The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1897-11-04
/. CHARACTER OF THE TURK.
Opstlnacy Is the Chief Feature OF
This Oriental.

. . Z
obst'nacv Is the Chief Feature Of
This Oriental
Inc leading feature of the Turkish
character is obstinacy, says Harper's
nound Fable: There is only one thing
Ihat will induce Turk to do some
thing he does not want to-that IS
[orce. When that is applied, or he sees
1t Is going to be, he will give in. II
ne, however, thinks the other side is
not IN earnest he will hold out. and
sometimes that brings him into trou-
ple. mat is the secret of Turkish di-
p1omacy and 1T is that which gives 9TH
ef countries so much trouble in dealing
with Turkey. A foreign diplomat once
remarked that the right way to do
business with the Turk was to take
MIN by the throat, give him a good
beating and then tell him to sit down
and talk business. This was, however.
rather rough and extreme way Of
putting it. An old resident in Turkey
met on the first occasion I was in the
country once gave me the sum of his
experience in his dealings with them
IN the form of story. I did not think
at the time that I should within few
months have practical Illustration Of
its truth on my own account But that
is by the way This is how the story
goes:
An old Turk, whom we will call Has
san Bahia, owed money which he had
borrowed from Abdullah, who had ask
Gu several times for it's return. AS
both were Mussulmans, no interest was
given or taken, believers being forbid
den by the Koran to lend money to one
another on usury. But Hassan Bahia
could never be induced to pay back his
debt, and at last Abdullah, losing pa
thence, had him up before the cadi or
judge. -
You owe this money! said the ca
d.
1T is even So Effendim,' replied the
debtor
linen you must pay it back" ex-
claimed the cadi, '*or I must sentence
you'
BE it so, Effendim I do not paw,
said the obstinate old man.
linen l sentence you to pay the
money, and if you continue in your re-
tusal, oh, Hassan Bahia, I give you the
choice whether you will take twenty
i've strokes of the bastinado, eat a
whole string of onions, or pay the mon
ey. In the name of the Merciful One.
l condemn you.''
"lnshallah, Efendim! I will take
the twenty-five strokes of the bastina-
do"
The executioner of the court and his
assistants were called and Hassan Ba-
ba, having been thrown on the floor
and his feet fastened, soles uppermost.
to the pole held by two men, the exc
cutioner proceeded to lay on. But be-
fore the twenty-five strokes had been
administered old Hassan Bahia cried out
Justify:
I'm the name of the Most Merciful,
on, cadi, give the orders to cease he
exclaimed, land I will eat the string
of onions'' ' ''&e
So, on the command of the cadi he
was let down, and man was sent out
to the market place for string of on
ions. When he got back with them
Hassan Bahia went manfully to work to
eat the onions, but before he had got
to the end of them his stomach refused
to go any further, and he cried out,
Let it be as you say, oh, cadi! I will
pay the money" Then undoing the
girdle which he had around his waist,
he produced the pieces, which he count
ed out to Abdullah before the cadi.
THAT, said my friend, will give
you better idea of the character Of
the Turk than anything can think of. !
He will take the beating, he will eat
the onions, and he will pay you the
money after all -