Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1878-05-04
Droll Features Of the Great Turkisn
Fast.

tFrom Coustantinope" by Edmoudo De Ami.
els
Finding myself At Const antinople in the
month of RamaZan, which is The ninth month
OF the Turkish year, in which fails the Mus
Sulman season of Lent. | Witnessed every
evening comedy which is worth description
During the whole of Lent il is prohibited TO
the Turks TO eat, drink, or smoke, from the
rising OF the sun TO the setting. Almost all
consequently, spend the might in eating and
drinking: but as long as the sun i above the
horizon, almost all respect the religious pre-
Cept, and no one dares IL trangreSs il pub
ncly. one morning my friend and | went TO
visit an acquaintance, one of the Sulran'S aid
de-campS. an unprecedented Young officer. and
We found him in a room on the ground floor of
the imperial palace, with cup Of coffee in his
hand. What" exclaimed lauk, do you
dare 10 take coffee after SuHriSe?" The officer
shrugged his shoulders and replied that he
laughed at Ramazan and fasting; but just at
that moment door opened suddenly. and he
I'M ade so rabid movement To hide his cup
t hat he overturned il, and split il on his boot
IL may be understood from this how rigorous
IS the abstinence imposed upon those who are
All day long under the eyes of others: the
o oOa,men; for instance: II is amusing to plant
one 5 sell upon the bridge Of the sultan Va
noe lew minutes before the sun goes down
ABOUT thousand boatmen may be seen at
sHIS poini lar and near. going and coming, or
sIttliS sun. 1hey have everyone been fast
ing since dawn, are wild with hunger. and
nave theif little suppers ready in The caique
ana az aieir eyes continually move from the food
10 lhe sun, from the sun to the food while
there is general agitation and restlessneSs
among them, as in menagere when the ami
mails are about to be fed. The disappearance
OF the sun is annOunced by a gun. Before that
longed-for moment no one puts a crust of
bread or drop of water into his mouth.
sometimes, in corner OF the Golden Horn
We tried to bride out bOatmen to eat before
the lawful moment, but they always answered !:
IOk I0k.' FOX. no no no pointing to the
sun with a timorous gesture. When the sun
is half hidden. they begin to take the food i'm
their hands: when there is nothing but thin
luminous arch, then those who are motionleSS,
and those who are rowing, those who are
crossing the Golden Horn and those who are
skimming over the Bosphorus. those who are
sailing in the Sea of Marmora. and those who
are resting in the most solitary bays of the
ASiatic shore, all with one accord turn to
wards the west and stand fixed, with their
eyes on the sun, mouths open, bread in hand,
and JOY in the viSage. When nothing is viSi-
bic but one small fiery point, at last the fiery
point VaniSheS, the cannon thunderS. and in
that very instant thirty-two thousand teeth
bite OFF enormous morSelS from a thousand
pieces of bread: but what am | saying? A
! thousand, In every house, i'm every cafe i'm
every cavern the same thing is happening at
the same moment: and for a few minutes the
Turkish city IS nothing but a monster with a
hundred thousand mouths that eats and
drinks