The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1894-02-14
THE END OF RAMADAN
GRAPHIC ACCOUNT OF THE CLOSE
OF THE FORTY DAYS FAST.

Beginning and Ending of the Rite-The
Legend Upon which the Uncomfortable
Custom Is Based.
We sat in the tents shadow, with our
faces turned toward Cairo. There were
three of us, the sheik of the neighLor.
ing village, Ahmed and /. The clear
outline of the Mokhattan hills was hid
den in the thick mist generated by the
heat; the city was gray blur against
the black sides of the uplands. Below
us, amid the sugar cane, the fellahin
worked with an affectation of energy.
Sometimes voice came to us mellowed
by distance; sometimes the sail of
vessel glided phantom over the blue
ribbon of water that twined along the
valley toward Alexandria and the delta.
A month before had seen the mes
sengers leave the city and strike into
the desert. Twenty-four hours later,
dusty and hot, they returned, bearing
news The new moon had appeared,
and the fast was proclaimed. A mid
night Il gun doomed from the citadel,
and suddenly the merry noises of the
streets We're stilled.
Next day wandered through the ba-
zaars, but received no invitation to
drink coffee with my friends. Pipes and
cigarettes We're not offered to me. A
kind of half sleep had fallen ON every
body, aud ! hardly dared speak to any
one. In tho intervals between their
barg1mings the merchants read the Ko-
ran OF prayed, counting their beads with
nimble fingers, head bent downward.
The GGrgairiugs, too. wero poor shad-
ow OF tho exciting scenes loved. The
pui chaser was always languid and the
vendor inert, uninterested.
As the afternoon wore on a look of
fatigue, often of real pain, gloomed on
the usually genial faces. 1t was hot,
so hot. Tic sun beat furiously on the
white walls and roads; tho cruel Kem-
pion whirled tho dust through the
streets and dried tho skin and lips.
But the cry of tho water carrier was
not raised; 10 boys offered lunches of
juicy fruit to the sufferers. Ramadan
had come with all its terrurs, and for
the love of God and his apostle must
they be borne, il not choerfully, at any
rate stornly and maIfrlly.
One hour before sunset life seemed
to stir again in tho veins. The bakeries
were crowded; tho fires blazed under
the ovens; smell of cooking stole over
the city, Women squattcd at intervals
along the streets with cakes and fruit
and bottles If water spread before them.
Little groups gathered round them, i'm
patient, eSpectant. The smokers took
out their pipes or cigarettes and stood
waiting for the signal, match in hand.
Suddenly the sun fel, and the gun
thundered from the citadel. The city
awoke; the population began to eat; the
women were busy disposing of their
goods.
For 40 days these things were, and
now was come the closing day of the
fast, and | sat with my friends ON the
sand, gazing toward tho citadel till the
gun showed FIRE for the last time.
All the afternoon envious glances
had been cast at me as cheerfully dis
obeyed the prophets orders. Ahmed, l
think, had the sheik not been with me,
would have smoked cigarette, but as
1t was he lay beside me and sull1ed.
The sheik WAS too old to behave thus.
He was quiet and spoke slowly, but he
tried bravely to conceal all signs of dis
comfort. Ahmed's annoyance may be
accounted for in this way. He declared
to me that Mohammed tasted one day in
the month Ramadan, but on which day
was uncertain. and therefore the the
ologians decreed 40 days fast that
they might be sure of fasting the same
day AS the prophet. | do not think All
med believes this legend, though he
vouches vehemently for its truth.
To while away tho time l asked the
sheik to tell mo about tho visit of the
czarowitz. But the long abstinence
made him unable to talk at any length,
and even this his favorite story he
told me briefly in couple of bald SEN
fences, though he responded gently: II
met him as ono prince meets another.
He told mo he owned many villages;
that he was sheik over half the world.
1t may be rs they have said."