The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1888-05-24
CORPORAL SUASI0N,
The Eastern Custom Of Beating the
LOwly for All Sorts of Reasons.
BY THOMAS STEVENS.

LUhIl lU1 All DUI 10 vi 1SOuCuHCs
BY THOMAS STEVENS
One of the most singular phases of life in the
East to an American traveller is the utter lack
of sef-asserton in the lower classes whenever
their social superiOTs choose to infict upon them
corporal abuse. All tourists and globe trotters
have, of course, seen the ordinary serviity and
meekness of the Oriental plebe; but only those
whose interior wanderings have taken them
in direct contact with the everyday life of the
people fully realize the depth of this degrade
ton
1t came under my notice for the first time
one day
N HUNGARY
in full force. Svetozar Igali, a Magyar wheel
man, was riding with me down the Danube
Valley. Three days out from Buda Pesth we
reached the village of Duna Zegedo, where re-
sided the aunt of my companion, at whose hos
pitable house we remained over for dinner.
The old lady received us cordially, even affec-
tionately. She was a motherly, gentle-eyed
dame, about 80, her whole appearance and de-
meanor being pre-eminenty mild and domes-
tic. As we sat on the little veranda and slipped
the red Zegzardi wine she sat at our feet, and
looking worshipfully up into our faces, stroked
her nepheW's hand and purred as softly as
kitten.
1 thought she was about the gentlest and
most harmless old lady l ever saw, and so she
was, no doubt to everybody of equal station IN
life with herself. We had been resting but
few minutes however, when a big, hulking
peasant came slOuching across the yard. lie
was man Of about 40, bushy whiskered and
strong as an OK. He was the kind-faced old
lady's man-of-all-work, and he had been gone
somewhere triie too long to suit his mis-
tress Like a cat when it suddenly sees dog,
our hostess bristed up and assailed the luckless
wight with dire Hungarian threats in tone
that one would hardly have thought her capa-
bic of. The man responded with surly, boy
ish pout and moved off at slow, unwilling
pace to obey her orders.
This Slight
SHOW OF INSTRUMENTATION
irritated the good dame beyond endurance.
Grabbing a stick, she sailed across the yard af-
ter him and gave the fellow vigorous dress
ing down. The big peasant was mad as wet
hen, and knit his brows and pOuted till his
neither lip well-nigh concealed his chin, but he
offered no verbal remonstranCe. When she got
through drubbiug him the old lady followed
him doggedly round and round the premises
hustling him along from point to point, and
hurrying him through his work by fairly wav-
ing the rod over his head This was the first
time had seen big middle-aged man trOunced
like an urchin for his faults by woman with
a stick, and naturally viewed the performance
with some establishment. Svetozar lgali and
his cousins, however, took no moro notice of it
than if the old lady had been chastising COW.
After this first introduction saw plenty ofthe
same spirit of domination exercised over the
| peasantry in the East on various occasions.
IN sERvIA
the state Of society in this respect reminds one
very forcibly of what it was in England in the
! days Of feudal lords and villeins several cen
! turtles ago. I doubt, however, if the Saxon vii
/ lein, even in the time of the early Norman
! Kings, was so thoroughly crushed a mortal as
| the Serviau peasant The young mobiles of Bel
grade who entertained Svetozar IgaIi and me,
1 and drove us about the city and suburbs in I'M
ported Yiennese barouches, slashed the peas
ants with their long whips right and left in
wanton sport whenever we passed q string Of
| them bringing their heavily-laden wagons
into town. They meant their blows to hurt,
! too, sashing them across the head and shout
ders, and laughing gleefully whenever they
| made a good hit.
The peasants lodged and bumped their shout
ders aud ran off the road, but / never saw one
Of them show a spark Of selEassertiOn. As re-
| CARDS spirit they seemed to me to be pretty
much on a level with the pariahs that from
Belgrade eastward begin to swarm the streets
Like the pariahs they are equal to desultOry
squabbe occasionally among themselves, but
! KICKS ana UlOWS from LAeEf SuperlOT5 are re-
| ceived with abject subm ission. The better
classes seem quite unconscious of there being
| any injustice in this insolence, or if they are
| conscious Of it they never show it. Our Bel
grade entertainers seemed generous, whole
souled fellows enough, but 1 never heard one
of them attempt to check or chide another fol-
striking an inofensive peasant. In one Of the
barouches was little boy, the pet brother Of
one Of the young men. whip was given tC
this y0ungster, aud he was encouraged to try
his tiny strength and dexterity at scoring a hit
whenever we were about TO pass peasant
The small aristOcrat would whack away and
chuckle loudly at his own cleverness, precisely
as though he were practiciug on some passing
animal. The women, too, seem to be tarreC
with the same feather. The son of one of the
wealthiest and most aristocratic families Of Bel
grade told his mother and sisters at the dinne
table about me shaking my head in disapprova
of their wanton siashing Of the whip. Thu
ladies' gentle, refined and well-bred, as sucl
things 20 in Servia, smiled amusedly at thu
idea plainly, they couldn't understand why
or anyone else should object to striking peas
ant.
THE BULGARIANs,
: I think, have a little more latent spirit thar
the SerVians, but not much. The Turks hav
pretty well crushed out whatever self-assertioI
; they might at one time have had-Turkisl
misrule, | mean, for the individual Turk is les
given to the use and abuse of the stick thar
the Sultan's Christian subjects are. The BuI
garian peasant is a thiCk-headed, good -humore
animal who cares nothing for a blow unless i
happens to hurt. Like an animal if it hurt
he winces, perhaps even growls, but if it doesn'
9 he doesn't mind there is no sense of indignit
r felt
Ioncesa a case ofsummary justice melted on
. in native simplicity to a burly peasant in tn
frontier village of ZaribrOd by little wizene
' old Chorbadji A couple of peasants were i
dispute about something, and had come to til
0 Chorbadii to have the matter decided The Chol
badii listened patiently to both sides, question:
0 them a little, and then, having satisfied himse
4 | as to which was ia the wrong, proceeded at one
e to fog the delinquent with stick. The Choi
l badii was not much more than half as big
c the peasant, but the latter whimpered an
0 pouted like q schoolboy as the little old ma
- made the dust fly out of his blouse and the
: salaamed meekly and shuifled off, with sheer
0 ish eer at the spectators.
g Corporal suasion prevails
AMONG THE TURKS,
4 but to a less extent than among the Orientt
: Christian races The Turkish peasant seen
!, to be made of somewhat more manly clay tina
:, the Serb or Bulgar, and. while he would hardl
49,. l.