything is pure," and again, "Who +quotes a heresy is not guilty of it"; nevertheless, we do not feel +warranted in rending the veil of the reader's prudery, no matter how +transparent it might be. We believe, however, that the pruriency of +Orientals, like the prudery of Occidentals, is in fact only an +appearance. On both sides there is a display of what might be called +verbal virtue and verbal vice. And on both sides, the exaggerations +are configured in a harmless pose. Be this as it may, we at least, +shall withhold from Shakib's lasciviousness the English dress it seeks +at our hand. + +We note, however, that Khalid now visits him in the cellar only when +he craves a dish of _mojadderah_; that he and the Medium are absorbed +in the contemplation of the Unseen, though not, perhaps, of the +Impalpable; that they gallivant in the Parks, attend Bohemian dinners, +and frequent the Don't Worry Circles of Metaphysical Societies; that +they make long expeditions together to the Platonic North-pole and +back to the torrid regions of Swinburne; and that together they +perform their _zikr_ and drink at the same fountain of ecstasy and +devotion. Withal, the Dervish, who now wears his hair long and grows +his finger nails like a Brahmin, is beginning to have some manners. + +The Medium, nevertheless, withholds from him the secret of her art. If +he desires, he can attend the seances like every other stranger. Once +Khalid, who would not leave anything unprobed, insisted, importuned; +he could not see any reason for her conduct. Why should they not work +together in Tiptology, as in Physiology and Metaphysics? And one +morning, dervish-like, he wraps himself in his _aba_, and, calling +upon Allah to witness, takes a rose from the vase on the table, +angrily plucks its petals, and strews them on the carpet. Which +portentous sign the Medium understands and hastens to minister her +palliatives. + +"No, Child, you shall not go," she begs and supplicates; "listen to +me, are we not together all the time? Why not leave me alone then with +the spirits? One day you shall know all, believe me. Come, sit here," +stroking her palm on her lap, "and listen. I shall give up this +tiptology business very soon; you and I shall overturn the table. Yes, +Child, I am on the point of succumbing under an awful something. So, +don't ask me about the spooks any more. Promise not to torment me thus +any more. And one day we shall travel together in the Orient; we shall +visit the ruins of vanished kingdoms and creeds. Ah, to be in Palmyra +with you! Do you know, Child, I am destined to be a Beduin queen. The +throne of Zenobia is mine, and yours too, if you will be good. We +shall resuscitate the glory of the kingdom of the desert." + +To all of which Khalid acquiesces by referring as is his wont to the +infinite wisdom of Allah, in whose all-seeing eye nothing is +impossible. + +And thus, apparently satisfied, he takes the cigarette which she had +lighted for him, and lights for her another from his own. But the +smoke of two cigarettes dispels not the threatening cloud; it only +conceals it from view. For they dine together at a Bohemian Club that +evening, where Khalid meets a woman of rare charms. And she invites +him to her studio. The Medium, who is at first indifferent, finally +warns her callow child. "That woman is a writer," she explains, "and +writers are always in search of what they call 'copy.' She in +particular is a huntress of male curiosities, _originales_, whom she +takes into her favour and ultimately surrenders them to the reading +public. So be careful." But Khalid hearkens not. For the writer, whom +he afterwards calls a flighter, since she, too, "like the van of the +brewer only skims the surface of things," is, in fact, younger than +the Medium. Ay, this woman is even beautiful--to behold, at least. So +the Dervish, a captive of her charms, knocks at the door of her studio +one evening and enters. Ah, this then is a studio! "I am destined to +know everything, and to see everything," he says to himself, smiling +in his heart. + +The charming hostess, in a Japanese kimono receives him somewhat +orientally, offering him the divan, which he occupies alone for a +spell. He is then laden with a huge scrap-book containing press +notices and reviews of her many novels. These, he is asked to go +through while she prepares the tea. Which is a mortal task for the +Dervish in the presence of the Enchantress. Alas, the tea is long in +the making, and when the scrap-book is laid aside, she reinforces him +with a lot of magazines adorned with stories of the short and long and +middling size, from her fertile pen. "These are beautiful," says he, +in glancing over a few pages, "but no matter how you try, you can not +with your pen surpass your own beauty. The charm of your literary +style can not hold a candle to the charm of your--permit me to read +your hand." And laying down the magazine, he takes up her hand and +presses it to his lips. In like manner, he tries to read somewhat in +the face, but the Enchantress protests and smiles. In which case the +smile renders the protest null and void. + +Henceforth, the situation shall be trying even to the Dervish who can +eat live coals. He oscillates for some while between the Medium and +the Enchantress, but finds the effort rather straining. The first +climax, however, is reached, and our Scribe thinks it too sad for +words. He himself sheds a few rheums with the fair-looking, +fair-spoken Dame, and dedicates to her a few rhymes. Her magnanimity, +he tells us, is unexampled, and her fatalism pathetic. For when Khalid +severs himself from the Spiritual Household, she kisses him thrice, +saying, "Go, Child; Allah brought you to me, and Allah will bring you +again." Khalid refers, as usual, to the infinite wisdom of the +Almighty, and, taking his handkerchief from his pocket, wipes the +tears that fell--from her eyes over his. He passes out of the +vestibule, silent and sad, musing on the time he first stood there as +a beggar. + +Now, the horizon of the Enchantress is unobstructed. Khalid is there +alone; and her free love can freely pass on from him to another. And +such messages they exchange! Such evaporations of the insipidities of +free love! Khalid again takes up with Shakib, from whom he does not +conceal anything. The epistles are read by both, and sometimes replied +to by both! And she, in an effort to seem Oriental, calls the +Dervish, "My Syrian Rose," "My Desert Flower," "My Beduin Boy," et +cetera, always closing her message with either a strip of Syrian sky +or a camel load of the narcissus. Ah, but not thus will the play +close. True, Khalid alone adorns her studio for a time, or rather +adores in it; he alone accompanies her to Bohemia. But the Dervish, +who was always going wrong in Bohemia,--always at the door of the +Devil,--ventures one night to escort another woman to her studio. Ah, +those studios! The Enchantress on hearing of the crime lights the fire +under her cauldron. "Double, double, toil and trouble!" She then goes +to the telephone--g-r-r-r-r you swine--you Phoenician murex--she hangs +up the receiver, and stirs the cauldron. "Double, double, toil and +trouble!" But the Dervish writes her an extraordinary letter, in which +we suspect the pen of our Scribe, and from which we can but transcribe +the following: + + "You found in me a vacant heart," he pleads, "and you occupied + it. The divan therein is yours, yours alone. Nor shall I ever + permit a chance caller, an intruder, to exasperate you.... My + breast is a stronghold in which you are well fortified. How then + can any one disturb you?... How can I turn from myself against + myself? Somewhat of you, the best of you, circulates with my + blood; you are my breath of life. How can I then overcome you? + How can I turn to another for the sustenance which you alone can + give?... If I be thirst personified, you are the living, flowing + brook, the everlasting fountain. O for a drink--" + +And here follows a hectic uprush about pearly breasts, and +honey-sources, and musk-scented arbours, closing with "Your Beduin Boy +shall come to-night." + +Notwithstanding which, the Enchantress abandons the Syrian Dwelling: +she no longer fancies the vacant Divan of which Khalid speaks. +Fortress or no fortress, she gives up occupation and withdraws from +the foreigner her favour. Not only that; but the fire is crackling +under the cauldron, and the typewriter begins to click. Ay, these +modern witches can make even a typewriter dance around the fire and +join in the chorus. "Double, double, toil and trouble, Fire burn, and +cauldron bubble!" and the performance was transformed from the studio +to the magazine supplement of one of the Sunday newspapers. There, the +Dervish is thrown into the cauldron along with the magic herbs. +Bubble--bubble. The fire-eating Dervish, how can he now swallow this +double-tongued flame of hate and love? The Enchantress had wrought her +spell, had ministered her poison. Now, where can he find an antidote, +who can teach him a healing formula? Bruno D'Ast was once bewitched by +a sorceress, and by causing her to be burned he was immediately cured. +Ah, that Khalid could do this! Like an ordinary pamphlet he would +consign the Enchantress to the flames, and her scrap-books and novels +to boot. He does well, however, to return to his benevolent friend, +the Medium. The spell can be counteracted by another, though less +potent. Ay, even witchcraft has its homeopathic remedies. + +And the Medium, Shakib tells us, is delighted to welcome back her +prodigal child. She opens to him her arms, and her heart; she slays +the fatted calf. "I knew that Allah will bring you back to me," she +ejaculates; "my prevision is seldom wrong." And kissing her hand, +Khalid falters, "Forgiveness is for the sinner, and the good are for +forgiveness." Whereupon, they plunge again into the Unseen, and thence +to Bohemia. The aftermath, however, does not come up to the +expectations of the good Medium. For the rigmarole of the Enchantress +about the Dervish in New York had already done its evil work. +And--double--double--wherever the Dervish goes. Especially in Bohemia, +where many of its daughters set their caps for him. + +And here, he is neither shy nor slow nor visionary. Nor shall his +theory of immanent morality trouble him for the while. Reality is met +with reality on solid, though sometimes slippery, ground. His +animalism, long leashed and starved, is eager for prey. His Phoenician +passion is awake. And fortunately, Khalid finds himself in Bohemia +where the poison and the antidote are frequently offered together. +Here the spell of one sorceress can straightway be offset by that of +her sister. And we have our Scribe's word for it, that the Dervish +went as far and as deep with the huris, as the doctors eventually +would permit him. That is why, we believe, in commenting upon his +adventures there, he often quotes the couplet, + + "In my sublunar paradise + There's plenty of honey--and plenty of flies." + +The flies in his cup, however, can not be detected with the naked +eye. They are microbes rather--microbes which even the physicians can +not manage with satisfaction. For it must be acknowledged that +Khalid's immanent morality and intellectualism suffered an interregnum +with the huris. Reckless, thoughtless, heartless, he plunges headlong +again. It is said in Al-Hadith that he who guards himself against the +three cardinal evils, namely, of the tongue (_laklaka_), of the +stomach (_kabkaba_), and of the sex (_zabzaba_), will have guarded +himself against all evil. But Khalid reads not in the Hadith of the +Prophet. And that he became audacious, edacious, and loquacious, is +evident from such wit and flippancy as he here likes to display. "Some +women," says he, "might be likened to whiskey, others to seltzer +water; and many are those who, like myself, care neither for the soda +or the whiskey straight. A 'high-ball' I will have." + +Nay, he even takes to punch; for in his cup of amour there is a subtle +and multifarious mixture. With him, he himself avows, one woman +complemented another. What the svelte brunette, for instance, lacked, +the steatopygous blonde amply supplied. Delicacy and intensity, +effervescence and depth, these he would have in a woman, or a hareem, +as in anything else. But these excellences, though found in a hareem, +will not fuse, as in a poem or a picture. Even thy bones, thou scented +high-lacquered Dervish, are likely to melt away before they melt into +one. + +It is written in the K. L. MS. that women either bore, or inspire, or +excite. "The first and the last are to be met with anywhere; but the +second? Ah, well you have heard the story of Diogenes. So take up your +lamp and come along. But remember, when you do meet the woman that +inspires, you will begin to yearn for the woman that excites." + +And here, the hospitality of the Dervish does not belie his Arab +blood. In Bohemia, the bonfire of his heart was never extinguished, +and the wayfarers stopping before his tent, be they of those who +bored, or excited, or inspired, were welcome guests for at least three +days and nights. And in this he follows the rule of hospitality among +his people. + +[Illustration] + + + + +BOOK THE SECOND + +IN THE TEMPLE + + + + +[Illustration] + +TO NATURE + +_O Mother eternal, divine, satanic, all encompassing, all-nourishing, +all-absorbing, O star-diademed, pearl-sandaled Goddess, I am thine +forever and ever: whether as a child of thy womb, or an embodiment of +a spirit-wave of thy light, or a dumb blind personification of thy +smiles and tears, or an ignis-fatuus of the intelligence that is in +thee or beyond thee, I am thine forever and ever: I come to thee, I +prostrate my face before thee, I surrender myself wholly to thee. O +touch me with thy wand divine again; stir me once more in thy +mysterious alembics; remake me to suit the majestic silence of thy +hills, the supernal purity of thy sky, the mystic austerity of thy +groves, the modesty of thy slow-swelling, soft-rolling streams, the +imperious pride of thy pines, the wild beauty and constancy of thy +mountain rivulets. Take me in thine arms, and whisper to me of thy +secrets; fill my senses with thy breath divine; show me the bottom of +thy terrible spirit; buffet me in thy storms, infusing in me of thy +ruggedness and strength, thy power and grandeur; lull me in thine +autumn sun-downs to teach me in the arts that enrapture, exalt, +supernaturalise. Sing me a lullaby, O Mother eternal! Give me to drink +of thy love, divine and diabolic; thy cruelty and thy kindness, I +accept both, if thou wilt but whisper to me the secret of both. Anoint +me with the chrism of spontaneity that I may be ever worthy of +thee.--Withdraw not from me thy hand, lest universal love and sympathy +die in my breast.--I implore thee, O Mother eternal, O sea-throned, +heaven-canopied Goddess, I prostrate my face before thee, I surrender +myself wholly to thee. And whether I be to-morrow the censer in the +hand of thy High Priest, or the incense in the censer,--whether I +become a star-gem in thy cestus or a sun in thy diadem or even a +firefly in thy fane, I am content. For I am certain that it shall be +for the best._--KHALID. + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE DOWRY OF DEMOCRACY + + +Old Arabic books, printed in Bulaq, generally have a broad margin +wherein a separate work, independent of the text, adds gloom to the +page. We have before us one of these tomes in which the text treats of +the ethics of life and religion, and the margins are darkened with +certain adventures which Shahrazad might have added to her famous +Nights. The similarity between Khalid's life in its present stage and +some such book, is evident. Nay, he has been so assiduous in writing +the marginal Work, that ever since he set fire to his peddling-box, we +have had little in the Text worth transcribing. Nothing, in fact; for +many pages back are as blank as the evil genius of Bohemia could wish +them. And how could one with that mara upon him, write of the ethics +of life and religion? + +Al-Hamazani used to say that in Jorajan the man from Khorasan must +open thrice his purse: first, to pay for the rent; second, for the +food; and third, for his coffin. And so, in Khalid's case, at least, +is Bohemia. For though the purse be not his own, he was paying dear, +and even in advance, in what is dearer than gold, for his experience. +"O, that the Devil did not take such interest in the marginal work of +our life! Why should we write it then, and for whom? And how will it +fare with us when, chapfallen in the end and mortified, we stand +before the great Task-Master like delinquent school boys with a blank +text in our hands?" (Thus Shakib, who has caught the moralising evil +from his Master.) And that we must stand, and fall, for thus standing, +he is quite certain. At least, Khalid is. For he would not return to +the Text to make up for the blank pages therein, if he were not. + +"When he returned from his last sojourn in Bohemia," writes our +Scribe, "Khalid was pitiful to behold. Even Sindbad, had he seen him, +would have been struck with wonder. The tears rushed to my eyes when +we embraced; for instead of Khalid I had in my arms a phantom. And I +could not but repeat the lines of Al-Mutanabbi, + + "So phantom-like I am, and though so near, + If I spoke not, thou wouldst not know I'm here." + +""No more voyages, I trust, O thou Sindbad." And he replied, "Yes, one +more; but to our dear native land this time." In fact, I, too, was +beginning to suffer from nostalgia, and was much desirous of returning +home." But Shakib is in such a business tangle that he could not +extricate himself in a day. So, they tarry another year in New York, +the one meanwhile unravelling his affairs, settling with his creditors +and collecting what few debts he had, the other brooding over the few +blank pages in his Text. + +One day he receives a letter from a fellow traveller, a distinguished +citizen of Tammany Land, whom he had met and befriended in Bohemia, +relating to an enterprise of great pith and moment. It was election +time, we learn, and the high post of political canvasser of the Syrian +District was offered to Khalid for a consideration of--but the letter +which Shakib happily preserved, we give in full. + + "Dear Khalid: + + "I have succeeded in getting Mr. O'Donohue to appoint you a + canvasser of the Syrian District. You must stir yourself, + therefore, and try to do some good work, among the Syrian + voters, for Democracy's Candidate this campaign. Here is a + chance which, with a little hustling on your part, will + materialise. And I see no reason why you should not try to cash + your influence among your people. This is no mean position, mind + you. And if you will come up to the Wigwam to-morrow, I'll give + you a few suggestions on the business of manipulating votes. + + "Yours truly, + "PATRICK HOOLIHAN." + +And the said Mr. Hoolihan, the letter shows, is Secretary to +Mr. O'Donohue, who is first henchman to the Boss. Such a letter, +if luckily misunderstood, will fire for a while the youthful +imagination. No; not his Shamrag Majesty's Tammany Agent to +Syria, this Canvassership, you poor phantom-like zany! A high +post, indeed, you fond and pitiful dreamer, on which you must +hang the higher aspirations of your soul, together with your +theory of immanent morality. You would not know this at first. You +would still kiss the official notification of Mr. Hoolihan, and +hug it fondly to your breast. Very well. At last--and the gods +will not damn thee for musing--you will stand in the band-wagon +before the corner groggery and be the object of the admiration of +your fellow citizens--perhaps of missiles, too. Very well, Khalid; +but you must shear that noddle of thine, and straightway, for the +poets are potted in Tammany Land. We say this for your sake. + +The orator-dream of youth, ye gods, shall it be realised in this +heaven of a dray-cart with its kerosene torch and its drum, smelling +and sounding rather of Juhannam? Surely, from the Table of Bohemia to +the Stump in Tammany Land, is a far cry. But believe us, O Khalid, you +will wish you were again in the gardens of Proserpine, when the +silence and darkness extinguish the torch and the drum and the echoes +of the shouting crowds. The headaches are certain to follow this +inebriation. You did not believe Shakib; you would not be admonished; +you would go to the Wigwam for your portfolio. "_High post_," +"_political canvasser_," "_manipulation of votes_," you will know the +exact meaning of these esoteric terms, when, alas, you meet Mr. +Hoolihan. For you must know that not every one you meet in Bohemia is +not a Philistine. Indeed, many helots are there, who come from +Philistia to spy out the Land. + +We read in the _Histoire Intime_ of Shakib that Khalid did become a +Tammany citizen, that is to say, a Tammany dray-horse; that he was +much esteemed by the Honourable Henchmen, and once in the Wigwam he +was particularly noticed by his Shamrag Majesty Boss O'Graft; that he +was Tammany's Agent to the Editors of the Syrian newspapers of New +York, whom he enrolled in the service of the Noble Cause for a +consideration which no eloquence or shrewdness could reduce to a +minimum; that he also took to the stump and dispensed to his fellow +citizens, with rhetorical gestures at least, of the cut-and-dried +logic which the Committee of Buncombe on such occasions furnishes its +squad of talented spouters; and that--the most important this--he was +subject in the end to the ignominy of waiting in the lobby with +tuft-hunters and political stock-jobbers, until it pleased the +Committee of Buncombe and the Honourable Treasurer thereof to give +him--a card of dismissal! + +But what virtue is there in waiting, our cynical friend would ask. Why +not go home and sleep? Because, O cynical friend, the Wigwam now is +Khalid's home. For was he not, in creaking boots and a slouch hat, +ceremoniously married to Democracy? Ay, and after spending their +honeymoon on the Stump and living another month or two with his troll +among her People, he returns to his cellar to brood, not over the +blank pages in his Text, nor over the disastrous results of the +Campaign, but on the weightier matter of divorce. For although +Politics and Romance, in the History of Human Intrigue, have often +known and enjoyed the same yoke, with Khalid they refused to pull at +the plough. They were not sensible even to the goad. Either the yoke +in his case was too loose, or the new yoke-fellow too thick-skinned +and stubborn. + +Moreover, the promise of a handsome dowry, made by the Shamrag +Father-in-Law or his Brokers materialised only in the rotten eggs and +tomatoes with which the Orator was cordially received on his honeymoon +trip. Such a marriage, O Mohammad, and such a honeymoon, and such a +dowry!--is not this enough to shake the very sides of the Kaaba with +laughter? And yet, in the Wigwam this not uncommon affair was +indifferently considered; for the good and honourable Tammanyites +marry off their Daughters every day to foreigners and natives alike, +and with like extraordinary picturesque results. + +Were it not wiser, therefore, O Khalid, had you consulted your +friend the Dictionary before you saw exact meaning of canvass and +manipulation, before you put on your squeaking boots and slouch +hat and gave your hand and heart to Tammany's Daughter and her +Father-in-Law O'Graft? But the Dictionary, too, often falls short +of human experience; and even Mr. O'Donohue could at best but hint at +the meaning of the esoteric terms of Tammany's political creed. These +you must define for yourself as you go along; and change and revise +your definitions as you rise or descend in the Sacred Order. For +canvass here might mean eloquence; there it might mean shrewdness; +lower down, intimidation and coercion; and further depthward, human +sloth and misery. It is but a common deal in horses. Ay, in Tammany +Land it is essentially a trade honestly conducted on the known +principle of supply and demand. These truths you had to discover for +yourself, you say; for neither the Dictionary, nor your friend and +fellow traveller in Bohemia, Mr. Hoolihan, could stretch their +knowledge or their conscience to such a compass. And you are not +sorry to have made such a discovery? Can you think of the Dowry and +say that? We are, indeed, sorry for you. And we would fain insert +in letter D of the Dictionary a new definition: namely, Dowry, n. +(Tammany Land Slang). The odoriferous missiles, such as eggs and +tomatoes, which are showered on an Orator-Groom by the people. + +But see what big profits Khalid draws from these small shares in the +Reality Stock Company. You remember, good Reader, how he was kicked +away from the door of the Temple of Atheism. The stogies of that +inspired Doorkeeper were divine, according to his way of viewing +things, for they were at that particular moment God's own boots. Ay, +it was God, he often repeats, who kicked him away from the Temple of +his enemies. And now, he finds the Dowry of Democracy, with all its +wonderful revelations, as profitable in its results, as divine in its +purpose. And in proof of this, we give here a copy of his letter to +Boss O'Graft, written in that downright manner of his contemporaries, +the English original of which we find in the _Histoire Intime_. + + "From Khalid to Boss O'Graft. + + "Right _Dis_honourable Boss: + + "I have just received a check from your Treasurer, which by no + right whatever is due me, having been paid for my services by + Him who knows better than you and your Treasurer what I deserve. + The voice of the people, and their eggs and tomatoes, too, are, + indeed, God's. And you should know this, you who dare to + remunerate me in what is not half as clean as those missiles. I + return not your insult of a check, however; but I have tried to + do your state some service in purchasing the few boxes of soap + which I am now dispatching to the Wigwam. You need more, I know, + you and your Honourable Henchmen or Hashmen. And instead of + canvassing and orating for Democracy's illustrious Candidate and + the Noble Cause, _mashallah!_ one ought to do a little + canvassing for Honesty and Truth among Democracy's leaders, + tuft-hunters, political stock-jobbers, and such like. O, for a + higher stump, my Boss, to preach to those who are supporting and + degrading the stumps and the stump-orators of the Republic!" + +And is it come to this, you poor phantom-like dreamer? Think you a +Tammany Boss is like your atheists and attorneys and women of the +studio, at whom you could vent your ire without let or hindrance? +These harmless humans have no constables at their command. But his +Shamrag Majesty--O wretched Khalid, must we bring one of his myrmidons +to your cellar to prove to you that, even in this Tammany Land, you +can not with immunity give free and honest expression to your +thoughts? Now, were you not summoned to the Shamrag's presence to +answer for the crime of _lese-majeste_? And were you not, for your +audacity, left to brood ten days and nights in gaol? And what tedium +we have in Shakib's History about the charge on which he was arrested. +It is unconscionable that Khalid should misappropriate Party funds. +Indeed, he never even touched or saw any of it, excepting, of course, +that check which he returned. But the Boss was still in power. And +what could Shakib do to exonerate his friend? He did much, and he +tells as much about it. With check-boot in his pocket, he makes his +way through aldermen, placemen, henchmen, and other questionable +political species of humanity, up to the Seat of Justice--but such +detail, though of the veracity of the writer nothing doubting, we +gladly set aside, since we believe with Khalid that his ten days in +gaol were akin to the Boots and the Dowry in their motive and effect. + +But our Scribe, though never remiss when Khalid is in a pickle, finds +much amiss in Khalid's thoughts and sentiments. And as a further +illustration of the limpid shallows of the one and the often opaque +depths of the other, we give space to the following: + +"When Khalid was ordered to appear before the Boss," writes Shakib, +"such curiosity and anxiety as I felt at that time made me accompany +him. For I was anxious about Khalid, and curious to see this great +Leader of men. We set out, therefore, together, I musing on an +incident in Baalbek when we went out to meet the Pasha of the Lebanons +and a droll old peasant, having seen him for the first time, cried +out, 'I thought the Pasha to be a Pasha, but he's but a man.' And I am +sorry, after having seen the Boss, I can not say as much for him." + +Here follows a little philosophising, unbecoming of our Scribe, on men +and names and how they act and react upon each other. Also, a page +about his misgivings and the effort he made to persuade Khalid not to +appear before the Boss. But skipping over these, "we reach the Tammany +Wigwam and are conducted by a thick-set, heavy-jowled, heavy-booted +citizen through the long corridor into a little square room occupied +by a little square-faced clerk. Here we wait a half hour and more, +during which the young gentleman, with his bell before him and his +orders to minor clerks who come and go, poses as somebody of some +importance. We are then asked to follow him from one room into +another, until we reach the one adjoining the private office of the +Boss. A knock or two are executed on the door of Greatness with a +nauseous sense of awe, and 'Come in,' Greatness within huskily +replies. The square-faced clerk enters, shuts the door after him, +returns in a trice, and conducts us into the awful Presence. Ye gods +of Baalbek, the like of this I never saw before. Here is a room +sumptuously furnished with sofas and fauteuils, and rugs from Ispahan. +On the walls are pictures of Washington, Jefferson, and the great Boss +Tweed; and right under the last named, behind that preciously carved +mahogany desk, in that soft rolling mahogany chair, is the squat +figure of the big Boss. On the desk before him, besides a plethora of +documents, lay many things pell-mell, among which I noticed a box of +cigars, the Criminal Code, and, most prominent of all, the Boss' feet, +raised there either to bid us welcome, or to remind us of his power. +And the rich Ispahan rug, the cuspidor being small and overfull, +receives the richly coloured matter which he spurts forth every time +he takes the cigar out of his mouth. O, the vulgarity, the bestiality +of it! Think of those poor patient Persian weavers who weave the +tissues of their hearts into such beautiful work, and of this proud +and paltry Boss, whose office should have been furnished with straw. +Yes, with straw; and the souls of those poor artist-weavers will sleep +in peace. O, the ignominy of having such precious pieces of +workmanship under the feet and spittle of such vulgar specimens of +humanity. But if the Boss had purchased these rugs himself, with money +earned by his own brow-sweat, I am sure he would appreciate them +better. He would then know, if not their intrinsic worth, at least +their market value. Yes, and they were presented to him by some one +_needing, I suppose, police connivance and protection_. The first half +of this statement I had from the Boss himself; the second, I base on +Khalid's knowingness and suspicion. Be this, however, as it may. + +"When we entered this sumptuously furnished office, the squat figure +in the chair under the picture of Boss Tweed, remained as immobile as +a fixture and did not as much as reply to our _salaam_. But he pointed +disdainfully to seats in the corner of the room, saying, 'Sit down +there,' in a manner quite in keeping with his stogies raised on the +desk directly in our face. Such freedom, nay, such bestiality, I could +never tolerate. Indeed, I prefer the suavity and palaver of Turkish +officials, no matter how crafty and corrupt, to the puffing, spitting +manners of these come-up-from-the-shamble men. But Khalid could sit +there as immobile as the Boss himself, and he did so, billah! For he +was thinking all the while, as he told me when we came out, not of +such matters as grate on the susceptibilities of a poet, but on the +one sole idea of how such a bad titman could lead by the nose so many +good people." + +Shakib then proceeds to give us a verbatim report of the interview. It +begins with the Boss' question, "What do you mean by writing such a +letter?" and ends with this other, "What do you mean by immanent +morality?" The reader, given the head and tail of the matter, can +supply the missing parts. Or, given its two bases, he can construct +this triangle of Politics, Ethics, and the Constable, with Khalid's +letter, offended Majesty, and a prison cell, as its three turning +points. We extract from the report, however, the concluding advice of +the Boss. For when he asked Khalid again what he meant by immanent +morality, he continued in a crescendo of indignation: "You mean the +morality of hayseeds, and priests, and philosophical fools? That sort +of morality will not as much as secure a vote during the campaign, nor +even help to keep the lowest clerk in office. That sort of morality is +good for your mountain peasants or other barbarous tribes. But the +free and progressive people of the United States must have something +better, nobler, more practical. You'd do well, therefore, to get you a +pair of rings, hang them in your ears, and go preach, your immanent +morality to the South African Pappoos. But before you go, you shall +taste of the rigour of our law, you insolent, brazen-faced, unmannerly +scoundrel!" + +And we are assured that the Boss did not remain immobile as be spurted +forth this mixture of wrath and wisdom, nor did the stogies; for +moved by his own words, he rose promptly to his feet. "And what +of it," exclaims our Scribe. "Surely, I had rather see those boots +perform any office, high or low, as to behold their soles raised like +mirrors to my face." But how high an office they performed when the +Boss came forward, we are not told. All that our Scribe gives out +about the matter amounts to this: namely, that he walked out of the +room, and as he looked back to see if Khalid was following, he saw him +brushing with his hands--his hips! And on that very day Khalid was +summoned to appear before the Court and give answer to the charge of +misappropriation of public funds. The orator-dream of youth--what a +realisation! He comes to Court, and after the legal formalities are +performed, he is delivered unto an officer who escorts him across +the Bridge of Sighs to gaol. There, for ten days and nights,--and it +might have been ten months were it not for his devoted and steadfast +friend,--we leave Khalid to brood on Democracy and the Dowry of +Democracy. A few extracts from the Chapter in the K. L. MS. +entitled "In Prison," are, therefore, appropriate. + + "So long as one has faith," he writes, "in the general moral + summation of the experience of mankind, as the philosophy of + reason assures us, one should not despair. But the material fact + of the Present, the dark moment of no-morality, consider that, + my suffering Brothers. And reflect further that in this great + City of New York the majority of citizens consider it a blessing + to have a _rojail_ (titman) for their boss and leader.... How + often have I mused that if Ponce de Leon sought the Fountain of + Youth in the New World, I, Khalid, sought the Fountain of Truth, + and both of us have been equally successful! + + "But the Americans are neither Pagans--which is consoling--nor + fetish-worshipping heathens: they are all true and honest + votaries of Mammon, their great God, their one and only God. And + is it not natural that the Demiurgic Dollar should be the + national Deity of America? Have not deities been always + conceived after man's needs and aspirations? Thus in Egypt, in a + locality where the manufacture of pottery was the chief + industry, God was represented as a potter; in agricultural + districts, as a god of harvest; among warring tribes as an + avenger, a Jehovah. And the more needs, the more deities; the + higher the aspirations, the better the gods. Hence the ugly + fetish of a savage tribe, and the beautiful mythology of a Greek + Civilisation. Change the needs and aspirations of the Americans, + therefore, and you will have changed their worship, their + national Deity, and even their Government. And believe me, this + change is coming; people get tired of their gods as of + everything else. Ay, the time will come, when man in this + America shall not suffer for not being a seeker and lover and + defender of the Dollar.... + + "Obedience, like faith, is a divine gift; but only when it comes + from the heart: only when prompted by love and sincerity is it + divine. If you can not, however, reverence what you obey, then, + I say, withhold your obedience. And if you prefer to barter your + identity or ego for a counterfeit coin of ideology, that right + is yours. For under a liberal Constitution and in a free + Government, you are also at liberty to sell your soul, to open a + bank account for your conscience. But don't blame God, or + Destiny, or Society, when you find yourself, after doing this, a + brother to the ox. Herein, we Orientals differ from Europeans + and Americans; we are never bribed into obedience. We obey + either from reverence and love, or from fear. We are either + power-worshippers or cowards but never, never traders. It might + be said that the masses in the East are blind slaves, while in + Europe and America they are become blind rebels. And which is + the better part of valour, when one is blind--submission or + revolt?... + + "No; popular suffrage helps not the suffering individual; nor + does it conduce to a better and higher morality. Why, my + Masters, it can not as much as purge its own channels. For what + is the ballot box, I ask again, but a modern vehicle of + corruption and debasement? The ballot box, believe me, can not + add a cubit to your frame, nor can it shed a modicum of light on + the deeper problems of life. Of course, it is the exponent of + the will of the majority, that is to say, the will of the Party + that has more money at its disposal. The majority, and Iblis, + and Juhannam--ah, come out with me to the new gods!..." + +But we must make allowance for these girds and gibes at Democracy, of +which we have given a specimen. Khalid's irony bites so deep at times +as to get at the very bone of truth. And here is the marrow of it. We +translate the following prophecy with which he closes his Chapter "In +Prison," and with it, too, we close ours. + + "But my faith in man," he swears, "is as strong as my faith in + God. And as strong, too, perhaps, is my faith in the future + world-ruling destiny of America. To these United States shall + the Nations of the World turn one day for the best model of good + Government; in these United States the well-springs of the + higher aspirations of the soul shall quench the thirst of every + race-traveller on the highway of emancipation; and from these + United States the sun and moon of a great Faith and a great Art + shall rise upon mankind. I believe this, billah! and I am + willing to go on the witness stand to swear to it. Ay, in this + New World, the higher Superman shall rise. And he shall not be + of the tribe of Overmen of the present age, of the beautiful + blond beast of Zarathustra, who would riddle mankind as they + would riddle wheat or flour; nor of those political moralists + who would reform the world as they would a parish. + + "From his transcendental height, the Superman of America shall + ray forth in every direction the divine light, which shall + mellow and purify the spirit of Nations and strengthen and + sweeten the spirit of men, in this New World, I tell you, he + shall be born, but he shall not be an American in the Democratic + sense. He shall be nor of the Old World nor of the New; he shall + be, my Brothers, of both. In him shall be reincarnated the + Asiatic spirit of origination, of Poesy and Prophecy, and the + European spirit of Art, and the American spirit of Invention. + Ay, the Nation that leads the world to-day in material progress + shall lead it, too, in the future, in the higher things of the + mind and soul. And when you reach that height, O beloved + America, you will be far from the majority-rule, and Iblis, and + Juhannam. And you will then conquer those 'enormous mud + Megatheriums' of which Carlyle makes loud mention." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +SUBTRANSCENDENTAL + + +Deficiencies in individuals, as in States, have their value and +import. Indeed, that sublime impulse of perfectibility, always +vivacious, always working under various forms and with one underlying +purpose, would be futile without them, and fatuous. And what were life +without this incessant striving of the spirit? What were life without +its angles of difficulty and defeat, and its apices of triumph and +power? A banality this, you will say. But need we not be reminded of +these wholesome truths, when the striving after originality nowadays +is productive of so much quackery? The impulse of perfectibility, we +repeat, whether at work in a Studio, or in a Factory, or in a Prison +Cell, is the most noble of all human impulses, the most divine. + +Of that Chapter, In Prison, we have given what might be called the +exogenous bark of the Soul, or that which environment creates. And now +we shall endeavour to show the reader somewhat of the ludigenous +process, by which the Soul, thrumming its own strings or eating its +own guts, develops and increases its numbers. For Khalid in these +gaol-days is much like Hamlet's player, or even like Hamlet +himself--always soliloquising, tearing a passion to rags. And what +mean these outbursts and objurgations of his, you will ask; these +suggestions, fugitive, rhapsodical, mystical; this furibund allegro +about Money, Mediums, and Bohemia; these sobs and tears and +asseverations, in which our Lady of the Studio and Shakib are both +expunged with great billahs;--the force and significance of these +subliminal uprushes, dear Reader, we confess we are, like yourself, +unable to understand, without the aid of our Interpreter. We shall, +therefore, let him speak. + +"When in prison," writes Shakib, "Khalid was subject to spasms and +strange hallucinations. One day, when I was sweating in the effort to +get him out of gaol, he sends me word to come and see him. I go; and +after waiting a while at the Iron gate, I behold Khalid rushing down +the isle like an angry lion. 'What do you want,' he growled, 'why are +you here?' And I, amazed, 'Did you not send for me?' And he snapped +up, 'I did; but you should not have come. You should withhold from me +your favours.' Life of Allah, I was stunned. I feared lest his mind, +too, had gone in the direction of his health, which was already +sorrily undermined. I looked at him with dim, tearful eyes, and +assured him that soon he shall be free. 'And what is the use of +freedom,' he exclaimed, 'when it drags us to lower and darker depths? +Don't think I am miserable in prison. No; I am not--I am happy. I have +had strange visions, marvellous. O my Brother, if you could behold the +sloughs, deeper and darker than any prison-cell, into which _you_ have +thrown me. Yes, _you_--and another. O, I hate you both. I hate my +best lovers. I hate You--no--no, no, no.' And he falls on me, embraces +me, and bathes my cheeks with his tears. After which he falters out +beseechingly, 'Promise, promise that you will not give me any more +money, and though starving and in rags you find me crouching at your +door, promise.' And of a truth, I acquiesced in all he said, seeing +how shaken in body and mind he was. But not until I had made a promise +under oath would he be tranquillised. And so, after our farewell +embrace, he asked me to come again the following day and bring him +some books to read. This I did, fetching with me Rousseau's _Emile_ +and Carlyle's _Hero-Worship_, the only two books he had in the cellar. +And when he saw them, he exclaimed with joy, 'The very books I want! I +read them twice already, and I shall read them again. O, let me kiss +you for the thought.' And in an ecstasy he overwhelms me again with +suffusing sobs and embraces. + +"What a difference, I thought, between Khalid of yesterday and Khalid +of to-day. What a transformation! Even I who know the turn and temper +of his nature had much this time to fear. Surely, an alienist would +have made a case of him. But I began to get an inkling into his cue of +passion, when he told me that he was going to start a little business +again, if I lend him the necessary capital. But I reminded him that we +shall soon be returning home. 'No, not I,' he swore; 'not until I can +pay my own passage, at least. I told you yesterday I'll accept no more +money from you, except, of course, the sum I need to start the little +business I am contemplating.' 'And suppose you lose this money,' I +asked.--'Why, then _you_ lose _me_. But no, you shall not. For I know, +I believe, I am sure, I swear that my scheme this time will not be a +failure in any sense of the word. I have heavenly testimony on +that.'--'And what was the matter with you yesterday? Why were you so +queer?' 'O, I had nightmares and visions the night before, and you +came too early in the morning. See this.' And he holds down his head +to show me the back of his neck. 'Is there no swelling here? I feel +it. Oh, it pains me yet. But I shall tell you about it and about the +vision when I am out.'--And at this, the gaoler comes to inform us +that Khalid's minutes are spent and he must return to his cell." + +All of which from our Interpreter is as clear as God Save the King. +And from which we hope our Reader will infer that those outbursts and +tears and rhapsodies of Khalid did mean somewhat. They did mean, even +when we first approached his cell, that something was going on in +him--a revolution, a _coup d'etat_, so to speak, of the spirit. For a +Prince in Rags, but not in Debts and Dishonour, will throttle the +Harpy which has hitherto ruled and degraded his soul. + +But the dwelling, too, of that soul is sorely undermined. And so, his +leal and loving friend Shakib takes him later to the best physician in +the City, who after the tapping and auscultation, shakes his head, +writes his prescriptions, and advises Khalid to keep in the open air +as much as possible, or better still, to return to his native +country. The last portion of the advice, however, Khalid can not +follow at present. For he will either return home on his own account +or die in New York. "If I can not in time save enough money for the +Steamship Company," he said to Shakib, "I can at least leave enough to +settle the undertaker's bill. And in either case, I shall have paid my +own passage out of this New World. And I shall stand before my Maker +in a shroud, at least, which I can call my own." + +To which Shakib replies by going to the druggist with the prescriptions. +And when he returns to the cellar with a package of four or five +medicine bottles for rubbing and smelling and drinking, he finds Khalid +sitting near the stove--we are now in the last month of Winter--warming +his hands on the flames of the two last books he read. _Emile_ and +_Hero-Worship_ go the way of all the rest. And there he sits, meditating +over Carlyle's crepitating fire and Rousseau's writhing, sibilating +flame. And it may be he thought of neither. Perhaps he was brooding +over the resolution he had made, and the ominous shaking of the doctor's +head. Ah, but his tutelar deities are better physicians, he thought. +And having made his choice, he will pitch the medicine bottles into the +street, and only follow the doctor's advice by keeping in the open air. + +Behold him, therefore, with a note in hand, applying to Shakib, in a +formal and business-like manner, for a loan; and see that noble +benefactor and friend, after gladly giving the money, throw the note +into the fire. And now, Khalid is neither dervish nor philosopher, +but a man of business with a capital of twenty-five dollars in his +pocket. And with one-fifth of this capital he buys a second-hand +push-cart from his Greek neighbour, wends his way with it to the +market-place, makes a purchase there of a few boxes of oranges, sorts +them in his cart into three classes,--"there is no equality in +nature," he says, while doing this,--sticks a price card at the head +of each class, and starts, in the name of Allah, his business. That is +how he will keep in the open air twelve hours a day. + +But in the district where he is known he does not long remain. The +sympathy of his compatriots is to him worse than the doctor's +medicines, and those who had often heard him speechifying exchanged +significant looks when he passed. Moreover, the police would not let +him set up his stand anywhere. "There comes the push-cart orator," +they would say to each other; and before our poor Syrian stops to +breathe, one of them grumpishly cries out, "Move on there! Move on!" +Once Khalid ventures to ask, "But why are others allowed to set up +their stands here?" And the "copper" (we beg the Critic's pardon +again) coming forward twirling his club, lays his hand on Khalid's +shoulder and calmly this: "Don't you think I know you? Move on, I +say." O Khalid, have you forgotten that these "coppers" are the +minions of Tammany? Why tarry, therefore, and ask questions? Yes, make +a big move at once--out of the district entirely. + +Now, to the East Side, into the Jewish Quarter, Khalid directs his +cart. And there, he falls in with Jewish fellow push-cart peddlers +and puts up with them in a cellar similar to his in the Syrian +Quarter. But only for a month could he suffer what the Jew has +suffered for centuries. Why? There is this difference between the +cellar of the Semite Syrian and that of the Semite Jew: in the first +we eat _mojadderah_, in the second, _kosher_ but stinking flesh; in +the first we read poetry and play the lute, in the second we fight +about the rent and the division of the profits of the day; in the +first we sleep in linen "as white as the wings of the dove," in the +second on pieces of smelly blankets; the first is redolent of ottar of +roses, Shakib's favourite perfume, the second is especially made +insufferable by that stench which is peculiar to every Hebrew hive. +For these and other reasons, Khalid separates himself from his Semite +fellow peddlers, and makes this time a bigger move than the first. + +Ay, even to the Bronx, where often in former days, shouldering the +peddling-box, he tramped, will he now push his orange-cart and his +hopes. There, between City and Country, nearer to Nature, and not far +from the traffic of life, he fares better both in health and purse. It +is much to his liking, this upper end of the City. Here the atmosphere +is more peaceful and soothing, and the police are more agreeable. No, +they do not nickname and bully him in the Bronx. And never was he +ordered to move on, even though he set up his stand for months at the +same corner. "Ah, how much kinder and more humane people become," he +says, "even when they are not altogether out of the City, but only on +the outskirts of the country expanse." + +Khalid passes the Spring and Summer in the Bronx and keeps in the open +air, not only in the day, but also in the night. How he does this, is +told in a letter which he writes to Shakib. But does he sleep at all, +you ask, and how, and where? Reader, we thank you for your anxiety +about Khalid's health. And we would fain show you the Magic Carpet +which he carries in the lock-box of his push-cart. But see for +yourself, here be neither Magic Carpet, nor Magic Ring. Only his +papers, a few towels, a blanket, some underwear, and his coffee +utensils, are here. For Khalid could forego his _mojadderah_, but +never his coffee, the Arab that he is. But an Arab on the wayfare, if +he finds himself at night far from the camp, will dig him a ditch in +the sands and lie there to sleep under the living stars. Khalid could +not do thus, neither in the City nor out of it. And yet, he did not +lodge within doors. He hired a place only for his push-cart; and this, +a small padlock-booth where he deposits his stock in trade. But how he +lived in the Bronx is described in the following letter: + + "My loving Brother Shakib, + + "I have been two months here, in a neighbourhood familiar to + you. Not far from the place where I sleep is the sycamore tree + under which I burned my peddling-box. And perhaps I shall yet + burn there my push-cart too. But for the present, all's well. My + business is good and my health is improving. The money-order I + am enclosing with this, will cancel the note, but not the many + debts, I owe you. And I hope to be able to join you again soon, + to make the voyage to our native land together. Meanwhile I am + working, and laying up a little something. I make from two to + three dollars a day, of which I never spend more than one. And + this on one meal only; for my lodging and my lunch and breakfast + cost next to nothing. Yes, I can be a push-cart peddler in the + day; I can sleep out of doors at night; I can do with coffee and + oranges for lunch and breakfast; but in the evening I will + assert my dignity and do justice to my taste: I will dine at the + Hermitage and permit you to call me a fool. And why not, since + my purse, like my stomach, is now my own? Why not go to the + Hermitage since my push-cart income permits of it? But the first + night I went there my shabbiness attracted the discomforting + attention of the fashionable diners, and made even the waiters + offensive. Indeed, one of them came to ask if I were looking for + somebody. 'No,' I replied with suppressed indignation; 'I'm + looking for a place where I can sit down and eat, without being + eaten by the eyes of the vulgar curious.' And I pass into an + arbor, which from that night becomes virtually my own, followed + by a waiter who from that night, too, became my friend. For + every evening I go there, I find my table unoccupied and my + waiter ready to receive and serve me. But don't think he does + this for the sake of my black eyes or my philosophy. That + disdainful glance of his on the first evening I could never + forget, billah. And I found that it could be baited and mellowed + only by a liberal tip. And this I make in advance every week for + both my comfort and his. Yes, I am a fool, I grant you, but I'm + not out of my element there. + + "After dinner I take a stroll in the Flower Gardens, and + crossing the rickety wooden bridge over the river, I enter the + hemlock grove. Here, in a sequestered spot near the river bank, + I lay me on the grass and sleep for the night. I always bring my + towels with me; for in the morning I take a dip, and at night I + use them for a pillow. When the weather requires it, I bring my + blankets too. And hanging one of them over me, tied to the trees + by the cords sown to its corners, I wrap myself in the other, + and praise Allah. + + "These and the towels, after taking my bath, I leave at the + Hermitage; my waiter minds them for me. And so, I suspect I am + happy--if, curse it! I could but breathe better. O, come up to + see me. I'll give you a royal dinner at the Hermitage, and a + royal bed in the hemlock grove on the river-bank. Do come up, + the peace of Allah upon thee. Read my salaam to Im-Hanna." + +And during his five months in the Bronx he did not sleep five nights +within doors, we are told, nor did he once dine out of the Hermitage. +Even his hair, a fantastic fatuity behind a push-cart, he did not take +the trouble to cut or trim. It must have helped his business. But this +constancy, never before sustained to such a degree, must soon cease, +having laid up, thanks to his push-cart and the people of the Bronx, +enough to carry him, not only to Baalbek, but to _Aymakanenkan_. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE FALSE DAWN + + +What the Arabs always said of Andalusia, Khalid and Shakib said +once of America: a most beautiful country with one single vice--it +makes foreigners forget their native land. But now they are both +suffering from nostalgia, and America, therefore, is without a +single vice. It is perfect, heavenly, ideal. In it one sees only the +vices of other races, and the ugliness of other nations. America +herself is as lovely as a dimpled babe, and as innocent. A dimpled +babe she. But wait until she grows, and she will have more than one +vice to demand forgetfulness. + +Shakib, however, is not going to wait. He begins to hear the call of +his own country, now that his bank account is big enough to procure +for him the Pashalic of Syria. And Khalid, though his push-cart had +developed to a stationary fruit stand,--and perhaps for this very +reason,--is now desirous of leaving America anon. He is afraid of +success overtaking him. Moreover, the Bronx Park has awakened in him +his long dormant love of Nature. For while warming himself on the +flames of knowledge in the cellar, or rioting with the Bassarides of +Bohemia, or canvassing and speechifying for Tammany, he little thought +of what he had deserted in his native country. The ancient historical +rivers flowing through a land made sacred by the divine madness of the +human spirit; the snow-capped mountains at the feet of which the lily +and the oleander bloom; the pine forests diffusing their fragrance +even among the downy clouds; the peaceful, sun-swept multi-coloured +meadows; the trellised vines, the fig groves, the quince orchards, the +orangeries: the absence of these did not disturb his serenity in the +cellar, his voluptuousness in Bohemia, his enthusiasm in Tammany +Land. + +And we must not forget to mention that, besides the divine voice of +Nature and native soil, he long since has heard and still hears the +still sweet voice of one who might be dearer to him than all. For +Khalid, after his return from Bohemia, continued to curse the huris in +his dreams. And he little did taste of the blessings of "sore labour's +bath, balm of hurt minds." Ay, when he was not racked and harrowed by +nightmares, he was either disturbed by the angels of his visions or +the succubi of his dreams. And so, he determines to go to Syria for a +night's sleep, at least, of the innocent and just. His cousin Najma is +there, and that is enough. Once he sees her, the huris are no more. + +Now Shakib, who is more faithful in his narration than we first +thought--who speaks of Khalid as he is, extenuating nothing--gives us +access to a letter which he received from the Bronx a month before +their departure from New York. In these Letters of Khalid, which our +Scribe happily preserved, we feel somewhat relieved of the dogmatism, +fantastic, mystical, severe, which we often meet with in the K. L. +MS. In his Letters, our Syrian peddler and seer is a plain blunt man +unbosoming himself to his friend. Read this, for instance. + + "My loving Brother: + + "It is raining so hard to-night that I must sleep, or in fact + keep, within doors. Would you believe it, I am no more + accustomed to the luxuries of a soft spring-bed, and I can not + even sleep on the floor, where I have moved my mattress. I am + sore, broken in mind and spirit. Even the hemlock grove and the + melancholy stillness of the river, are beginning to annoy me. + Oh, I am tired of everything here, tired even of the cocktails, + tired of the push-cart, tired of earning as much as five dollars + a day. Next Sunday is inauguration day for my stationary fruit + stand; but I don't think it's going to stand there long enough + to deserve to be baptized with champagne. If you come up, + therefore, we'll have a couple of steins at the Hermitage and + call it square.--O, I would square myself with the doctors by + thrusting a poker down my windpipe: I might be able to breathe + better then. I pause to curse my fate.--Curse it, Juhannam-born, + curse it!-- + + "I can not sleep, nor on the spring-bed, nor on the floor. It is + two hours past midnight now, and I shall try to while away the + time by scrawling this to you. My brother, I can not long + support this sort of life, being no more fit for rough, + ignominious labor. 'But why,' you will ask, 'did you undertake + it?' Yes, why? Strictly speaking, I made a mistake. But it's a + noble mistake, believe me--a mistake which everybody in my + condition ought to make, if but once in their life-time. Is it + not something to be able to make an honest resolution and carry + it out? I have heard strange voices in prison; I have hearkened + to them; but I find that one must have sound lungs, at least, to + be able to do the will of the immortal gods. And even if he had, + I doubt if he could do much to suit them in America. O, my + greatest enemy and benefactor in the whole world is this + dumb-hearted mother, this America, in whose iron loins I have + been spiritually conceived. Paradoxical, this? But is it not + true? Was not the Khalid, now writing to you, born in the + cellar? Down there, in the very loins of New York? But alas, + our spiritual Mother devours, like a cat, her own children. How + then can we live with her in the same house? + + "I need not tell you now that the ignominious task I set my + hands to, was never to my liking. But the ox under the yoke is + not asked whether he likes it or not. I have been yoked to my + push-cart by the immortal gods; and soon my turn and trial will + end. It must end. For our country is just beginning to speak, + and I am her chosen voice. I feel that if I do not respond, if I + do not come to her, she will be dumb forever. No; I can not + remain here any more. For I can not be strenuous enough to be + miserably happy; nor stupid enough to be contentedly miserable. + I confess I have been spoiled by those who call themselves + spiritual sisters of mine. The huris be dam'd. And if I don't + leave this country soon, I'll find myself sharing the damnation + again--in Bohemia.-- + + "The power of the soul is doubled by the object of its love, + or by such labor of love as it undertakes. But, here I am, + with no work and nobody I can love; nay, chained to a task + which I now abominate. If a labor of love doubles the power of + the soul, a labor of hate, to use an antonym term, warps it, + poisons it, destroys it. Is it not a shame that in this great + Country,--this Circe with her golden horns of plenty,--one can + not as much as keep his blood in circulation without damning + the currents of one's soul? O America, equally hated and + beloved of Khalid, O Mother of prosperity and spiritual + misery, the time will come when you shall see that your gold + is but pinchbeck, your gilt-edge bonds but death decrees, and + your god of wealth a carcase enthroned upon a dung-hill. But + you can not see this now; for you are yet in the false dawn, + floundering tumultuously, worshipping your mammoth carcase on + a dung-hill--and devouring your spiritual children. Yes, + America is now in the false dawn, and as sure as America + lives, the true dawn must follow. + + "Pardon, Shakib. I did not mean to end my letter in a rhapsody. + But I am so wrought, so broken in body, so inflamed in spirit. I + hope to see you soon. No, I hope to see myself with you on board + of a Transatlantic steamer." + +And is not Khalid, like his spiritual Mother, floundering, too, in the +false dawn of life? His love of Nature, which was spontaneous and +free, is it not likely to become formal and scientific? His love of +Country, which begins tremulously, fervently in the woods and streams, +is it not likely to end in Nephelococcygia? His determination to work, +which was rudely shaken at a push-cart, is it not become again a +determination to loaf? And now, that he has a little money laid up, +has he not the right to seek in this world the cheapest and most +suitable place for loafing? And where, if not in the Lebanon hills, +"in which it seemed always afternoon," can he rejoin the Lotus-Eaters +of the East? This man of visions, this fantastic, rhapsodical--but we +must not be hard upon him. Remember, good Reader, the poker which he +would thrust down his windpipe to broaden it a little. With asthmatic +fits and tuberous infiltrations, one is permitted to commune with any +of Allah's ministers of grace or spirits of Juhannam. And that divine +spark of primal, paradisical love, which is rapidly devouring all +others--let us not forget that. Ay, we mean his cousin Najma. Of +course, he speaks, too, of his nation, his people, awaking, lisping, +beginning to speak, waiting for him, the chosen Voice! Which reminds +us of how he was described to us by the hasheesh-smokers of Cairo. + +In any event, the Reader will rejoice with us, we hope, that Khalid +will not turn again toward Bohemia. He will agree with us that, +whether on account of his health, or his love, or his mission, it is +well, in his present fare of mind and body, that he is returning to +the land "in which it seemed always afternoon." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE LAST STAR + + +Is it not an ethnic phenomenon that a descendant of the ancient +Phoenicians can not understand the meaning and purport of the Cash +Register in America? Is it not strange that this son of Superstition +and Trade can not find solace in the fact that in this Pix of Business +is the Host of the Demiurgic Dollar? Indeed, the omnipresence and +omnipotence of it are not without divine significance. For can you not +see that this Cash Register, this Pix of Trade, is prominently set up +on the altar of every institution, political, moral, social, and +religious? Do you not meet with it everywhere, and foremost in the +sanctuaries of the mind and the soul? In the Societies for the +Diffusion of Knowledge; in the Social Reform Propagandas; in the Don't +Worry Circles of Metaphysical Gymnasiums; in Alliances, Philanthropic, +Educational; in the Board of Foreign Missions; in the Sacrarium of +Vaticinatress Eddy; in the Church of God itself;--is not the Cash +Register a divine symbol of the _credo_, the faith, or the idea? + +"To trade, or not to trade," Hamlet-Khalid exclaims, "that is the +question: whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer, etc., or to take +arms against the Cash Registers of America, and by opposing end--" +What? Sacrilegious wretch, would you set your face against the +divinity in the Holy Pix of Trade? And what will you end, and how will +You end by it? An eternal problem, this, of opposing and ending. But +before you set your face in earnest, we would ask you to consider if +the vacancy or chaos which is sure to follow, be not more pernicious +than what you would end. If you are sure it is not, go ahead, and we +give you Godspeed. If you have the least doubt about it--but Khalid is +incapable now of doubting anything. And whether he opposes his theory +of immanent morality to the Cash Register, or to Democracy, or to the +ruling powers of Flunkeydom, we hope He will end well. Such is the +penalty of revolt against the dominating spirit of one's people and +ancestors, that only once in a generation is it attempted, and +scarcely with much success. In fact, the first who revolts must +perish, the second, too, and the third, and the fourth, until, in the +course of time and by dint of repetition and resistance, the new +species of the race can overcome the forces of environment and the +crushing influence of conformity. This, we know, is the biological +law, and Khalid must suffer under it. For, as far as our knowledge +extends, he is the first Syrian, the ancient Lebanon monks excepted, +who revolted against the ruling spirit of his people and the dominant +tendencies of the times, both in his native and his adopted +Countries. + +Yes, the _ethos_ of the Syrians (for once we use Khalid's philosophic +term), like that of the Americans, is essentially money-seeking. And +whether in Beirut or in New York, even the moralists and reformers, +like the hammals and grocers, will ask themselves, before they +undertake to do anything for you or for their country, "What will this +profit us? How much will it bring us?" And that is what Khalid once +thought to oppose and end. Alas, oppose he might--and End He Must. How +can an individual, without the aid of Time and the Unseen Powers, hope +to oppose and end, or even change, this monstrous mass of things? Yet +we must not fail to observe that when we revolt against a tendency +inimical to our law of being, it is for our own sake, and not the +race's, that we do so. And we are glad we are able to infer, if not +from the K. L, MS., at least from his Letters, that Khalid is +beginning to realise this truth. Let us not, therefore, expatiate +further upon it. + +If the reader will accompany us now to the cellar to bid our Syrian +friends farewell, we promise a few things of interest. When we first +came here some few years ago in Winter, or to another such underground +dwelling, the water rose ankle-deep over the floor, and the mould and +stench were enough to knock an ox dead. Now, a scent of ottar of roses +welcomes us at the door and leads us to a platform in the centre, +furnished with a Turkish rug, which Shakib will present to the +landlord as a farewell memento. + +And here are our three Syrians making ready for the voyage. Shakib +is intoning some verses of his while packing; Im-Hanna is cooking +the last dish of _mojadderah_; and Khalid, with some vague dream +in his eyes, and a vaguer, far-looming hope in his heart, is +sitting on his trunk wondering at the variety of things Shakib is +cramming into his. For our Scribe, we must not fail to remind the +Reader, is contemplating great things of State, is nourishing a great +political ambition. He will, therefore, bethink him of those in +power at home. Hence these costly presents. Ay, besides the plated +jewellery--the rings, bracelets, brooches, necklaces, ear-rings, +watches, and chains--of which he is bringing enough to supply the +peasants of three villages, see that beautiful gold-knobbed ebony +stick, which he will present to the vali, and this precious gold cross +with a ruby at the heart for the Patriarch, and these gold fountain +pens for his literary friends, and that fine Winchester rifle for the +chief of the tribe Anezah. These he packs in the bottom of his +trunk, and with them his precious dilapidated copy of Al-Mutanabbi, +and--what MS. be this? What, a Book of Verse spawned in the +cellar? Indeed, the very embryo of that printed copy we read in +Cairo, and which Shakib and his friends would have us translate +for the benefit of the English reading public. + +For our Scribe is the choragus of the Modern School of Arabic poetry. +And this particular Diwan of his is a sort of rhymed inventory of all +the inventions and discoveries of modern Science and all the wonders +of America. He has published other Diwans, in which French morbidity +is crowned with laurels from the Arabian Nights. For this Modern +School has two opposing wings, moved by two opposing forces, Science +being the motive power of the one, and Byron and De Musset the +inspiring geniuses of the other. We would not be faithful to our +Editorial task and to our Friend, if we did not give here a few +luminant examples of the Diwan in question. We are, indeed, very +sorry, for the sake of our readers, that space will not allow us to +give them a few whole qasidahs from it. To those who are so fortunate +as to be able to read and understand the Original, we point out the +Ode to the Phonograph, beginning thus: + + "O Phonograph, thou wonder of our time, + Thy tongue of wax can sing like me in rhyme." + +And another to the Brooklyn Bridge, of which these are the opening +lines: + + "O Brooklyn Bridge, how oft upon thy back + I tramped, and once I crossed thee in a hack." + +And finally, the great Poem entitled, On the Virtue and Benefit of +Modern Science, of which we remember these couplets: + + "Balloons and airships, falling from the skies, + Will be as plenty yet as summer flies. + * * * * * + "Electricity and Steam and Compressed Air + Will carry us to heaven yet, I swear." + +Here be rhymed truth, at least, which can boast of not being poetry. +Ay, in this MS. which Shakib is packing along with Al-Mutanabbi in the +bottom of his trunk to evade the Basilisk touch of the Port officials +of Beirut, is packed all the hopes of the Modern School. Pack on, +Shakib; for whether at the Mena House, or in the hasheesh-dens of +Cairo, the Future is drinking to thee, and dreaming of thee and thy +School its opium dreams. And Khalid, the while, sits impassive on his +trunk, and Im-Hanna is cooking the last dinner of _mojadderah_. + +Emigration has introduced into Syria somewhat of the three prominent +features of Civilisation: namely, a little wealth, a few modern ideas, +and many strange diseases. And of these three blessings our two +Syrians together are plentifully endowed. For Shakib is a type of the +emigrant, who returns home prosperous in every sense of the word. A +Book of Verse to lure Fame, a Letter of Credit to bribe her if +necessary, and a double chin to praise the gods. This is a complete +set of the prosperity, which Khalid knows not. But he has in his lungs +what Shakib the poet can not boast of; while in his trunk he carries +but a little wearing apparel, his papers, and his blankets. And in his +pocket, he has his ribbed silver cigarette case--the only object he +can not part with--a heart-shaped locket with a little diamond star on +its face--the only present he is bringing with him home,--and a +third-class passage across the Atlantic. For Khalid will not sleep in +a bunk, even though it be furnished with eiderdown cushions and tiger +skins. + +And since he is determined to pass his nights on deck, it matters +little whether he travels first class, or second or tenth. Shakib, do +what he may, cannot prevail upon him to accept the first-class passage +he had bought in his name. "Let us not quarrel about this," says he; +"we shall be together on board the same ship, and that settles the +question. Indeed, the worse way returning home must be ultimately the +best. No, Shakib, it matters not how I travel, if I but get away +quickly from this pandemonium of Civilisation. Even now, as I sit on +this trunk waiting for the hour of departure, I have a foretaste of +the joy of being away from the insidious cries of hawkers, the +tormenting bells of the rag-man, the incessant howling of children, +the rumbling of carts and wagons, the malicious whir of cable cars, +the grum shrieks of ferry boats, and the thundering, reverberating, +smoking, choking, blinding abomination of an elevated railway. A +musician might extract some harmony from this chaos of noises, this +jumble of sounds. But I--extract me quickly from them!" + +Ay, quickly please, especially for our sake and the Reader's. Now, the +dinner is finished, the rug is folded and presented to our landlord +with our salaams, the trunks are locked and roped, and our Arabs will +silently steal away. And peacefully, too, were it not that an hour +before sailing a capped messenger is come to deliver a message to +Shakib. There is a pleasant dilative sensation in receiving a message +on board a steamer, especially when the messenger has to seek you +among the Salon passengers. Now, Shakib dilates with pride as he takes +the envelope in his hand; but when he opens it, and reads on the +enclosed card, "Mr. Isaac Goldheimer wishes you a _bon voyage_," he +turns quickly on his heels and goes on deck to walk his wrath away. +For this Mr. Goldheimer is the very landlord who received the Turkish +rug. Reflect on this, Reader. Father Abraham would have walked with us +to the frontier to betoken his thanks and gratitude. "But this modern +Jew and his miserable card," exclaims Shakib in his teeth, as he tears +and throws it in the water,--"who asked him to send it, and who would +have sued him if he didn't?" + +But Shakib, who has lived so long in America and traded with its +people, is yet ignorant of some of the fine forms and conventions of +Civilisation. He does not know that fashionable folk, or those aping +the dear fashionable folk, have a right to assert their superiority at +his expense.--I do not care to see you, but I will send a messenger +and card to do so for me. You are not my equal, and I will let you +know this, even at the hour of your departure, and though I have to +hire a messenger to do so.--Is there no taste, no feeling, no +gratitude in this? Don't you wish, O Shakib,--but compose yourself. +And think not so ill of your Jewish landlord, whom you wish you could +wrap in that rug and throw overboard. He certainly meant well. That +formula of card and messenger is so convenient and so cheap. Withal, +is he not too busy, think you, to come up to the dock for the puerile, +prosaic purpose of shaking hands and saying ta-ta? If you can not +consider the matter in this light, try to forget it. One must not be +too visceral at the hour of departure. Behold, your skyscrapers and +your Statue of Liberty are now receding from view; and your landlord +and his card and messenger will be further from us every while we +think of them, until, thanks to Time and Space and Steam! they will +be too far away to be remembered. + +Here, then, with our young Seer and our Scribe, we bid New York +farewell, and earnestly hope that we do not have to return to it +again, or permit any of them to do so. In fact, we shall not hereafter +consider, with any ulterior material or spiritual motive, any more of +such disparaging, denigrating matter, in the two MSS. before us, as +has to pass through our reluctant hands "touchin' on and appertainin' +to" the great City of Manhattan and its distinguished denizens. For +our part, we have had enough of this painful task. And truly, we have +never before undergone such trials in sailing between--but that +Charybdis and Scylla allusion has been done to death. Indeed, we love +America, and in the course of our present task, which we also love, we +had to suffer Khalid's shafts to pass through our ken and sometimes +really through our heart. But no more of this. Ay, we would fain set +aside our pen from sheer weariness of spirit and bid the Reader, too, +farewell. Truly, we would end here this Book of Khalid were it not +that the greater part of the most important material in the K. L. MS. +is yet intact, and the more interesting portion of Shakib's History is +yet to come. Our readers, though we do not think they are sorry for +having come out with us so far, are at liberty either to continue with +us, or say good-bye. But for the Editor there is no choice. What we +have begun we must end, unmindful of the influence, good or ill, of +the Zodiacal Signs under which we work. + +"Our Phoenician ancestors," says Khalid, "never left anything they +undertook unfinished. Consider what they accomplished in their days, +and the degree of culture they attained. The most beautiful +fabrications in metals and precious stones were prepared in Syria. +Here, too, the most important discoveries were made: namely, those of +glass and purple. As for me, I can not understand what the Murex +trunculus is; and I am not certain if scholars and archaeologists, or +even mariners and fishermen, will ever find a fossil of that +particular species. But murex or no murex, Purple was discovered by my +ancestors. Hence the purple passion, that is to say the energy and +intensity which coloured everything they did, everything they felt and +believed. For whether in bemoaning Tammuz, or in making tear-bottles, +or in trading with the Gauls and Britons, the Phoenicians were the +same superstitious, honest, passionate, energetic people. And do not +forget, you who are now enjoying the privilege of setting down your +thoughts in words, that on these shores of Syria written language +received its first development. + +"It is also said that they discovered and first navigated the Atlantic +Ocean, my Phoenicians; that they worked gold mines in the distant isle +of Thasos and opened silver mines in the South and Southwest of Spain. +In Africa, we know, they founded the colonies of Utica and Carthage. +But we are told they went farther than this. And according to some +historians, they rounded the Cape, they circumnavigated Africa. And +according to recent discoveries made by an American archaeologist, +they must have discovered America too! For in the ruins of the Aztecs +of Mexico there are traces of a Phoenician language and religion. +This, about the discovery of America, however, I can not verify with +anything from Sanchuniathon. But might they not have made this +discovery after the said Sanchuniathon had given up the ghost? And if +they did, what can We, their worthless descendants do for them now? +Ah, if we but knew the name of their Columbus! No, it is not practical +to build a monument to a whole race of people. And yet, they deserve +more than this from us, their descendants. + +"These dealers in tin and amber, these manufacturers of glass and +purple, these developers of a written language, first gave the impetus +to man's activity and courage and intelligence. And this activity of +the industry and will is not dead in man. It may be dead in us +Syrians, but not in the Americans. In their strenuous spirit it rises +uppermost. After all, I must love the Americans, for they are my +Phoenician ancestors incarnate. Ay, there is in the nature of things a +mysterious recurrence which makes for a continuous, everlasting +modernity. And I believe that the spirit which moved those brave +sea-daring navigators of yore, is still working lustily, bravely, but +alas, not joyously--bitterly, rather, selfishly, greedily--behind the +steam engine, the electric motor, the plough, and in the clinic and +the studio as in the Stock Exchange. That spirit in its real essence, +however, is as young, as puissant to-day as it was when the native of +Byblus first struck out to explore the seas, to circumnavigate +Africa, to discover even America!" + +And what in the end might Khalid discover for us or for himself, at +least, in his explorations of the Spirit-World? What Colony of the +chosen sons of the young and puissant Spirit, on some distant isle +beyond the seven seas, might he found? To what far, silent, undulating +shore, where "a written language is the instrument only of the lofty +expressions and aspirations of the soul" might he not bring us? What +Cape of Truth in the great Sea of Mystery might we not be able to +circumnavigate, if only this were possible of the language of man? + +"Not with glass," he exclaims, "not with tear-bottles, not with +purple, not with a written language, am I now concerned, but rather +with what those in Purple and those who make this written language +their capital, can bring within our reach of the treasures of the +good, the true, and the beautiful. I would fain find a land where the +soul of man, and the heart of man, and the mind of man, are as the +glass of my ancestors' tear-bottles in their enduring quality and +beauty. My ancestors' tear-bottles, and though buried in the earth ten +thousand years, lose not a grain of their original purity and +transparency, of their soft and iridescent colouring. But where is the +natural colour and beauty of these human souls, buried in bunks under +hatches? Or of those moving in high-lacquered salons above?... + +"O my Brothers of the clean and unclean species, of the scented and +smelling kind, of the have and have-not classes, there is but one +star in this vague dusky sky above us, for you as for myself. And that +star is either the last in the eternal darkness, or the first in the +rising dawn. It is either the first or the last star of night. And who +shall say which it is? Not the Church, surely, nor the State; not +Science, nor Sociology, nor Philosophy, nor Religion. But the human +will shall influence that star and make it yield its secret and its +fire. Each of you, O my Brothers, can make it light his own hut, warm +his own heart, guide his own soul. Never before in the history of man +did it seem as necessary as it does now that each individual should +think for himself, will for himself, and aspire incessantly for the +realisation of his ideals and dreams. Yes, we are to-day at a terrible +and glorious turning point, and it depends upon us whether that one +star in the vague and dusky sky of modern life, shall be the harbinger +of Jannat or Juhannam." + + + + +CHAPTER V + +PRIESTO-PARENTAL + + +If we remember that the name of Khalid's cousin is Najma (Star), the +significance to himself of the sign spoken of in the last Chapter, is +quite evident. But what it means to others remains to be seen. His one +star, however, judging from his month's experience in Baalbek, is not +promising of Jannat. For many things, including parental tyranny and +priestcraft and Jesuitism, will here conspire against the single +blessedness of him, which is now seeking to double itself. + +"Where one has so many Fathers," he writes, "and all are pretending to +be the guardians of his spiritual and material well-being, one ought +to renounce them all at once. It was not with a purpose to rejoin my +folk that I first determined to return to my native country. For, +while I believe in the Family, I hate Familism, which is the curse of +the human race. And I hate this spiritual Fatherhood when it puts on +the garb of a priest, the three-cornered hat of a Jesuit, the hood of +a monk, the gaberdine of a rabbi, or the jubbah of a sheikh. The +sacredness of the Individual, not of the Family or the Church, do I +proclaim. For Familism, or the propensity to keep under the same roof, +as a social principle, out of fear, ignorance, cowardice, or +dependence, is, I repeat, the curse of the world. Your father is he +who is friendly and reverential to the higher being in you; your +brothers are those who can appreciate the height and depth of your +spirit, who hearken to you, and believe in you, if you have any truth +to announce to them. Surely, one's value is not in his skin that you +should touch him. Are there any two individuals more closely related +than mother and son? And yet, when I Khalid embrace my mother, +mingling my tears with hers, I feel that my soul is as distant from +her own as is Baalbek from the Dog-star. And so I say, this attempt to +bind together under the principle of Familism conflicting spirits, and +be it in the name of love or religion or anything else more or less +sacred, is in itself a very curse, and should straightway end. It will +end, as far as I am concerned. And thou my Brother, whether thou be a +son of the Morning or of the Noontide or of the Dusk,--whether thou be +a Japanese or a Syrian or a British man--if thou art likewise +circumstanced, thou shouldst do the same, not only for thine own sake, +but for the sake of thy family as well." + +No; Khalid did not find that wholesome plant of domestic peace in his +mother's Nursery. He found noxious weeds, rather, and brambles galore. +And they were planted there, not by his father or mother, but by those +who have a lien upon the souls of these poor people. For the priest +here is no peeled, polished affair, but shaggy, scrubby, terrible, +forbidding. And with a word he can open yet, for such as Khalid's +folk, the gate which Peter keeps or the other on the opposite side of +the Universe. Khalid must beware, therefore, how he conducts himself +at home and abroad, and how, in his native town, he delivers his mind +on sacred things, and profane. In New York, for instance, or in Turabu +for that matter, he could say in plain forthright speech what he +thought of Family, Church or State, and no one would mind him. But +where these Institutions are the rottenest existing he will be minded +too well, and reminded, too, of the fate of those who preceded him. + +The case of Habib Ish-Shidiak at Kannubin is not yet forgotten. And +Habib, be it known, was only a poor Protestant neophite who took +pleasure in carrying a small copy of the Bible in his hip pocket, and +was just learning to roll his eyes in the pulpit and invoke the +"laud." But Khalid, everybody out-protesting, is such an intractable +pro_test_ant, with, neither Bible in his pocket nor pulpit at his +service. And yet, with a flint on his tongue and a spark in his eyes, +he will make the neophite Habib smile beside him. For the priesthood +in Syria is not, as we have said, a peeled, polished, pulpy affair. +And Khalid's father has been long enough in their employ to learn +somewhat of their methods. Bigotry, cruelty, and tyranny at home, +priestcraft and Jesuitism abroad,--these, O Khalid, you will know +better by force of contact before you end. And you will begin to pine +again for your iron-loined spiritual Mother. Ay, and the scelerate +Jesuit will even make capital of your mass of flowing hair. For in +this country, only the native priests are privileged to be shaggy and +scrubby and still be without suspicion. But we will let Shakib give us +a few not uninteresting details of the matter. + +"Not long after we had rejoined our people," he writes, "Khalid comes +to me with a sorry tale. In truth, a fortnight after our arrival in +Baalbek--our civility towards new comers seldom enjoys a longer +lease--the town was alive with rumours and whim-whams about my friend. +And whereso I went, I was not a little annoyed with the tehees and +grunts which his name seemed to invoke. The women often came to his +mother to inquire in particular why he grows his hair and shaves his +mustaches; the men would speak to his father about the change in his +accent and manners; the children teheed and tittered whenever he +passed through the town-square; and all were of one mind that Khalid +was a worthless fellow, who had brought nothing with him from the +Paradise of the New World but his cough and his fleece. Such tattle +and curiosity, however, no matter what degree of savage vulgarity they +reach, are quite harmless. But I felt somewhat uneasy about him, when +I heard the people asking each other, "Why does he not come to Church +like honest folks?" And soon I discovered that my apprehensions were +well grounded; for the questioning was noised at Khalid's door, and +the fire crackled under the roof within. The father commands; the +mother begs; the father objurgates, threatens, curses his son's faith; +and the mother, prostrating herself before the Virgin, weeps, and +prays, and beats her breast. Alas, and my Khalid? he goes out on the +terrace to search in the Nursery for his favourite Plant. No, he does +not find it; brambles are there and noxious weeds galore. The thorny, +bitter reality he must now face, and, by reason of his lack of +savoir-faire, be ultimately out-faced by it. For the upshot of the +many quarrels he had with his father, the prayers and tears of the +mother not availing, was nothing more or less than banishment. You +will either go to Church like myself, or get out of this house: this +the ultimatum of Abu-Khalid. And needless to say which alternative the +son chose. + +"I still remember how agitated he was when he came to tell me of the +fatal breach. His words, which drew tears from my eyes, I remember +too. 'Homeless I am again,' said he, 'but not friendless. For besides +Allah, I have you.--Oh, this straitness of the chest is going to kill +me. I feel that my windpipe is getting narrower every day. At least, +my father is doing his mighty best to make things so hard and +strait.--Yes, I would have come now to bid you farewell, were it not +that I still have in this town some important business. In the which I +ask your help. You know what it is. I have often spoken to you about +my cousin Najma, the one star in my sky. And now, I would know what is +its significance to me. No, I can not leave Baalbek, I can not do +anything, until that star unfolds the night or the dawn of my destiny. +And you Shakib--' + +"Of course, I promised to do what I could for him. I offered him such +cheer and comfort as my home could boast of, which he would not +accept. He would have only my terrace roof on which to build a booth +of pine boughs, and spread in it a few straw mats and cushions. But I +was disappointed in my calculations; for in having him thus near me +again, I had hoped to prevail upon him for his own good to temper his +behaviour, to conform a little, to concede somewhat, while he is among +his people. But virtually he did not put up with me. He ate outside; +he spent his days I know not where; and when he did come to his booth, +it was late in the night. I was informed later that one of the +goatherds saw him sleeping in the ruined Temple near Ras'ul-Ain. And +the muazzen who sleeps in the Mosque adjacent to the Temple of Venus +gave out that one night he saw him with a woman in that very place." + +A woman with Khalid, and in the Temple of Venus at night? Be not too +quick, O Reader, to suspect and contemn; for the Venus-worship is not +reinstated in Baalbek. No tryst this, believe us, but a scene +pathetic, more sacred. Not Najma this questionable companion, but one +as dear to Khalid. Ay, it is his mother come to seek him here. And she +begs him, in the name of the Virgin, to return home, and try to do the +will of his father. She beats her breast, weeps, prostrates herself +before him, beseeches, implores, cries out, 'dakhilak (I am at your +mercy), come home with me.' And Khalid, taking her up by the arm, +embraces her and weeps, but says not a word. As two statues in the +Temple, silent as an autumn midnight, they remain thus locked in each +other's arms, sobbing, mingling their sighs and tears. The mother +then, 'Come, come home with me, O my child.' And Khalid, sitting on +one of the steps of the Temple, replies, 'Let him move out of the +house, and I will come. I will live with you, if he will keep at the +Jesuits.' + +For Khalid begins to suspect that the Jesuits are the cause of his +banishment from home, that his father's religious ferocity is fuelled +and fanned by these good people. One day, before Khalid was banished, +Shakib tells us, one of them, Father Farouche by name, comes to pay a +visit of courtesy, and finds Khalid sitting cross-legged on a mat +writing a letter. + +The Padre is received by Khalid's mother who takes his hand, kisses +it, and offers him the seat of honour on the divan. Khalid continues +writing. And after he had finished, he turns round in his cross-legged +posture and greets his visitor. Which greeting is surely to be +followed by a conversation of the sword-and-shield kind. + +"How is your health?" this from Father Farouche in miserable Arabic. + +"As you see: I breathe with an effort, and can hardly speak." + +"But the health of the body is nothing compared with the health of the +soul." + +"I know that too well, O Reverend" (Ya Muhtaram). + +"And one must have recourse to the physician in both instances." + +"I do not believe in physicians, O Reverend." + +"Not even the physician of the soul?" + +"You said it, O Reverend." + +The mother of Khalid serves the coffee, and whispers to her son a +word. Whereupon Khalid rises and sits on the divan near the Padre. + +"But one must follow the religion of one's father," the Jesuit +resumes. + +"When one's father has a religion, yes; but when he curses the +religion of his son for not being ferociously religious like +himself--" + +"But a father must counsel and guide his children." + +"Let the mother do that. Hers is the purest and most disinterested +spirit of the two." + +"Then, why not obey your mother, and--" + +Khalid suppresses his anger. + +"My mother and I can get along without the interference of our +neighbours." + +"Yes, truly. But you will find great solace in going to Church and +ceasing your doubts." + +Khalid rises indignant. + +"I only doubt the Pharisees, O Reverend, and their Church I would +destroy to-day if I could." + +"My child--" + +"Here is your hat, O Reverend, and pardon me--you see, I can hardly +speak, I can hardly breathe. Good day." + +And he walks out of the house, leaving Father Farouche to digest his +ire at his ease, and to wonder, with his three-cornered hat in hand, +at the savage demeanour of the son of their pious porter. "Your son," +addressing the mother as he stands under the door-lintel, "is not only +an infidel, but he is also crazy. And for such wretches there is an +asylum here and a Juhannam hereafter." + +And the poor mother, her face suffused with tears, prostrates herself +before the Virgin, praying, beating her breast, invoking with her +tongue and hand and heart; while Farouche returns to his coop to hatch +under his three-cornered hat, the famous Jesuit-egg of intrigue. That +hat, which can outwit the monk's hood and the hundred fabled devils +under it, that hat, with its many gargoyles, a visible symbol of the +leaky conscience of the Jesuit, that hat, O Khalid, which you would +have kicked out of your house, has eventually succeeded in ousting +YOU, and will do its mighty best yet to send you to the Bosphorus. +Indeed, to serve their purpose, these honest servitors of Jesus will +even act as spies to the criminal Government of Abd'ul-Hamid. Read +Shakib's account. + +"About a fortnight after Khalid's banishment from home," he writes, "a +booklet was published in Beirut, setting forth the history of Ignatius +Loyola and the purports and intents of Jesuitism. On the cover it was +expressly declared that the booklet is translated from the English, +and the Jesuits, who are noted for their scholarly attainments, could +have discovered this for themselves without the explicit declaration. +But they did not deem it necessary to make such a discovery then. It +seemed rather imperative to maintain the contrary and try to prove +it. Now, Khalid having received a copy of this booklet from a friend +in Beirut, reads it and writes back, saying that it is not a +translation but a mutilation, rather, of one of Thomas Carlyle's +Latter-Day Pamphlets entitled _Jesuitism_. This letter must have +reached them together with Father Farouche's report on Khalid's +infidelity, just about the time the booklet was circulating in +Baalbek. For in the following Number of their _Weekly Journal_ an +article, stuffed and padded with execrations and anathema, is +published against the book and its anonymous author. From this I quote +the following, which is by no means the most erring and most poisonous +of their shafts. + +"'Such a Pamphlet,' exclaims the scholarly Jesuit Editor, 'was never +written by Thomas Carlyle, as some here, from ignorance or malice, +assert. For that philosopher, of all the thinkers of his day, believed +in God and in the divinity of Jesus His Son, and could never descend +to these foul and filthy depths. He never soiled his pen in the +putrescence of falsehood and incendiarism. The author of this +blasphemous and pernicious Pamphlet, therefore, in trying to father +his infidelity, his sedition, and his lies, on Carlyle, is doubly +guilty of a most heinous crime. And we suspect, we know, and for the +welfare of the community we hope to be able soon to point out openly, +who and where this vile one is. Yes, only an atheist and anarchist is +capable of such villainous mendacity, such unutterable wickedness and +treachery. Now, we would especially call upon our readers in Baalbek +to be watchful and vigilant, for among them is one, recently come back +from America, who harbours under his bushy hair the atheism and +anarchy of decadent Europe, etc, etc.' + +"And this is followed by secret orders from their Head Office to the +Superior of their Branch in Zahleh, to go on with the work hinted in +the article aforesaid. Let it not be supposed that I make this +statement in jaundice or malice. For the man who was instigated to do +this foul work subsequently sold the secret. And the Kaimkam, my +friend, when speaking to me of the matter, referred to the article in +question, and told me that Khalid was denounced to the Government by +the Jesuits as an anarchist. 'And lest I be compelled,' he continued, +'to execute such orders in his case as I might receive any day, I +advise you to spirit him away at once.'" + +But though the Jesuits have succeeded in kicking Khalid out of his +home, they did not succeed, thanks to Shakib, in sending him to the +Bosphorus. Meanwhile, they sit quiet, hatching another egg. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +FLOUNCES AND RUFFLES + + +Now, that there is a lull in the machinations of Jesuitry, we shall +turn a page or two in Shakib's account of the courting of Khalid. And +apparently everything is propitious. The fates, at least, in the +beginning, are not unkind. For the feud between Khalid's father and +uncle shall now help to forward Khalid's love-affair. Indeed, the +father of Najma, to spite his brother, opens to the banished nephew +his door and blinks at the spooning which follows. And such an +interminable yarn our Scribe spins out about it, that Khalid and Najma +do seem the silliest lackadaisical spoonies under the sun. But what we +have evolved from the narration might have for our readers some +curious alien phase of interest. + +Here then are a few beads from Shakib's romantic string. When Najma +cooks _mojadderah_ for her father, he tells us, she never fails to +come to the booth of pine boughs with a platter of it. And this to +Khalid was very manna. For never, while supping on this single dish, +would he dream of the mensal and kitchen luxuries of the Hermitage in +Bronx Park. In fact, he never envied the pork-eating Americans, the +beef-eating English, or the polyphagic French. "Here is a dish of +lentils fit for the gods," he would say.... + +When Najma goes to the spring for water, Khalid chancing to meet her, +takes the jar from her shoulder, saying, "Return thou home; I will +bring thee water." And straightway to the spring hies he, where the +women there gathered fill his ears with tittering, questioning tattle +as he is filling his jar. "I wish I were Najma," says one, as he +passes by, the jar of water on his shoulder. "Would you cement his +brain, if you were?" puts in another. And thus would they gibe and +joke every time Khalid came to the spring with Najma's jar.... + +One day he comes to his uncle's house and finds his betrothed +ribboning and beading some new lingerie for her rich neighbour's +daughter. He sits down and helps her in the work, writing meanwhile, +between the acts, an alphabetic ideology on Art and Life. But as they +are beading the vests and skirts and other articles of richly laced +linen underwear, Najma holds up one of these and naively asks, "Am I +not to have some such, _ya habibi_ (O my Love)?" And Khalid, affecting +like bucolic innocence, replies, "What do we need them for, my heart?" +With which counter-question Najma is silenced, convinced. + +Finally, to show to what degree of ecstasy they had soared without +searing their wings or losing a single feather thereof, the following +deserves mention. In the dusk one day, Khalid visits Najma and finds +her oiling and lighting the lamp. As she beholds him under the +door-lintel, the lamp falls from her hands, the kerosene blazes on the +floor, and the straw mat takes fire. They do not heed this--they do +not see it--they are on the wings of an ecstatic embrace. And the +father, chancing to arrive in the nick of time, with a curse and a +cuff, saves them and his house from the conflagration. + +Aside from these curious and not insignificant instances, these +radiations of a giddy hidden flame of heart-fire, this melting gum of +spooning on the bark of the tree of love, we turn to a scene in the +Temple of Venus which unfolds our future plans--our hopes and dreams. +But we feel that the Reader is beginning to hanker for a few pieces of +description of Najma's charms. Gentle Reader, this Work is neither a +Novel, nor a Passport. And we are exceeding sorry we can not tell you +anything about the colour and size of Najma's eyes; the shape and +curves of her brows and lips; the tints and shades in her cheeks; and +the exact length of her figure and hair. Shakib leaves us in the dark +about these essentials, and we must needs likewise leave you. Our +Scribe thinks he has said everything when he speaks of her as a huri. +But this paradisal title among our Arabic writers and verse-makers is +become worse than the Sultan's Medjidi decorations. It is bestowed +alike on every drab and trollop as on the very few who really deserve +it. Let us rank it, therefore, with the Medjidi decorations and pass +on. + +But Khalid, who has seen enough of the fair, would not be attracted to +Najma, enchanted by her, if she were not endowed with such of the +celestial treasures as rank above the visible lines of beauty. Our +Scribe speaks of the "purity and naivete of her soul as purest +sources of felicity and inspiration." Indeed, if she were not constant +in love, she would not have spurned the many opportunities in the +absence of Khalid; and had she not a fine discerning sense of real +worth, she would not have surrendered herself to her poor ostracised +cousin; and if she were not intuitively, preternaturally wise, she +would not marry an enemy of the Jesuits, a bearer withal of +infiltrated lungs and a shrunken windpipe. "There is a great advantage +in having a sickly husband," she once said to Shakib, "it lessons a +woman in the heavenly virtues of our Virgin Mother, in patient +endurance and pity, in charity, magnanimity, and pure love." What, +with these sublimities of character, need we know of her visible +charms, or lack of them? She might deserve the title Shakib bestows +upon her; she might be a real huri, for all we know? In that event, +the outward charms correspond, and Khalid is a lucky dog--if some one +can keep the Jesuits away. + +This, then, is our picture of Najma, to whom he is now relating, in +the Temple of Venus, of the dangers he had passed and the felicities +of the beduin life he has in view. It is evening. The moon struggles +through the poplars to light the Temple for them, and the ambrosial +breeze caresses their cheeks. + +"No," says Khalid; "we can not live here, O my Heart, after we are +formally married. The curse in my breast I must not let you share, and +only when I am rid of it am I actually your husband. By the life of +this blessed night, by the light of these stars, I am inalterably +resolved on this, and I shall abide by my resolution. We must leave +Baalbek as soon as the religious formalities are done. And I wish your +father would have them performed under his roof. That is as good as +going to Church to be the central figures of the mummery of priests. +But be this as You will. Whether in Church or at home, whether by your +father or by gibbering Levites the ceremony is performed, we must hie +us to the desert after it is done. I shall hire the camels and prepare +the necessary set-out for the wayfare a day or two ahead. No, I must +not be a burden to you, my Heart. I must be able to work for you as +for myself. And Allah alone, through the ministration of his great +Handmaid Nature, can cure me and enable me to share with you the joys +of life. No, not before I am cured, can I give you my whole self, can +I call myself your husband. Into the desert, therefore, to some oasis +in its very heart, we shall ride, and there crouch our camels and +establish ourselves as husbandmen. I shall even build you a little +home like your own. And you will be to me an aura of health, which I +shall breathe with the desert air, and the evening breeze. Yes, our +love shall dwell in a palace of health, not in a hovel of disease. +Meanwhile, we shall buy with what money I have a little patch of +ground which we shall cultivate together. And we shall own cattle and +drink camel milk. And we shall doze in the afternoon in the cool shade +of the palms, and in the evening, wrapt in our cloaks, we'll sleep on +the sands under the living stars. Yes, and Najma shall be the +harbinger of dawn to Khalid.--Out on that little farm in the oasis of +our desert, far from the world and the sanctified abominations of the +world, we shall live near to Allah a life of purest joy, of true +happiness. We shall never worry about the hopes of to-morrow and the +gone blessings of yesterday. We shall not, while labouring, dream of +rest, nor shall we give a thought to our tasks while drinking of the +cup of repose: each hour shall be to us an epitome of eternity. The +trials and troubles of each day shall go with the setting sun, never +to rise with him again. But I am unkind to speak of this. For your +glances banish care, and we shall ever be together. Ay, my Heart, and +when I take up the lute in the evening, you'll sing _mulayiah_ to me, +and the stars above us shall dance, and the desert breeze shall house +us in its whispers of love...." + +And thus interminably, while Najma, understanding little of all this, +sits beside him on a fallen column in the Temple and punctuates his +words with assenting exclamations, with long eighs of joy and wonder. +"But we are not going to live in the desert all the time, are we?" she +asks. + +"No, my Heart. When I am cured of my illness we shall return to +Baalbek, if you like." + +"Eigh, good. Now, I want to say--no. I shame to speak about such +matters." + +"Speak, _ya Gazalty_ (O my Doe or Dawn or both); your words are like +the scented breeze, like the ethereal moon rays, which enter into this +Temple without permission. Speak, and light up this ruined Temple of +thine." + +"How sweet are Your words, but really I can not understand them. They +are like the sweetmeats my father brought with him once from Damascus. +One eats and exclaims, 'How delicious!' But one never knows how they +are made, and what they are made of. I wish I could speak like you, +_ya habibi_. I would not shame to say then what I want." + +"Say what you wish. My heart is open, and your words are silvery +moonbeams." + +"Do not blame me then. I am so simple, you know, so foolish. And I +would like to know if you are going to Church on our wedding day in +the clothes you have on now." + +"Not if you object to them, my Heart." + +"Eigh, good! And must I come in my ordinary Sunday dress? It is so +plain; it has not a single ruffle to it." + +"And what are ruffles for?" + +"I never saw a bride in a plain gown; they all have ruffles and +flounces to them. And when I look at your lovely hair--O let people +say what they like! A gown without ruffles is ugly.--So, you will buy +me a sky-blue silk dress, _ya habibi_ and a pink one, too, with plenty +of ruffles on them? Will you not?" + +"Yes, my Heart, you shall have what you desire. But in the desert you +can not wear these dresses. The Arabs will laugh at you. For the women +there wear only plain muslin dipped in indigo." + +"Then, I will have but one dress of sky-blue silk for the wedding." + +"Certainly, my Heart. And the ruffles shall be as many and as long as +you desire them." + +And while the many-ruffled sky-blue dress is being made, Khalid, +inspired by Najma's remarks on his hair, rhapsodises on flounces +and ruffles. Of this striking piece of fantasy, in which are +scintillations of the great Truth, we note the following: + +"What can you do without your flounces? How can you live without your +ruffles? Ay, how can you, without them, think, speak, or work? How can +you eat, drink, walk, sleep, pray, worship, moralise, sentimentalise, +or love, without them? Are you not ruffled and flounced when you first +see the light, ruffled and flounced when you last see the darkness? +The cradle and the tomb, are they not the first and last ruffles of +Man? And between them what a panoramic display of flounces! What clean +and attractive visible Edges of unclean invisible common Skirts! Look +at your huge elaborate monuments, your fancy sepulchers, what are they +but the ruffles of your triumphs and defeats? The marble flounces, +these, of your cemeteries, your Pantheons and Westminster Abbeys. And +what are your belfries and spires and chimes, your altars and +reredoses and such like, but the sanctified flounces of your churches. +No, these are not wholly adventitious sanctities; not empty, +superfluous growths. They are incorporated into Life by Time, and they +grow in importance as our AEsthetics become more inutile, as our +Religions begin to exude gum and pitch for commerce, instead of +bearing fruits of Faith and Love and Magnanimity. + +"The first church was the forest; the first dome, the welkin; the +first altar, the sun. But that was, when man went forth in native +buff, brother to the lion, not the ox, without ruffles and without +faith. His spirit, in the course of time, was born; it grew and +developed zenithward and nadirward, as the cycles rolled on. And in +spiritual pride, and pride of power and wealth as well, it took to +ruffling and flouncing to such an extent that at certain epochs it +disappeared, dwindled into nothingness, and only the appendages +remained. These were significant appendages, to be sure; not +altogether adscititious. Ruffles these, indeed, endowed, as it were, +with life, and growing on the dead Spirit, as the grass on the grave. + +"And is it not noteworthy that our life terrene at certain epochs +seems to be made up wholly of these? That as the great Pine falls, the +noxious weeds, the brambles and thorny bushes around it, grow quicker, +lustier, luxuriating on the vital stores in the earth that were its +own--is not this striking and perplexing, my rational friends? Surely, +Man is neither the featherless biped of the Greek Philosopher, nor the +tool-using animal of the Sage of Chelsea. For animals, too, have their +tools, and man, in his visible flounces, has feathers enough to make +even a peacock gape. Both my Philosophers have hit wide of the mark +this time. And Man, to my way of thinking, is a flounce-wearing +Spirit. Indeed, flounces alone, the invisible ones in particular, +distinguish us from the beasts. For like ourselves they have their +fashions in clothes; their peculiar speech; their own hidden means of +intellection, and, to some extent, of imagination: but flounces they +have not, they know not. These are luxuries, which Man alone enjoys. + +"Ah, Man,--thou son and slave of Allah, according to my Oriental +Prophets of Heaven; thou exalted, apotheosised ape, according to my +Occidental Prophets of Science;--how much thou canst suffer, how much +thou canst endure, under what pressure and in what Juhannam depths +thou canst live; but thy flounces thou canst not dispense with for a +day, nor for a single one-twelfth part of a day. Even in thy suffering +and pain, the agonised spirit is wrapped, bandaged, swathed in +ruffles. It is assuaged with the flounces of thy lady's caresses, and +the scalloped intonations of her soft and soothing voice. It is +humbugged into health by the malodorous flounces of the apothecary and +the medicinal ruffles of the doctor. + +"Ay, we live in a phantasmagoric, cycloramic economy of flounces and +ruffles. The human Spirit shirks nudity as it shirks pain. Even your +modern preacher of the Simple Life is at best suggesting the moderate +use of ruffles.... Indeed, we can suffer anything, everything, but the +naked and ugly reality. Alas, have I not listened for years to what I +mistook to be the strong, pure voice of the naked Truth? And have I +not discovered, to my astonishment, that the supposed scientific +Nudity is but an indurated thick Crust under which the Lie lies +hidden. Why strip Man of his fancy appendages, his adventitious +sanctities, if you are going to give him instead only a few yards of +shoddy? No, I tell you; this can not be done. Your brambles and thorn +hedges will continue to grow and luxuriate, will even shut from your +view the Temple in the Grove, until the great Pine rises again to +stunt, and ultimately extirpate, them. + +"Behold, meanwhile, how the world parades in ruffles before us. What a +bewildering phantasmagoria this: a very Dress Ball of the human race. +See them pass: the Pope of Christendom, in his three hats and heavy +trailing gowns, blessing the air of heaven; the priest, in his alb and +chasuble, dispensing of the blessings of the Pope; the judge, in his +wig and bombazine, endeavouring to reconcile divine justice with the +law's mundane majesty; the college doctor, in cap and gown, anointing +the young princes of knowledge; the buffoon, in his cap and bells, +dancing to the god of laughter; mylady of the pink-tea circle, in her +huffing, puffing gasoline-car, fleeing the monster of ennui; the bride +and bridegroom at the altar or before the mayor putting on their +already heavy-ruffled garments the sacred ruffle of law or religion; +the babe brought to church by his mother and kindred to have the +priest-tailor sew on his new garment the ruffle of baptism; the +soldier in his gaudy uniform; the king in his ermine with a crown and +sceptre appended; the Nabob of Ind in his gorgeous and multi-colored +robes; and the Papuan with horns in his nostrils and rings in his +ears: see them all pass. + +"And wilt thou still add to the bewildering variety of the pageant? Or +wilt have another of the higher things of the mind? Lo, the artist +this, wearing his ruffles of hair over his shoulders; and here, too, +is the man of the sombrero and red flannel, which are the latest +flounces of a certain set of New World poets. Directly behind them is +Dame Religion with her heavy ruffled robes, her beribboned and belaced +bodices, her ornaments and sacred gewgaws. And billah, she has +stuffings and paddings, too. And false teeth and foul breath! Never +mind. Pass on, and let her pass. But tarry thou a moment here. Behold +this pyrotechnic display, these buntings and flags; hear thou this +music and these shouts and cheers; on yonder stump is an orator +dispensing to his fellow citizens spread-eagle rhetoric as empty as +yonder drum: these are the elaborate and attractive ruffles of +politics. And among the crowd are genial and honest citizens who have +their own way of ruffling your temper with their coarse flounces of +linsey-woolsey freedom. Wilt thou have more?" + +Decidedly not, we reply. For how can we even keep company with Khalid, +who has become such a maniac on flounces? And was this fantastic, +phantasmagoric rhapsody all inspired by Najma's simple remark on his +hair? Fruitful is thy word, O woman! + +But being so far away now from the Hermitage in the Bronx, what has +the "cherry in the cocktail" and "the olive in the oyster patty" to do +with all this? Howbeit, the following deserves a place as the +tail-flounce of his Fantasy. + + * * * * * + +"Your superman and superwoman," says he, with philosophic calm, "may +go Adam-and-Eve like if they choose. But can they, even in that chaste +and splendid nudity, dispense with ruffles and flounces? Pray, tell +me, did not our first parents spoon and sentimentalise in the +Paradise, before the Serpent appeared? And would they not often +whisper unto each other, 'Ah, Adam, ah, Eve!' sighing likewise for +sweeter things? And what about those fatal Apples, those two sour +fruits of their Love?--I tell thee every new-born babe is the +magnificent flesh-flounce of a shivering, trembling, nudity. And I +Khalid, what am I but the visible ruffle of an invisible skirt? +Verily, I am; and thou, too, my Brother. Yea, and this aquaterrestrial +globe and these sidereal heavens are the divine flounces of the +Vesture of Allah." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE HOWDAJ OF FALSEHOOD + + +"Humanity is so feeble in mind," says Renan, "that the purest thing +has need of the co-operation of some impure agent." And this, we +think, is the gist of Khalid's rhapsody on flounces and ruffles. But +how is he to reconcile the fact with the truth in his case? For a +single sanctified ruffle--a line of type in the canon law--is likely +to upset all his plans. Yes, a priest in alb and chasuble not only can +dispense with the blessings of his Pope, but--and here is the rub--he +can also withhold such blessings from Khalid. And now, do what he may, +say what he might, he must either revise his creed, or behave, at +least, like a Christian. + +Everything is ready, you say? The sky-blue, many-ruffled wedding gown; +the set-out for the wayfare; the camel and donkeys; the little stock +of books; the coffee utensils; the lentils and sweet oil;--all ready? +Very well; but you can not set forth to-morrow, nor three weeks from +to-morrow. Indeed, before the priest can give you his blessings--and +what at this juncture can you do without them?--the dispensations of +the ban must be performed. In other words, your case must now be laid +before the community. Every Sunday, for three such to come, the +intended marriage of Khalid to Najma will be published in the Church, +and whoso hath any objection to make can come forth and make it. +Moreover, there is that little knot of consanguinity to be considered. +And your priest is good enough to come and explain this to you. +Understand him well. "An alm of a few gold pieces," says he, "will +remove the obstacle; the unlawfulness of your marriage resulting from +consanguinity will cease on payment of five hundred piasters." + +All of which startles Khalid, stupefies him. He had not, heretofore, +thought of such a matter. Indeed, he was totally ignorant of these +forms, these prohibitions and exemptions of the Church. And the father +of Najma, though assenting, remarks nevertheless that the alms +demanded are much. "Why," exclaims Khalid, "I can build a house for +five hundred piasters." + +The priest sits down cross-legged on the divan, lights the cigarette +which Najma had offered with the coffee, and tries to explain. + +"And where have you this, O Reverend, about consanguinity, prohibition, +and alms!" Khalid asks. + +"Why, my child, in the Canons of our Church, Catholic and Apostolic. +Every one knows that a marriage between cousins can not be effected, +without the sanction of the Bishop." + +"But can we not obtain this sanction without paying for it?" + +"You are not paying for it, my child; you are only contributing some +alms to the Church." + +"You come to us, therefore, as a beggar, not as a spiritual father and +guide." + +"That is not good speaking. You misunderstand my purpose." + +"And pray, tell me, what is the purpose of prohibiting a marriage +between cousins; what chief good is there in such a ban?" + +"Much good for the community." + +"But I have nothing to do with the community. I'm going to live with +my wife in the desert." + +"The good of your souls is chiefly concerned." + +"Ah, the good of our souls!" + +"And there are other reasons which can not be freely spoken of here." + +"You mean the restriction and prohibition of sexual knowledge between +relatives. That is very well. But let us return to what concerns us +properly: the good of my soul, and the spiritual well-being of the +community,--what becomes of these, when I pay the prescribed alms and +obtain the sanction of the Bishop?" + +"No harm then can come to them--they'll be secure." + +"Secure, you say? Are they not hazarded, sold by your Church for five +hundred piasters? If my marriage to my cousin be wrong, unlawful, your +Bishop in sanctioning same is guilty of perpetuating this wrong, this +unlawfulness, is he not?" + +"But what the Church binds only the Church can loosen." + +"And what is the use of binding, O Reverend Father, when a little +sum of money can loosen anything you bind? It seems to me that these +prohibitions of the Church are only made for the purpose of +collecting alms. In other words, you bind for the sake of loosening, +when a good bait is on the hook, do you not? Pardon, O my Reverend +Father, pardon. I can not, to save my soul and yours, reconcile these +contradictions. For if Mother Church be certain that my marriage to my +cousin is contrary to the Law of God, is destructive of my spiritual +well-being, then let her by all means prohibit it. Let her restrain +me, compel me to obey. Ay, and the police ought to interfere in +case of disobedience. In her behalf, in my behalf, in the behalf of my +cousin's soul and mine, the police ought to do the will of God, if +the Church knows what it is, and is certain and honest about it. +Compel me to stop, I conjure you, if you know I am going in the way +of damnation. O my Father, what sort of a mother is she who would sell +two of her children to the devil for a few hundred piasters? No, +billah! no. What is unlawful by virtue of the Divine Law the wealth +of all the Trust-Kings of America can not make lawful. And what is so +by virtue of your Canon Law concerns not me. You may angle, you and +your Church, as long as you please in the murky, muddy waters of +Bind-and-Loosen, I have nothing to do with you."... + + * * * * * + +But the priests, O Khalid, have yet a little to do with you. Such +arguments about the Divine Law and the Canon Law, about alms and +spiritual beggars, might cut the Gordian knot with your uncle, +but--and whether it be good or bad English, we say it--they cut no ice +with the Church. Yes, Mother Church, under whose wings you and your +cousin were born and bred, and under whose wings you and your cousin +would be married, can not take off for the sweet sake of your black +eyes the ruffles and flounces of twenty centuries. Think well on it, +you who have so extravagantly and not unwisely delivered yourself on +flounces and ruffles. But to think, when in love, were, indeed, +disastrous. O Love, Love, what Camels of wisdom thou canst force to +pass through the needle's eye! What miracles divine are thine! Khalid +himself says that to be truly, deeply, piously in love, one must needs +hate himself. How true, how inexorably true! For would he be always +inviting trouble and courting affliction, would he be always bucking +against the dead wall of a Democracy or a Church, if he did not +sincerely hate himself--if he were not religiously, fanatically in +love--in love with Najma, if not with Truth? + +Now, on the following Sunday, instead of publishing the intended +marriage of Khalid and Najma, the parish priest places a ban upon it. +And in this, ye people of Baalbek, is food enough for tattle, and +cause enough for persecution. Potent are the ruffles of the Church! +But why, we can almost hear the anxious Reader asking, if the camels +are ready, why the deuce don't they get on and get them gone? But did +we not say once that Khalid is slow, even slower than the law itself? +Nevertheless, if this were a Novel, an elopement would be in order, +but we must repeat, it is not. We are faithful transcribers of the +truth as we find it set down in Shakib's _Histoire Intime_. + +True, Khalid did ask Najma to throw with him the handful of dust, to +steal out of Baalbek and get married on the way, say in Damascus. But +poor Najma goes over to his mother instead, and mingling their tears +and prayers, they beseech the Virgin to enlighten the soul and mind of +Khalid. "Yes, we must be married here, before we go to the desert," +says she, "for think, O my mother, how far away we shall be from the +world and the Church if anything happens to us." + +And they would have succeeded, the mother and cousin of Khalid, in +persuading the parish priest to accept from them the prescribed alms +and perform the wedding ceremony, had not the Jesuits, in the interest +of the Faith and the Church, been dogging Khalid still. For if they +have failed in sending him to the Bosphorus, they will succeed in +sending him elsewhither. And observe how this is done. + +After communicating with the Papal Legate in Mt. Lebanon about that +fatal Latter Day Pamphlet of Thomas Carlyle, the Adjutant-General, or +Adjutant-Bird, stalks up there one night in person and lays before the +Rt. Rev. Mgr. his devil's brief in Khalid's case. It has already been +explained that this Pamphlet was fathered on Khalid by the Jesuits. +For if they can not punish the Voice which is still pursuing them--and +in their heart of hearts they must have recognised its thunder, even +in a Translation--they will make the man smart for it who first +mentioned Carlyle in this connection. + +"And besides this pernicious booklet," says the Adjutant-Bird, "the +young man's heretical opinions are notorious. He was banished from +home on that account. And now, after corrupting and deluding his +cousin, he is going to marry her despite the ban of the Church. +Something, Monseigneur, ought to be done, and quickly, to protect the +community against the poison of this wretch." And Monseigneur, nodding +his accord, orders his Secretary to write a note to the Patriarch, +enclosing the aforesaid devil's brief, and showing the propriety, nay, +the necessity of excommunicating Khalid the Baalbekian. The +Adjutant-Bird, with the Legate's letter in his pocket, skips over to +the Patriarch on the other hill-top below, and after a brief +interview--our dear good Ancient of the Maronites must willy-nilly +obey Rome--the fate of Khalid the Baalbekian is sealed. + +Indeed, the upshot of these Jesuitic machinations is this: on the very +day when Khalid's mother and cousin are pleading before the parish +priest for justice, for mercy,--offering the prescribed alms, +beseeching that the ban be revoked, the marriage solemnised,--a +messenger from the Bishop of the Diocese enters, kisses his +Reverence's hand, and delivers an imposing envelope. The priest +unseals it, unfolds the heavy foolscap sheet therein, reads it with a +knitting of the brow, a shaking of the beard, and, clapping one hand +upon the other, tells the poor pleaders to go home. + +"It is all finished. There is no more hope for you and your cousin." +And he shows the Patriarchal Bull, and explains. + +Whereupon, Najma and Khalid's mother go out weeping, wailing, beating +their breasts and cheeks, calling upon Allah to witness their sorrow +and the outrageous tyranny of the priests. + +"What has my son done to be excommunicated? Hear it, ye people, hear +it. And be just to me and my son. What has he done to deserve the +anathema of the Church? What has he done?" And thus frantic, mad, she +runs through the main street of the town, making wild gestures and +clamours,--publishing, as it were, the Patriarchal Bull, before it was +read by the priest on the following day, and tacked on the door of the +Church. + +Of this Bull, tricked with the stock phrases of the Church of the +Middle Ages, such as "anathema be he," or "banned be he," who +speaks with, deals with, and so forth, we have a copy before us. +But our readers will not pardon us, we fear, if further space and +consideration be here given to its contents. Suffice it to say, +however, that Khalid comes to church on that fatal day, takes the +foolscap sheet down from the door, and, going with it to the +town-square, burns it there before the multitudes. + +And it came to pass, when the Bull is burned in the town-square of +Baalbek, in the last year of the reign of Abd'ul-Hamid, some among the +multitudes shout loud shouts of joy, and some cast stones. + +Then, foul, vehement speaking falleth between the friends and the +enemies of him who wrought evil in the sight of the Lord; + +And every one thereupon brandisheth a stick or taketh up a stone and +the battle ensueth. + +Now, the mighty troops of the Sultan of the Ottomans come forth like +the Yaman wind and stand in the town-square like rocks; + +And the battle rageth still, and the troops who are come forth to part +the fighting multitudes, having gorged themselves at the last meal, +can not as much as speak their part: + +And it came to pass, when the clubs and spades are veiled and the +battle subsideth of itself, the good people return to their respective +callings and trades; + +But the perverse recalcitrants which remain--and Khalid the Baalbekian +is among them--are taken by the aforesaid overfed troops to the City +Hall and thence to the _velayet_ prison in Damascus. + +And here endeth our stichometrics of the Battle of the Bull. + +Now, Shakib may wear out his shoes this time, his tongue, too, and his +purse, but to no purpose. Behold, your friend the _kaimkam_ is gloomy +and impassive as a camel; what can you do? Whisper in his ear? The +Padres have done that before you. Slip a purse into his pocket? They +have done that, too, and overdone it long since. Yes, the City Hall of +every city in the Empire is an epitome of Yildiz Kiosk. And your +_kaimkams_, and _valis_, and _viziers_, have all been taught in the +same Text-Book, at the same Political School, and by the same +Professor. Let Khalid rest, therefore and ponder these matters in +silence. For in the City Hall and during the month he passes in the +prison of Damascus, we are told, he does not utter a word. His +partisans in prison ask to be taught his creed, and among these are +some Mohammadans: "We'll burn the priests and their church yet and +follow you. By our Prophet Mohammad we will ..." Khalid makes no +reply. Even Shakib, when he comes to visit him, finds him dumb as a +stone, slain by adversity and disease. Nothing can be done now. The +giant excommunicated, incommunicative soul, struggling in a prison of +sore flesh, we must leave, alas, with his friends and partisans to +pass his thirty days and nights in the second prison of stone. + +Now, let us return to the Jesuits, who, having worsted Khalid, or the +Devil in Khalid, as they charitably put it, will also endeavour to do +somewhat in the interest of his intended bride. For the Padres, in +addition to their many crafts and trades, are matrimonial brokers of +honourable repute. And in their meddling and making, their baiting and +mating, they are as serviceable as the Column Personal of an American +newspaper. Whoso is matrimonially disposed shall whisper his mind at +the Confessional or drop his advertisement in the pocket of the +visiting Columns of their Bride-Dealer, and he shall prosper. She as +well as he shall prosper. + +Now, Father Farouche is commissioned to come all the way from Zahleh +to visit the brother of Abu-Khalid their porter, and bespeak him in +the interest of his daughter. All their faculties of persuasion shall +be exerted in behalf of Najma. She must be saved at any cost. Hence +they volunteer their services. And while Khalid is lingering in prison +at Damascus, they avail themselves of the opportunity to further the +suit of their pickle-herring candidate for Najma's love. + +The Reverend Farouche, therefore, holds a secret conference with her +father. + +"No," says he, "God would never have forgiven you for giving your +daughter to one utterly destitute of morality, religion, money, and +health. But praise Allah! the Church has come to her rescue. She shall +be saved, wrested from the hands of Iblis. Yes, Holy Church, through +us, will guide her to find a god-fearing life-companion; one worthy of +her charms, her virtues, her fine qualities of heart and mind. The +young man we recommend is rich, respected in the community; is an +official of the Government with a third-class Medjidi decoration and +the title of Bey; and is free from all diseases. Moreover, he is a +good Catholic. Consider these advantages. A relation this, which no +father would reject, if he loves his daughter and is solicitous of her +future well-being. Speak to her, therefore, and let us know soon your +mind." + +And our Scribe, in relating of this, loses his temper.--"An Official +of the Government, a Bey with a third-class Medjidi decoration +from the Sultan! As if Officialdom could not boast of a single +scoundrel--as if any rogue in the Empire, with a few gold coins in his +purse, were not eligible to the Hamidian decorations! And a +third-class decoration! Why, I have it on good authority that +these Medjidi Orders were given to a certain Patriarch in a bushel to +distribute among his minions...." + +But to our subject. Abu-Najma does not look upon it in this light. A +decorated and titled son-in-law were a great honour devoutly to be +wished. And some days after the first conference, the Padre Farouche +comes again, bringing along his Excellency the third-class Medjidi +Bey; but Najma, as they enter and salaam, goes out on the terrace roof +to weep. The third time the third-class Medjidi Dodo comes alone. And +Najma, as soon as she catches a glimpse of him, takes up her earthen +jar and hies her to the spring. + +"O the hinny! I'll rope noose her (hang her) to-night," murmurs the +father. But here is his Excellency with his Sultan's green button in +his lapel. Abu-Najma bows low, rubs his hands well, offers a large +cushion, brings a _masnad_ (leaning pillow), and blubbers out many +unnecessary apologies. + +"This honour is great, your Excellency--overlook our shortcomings--our +_beit_ (one room house) can not contain our shame--it is not becoming +your Excellency's high rank--overlook--you have condescended to honour +us, condescend too to be indulgent.--My daughter? yes, presently. She +is gone to church, to mass, but she'll return soon." + +But Najma is long gone; returns not; and the third-class Dodo +will call again to-morrow. Now, Abu-Najma brings out his rope, +soaps it well, nooses and suspends it from the rafter in the +ceiling. And when his daughter returns from the spring, he takes +her by the arm, shows her the rope, and tells her laconically +to choose between his Excellency and this. Poor Najma has not +the courage to die, and so soon. Her cousin Khalid is in prison, +is excommunicated--what can she do? Run away? The Church will +follow her--punish her. There's something satanic in Khalid--the +Church said so--the Church knows. Najma rolls these things in her +mind, looks at her father beseechingly. Her father points to the +noose. Najma falls to weeping. The noose serves well its purpose. + +For hereafter, when the Dodo comes decorated, SHE has to offer him the +cushion, bring him the _masnad_, make for him the coffee. And +eventually, as the visits accumulate, she goes with him to the +dress-maker in Beirut. The bridal gown shall be of the conventional +silk this time; for his Excellency is travelled, and knows and +reverences the fashion. But why prolong these painful details? + +"Allah, in the mysterious working of his Providence," says Shakib, +"preordained it thus: Khalid, having served his turn in prison, Najma +begins her own; for a few days after he was set free, she was placed +in bonds forged for her by the Jesuits. Now, when Khalid returned from +Damascus, he came straightway to me and asked that we go to see Najma +and try to prevail upon her, to persuade her to go with him, to run +away. They would leave on the night-train to Hama this time, and +thence set forth towards Palmyra. I myself did not know what had +happened, and so I approved of his plan. But alas! as we were coming +down the main Street to Najma's house, we heard the sound of tomtoms +in the distance and the shrill ulluluing of women. We continued apace +until we reached the by-way through which we had to pass, and lo, we +find it choked by the _zeffah_ (wedding procession) of none but she +and the third-class Medjidi...." + + * * * * * + +But we'll no more of this! Too tragic, too much like fiction it +sounds, that here abruptly we must end this Chapter. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE KAABA OF SOLITUDE + + +Disappointed, distraught, diseased,--worsted by the Jesuits, +excommunicated, crossed in love,--but with an eternal glint of +sunshine in his breast to open and light up new paths before him, +Khalid, after the fatal episode, makes away from Baalbek. He suddenly +disappears. But where he lays his staff, where he spends his months of +solitude, neither Shakib nor our old friend the sandomancer can say. +Somewhither he still is, indeed; for though he fell in a swoon as he +saw Najma on her caparisoned palfrey and the decorated Excellency +coming up along side of her, he was revived soon after and persuaded +to return home. But on the following morning, our Scribe tells us, +coming up to the booth, he finds neither Khalid there, nor any of his +few worldly belongings. We, however, have formed a theory of our own, +based on certain of his writings in the K. L. MS., about his +mysterious levitation; and we believe he is now somewhither whittling +arrows for a coming combat. In the Lebanon mountains perhaps. But we +must not dog him like the Jesuits. Rather let us reverence the privacy +of man, the sacredness of his religious retreat. For no matter where +he is in the flesh, we are metaphysically certain of his existence. +And instead of filling up this Chapter with the bitter bickerings of +life and the wickedness and machination of those in power, let us +consecrate it to the divine peace and beauty of Nature. Of a number of +Chapters in the Book of Khalid on this subject, we choose the one +entitled, My Native Terraces, or Spring in Syria, symbolising the +natural succession to Khalid's Winter of destiny. In it are signal +manifestations of the triumph of the soul over the diseases and +adversities and sorrows of mortal life. Indeed, here is an example of +faith and power and love which we reckon sublime. + + * * * * * + +"The inhabitants of my terraces and terrace walls," we translate, +"dressed in their Sunday best, are in the doorways lounging or peeping +idly through their windows. And why not? It is Spring, and to these +delicate, sweet little creatures, Spring is the one Sunday of the +year. Have they not hugged the damp, dark earth long enough? Hidden +from the wrath of Winter, have they not squatted patiently round the +primitive, smokeless fire of the mystic depths? And now, the rain +having partly extinguished the inner, hidden flame, they come out to +bask in the sun, and drink deeply of the ambrosial air. They come, +almost slain with thirst, to the Mother Fountain. They come out to +worship at the shrine of the sweet-souled, God-absorbed Rabia of +Attar. In their bright, glowing faces what a delectable message from +the under world of romance and enchantment! Their lips are red with +the kisses of love, in whose alembics, intangible, unseen, the dark +and damp of the earth are translated into warmth and colour and shade. +Ay, these dear little children, unfolding their soft green scrolls and +reading aloud such odes on Modesty and Beauty, are as inspiring as the +star-crowned night. And every chink in my terrace walls seems to +breathe a message of sweetness and light and love. + +"Know you not the anecdote about the enchanting Goddess Rabia, as +related by Attar in his _Biographies of Sufi Mystics and Saints_? Here +it is. Rabia was asked if she hated the devil, and she replied, 'No.' +Asked again why, she said, 'Being absorbed in love, I have no time to +hate.' Now, all the inhabitants of my terraces and fields seem to echo +this sublime sentiment of their Goddess. The air and sunshine, nay, +the very rocks are imbued with it. See, how the fissures in the +boulders yonder seem to sympathise with the gaps in the terrace walls: +the cyclamen leaves in the one are salaaming the cyclamen flowers in +the other. O, these terraces would have delighted the heart of the +American naturalist Thoreau. He could not have desired stone walls +with more gaps in them. But mind you, these are not dark, ugly, +hollow, hopeless chinks. Behind every one of them lurks a mystery. Far +back in the niches I can see the busts of the poets who wrote the +poems which these beautiful wild flowers are reading to me. Yes, the +authors are dead, and what I behold now are the flowers of their +amours. These are the offspring of their embraces, the crystallised +dew of their love. Yes, this one single, simple act of love brings +forth an infinite variety of flowers to celebrate the death of the +finite outward shape and the eternal essence of life perennial. In +complete surrender lies the divineness of things eternal. This is the +key-note of the Oriental mystic poets. And I incline to the belief +that they of all bards have sung best the song of love. In rambling +through the fields with these beautiful children of the terraces, I +know not what draws me to Al-Fared, the one erotic-mystic poet of +Arabia, whose interminable rhymes have a perennial charm. Perhaps such +lines as these,-- + + 'All that is fair is fairer when she rises, + All that is sweet is sweeter when she is here; + And every form of beauty she surprises + With one brief word she whispers in its ear: + + 'Thy wondrous charms, O let them not deceive thee; + They are but borrowed from her for a while; + Thine outward guise and loveliness would grieve thee, + If in thine inmost soul she did not smile. + + 'All colours, forms, into each other merging, + Are woven on her Loom of Unity; + For she alone is One in All diverging, + And she alone is absolute and free.' + +"Now, I will bring you to a scene most curiously suggestive. Behold +that little knot of daisies pressing around the alone anemone beneath +the spreading leaves of the colocasia. Here is a rout at the Countess +Casiacole's, and these are the debutantes crowding around the +Celebrity of the day. But would they do so if they were sensible of +their own worth, if they knew that their idol, flaunting the crimson +crown of popularity, had no more, and perhaps less, of the pure +essence of life than any of them? But let Celebrity stand there and +enjoy her hour; to-morrow the Ploughman will come. + + * * * * * + +"The sage, with its spikes of greyish blue flowers, its fibrous, +velvety leaves, its strong, pungent perfume, which is not squandered +or repressed, is the stoic of my native terraces. It responds +generously to the personal touch, and serves the Lebanonese, rich and +poor alike, with a little luxury. Ay, who of us, wandering on foreign +strands, does not remember the warm foot-bath, perfumed with sage +leaves, his mother used to give him before going to bed? Our dear +mothers!"--And here, Khalid goes in raptures and tears about his sorry +experience in Baalbek and the anguish and sorrow of his poor mother. +"But while I stand," he continues, "let me be like the sage, a +live-oak among shrubs, indifferent as the oak or pine to the winds and +storms. And as the sun is setting, find you no solace in the thought, +O Khalid, that some angel herb-gatherer will preserve the perfume in +your leaves, to refresh therewith in other worlds your dear poor +mother? + +"My native terraces are rich with faith and love, luxuriant with the +life divine and the wondrous symbols thereof. And the grass here is +not cut and trimmed as in the artificial gardens and the cold dull +lawns of city folk, whose love for Nature is either an experiment, a +sport, a business, or a fad. 'A dilettantism in Nature is barren and +unworthy,' says Emerson. But of all the lovers of Nature, the children +are the least dilettanteish. And every day here I see a proof of this. +Behold them wading to their knees in that lusty grass, hunting the +classic lotus with which to deck their olive branches for the high +mass and ceremony of Palm Sunday. But alas, my lusty grass and my +beautiful wild flowers do not enjoy the morning of Spring. Here, the +ploughman comes, carrying his long plough and goad on his shoulder, +and with him his wife lugging the yoke and his boy leading the oxen. +Alas, the sun shall not set on these bright, glowing, green terraces, +whose walls are very ramparts of flowers. There, the boy with his +scythe is paving the way for his father's plough; the grass is mowed +and given to the oxen as a bribe to do the ugly business. And all for +the sake of the ugly mulberries, which are cultivated for the ugly +silk-worms. Come, let us to the heath, where the hiss of the scythe +and the 'ho-back' and 'oho' of the ploughman are not heard. + +"But let us swing from the road. Come, the hedges of Nature are not as +impassable as the hedges of man. Through these scrub oaks and wild +pears, between this tangle of thickets, over the clematis and +blackberry bush,--and here we are under the pines, the lofty and +majestic pines. How different are these natural hedges, growing in +wild disorder, from the ugly cactus fences with which my neighbours +choose to shut in their homes, and even their souls. But my business +now is not with them. There are my friends the children again +gathering the pine-needles of last summer for lighting the fire of the +silk-worm nursery. And down that narrow foot-path, meandering around +the boulders and disappearing among the thickets, see what big loads +of brushwood are moving towards us. Beneath them my swarthy and hardy +peasants are plodding up the hill asweat and athirst. When I first +descended to the wadi, one such load of brushwood emerging suddenly +from behind a cliff surprised and frightened me. But soon I was +reminded of the moving forest in Macbeth. The man bowed beneath the +load was hidden from view, and the boy directly behind was sweating +under a load as big as that of his father. '_Awafy!_' (Allah give you +strength), I said, greeting them. 'And increase of health to you,' +they replied. I then asked the boy how far down do they have to go for +their brushwood, and laying down his load on a stone to rest, he +points below, saying, 'Here, near the river.' But this 'Here, near the +river' is more than four hours' walk from the village.--Allah preserve +you in your strength, my Brothers. And they pass along, plodding +slowly under their overshadowing burdens. A hard-hearted Naturalist, +who goes so deep into Nature as to be far from the vital core even as +the dilettante, might not have any sympathy to throw away on such +occasions. But of what good is the love of Nature that consists only +in classification and dissection? I carry no note-book with me when I +go down the wadi or out into the fields. I am content if I bring back +a few impressions of some reassuring instance of faith, a few +pictures, and an armful of wild flowers and odoriferous shrubs. Let +the learned manual maker concern himself with the facts; he is content +with jotting down in his note-book the names and lineage of every +insect and every herb. + +"But Man? What is he to these scientific Naturalists? If they meet a +stranger on the road, they pass him by, their eyes intent on the +breviary of Nature, somewhat after the fashion of my priests, who are +fond of praying in the open-air at sundown. No, I do not have to prove +to my Brothers that my love of Nature is but second to my love of +life. I am interested in my fellow men as in my fellow trees and +flowers. 'The beauty of Nature,' Emerson again, 'must always seem +unreal and mocking until the landscape has human figures, that are as +good as itself.' And 'tis well, if they are but half as good. To me, +the discovery of a woodman in the wadi were as pleasing as the +discovery of a woodchuck or a woodswallow or a woodbine. For in the +soul of the woodman is a song, I muse, as sweet as the rhythmic +strains of the goldfinch, if it could be evoked. But the soul plodding +up the hill under its heavy overshadowing burden, what breath has it +left for song? The man bowed beneath the load, the soul bowed beneath +the man! Alas, I seem to behold but moving burdens in my country. And +yet, my swarthy and shrunken, but firm-fibred people plod along, +content, patient, meek; and when they reach the summit of the hill +with their crushing burdens, they still have breath enough to troll a +favourite ditty or serenade the night. + + 'I come to thee, O Night, + I'm at thy feet; + I can not see, O Night, + But thy breath is sweet.' + +"And so is the breath of the pines. Here, the air is surcharged with +perfume. In it floats the aromatic soul of many a flower. But the +perfume-soul of the pines seems to tower over all others, just as its +material shape lifts its artistic head over the oak, the cercis, and +the terabinth. And though tall and stately, my native pines are not +forbidding. They are so pruned that the snags serve as a most +convenient ladder. Such was my pleasure mounting for the green cones, +the salted pinons of which are delicious. But I confess they seem to +stick in the stomach as the pitch of the cones sticks on the hands. +This, however, though it remains for days, works no evil; but the +pinons in the stomach, and the stomach on the nerves,--that is a +different question. + +"The only pines I have seen in the United States are those in front of +Emerson's house in Concord; but compared with my native trees, they +are scrubby and mean. These pine parasols under which I lay me, +forgiving and forgetting, are fit for the gods. And although closely +planted, they grow and flourish without much ado. I have seen spots +not exceeding a few hundred square feet holding over thirty trees, and +withal stout and lusty and towering. Indeed, the floor of the Tent +seems too narrow at times for its crowded guests; but beneath the +surface there is room for every root, and over it, the sky is broad +enough for all. + +"Ah, the bewildering vistas through the variegated pillars, taking in +a strip of sea here, a mountain peak there, have an air of enchantment +from which no human formula can release a pilgrim-soul. They remind +me--no; they can not remind me of anything more imposing. But when I +was visiting the great Mosques of Cairo I was reminded of them. Yes, +the pine forests are the great mosques of Nature. And for art-lovers, +what perennial beauty of an antique art is here. These majestic +pillars arched with foliage, propping a light-green ceiling, from +which cones hang in pairs and in clusters, and through which curiously +shaped clouds can be seen moving in a cerulean sky; and at night, +instead of the clouds, the stars--the distant, twinkling, white and +blue stars--what to these are the decorations in the ancient mosques? +There, the baroques, the arabesques, the colourings gorgeous, are +dead, at least inanimate; here, they palpitate with life. The moving, +swelling, flaming, flowing life is mystically interwoven in the +evergreen ceiling and the stately colonnades. Ay, even the horizon +yonder, with its planets and constellations rising and setting ever, +is a part of the ceiling decoration. + +"Here in this grand Mosque of Nature, I read my own Koran. I, Khalid, +a Beduin in the desert of life, a vagabond on the highway of thought, +I come to this glorious Mosque, the only place of worship open to me, +to heal my broken soul in the perfumed atmosphere of its celestial +vistas. The mihrabs here are not in this direction nor in that. But +whereso one turns there are niches in which the living spirit of +Allah is ever present. Here, then, I prostrate me and read a few +Chapters of MY Holy Book. After which I resign myself to my eternal +Mother and the soft western breezes lull me asleep. Yea, and even like +my poor brother Moslem sleeping on his hair-mat in a dark corner of +his airy Mosque, I dream my dream of contentment and resignation and +love. + +"See the ploughman strutting home, his goad in his hand, his plough on +his shoulder, as if he had done his duty. Allah be praised, the +flowers in the terrace-walls are secure. That is why, I believe, my +American brother Thoreau liked walls with many gaps in them. The sweet +wild daughters of Spring can live therein their natural life without +being molested by the scythe or the plough. Allah be praised a hundred +times and one." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +SIGNS OF THE HERMIT + + +Although we claim some knowledge of the Lebanon mountains, having +landed there in our journey earthward, and having since then, our +limbs waxing firm and strong, made many a journey through them, we +could not, after developing, through many readings, Khalid's spiritual +films, identify them with the vicinage which he made his Kaaba. On +what hill, in what wadi, under what pines did he ruminate and +extravagate, we could not from these idealised pictures ascertain. For +a spiritual film is other than a photographic one. A poet's lens is +endowed with a seeing eye, an insight, and a faculty to choose and +compose. Hence the difficulty in tracing the footsteps of Fancy--in +locating its cave, its nest, or its Kaaba. His pine-mosque we could +find anywhere, at any altitude; his vineyards, too, and his glades; +for our mountain scenery, its beauty alternating between the placid +and the rugged--the tame terrace soil and the wild, forbidding +majesty--is allwhere almost the same. But where in these rocky and +cavernous recesses of the world can we to-day find the ancient Lebanon +troglodyte, whom Khalid has seen, and visited in his hut, and even +talked with? It is this that forces us to seek his diggings, to trace, +if possible, his footsteps. + +In the K. L. MS., as we have once remarked and more than once hinted, +we find much that is unduly inflated, truly Oriental; much that is +platitudinous, ludicrous, which we have suppressed. But never could we +question the Author's veracity and sincerity of purpose. Whether he +crawled like a zoophyte, soared like an eagle, or fought, like Ali, +the giants of the lower world, he is genuine, and oft-times amusingly +truthful. But the many questionable pages on this curious subject of +the eremite, what are we to do with them? If they are imaginary, there +is too much in this Book against quackery to daunt us. And yet, if +Khalid has found the troglodyte, whom we thought to be an extinct +species, he should have left us a few legends about it. + +We have visited the ancient caverns of the Lebanon troglodytes in the +cliffs overhanging the river of Wadi Kadeesha, and found nothing there +but blind bats, and mosses, and dreary vacuity. No, not a vestage of +the fossil is there, not a skull, not a shinbone. We have also +inquired in the monasteries near the Cedars, and we were frankly told +that no monk to-day fancies such a life. And if he did, he would not +give his brother monks the trouble of carrying his daily bread to a +cave in those forbidden cliffs. And yet, Simeon Stylites, he of the +Pillar, who remained for thirty years perched on the top of it, was a +Syrian shepherd. But who of his descendants to-day would as much as +pass one night on the top of that pillar? Curious eleemosynary phases +of our monkish system, these modern times reveal. + +On our way from a journey to the Cedars, while engaged in the present +Work, we passed through a pine forest, in which were some tangled +bushes of the clematis. The muleteer stops near one of these and +stoops to reach something he had seen therein. No treasure-trove, +alas, as he supposed; but merely a book for which he lacerated his +hands and which he cursed and handed to us, saying, "This must be the +breviary of some monk." + +No, it was an English book, and of American origin, and of a kind +quite rare in America. Indeed, here were a find and surprise as +agreeable as Khalid's sweetbrier bush. Henry Thoreau's _Week_! What a +miracle of chance. Whose this mutilated copy of the _Week_, we +thought? Who in these mountains, having been in America, took more +interest in the Dreamer of Walden Woods than in peddling and trading? +We walk our mule, looking about in vague, restless surprise, as if +seeking in the woods a lost companion, and lo, we reach a monarch pine +on which is carved the name of--Khalid! This book, then, must be his; +the name on the pine tree is surely his own; we know his hand as well +as his turn of mind. But who can say if this be his Kaaba, this his +pine-mosque? Might he not only have passed through these glades to +other parts? Signs, indeed, are here of his feet and hands, if not of +his tent-pegs. And what signifies his stay? No matter how long he +might have put up here, it is but a passage, deeply considered: like +Thoreau's passage through Walden woods, like Mohammad's through the +desert. + +This leisure hour is the nipple of the soul. And fortunate they who +are not artificially suckled, who know this hour no matter how brief, +who get their nipple at the right time. If they do not, no pabulum +ever after, will their indurated tissues assimilate. Do you wonder why +the world is full of crusty souls? and why to them this infant +hour, this suckling while, is so repugnant? But we must not intrude +more of such remarks about mankind. Whether rightly suckled or not, +we manage to live; but whether we do so marmot-like or Maronite-like, +is not the question here to be considered. To pray for your bread +or to burrow in the earth for it, is it not the same with most people? +Given a missionary with a Bible in his hip-pocket or a peasant with +a load of brushwood on his back and the same gastric coefficient, and +you will have in either case a resulting expansion for six feet of +coffin ground and a fraction of Allah's mercy. Our poor missionary, +is it worth while to cross the seas for this? Marmot-like or +Maronite-like--but soft you know! Here is our peasant with his +overshadowing load of brushwood. And there is another, and another. +They are carrying fuel to the lime-pit ahead of us yonder. What +brow-sweat, what time, what fire, what suffering and patient toil, +the lime-washing, or mere liming, of our houses and sepulchres, +requires. That cone structure there, that artificial volcano, with its +crackling, flaming bowels and its fuliginous, coruscating crater, +must our hardy peasants feed continually for twenty days and nights. + +But the book and the name on the pine, we would know more of these +signs, if possible. And so, we visit the labourers of the kiln. They +are yoedling, the while they work, and jesting and laughing. The +stokers, with flaming, swollen eyes, their tawny complexion waxing a +brilliant bronze, their sweat making golden furrows therein, with +their pikes and pitchforks busy, are terribly magnificent to behold. +Here be men who would destroy Bastilles for you, if it were nominated +in the bond. And there is the monk-foreman--the kiln is of the +monastery's estate--reading his breviary while the lime is in making. +Indeed, these sodalities of the Lebanons are not what their vows and +ascetic theologies would make them. No lean-jowled, hungry-looking +devotees, living in exiguity and droning in exinanition their +prayers,--not by any means. Their flesh-pots are not a few, and +their table is a marvel of ascetism! And why not, if their fat +estates--three-quarter of the lands here is held in mortmain by the +clergy--can yield anything, from silk cocoons to lime-pits? They +will clothe you in silk at least; they will lime-wash your homes and +sepulchres, if they cannot lime-wash anything else. Thanks to them +so long as they keep some reminiscence of business in their heads +to keep the Devil out of it. + +The monk-foreman is reading with one eye and watching with the other. +"Work," cries he, "every minute wasted is stolen from the abbey. And +whoso steals, look in the pit: its fire is nothing compared with +Juhannam." And the argument serves its purpose. The labourers hurry +hither and thither, bringing brushwood near; the first stoker pitches +to the second, the second to the third, and he feeds the flaming, +smoking, coruscating volcano. "_Yallah!_" (Keep it up) exclaims the +monk-foreman. "Burn the devil's creed," cries one. "Burn hell," cries +another. And thus jesting in earnest, mightily working and enduring, +they burn the mountains into lime, they make the very rocks yield +somewhat.--Strength and blessings, brothers. + +After the usual inquiry of whence and whither, his monkship offers the +snuff-box. "No? roll you, then, a cigarette," taking out a plush pouch +containing a mixture of the choicest native roots. These, we were +told, are grown on the monastery's estate. We speak of the cocoon +products of the season. + +"Beshrew the mulberries!" exclaims the monk. "We are turning all our +estates into fruit orchards and orangeries. The cultivation of the +silk-worm is in itself an abomination. And while its income to-day is +not as much as it was ten years ago, the expenditure has risen +twofold. America is ruining our agriculture; and soon, I suppose, we +have to send to China for labourers. Why, those who do not emigrate +demand twice as much to-day for half the work they used to do five +years ago; and those who return from America strut about like country +gentlemen deploring the barrenness of their native soil." + +And one subject leading to another, for our monk is a glib talker, we +come to the cheese-makers, the goatherds. "Even these honest rustics," +says he, "are becoming sophisticated (_mafsudin_). Their cheese is no +longer what it was, nor is their faith. For Civilisation, passing by +their huts in some shape or other, whispers in their ears something +about cleverness and adulteration. And mistaking the one for the +other, they abstract the butter from the milk and leave the verdigris +in the utensils. This lust of gain is one of the diseases which come +from Europe and America,--it is a plague which even the goatherd +cannot escape. Why, do you know, wherever the cheese-monger goes these +days ptomaine poison is certain to follow." + +"And why does not the Government interfere?" we ask. + +"Because the Government," replies our monk in a dry, droll air and +gesture, "does not eat cheese." + +And the monks, we learned, do not have to buy it. For this, as well as +their butter, olive oil, and wine, is made on their own estates, under +their own supervision. + +"Yes," he resumes, placing his breviary in his pocket and taking out +the snuff-box; "not long ago one who lived in these parts--a young man +from Baalbek he was, and he had his booth in the pine forest +yonder--bought some cheese from one of these muleteer cheese-mongers, +and after he had eaten of it fell sick. It chanced that I was passing +by on my way to the abbey, when he was groaning and retching beneath +that pine tree. It was the first time I saw that young man, and were I +not passing by I know not what would have become of him. I helped him +to the abbey, where he was ministered to by our physician, and he +remained with us three days. He ate of our cheese and drank of our +wine, and seemed to like both very much. And ever since, while he was +here, he would come to the abbey with a basket or a tray of his own +make--he occupied himself in making wicker-baskets and trays--and ask +in exchange some of our cheese and olive oil. He was very intelligent, +this fellow; his eyes sometimes were like the mouth of this pit, full +of fire and smoke. But he was queer. The clock in him was not wound +right--he was always ahead or behind time, always complaining that we +monks did not reckon time as he did. Nevertheless, I liked him much, +and often would I bring him some of our cookery. But he never accepted +anything without giving something in exchange." + +Unmistakable signs. + +"And his black turban," continues the monk, "over his long flowing +hair made him look like our hermit." (Strange coincidence!) "On your +way here have you not stopped to visit the hermit? Not far from the +abbey, on your right hand coming here, is the Hermitage." + +We remember passing a pretty cottage surrounded by a vineyard in that +rocky wilderness; but who would mistake that for a troglodyte's cave? +"And this young man from Baalbek," we ask, "how did he live in this +forest?" + +"Yonder," points the monk, "he cleared and cleaned for himself a +little space which he made his workshop. And up in the pines he +constructed a platform, which he walled and covered with boughs. And +when he was not working or walking, he would be there among the +branches, either singing or asleep. I used to envy him that nest in +the pines." + +"And did he ever go to church?" + +"He attended mass twice in our chapel, on Good Friday and on Easter +Sunday, I think." + +"And did he visit the abbey often?" + +"Only when he wanted cheese or olive oil." (Shame, O Khalid!) "But he +often repaired to the Hermitage. I went with him once to listen to his +conversation with the Hermit. They often disagreed, but never +quarrelled. I like that young man in spite of his oddities of thought, +which savoured at times of infidelity. But he is honest, believe me; +never tells a lie; and in a certain sense he is as pious as our +Hermit, I think. Roll another cigarette." + +"Thank you. And the Hermit, what is your opinion of him?" + +"Well, h'm--h'm--go visit him. A good man he is, but very simple. And +between us, he likes money too much. H'm, h'm, go visit him. If I were +not engaged at present, I would accompany you thither." + +We thank our good monk and retrace our steps to the Hermitage, rolling +meanwhile in our mind that awful remark about the Hermit's love of +money. Blindness and Plague! even the troglodyte loves and worships +thee, thou silver Demiurge! We can not believe it. The grudges of +monks against each other often reach darker and more fatal depths. +Alas, if the faith of the cheese-monger is become adulterated, what +shall we say of the faith of our monkhood? If the salt of the +earth--but not to the nunnery nor to the monkery, we go. Rather let us +to the Hermitage, Reader, and with an honest heart; in earnest, not in +sport. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE VINEYARD IN THE KAABA + + +This, then, is the cave of our troglodyte! Allah be praised, even the +hermits of the Lebanon mountains, like the prophets of America and +other electric-age species, are subject to the laws of evolution. A +cottage and chapel set in a vineyard, the most beautiful we have yet +seen, looms up in this rocky wilderness like an oasis in a desert. For +many miles around, the vicinage presents a volcanic aspect, wild, +barren, howlingly dreary. At the foot of Mt. Sanneen in the east, +beyond many ravines, are villages and verdure; and from the last +terrace in the vineyard one overlooks the deep chasm which can boast +of a rivulet in winter. But in the summer its nakedness is appalling. +The sun turns its pocket inside out, so to speak, exposing its +boulders, its little windrows of sands, and its dry ditches full of +dead fish spawn. And the cold, rocky horizon, rising so high and near, +shuts out the sea and hides from the Hermit the glory of the sundown. +But we can behold its effects on Mt. Sanneen, on the clouds above us, +on the glass casements in the villages far away. The mountains in the +east are mantled with etherial lilac alternating with mauve; the +clouds are touched with purple and gold; the casements in the distance +are scintillating with mystical carbuncles: the sun is setting in the +Mediterranean,--he is waving his farewell to the hills. + +We reach the first gate of the Hermitage; and the odour peculiar to +monks and monkeries, a mixed smell of mould and incense and burning +oil, greets us as we enter into a small open space in the centre of +which is a Persian lilac tree. To the right is a barbed-wire fence +shutting in the vineyard; directly opposite is the door of the chapel; +and near it is a wicket before which stands a withered old woman. +Against the wall is a stone bench where another woman is seated. As we +enter, we hear her, standing at the wicket, talking to some one behind +the scene. "Yes, that is the name of my husband," says she. "Allah +have mercy on his soul," sighs an exiguous voice within; "pray for +him, pray for him." And the woman, taking to weeping, blubbers out, +"Will thirty masses do, think your Reverence?" "Yes, that will cheer +his soul," replies the oracle. + +The old woman thereupon enters the chapel, pays the priest or +serving-monk therein, one hundred piasters for thirty masses, and +goes away in tears. The next woman rises to the gate. "I am the +mother of--," she says. "Ah, the mother of--," repeats the exiguous +voice. "How are you? (She must be an old customer.) How is your +husband? How are your children? And those in America, are they +well, are they prosperous? Yes, yes, your deceased son. Well, +h'm--h'm--you must come again. I can not tell you anything yet. +Come again next week." And she, too, visits the chapel, counts out +some money to the serving-monk, and leaves the Hermitage, drying +her tears. + +The Reader, who must have recognised the squeaking, snuffling, +exiguous voice, knows not perhaps that the Hermit, in certain moments +of _inkhitaf_ (abstraction, levitation) has glimpses into the +spirit-world and can tell while in this otherworldliness how the +Christian souls are faring, and how many masses those in Purgatory +need before they can rejoin the bosom of Father Abraham. And those who +seek consolation and guidance through his occult ministrations are +mostly women. But the money collected for masses, let it here be said, +as well as the income of the vineyard, the Hermit touches not. The +monks are the owners of the occult establishment, and they know better +than he what to do with the revenue. But how far this ancient +religious Medium can go in the spirit-world, and how honest he might +be in his otherworldliness, let those say who have experience in +spookery and table-rapping. + +Now, the women having done and gone, the wicket is open, and the +serving-monk ushers us through the dark and stivy corridor to the +rear, where a few boxes marked "Made in America"--petroleum boxes, +these--are offered us as seats. Before the door of the last cell are a +few potsherds in which sweet basil plants are withering from thirst. +Presently, the door squeaks, and one, not drooping like the plants, +comes out to greet us. This is Father Abd'ul-Messiah (Servitor of the +Christ), as the Hermit is called. Here, indeed, is an up-to-date +hermit, not an antique troglodyte. Lean and lathy, he is, but not +hungry-looking; quick of eye and gesture; quick of step, too. He seems +always on the alert, as if surrounded continually with spirits. He is +young, withal, or keeps so, at least, through the grace and +ministration of Allah and the Virgin. His long unkempt hair and beard +are innocent of a single white line. And his health? "Through my five +and twenty years of seclusion," said he, "I have not known any +disease, except, now and then, in the spring season, when the sap +begins to flow, I am visited by Allah with chills and fever.--No; I +eat but one meal a day.--Yes; I am happy, Allah be praised, quite +happy, very happy." + +And he lifts his eyes heavenward, and sighs and rubs his hands in +joyful satisfaction. To us, this Servitor of the Christ seemed not to +have passed the climacteric. But truly, as he avowed, he was entering +the fifth lustrum beyond it. Such are the advantages of the ascetic +life, and of such ascetics the Kingdom of Heaven. A man of sixty can +carry twenty years in his pocket, and seem all honesty, and youth, and +health, and happiness. + +We then venture a question about the sack-cloth, a trace of which was +seen under his tunic sleeve. And fetching a deep sigh, he gazes on the +drooping sweet basils in silence. No, he likes not to speak of these +mortifications of the flesh. After some meditation he tells us, +however, that the sack-cloth on the first month is annoying, +torturing. "But the flesh," he continues naively, "is inured to it, +as the pile, in the course of time, is broken and softened down." And +with an honest look in his eyes, he smiled and sighs his assurance. +For his Reverence always punctuates his speech with these sweet sighs +of joy. The serving-monk now comes to whisper a word in his ear, and +we are asked to "scent the air" a while in the vineyard. + +This lovely patch of terrace-ground the Hermit tills and cultivates +alone. And so thoroughly the work is done that hardly a stone can be +seen in the soil. And so even and regular are the terrace walls that +one would think they were built with line and plummet. The vines are +handsomely trimmed and trellised, and here and there, to break the +monotony of the rows, a fig, an apricot, an almond, or an olive, +spreads its umbrageous boughs. Indeed, it is most cheering in the +wilderness, most refreshing to the senses, this lovely vineyard, the +loveliest we have seen. + +Father Abd'ul-Messiah might be a descendant of Simeon of the Pillar +for all we know; but instead of perching on the top of it, he breaks +it down and builds with its stones a wall of his vineyard. Here he +comes with his serving-monk, and we resume the conversation under the +almond tree. + +"You should come in the grape season to taste of my fruits," says he. + +"And do you like the grape?" we ask. + +"Yes, but I prefer to cultivate it." + +"Throughout the season," the serving-monk puts in, "and though the +grapes be so plentiful, he tastes them not." + +"No?" + +The Hermit is silent; for, as we have said, he is reluctant in making +such confessions. Virtue, once bragged about, once you pride yourself +upon it, ceases to be such. + +In his vineyard the Hermit is most thorough, even scientific. One +would think that he believed only in work. No; he does not sprinkle +the vines with holy water to keep the grubs away. Herein he has sense +enough to know that only in _kabrit_ (sulphur) is the phylactery which +destroys the phylloxera. + +"And what do you do when you are not working in your vineyard or +praying?" + +"I have always somewhat to do, always. For to be idle is to open the +door for Iblis. I might walk up and down this corridor, counting the +slabs therein, and consider my time well spent." Saying which he rises +and points to the sky. The purple fringes of the clouds are gone to +sable; the lilac tints on the mountains are waxing grey; and the +sombre twilight with his torch--the evening star had risen--is +following in the wake of day; 'tis the hour of prayer. + +But before we leave him to his devotion, we ask to be permitted to see +his cell. Ah, that is against the monastic rules. We insist. And with +a h'm, h'm, and a shake of the head, he rubs his hands caressingly and +opens the door. Yes, the Reader shall peep into this eight by six +cell, which is littered all around with rubbish, sacred and profane. +In the corner is a broken stove with a broken pipe attached,--broken +to let some of the smoke into the room, we are told. "For smoke," +quoth the Hermit, quoting the Doctor, "destroys the microbes--and +keeps the room warm after the fire goes out." + +In the corner opposite the stove is a little altar with the +conventional icons and gewgaws and a number of prayer books lying +pell-mell around. Nearby is an old pair of shoes, in which are stuck a +few candles and St. Anthony's Book of Contemplations. In the corner +behind the door is a large cage, a pantry, suspended middleway between +the floor and ceiling, containing a few earthen pots, an oil lamp, and +a jar, covered with a cloth. Between the pantry and the altar, on a +hair-mat spread on the floor, sleeps his Reverence. And his bed is not +so hard as you might suppose, Reader; for, to serve your curiosity, we +have been rude enough to lift up a corner of the cloth, and we found +underneath a substantial mattress! On the bed is his book of accounts, +which, being opened, when we entered, he hastened to close. + +"You keep accounts, too, Reverence?" + +"Indeed, so. That is a duty devolved on every one with mortal +memory." + +Let it not be supposed, however, that he has charge of the crops. In +his journal he keeps the accounts of his masses? And here be evil +sufficient for the day. + +This, then, is the inventory of Abd'ul-Messiah's cell. And we do +not think we have omitted much of importance. Yes; in the fourth +corner, which we have not mentioned, are three or four petroleum cans +containing provisions. From one of these he brings out a handful of +dried figs, from another a pinch of incense, which he gives us as a +token of his love and blessing. One thing we fain would emphasise, +before we conclude our account. The money part of this eremitic +business need not be harshly judged; for we must bear in mind that +this honest Servitor of Christ is strong enough not to have his +will in the matter. And remember, too, that the abbey's bills of +expenses run high. If one of the monks, therefore, is blessed with a +talent for solitude and seclusion, his brother monks shall profit +by it. Indeed, we were told, that the income of the Hermitage, that +is, the sum total in gold of the occult and the agricultural +endeavours of Abd'ul-Messiah, is enough to defray the yearly +expenditures of the monkery. Further, we have nothing to say on the +subject. But Khalid has. And of his lengthy lucubration on _The Uses +of Solitude_, we cull the following: + +"Every one's life at certain times," writes he, "is either a Temple, a +Hermitage, or a Vineyard: every one, in order to flee the momentary +afflictions of Destiny, takes refuge either in God, or in Solitude, or +in Work. And of a truth, work is the balm of the sore mind of the +world. God and Solitude are luxuries which only a few among us +nowadays can afford. But he who lives in the three, though his life be +that of a silk larva in its cocoon, is he not individually considered +a good man? Is he not a mystic, though uncreative, centre of goodness? +Surely, his influence, his Me alone considered, is living and benign, +and though it is not life-giving. He is a flickering taper under a +bushel; and this, _billah_, were better than the pissasphaltum-souls +which bushels of quackery and pretence can not hide. But alas, that a +good man by nature should be so weak as to surrender himself entirely +to a lot of bad men. For the monks, my brother Hermit, being a silk +worm in its cocoon, will asphyxiate the larva after its work is done, +and utilise the silk. Ay, after the Larva dies, they pickle and +preserve it in their chapel for the benefit of those who sought its +oracles in life. Let the beef-packers of America take notice; the +monks of my country are in the market with 'canned hermits!' + +"And this Larva, be it remembered, is not subject to decay; a saint +does not decompose in the flesh like mortal sinners. One of these, I +have been told, dead fifty years ago and now canonised, can be seen +yet in one of the monasteries of North Lebanon, keeping well his flesh +and bones together--divinely embalmed. It has been truly said that the +work of a good man never dies; and these leathery hermits continue in +death as in life to counsel and console the Faithful. + +"In the past, these Larvae, not being cultivated for the market, +continued their natural course of development and issued out of their +silk prisons full fledged moths. But those who cultivate them to-day +are in sore need. They have masses and indulgences to sell; they have +big bills to pay. But whether left to grow their wings or not, their +solitude is that of a cocoon larva, narrow, stale, unprofitable to the +world. While that of a philosopher, a Thoreau, for instance, might be +called Nature's filter; and one, issuing therefrom benefited in every +sense, morally, physically, spiritually, can be said to have been +filtered through Solitude." + +"The study of life at a distance is inutile; the study of it at close +range is defective. The only method left, therefore, and perhaps the +true one, is that of the artist at his canvas. He works at his picture +an hour or two, and retires a little to study and criticise it from a +distance. It is impossible to withdraw entirely from life and pretend +to take an interest in it. Either like my brother Hermit in these +parts, a spiritual larva in its cocoon, or like a Thoreau, who during +his period of seclusion, peeped every fortnight into the village to +keep up at least his practice of human speech. Else what is the use of +solitude? A life of fantasy, I muse, is nearer to the heart of Nature +and Truth than a life in sack-cloth and ashes.... + +"And yet, deeply considered, this eremitic business presents another +aspect. For does not the eremite through his art of prayer and +devotion, seek an ideal? Is he not a transcendentalist, at least in +the German sense of the word? Is not his philosophy above all the +senses, as the term implies, and common sense included? For through +Mother Church, and with closed eyes, he will attain the ideal, of +which my German philosopher, through the logic-mill, and with eyes +open, hardly gets a glimpse. + +"The devout and poetic souls, and though they walk among the crowd, +live most of their lives in solitude. Through Mother Sorrow, or Mother +Fancy, or Mother Church, they are ever seeking the ideal, which to +them is otherwise unattainable. And whether a howler of Turabu or a +member of the French Academy, man, in this penumbra of faith and +doubt, of superstition and imagination, is much the same. 'The higher +powers in us,' says Novalis, 'which one day, as Genii, shall fulfil +our will, are for the present, Muses, which refresh us on our toilsome +course with sweet remembrances.' And the jinn, the fairies, the +angels, the muses, are as young and vivacious to-day as they were in +the Arabian and Gaelic Ages of Romance. + +"But whether Mother Church or Poetry or Philosophy or Music be the +magic-medium, the result is much the same if the motive be not +religiously sincere, sincerely religious, piously pure, lofty, and +humane. Ay, my Larva-Hermit, with all his bigotry and straitness of +soul, stands higher than most of your artists and poets and musicians +of the present day. For a life sincerely spent between the Temple and +the Vineyard, between devotion and honest labour, producing to one man +of all mankind some positive good, is not to be compared with the life +which oscillates continuously between egoism and vanity, quackery and +cowardice, selfishness and pretence, and which never rises, do what it +may, above the larva state.... + +"Let every one cultivate with pious sincerity some such vineyard +as my Hermit's and the world will not further need reform. For +through all the vapour and mist of his ascetic theology, through the +tortuous chasm of his eremitic logic, through the bigotry and crass +superstition of his soul, I can always see the Vineyard on the one +side of his cell, and the Church on the other, and say to myself: +Here be a man who is never idle; here be one who loves the leisure +praised by Socrates, and hates the sluggishness which Iblis decks and +titivates. And if he crawls between his Church and his Vineyard, and +burrows in both for a solution of life, nay, spins in both the cocoon +of his ideal, he ought not to be judged from on high. Come thou near +him; descend; descend a little and see: has he not a task, and +though it be of the taper-under-the-bushel kind? Has he not a faith +and a sincerity which in a Worm of the Earth ought to be reckoned +sublime? 'If there were sorrow in heaven,' he once said to me, 'how +many there would continuously lament the time they wasted in this +world?' + +"O my Brothers, build your Temples and have your Vineyards, even +though it be in the rocky wilderness." + +[Illustration] + + + + +BOOK THE THIRD + +IN KULMAKAN + + + + +[Illustration] + +TO GOD[1] + +_In the religious systems of mankind, I sought thee, O God, in +vain; in their machine-made dogmas and theologies, I sought thee in +vain; in their churches and temples and mosques, I sought thee long, +and long in vain; but in the Sacred Books of the World, what have I +found? A letter of thy name, O God, I have deciphered in the Vedas, +another in the Zend-Avesta, another in the Bible, another in the +Koran. Ay, even in the Book of the Royal Society and in the Records of +the Society for Psychical Research, have I found the diacritical signs +which the infant races of this Planet Earth have not yet learned to +apply to the consonants of thy name. The lisping infant races of this +Earth, when will they learn to pronounce thy name entire? Who shall +supply the Vowels which shall unite the Gutturals of the Sacred Books? +Who shall point out the dashes which compound the opposite loadstars +in the various regions of thy Heaven? On the veil of the eternal +mystery are palimpsests of which every race has deciphered a +consonant. And through the diacritical marks which the seers and +paleologists of the future shall furnish, the various dissonances in +thy name shall be reduced, for the sake of the infant races of the +Earth, to perfect harmony._--KHALID. + +----- + + [1] Arabic Symbol. + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE DISENTANGLEMENT OF THE ME + + +"Why this exaggerated sense of thine importance," Khalid asks himself +in the K. L. MS., "when a little ptomaine in thy cheese can poison the +source of thy lofty contemplations? Why this inflated conception of +thy Me, when an infusion of poppy seeds might lull it to sleep, even +to stupefaction? What avails thy logic when a little of the Mandragora +can melt the material universe into golden, unfolding infinities of +dreams? Why take thyself so seriously when a leaf of henbane, taken by +mistake in thy salad, can destroy thee? But the soul is not dependent +on health or disease. The soul is the source of both health and +disease. And life, therefore, is either a healthy or a diseased state +of the soul. + +"One day, when I was rolling these questions in my mind, and working +on a reed basket to present to my friend the Hermit as a farewell +memento, his serving-monk brings me some dried figs in a blue kerchief +and says, 'My Master greets thee and prays thee come to him.' I do so +the following morning, bringing with me the finished basket, and as I +enter the Hermitage court, I find him repairing a stone wall in the +vineyard. As he sees me, he hastens to put on his cloak that I might +not remark the sack-cloth he wore, and with a pious smile of +assurance and thankfulness, welcomes and embraces me, as is his wont. +We sit down in the corridor before the chapel door. The odorous vapor +of what was still burning in the censer within hung above us. The holy +atmosphere mantled the dread silence of the place. And the slow, +insinuating smell of incense, like the fumes of gunga, weighed heavy +on my eyelids and seemed to brush from my memory the cobwebs of time. +A drowsiness possessed me; I felt like one awaking from a dream. I +asked for the water jug, which the Hermit hastened to bring. And +looking through the door of the chapel, I saw on the altar a burning +cresset flickering like the planet Mercury on a December morning. How +often did I light such a cresset when a boy, I mused. Yes, I was an +acolyte once. I swang the censer and drank deep of the incense fumes +as I chanted in Syriac the service. And I remember when I made a +mistake one day in reading the Epistle of Paul, the priest, who was of +an irascible humour, took me by the ear and made me spell the words I +could not pronounce. And the boys in the congregation tittered +gleefully. In my mortification was honey for them. Such was my pride, +nevertheless, such the joy I felt, when, of all the boys that gathered +round the lectern at vespers, I was called upon to read in the +_sinksar_ (hagiography) the Life of the Saint of the day. + +"I knew then that to steal, for instance, is a sin; and yet, I emptied +the box of wafers every morning after mass and shared them with the +very boys who laughed at my mistakes. One day, in the purest +intention, I offered one of these wafers to my donkey and he would +not eat it. I felt insulted, and never after did I pilfer a wafer. +Now, as I muse on these sallies of boyish waywardness I am impressed +with the idea that the certainty and daring of Ignorance, or might I +say Innocence, are great. Indeed, to the pure everything is pure. But +strange to relate that as I sat in the corridor of the Hermitage and +saw the light flickering on the altar, I hankered for a wafer, and was +tempted to go into the chapel and filch one. What prevented me? Alas, +knowledge makes sceptics and cowards of us all. And the pursuit of +knowledge, according to my Hermit, nay, the noblest pursuit, even the +serving of God, ceases to be a virtue the moment we begin to enjoy +it. + +"'It is necessary to conquer, not only our instincts,' he continued, +'but our intellectual and our spiritual passions as well. To force our +will in the obedience of a higher will, to leave behind all our +mundane desires in the pursuit of the one great desire, herein lies +the essence of true virtue. St. Anthony would snatch his hours of +devotion from the Devil. Even prayer to him was a struggle, an effort +not to feel the joy of it. Yes, we must always disobey our impulses, +and resist the tyranny of our desires. When I have a strong desire to +pray, I go out into the vineyard and work. When I begin to enjoy my +work in the vineyard, I cease to do it well. Therefore, I take up my +breviary. Do that which you must not do, when you are suffering, and +you will not want to do it again, when you are happy. The other day, +one who visited the Hermitage, spoke to me of you, O Khalid. He said +you were what is called an anarchist. And after explaining to me what +is meant by this--I never heard of such a religion before--I +discovered to my surprise that I, too, am an anarchist. But there is +this difference between us: I obey only God and the authority of God, +and you obey your instincts and what is called the authority of +reason. Yours, O Khalid, is a narrow conception of anarchy. In truth, +you should try to be an anarchist like me: subordinate your +personality, your will and mind and soul, to a higher will and +intelligence, and resist with all your power everything else. Why do +you not come to the Hermitage for a few days and make me your +confessor?' + +"'I do not confess in private, and I can not sleep within doors.' + +"'You do not have to do so; the booth under the almond tree is at your +disposal. Come for a spiritual exercise of one week only.' + +"'I have been going through such an exercise for a year, and soon I +shall leave my cloister in the pines.' + +"'What say you? You are leaving our neighbourhood? No, no; remain +here, O Khalid. Come, live with me in the Hermitage. Come back to +Mother Church; return not to the wicked world. O Khalid, we must +inherit the Kingdom of Allah, and we can not do so by being anarchist +like the prowlers of the forest. Meditate on the insignificance and +evanescence of human life.' + +"'But it lies within us, O my Brother, to make it significant and +eternal.' + +"'Yes, truly, in the bosom of Mother Church. Come back to your +Mother--come to the Hermitage--let us pass this life together.' + +"'And what will you do, if in the end you discover that I am in the +right?' + +"Here he paused a moment, and, casting on me a benignant glance, makes +this reply: 'Then, I will rejoice, rejoice,' he gasped; 'for we shall +both be in the right. You will become an anarchist like me and not +against the wretched authorities of the world, but against your real +enemies, Instinct and Reason.' + +"And thus, now and then, he would salt his argument with a pinch of +casuistic wit. Once he was hard set, and, to escape the alternatives +of the situation, he condescended to tell me the story of his first +and only love. + +"'In my youth,' said the Hermit, 'I was a shoemaker, and not a little +fastidious as a craftsman. In fact, I am, and always have been, an +extremist, a purist. I can not tolerate the cobblings of life. Either +do your work skilfully, devotedly, earnestly, or do it not. So, as a +shoemaker, I succeeded very well. Truth to tell, my work was as good, +as neat, as elegant as that of the best craftsman in Beirut. And you +know, Beirut is noted for its shoemakers. Yes, I was successful as any +of them, and I counted among my customers the bishop of the diocese +himself. One day, forgive me, Allah! a young girl, the daughter of a +peasant neighbour, comes into the shop to order a pair of shoes. In +taking the measure of her foot--but I must not linger on these +details. A shoemaker can not fail to notice the shape of his +customer's foot. Well, I measured, too, her ankle--ah, forgive me, +Allah! + +"'In brief, when the shoes were finished--I spent a whole day in the +finishing touches--I made her a present of them. And she, in +recognition of my favor, made a plush tobacco bag, on which my name +was worked in gold threads, and sent it to me, wrapped in a silk +handkerchief, with her brother. Now, that is the opening chapter. I +will abruptly come to the last, skipping the intermediate parts, for +they are too silly, all of them. I will only say that I was as +earnest, as sincere, as devoted in this affair of love as I was in my +craft. Of a truth, I was mad about both. + +"'Now the closing chapter. One day I went to see her--we were +engaged--and found she had gone to the spring for water. I follow her +there and find her talking to a young man, a shoemaker like myself. +No, he was but a cobbler. On the following day, going again to see +her, I find this cobbler there. I remonstrate with her, but in vain. +And what is worse, she had sent to him the shoes I made, to be +repaired. He was patching my own work! I swallowed my ire and went +back to my shop. A week later, to be brief, I went there again, and +what I beheld made my body shiver. She, the wench. Forgive me, Allah! +had her hands around his neck and her lips--yes, her lying lips, on +his cheek! No, no; even then I did not utter a word. I could but cry +in the depth of my heart. How can woman be so faithless, so +treacherous--in my heart I cried. + +"'It was a terrible shock; and from it I lay in bed for days with +chills and fever. Now, when I recovered, I was determined on pursuing +a new course of life. No longer would I measure women's feet. I sold +my stock, closed my shop, and entered the monastery. I heard +afterwards that she married that young cobbler; emigrated with him to +America; deserted him there; returned to her native village; married +again, and fled with her second husband to South Africa. Allah be +praised! even He appreciates the difference between a shoemaker and a +cobbler; and the bad woman He gives to the bad craftsman. That is why +I say, Never be a cobbler, whatever you do. + +"'But in the monastery--draw near, I will speak freely--in the +monastery, too, there are cobblers and shoemakers. There, too, is much +ungodliness, much treachery, much cobbling. Ah me, I must not speak +thus. Forgive me, Allah! But I promised to tell you the whole story. +Therefore, I will speak freely. After passing some years in the +monastery, years of probation and grief they were, I fell sick with a +virulent fever. The abbot, seeing that there was little chance of my +recovery, would not send for the physician. And so, I languished for +weeks, suffering from thirst and burning pains and hunger. I raved and +chattered in my delirium. I betrayed myself, too, they told me. The +monks my brothers, even during my suffering, made a scandal of the +love affair I related. They said that I exposed my wounds and my +broken heart before the Virgin, that I sinned in thought and word on +my death-bed. Allah forgive them. It may be, however; for I know not +what I said and what I did. But when I recovered, I was determined not +to remain in the monastery, and not to return to the world. The wicked +world, I disentangled myself absolutely from its poisoned meshes. I +came to the Hermitage, to this place. And never, since I made my +second remove until now, have I known disease, or sorrow, nor +treachery, which is worse than both. Allah be praised! One's people, +one's brothers, one's lovers and friends, are a hindrance and +botheration. We are nothing, nothing: God is everything. God is the +only reality. And in God alone is my refuge. That is my story in +brief. If I did not like you, I would not have told it, and so freely. +Meditate upon it, and on the insignificance and evanescence of human +life. The world is a snare, and a bad snare, at that. For it can not +hold us long enough in it to learn to like it. It is a cobbler's +snare. The world is full of cobblers, O Khalid. Come away from it; be +an ideal craftsman--be an extremist--be a purist--come live with me. +Let us join our souls in devotion, and our hearts in love. Come, let +us till and cultivate this vineyard together.' + +"And taking me by the hand, he shows me a cell furnished with a +hair-mat, a _masnad_ (leaning pillow), and a chair. 'This cell,' says +he, 'was occupied by the Bishop when he came here for a spiritual +exercise of three weeks. It shall be yours if you come; it's the best +cell in the Hermitage. Now, let us visit the chapel.' I go in with +him, and as we are coming out, I ask him child-like for a wafer. He +brings the box straightway, begs me to take as much as I desire, and +placing his hand on my shoulder, encircles me with one of his +benignant glances, saying, 'Allah illumine thy heart, O Khalid.' +'Allah hear thy prayer,' I reply. And we part in tears." + +Here Khalid bursts in ecstasy about the higher spiritual kingdom, and +chops a little logic about the I and the not-I, the Reality and the +non-Reality.--"God," says the Hermit. "Thought," says the Idealist, +"that is the only Reality." And what is Thought, and what is God, and +what is Matter, and what is Spirit? They are the mysterious vessels of +Life, which are always being filled by Love and emptied by Logic. "The +external world," says the Materialist--"Does not exist," says the +Idealist. "'Tis immaterial if it does or not," says the Hermit. And +what if the three are wrong? The Universe, knowable and unknowable, +will it be affected a whit by it? If the German Professor's Chair of +Logic and Philosophy were set up in the Hermitage, would anything be +gained or lost? Let the _I_ deny the stars, and they will nevertheless +roll in silence above it. Let the not-I crush this I, this "thinking +reed," and the higher universal I, rising above the stars and flooding +the sidereal heavens with light, will warm, remold, and regenerate the +world. + +"I can conceive of a power," writes Khalid in that vexing Manuscript, +"which can create a beautiful parti-colored sun-flower of the +shattered fragments of Idealism, Materialism, and my Hermit's +theology. Why not, if in the New World--" And here, of a sudden, to +surprise and bewilder us, he drags in Mrs. Eddy and the Prophet Dowie +yoked under the yoke of Whitman. He marks the _Key to Scripture_ with +blades from _Leaves of Grass_, and such fuel as he gathers from both, +he lights with an ember borrowed from the chariot to Elijah. And thus, +for ten whole pages, beating continually, now in the dark of +Metaphysics, now in the dusk of Science; losing himself in the tangled +bushes of English Materialism, and German Mysticism, and Arabic +Sufism; calling now to Berkeley, now to Hackel; meeting with Spencer +here, with Al-Gazzaly there; and endeavoring to extricate himself in +the end with some such efforts as "the Natural being Negativity, the +Spiritual must be the opposite of that, and both united in God form +the Absolute," etc., etc. But we shall not give ourselves further pain +in laying before the English reader the like heavy and unwieldy +lumber. Whoever relishes such stuff, and can digest it, need not apply +to Khalid; for, in this case, he is but a poor third-hand caterer. +Better go to the Manufacturers direct; they are within reach of every +one in this Age of Machinery and Popular Editions. But there are +passages here, of which Khalid can say, 'The Mortar at least is mine.' +And in this Mortar he mixes and titrates with his Neighbour's Pestle +some of his fantasy and insight. Of these we offer a sample: + +"I say with psychologists, as the organism, so is the personality. +The revelation of the Me is perfect in proportion to the sound state +of the Medium. But according to the Arabic proverb, the jar oozes of +its contents. If these be of a putridinous mixture, therefore, no +matter how sound the jar, the ooze is not going to smell of ambergris +and musk. So, it all depends on the contents with which the Potter +fills his jugs and pipkins, I assure you. And if the contents are +good and the jar is sound, we get such excellence of soul as is rare +among mortals. If the contents are excellent and the jar is cracked, +the objective influence will then predominate, and putrescence, +soon or late, will set in. Now, the Me in the majority of mankind +comes to this world in a cracked pipkin, and it oozes out entirely as +soon as it liquifies in youth. The pipkin, therefore, goes through +life empty and cracked, ever sounding flat and false. While in +others the Me is enclosed in a sealed straw-covered flask and can +only be awakened by either evaporation or decapitation, in other +words, by a spiritual revolution. And in the very few among mortals, +it emerges out of the iron calyx of a flower of red-hot steel, or +flows from the transparent, odoriferous bosom of a rose of light. In +the first we have a Caesar, an Alexander, a Napoleon; in the second, +a Buddha, a Socrates, a Christ. + +"But consider that Science, in the course of psychological analysis, +speaks of Christ, Napoleon, and Shakespeare, as patients. Such exalted +states of the soul, such activity of the mind, such exuberance of +spiritual strength, are but the results of the transformation of the +Me in the subject, we are told, and this transformation has its roots +in the organism. But why, I ask, should there be such a gulf between +individuals, such a difference in their Mes, when a difference in the +organism is a trifle in comparison? How account for the ebb and flow +in the souls, or let us say, in the expression of the individualities, +of Mohammad the Prophet, for instance, and Mohammad the camel-herd? +And why is it in psychological states that are similar, the +consciousness of the one is like a mountain peak, so to speak, and +that of the other like a cave? + +"A soldier is severely wounded in battle and a change takes place in +his nervous organism, by reason of which he loses his organic +consciousness; or, to speak in the phraseology of the psychologist, he +loses the sense of his own body, of his physical personality. The +cause of this change is probably the wound received; but the nature of +the change can be explained only by hypotheses, which are become +matters of choice and taste--and sometimes of personal interest among +scientists. Now, when the question is resolved by hypothesis, is not +even a layman free to offer one? If I say the Glass is shattered and +the Me within is sadly reflected, or in a more tragic instance the +light of the Me runs out, would I not be offering thee a solution as +dear and tenable as that of the professor of psychology?" + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE VOICE OF THE DAWN + + +Breathless but scathless, we emerge from the mazes of metaphysics and +psychology where man and the soul are ever playing hide-and-seek; and +where Khalid was pleased to display a little of his killing skill in +fencing. To those mazes, we promise the Reader, we shall not return +again. In our present sojourn, however, it is necessary to go through +the swamps and Jordans as well as the mountains and plains. Otherwise, +we would not have lingered a breathing while in the lowlands of +mystery. But now we know how far Khalid went in seeking health, and +how deep in seeking the Me, which he would disentangle from the meshes +of philosophy and anchoretism, and bring back to life, triumphant, +loving, joyous, free. And how far he succeeded in this, we shall soon +know. + +On the morning of his last day in the pines, meanwhile, we behold him +in the chariot of Apollo serenading the stars. He no longer would +thrust a poker down his windpipe; for he breathes as freely as the +mountain bears and chirps as joyously as the swallows. And his lungs? +The lungs of the pines are not as sound. And his eyes? Well, he can +gaze at the rising sun without adverting the head or squinting or +shedding a tear. Now, as a sign of this healthy state of body and +mind, and his healthier resolve to return to the world, to live +opposite his friend the Hermit on the other antipode of life, and +furthermore, as a relief from the exhausting tortuosities of thought +in the last Chapter, we give here a piece of description notably +symbolical. + + * * * * * + +"I slept very early last night; the lights in the chapel of the abbey +were still flickering, and the monks were chanting the complines. The +mellow music of a drizzle seemed to respond sombrely to the melancholy +echo of the choir. About midnight the rain beat heavily on the pine +roof of the forest, and the thunder must have struck very near, +between me and the monks. But rising very early this morning to +commune for the last time with the pensive silence of dawn in the +pines, I am greeted, as I peep out of my booth, by a knot of ogling +stars. But where is the opaque breath of the storm, where are the +clouds? None seem to hang on the horizon, and the sky is as limpid and +clear as the dawn of a new life. Glorious, this interval between night +and dawn. Delicious, the flavour of the forest after a storm. +Intoxicating, the odours of the earth, refreshed and satisfied. +Divine, the whispers of the morning air, divine! + +"But where is the rain, and where are the thunderbolts of last night? +The forest and the atmosphere retain but the sweet and scented +memories of their storming passion. Such a December morning in these +mountain heights is a marvel of enduring freshness and ardour. All +round one gets a vivid illusion of Spring. The soft breezes caressing +the pines shake from their boughs the only evidence of last night's +storm. And these are more like the dew of Summer than the lees of the +copious tears of parting Autumn. A glorious morning, too glorious to +be enjoyed by a solitary soul. But near the rivulet yonder stands a +fox sniffing the morning air. Welcome, my friend. Welcome to my +coffee, too. + +"I gather my mulberry sticks, kindle them with a handful of dried pine +needles, roast my coffee beans, and grind them while the water boils +in the pot. In half an hour I am qualified to go about my business. +The cups and coffee utensils I wash and restore to the chest--and what +else have I to do to-day? Pack up? Allah be praised, I have little +packing to do. I would pack up, if I could, a ton of the pine air and +the forest perfume, a strip of this limpid sky, and a cluster of those +stars. Never at such an hour and in this season of the year did I +enjoy such transporting limpidity in the atmosphere and such +reassuring expansiveness on the horizon. Why, even the stars, the +constellations, and the planets, are all here to enjoy this with me. +Not one of them, I think, is absent. + +"The mountains are lost in the heavens. They are seeking, as it were, +the sisters of the little flowers sleeping at their feet. The moon, +resembling a crushed orange, is sinking in the Mediterranean. The +outlines of earth and sky all round are vague, indistinct. Were not +the sky so clear and the atmosphere so rare, thus affording the +planets and the constellations to shed their modicum of light, the +dusk of this hour would have deprived the scene of much of its pensive +beauty of colour and shade. But there is Pegasus, Andromeda, +Aldebaran, not to mention Venus and Jupiter and Saturn,--these alone +can conquer the right wing of darkness. And there is Mercury, like a +lighted cresset shaken by the winds, flapping his violet wings above +the Northeastern horizon; and Mars, like a piece of gold held out by +the trembling hand of a miser, is sinking in the blue of the sea with +Neptune; the Pleiades are stepping on the trail of the blushing moon; +the Balance lingers behind to weigh the destinies of the heroes who +are to contend with the dawn; while Venus, peeping from her tower over +Mt. Sanneen, is sending love vibrations to all. I would tell thee more +if I knew. But I swear to thee I never read through the hornbook of +the heavens. But if I can not name and locate more of the stars, I can +tell thee this about them all: they are the embers of certainty +eternally glowing in the ashes of doubt. + +"The Eastern horizon is yet lost in the dusk; the false dawn is +spreading the figments of its illusion; the trees in the distance seem +like rain-clouds; and the amorphous shadows of the monasteries on the +mountain heights and hilltops all around, have not yet developed into +silhouettes. Everything, except the river in the wadi below, is yet +asleep. Not even the swallows are astir. Ah, but my neighbour yonder +is; the light in the loophole of his hut sends a struggling ray +through the mulberries, and the tintinnabulations of his daughter's +loom are like so many stones thrown into this sleeping pond of +silence. The loom-girl in these parts is never too early at her +harness and shuttle. I know a family here whose loom and spinning +wheel are never idle: the wife works at the loom in the day and her +boy at the wheel; while in the night, her husband and his old mother +keep up the game. And this hardly secures for them their flour and +lentils the year round. But I concern not myself now with questions of +economy. + +"There, another of my neighbours is awake; and the hinges of his door, +shrieking terribly, fiendishly, startle the swallows from their sleep. +And here are the muleteers, yodling, as they pass by, their + + 'Dhome, Dhome, Dhome, + O mother, he is come; + Hide me, hide me quickly, + And say I am not home.' + +"Lo, the horizon is disentangling itself from the meshes of darkness. +The dust of haze and dusk on the scalloped edges of the mountains, is +blown away by the first breath of dawn. The lighter grey of the +horizon is mirrored in the clearer blue of the sea. But the darkness +seems to gather on the breast of the sloping hills. Conquered on the +heights, it retreats into the wadi. Ay, the darkest hour is nearest +the dawn. + +"Now the light grey is become a lavender; the outlines of earth and sky +are become more distinct; the mountain peaks, the dusky veil being +rent, are separating themselves from the heaven's embrace; the trees +in the distance no longer seem like rain-clouds; and the silhouettes +of the monasteries are casting off the cloak of night. The lavender is +melting now into heliotrope, and the heliotrope is bursting here and +there in pink; the stars are waning, the constellations are dying out, +and the planets are following in their wake. The darkness, too, which +has not yet retreated from the wadi, must soon follow; for the front +guard of the dawn is near. Behold the shimmer of their steel! And +see, in the dust of the retreating darkness, the ochre veins of the +lime cliffs are now perceptible. And that huge pillar, which looked +like the standard-bearer of Night, is transformed into a belfry; and a +monk can be seen peeping through the ogive beneath it. Mt. Sanneen, its +black and ochre scales thrown in relief on a coat of grey, is like a +huge panther sleeping over the many-throated ravine of Kisrawan. Ah, +the pink flower of dawn is bursting in golden glory, thrilling in +orange and saffron, flaming with the ardency of love and hope. The +dawn! The glow and glamour of the Eastern dawn!... + + * * * * * + +"The dawn of a new life, of a better, purer, healthier, higher +spiritual kingdom. I would have its temples and those of the vast +empire of wealth and material well-being, stand side by side. Ay, I +would even rear an altar to the Soul in the temple of Materialism, and +an altar to Materialism in the temple of the Soul. Each shall have +its due, each shall glory in the sacred purity and strength of life; +each shall develop and expand, but never at the expense of the other. +I will have neither the renunciation which ends in a kind of idiocy +dignified with a philosophic or a theologic name, nor the worldliness +which ends in bestiality. I am a citizen of two worlds--a citizen of +the Universe; I owe allegiance to two kingdoms. In my heart are those +stars and that sun, and the LIGHT of those stars and that sun. + +"Yes, I am equally devoted both to the material and the spiritual. And +when the two in me are opposed to each other, conflicting, inimical, +obdurate, my attitude towards them is neither that of my friend the +Hermit nor that of my European superman. I sit down, shut my eyes, +compose myself, and concentrate my mind on the mobility of things. If +the clouds are moving, why, I have but to sit down and let them move +away. I let my No-will, in this case, dominate my will, and that +serves my purpose well. To be sure, every question tormenting us would +resolve itself favourably, or at least indifferently, if we did not +always rush in, wildly, madly, and arrogate to ourselves such claims +of authority and knowledge as would make Olympus shake with laughter. +The resignation and passiveness of the spirit should always alternate +equitably with the terrible strivings of the will. For the dervish who +whirls himself into a foaming ecstasy of devotion and the strenuous +American who works himself up to a sweating ecstasy of gain, are the +two poles of the same absurdity, the two ends of one evil. Indeed, to +my way of thinking, the man on the Stock Exchange and the demagogue on +the stump, for instance, are brothers to the blatant corybant." + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE SELF ECSTATIC + + +To graft the strenuosity of Europe and America upon the ease of the +Orient, the materialism of the West upon the spirituality of the +East,--this to us seems to be the principal aim of Khalid. But often +in his wanderings and divagations of thought does he give us fresh +proof of the truism that no two opposing elements meet and fuse +without both losing their original identity. You may place the bit of +contentment in the mouth of ambition, so to speak, and jog along in +your sterile course between the vast wheat fields groaning under +the thousand-toothed plough and the gardens of delight swooning +with devotion and sensuality. But cross ambition with contentment and +you get the hinny of indifference or the monster of fatalism. We do +not say that indifference at certain passes of life, and certain +stages, is not healthy, and fatalism not powerful; but both we +believe are factors as potent in commerce and trade as pertinacity and +calculation. "But is there not room in the garden of delight for a +wheat field?" asks Khalid. "Can we not apply the bow to the +telegraph wires of the world and make them the vehicle of music as of +stock quotations? Can we not simplify life as we are simplifying the +machinery of industry? Can we not consecrate its Temple to the +Trinity of Devotion, Art, and Work, or Religion, Romance, and Trade?" + +This seems to be the gist of Khalid's gospel. This, through the +labyrinths of doubt and contradiction, is the pinnacle of faith he +would reach. And often in this labyrinthic gloom, where a gleam of +light from some recess of thought or fancy reveals here a Hermit in +his cloister, there an Artist in his studio, below a Nawab in his +orgies, above a Broker on the Stock Exchange, we have paused to ask a +question about these glaring contrarieties in his life and thought. +And always would he make this reply: "I have frequently moved and +removed between extremes; I have often worked and slept in opposing +camps. So, do not expect from me anything like the consistency with +which the majority of mankind solder and shape their life. Deep +thought seems often, if not always, inconsistent at the first blush. +The intensity and passiveness of the spirit are as natural in their +attraction and repulsion as the elements, whose harmony is only patent +on the surface. Consistency is superficial, narrow, one-sided. I am +both ambitious, therefore, and contented. My ambition is that of the +earth, the ever producing and resuscitating earth, doing the will of +God, combatting the rasure of time; and my contentment is that of the +majestic pines, faring alike in shade and sunshine, in calm and storm, +in winter as in spring. Ambition and Contentment are the night and day +of my life-journey. The day makes room for the fruits of solacement +which the night brings; and the night gives a cup of the cordial of +contentment to make good the promise of day to day. + +"Ay, while sweating in the tortuous path, I never cease to cherish the +feeling in which I was nourished; the West for me means ambition, the +East, contentment: my heart is ever in the one, my soul, in the other. +And I care not for the freedom which does not free both; I seek not +the welfare of the one without the other. But unlike my Phoenician +ancestors, the spiritual with me shall not be limited by the natural; +it shall go far above it, beyond or below it, saturating, sustaining, +purifying what in external nature is but a symbol of the invisible. +Nor is my idea of the spiritual developed in opposition to nature, and +in a manner inimical to its laws and claims, as in Judaism and +Christianity. + +"The spiritual and natural are so united, so inextricably entwined +around each other, that I can not conceive of them separately, +independently. And both in the abstract sense are purportless and +ineffectual without Consciousness. They are blind, dumb forces, +beautiful, barbaric pageants, careering without aim or design through +the immensities of No-where and No-time, if they are not impregnated +and nourished with Thought, that is to say, with Consciousness, +vitalised and purified. You may impregnate them with philosophy, +nourish them with art; they both emanate from them, and remain as +skidding clouds, as shining mirages, as wandering dust, until they +find their exponent in Man. + +"I tell thee then that Man, that is to say Consciousness, vitalised +and purified, in other words Thought--that alone is real and eternal. +And Man is supreme, only when he is the proper exponent of Nature, and +spirit, and God: the three divine sources from which he issues, in +which he is sustained, and to which he must return. Nature and the +spiritual, without this embodied intelligence, this somatic being, +called man or angel or ape, are as ermine on a wax figure. The human +factor, the exponent intelligence, the intellective and sensuous +faculties, these, my Brothers, are whole, sublime, holy, only when, in +a state of continuous expansion, the harmony among themselves and the +affirmative ties between them and Nature, are perfect and pure. No, +the spiritual ought not and can not be free from the sensuous, even +the sensual. The true life, the full life, the life, pure, robust, +sublime, is that in which all the nobler and higher aspirations of the +soul AND THE BODY are given free and unlimited scope, with the view of +developing the divine strain in Man, and realising to some extent the +romantic as well as the material hopes of the race. God, Nature, +Spirit, Passion--Passion, Spirit, Nature, God--in some such panorama +would I paint the life of a highly developed being. Any of these +elements lacking, and the life is wanting, defective, impure. + +"I have no faith in men who were conceived in a perfunctory manner, +on a pragmatical system, so to speak; the wife receiving her +husband in bed as she would a tedious guest at an afternoon tea. +Only two flames uniting produce a third; but a flame and a name, +or a flame and a spunge, produce a hiff and nothing. Oh, that the +children of the race are all born phoenix-like in the fire of noble +and sacred passion, in the purgatory, as it were, of Love. What a +race, what a race we should have. What men, what women! Yes, that is +how the children of the earth should be conceived, not on a +pragmatical system, in an I-don't-care-about-the-issue manner. I +believe in evoking the spirit, in dreaming a little about the gods +of Olympus, and a little, too, about the gods of the abysmal depths, +before the bodily communion. And in earnest, O my Brother, let us do +this, despite what old Socrates says about the propriety and +wisdom of approaching your wife with prudence and gravity...." + +And thus, if we did not often halloo, Khalid, like a huntsman pursuing +his game, would lose himself in the pathless, lugubrious damp of the +forest. If we did not prevent him at times, holding firmly to his +coat-tail, he would desperately pursue the ghost of his thoughts even +on such precipitous paths to those very depths in which Socrates and +Montaigne always felt at home. But he, a feverish, clamorous, +obstreperous stripling of a Beduin, what chance has he in extricating +his barbaric instincts from such thorny hedges of philosophy? And had +he not quoted Socrates in that last paragraph, it would have been +expunged. No, we are not utterly lost to the fine sense of propriety +of this chaste and demure age. But no matter how etiolated and sickly +the thought, it regains its colour and health when it breathes the +literary air. Prudery can not but relish the tang of lubricity when +flavoured with the classical. Moreover, if Socrates and Montaigne +speak freely of these midnight matters, why not Khalid, if he has +anything new to say, any good advice to offer. But how good and how +new are his views let the Reader judge. + +'Tis very well to speak "of evoking the spirit before the bodily +communion," but those who can boast of a deeper experience in such +matters will find in Socrates' dictum, quoted by Montaigne, the very +gist of reason and wisdom. Those wise ones were as far-sighted as they +were far gone. And moderation, as it was justly said once, is the +respiration of the philosopher. But Khalid, though always invoking the +distant luminary of transcendentalism for light, can not arrogate to +himself this high title. The expansion of all the faculties, and the +reduction of the demands of society and the individual to the lowest +term;--this, as we understand it, is the aim of transcendentalism. And +Khalid's distance from the orbit of this grand luminary seems to vary +with his moods; and these vary with the librations and revolutions of +the moon. Hallucinated, moonstruck Khalid, your harmonising and +affinitative efforts do not always succeed. That is our opinion of the +matter. And the Reader, who is no respecter of editors, might quarrel +with it, for all we know. + +Only by standing firmly in the centre can one preserve the equilibrium +of one's thoughts. But Khalid seldom speaks of equilibrium: he cares +not how he fares in falling on either side of the fence, so he knows +what lies behind. Howbeit, we can not conceive of how the affinity of +the mind and soul with the senses, and the harmony between these and +nature, are possible, if not exteriorised in that very superman whom +Khalid so much dreads, and on whom he often casts a lingering glance +of admiration. So there you are. We must either rise to a higher +consciousness on the ruins of a lower one, of no-consciousness, +rather, or go on seeming and simulating, aspiring, perspiring, and +suffering, until our turn comes. Death denies no one. Meanwhile, +Khalid's rhapsodies on his way back to the city, we shall heed and try +to echo. + + * * * * * + +"On the high road of the universal spirit," he sings, "the world, the +whole world before me, thrilling and radiating, chanting of freedom, +faith, hope, health and power, and joy. Back to the City, O +Khalid,--the City where Truth, and Faith, and Honesty, and Wisdom, are +ever suffering, ever struggling, ever triumphing. No, it matters not +with me if the spirit of intelligence and power, of freedom and +culture, which must go the rounds of the earth, is always dominated by +the instinct of self-interest. That must be; that is inevitable. But +the instinct of self-interest, O my Brother, goes with the flesh; the +body-politic dies; nations rise and fall; and the eternal Spirit, the +progenitor of all ideals, passes to better or worse hands, still +chastening and strengthening itself in the process. + +"The Orient and Occident, the male and female of the Spirit, the two +great streams in which the body and soul of man are refreshed, +invigorated, purified--of both I sing, in both I glory, to both I +consecrate my life, for both I shall work and suffer and die. My +Brothers, the most highly developed being is neither European nor +Oriental; but rather he who partakes of the finer qualities of both +the European genius and the Asiatic prophet. + +"Give me, ye mighty nations of the West, the material comforts of +life; and thou, my East, let me partake of thy spiritual heritage. +Give me, America, thy hand; and thou, too, Asia. Thou land of +origination, where Light and Spirit first arose, disdain not the +gifts which the nations of the West bring thee; and thou land of +organisation and power, where Science and Freedom reign supreme, +disdain not the bounties of the sunrise. + +"If the discoveries and attainments of Science will make the body of +man cleaner, healthier, stronger, happier, the inexhaustible Oriental +source of romantic and spiritual beauty will never cease to give the +soul of man the restfulness and solacement it is ever craving. And +remember, Europa, remember, Asia, that foreign culture is as necessary +to the spirit of a nation as is foreign commerce to its industries. +Elsewise, thy materialism, Europa, or thy spiritualism, Asia, no +matter how trenchant and impregnable, no matter how deep the +foundation, how broad the superstructure thereof, is vulgar, narrow, +mean--is nothing, in a word, but parochialism. + +"I swear that neither religious nor industrial slavery shall forever +hold the world in political servitude. No; the world shall be free of +the authority, absolute, blind, tyrannical, of both the Captains of +Industry and the High Priests of the Temple. And who shall help to +free it? Science alone can not do it; Science and Faith must do it. + +"I say with thee, O Goethe, 'Light, more light!' I say with thee, O +Tolstoi, 'Love, more love!' I say with thee, O Ibsen, 'Will, more +will!' Light, Love, and Will--the one is as necessary as the other; +the one is dangerous without the others. Light, Love, and Will, are +the three eternal, vital sources of the higher, truer, purer cosmic +life. + +"Light, Love, and Will--with corals and pearls from their seas would I +crown thee, O my City. In these streams would I baptise thy children, +O my City. The mind, and the heart, and the soul of man I would +baptise in this mountain lake, this high Jordan of Truth, on the +flourishing and odoriferous banks of Science and Religion, under the +sacred _sidr_ of Reason and Faith. + +"Ay, in the Lakes of Light, Love, and Will, I would baptise all +mankind. For in this alone is power and glory, O my European Brothers; +in this alone is faith and joy, O my Brothers of Asia. + +"The Hudson, the Mississippi, the Amazon, the Thames, the Seine, the +Rhine, the Danube, the Euphrates, the Ganges--every one of these great +streams shall be such a Jordan in the future. In every one of them +shall flow the confluent Rivers of Light, Love, and Will. In every +one of them shall sail the barks of the higher aspirations and hopes +of mankind. + +"I come now to be baptised, O my City. I come to slake my thirst in +thy Jordan. I come to launch my little skiff, to do my little work, to +pay my little debt. + +"In thy public-squares, O my City, I would raise monuments to Nature; +in thy theatres to Poesy and Thought; in thy bazaars to Art; in thy +homes, to Health; in thy temples of worship, to universal Goodwill; in +thy courts, to Power and Mercy; in thy schools, to Simplicity; in thy +hospitals, to Faith; and in thy public-halls to Freedom and Culture. +And all these, without Light, Love, and Will, are but hollow affairs, +high-sounding inanities. Without Light, Love, and Will, even thy +Nabobs in the end shall curse thee; and with these, thy hammals under +their burdens shall thank the heavens under which thy domes and +turrets and minarets arise." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +ON THE OPEN HIGHWAY + + +And Khalid, packing his few worldly belongings in one of his reed +baskets, gives the rest to his neighbours, leaves his booth in the +pines to the swallows, and bids the monks and his friend the Hermit +farewell. The joy of the wayfaring! Now, where is the jubbah, the +black jubbah of coarse wool, which we bought from one of the monks? He +wraps himself in it, tightens well his shoe-strings, draws his fur cap +over his ears, carries his basket on his back, takes up his staff, +lights his cigarette, and resolutely sets forth. The joy of the +wayfaring! We accompany him on the open highway, through the rocky +wilderness, down to the fertile plains, back to the city. For the +account he gives us of his journey enables us to fill up the lacuna in +Shakib's _Histoire Intime_, before we can have recourse to it again. + +"From the cliffs 'neath which the lily blooms," he muses as he issues +out of the forest and reaches the top of the mountain, "to the cliffs +round which the eagles flit,--what a glorious promontory! What a +contrast at this height, in this immensity, between the arid rocky +haunts of the mountain bear and eagle and the spreading, vivifying +verdure surrounding the haunts of man. On one side are the sylvan +valleys, the thick grown ravines, the meandering rivulets, the +fertile plains, the silent villages, and on the distant horizon, the +sea, rising like a blue wall, standing like a stage scene; on the +other, a howling immensity of boulders and prickly shrubs and plants, +an arid wilderness--the haunt of the eagle, the mountain bear, and the +goatherd. One step in this direction, and the entire panorama of +verdant hills and valleys is lost to view. Its spreading, riant beauty +is hidden behind that little cliff. I penetrate through this forest of +rocks, where the brigands, I am told, lie in ambush for the caravans +traveling between the valley of the Leontes and the villages of the +lowland. But the brigands can not harm a dervish; my penury is my +amulet--my salvation. + +"The horizon, as I proceed, shrinks to a distance of ten minutes' walk +across. And thus, from one circle of rocks to another, I pass through +ten of them before I hear again the friendly voice of the rill, and +behold again the comforting countenance of the sylvan slopes. I reach +a little grove of slender poplars, under the brow of a little hill, +from which issues a little limpid stream and runs gurgling through the +little ferns and bushes down the heath. I swing from the road and +follow this gentle rill; I can not find a better companion now. But +the wanton lures me to a village far from the road on the other side +of the gorge. Now, I must either retrace my steps to get to it by a +long detour, or cross the gorge, descending to the deep bottom and +ascending in a tangled and tortuous path to reach the main road on the +breast of the opposite escarpment. Here is a short-cut which is long +and weary. It lures me as the stream; it cheats me with a name. And +when I am again on the open road, I look back with a sigh of relief on +the dangers I had passed. I can forgive the luring rill, which still +smiles to me innocently from afar, but not the deluding, ensnaring +ravine. The muleteer who saw me struggling through the tangled bushes +up the pathless, hopeless steep, assures me that my mother is a pious +woman, else I would have slipped and gone into an hundred pieces among +the rocks below. 'Her prayers have saved thee,' quoth he; 'thank thy +God.' + +"And walking together a pace, he points to the dizzy precipice around +which I climbed and adds: 'Thou seest that rock? I hallooed to thee +when thou wert creeping around it, but thou didst not hear me. From +that same rock a woodman fell last week, and, falling, looked like a +potted bird. He must have died before he reached the ground. His bones +are scattered among those rocks. Thank thy God and thy mother. Her +prayers have saved thee.' + +"My dear mother, how long since I saw thee, how long since I thought +of thee. My loving mother, even the rough, rude spirit of a muleteer +can see in the unseen the beauty and benevolence of such devotion as +thine. The words of this dusky son of the road, coming as through the +trumpet of revelation to rebuke me, sink deep in my heart and draw +tears from mine eyes. For art thou not ever praying for thy grievous +son, and for his salvation? How many beads each night dost thou tell, +how many hours dost thou prostrate thyself before the Virgin, +sobbing, obsecrating, beating thy breast? And all for one, who until +now, ever since he left Baalbek, did not think on thee.--Let me kiss +thee, O my Brother, for thy mild rebuke. Let me kiss thee for +reminding me of my mother.--No, I can not further with thee; I am +waygone; I must sit me a spell beneath this pine--and weep. O Khalid, +wretched that thou art, can the primitive soul of this muleteer be +better than thine? Can there be a sounder intuitiveness, a healthier +sense of love, a grander sympathy, beneath that striped aba, than +there is within thy cloak? Wilt thou not beat thy cheeks in ignominy +and shame, when a stranger thinks of thy mother, and reverently, ere +thou dost? No matter how low in the spiritual circles she might be, no +matter how high thou risest, her prayer and her love are always with +thee. If she can not rise to thee on the ladder of reason, she can +soar on the wings of affection. Yea, I prostrate myself beneath this +pine, bury my forehead in its dust, thanking Allah for my mother. Oh, +I am waygone, but joyous. The muleteer hath illumined thee, O +Khalid.-- + +"There, the snow birds are passing by, flitting to the lowland. The +sky is overcast; there is a lull in the wind. Hark, I hear the piping +of the shepherd and the tinkling bell of the wether. Yonder is his +flock; and there sits he on a rock blowing his doleful reed. I am +almost slain with thirst. I go to him, and cheerfully does he milk for +me. I do not think Rebekah was kinder and sweeter in Abraham's +servant's eyes than was this wight in mine. 'Where dost thou sleep?' +I ask, 'Under this rock,' he replies. And he shows me into the cave +beneath it, which is furnished with a goat-skin, a masnad, and a +little altar for the picture of the Virgin. Before this picture is an +oil lamp, ever burning, I am told. 'And this altar,' quoth the +shepherd, 'was my mother's. When she died she bequeathed it to me. I +carry it with me in the wilderness, and keep the oil burning in her +memory.' Saying which he took to weeping. Even the shepherd, O Khalid, +is sent to rebuke thee. I thank him, and resume my march. + +"At eventide, descending from one hilltop to another, I reach a +village of no mean size. It occupies a broad deep steep, in which the +walnut and poplar relieve the monotony of the mulberries. I hate the +mulberry, which is so suggestive of worms; and I hate worms, and +though they be of the silk-making kind. I hate them the more, because +the Lebanon peasant seems to live for the silk-worms, which he tends +and cultivates better than he does his children. + +"When I stood on the top of the steep, the village glittering with a +thousand lights lay beneath like a strip of the sidereal sky. It made +me feel I was above the clouds, even above the stars. The gabled +houses overtopping each other, spreading in clusters and half-circles, +form here an aigrette, as it were, on the sylvan head of the mountain, +there a necklace on its breast, below a cestus brilliant with an +hundred lights. I descend into the village and stop before the first +house I reach. The door is wide open; and the little girl who sees me +enter runs in fright to tell her mother. Straightway, the woman and +her son, a comely and lusty youth, come out in a where-is-the-brigand +manner, and, as they see me, stand abashed, amazed. The young man who +wore a robe-de-chambre and Turkish slippers worked in gold, returns my +salaam courteously and invites me up to the divan. There is a spark of +intelligence in his eyes, and an alien affectation in his speech. I +foresaw that he had been in America. He does not ask me the +conventional questions about my religious persuasion; but after his +inquiries of whence and whither, he offers me an Egyptian cigarette, +and goes in to order the coffee. It did not occur to him that I was +his guest for the night.-- + +"Ah me, I no longer know how to recline on a cushion, and a rug under +my feet seems like a sheet of ice. But with my dust and mud I seem +like Diogenes trampling upon Plato's pride. I survey the hall, which +breathes of rural culture and well-being, and in which is more +evidence of what I foresaw. On the wall hung various photographs and +oil prints, among which I noticed those of the King and Queen of +England, that of Theodore Roosevelt, a framed cartoon by an American +artist, an autographed copy of an English Duke's, and a large +photograph of a banquet of one of the political Clubs of New York. On +the table were a few Arabic magazines, a post-card album, and a +gramophone! Yes, mine host was more than once in the United States. +And knowing that I, too, had been there, he is anxious to display +somewhat of his broken English. His father, he tells me, speaks +English even as good as he does, having been a dragoman for forty +years. + +"After supper, he orders me a narghilah, and winds for my entertainment +that horrible instrument of torture." Khalid did not seem to mind it; +but he was anxious about the sacred peace of the hills, sleeping in +the bosom of night. My Name is Billy Muggins, I Wish I Had a Pal Like +You, Tickle Me, Timothy, and such like ragtime horrors come all the +way from America to violate the antique grandeur and beauty of the +Lebanon hills. That is what worried Khalid. And he excuses himself, +saying, "I am waygone from the day's wayfaring." The instrument of +torture is stopped, therefore, and he is shown into a room where a +mattress is spread for him on the floor. + +"In the morning," he continues, "mine host accompanies me through the +populous village, which is noted for its industries. Of all the +Lebanon towns, this is, indeed, the busiest; its looms, its potteries, +and its bell foundries, are never idle. And the people cultivate +little of the silk worm; they are mostly artisans. American cotton +they spin, and dye, and weave into substantial cloth; Belgian iron +they melt and cast into bells; and from their native soil they dig the +clay which they mould into earthenware. The tintinnabulations of the +loom can be heard in other parts of the Lebanons; but no where else +can the vintner buy a dolium for his vine, or the housewife, a pipkin +for her oil, or the priest, a bell for his church. The sound of these +foundries' anvils, translated into a wild, thrilling, far-reaching +music, can be heard in every belfry and bell-cote of Syria. + +"We descend to the potteries below, not on the carriage road which +serpentines through the village, and which is its only street, but +sheer down a steep path, between the noise of the loom and spinning +wheel and the stench of the dyeing establishments. And here is the +real potter and his clay, not the symbol thereof. And here is the +pottery which is illustrated in the Bible. For in the world to-day, if +we except the unglazed tinajas of the Pueblo Indians, nothing, above +ground at least, can be more ancient and primitive. Such a pitcher, I +muse, did Rebekah carry to the well; with such a Jar on her shoulder +did Hagar wander in the wilderness; and in such vessels did the widow, +by Elijah's miracle, multiply her jug of oil. + +"The one silk-reeling factory of the village, I did not care to visit; +for truly I can not tolerate the smell of asphyxiated larvas and +boiling cocoons. 'But the proprietor,' quoth mine host, 'is very +honourable, and of a fine wit.' As honourable as a sweater can be, I +thought. No, no; these manufacturers are all of a piece. I know +personally one of them, who is a Scrooge, and of the vilest. I watched +him one day buying cocoons from the peasants. He does not trust any of +his employees at the scales; they do not know how to press their hand +over the weights in the pan. Ay, that little pressure of his chubby +hand on the weights makes a difference in his favour of more than ten +per cent. of what he buys. That little pressure of his hand is five +or six piasters out of the peasant's pocket, who, with five or six +piasters, remember, can satisfy his hunger on bread and olives and +pulverised thyme, for five or six days. So, we visit not the +cocoon-man, about whom the priest of his private chapel--he prays at +home like the Lebanon Amirs of old, this khawaja--tells me many +edifying things. Of these, I give out the most curious and least +injurious. As the sheikh (squire) of the town, he is generous; as the +operator of a silk-reeling factory, he is grasping, niggardly, mean. +For, to misgovern well, one must open his purse as often as he forces +the purses of others. He was passing by in his carriage this great +khawaja, when we were coming out of the pottery. And of a truth, his +paunch and double chin and ruddy cheeks seemed to illustrate what the +priest told me about his usurious propensities. + +"What a contrast between him and the swarthy, leathery, hungry-looking +potters. I can not think that Nature has aught to do with these naked +inequalities. I can not believe that, to produce one roseate +complexion, she must etiolate a thousand. I can not see how, in +drinking from the same gushing spring, and breathing the same mountain +air, and basking in the same ardent sun, the khawaja gets a double +chin and the peasant a double curse. But his collops and his ruddiness +are due to the fact that he misgoverns as well as his Pasha and his +Sultan. He battens, even like a Tammany chief, on political jobbery, +on extortion, on usury. His tree is better manured, so to speak; +manured by the widows and tended by the orphans of his little +kingdom. In a word, this great khawaja is what I call a political +coprophagist. Hence, his suspicious growth, his lustre and lustiness. + +"But he is not the only example in the village of this superabundance +of health; the priests are many more. For I must not fail to mention +that, in addition to its potteries and founderies, the town is blessed +with a dozen churches. Every family, a sort of tribe, has its church +and priests; and consequently, its feuds with all the others. It is a +marvel how the people, in the lethal soot and smoke of strife and +dissension, can work and produce anything. Farewell, ye swarthy +people! Farewell, O village of bells and potteries! Were it not for +the khawaja who misgoverns thee, and the priests who sow their +iniquity in thee, thou shouldst have been an ideal town. I look back, +as I descend into the wadi, and behold, thou art as beautiful in the +day as thou art in the night. Thy pink gables under a December sky +seem not as garish as they do in summer. And the sylvan slopes, +clustered with thy white-stone homes, peeping here through the +mulberries, standing there under the walnuts and poplars, rising +yonder in a group like a mottled pyramid, this most picturesque slope, +whereon thou art ever beating the anvil, turning the wheel, throwing +the shuttle, moulding the clay, and weltering withal in the mud of +strife and dissension, this beautiful slope seems, nevertheless, from +this distance, like an altar raised to Nature. I look not upon thee +more; farewell. + +"I descend in the wadi to the River Lykos of the ancients; and +crossing the stone-bridge, an hour's ascent brings me to one of the +villages of Kisrawan. On the grey horizon yonder, is the limed bronze +Statue of Mary the Virgin, rising on its sable pedestal, and looking, +from this distance, like a candle in a bronze candle-stick. That +Statue, fifty years hence, the people of the Lebanons will rebaptise +as the Statue of Liberty. Masonry, even to-day, raises around it her +mace. But whether these sacred mountains will be happier and more +prosperous under its regime, I can not say. The Masons and the +Patriarch of the Maronites are certainly more certain. Only this I +know, that between the devil and the deep sea, Mary the Virgin shall +hold her own. For though the name be changed, and the alm-box thrown +into the sea, she shall ever be worshipped by the people. The Statue +of the Holy Virgin of Liberty it will be called, and the Jesuits and +priests can go a-begging. Meanwhile, the Patriarch will issue his +allocutions, and the Jesuits, their pamphlets, against rationalism, +atheism, masonry, and other supposed enemies of their Blessed Virgin, +and point them out as enemies of Abd'ul-Hamid. 'Tis curious how the +Sultan of the Ottomans can serve the cause of the Virgin! + +"I visit the Statue for the love of my mother, and mounting to the +top of the pedestal, I look up and behold my mother before me. The +spectre of her, standing before the monument, looks down upon me, +reproachfully, piteously, affectionately. I sit down at the feet +of the Virgin Mary and bury my face in my hands and weep. I love +what thou lovest, O my mother, but I can see no more what thou seest. +For thy love, O my mother, these kisses and tears. For thy love, I +stand here like a child, and look up to this inanimate figure as I +did when I was an acolyte. My intellect, O my mother, I would +drown in my tears, and thy faith I would stifle with my kisses. Only +thus is reconciliation possible. + +"Leaving this throne of modern mythology, I cross many wadis, descend +and ascend many hills, pass through many villages, until I reach, at +Ghina and Masshnaka, the tomb of the mythology of the ancients. At +Ghina are ruins and monuments, of which Time has spared enough to +engage the interest of archaeologists. Let the Peres Jesuit, +Bourquenoud and Roz, make boast of their discoveries and scholarship; +I can only boast of the fact that the ceremonialisms of worship are +the same to-day as they were in the days of my Phoenician ancestors. +Which, indeed, speaks well for THEM. This tablet, representing an +armed figure and a bear, commemorates, it is said, the death of +Tammuz. And the figure of the weeping woman near it is probably that +of Ashtaroth. Other figures there are; but nothing short of the +scholarship of Bourquenoud and Roz can unveil their marble mystery. + +"At Masshnaka, overlooking the River Adonis, are ruins of an ancient +temple in which can still be seen a few Corinthian columns. This, too, +we are told, was consecrated to Tammuz; and in this valley the women +of Byblus bemoaned every year the fate of their god. Isis and Osiris, +Tammuz and Ashtaroth, Venus and Adonis,--these, I believe, are one and +the same. Their myth borrowed from the Phoenicians, the Egyptians, and +the Romans, from either of the two. But the Venus of Rome is cheerful, +joyous, that of the Phoenicians is sad and sorrowful. Even mythology +triumphs in its evolution. + +"Here, where my forebears deliquesced in sensuality, devotion, and +grief, where the ardency of the women of Byblus flamed on the altar of +Tammuz, on this knoll, whose trees and herbiage are fed perchance with +their dust, I build my _athafa_ (little kitchen), Arab-like, and cook +my noonday meal. On the three stones, forming two right angles, I +place my skillet, kindle under it a fire, pour into it a little sweet +oil, and fry the few eggs I purchased in the village. I abominate the +idea of frying eggs in water as the Americans do.[1] I had as lief fry +them in vinegar or syrup, where neither olive oil nor goat-butter is +obtainable. But to fry eggs in water? O the barbarity of it! Why not, +my friend, take them boiled and drink a little hot water after them? +This savours of originality, at least, and is just as insipid, if not +more. Withal, they who boil cabbage, and heap it in a plate over a +slice of corn-beef, and call it a dish, can break a few boiled eggs in +a cup of hot water and call them fried. Be this as it may. The +Americans will be solesistically simple even in their kitchen. + +"Now, my skillet of eggs being ready, I draw out of my basket a cake +of cheese, a few olives, an onion, and three paper-like loaves, rather +leaves, of bread, and fall to. With what relish, I need not say. But +let it be recorded here, that under the karob tree, on the bank of the +River Adonis, in the shadow of the great wall surrounding the ruins of +the temple of Tammuz, I Khalid, in the thirty-fourth year of the reign +of Abd'ul-Hamid, gave a banquet to the gods--who, however, were +content in being present and applauding the devouring skill of the +peptic host and toast-master. Even serene Majesty at Yieldiz would +give away, I think, an hundred of its sealed dishes for such a skillet +of eggs in such an enchanted scene. But for it, alas! such wild and +simple joy is a sealed book. Poor Serene Majesty! Now, having gone +through the fruit course--and is not the olive a fruit?--I fill my jug +at the River to make my coffee. And here I ask, In what Hotel Cecil or +Waldorf or Savoy, or in what Arab tent in the desert, can one get a +better cup of coffee than this, which Khalid makes for himself? The +gods be praised, before and after. Ay, even in washing my pots and +dishes I praise the good gods. + +"And having done this, I light my cigarette, lug my basket on my back, +and again set forth. In three hours, on my way to Byblus, I reach a +hamlet situated in a deep narrow wadi, closed on all sides by huge +mountain walls. The most sequestered, the most dreary place, I have +yet seen. Here, though unwilling, the dusk of the December day having +set in, I lay down the staff of wayfare. And as I enter the little +village, I am greeted by the bleat of sheep and the low of the kine. +The first villager I meet is an aged woman, who stands in her door +before which is a pomegranate tree, telling her beads. She returns my +salaam graciously, and invites me, saying, 'Be kind to tarry +overnight.' But can one be kinder than such an hostess? Seeing that I +laid down my burden, she calls to her daughter to light the seraj +(naphtha lamp) and bring some water for the stranger. 'Methinks thou +wouldst wash thy feet,' quoth she. Indeed, that is as essential and +refreshing, after a day's walk, as washing one's face. I sit me down, +therefore, under the pomegranate, take off my shoes and stockings, and +the little girl, a winsome, dark-eyed, quick-witted lass, pours to me +from the pitcher. I try to take it from her; but she would not, she +said, be deprived of the pleasure of serving the stranger. Having +done, I put on my stockings, and, leaving my shoes and basket near the +door, enter a beit (one-room house) meagrely but neatly furnished. The +usual straw mats are spread on the winter side, behind the door; in +the corner is a little linen-covered divan with trimming of beautiful +hand-made lace, the work of the little girl; and nearby are a few +square cushions on the floor and a crude chair. The seraj, giving out +more smoke and smell than light, is placed on a little shelf attached +to the central pillar of the beit. Near the door is a bench for the +water jars, and in the other corner are the mattresses and quilts, +and the earthen tub containing the round leaves of bread. Of these +consist the furniture and provision of mine hostess. + +"Her son, a youth of not more than two score years, returns from his +day's labour a while after I had arrived. And as he stands in the +door, his pick-axe and spade on his shoulder, his sister runs to meet +him, and whispers somewhat about the stranger. Sitting on the +threshold, he takes off his spats of cloth and his clouted shoes, +while she gets the pitcher of water. After having washed, he enters, +salaams graciously, and squats on the floor. The mother then brings a +wicker tray on which is set the supper, consisting of only bread and +olives. 'Thou wilt overlook our penury,' she falters out; 'here be all +we have.' In truth, my hostess is of the poorest of the Lebanon +peasants; even her sweet-oil pipkin and her jars of lentils and beans, +are empty. She lays the tray before her son and invites me to partake +of the repast. I go to my basket, bring forth the few onions and the +two cakes of cheese I had left, lay them with an apology on the +tray--the mother, abashed, protests--and we sit down cross-legged in a +circle to supper. When we rise, the little girl lights a little fire, +and they enjoy the cup of coffee I make for them. And the mother, in +taking hers, tells me naively, and with a sigh, that it is five years +now since she had had a cup of coffee. Indeed, she had seen better +days. And 'tis sorrow, forestalling Time, which furrows her cheeks and +robs her black eyes of their lustre and spark. + +"She had once cattle, and a beit of her own, and rugs, too, and jars +full of provision. But now she is a tenant. And her husband, ever +since he emigrated to America, did not send a single piaster or even +write a letter. From necessity she becomes a prey of usurers; for +those Lebanon Moths, of which we saw a specimen in the village of +bells and potteries, fall mostly in the wardrobe of women. They are +locusts rather, who visit only the wheat fields of the poor. Her home +was mortgaged to one such, and failing to meet her obligation, the +mortgage is closed and he takes possession. Soon after she is evicted, +her son, the first-born, a youth of much promise, dies. + +"'He could read and write, my son,' quoth she, sobbing; 'of a sharp +wit he was, and very assiduous in his studies. Once he accompanied the +priest of the village on a visit to the Patriarch, and read there a +eulogium of his own composition, for which he received a silver medal. +The Patriarch then sent him to a Seminary; he was to become a priest, +my son. He wrote a beautiful hand--both Arabic and French; he was of a +fine wit, sharp, quick, brilliant. Ah, me, but those who are of such +minds never live!' + +"She then tells me how they lost their last head of cattle. An +excellent sheep it was; which one night they forgot outside; and the +wolf, visiting the village, sees it tied to the mulberry, howls for +joy, and carries it off. And thus Death robs the poor woman of her +son; America, of her husband; the Shylock of the village, of her home; +and the wolf, of her last head of cattle. And this were enough to age +even a Spartan woman. Late in the evening, after she had related at +length of her sorrows, three mattresses--all she had--are laid on the +straw mat near each other, and the little girl had to sleep with her +mother. + +"Early in the morning I bid them farewell, and pass on my way to +Amsheet, where Henriette Renan, the sister of Ernest, is buried. An +hour's walk, and the incarcerated wadi and its folk lie concealed +behind. I breathe again the open air of the mountain expanse; I behold +again the emerald stretch of water on the horizon, where the baggalas +and saics, from this distance, seem like doves basking in the morning +sun. I cross the last rill, mount the last hilltop on my journey, and +lo, at the foot of the gently sloping heath are the orchards and palms +of Amsheet. Further below is Jbail, or ancient Byblus, looking like a +clutter of cliffs on the shore. Farewell to the mountain heights, and +the arid wilderness! Welcome the fertile plains, and hopeful strands. +In half an hour I reach the immense building--the first or the last of +the village, according to your direction--which, from the top of the +hill, I thought to be a fortress. A huge structure this, still +a-building, and of an architecture altogether different from the +conventional Lebanon type. No plain square affair, with three pointed +arches in the facade, and a gable of pink tiles; but here are quoins, +oriels, embrasures, segmental arches, and other luxuries of +architecture. Out of place in these wilds, altogether out of place. +Hard by are two primitive flat-roofed beits, standing grimly there as +a rebuke to the extravagant tendencies of the age. I go there in the +hope of buying some cheese and eggs, and behold a lady of severe +beauty smoking a narghilah and giving orders to a servant. She returns +my salaam seated in her chair, and tells me in an injured air, after I +had made known to her my desire, that eggs and cheese are sold in the +stores. + +"'You may come in for breakfast,' she adds; and clapping for the +servant, orders him to lay the table for me. I enter the beit, which +is partitioned into a kitchen, a dining-room, and a parlour. On the +table is spread the usual breakfast of a Lebanonese of affluence: +namely, cheese, honey, fig-jam, and green olives. The servant, who is +curious to know my name, my religion, my destination, and so forth, +tells me afterwards that Madame is the wife of the kaiemkam, and the +castle, which is building, is their new home. + +"Coming out, I thank Madame, and ask her about the grave of Renan's +sister. She pauses amazed, blows her narghilah smoke in my face, +surveys me from top to toe, and puts to me those same questions with +which I was tormented by her servant. Indeed, I had answered ten of +hers, before I got this answer to mine: 'The sister of whom, thou +sayst? That Frenchman who came here in the sixties for antiquities? +Yes; his sister died and was buried here, but no Christian remembers +her for good. She must have been a bad one like her brother, who was +an infidel, they say, and did not know or fear God.--What wouldst thou +see there? Art like the idiot Franje (Europeans) who come here and +carry away from around the grave some stones and dust? Go thou with +him--(this to the servant) and show him the vault of the Toubeiyahs, +where she was buried.' This, in a supercilious air, while she drew +from the narghilah the smoke, which I could not relish. + +"We come to the cemetery near the church in the centre of the town. +The vault where Henriette was laid, a plain, plastered square cell, is +not far from an oak which in the morning envelopes it with its shadow; +and directly across are palms, whose shades at sundown, make a vain +effort to kiss its dust. No grass, no flowers around; but much of the +dust of neglect. And of this I take up a handful, like 'the idiot +Franje'; but instead of carrying it away, I press therein my lips and +leave my planted kisses near the vault.--When the mothers and the +sisters of these sacred hills, O Henriette, can see the flowers of +these kisses in thy dust, when they can appreciate the sacred purity +of thy spirit and devotion, what mothers then we shall have, and what +sisters! + +"I pass through the village descending on the carriage road to Jbail, +or Byblus. In these diggings the shrewd antiquary digs for those +precious tear-bottles of my ancestors. And everywhere one turns are +tombs in which the archaeologist finds somewhat to noise abroad. His, +indeed, is a scholarship which is essentially necrophagous. For +consider, what would become of it, if a necropolis, for instance, did +not yield somewhat of nourishment,--a limb, a torso, a palimpsest, or +even an earthen lamp, a potsherd, or a coin? I rail not at these +scholarly grave-diggers because I can not interest myself in their +work; that were unwise and unfair. But truly, I abominate this +business of 'cashing,' as it were, the ruins and remains, the ashes +and dust, of our ancestors. Archaeology for archaeology's sake is +pardonable; archaeology for the sake of writing a book is intolerable; +and archaeology for lucre is abominable. + +"At Jbail I visited the citadel, said to be of Phoenician origin, +which is occupied by the mudir of the District. Entering the gate, +near which is a chapel consecrated to Our Lady of that name, where +litigants, when they can not prove their claims, are made to swear to +them, we pass through a court between rows of Persian lilac trees, +into a dark, stivy arcade on both sides of which are dark, stivy cells +used as stables. Reaching the citadel proper, we mount a high stairway +to the loft occupied by the mudir. This, too, is partitioned, but with +cotton sheeting, into various apartments. + +"The zabtie, in zouave uniform, at the door, would have me wait +standing in the corridor outside; for his Excellency is at dinner. And +Excellency, as affable as his zabtie, hearing the parley without, +growls behind the scene and orders me gruffly to go to the court. +'This is not the place to make a complaint,' he adds. But the +stranger at thy door, O gracious Excellency, complains not against +any one in this world; and if he did, assure thee, he would not +complain to the authorities of this world. This, or some such +plainness of distemper, the zouave communicates to his superior +behind the cotton sheeting, who presently comes out, his anger +somewhat abated, and, taking me for a monk--my jubbah is responsible +for the deception--invites me to the sitting-room in the enormous +loophole of the citadel. He himself was beginning to complain of the +litigants who pester him at his home, and apologise for his ill +humour, when suddenly, disabused on seeing my trousers beneath my +jubbah, he subjects me to the usual cross-examination. I could not +refrain from thinking that, not being of the cowled gentry, he +regretted having honoured me with an apology. + +"But after knowing somewhat of the pilgrim stranger, especially that +he had been in America, Excellency tempers the severity of his +expression and evinces an agreeable curiosity. He would know many +things of that distant country; especially about a Gold-Mining +Syndicate, or Gold-Mining Fake, in which he invested a few hundred +pounds of his fortune. And I make reply, 'I know nothing about Gold +Mines and Syndicates, Excellency: but methinks if there be gold in +such schemes, the grubbing, grabbing Americans would not let it +come to Syria.' 'Indeed, so,' he murmurs, musing; 'indeed, so.' And +clapping for the serving-zabtie--the mudirs and kaiemkams of the +Lebanon make these zabties, whose duty is to serve papers, serve, +too, in their homes--he orders for me a cup of coffee. And further +complaining to me, he curses America for robbing the country of +its men and labourers.--'We can no more find tenants for our +estates, despite the fact that they get more of the income than +we do. The shreek (partner), or tenant, is rightly called so. For the +owner of an estate that yields fifty pounds, for instance, barely +gets half of it; while the shreek, he who tills and cultivates the +land, gets away with the other half, sniffing and grumbling +withal. Of a truth, land-tenants are not so well-off anywhere. And if +the land but yields a considerable portion, any one with a few +grains of the energy of those Americans, would prefer to be a +shreek than a real-estate owner.' Thus, his Excellency, complaining +of the times, regretting his losses, cursing America and its Gold +Mines; and having done, drops the narghilah tube from his hand and +dozes on the divan. + +"I muse meanwhile on Time, who sees in a citadel of the ancient +Phoenicians, after many thousand years, that same propensity for +gold, that same instinct for trade. The Phoenicians worked gold +mines in Thrace, and the Syrians, their descendants, are working +gold mines in America. But are we as daring, as independent, as +honest? I am not certain, however, if those Phoenicians had anything +to do with bubbles. My friend Sanchuniathon writes nothing on the +subject. History records not a single instance of a gold-mine +bubble in Thrace, or a silver ditto in Africa. Apart from this, have +we, the descendants of those honest Phoenicians, any of their +inventive skill and bold initiative? They taught other nations the +art of ship-building; we can not as much as learn from other +nations the art of building a gig. They transmitted to the people +of the West a knowledge of mathematics, weights, and measures; we +can not as much as weigh or measure the little good Europe is +transmitting to us. They always fought bravely against their +conquerors, always gave evidence of their love of independence; and we +dare not raise a finger or whisper a word against the red Tyrant by +whom we are degraded and enslaved. We are content in paying tribute +to a criminal Government for pressing upon our necks the yoke and +fettering hopelessly our minds and souls--and my brave Phoenicians, +ah, how bravely they thought and fought. What daring deeds they +accomplished! what mysteries of art and science they unveiled! + +"On these shores they hammered at the door of invention, and, +entering, showed the world how glass is made; how colours are +extracted from pigments; how to measure, and count, and communicate +human thought. The swarthy sons of the eternal billows, how shy they +were of the mountains, how enamoured of the sea! For the mountains, it +was truly said, divide nations, and the seas connect them. And my +Phoenicians, mind you, were for connection always. Everywhere, they +lived on the shores, and ever were they ready to set sail. + +"In this mammoth loophole, measuring about ten yards in length,--this +the thickness of the wall--I muse of another people skilled in the art +of building. But between the helots who built the pyramids and the +freemen who built this massive citadel, what a contrast! The Egyptian +mind could only invent fables; the Phoenician was the vehicle of +commerce and the useful arts. The Egyptians would protect their dead +from the tyranny of Time; the Phoenicians would protect themselves, +the living, from the invading enemy: those based their lives on the +vagaries of the future; these built it on the solid rock of the +present...." + + * * * * * + +But we have had enough of Khalid's gush about the Phoenicians, and we +confess we can not further walk with him on this journey. So, we leave +his Excellency the mudir snoring on the divan, groaning under the +incubus of the Gold Mine Fake, bemoaning his losses in America; pass +the zabtie in zouave uniform, who is likewise snoring on the +door-step; and, hurrying down the stairway and out through the stivy +arcade, we say farewell to Our Lady of the Gate, and get into one of +the carriages which ply the shore between Junie and Jbail. We reach +Junie about sundown, and Allah be praised! Even this toy of a train +brings us, in thirty minutes, to Beirut. + +----- + + [1] Khalid would speak here of poached eggs, we believe. And the + Americans, to be fair, are not so totally ignorant of the art of + frying. They have lard--much worse than water--in which they + cook, or poach, or fry--but the change in the name does not + change the taste. So, we let Khalid's stricture on fried eggs and + boiled cabbage stand.--EDITOR. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +UNION AND PROGRESS + + +Had not Khalid in his retirement touched his philosophic raptures with +a little local colouring, had he not given an account of his tramping +tour in the Lebanons, the hiatus in Shakib's _Histoire Intime_ could +not have been bridged. It would have remained, much to our vexation +and sorrow, somewhat like the ravine in which Khalid almost lost his +life. But now we return, after a year's absence, to our Scribe, who at +this time in Baalbek is soldering and hammering out rhymes in praise +of Niazi and Enver, Abd'ul-Hamid and the Dastur (Constitution). + +"When Khalid, after his cousin's marriage, suddenly disappeared from +Baalbek," writes he, "I felt that something had struck me violently +on the brow, and everything around me was dark. I could not +withhold my tears: I wept like a child, even like Khalid's mother. I +remember he would often speak of suicide in those days. And on the +evening of that fatal day we spent many hours discussing the question. +'Why is not one free to kill himself,' he finally asked, 'if one is +free to become a Jesuit?' But I did not believe he was in earnest. +Alas, he was. For on the morning of the following day, I went up to +his tent on the roof and found nothing of Khalid's belongings but +a pamphlet on the subject, 'Is Suicide a Sin?' and right under the +title the monosyllable LA (no) and his signature. The frightfulness +of his intention stood like a spectre before me. I clapped one hand +upon the other and wept. I made inquiries in the city and in the +neighbouring places, but to no purpose. Oh, that dreadful, dismal +day, when everywhither I went something seemed to whisper in my +heart, 'Khalid is no more.' It was the first time in my life that I +felt the pangs of separation, the sting of death and sorrow. The +days and months passed, heartlessly confirming my conjecture, my +belief. + +"One evening, when the last glimmer of hope passed away, I sat down +and composed a threnody in his memory. And I sent it to one of the +newspapers of Beirut, in the hope that Khalid, if he still lived, +might chance to see it. It was published and quoted by other journals +here and in Egypt, who, in their eulogies, spoke of Khalid as the +young Baalbekian philosopher and poet. One of these newspapers, whose +editor is a dear friend of mine, and of comely ancient virtue, did not +mention, from a subtle sense of tender regard for my feelings, the +fact that Khalid committed suicide. 'He died,' the Notice said, 'of a +sudden and violent defluxion of rheums,[1] which baffled the +physician and resisted his skill and physic.' Another journal, whose +editor's religion is of the Jesuitical pattern, spoke of him as a +miserable God-abandoned wretch who was not entitled to the right of +Christian burial; and fulminated at its contemporaries for eulogising +the youthful infidel and moaning his death, thus spreading and +justifying his evil example. + +"And so, the days passed, and the months, and Khalid was still dead. +In the summer of this year, when the Constitution was proclaimed, and +the country was rioting in the saturnalia of Freedom and Equality, my +sorrow was keener, deeper than ever. Not I alone, but the cities and +the deserts of Syria and Arabia, missed my loving friend. How +gloriously he would have filled the tribune of the day, I sadly +mused.... O Khalid, I can never forgive this crime of thine against +the sacred rites of Friendship. Such heartlessness, such inexorable +cruelty, I have never before observed in thee. No matter how much thou +hast profited by thy retirement to the mountains, no matter how much +thy solitude hath given thee of health and power and wisdom, thy cruel +remissness can not altogether be drowned in my rejoicing. To forget +those who love thee above everything else in the world,--thy mother, +thy cousin, thine affectionate brother--" + +And our Scribe goes on, blubbering like a good Syrian his complaint +and joy, gushing now in verse, now in what is worse, in rhymed prose, +until he reaches the point which is to us of import. Khalid, in the +winter of the first year of the Dastur (Constitution) writes to him +many letters from Beirut, of which he gives us not less than fifty! +And of these, the following, if not the most piquant and interesting, +are the most indispensable to our History. + +Letter I (As numbered in the Original) + + My loving Brother Shakib: + + To whom, if not to you, before all, should I send the first word + of peace, the first sign of the resurrection? To my mother? To + my cousin Najma? Well, yes. But if I write to them, my letters + will be brought to you to be read and answered. So I write now + direct, hoping that you will convey to them these tidings of + joy. 'Tis more than a year now since I slinked out of Baalbek, + leaving you in the dark about me. Surely, I deserve the + chastisement of your bitterest thoughts. But what could I do? + Such is the rigour of the sort of life I lived that any + communication with the outside world, especially with friends + and lovers, would have marred it. So, I had to be silent as the + pines in which I put up, until I became as healthy as the + swallows, my companions there. When we meet, I shall recount to + you the many curious incidents of my solitude and my journey in + the sacred hills of Lebanon. To these auspicious mountains, my + Brother, I am indebted for the health and joy and wisdom that + are now mine; and yours, too, if you consider. + + Strange, is it not, that throughout my journey, and I have + passed in many villages, nothing heard I of this great political + upheaval in the Empire. Probably the people of the Lebanons + cherish not the Revolution. There is so much in common, I find, + between them and the Celtic races, who always in such instances + have been more royalists than the king. And I think Mt. Lebanon + is going to be the Vendee of the Turks. + + I have been in Beirut but a few days. And truly, I could not + believe my eyes, when in the Place de la Concorde (I hope the + Turks are not going to follow in the steps of the French + Revolutionists in all things), I could not believe my eyes, + when, in this muddy Square, on the holy Stump of Liberty, I + beheld my old friend the Spouter dispensing to the turbaned and + tarboushed crowd, among which were cameleers and muleteers with + their camels and mules, of the blessing of that triple political + abracadabra of the France of more than a century passed. + Liberty, Fraternity, Equality!--it's a shame that the show has + been running for six months now and I did not know it. I begin + by applauding the Spouters of Concord Square, the donkey that I + am. But how, with my cursed impulsiveness, can I always keep on + the sidewalk of reason? I, who have suckled of the milk of + freedom and broke the bottle, too, on my Nurse's head, I am not + to blame, if from sheer joy, I cheer those who are crowning her + on a dung-hill with wreaths of stable straw. It's better, + billah, than breaking the bottle on her head, is it not? And so, + let the Spouters spout. And let the sheikh and the priest and + the rabbi embrace on that very Stump and make up. Live the Era + of Concord and peace and love! Live the Dastur! Hurrah for the + Union and Progress Heroes! Come down to Beirut and do some + shouting with your fellow citizens. + +Letter V + + No; I do not approve of your idea of associating with that young + Mohammedan editor. You know what is said about the tiger and its + spots. Besides, I had another offer from a Christian oldtimer; + but you might as well ask me to become a Jesuit as to became a + Journalist. I wrote last week a political article, in which I + criticised Majesty's Address to the Parliament, and mauled those + oleaginous, palavering, mealy-mouthed Representatives, who would + not dare point out the lies in it. They hear the Chief Clerk + read of "the efforts made by the Government during the past + thirty years in the interest of education," and applaud; while + at the Royal Banquet they jostle and hustle each other to kiss + the edge of Majesty's frock-coat. The abject slaves! + + The article was much quoted and commented upon; I was flouted by + many, defended by a few, these asked: "Was the Government of + Abd'ul-Hamid, committing all its crimes in the interest of + education, were we being trained by the Censorship and the + Bosphorus Terror for the Dastur?" "But the person of Majesty, + the sacredness of the Khalifate," cried the others. And a + certain one, in the course of his attack, denies the existence + of Khalid, who died, said he, a year ago. And what matters it if + a dead man can stir a whole city and blow into the nostrils of + its walking spectres a breath of life? + + I spoke last night in one of the music halls and gave the + Mohammedans a piece of my mind. The poor Christians!--they + feared the Government in the old regime; they cower before the + boatmen in this. For the boatmen of Beirut have not lost their + prestige and power. They are a sort of commune and are yet + supreme. Yes, they are always riding the whirlwind and directing + the storm. And who dares say a word against them? Every one of + them, in his swagger and bluster, is an Abd'ul-Hamid. Alas, + everything is yet in a chaotic state. The boatman's shriek can + silence the Press and make the Spouters tremble. + + I am to lecture in the Public Hall of one of the Colleges here + on the "Moral Revolution." Believe me, I would not utter a word + or write a line if I were not impelled to it. And just as soon + as some one comes to the front to champion in this land + spiritual and moral freedom, I'll go "way back and sit down." + For why should I then give myself the trouble? And the applause + of the multitude, mind you, brings me not a single olive. + +Letter XXII + + I had made up my mind to go to Cairo, and I was coming up to say + farewell to you and mother. For I like not Beirut, where one in + winter must go about in top-boots, and in a dust-coat in summer. + I wonder what Rousseau, who called Paris the city of mud, would + have said of this? Besides, a city ruled by boatmen is not a + city for gentlemen to live in. So, I made up my mind to get out + of it, and quickly. But yesterday morning, before I had taken my + coffee, some one knocked at my door. I open, and lo, a policeman + in shabby uniform, makes inquiry about Khalid. What have I done, + I thought, to deserve this visit? And before I had time to + imagine the worst, he delivers a card from the Deputy to Syria + of the Union and Progress Society of Salonique. I am desired in + this to come at my earliest convenience to the Club to meet this + gentleman. There, I am received by an Army Officer and a certain + Ahmed Bey. And after the coffee and the formalities of civility + are over, I am asked to accompany them on a tour to the + principal cities of upper Syria--to Damascus, Homs, Hama, and + Aleppo. The young Army Officer is to speechify in Turkish, I, in + Arabic, and Ahmed Bey, who is as oleaginous as a Turk could be, + will take up, I think, the collection. Seeing in this a chance + to spread the Idea among our people, I accept, and in a + fortnight we shall be in Damascus. You must come there, for I am + burning to meet and embrace you. + +Letter XXV + + Whom do you think I met yesterday? Why, nothing gave me greater + pleasure ever since I have been here than this: I was crossing + the Square on my way to the Club, when some one plucking at my + jubbah angrily greets me. I look back, and behold our dear old + Im-Hanna, who has just returned from New York. She stood there + waving her hand wildly and rating me for not returning her + salaam. "You know no one any more, O Khalid," she said + plaintively; "I call to you three times and you look not, hear + not. No matter, O Khalid." Thereupon, she embraces me as fondly + as my mother. "And why," she inquired, "do you wear this black + jubbah? Are you now a monk? Were it not for that long hair and + that cap of yours, I would not have known you. Let me see, isn't + that the cap I bought you in New York?" And she takes it off my + head to examine it. "Yes, that's it. How good of you to keep it. + Well, how are you now? Do you cough any more? Are you still + crazy about books? I don't think so, for you have rosy cheeks + now." And sobbing for joy, she embraces me again and again. + + She is neatly dressed, wears a silk fiche, and is as alert as + ever. In the afternoon, I visit her at the Hotel, and she asks + me to accompany her to the Bank, where she cashes three bills of + exchange for three hundred pounds each! I ask her what she is + going to do with all this money, and she tells me that she is + going to build a little home for her grandson and send him to + the College of the Americans here. + + "And is there like America in all the world?" she exclaims. "Ah, + my heart for America!" And on asking her why she did not remain + there: "Fear not; just as soon as I build my house and place my + son in the College I am going back to New York. What, O Khalid, + will you return with me?" She then takes some gold pieces in her + hand, and lowering her voice: "May be you need some money; take, + take these." Dear old Im-Hanna, I would not refuse her favour, + and I would not accept one such. What was I to do? Coming + through the Jewellers' bazaar I hit upon an idea, and with the + money she slipped into my pocket, I bought a gold watch in one + of the stores and charged her to present it to her grandson. + "Say it is from his brother, your other grandson Khalid." She + protests, scolds, and finally takes the watch, saying, "Well, + nothing is changed in you: still the same crazy Khalid." + + To-morrow she is coming to see my room, and to cook for me a + dish of _mojadderah_! Ah, the old days in the cellar! + +In the thirtieth Letter, one of considerable length, dated March, is +an exceedingly titillating divagation on the _gulma_ (oustraation of +animals), called forth, we are told, "by the rut of the d----d cats in +the yard." Poor Khalid can not sleep. One night he jumps out of bed +and chases them away with his skillet, saying, "Why don't I make such +a row, ye wantons?" They come again the following night, and Khalid on +the following morning moves to a Hotel which, by good or ill chance, +is adjacent to the lupanars of the city. His window opens on another +yard in which other cats, alas!--of the human species this time--are +caterwauling, harrowing the soul of him and the night. He makes a +second remove, but finds himself disturbed this time by the rut of a +certain roebuck within. Nature, O Khalid, will not be cheated, no more +than she will be abused, without retaliating soon or late. True, you +got out of many ruts heretofore; but this you can not get out of +except you go deeper into it. Your anecdotes from Ad-Damiry and your +quotations from Montaigne shall not help you. And your allusions to +March-cats and March-Khalids are too pitiful to be humorous. Indeed, +were not the tang of lubricity in this Letter too strong, we would +have given in full the confession it contains. + +We now come to the last of this Series, in which Khalid speaks of a +certain American lady, a Mrs. Goodfree, or Gotfry, who is a votary of +Ebbas Effendi, the Pope of Babism at Heifa. Mrs. Gotfry may not be a +Babist in the strict sense of the word; but she is a votary and +worshipper of the Bab. To her the personal element in a creed is of +more importance than the ism. Hence, her pilgrimage every year to +Heifa. She comes with presents and gold; and Ebbas Effendi, who is not +impervious to the influence of other gods than his own, permits her +into the sanctuary, where she shares with him the light of divine +revelation and returns to the States, as the Priestess of the Cult, to +bless and console the Faithful. Khalid was dining with Ahmed Bey at +the Grand Hotel--but here is a portion of the Letter. + +By a devilish mischance she occupied the seat opposite to mine. And +in this trap of Iblis was decoy enough for a poor mouse like me. It is +an age since I beheld such an Oriental gem in an American setting; or +such a strange Southern beauty in an exotic frame. For one would think +her from the South, or further down from Mexico. Nay, of Andalusian, +and consequently of Arabian, origin she must be. Her hair and her eyes +are of the richest jet; her glance, voluptuous, mysterious; her +complexion, neither white nor olive, but partakes of both,--a +gauze-like shade of heliotrope, as it were, over a pink and straw +surface, if you can imagine that; and her expression, a play between +devotion and diabolism--now a question mark to love, now an +exclamation to sorrow, and at times a dash between both. By what +mysterious medium of romance and adventure did America produce such a +beauty, I can not tell. Perhaps she, too, can not. If you saw her, O +Shakib, you'd do nothing for months but dedicate odes to her eyes,--to +the deep, dark infinity of their luring, devouring beauty,--which seem +to drop honey and poison from every arched hair of their fulsome +lashes. Withal,--another devilish mischance,--she was dressed in black +and wore a white silk ruffle, like myself. And her age? Well, she can +not have passed her sixth lustrum. And really, as the Novelist would +say in his Novel, she looks ten years younger.... To say we were +attracted to each other were presumptuous: but _I was_ taken.... Near +her sat a Syrian gentleman of my acquaintance, with whom she was +conversing when we entered. That is the lady whose beauty, when she +was sitting, I described to you: but when she got up to leave the +table,--alas, and _ay me_, and all the other expressions of regret and +sorrow. That such a beautiful face should be denied a corresponding +beauty of figure. And what is more pitiable about her, she is lame in +the right leg. Poor dear Misfortune, I wish it were in my power to add +an inch of my limb to hers. + +And Khalid goes on limping, drooling, alassing, to the end. After +dinner he is introduced to his "poor dear Misfortune" by his Syrian +friend. But being with Ahmed Bey he can not remain this evening. On +the following day, however, he is invited to lunch; and on the terrace +facing the sea, they pass the afternoon discussing various subjects. +Mrs. Gotfry is surprised how a Syrian of Khalid's mind can not see the +beauties of Babism, or Buhaism, as it is now called, and the lofty +spirituality of the Bab. But she forgives him his lack of faith, gives +him her card, and invites him to her home, if he ever returns to the +United States. + +Now, maugre the fact that, in a postscript to this Letter, Khalid +closes with these words, "And what have I to do with priests and +priestesses?" we can not but harbour a suspicion that his "Union and +Progress" tour is bound to have more than a political significance. By +ill or good hap those words are beginning to assume a double meaning; +and maugre all efforts to the contrary, the days must soon unfold the +twofold tendency and result of the "Union and Progress" ideas of +Khalid. + +----- + + [1] In some parts of Syria, as in Arabia, almost every ill and + affection is attributed to the rheums, or called so. Rheumatism, + for instance, is explained by the Arab quack as a defluxion of + rheums, failing to discharge through the upper orifices, progress + downward, and settling in the muscles and joints, produce the + affection. And might there not be more truth in that than the + diagnosis of him who is a Membre de la Faculte de Medicine de + France?--EDITOR. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +REVOLUTIONS WITHIN AND WITHOUT + + +"Even Carlyle can be longwinded and short-sighted on occasions. 'Once +in destroying the False,' says he, 'there was a certain inspiration.' +And always there is, to be sure, my Master. For the world is not +Europe, and the final decision on Who Is and What Is To Rule, was not +delivered by the French Revolution. The Orient, the land of +origination and prophecy, must yet solve for itself this eternal +problem of the Old and New, the False and True. And whether by +Revolutions, Speculations, or Constitutions, ancient Revelation will +be purged and restored to its original pristine purity: the +superannuated lumber that accumulated around it during centuries of +apathy, fatalism, and sloth, must go: the dust and mould and cobwebs +of the Temple will be swept away. Indeed, 'a war must be eternally +waged on evils eternally renewed.' The genius of destruction has done +its work, you say, O my esteemed Master? and there is nothing more to +destroy? The gods might say this of other worlds than ours. In Europe, +as in Asia, there is to be considered and remembered: if this mass of +things we call humanity and civilisation were as healthy as the +eternal powers would have them, the healthiest of the race would not +be constantly studying and dissecting our social and political ills. + +"In a certain sense, we are healthier to-day than the Europeans; but +our health is that of the slave and not the master: it is of more +benefit to others than it is to ourselves. We are doomed to be the +drudges of neurasthenic, psychopathic, egoistic masters, if we do not +open our minds to the light of science and truth. 'Every age has its +Book,' says the Prophet. But every book, if it aspires to be a guide +to life, must contain of the eternal truth what was in the one that +preceded it. We can not afford to let aught of this die. Leave the +principal original altar in the Temple, and destroy all the others. +Light on that altar the torch of science, which the better mind and +cleaner hand of Europe are transmitting to us, and place your foot +upon its false and unspeakable divinities. The gods of wealth, of +egoism, of alcohol, of fornication, we must not acknowledge; nay, we +must resist unto death their malign influence and power. But alas, +what are we doing to-day? Instead of looking up to the pure and lofty +souls of Europe for guidance, we welter in the mud with the lowest and +most degenerate. We are beginning to know and appreciate English +whiskey, but not English freedom; we know the French grisettes, but +not the French sages; we guzzle German beer, but of German wisdom we +taste not a drop. + +"O my Brothers, let us cease rejoicing in the Dastur; for at heart we +know no freedom, nor truth, nor order. We elect our representatives to +Parliament, but not unlike the Europeans; we borrow from France what +the deeper and higher mind of France no longer believes; we imitate +England in what England has long since discarded; but our Books of +Revelation, which made France and Germany and England what they are, +and in which is the divine essence of truth and right and freedom, we +do not rightly understand. A thousand falsehoods are cluttered around +the truth to conceal it from us. I call you back, O my Brothers, to +the good old virtues of our ancestors. Without these the Revolution +will miscarry and our Dastur will not be worth a date-stone. Our +ancestors,--they never bowed their proud neck to tyranny, whether +represented in an autocrat or in a body of autocrats; they never +betrayed their friends; they never soiled their fingers with the coin +of usury; they never sacrificed their manhood to fashion; they never +endangered in the cafes and lupanars their health and reason. The +Mosque and the Church, notwithstanding the ignorance and bigotry they +foster, are still better than lunatic asylums. And Europe can not have +enough of these to-day. + +"Continence, purity of heart, fidelity, simplicity, a sense of true +manhood, magnanimity of spirit, a healthiness of body and mind,--these +are the beautiful ancient virtues. These are the supreme truths of the +Books of Revelation: in these consists the lofty spirituality of the +Orient. But through what thick, obscene growths we must pass to-day, +through what cactus hedges and thistle-fields we must penetrate, +before we rise again to those heights. + +"'There can be no Revolution without a Reformation,' says a German +philosopher. And truly so. For the fetters which bind us can not be +shaken off, before the conscience is emancipated. A political +revolution must always be preceded by a spiritual one, that it might +have some enduring effect. Otherwise, things will revert to their +previous state of rottenness as sure as Allah lives. But mind you, I +do not say, Cut down the hedges; mow the thistle-fields; uproot the +obscene plants; no: I only ask you to go through them, and out of +them, to return no more. Sell your little estate there, if you have +one; sell it at any price: give it away and let the dead bury their +dead. Cease to work in those thorny fields, and God and nature will do +the rest. + +"I am for a reformation by emigration. And quietly, peacefully, this +can be done. Nor fire, nor sword bring I: only this I say: Will and +do; resolve and act upon your resolution. The emigration of the mind +before the revolution of the state, my Brothers. The soul must be +free, and the mind, before one has a right to be a member of a free +Government, before one can justly enjoy his rights and perform his +duties as a subject. But a voting slave, O my Brothers, is the +pitifulest spectacle under the sun. And remember that neither the +Dastur, nor the Unionists, nor the Press, can give you this spiritual +freedom, if you do not awake and emigrate. Come up to the highlands: +here is a patrimony for each of you; here are vineyards to cultivate. +Leave the thistle-fields and marshes behind; regret nothing. Come out +of the superstitions of the sheikhs and ulema; of the barren mazes of +the sufis; of the deadly swamps of theolougues and priests: emigrate! +Every one of us should be a Niazi in this moral struggle, an Enver in +this spiritual revolution. A little will-power, a little heroism, +added to those virtues I have named, the solid virtues of our +ancestors, and the Orient will no longer be an object of scorn and +gain to commercial Europe. We shall then stand on an equal footing +with the Europeans. Ay, with the legacy of science which we shall +learn to invest, and with our spirituality divested of its cobwebs, +and purified, we shall stand even higher than the Americans and +Europeans."-- + +On the following day Damascus was simmering with excitement--Damascus, +the stronghold of the ulema--the learned fanatics--whom Khalid has +lightly pinched. But they scarcely felt it; they could not believe it. +Now, the gentry of Islam, the sheikhs and ulema, would hear this +lack-beard dervish, as he was called. But they disdain to stand with +the rabble in the Midan or congregate with the _Mutafarnejin_ +(Europeanised) in the public Halls. Nowhere but at the Mosque, +therefore, can they hear what this Khalid has to say. This was +accordingly decided upon, and, being approved by all parties +concerned,--the Mufti, the Vali, the Deputies of the Holy Society and +the speaker,--a day was set for the great address at the great Mosque +of Omaiyah. + +Meanwhile, the blatant Officer, the wheedling Politician, and the +lack-beard Dervish, are feasted by the personages and functionaries of +Damascus. The Vali, the Mufti, Abdallah Pasha,--he who owns more than +two score villages and has more than five thousand braves at his beck +and call,--these, and others of less standing, vie with each other in +honouring the distinguished visitors. And after the banqueting, while +Ahmed Bey retires to a private room with his host to discuss the +political situation, Khalid, to escape the torturing curiosity of the +bores and quidnuncs of the evening, goes out to the open court, and +under an orange tree, around the gurgling fountain, breathes again of +quietude and peace. Nay, breathes deeply of the heavy perfume of the +white jasmines of his country, while musing of the scarlet salvias of +a distant land. + +And what if the salvia, as by a miracle, blossoms on the jasmine? What +if the former stifles the latter? Indeed, one can escape boredom, but +not love. One can flee the quidnuncs of the salon, but not the +questioning perplexity of one's heart. A truce now to ambiguities. + +'Tis high time that we give a brief account of what took place after +Khalid took leave of Mrs. Gotfry. Many "devilish mischances" have +since then conspired against Khalid's peace of mind. For when they +were leaving Beirut, only a few minutes before the train started, Mrs. +Gotfry, who was also going to Damascus, steps into the same carriage, +which he and his companions occupied: mischance first. Arriving in +Damascus they both stay at the same Hotel: mischance second. At table +this time he occupies the seat next to hers, and once, rising +simultaneously, their limbs touch: mischance third. And the last and +worst, when he retires to his room, he finds that her own is in the +same side-hall opposite to his. Now, who could have ordered it thus, +of all the earthly powers? And who can say what so many mischances +might not produce? True, a thousand thistles do not make a rose; but +with destiny this logic does not hold. For every new mischance makes +us forget the one preceding; and the last and worst is bound to be the +harbinger of good fortune. Yes, every people, we imagine, has its +aphorisms on the subject: Distress is the key of relief, says the +Arabic proverb; The strait leads to the plain, says the Chinese; The +darkest hour is nearest the dawn, says the English. + +But we must not make any stipulations with time, or trust in +aphorisms. We do not know what Mrs. Gotfry's ideas are on the subject. +Nor can we say how she felt in the face of these strange coincidences. +In her religious heart, might there not be some shadow of an ancient +superstition, some mystical, instinctive strain, in which the +preternatural is resolved? That is a question which neither our Scribe +nor his Master will help us to answer. And we, having been faithful so +far in the discharge of our editorial duty, can not at this juncture +afford to fabricate. + +We know, however, that the Priestess of Buhaism and the beardless, +long-haired Dervish have many a conversation together: in the train, +in the Hotel, in the parks and groves of Damascus, they tap their +hearts and minds, and drink of each other's wine of thought and +fancy. + +"I first mistook you for a Mohammedan," she said to him once; and he +assured her that she was not mistaken. + +"Then, you are not a Christian?" + +"I am a Christian, too." + +And he relates of the Buha when he was on trial in Rhodes. "Of what +religion are you," asks the Judge. "I am neither a Camel-driver nor a +Carpenter," replies the Buha, alluding thereby to Mohammad and +Christ. "If you ask me the same question," Khalid continues--"but +I see you are uncomfortable." And he takes up the cushion which +had fallen behind the divan, and places it under her arm. He then +lights a cigarette and holds it up to her inquiringly. Yes? He, +therefore, lights another for himself, and continues. "If you ask me +the same question that was asked the Buha, I would not hesitate in +saying that I am both a Camel-driver and Carpenter. I might also be +a Buhaist in a certain sense. I renounce falsehood, whatsoever be +the guise it assumes; and I embrace truth, wheresoever I find it. +Indeed, every religion is good and true, if it serves the high +purpose of its founder. And they are false, all of them, when they +serve the low purpose of their high priests. Take the lowest of the +Arab tribes, for instance, and you will find in their truculent +spirit a strain of faith sublime, though it is only evinced at times. +The Beduins, rovers and raveners, manslayers and thieves, are in +their house of moe-hair the kindest hosts, the noblest and most +generous of men. They receive the wayfarer, though he be an enemy, +and he eats and drinks and sleeps with them under the same root, in +the assurance of Allah. If a religion makes a savage so good, so kind, +it has well served its purpose. As for me, I admire the grand +passion in both the Camel-driver and the Carpenter: the barbaric +grandeur, the magnanimity and fidelity of the Arab as well as the +sublime spirituality, the divine beauty, of the Nazarene, I deeply +reverence. And in one sense, the one is the complement of the +other: the two combined are _my_ ideal of a Divinity." + +And now we descend from the chariot of the empyrean where we are +riding with gods and apostles, and enter into one drawn by mortal +coursers. We go out for a drive, and alight from the carriage in the +poplar grove, to meander in its shades, along its streams. But +digressing from one path into another, we enter unaware the eternal +vista of love. There, on a boulder washed by the murmuring current, in +the shade of the silver-tufted poplars, Khalid and Mrs. Gotfry sit +down for a rest. + +"Everything in life must always resolve itself into love," said +Khalid, as he stood on the rock holding out his hand to his friend. +"Love is the divine solvent. Love is the splendour of God." + +Mrs. Gotfry paused at the last words. She was startled by this image. +Love, the splendour of God? Why, the Bab, the Buha, is the splendour +of God. Buha mean splendour. The Buha, therefore, is love. Love is the +new religion. It is the old religion, the eternal religion, the only +religion. How came he by this, this young Syrian? Would he rival the +Buha? Rise above him? They are of kindred races--their ancestors, +too, may be mine. Love the splendour of God--God the splendour of +Love. Have I been all along fooling myself? Did I not know my own +heart? + +These, and more such, passed through Mrs. Gotfry's mind, as shuttles +through a loom, while Khalid was helping her up to her seat on the +boulder, which is washed by the murmuring current. + +"If life were such a rock under our feet," said he, pressing his lips +upon her hand, "the divine currents around it will melt it, soon or +late, into love." + +They light cigarettes. A fresh breeze is blowing from the city. It is +following them with the perfume of its gardens. The falling leaves are +whispering in the grove to the swaying boughs. The narcissus is +nodding to the myrtle across the way. And the bulbuls are pouring +their golden splendour of song. Khalid speaks. + +"Beauty either detains, repels, or enchants. The first is purely +external, linear; the second is an imitation of the first, its +artistic artificial ideal, so to speak; and the third"--He is silent. +His eyes, gazing into hers, take up the cue. + +Mrs. Gotfry turns from him exhausted. She looks into the water. + +"See the rose-beds in the stream; see the lovely pebbles dancing +around them." + +"I can see everything in your eyes, which are like limpid lakes shaded +with weeping-willows. I can even hear bulbuls singing in your +brows.--Turn not from me your eyes. They reflect the pearls of your +soul and the flowers of your body, even as those crystal waters +reflect the pebbles and rose-beds beneath." + +"Did you not say that love is the splendour of God?" + +"Yes." + +"Then, why look for it in my eyes?" + +"And why look for it in the heart of the heavens, in the depths of +the sea--in the infinities of everything that is beautiful and +terrible--in the breath of that little flower, in the song of the +bulbul, in the whispers of your silken lashes, in--" + +"Shut your eyes, Khalid; be more spiritual." + +"With my eyes open I see but one face; with my eyes closed I see a +million faces: they are all yours. And they are loving, and sweet, and +kind. But I am content with one, with the carnate symbol of them, with +you, and though you be cold and cruel. The divine splendour is here, +and here and here--" + +"Why, your ardour is exhausting." + + * * * * * + +But on their way back to the Hotel, Khalid gives her this from +Swedenborg: "'Do you love me' means 'do you see the same truth that I +see?'" + +There is no use. Khalid is impossible. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +A DREAM OF EMPIRE + + +"I'm not starving for pleasure," Khalid once said to Shakib; "nor +for the light free love of an exquisite caprice. Those little +flowers that bloom and wither in the blush of dawn are for the +little butterflies. The love that endures, give me that. And it +must be of the deepest divine strain,--as deep and divine as +maternal love. Man is of Eternity, not of Time; and love, the +highest attribute of man, must be likewise. With me it must endure +throughout all worlds and immensities; else I would not raise a +finger for it. Pleasure, Shakib, is for the child within us; sexual +joy, for the animal; love, for the god. That is why I say when you +set your seal to the contract, be sure it is of the kind which all +the gods of all the future worlds will raise to their lips in +reverence." + +But Khalid's child-spirit, not to say childishness, is not, as he +would have us believe, a thing of the past. Nor are the animal and the +god within him always agreed as to what is and what is not a love +divine and eternal. In New York, to be sure, he often brushed his +wings against those flowerets that "bloom and wither in the blush of +dawn." And he was not a little pleased to find that the dust which +gathers on the wings adds a charm to the colouring of life. But how +false and trivial it was, after all. The gold dust and the dust of the +road, could they withstand a drop of rain? A love dust-deep, as it +were, close to the earth; too mean and pitiful to be carried by the +storm over terrible abysses to glorious heights. A love, in a word, +without pain, that is to say impure. In Baalbek, on the other hand, he +drank deep of the pain, but not of the joy, of love. He and his cousin +Najma had just lit in the shrine of Venus the candles of the altar of +the Virgin, when a villainous hand that of Jesuitry, issuing from the +darkness, clapped over them the snuffer and carried his Happiness off. +Here was a love divine, the promised bliss of which was snatched away +from him. + +And now in Damascus, he feels, for the first time, the exquisite +pain and joy of a love which he can not yet fathom; a love, which like +the storm, is carrying him over terrible abysses to unknown heights. +The bitter sting of a Nay he never felt so keenly before. The +sleep-stifling torture and joy of suspense he did not fully +experience until now. But if he can not sleep, he will work. He has +but a few days to prepare his address. He can not be too careful of +what he says, and how he says it. To speak at the great Mosque of +Omaiyah is a great privilege. A word uttered there will reach the +furthermost parts of the Mohammedan world. Moreover, all the ulema +and all the heavy-turbaned fanatics will be there. + +But he can not even work. On the table before him is a pile of +newspapers from all parts of Syria and Egypt--even from India--and +all simmering, as it were, with Khalid's name, and Khalidism, and +Khalid scandals. He is hailed by some, assailed by others; glorified +and vilified in tawdry rhyme and ponderous prose by Christians and +Mohammedans alike. "Our new Muhdi," wrote an Egyptian wit (one of +those pallid prosers we once met in the hasheesh dens, no doubt), "our +new Muhdi has added to his hareem an American beauty with an Oriental +leg." + +What he meant by this only the hasheesh smokers know. "An instrument in +the hands of some American speculators, who would build sky-scrapers +on the ruins of our mosques," wrote another. "A lever with which +England is undermining Al-Islam," cried a voice in India. "A base one +in the service of some European coalition, who, under the pretext of +preaching the spiritualities, is undoing the work of the Revolution. +The gibbet is for ordinary traitors; for him the stake," etc., etc. + +On the other hand, he is hailed as the expected one,--the true leader, +the real emancipator,--"who has in him the soul of the East and the +mind of the West, the builder of a great Asiatic Empire." Of course, +the foolish Damascene editor who wrote this had to flee the country +the following day. But Khalid's eyes lingered on that line. He read it +and reread it over and over again--forward and backward, too. He +juggled, so to speak, with its words. + +How often people put us, though unwittingly, on the path we are +seeking, he thought. How often does a chance word uttered by a +stranger reveal to us our deepest aims and purposes. + +Before him was ink and paper. He took up the pen. But after scrawling +and scribbling for ten minutes, the sheet was filled with circles and +arabesques, and the one single word Dowla (Empire). + +He could not think: he could only dream. The soul of the East--The +mind of the West--the builder of a great Empire. The triumph of the +Idea, the realisation of a great dream: the rise of a great race who +has fallen on evil days; the renaissance of Arabia; the reclaiming of +her land; the resuscitation of her glory;--and why not? especially if +backed with American millions and the love of a great woman. He is +enraptured. He can neither sleep nor think: he can but dream. He puts +on his jubbah, refills his cigarette box, and walks out of his room. +He paces up and down the hall, crowning his dream with wreaths of +smoke. But the dim lights seemed to be ogling each other and smiling, +as he passed. The clocks seemed to be casting pebbles at him. The +silence horrified him. He pauses before a door. He knocks--knocks +again. + +The occupant of that room was not yet asleep. In fact, she, too, could +not sleep. The clock in the hall outside had just struck one, and she +was yet reading. After inquiring who it was that knocked, she puts on +a kimono and opens the door. She is surprised. + +"Anything the matter with you?" + +"No; but I can not sleep." + +"That is amusing. And do you take me for a soporific? If you think +you can sleep here, stretch yourself on the couch and try." Saying +which, she laughed and hurried back to her bed. + +"I did not come to sleep." + +"What then? How lovely of you to wake me up so early.--No, no; don't +apologise. For truly, I too, could not sleep. You see, I was still +reading. Sit on the couch there and talk to me.--Of course, you may +smoke.--No, I prefer to sit in bed." + +Khalid lights another cigarette and sits down. On the table before +him are some antique colour prints which Mrs. Gotfry had bought in +the Bazaar. These one can only get in Damascus. And--strange +coincidence!--they represented some of the heroes of Arabia--Antar, +Ali, Saladin, Harun ar-Rashid--done in gorgeous colouring, and in +that deliciously ludicrous angular style which is neither Arabic +nor Egyptian, but a combination perhaps of both. Khalid reads the +poetry under each of them and translates it into English. Mrs. Gotfry +is charmed. Khalid is lost in thought. He lays the picture of +Saladin on the table, lights another cigarette, looks intently upon +his friend, his face beaming with his dream. + +"Jamilah." It was the first time he called her by her first name--an +Arabic name which, as a Bahaist she had adopted. And she was neither +surprised nor displeased. + +"We need another Saladin to-day,--a Saladin of the Idea, who will wage +a crusade, not against Christianity or Mohammedanism, but against +those Tataric usurpers who are now toadying to both." + +"Whom do you mean?" + +"I mean the Turks. They were given a last chance to rise; they tried +and failed. They can not rise. They are demoralised; they have no +stamina, no character; no inborn love for truth and art; no +instinctive or acquired sense of right and justice. Whiskey and +debauch and high-sounding inanities about fraternity and equality can +not regenerate an Empire. The Turk must go: he will go. But out in +those deserts is a race which is always young, a race that never +withers; a strong, healthy, keen-eyed, quick-witted race; a fighting, +fanatical race; a race that gave Europe a civilisation, that gave the +world a religion; a race with a past as glorious as Rome's; and with a +future, too, if we had an Ali or a Saladin. But He who made those +heroes will make others like them, better, too. He may have made one +already, and that one may be wandering now in the desert. Now think +what can be done in Arabia, think what the Arabs can accomplish, if +American arms and an up-to-date Koran are spread broadcast among them. +With my words and your love and influence, with our powers united, we +can build an Arab Empire, we can resuscitate the Arab Empire of the +past. Abd'ul-Wahhab, you know, is the Luther of Arabia; and Wahhabism +is not dead. It is only slumbering in Nejd. We will wake it; arm it; +infuse into it the living spirit of the Idea. We will begin by +building a plant for the manufacture of arms on the shore of the +Euphrates, and a University in Yaman. The Turk must go--at least out +of Arabia. And the Turk in Europe, Europe will look after. No; the +Arab will never be virtually conquered. Nominally, maybe. And I doubt +if any of the European Powers can do it. Why? Chiefly because Arabia +has a Prophet. She produced one and she will produce more. Cannons can +destroy Empires; but only the living voice, the inspired voice can +build them." + +Mrs. Gotfry is silent. In Khalid's vagaries is a big idea, which she +can not wholly grasp. And she is moreover devoted to another +cause--the light of the world--the splendour of God--Buhaism. But why +not spread it in Arabia as in America? She will talk to Ebbas Effendi +about Khalid. He is young, eloquent, rising to power. And with her +love, and influence superadded, what might he not do? what might he +not accomplish? These ideas flashed through her mind, while Khalid was +pacing up and down the room, which was already filled with smoke. She +is absorbed in thought. Khalid comes near her bed, bends over her, and +buries his face in her wealth of black hair. + +Mrs. Gotfry is startled as from a dream. + +"I can not see all that you see." + +"Then you do not love me." + +"Why do you say that? Here, now go sit down. Oh, I am suffocating. The +smoke is so thick in the room I can scarcely see you. And it is so +late.--No, no. Give me time to think on the subject. Now, come." + +And Mrs. Gotfry opens the door and the window to let out Khalid and +his smoke. + +"Go, Khalid, and try to sleep. And if you can not sleep, try to write. +And if you can not write, read. And if you can neither read nor write +nor sleep, why, then, put on your shoes and go out for a walk. Good +night. There. Good night. But don't forget, we must visit Sheikh Taleb +to-morrow." + +The astute Mrs. Gotfry might have added, And if you do not feel like +walking, take a dip in the River Barada. But in her words, to be +sure, were a douche cold enough for Khalid. Now, to be just and +comprehensive in our History we must record here that she, too, did +not, and could not sleep that night. The thought that Khalid would +make a good apostle of Buhaism and incidentally a good companion, +insinuated itself between the lines on every page of the book she was +trying to read. + +On the following day they visit Sheikh Taleb, who is introduced to us +by Shakib in these words: + +"A Muslem, like Socrates, who educates not by lesson, but by going +about his business. He seldom deigns to write; and yet, his words are +quoted by every writer of the day, and on every subject sacred and +profane. His good is truly magnetic. He is a man who lives after his +own mind and in his own robes; an Arab who prays after no Imam, but +directly to Allah and his Apostle; a scholar who has more dryasdust +knowledge on his finger ends than all the ulema of Cairo and Damascus; +a philosopher who would not give an orange peel for the opinion of the +world; an ascetic who flees celebrity as he would the plague; a sage +who does not disdain to be a pedagogue; an eccentric withal to amuse +even a Diogenes:--this is the noted Sheikh Taleb of Damascus, whom +Mrs. Gotfry once met at Ebbas Effendy's in Akka, and whom she was +desirous of meeting again. When we first went to visit him, this +charming lady and Khalid and I, we had to knock at the door until his +neighbour peered from one of the windows above and told us that the +Sheikh is asleep, and that if we would see him, we must come in the +evening. I learned afterwards that he, reversing the habitual practice +of mankind, works at night and sleeps during the day. + +"We return in the evening. And the Sheikh, with a lamp in his hand, +peers through a small square opening in the door to see who is +knocking. He knew neither Khalid nor myself; but Mrs. Gotfry--'Eigh!' +he mused. And as he beheld her face in the lamplight he exclaimed +'Marhaba (welcome)! Marhaba!' and hastened to unbolt the door. We are +shown through a dark, narrow hall, into a small court, up to his +study. Which is a three-walled room--a sort of stage--opening on the +court, and innocent of a divan or a settle or a chair. While he and +Mrs. Gotfry were exchanging greetings in Persian, I was wondering why +in Damascus, the city of seven rivers and of poetry and song, should +there be a court guilty like this one of a dry and dilapidated +fountain. I learned afterwards, however, that the Sheikh can not +tolerate the noise of the water; and so, suffering from thirst and +neglect, the fountain goes to ruin. + +"On the stage, which is the study, is a clutter of old books and +pamphlets; in the corner is the usual straw mat, a cushion, and a sort +of stool on which are ink and paper. This he clears, places the +cushion upon it, and offers to Mrs. Gotfry; he himself sits down on +the mat; and we are invited to arrange for ourselves some books. +Indeed, the Sheikh is right; most of these tomes are good for nothing +else. + +"Mrs. Gotfry introduces us. + +"'Ah, but thou art young and short of stature,' said he to Khalid; +'that is ominous. Verily, there is danger in thy path.' + +"'But he will embrace Buhaism,' put in Mrs. Gotfry. + +"'That might save him. Buhaism is the old torch, relighted after many +centuries, by Allah.' + +"Meanwhile Khalid was thinking of second-hand Jerry of the second-hand +book-shop of New York. The Sheikh reminded him of his old friend. + +"And I was holding in my hand a book on which I chanced while +arranging my seat. It was Debrett's Baronetage, Knightage, and +Companionage. How did such a book find its way into the Sheikh's +rubbish, I wondered. But birds of a feather, thought I. + +"'That book was sent to me,' said he, 'by a merchant friend, who found +it in the Bazaar. They send me all kinds of books, these simple of +heart. They think I can read in all languages and discourse on all +subjects. Allah forgive them.' + +"And when I tell him, in reply to his inquiry, that the book treats of +Titles, Orders, and Degrees of Precedence, he utters a sharp whew, and +with a quick gesture of weariness and disgust, tells me to take it. +'I have my head full of our own ansab (pedigrees),' he adds, 'and I +have no more respect for a green turban (the colour of the Muslem +nobility) than I have for this one,' pointing to his, which is white. + +"Mrs. Gotfry then asks the Sheikh what he thinks of Wahhabism. + +"'It is Islam in its pristine purity; it is the Islam of the first +great Khalifs. "Mohammed is dead; but Allah lives," said Abu Bekr to +the people on the death of the Prophet. And Wahhabism is a direct +telegraph wire between mortal man and his God. + +"'But why should these Wahhabis of Nejd be the most fanatical, when +their doctrines are the most pure?' asked Khalid. + +"'In thy question is the answer to it. They are fanatical _because_ of +their purity of doctrine, and withal because they live in Nejd. If +there were a Wahhabi sect in Barr'ush-Sham (Syria), it would not be +thus, assure thee.' + +"And expressing his liking for Khalid, he advises him to be careful of +his utterances in Damascus, if he believes in self-preservation. 'I am +old,' he continues; 'and the ulema do not think my flesh is good for +sacrifice. But thou art young, and plump--a tender yearling--ah, be +careful sheikh Khalid. Then, I do not talk to the people direct. I +talk to them through holy men and dervishes. The people do not believe +in a philosopher; but the holy man, and though he attack the most +sacred precepts of the Faith, they will believe. And Damascus is the +very hive of turbans, green and otherwise. So guard thee, my child.' + +"Mrs. Gotfry then asks for a minute's privacy with the Sheikh. And +before he withdraws with her to the court, he searches through a heap +of mouldy tomes, draws from beneath them a few yellow pamphlets on the +Comparative Study of the Semetic Alphabets and on The Rights of the +Khalifate--such is the scope of his learning--and dusting these on his +knee, presents them to us, saying, 'Judge us not severely.' + +"This does not mean that he cares much if we do or not. But in our +country, in the Orient, even a Diogenes does not disdain to handle the +coin of affability. We are always meekly asked, even by the most +supercilious, to overlook shortcomings, and condone. + +"I could not in passing out, however, overlook the string of orange +peels which hung on a pole in the court. Nor am I sensible of an +indecorum if I give out that the Sheikh lives on oranges, and +preserves the peels for kindling the fire. And this, his only article +of food, he buys at wholesale, like his robes and undergarments. For +he never changes or washes anything. A robe is worn continually, worn +out in the run, and discarded. He no more believes in the efficacy of +soap than in the efficacy of a good reputation. 'The good opinion of +men,' he says, 'does not wash our hearts and minds. And if these be +clean, all's clean.' + +"That is why, I think, he struck once with his staff a journalist for +inserting in his paper a laudatory notice on the Sheikh's system of +living and thinking and speaking of him as 'a deep ocean of learning +and wisdom.' Even in travelling he carries nothing with him but his +staff, that he might the quicker flee, or put to flight, the vulgar +curious. He puts on a few extra robes, when he is going on a journey, +and in time, becoming threadbare, sheds them off as the serpent its +skin...." + + * * * * * + +And we pity our Scribe if he ever goes back to Damascus after this, +and the good Sheikh chances upon him. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +ADUMBRATIONS + + +"In the morning of the eventful day," it is set forth in the _Histoire +Intime_, "I was in Khalid's room writing a letter, when Ahmed Bey +comes in to confer with him. They remain together for some while +during which I could hear Khalid growl and Ahmed Bey gently +whispering, 'But the Dastur, the Unionists, Mother Society,'--this +being the burden of his song. When he leaves, Khalid, with a scowl on +his brow, paces up and down the room, saying, 'They would treat me +like a school boy; they would have me speak by rule, and according to +their own dictation. They even espy my words and actions as if I were +an enemy of the Constitution. No; let them find another. The servile +spouters in the land are as plenty as summer flies. After I deliver my +address to-day, Shakib, we will take the first train for Baalbek. I +want to see my mother. No, billah! I can not go any further with these +Turks. Why, read this.' And he hands me the memorandum, or outline of +the speech given to him by Ahmed Bey." + +And this, we learn, is a litany of praises, beginning with Abd'ul-Hamid +and ending with the ulema of Damascus; which litany the Society +Deputies would place in the mouth of Khalid for the good of all +concerned. Ay, for his good, too, if he but knew. If he but looked +behind him, he would have yielded a whit, this Khalid. The deep chasm +between him and the Deputy, however, justifies the conduct of each +on his side: the lack of gumption in the one and the lack of depth in +the other render impossible any sort of understanding between them. +While we recommend, therefore, the prudence of the oleaginous Ahmed, +we can not with justice condemn the perversity of our fretful Khalid. +For he who makes loud boast of spiritual freedom, is, nevertheless, a +slave of the Idea. And slavery in some shape or shade will clutch at +the heart of the most powerful and most developed of mortals. Poor +Khalid! if Truth commands thee to destroy the memorandum of Ahmed +Bey, Wisdom suggests that thou destroy, too, thine address. And +Wisdom in the person of Sheikh Taleb now knocks at thy door. + +The Sheikh is come to admonish Khalid, not to return his visit. For at +this hour of the day he should have been a-bed; but his esteem for +Mrs. Gotfry, billah, his love, too, for her friend Khalid, and his +desire to avert a possible danger, banish sleep from his eyes. + +"My spirit is perturbed about thee," thus further, "and I can not feel +at ease until I have given my friendly counsel. Thou art free to +follow it or not to follow it. But for the sake of this beard Sheikh +Khalid, do not speak at the Mosque to-day. I know the people of this +City: they are ignorant, obtuse, fanatical, blind. 'God hath sealed +up their hearts and their hearing.' They will not hear thee; they can +not understand thee. I know them better than thou: I have lived +amongst them for forty years. And what talk have we wasted. They will +not hear; they can not see. It's a dog's tail, Sheikh Khalid. And what +Allah hath twisted, man can not straighten. So, let it be. Let them +wallow in their ignorance. Or, if thou wilt help them, talk not to +them direct. Use the medium of the holy man, like myself. This is my +advice to thee. For thine own sake and for the sake of that good +woman, thy friend and mine, I give it. Now, I can go and sleep. +Salaam." + +And the grey beard of Sheikh Taleb and his sharp blue eyes were +animated, as he spoke, agitated like his spirit. What he has heard +abroad and what he suspects, are shadowed forth in his friendly +counsel. Let Khalid reflect upon it. Our Scribe, at least, is +persuaded that Sheikh Taleb spoke as a friend. And he, too, suspects +that something is brewing abroad. He would have Khalid hearken, +therefore, to the Sheikh. + +But Khalid in silence ponders the matter. And at table, even Mrs. +Gotfry can not induce him to speak. She has just returned from the +bazaar; she could hardly make her way through the choked arcade +leading to the Mosque; the crowd is immense and tumultuous; and a +company of the Dragoons is gone forth to open the way and maintain +order. "But I don't think they are going to succeed," she added. +Silently, impassively, Khalid hears this. And after going through the +second course, eating as if he were dreaming, he gets up and leaves +the table. Mrs. Gotfry, somewhat concerned, orders her last course, +takes her thimble-full of coffee at a gulp, and, leaving likewise, +hurries upstairs and calls Khalid, who was pacing up and down the +hall, into her room. + +"What is the matter with you?" + +"Nothing, nothing," murmured Khalid absent-mindedly. + +"That's not true. Everything belies your words. Why, your actions, +your expression, your silence oppresses me. I know what is disturbing +you. And I would prevail upon you, if I could, to give up this +afternoon's business. Don't go; don't speak. I have a premonition that +things are not going to end well. Why, even my dragoman says that the +Mohammedan mob is intent upon some evil business. Be advised. And +since you are going to break with your associates, why not do so now. +The quicker the better. Come, make up your mind. And we'll not wait +for the morning train. We'll leave for Baalbek in a special carriage +this afternoon. What say you?" + +Just then the brass band in front of the Hotel struck up the Dastur +march in honour of the Sheikhs who come to escort the Unionist +Deputies and the speaker to the Mosque. + +"I have made up my mind. I have given my word." + +And being called, Mrs. Gotfry, though loath to let him go, presses his +hand and wishes him good speed. + +And here we are in the carriage on the right of the green-turbaned +Sheikh. We look disdainfully on the troops, the brass band, and the +crowd of nondescripts that are leading the procession. We cross the +bridge, pass the Town-Hall, and, winding a narrow street groaning with +an electric tramway, we come to the grand arcade in which the +multitudes on both sides are pressed against the walls and into the +stalls by the bullying Dragoons. We drive through until we reach the +arch, where some Khalif of the Omayiahs used to take the air. And +descending from the carriage, we walk a few paces between two rows of +book-shops, and here we are in the court of the grand Mosque Omayiah. + +We elbow our way through the pressing, distressing multitudes, +following Ahmed Bey into the Mosque, while the Army Officer mounts a +platform in the court and dispenses to the crowd there of his Turkish +blatherskite. We stand in the Mosque near the heavy tapestried square +which is said to be the sarcophagus of St. John. Already a Sheikh is +in the pulpit preaching on the excellences of liberty, chopping out +definitions of equality, and quoting from Al-Hadith to prove that all +men are Allah's children and that the most favoured in Allah's sight +is he who is most loving to his brother man. He then winds up with an +encomium on the heroes of the day, curses vehemently the reactionaries +and those who curse them not (the Mosque resounds with "Curse the +reactionists, curse them all!"), tramples beneath his heel every spy +and informer of the New Era, invokes the great Allah and his Apostle +to watch over the patriots and friends of the Ottoman nation, to +visit with grievous punishment its enemies, and--descends. + +The silence of expectation ensues. The Mosque is crowded; and the +press of turbans is such that if a pea were dropt from above it would +not reach the floor. From the pulpit the great Mohammedan audience, +with its red fezes, its green and white turbans, seemed to Khalid like +a verdant field overgrown with daisies and poppies. "It is the +beginning of Arabia's Spring, the resuscitation of the glory of +Islam," and so forth; thus opening with a flourish of flattery like +the spouting tricksters whom he so harshly judges. And what shall we +say of him? It were not fair quickly to condemn, to cry him down at +the start. Perhaps he was thus inspired by the august assembly; +perhaps he quailed and thought it wise to follow thus far the advice +of his friends. "It was neither this nor that," say our Scribe. "For +as he stood in the tribune, the picture of the field of daisies and +poppies suggested the picture of Spring. A speaker is not always +responsible for the frolics of his fancy. Indeed, an audience of some +five thousand souls, all intent upon this opaque, mysterious Entity in +the tribune, is bound to reach the very heart of it; for think what +five thousand rays focussed on a sensitive plate can do." Thus our +Scribe, apologetically. + +But after the first contact and the vibrations of enthusiasm and +flattery that followed, Khalid regains his equilibrium and reason, and +strikes into his favourite theme. He begins by arraigning the +utilitarian spirit of Europe, the rank materialism which is invading +our very temples of worship. God, Truth, Virtue, with them, is no +longer esteemed for its own worth, but for what it can yield of the +necessities and luxuries of life. And with these cynical materialistic +abominations they would be supreme even in the East; they would +extinguish with their dominating spirit of trade every noble virtue of +the soul. And yet, they make presumption of introducing civilisation +by benevolent assimilation, rather dissimulation. For even an +Englishman in our country, for instance, is unlike himself in his own. +The American, too, who is loud-lunged about democracy and shirt-sleeve +diplomacy, wheedles and truckles as good as the wiliest of our pashas. +And further he exclaims: + +"Not to Christian Europe as represented by the State, therefore, or by +the industrial powers of wealth, or by the alluring charms of +decadence in art and literature, or by missionary and educational +institutions, would I have you turn for light and guidance. No: from +these plagues of civilisation protect us, Allah! No: let us have +nothing to do with that practical Christianity which is become a sort +of divine key to Colonisation; a mint, as it were, which continually +replenishes the treasuries of Christendom. Let us have nothing to do +with their propagandas for the propagation of supreme Fakes. No, no. +Not this Europe, O my Brothers, should we take for our model or +emulate: not the Europe which is being dereligionised by Material +Science; disorganised by Communion and Anarchy; befuddled by +Alcoholism; enervated by Debauch. To another Europe indeed, would I +direct you--a Europe, high, noble, healthy, pure, and withal +progressive. To the deep and inexhaustible sources of genius there, of +reason and wisdom and truth, would I have you advert the mind. The +divine idealism of German philosophy, the lofty purity of true French +art, the strength and sterling worth of English freedom,--these we +should try to emulate; these we should introduce into the gorgeous +besottedness of Oriental life, and literature, and religion...." + +And thus, until he reaches the heart of his subject; while the field +of daisies and poppies before him gently sways as under a soft morning +breeze; nods, as it were, its approbation. + +"Truly," he continues, "religion is purely a work of the heart,--the +human heart, and the heart of the world as well. For have not the +three monotheistic religions been born in this very heart of the +world, in Arabia, Syria, and Palestine? And are not our Books of +Revelation the truest guides of life hitherto known to man? How then +are we to keep this Heart pure, to free it, in other words, from the +plagues I have named? And how, on the other hand, are we to strengthen +it, to quicken its sluggish blood? In a word, how are we to attain to +the pinnacle of health, and religion, and freedom,--of power, and +love, and light? By political revolutions, and insurrections, and +Dasturs? By blindly adopting the triple political tradition of France, +which after many years of terror and bloodshed, only gave Europe a new +Yoke, a new Tyranny, a new grinding Machine? No, my Brothers; not by +political nomenclature, not by political revolutions alone, shall the +nations be emancipated." + +Whereupon Ahmed Bey begins to knit his brows; Shakib shakes his head, +biting his nether lip; and here and there in the audience is heard a +murmur about retrogression and reaction. Khalid proceeds with his +allegory of the Muleteer and the Pack-Mule. + +"See, the panel of the Mule is changed; the load, too; and a few +short-cuts are made in the rocky winding road of statecraft and +tyranny. Ah, the stolid, patient, drudging Mule always exults in a new +Panel, which, indeed, seems necessary every decade, or so. For the old +one, when, from a sense of economy, or from negligence or stupidity, +is kept on for a length of time, makes the back sore, and the Mule +becomes kickish and resty. Hence, the plasters of conservative +homeopathists, the operations suggested by political leeches, the +radical cures of social quacks, and such like. But the Mule continues +to kick against the pricks; and the wise Muleteer, these days, when he +has not the price of a new Panel, or knows not how to make one, sells +him to the first bidder. And the new owner thereupon washes the sores +and wounds, applies to them a salve of the patent kind, buys his Mule +a new Panel, and makes him do the work. That is what I understand by a +political revolution.... And are the Ottoman people free to-day? Who +in all Syria and Arabia dare openly criticise the new Owner of the +Mule? + +"Ours in a sense is a theocratic Government. And only by reforming +the religion on which it is based, is political reform in any way +possible and enduring." And here he argues that the so-called +Reformation of Islam, of which Jelal ud-Din el-Afghani and Mohammed +Abdu are the protagonists, is false. It is based on theological +juggling and traditional sophisms. Their Al-Gazzali, whom they so much +prize and quote, is like the St. Augustine of the Christians: each of +these theologians finds in his own Book of Revelation a divine +criterion for measuring and judging all human knowledge. No; a +scientific truth can not be measured by a Koranic epigram: the Koran, +a divine guide to life; a work of the heart should not attempt to +judge a work of the mind or should be judged by it. + +"But I would brush the cobwebs of interpretation and sophism from this +Work of the heart," he cries; "every spider's web in the Mosque, I +would sweep away. The garments of your religion, I would have you +clean, O my Brothers. Ay, even the threadbare adventitious wrappages, +I would throw away. From the religiosity and cant of to-day I call you +back to the religion pure of the heart...." + +But the Field of poppies and daisies begins to sway as under a gale. +It is swelling violently, tumultuously. + +"I would free al-Islam," he continues, "from its degrading customs, +its stupefying traditions, its enslaving superstitions, its imbruting +cants." + +Here several voices in the audience order the speaker to stop. +"Innovation! Infidelity!" they cry. + +"The yearly pestiferous consequences of the Haji"--But Khalid no +longer can be heard. On all sides zealotry raises and shakes a +protesting hand; on all sides it shrieks, objurgating, threatening. +Here it asks, "We would like to know if the speaker be a Wahhabi." +From another part of the Mosque comes the reply: "Ay, he is a +Wahhabi." And the voice of the speaker thundering above the storm: +"Only in Wahhabism pure and simple is the reformation of al-Islam +possible."... Finis. + +Zealotry is set by the ear; the hornet's nest is stirred. Your field +of poppies and daisies, O Khalid, is miraculously transformed into a +pit of furious grey spectres and howling red spirits. And still you +wait in the tribune until the storm subside? Fool, fool! Art now in a +civilised assembly? Hast thou no eyes to see, no ears to hear? + +"Reactionist! Infidel! Innovator! Wahhabi! Slay him! Kill him!"--Are +these likely to subside the while thou wait? By the tomb of St. +John there, get thee down, and quickly. Bravo, Shakib!--He rushes +to the tribune, drags him down by the jubbah, and, with the help of +another friend, hustles him out of the Mosque. But the thirst for +blood pursues them. And Khalid receives in the court outside a +stiletto-thrust in the back and a slash in the forehead above the +brow down to the ear. Which, indeed, we consider a part of his good +fortune. Like the muleteer of his Lebanon tour, we attribute his +escape with two wounds to the prayers of his good mother. For he is +now in the carriage with Shakib, the blood streaming down his back +and over his face. With difficulty the driver makes his way through +the crowds, issues out of the arcade, and--crack the whip! Quickly +to the Hotel. + +The multitudes behind us, both inside and outside the Mosque, are +violently divided; for the real reactionists of Damascus, those who +are hostile to the Constitution and the statochratic Government, are +always watching for an opportunity to give the match to the dry sedges +of sedition. And so, the liberals, who are also the friends of Khalid, +and the fanatical mobs of the ulema, will have it out among +themselves. They call each other reactionists, plotters, conspirators; +and thereupon the bludgeons and poniards are brandished; the pistols +here and there are fired; the Dragoons hasten to the scene of +battle--but we are not writing now the History of the Ottoman +Revolution. We leave them to have it out among themselves as best they +can, and accompany our Khalid to the Hotel. + +Here the good Mrs. Gotfry washes the blood from his face, and Shakib, +after helping him to bed, hastens to call the surgeon, who, having +come straightway, sews and dresses the wounds and assures us that they +are not dangerous. In the evening a number of Sheikhs of an +enlightened and generous strain, come to inquire about him. They tell +us that one of the assailants of Khalid, a noted brigand, and ten of +the reactionists, are now in prison. The Society Deputies, however, do +not seem much concerned about their wounded friend. Yes, they are +concerned, but in another direction and on weightier matters. For the +telegraph wires on the following day were kept busy. And in the +afternoon of the second day after the event, the man who helped Shakib +to save Khalid from the mob, comes to save Khalid's life. The +Superintendent of the Telegraph himself is here to inform us that +Khalid was accused to the Military Tribunal as a reactionist, and a +cablegram, in which he is summoned there, is just received. + +"Had I delivered this to the Vali," he continues, "you would have been +now in the hands of the police, and to-morrow on your way to +Constantinople. But I shall not deliver it until you are safe out of +the City. And you must fly or abscond to-day, because I can not delay +the message until to-morrow." + +Now Khalid and Shakib and Mrs. Gotfry take counsel together. The one +train for Baalbek leaves in the morning; the carriage road is ruined +from disuse; and only on horseback can we fly. So, Mrs. Gotfry orders +her dragoman to hire horses for three,--nay, for four, since we must +have an extra guide with us,--and a muleteer for the baggage. + +And here Shakib interposes a suggestion: "They must not come to the +Hotel. Be with them on the road, near the first bridge, about the +first hour of night." + +At the office of the Hotel the dragoman leaves word that they are +leaving for a friend's house on account of their patient. + +And after dinner Mrs. Gotfry and Khalid set forth afoot, accompanied +by Shakib. In five minutes they reach the first bridge; the dragoman +and the guide, with their horses and lanterns, are there waiting. +Shakib helps Khalid to his horse and bids them farewell. He will leave +for Baalbek by the first train, and be there ahead of them. + + * * * * * + +And now, Reader, were we really romancing, we should here dilate of +the lovely ride in the lovely moonlight on the lovely road to Baalbek. +But truth to tell, the road is damnable, the welkin starless, the +night pitch-black, and our poor Dreamer is suffering from his wounds. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE STONING AND FLIGHT + + +"And whence the subtle thrill of joy in suffering for the Truth," asks +Khalid. "Whence the light that flows from the wounds of martyrs? +Whence the rapture that triumphs over their pain? In the thick of +night, through the alcoves of the mountains, over their barren peaks, +down through the wadi of oblivion, silently they pass. And they dream. +They dream of appearance in disappearance; of triumph in surrender; of +sunrises in the sunset. + +"A mighty tidal wave leaves high upon the beach a mark which later on +becomes the general level of the ocean. And so do the great thinkers +of the world,--the poets and seers, the wise and strong and +self-denying, the proclaimers of the Religion of Man. And I am but a +scrub-oak in this forest of giants, my Brothers. A scrub-oak which you +might cut down, but not uproot. Lop off my branches; apply the axe to +my trunk; make of my timber charcoal for the censers of your temples +of worship; but the roots of me are deep, deep in the soil, beyond the +reach of mortal hands. They are even spreading under your tottering +palaces and temples.... + +"I dream of the awakening of the East; of puissant Orient nations +rising to glorify the Idea, to build temples to the Universal +Spirit--to Art, and Love, and Truth, and Faith. What if I am lost in +the alcoves of the hills, if I vanish forever in the night? The sun +that sets must rise. It is rising and lighting up the dark and distant +continents even when setting. Think of that, ye who gloat over the +sinking of my mortal self. + +"No; an idea is never too early annunciated. The good seed will grow +among the rocks, and though the heavens withhold from it the sunshine +and rain. It is because I will it, nay, because a higher Will than +mine wills it, that the spirit of Khalid shall yet flow among your +pilgrim caravans, through the fertile deserts of Arabia, down to the +fountain-head of Faith, to Mecca and Medina," et cetera. + +This, perhaps the last of the rhapsodies of Khalid's, the Reader +considering the circumstances under which it was written, will no +doubt condone. Further, however, in the K. L. MS. we can not now +proceed. Certainly the Author is not wanting in the sort of courage +which is loud-lunged behind the writing table; his sufficiency of +spirit is remarkable, unutterable. But we would he knew that the +strong do not exult in their strength, nor the wise in their wisdom. +For to fly and philosophize were one thing, and to philosophize in +prison were another. Khalid this time does not follow closely in the +way of the Masters. But he would have done so, if we can believe +Shakib in this, had not Mrs. Gotfry persuaded him to the contrary. He +would have stood in the Turkish Areopagus at Constantinople, defended +himself somewhat Socratic before his judges, and hung out his tung on +a rickety gibbet in the neighborhood of St. Sophia. But Mrs. Gotfry +spoiled his great chance. She cheated him of the glory of dying for a +noble cause. + +"The Turks are not worth the sacrifice," Shakib heard her say, when +Khalid ejaculated somewhat about martyrdom. And when she offered to +accompany him, the flight did not seem shameful in his eyes. Nay, it +became necessary; and under the circumstances it was, indeed, +cowardice not to fly. For is it not as noble to surrender one's self +to Love as to the Turks or any other earthly despotism? Gladly, +heroically, he adventures forth, therefore, and philosophizes on the +way about the light that flows from the wounds of persecution. But we +regret that this celestial stream is not unmixed; it is accompanied by +blood and pus; by distention and fever, and other inward and outward +sores. + +In this grievous state, somewhat like Don Quixote after the Battle of +the Mill, our Khalid enters Baalbek. If the reader likes the +comparison between the two Knights at this juncture, he must work it +out for himself. We can not be so uncharitable as that; especially +that our Knight is a compatriot, and is now, after our weary +journeyings together, become our friend.--Our poor grievous friend who +must submit again to the surgeon's knife. + +Mrs. Gotfry would not let him go to his mother, for she herself would +nurse him. So, the doctor is called to the Hotel. And after opening, +disinfecting, and dressing the wounds, he orders his patient to keep +in bed for some days. They will then visit the ruins and resume their +journeying to Egypt. Khalid no longer would live in Syria,--in a +country forever doomed to be under the Turkish yoke, faring, nay, +misfaring alike in the New Era as in the Old. + +Now, his mother, tottering with age and sorrow, comes to the Hotel, +and begs him in a flood of tears to come home; for his father is now +with the Jesuits of Beirut and seldom comes to Baalbek. And his cousin +Najma, with a babe on her arm and a tale of woe in her eyes, comes +also to invite her cousin Khalid to her house. + +She is alone; her father died some months ago; her husband, +after the dethronement of Abd'ul-Hamid, being implicated in +the reaction-movement, fled the country; and his relatives, to +add to her affliction, would deprive her of her child. She is +alone; and sick in the lungs. She coughs, too, the same sharp, +dry, malignant cough that once plagued Khalid. Ay, the same +disease which he buried in the pine forest of Mt. Lebanon, he +beholds the ghost of it now, more terrible and heart-rending +than anything he has yet seen or experienced. The disease which +he conquered is come back in the person of his cousin Najma to +conquer him. And who can assure Khalid that it did not steal +into her breast along with his kisses? And yet, he is not the +only one in Baalbek who returned from America with phthisis. O, +but that thought is horrifying. Impossible--he can not believe +it. + +But whether it be from you or from another, O Khalid, there is the +ghost of it beckoning to you. Look at it. Are those the cheeks, those +the eyes, this the body which a year ago was a model of rural charm +and beauty and health? Is this the compensation of love? Is there +anything like it dreamt of in your philosophy? There she is, who once +in the ruined Temple of Venus mixed the pomegranate flower of her +cheeks with the saffron of thy sickly lips. Wasted and dejected broken +in body and spirit, she sits by your bedside nursing her baby and +coughing all the while. And that fixed expression of sadness, so +habitual among the Arab women who carry their punks and their children +on their backs and go a-begging, it seems as if it were an hundred +autumns old, this sadness. But right there, only a year ago, the +crimson poppies dallied with the laughing breeze; the melting rubies +dilated of health and joy. + +And now, deploring, imploring, she asks: "Will you not come to me, O +Khalid? Will you not let me nurse you? Come; and your mother, too, +will live with us. I am so lonesome, so miserable. And at night the +boys cast stones at my door. My husband's relatives put them to it +because I would not give them the child. And they circulate all kinds +of calumnies about me too." + +Khalid promises to come, and assures her that she will not long remain +alone. "And Allah willing," he adds, "you will recover and be happy +again." + +She rises to go, when Mrs. Gotfry enters the room. Khalid introduces +his cousin as his dead bride. "What do you mean?" she inquires. He +promises to explain. Meanwhile, she goes to her room, brings some +sweetmeats in a round box inlaid with mother-of-pearl for Khalid's +guests. And taking the babe in her arms, she fondles and kisses it, +and gives its mother some advice about suckling. "Not whenever the +child cries, but only at stated times," she repeats. + +So much about Khalid's mother and cousin. A few days after, when he is +able to leave his room, he goes to see them. His cousin Najma he would +take with him to Cairo. He would not leave her behind, a prey to the +cruelty of loneliness and disease. He tells her this. She is +overjoyed. She is ready to go whenever he says. To-morrow? Please +Allah, yes. But-- + +Please Allah, ill-luck is following. For on his way back to the Hotel, +a knot of boys, lying in wait in one of the side streets, cast stones +at him. He looks back, and a missile whizzes above his head, another +hits him in the forehead almost undoing the doctor's work. Alas, that +wound! Will it ever heal? Khalid takes shelter in one of the shops; a +cameleer rates the boys and chases them away. The stoning was repeated +the following day, and the cause of it, Shakib tells us, is patent. +For when it became known in Baalbek that Khalid, the excommunicated +one, is living in the Hotel, and with an American woman! the old +prejudices against him were aroused, the old enemies were astirring. +The priests held up their hands in horror; the women wagged their long +tongues in the puddle of scandal; and the most fanatical shrieked out, +execrating, vituperating, threatening even the respectable Shakib, who +persists in befriending this muleteer's son. Excommunicated, he now +comes with this Americaniyah (American woman) to corrupt the +community. Horrible! We will even go farther than this boy's play of +stoning. We present petitions to the kaiemkam demanding the expulsion +of this Khalid from the Hotel, from the City. + +From other quarters, however, come heavier charges against Khalid. The +Government of Damascus has not been idle ever since the seditious +lack-beard Sheikh disappeared. The telegraph wires, in all the +principal cities of Syria, are vibrating with inquiries about him, +with orders for his arrest. One such the kaiemkam of Baalbek had just +received when the petition of the "Guardians of the Morals of the +Community" was presented to him. To this, the kaiemkam, in a +perfunctory manner, applies his seal, and assures his petitioners that +it will promptly be turned over to the proper official. But Turk as +Turks go, he "places it under the cushion," when they leave. Which +expression, translated into English means, he quashes it. + +Now, by good chance, this is the same kaiemkam who sent Khalid a year +ago to prison, maugre the efforts and importunities and other +inducements of Shakib. And this time, he will do him and his friend a +good turn. He was thinking of the many misfortunes of this Khalid, and +nursing a little pity for him, when Shakib entered to offer a written +complaint against a few of the more noted instigators of the +assailants of his friend. His Excellency puts this in his pocket and +withdraws with Shakib into another room. A few minutes after, Shakib +was hurrying to the Hotel to confer with his brother Khalid and Mrs. +Gotfry. + +"I saw the Order with these very eyes," said Shakib, almost poking his +two forefingers into them. "The kaiemkam showed it to me." + +Hence, the secret preparations inside the Hotel and out of it for a +second remove, for a final flight. Shakib packs up; Najma is all +ready. And Khalid cuts his hair, doffs his jubbah, and appears again +in the ordinary attire of civilised mortals. For how else can he get +out of Beirut and the telegraph wires throughout Syria are flowing +with orders for his arrest? In a hat and frock-coat, therefore +(furnished by Shakib), he enters into the carriage with Mrs. Gotfry +about two hours after midnight; and, with their whole retinue, make +for Riak, and thence by train for Beirut. Here Shakib obtains +passports for himself and Najma, and together with Mrs. Gotfry and her +dragoman, they board in the afternoon the Austrian Liner for +Port-Said; while, in the evening, walking at the side of one of the +boatmen, Khalid, passportless, stealthily passes through the port, and +rejoins his friends. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE DESERT + + +We remember seeing once a lithographic print representing a Christmas +legend of the Middle Ages, in which a detachment of the Heavenly +Host--big, ugly, wild-looking angels--are pursuing, with sword and +pike, a group of terror-stricken little devils. The idea in the +picture produced such an impression that one wished to see the +helpless, pitiful imps in heaven and the armed winged furies, their +pursuers, in the other place. Now, as we go through the many pages of +Shakib's, in which he dilates of the mischances, the persecutions, and +the flights of Khalid, and of which we have given an abstract, very +brief but comprehensive, in the preceding Chapters, we are struck with +the similarity in one sense between his Dastur-legend, so to speak, +and that of the Middle Ages to which we have alluded. The devils in +both pictures are distressing, pitiful; while the winged persecutors +are horribly muscular, and withal atrociously armed. + +Indeed, this legend of the Turkish angels of Fraternity and Equality, +pursuing the Turkish little devils of reaction, so called, is most +killing. But we can not see how the descendants of Yakut and Seljuk +Khan, whether pursuers or pursued, whether Dastur winged furies they +be, or Hamidian devils, are going to hold their own in face of the +fell Dragon which soon or late must overtake them. That heavy, +slow-going, slow-thinking Monster--and it makes little difference +whether he comes from the North or from the West--will wait until the +contending parties exhaust their strength and then--but this is not +our subject. We would that this pursuing business cease on all sides, +and that everybody of all parties concerned pursue rather, and +destroy, the big strong devil within them. Thus sayeth the preacher. +And thus, for once, we, too. For does not every one of these furious +angels of Equality, whether in Constantinople, in Berlin, in Paris, in +London, or in New York, sit on his wings and reveal his horns when he +rises to power? We are tired of wings that are really nothing but +horns, misshaped and misplaced. + +Look at our French-swearing, whiskey-drinking Tataric angels of the +Dastur! Indeed, we rejoice that our poor little Devil is now beyond +the reach of their dripping steel and rickety second-hand gibbets. And +yet, not very far; for if the British Government consent or blink, +Khalid and many real reactionists whom Cairo harbours, would have to +seek an asylum elsewhere. And the third flight might not be as +successful as the others. But none such is necessary. On the sands of +the Libyan desert, not far from Cairo and within wind of Helwan, they +pitch their tents. And Mrs. Gotfry is staying at Al-Hayat, which is a +stone's throw from their evening fire. She would have Khalid live +there too, but he refuses. He will live with his cousin and Shakib +for a while. He is captivated, we are told, by that little cherub of a +babe. But this does not prevent him from visiting his friend the +Buhaist Priestess every day and dining often with her at the Hotel. + +She, too, not infrequently comes to the camp. Indeed, finding the +solitude agreeable she has a tent pitched near theirs. And as a relief +from the noise and bustle of tourists and the fatiguing formalities of +Hotel life, she repairs thither for a few days every week. + +Now, in this austere delicacy of the desert, where allwhere is the +softness of pure sand, Khalid is perfectly happy. Never did he seem so +careless, our Scribe asserts, and so jovial and child-like in his +joys. Far from the noise and strife of politics, far from the +bewildering tangle of thought, far from the vain hopes and dreams and +ambitions of life, he lives each day as if it were the last of the +world. Here are joys manifold for a weary and persecuted spirit: the +joy of having your dearest friend and comrade with you; the joy of +nursing and helping to restore to health and happiness the woman +dearest to your heart; the joy of a Love budding in beauty and +profusion; and--this, the rarest and sublimest for Khalid--the joy of +worshipping at the cradle--of fondling, caressing, and bringing up one +of the brightest, sweetest, loveliest of babes. + +Najib is his name--it were cruel to neutralise such a prodigy--and +he is just learning to walk and lisp. Khalid teaches him the first +step and the first monosyllable, receiving in return the first +kiss which his infant lips could voice. With what joy Najib makes his +first ten steps! With what zest would he practise on the soft sands, +laughing as he falls, and rising to try again. And thus, does he +quickly, wonderfully develop, unfolding in the little circle of his +caressers--in his mother's lap, in Shakib's arms, on Khalid's back, +on Mrs. Gotfry's knee--the irresistible charm of his precocious +spirit. + +In two months of desert life, Najib could run on the sands and sit +down when tired to rest; in two months he could imitate in voice +and gesture whatever he heard or saw: the donkey's bray, and with a +tilt of the head like him; the cry of the cock; the shrill whistle +of the train; and the howling of donkey boys. His keen sense of +discrimination in sounds is incredible. And one day, seeing a +Mohammedan spreading his rug to pray, he begins to kneel and kiss the +ground in imitation of him. He even went into the tent and brought +Khalid's jubbah to spread it on the sand likewise for that purpose. +So sensitive to outside impressions is this child that he quickly +responds to the least suggestion and with the least effort. Early +in the morning, when the chill of night is still on the sands, he +toddles into Khalid's tent cooing and warbling his joy. A walking +jasmine flower, a singing ray of sunshine, Khalid calls him. And the +mother, on seeing her child thus develop, begins to recuperate. In +this little garden of happiness, her hope begins to blossom. + +But Khalid would like to know why Najib, on coming into his tent in +the morning and seeing him naked, always pointed with his little +finger and with questioning smile, to what protruded under the navel. +The like questions Khalid puts with the ease and freedom of a child. +And writes full pages about them, too, in which he only succeeds in +bamboozling himself and us. For how can we account for everything a +child does? Even the psychologist with his reflex-action theory does +not solve the whole problem. But Khalid would like to know--and +perhaps not so innocently does he dwell upon this subject as upon +others--he would like to know the significance of Najib's pointed +finger and smile. It may be only an accident, Khalid. "But an +accident," says he, "occurring again and again in the same manner +under stated conditions ceases to be such." And might not the child, +who is such an early and keen observer, have previously seen his +mother in native buff, and was surprised to see that appendage in you, +Khalid? + +Even at Al-Hayat Najib is become popular. Khalid often comes here +carrying him on his back. And how ready is the child to salaam +everybody, and with both hands, as he stands on the veranda steps. +"Surely," says Khalid, "there is a deeper understanding between man +and child than between man and man. For who but a child dare act so +freely among these polyglots of ceremony in this little world of +frills and frocks and feathers? Who but a child dare approach without +an introduction any one of these solemn-looking tourists? Here then is +the divine source of the sweetest and purest joy. Here is that one +touch of Nature which makes the whole world kin. For the child, and +though he be of the lowest desert tribe, standing on the veranda of a +fashionable Hotel, can warm and sweeten with the divine flame that is +in him, the hearts of these sour-seeming, stiff-looking tourists who +are from all corners of the earth. Is not this a miracle? My professor +of psychology will say, 'Nay.' But what makes the heart leap in that +grave and portly gentleman, who might be from Finland or Iceland, for +all I know, when Najib's hand is raised to him in salutation? What +makes that stately and sombre-looking dame open her arms, when Najib +plucks a flower and, after smelling it, presents it to her? What makes +that reticent, meditative, hard-favoured ancient, who is I believe a +psychologist, what makes him so interested in observing Najib when he +stands near the piano pointing anxiously to the keyboard? For the +child enjoys not every kind of music: play a march or a melody and he +will keep time, listing joyously from side to side and waving his hand +in an arch like a maestro; play something insipid or chaotic and he +will stand there impassive as a statue." + +And "the reticent hard-favoured ancient," who turns out to be an +American professor of some ology, explains to Khalid why lively music +moves children, while soft and subtle tones do not. But Khalid is not +open to argument on the subject. He prefers to believe that children, +especially when so keenly sensitive as his prodigy, understand as +much, if not more, about music as the average operagoer of to-day. +But that is not saying much. The professor furthermore, while +admitting the extreme precocity of Najib's mind, tries to simplify by +scientific analysis what to Khalid and other laymen seemed wonderful, +almost miraculous. Here, too, Khalid botches the arguments of the +learned gentleman in his effort to give us a summary of them, and +tells us in the end that never after, so long as that professor was +there, did he ever visit Al-Hayat. + +He prefers to frolic and philosophise with his prodigy on the sands. +He goes on all four around the tent, carrying Najib on his back; he +digs a little ditch in the sand and teaches him how to lie therein. +Following the precept of the Greek philosophers, he would show him +even so early how to die. And Najib lies in the sand-grave, folds his +hands on his breast and closes his eyes. Rising therefrom, Khalid +would teach him how to dance like a dervish, and Najib whirls and +whirls until he falls again in that grave. + +When Mrs. Gotfry came that day, Khalid asked the child to show her how +to dance and die, and Najib begins to whirl like a dervish until he +falls in the grave; thereupon he folds his arms, closes his eyes, and +smiles a pathetic smile. This by far is the masterpiece of all his +feats. And one evening, when he was repeating this strange and weird +antic, which in Khalid's strange mind might be made to symbolise +something stranger than both, he saw, as he lay in the grave, a star +in the sky. It was the first time he saw a star; and he jumped out of +his sand-grave exulting in the discovery he had made. He runs to his +mother and points the star to her.... + +And thus did Khalid spend his halcyon months in the desert. Here was +an arcadia, perfect but brief. For his delight in infant worship, and +in the new Love which was budding in beauty and profusion, and in +tending his sick cousin who was recovering her health, and in the +walks around the ruins in the desert with his dearest comrade and +friend,--these, alas, were joys of too pure a nature to endure. + + + + +AL-KHATIMAH + +"But I can not see all that you see." + +"Then you do not love me." + +"Back again to Swedenborg--I told you more than once that he is not my +apostle." + +"Nor is he mine. But he has expressed a great truth, Jamilah. Now, can +you love me in the light of that truth?" + +"You are always asking me that same question, Khalid. You do not +understand me. I do not believe in marriage. I tried it once; I will +not try it again. I am married to Buhaism. And you Khalid--remember my +words--you will yet be an apostle--the apostle--of Buhaism. And you +will find me with you, whether you be in Arabia, in America, or in +Egypt. I feel this--I know it--I am positive about it. Your star and +mine are one. We are born under the same star. We are now in the same +orbit, approaching the same nadir. We are ruled by our stars. I +believe this, and you don't. At least, you say you don't. But you do. +You don't know your own mind. The trend of the current of your life is +beyond your grasp, beyond your comprehension. I know. And you must +listen to me. You must follow my advice. If you can not come with me +now to the States, you will await me here. I am called on a pressing +business. And within three months, at the most, I shall return and +find you waiting for me right here, in this desert." + +"I can not understand you." + +"You will yet." + +"But why not try to understand me? Can you not find in my ideas the +very essence of Buhaism? Can you not come up to my height and behold +there the star that you have taken for your guide? My Truth, Jamilah, +can you not see that? Love and Faith, free from all sectarianism and +all earthly authority,--what is Buhaism or Mohammedanism or +Christianity beside them? Moreover, I have a mission. And to love me +you must believe in _me_, not in the Buha. You laugh at my dream. But +one day it will be realised. A great Arab Empire in the border-land of +the Orient and Occident, in this very heart of the world, this Arabia, +this Egypt, this Field of the Cloth of Gold, so to speak, where the +Male and Female of the Spirit shall give birth to a unifying faith, a +unifying art, a unifying truth--" + +"Vagaries, chimeras," interrupted Mrs. Gotfry. "Buhaism is established, +and it needs a great apostle. It needs you; it will have you. I will +have you. Your destiny is interwoven with mine. You can not flee it, +do what you may. We are ruled by our stars, Khalid. And if you do not +realise this now, you will realise it to-morrow. Here, give me your +hand." + +"I can not." + +"Very well, then. Good-bye--_au revoir_. In three months you will +change your mind. In three months I will return to the East and find +you waiting for me, even here in this desert. Think on it, and take +care of yourself. _Au revoir._" + +In this strange, mysterious manner, after pacing for hours on the sand +in the sheen of the full moon, Mrs. Gotfry says farewell to Khalid. + +He sits on a rock near his tent and ponders for hours. He seeks in the +stars, as it were, a clue to the love of this woman, which he first +thought to be unfathomable. There it is, the stars seem to say. And he +looks into the sand-grave near him, where little Najib practises how +to die. Yes; a fitting symbol of the life and love called modern, +boasting of freedom. They dance their dervish dance, these people, +even like Khalid's little Najib, and fall into their sand-graves, and +fold their arms and smile: "We are in love--or we are out of it." +Which is the same. No: he'll have none of this. A heart as simple as +this desert sand, as deep in affection as this heaven, untainted by +the uncertainties and doubts and caprices of modern life,--only in +such a heart is the love that endures, the love divine and eternal. + +He goes into Najma's tent. The mother and her child are sound asleep. +He stands between the bed and the cot contemplating the simplicity and +innocence and truth, which are more eloquent in Najib's brow than +aught of human speech. His little hand raised above his head seems to +point to a star which could be seen through an opening in the canvas. +Was it his star--the star that he saw in the sand-grave--the star that +is calling to him?-- + +But let us resume our narration. + +A fortnight after Mrs. Gotfry's departure Shakib leaves the camp to +live in Cairo. He is now become poet-laureate to one of the big +pashas. + +Khalid is left alone with Najma and Najib. + +And one day, when they are playing a game of "donkey,"--Khalid carried +Najib on his back, ran on all four around the tent, and Najma was the +donkey-driver,--the child of a sudden utters a shriek and falls on the +sand. He is in convulsions; and after the relaxation, lo, his right +hand is palsied, his mouth awry, and his eyes a-squint. Khalid finds a +young doctor at Al-Hayat, and his diagnosis of the case does not +disturb the mind. It is infantile paralysis, a disease common with +delicate children. And the doctor, who is of a kind and demonstrative +humour, discourses at length on the disease, speaks of many worse +cases of its kind he cured, and assures the mother that within a month +the child will recover. For the present he can but prescribe a +purgative and a massage of the arm and spine. On the third visit, he +examines the child's faeces and is happy to have discovered the seat +and cause of the affection. The liver is not performing its function; +and given such weak nerves as the child's, a torpid liver in certain +cases will produce paralysis. + +But Khalid is not satisfied with this. He places the doctor's +prescription in his pocket, and goes down to Cairo for a specialist. +He comes, this one, to disturb their peace of mind with his +indecision. It is not infantile paralysis, and he can not yet say +what it is. Khalid meanwhile is poring over medical books on all the +diseases that children are heir to. + +On the fifth day the child falls again in convulsions, and the +left arm, too, is paralysed. They take him down to Cairo; and +Medicine, considering the disease of his mother, guesses a third +time--tuberculosis of the spine, it says--and guesses wrong. +Again, considering the strabismus, the obliquity of the mouth, the +palsy in the arms, and the convulsions, we guess closely, but +ominously. Nay, Medicine is positive this time; for a fifth and a +sixth Guesser confirm the others. Here we have a case of cerebral +meningitis. That is certain; that is fatal. + +Najib is placed under treatment. They cut his hair, his beautiful flow +of dark hair; rub his scalp with chloroform; keep the hot bottles +around his feet, the ice bag on his head; and give him a spoon of +physic every hour. "Make no noise around the room, and admit no light +into it," further advises the doctor. Thus for two weeks the child +languishes in his mother's arms; and resting from the convulsions and +the coma, he would fix on Khalid the hollow, icy glance of death. No; +the light and intelligence might never revisit those vacant eyes. + +Now Shakib comes to suggest a consultation. The great English +physician of Cairo, why not call _him_? It might not be meningitis, +after all, and the child might be helped, might be cured. + +The great guesswork Celebrity is called. He examines the patient and +confirms the opinion of his confreres, rather his disciples. + +"But the whole tissue," he continues with glib assurance, "is not +affected. The area is local, and to the side of the ear that is sore. +The strabismus being to the right, the affection must be to the left. +And the pus accumulating behind the ear, under the bone, and pressing +on the covering of the brain, produces the inflammation. Yes, pus is +the cause of this." And he repeats the Arabic proverb in broken +Arabic, "A drop of pus will disable a camel." Further, "Yes, the +child's life can be saved by trepanning. It should have been done +already, but the time's not passed. Let the surgeon come and make a +little opening--no; a child can stand chloroform better than an adult. +And when the pus is out he will be well." + +In a private consultation the disciples beg to observe that there was +no evidence of pus behind the ear. "It is beneath the skullbone," the +Master asserts. And so we decide upon the operation. The Eye and Ear +specialist is called, and after weighing the probabilities of the case +and considering that the great Celebrity had said there was pus, +although there be no evidence of it, he convinces Khalid that if the +child is not benefited by the operation he cannot suffer from it more +than he is suffering now. + +The surgeon comes with his assistants. Little Najib is laid on the +table; the chloroform towel is applied; the scalpels, the cotton, the +basins of hot water, and other accessories, are handed over by one +doctor to another. The Cutter begins. Shakib is there watching with +the rest; Najma is in an adjacent room weeping; and Khalid is pacing +up and down the hall, his brows moistened with the cold sweat of +anguish and suspense. + +No pus between the scalp and the bone: the little hammer and chisel +are handed to the Cutter. One, two, three,--the child utters a faint +cry; the chloroform towel is applied again;--four, five, six, and the +seventh stroke of the little hammer opens the skull. The Cutter then +penetrates with his catheter, searches thoroughly through the +brain--here--there--above--below--and finally holds the instrument up +to his assistants to show them that there is--no pus! "If there be +any," says he, "it is beyond the reach of surgery." The wound, +therefore, is quickly washed, sewn up, and dressed, while everybody is +wondering how the great Celebrity can be wrong.... + +Little Najib remains under the influence of anaesthetics for two +days--for two days he is in a trance. And on the third, the fever +mounts to the danger line and descends again--only after he had +stretched his little arm and breathed his last! + +And Khalid and Najma and Shakib take him out to the desert and bury +him in the sand, near the tent round which he used to play. There, +where he stepped his first step, lisped his first syllable, smacked +his first kiss, and saw for the first time a star in the heaven, he is +laid; he is given to the Night, to the Eternity which Khalid does not +fear. And yet, what tears, Shakib tells us, he shed over that little +grave. + +But about the time the second calamity approaches, when Najma begins +to decline and waste away from grief, when the relapse sets in and +carries her in a fortnight downward to the grave of her child, +Khalid's eyes are as two pieces of flint stone on a sheet of glass. +His tears flow inwardly, as it were, through his cracked heart.... + +Like the poet Saadi, Khalid once sought to fill his lap with celestial +flowers for his friends and brothers; and he gathered some; but, alas, +the fragrance of them so intoxicated him that the skirt dropt from his +hand.... + + * * * * * + +We are again at the Mena House, where we first met Shakib. And the +reader will remember that the tears rushed to his eyes when we +inquired of him about his Master and Friend. "He has disappeared some +ten days ago," he then said, "and I know not whither." Therefore, ask +us not, O gentle Reader, what became of him. How can _we_ know? He +might have entered a higher spiritual circle or a lower; of a truth, +he is not now on the outskirts of the desert: deeper to this side or +to that he must have passed. And passing he continues to dream of +"appearance in the disappearance; of truth in the surrender; of +sunrises in the sunset." + +Now, fare _thee_ well in either case, Reader. And whether well or ill +spent the time we have journeyed together, let us not quarrel about +it. For our part, we repeat the farewell words of Sheikh Taleb of +Damascus: "Judge us not severely." And if we did not study to +entertain thee as other Scribes do, it is because we consider thee, +dear good Reader, above such entertainment as our poor resources can +furnish, _Wassalmu aleik_! + + + IN . FREIKE . WHICH . IS . IN . MOUNT . LEBANON + SYRIA . ON . THE . TWELFTH . DAY . OF + JANUARY . 1910 . ANNO . CHRISTI . AND . THE + FIRST . DAY . OF . MUHARRAM . 1328 . HEGIRAH + THIS . BOOK . OF . KHALID . WAS . FINISHED + +[Illustration] + + +Transcriber's Notes: + + Typographical problems have been changed and are listed below. + Author's archaic and variable spelling is preserved. + Author's punctuation style is preserved. + Passages in italics indicated by _underscores_. + +Transcriber Changes: + + "_Les dessons[** Was 'dessous']_"--and the Poet who intersperses + + under their heavy burdens, upsetting a tray of sweetmeats[** Was + 'sweet-meats across lines] + + occasionally meets with a native who, failing as peddler[** Was + pedler] + + nevertheless[** Was 'neverthelesss'] significant to remark that + the City of + + that makes me sad.'"[** Added closing double-quote] + + land. See him genuflecting now, to kiss the curbstone[** Was + 'curb-stone' across lines] + + his _Al-Mutanabby_[** As originally printed]. In relating of + Khalid's waywardness + + Old Arabic books, printed in Bulaq,[** Added comma] generally + + ""No[** Added extra opening double-quote] more voyages, I trust, O + thou Sindbad.' And + + more than one vice to demand forgetfulness[** Was 'forgetfuless']. + + keep at the Jesuits.'[** Removed closing double-quote] + + can not understand them. They are like the sweetmeats[** Was + 'sweet-meats' across lines] + + each other, 'Ah, Adam, ah, Eve!'[** Added closing single-quote] + sighing likewise + + we will ..." Khalid makes no reply.[** Changed ',' to '.'] + + the _zeffah_ (wedding procession)[** Removed extra ')'] of none + but she and + + hermit."[** Added closing double-quote] (Strange coincidence!) "On + your way here + + out, so to speak, exposing its boulders, its little windrows[** + Was 'wind-rows' across lines] + + of the stars, I can tell thee this about them all:[** Original may + be ';'] they + + Health; in thy temples of worship, to universal Goodwill;[** Was + 'Good-will' across lines] + + on the _gulma_ (oustraation of animals)[** Added closing ')'], + called forth, we + + regret and sorrow.[** Changed ',' to '.'] That such a beautiful + face should + + "I am a Christian, too."[** Added closing double-quote] + + Meanwhile, she goes to her room, brings some sweetmeats[** Was + 'sweet-meats' across lines] + + as a statue."[** Added closing double-quote] + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Book of Khalid, by Ameen Rihani + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOOK OF KHALID *** + +***** This file should be named 29257.txt or 29257.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/9/2/5/29257/ + +Produced by Todd Fine, Dan Horwood and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |