Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1851-05-13
VOL. Ono. Ii.



work. TO mere Muslin observers they were
carpenters, masous, hhorers, and tradesnnen
Of al kinds We passed many mcditating
Cairene, to whom there was nothing but the
monotony Of an old uiory in that evening
aud on that road. Dut We saw all the pa
gcaEtFg Of oriental romance quietly dom
keying into Cairo. Camels, too, swaying
aud waving like hugo phantoms Of tho twi-
light, horses With strange gay trappings,
curbed by tawny turhaned cgues,rians, tho
/ peaked top Of the rcd slippers resting in the
shovel stirrup. 1t was fair festal evening,
The whole world was masquerading, and SO
yell that it seemed reality.
] saw radladccn with a gorgeous turban
and ray sash. His chiboque, wound with
colored sils end gold threads was borne be-
/ hind him by slave Fat and funny was
was not by, it was cloar to sec in the languid
dfoop of bis eye that choice Arabian verses
were sung by the twilight in his mind.
Yet was Menus still the evening star; for
behind him, closely Yelled came Lalla Rookh.
She was wrapped 10 vast silken bag, that
bulged ike balloon over her donkey. But
star-suhused evening cloud was that bulky
baekness, as her twin eyes shone forth Ii
quidly lustrous.
Abon llassan sat at the city gate, and l
saw Haroun Alrashid quietly coming up in
the disguise Of Moussoul merchant |
could not but wink at Abon, for / knew him
so long ago IT. the Arabian Nights But he
rather stared than sauted. as friends NAV,
in a masquerade There was Sinbid the ror-
ter too, hurrying to Sinbad the sailer /
turned and watched his form fade in twilight,
yet | doubt if he reached Bagdad in time
for the eighth history.
Scarce had he passed when long string
Of donkeys ambled by bearing each one of
the inflated balloons. 1t was barem taking
the evening air. A hugo eunuch was the
captain, and rode before They are boated,
dead-eyed creatures, the eunuchs--but there
be no eyes Of greater Importance to martial
minds. The ladies came gayly after in sim
gle Gle. chatting together, and, although
Arabys daughters are still born to blush
unseen, they looked earnestly upon tho star
ing strangers. Did those strangers long to
behold that hidden beauty? Could they
help il if all the softness and sweetness of
hidden faces radiant from melting eyes
Then came Sakkas-men with hog skins
Elung over their backs, full Of water / re-
membered the land and the time of putting
wine into old bottles, and was showed back
beyond glass. Pedlars -swarthy fatalists
in lovely lengths Of robe and turban. cried
heir wares To our Franks ear it was
mere Babel iargon Yet had erudito MIR.
Lsne accompanied ns--Mr. Lane. the East
ern Englishman, who has given us so many
golden glimpses into the silence and mystery
Of oriental life like good genius revealing
to ardent lovers the ever hallowed heart Of
the harem-we should have understood those
cries.
We should have heard Sycamore figs, 0
grape" meaning that said figs were offer
ell, and the sweetness Of sense and sound
that grapes hath was only bait for the at
tention = or, s'Odors of Paradise, O flowers
Of the henna. causing Muslin maidens to
tingc to their very nails ends or indeed,
these pcdlar poets, vending watermelons,
sang, "Consolcr Of the embarrassed, q Pips.'
Were they not poets, these pedlars, and full
of all oriental extravaganza For the sweet
association Of poetic names shed silvery
sheen over the actual article offered The
unwary philosopher might fancy that he
was buying comfort in green watermelon.
and the pietest dream Of momentocs Of heav-
en- in the mere earthly vanity of henna.
But the philapthropic merchant Of sour
lines, God make them light--limes" mean
ing not the fruit nor the stomach Of the pur-
chaser, but bis purse And what would the
prisoner of the passing black balloons say to
the ambiguousness of Tho work of the bull,
O maidens" imocently indicating kind Of
cotton cloth made l,y bnll moved machinery?
VIII they never have done with hieroglyphic
and phinxes these Egyptians? Here man,
rose cmbowered, chants ''Ihe rose is thorn,
from tho sweat of the prophet it doomed
meaning simply "Fresh roses"
These are masquerade manners, and they
are pleasant. The maidens buys not benna
only, but thought of heaven The poet
not watermclons only, but dream Of conso-
lation, which truly he win need When shall
we bear in broadway, Spring blush of the
hillside o Strawberries" or Breast buds of
Venus, O milk" Never, never until milk
men are turbancd, and berry women balloon
ed
A pair of Persians wound among these
pedlars clad in the strange costume. They
wore high, shaggy hats, and undressed skins.
and in their grdles shone silver mounted
pistols ard daggcrs. They had come into
the West. and were lettering along, amazed
at what was extremely East to us. They
had been famous at Gotham; no Muscat
envoy more admired But nobody stared at
them here except us. We we're the odd and
observed Wehad strayed into The univer-
sal reye and had forgotten to don turbans
at the gate. o pyramids thought |, to BIO
where Persians are commonplace.
In this brilliant bewilderment we played
only the part Of Howadji, which is the uni
versal name for traveller-the "Forestiero"
of Italy. 1t signifies merchant or shopkeep-
err; and truly the Egyptians must agree with
the bilious Frenchman, that the English are
a nation Of sbopkeepers, seeing them swarm
forever through the land For those who
dwell at karnak and in the shadow of Mem
non, who build their mud huts upon the Edfoo
Temple, and break up Colossa for time can
not imagine any travel but that for direct
golden gain. Belzoni was held in the wiser
native mind to be mere Donsterswigel of
treasure hunter. Did not Hamed Aga come
IL.