The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-09-02
CYPRIOT WOMEN.
a.yJwPaEs or CURIOUS HOME GUS
TOMS AND OUTDOOR LIFE.
tTpall Afnli Gazatte.l


lnte as two years ago the Turkish girl mer-
chant paid his yearly visits TO Cyprus. bis
ostenslble purpose was to recruit dancing
girls, for the word slavery was not to be SO
much ag mentioned among the Greeks; but
IT was pretty we'll understood that when Il
Young Cypriot woman accepted an offer to go
and dance at Constantinople or Bagdad
her relatives saw no more OF her
unless she turned up In after years as a large
widow with u great deal of superfluous jewel
~ about her. Vassiopoulos, the inkeeper,
used to say but this was some years ago
that the pHshas, and even his Majesty the
Sultan, had q particular liking for the Cyprlot
madens owing to their merry eyes ana tlelf
incomparable grace in dancing, and that II 1t
had not been for the vigilance OF the Cyprihn
young men and the patriotic NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
Of Cyprian mothers the whole female popula,
zion OF the island sacred &c. Aphrodlte would
have found It's way into the TURKISH sefagllos
This statement contained possibly but O grain
of truth, for Cyprian mothers OF the peasant
class, when overburdened with families, did
not think twice about accepting merchants
offer Of u cash payment in exchange for one
OF their daughters. The transaction was not
indeed, regarded as honorable; 1t was not
talked about, and some mystery had to pc
observed In conveying the girl away; but the
merchant scarcely selected more than score
or two Of the population every year, and 1t
was known that the chosen few were going to
O lite OF brilliant possibilities which might re-
The State aud sending home frequent remit
tances to their relations. For the rest, the
female population in Cyprus, as La the other
f4reek Islands. much exceeded that OF the
males, and when the innkeepers two sons,
Dimitri and Pericles, went counting they
must have found the marriage market rather
overstouked. The Cyprian dnmsel is q curious
compound OF destinations and oddities Seen
ut her best, on one Of those innumerable
saints days when she does no work beyond
trucking herself out In fine clothes and assisting
her mother to dispense hospitality, she looks
like masquerade heroine, whatever be her
station. She Weaves up her hair with gold
coins, twists it, plaits II and Contrives, with O
red and yellow kerchief, q head-dress which
looks like u tsllban, but is made tOp-heavy by
being surmounted with On embroidered muf-
hn.cap and tassel. She wears baggy breaches,
sky-blue ur pink, which descend to the knee,
the rest OF tho legs and feet being bare, except
when to honor company she reluctantly dons
u pair OF babOuches, In which she feels uncOm-
Portable. She Is generally fat and wears q
short jackot prof,tsely, braided, which does
not reach to her waist; she rouges and
whitens her creamy complexion till 1t looks
like tho face of o wax image; she paints her
eyebrows deep black, and by some cunning
pencil touches at the corners of her
eyes contrives to make them look twice their
proper sze. Then she feels happy, and gig
giles whom compimcntod. She cannot read
or write, but she can sing, play on q triangu-
iar guitar and spin round in u fantastic dance
which takes her breath away and makes her
cry q Hoo! while the stranger who watches
her turns giddy from sympathy. Nor Is she
without religion, for during the long Lenten
fast and Oh Fridays throughout the year she
lives On bread and olives, considering it @
deadly sin to eat anything that has
breatheti," fish included. She sees less sin In
telling tib5 and IN discussing scandal. 1t takes
some time to familari2n oneself with q Cy-
prian girl, for something Of the Mussulman
practice OF secluding women prevails among
the Greeks, and bevy OF maidens will scurry
of like frightened poultry it man APP
proaches them to talk; but once this shyness
has worn off, the chief conversational topic of
the bashfu maiden will relate to her neigh
bors' shortcomings. She will tell you with
smothered laughter things which she has
learned In the most surreptitions manner,
and her dark eyes will sparkle with the fun OF
misunderstanding.
The countless feast days in the Greek calen-
dar afford an excuse for constant laZiness,
mixed with social festivty, and there is no
hovol SO poor but manages somehow on these
occasions to put forth fruit ielles, raw spirits
and coffee to entertain the stranger. Travel
Ing about the island with Vassilopoulos one
was reminded once or twice q week that a day
had come when no work was to be done, and,
In fact the fields are as deserted on these days
as Scotch ones on u Sunday. In the morning
the people troop to church. where the papas
tpric5ts) oticiate In gorgeous vestments within
churches mostly in ruins, but full of
votive limoges 10 painted marble or In
carved wood, dressed out like dolls. In the
and often shriel1ing quarrels ending by fights
t Hsh time 'eS un tHfV0 night @ eoes away oG
when there ID great deal of dancing sing
ing and carousing inside barns. All this is
gay enough, but soon pals upon the stranger,
who finds the people more attractive on
working days, when they have no frippery or
gewgaws about them. The women are excel
lent housewives, and their daughters learn
early to swab and scrub till they make the
baster, It might be wished that they were
equally active in warning against the, para
sites which linger in the woodwork Of their
dwellings; but they seem to treat these
creatures as honored guests and never dis
turb them. On workings day the Cyprian girl
mise and let's her hair fall down her back,
tying 1t just below the neck with q string of
beads She is surprisingly active despite her
nlumpness, and races about after goats, pigs
credit to d boy. Ii of marriageable age
she will not beg, but at sight of
stranger halloos to her younger
sisters to come forth and claim bacl1sheesh;
the which having been duly obtained Nor those
little Greek girls are wonderful coaxers), she
levies her share, which is expended in buying
tinery Of the .peddlers. The dream Of the
Greek girl Is to be as sumptuous as those
Mussulman ladies whom she occasionally
sees driving about the island in carts drawn
hy oxen. aud whom she envies with all her
heart without being able to see their faces In
nh the Greek tiles the sefrnuret, or yelling, OF
the Mussulman ladies is very close, and their
pride liz also immense, for. being ina minor.
lily, they hold altogether aloof from the Chris
Turkish officials not rich enough to
affold ox-carts walk out to the bazaars
attended by servants, and whenever they
meet u man turn their faces, though
veiled right away from him, In lonely
streets or country roads they stand still and
turn their backs until he has passed. The
Greek women, while laughing at these GUS
toms, secretly admire them, as enhancing
tho majesty Of their sex; and one of the first
purchases made by a Cyprian maiden when
she has saved probationary Is a veil, in
which she tries to drape hesolf, not over sue
cessfuly like the Mussuman danes, danes I'll Ih Is
tho open air it would excite the ire OF the
Greek boys, besides hiding that beauteouSi
arrangement Of rouging, blackening and
whitening above mentioned. Dimitri aud
Pericl0s used TO assert that a girls face was
no moro made tor concealment than the
moons, and the maidens Of the place would