The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1896-08-06
THE CEMETERY At SCUTARl.
Why tho Osmanli Prefer to BE Buried at
That Particular Place.

That Particular Place.
"And why do the Osmanli prefer
Scutari as burial place to any other:'
because it is there the trumpet OF
the archangel will b: first heard. Tho
true believers who lie at Scutari will
first rise to answer it; next the faith
ful from the other parts of the earth.
After that the Hebrews, and, lastly,
Giaours, who follow other gods"
Thus spoke grave old turbaned
Turk, who stood beneath cypress tree
on the slopes of the world-famed ceme-
terry on the Sea of Marmora.
"All know" he went on, in calm,
judicial accents, shat when the last
days of the world are drawing near.
the Osmanli will be driven forth from
STEAMBOAT by the Frank. Then, for
space, there will he trouble and turmoil
on the earth; all Sons of the Faithful
will fly to Scutari as refuge; thera
they, the living and the dead alike, will
await the Day of Judgment"
With that, thinking it was hurt to
his dignity to parley longer with a
Giaour, he gathered his robes about
him, saluted majestically, then passed
slowly away down to the gates of the
cemetery, leaving the stranger to wan
der at his pleasure through that forest
of tall tombstones standing erect.
The coup d'aeil is picturesque in the
extreme. AS far as one can see, the
long, slender shafts of marble rise be-
meath the shadow of the massive cy-
presses-the Tree of Allah, the Osmanli
call it, which points its finger to the
sky-while the luxuriant vegetation OF
the east clusters around the base OF
the slabs, emphasizing their snowy
whiteness and preventing them from
being too dazzling to the eye.
Each tomb bears its own decoration.
| A single leafet, the dropping petals OF
a rose, or a graceful frond OF fern indi-
cate that a female form lies below. A
turban or fez shows that the dead per-
son was man. Lamps, ostrich eggs.
sashcs, fringed and colored handker-
chiefs of varied hue, all have their
own Specification; while here and there
will be some tall stone, sculptured from
end to end, its ornamentation IN high
relief, encircled by number OF small
er ones, which proves that the father
of a family--a man Of wealth-rests
here surrounded by his wives and chill
dren. A curved scimitar shows that a
man of war reposes here; an anchor
marks the sleeping place of sailor; a
wand of Office proves that the dead
man held some post of command. SO
on, till something is learned of all, even
though one may not be able to decipher
the fantastic Arabic characters which
! tell with more detail the history of the
dead.
The terms in which the Turk expresses
his lamentations are often very pathet-
ic, especially when they refer to the
loss of his wife or child.
Here is one, taken from the tomb of
young girl, which elrectually combats
the common western delusion that the
Osmanli believe that women are born
without souls or hope o. future life:
"The cold blasts Of fate caused this
nightingale to wing its way to Heaven
There it has found its awaited bliss.
Zeinab is the name of her who lies be-
low, and for her Lababa, who wrote
these lines, offers humble petition.
Weep not for her, for, though dead,
she has become sojourner in tn.
| Gardens of Paradise" Paurs.