Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1892-10-12
GREEK PEASANT GIRLS AND
HOW THEY LIVE.

earth looks parched and dry. Away IN
the distance the dark shadows are
strongly defined on the hills. which
lift their graceful outlines into the sky,
their sides hardly clothed by a single
tree or shrub. The azure npd gold of
the island studded sea extends away to
the verge of the horizon. drowsy
heat is in the clear fine air; great grass
hoppers, a compile of inches long, fit from
one of the tall arnaranth plants to an-
other; green lizards flash here and
there amidst the lower vegetation, or
cross the path with speed that detie5
capture. Fastening to their little white
nests, which hang like 1eecy balls from
the branches of the few stunted bushes
or are hidden amongst the stones;
meek-looking goats with pendant ears,
and thin, dlngy -colored sheep, patiently
| crop the dusty grass from which an
English h-bred animal would turn in
disgust. Nothing preserves its green
hue but the young vine shoots, destined
to fade too into dirty grey and yellow
as the summer goes on and the heat
| increases
This is Greek landscape; a land
! scape snch as one may see almost any
where in that wonderful oil young land
of Hellas, which awoke some seventy
years ago from a sleep of twenty CEN
Iuries.
la the mi lst of field a peasant girl
its on n stone, resting as people rest
i'll tropical or semi-tropical countries,
for the mere pleasure of being still,
only her black eyes seem on the alert,
glancing here and there. taking IN all
around her, and appearing to seek tor
the least thing new or strange IN the
familiar scene. 1t is these eyes which
chiefly distinguish her from the Orien-
tai, the Turkish. or Syrian woman,
who could continue to gaze at vacancy
for hours together, her large full orbs
showing no Consciousness OF any exter-
nal object. These same restless eyes
light up face certainly not | retty,
but distinctly refined iu type. Over
her head she has twisted kerchief of
colored cotton stuff-she prob ,bly has
an embroidered one for Sunday and
feast days-and from its mater al and
the arrangements of its folds the lnltl
ated could tell with accuracy what is
her native province, and even her ma
tive district. Below her bed -gown-like
white garment ber bare brown ankles
appear, while on her feet she wears
heelless leather shoes. Around her
waist a sash is fastened; she has long
apron, and over all jacket of white
woolen stuff bordered with black.
What sort of life does this girl lead?
Well, it differs widely enough from
that of girls here; she lacks good many
of their advantages, but also several of
their troubles and cares, for she lives
il land where the wants of man are
few and easily supplied, where warm
| nla rtah
little needed during at least nine
months of the year.
Probably when little Maria, or Pho
tine, or Sophia lit matters little what
name we give herr, was born, her pa
rents did not receive her with as much
Joy as they would have done had she
been n boy; at least unless they were
| welI-off people already provided with
sons enough. Daughters are expen;
sive articles in a Greek peasant family
they cannot earn much, and they mu
he provided with dowry; for without
it, however attractive they may be,
they will scarcely be likely to find a
/ husband; and an old maid is deemed
| disgrace to the family to which she be-
longs, or at least burden on ist re-
| sources.
| So Photiue's father, while she was
still swathed up in the bi' DIS aud ban
| da yes which gave her no power of
moving her limbs made her look like
a juvenile mummy. and generally rem
dered her infant life misery to her,
began to think of laying by something
for her preekd, and her mother con-
sidered what collars and waist buckles
and bracelets she would take out of her
store to give to her daughter on her
wedding day.
| But Photine as yet was seTenely in
different to such matters, and lay
peacefully in her little wooden cradle,
| formed of a block of wood followed
/ out in the centre, while her mother or
an elder sister soothed her to sleep
with quaint old cradle songs.
When four or five months old, Pho
tine was baptized and received an Of
fetal name, having been until then
only the pGidakt (the baby. Her
godmother carried her to the church,
and the Dapas (the village PRIEST, hav-
ing anointed her with oil, plunged her
iuto q great caldron OF water, immers-
ing her whole body; then she was
dressed in fresh garments as a symbol
! of her new position as a member of the
| Christian Church, and carried back to
her mother, who was waiting at home;
| for it is not customary in Greece for a
mother to attend the baptism of her
child.
| The years passed by, and Photine
grew; by and-by she was able to toddle
about, and when her mother went to
the fields to work, she would carry her
ON her back and set her down to play
the livelong day in the sun, or to sleep
in the shade of the gray green olive
trees. In the winter things were not
so pleasant, for then Pbotine, and her
mother too very often, stayed at home;
J and home was only a one roomed cot
tage, with probably nothing in it that
we should call furniture; no table, nor
chair, nor bed-only few water and
wine jars Of baked clay and a couple of
big boxes to contain clothes and orua-
ments- On raised platform at one
end the ent re family slept, wrapped in
rugs and sheepskIns, and always fully
dressed Sitting on the floor, they ate
their simple food of coarse unleavened
bread, cheese made from the milk of
goats or sheep, olives AMI various veg
I etables prepared with oil, and now anl
| then little salt fish. Yes, it wa very
dreary in winter, and cold too, for the
fire in one corner yielded more smoke
than heat; and when in severe weather
the goats and sheep We're brought in
to sleep in the house with their mas
ters. Photine was often glad to lie down
beside them for the sake of the warmth
they afforded.
: Photine rejoiced when the warmer
air of February enabled her again to
play out of doors: aud then too Easter
was near-Easter. the greatest festival
of all the year. Lent came and dragged
itself along, from "Clean Monday"
when all traces of grease or oil are to
be removed from cooking vessels in
preparation for the great feast, to
''Great Saturday" Easter Saturday.,
when the festal lamb was slaughtered
bY each family On Saturday evening