Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1882-02-17
An Evening in Damascus.

1t was sweet aad pensive evening,
fitted to make one think OF dear friends
at home, and the sadness which atflicts
my country in its hours of bereavement
and sorrow. am not one of those who
are ashamed to confess that the teach
ing OF nature now only leads me to love
my friends and my country, but in a
larger sense to love the primal loving
| cause Of all our blessings. Nothing so
binds me in willing fetters" as
the silver meshes OF brook.
and these seven rivers of Damascus
produce a pleasing acquiesecnce, to
which the beau. -. adds its fas-
cinatien. There was song in the
groves of tall poplsrs, and Expresses,
like music heard in dreams. Besides,
there were old plane trees, whose
branches have listened to many story
of the good Csliph's time.
They spread their great arms in ges-
lures of eastern welcome while giving
their venerable aspect to the mellow
light and rejecting their shadows in
the pleasant waters. We enter O gar
den where, along with the murmur of
fountains, we hear the tinkle of the
guitar and the drumming of tbs tam
BOURNE. They accompany some voices
singing that olden drawling ditty Of
the Orient, heard from Morocco to
Bagdad. Seated under the trees are
some hundreds OF Arabs in every pos
ture smoking cigarettes and nargiles.
They arc old and young, but all grave
as their tombstoDes. We order a
chiboCque and coffee, and listen. ask
the drago nar, What is the song
about?"
1t is the old love song" he says.
"Oh heart! why lowest thou SO much ?
knowest thou not that thy beloved
will fade as the roses? Come to Toe
beloved, before thou diest Heart OF
my heart! come and solaco me before
the end cometh." This was too
lachrymose for our jocund spirit, SO we
ask
Can not yon get up a jolly song,
and make these solemn faces smile?'
No one smiles in this strange coun-
try. The dogs even partake of the
general gravity. The way they howl,
even before hurt, is sample of the
melancholy characteristic of all. Men
big men-burst into tears on the
least occasion. They are tender and
simple hearted. 1 should infer, there.
fore, that they would be pervious to
mirth; and at this festive place be-
came anxious to know Whist resource
this land has for any vent and vein OF
humor. The guide tries it with a silver
mejideah "a dollsr), and the band
strikes up aroundelay, which wss only
a quicker variation Of the same lyrical
drawl. This music had words little
moro sprightly.
l ask what they purport. "Oh. it il
song of love-sick boy for a passion.
ate girl, and the girls anxiety to see
the boy" A few old Arabs make 6
hilarious grunt at some of the verses
and some young men look at me sskani
with q curious smile. 1t was sone
not at all fitted for ears polite. as l sur
missed; but not understanding Arabic
stood the embarrassment. The trutE
is, this Arab music has an Offenbach
immoral twang. and much of its sweet
ness and characteristics in certain tones
but it is incapable OF notation on &C
count of its short or quarter notes ani
it's irregularity and capriciousness.
have had enough of it. I prefer th'
sweet solace of the bray of the meel
and miserable donkey to this "damna
BILE iteration" OF barbaric wailipg.-
| N. Y. San.