The evening times., 1897-03-27
ALL ABOUT THE GREEKS.
Are Childlike in Sou,e Things But
Shrewd and Patriotic.


to understand. None of the chronological
labels in common use can be said to de-
describe or even imply their psychological
characteristics. They have ebeensuccessiyely
termed people of lazy, lying and spend
thrift propensities, prone to quarrel, and
reckless of life, and also nation of la
borious, truthful. thrifty men and women,
eager for peace, and scrupulous respecters
of the property of their neghbors. Neither
statement is wholly in harmony with the
facts. TIE Russians say of themselves
that you must eat forty pounds OF Falt
with them before you can know them. But,
then, the thing s possible. With the Greeks
it is much more difficult to become .ac-
quaintcd, for the excellent reason that
you cannot eat any salt with them at all
They will Hospitality entertain You at a
hotel, but not under their own rooftree-
1t is, OF course, almost as easy to strike
up an acquaintance with HELENE as
with a Frenchman, to exchange ideas
with him upon any topic he knows, or
thiRSs he knows, especially, however, on
politics. But this Is at most mere shop
door acquaintance, however long IL may
last. He never gives the most friendly
stranger the freedom OF his house, and
very seldom invites him thither; and yet
is by no means inhospitabe An intimate
friend of mine, who has spent wenty years
in one of the chief cities of the kingdom
tells me that neither he nor his wife has
ever made friend" in the genuine
sense Of the word among the natives, al
though they both speak the language ele-
gantly and fluently and have no end OF
friends" in the conyentiora al meaning of
this Ruch-abused term. The Greeks, ike
most Orentals, are extremely reserved
toward even the most friendly foreigners;
and, curioIsly enough, among other rea-
sous, because their ladies have a mortal
horror Of inviting outsiders 10 paTtake Of
food which might possibly be open TO
criticism. The final outcome of this state
Of things is that the Greeks lose more
than the foreigners by this irrational shy
ness
AS matter Of fact, they are kindly,
warm-hearted people, frugal 20 a degree
that justifies their kinship with the ancient
Spartans of black-broth fame, eloquent in
a way that reminds you of the Demostheues
of your school days, whose long wiBded
orationS seemed endless, and they are pas
sionate just to the extent required by this
el0quence Having but lately emerged rom
barbarism aud slavery, they have not yet
succeeded in obliterating all its traces, but
in very many cases they have covered
them up with a veneer of modern culture,
which, like average English ice, will not
bear much pressure. The curious mixture
OF naI etc and shrewdness which results is
unparalleled among the peoples of Europe
or the world. To hear an educated Helene
talk like NestOr aud act like a naughty
child at one and the same time is no un-
common experience. During the present
troubles in Crete have over and over again
listened to a very clever apercu Of the po-
IitIcal situation given by Athenians IF 5he
upper ten, who would then wind up with a
threat TO spite the great powers by doing
some incredible act which a schOoIboy OF
eight would unhesitatingly characterize as
folly No doubt the feversh excitement
of the moment and the provocation they
received are in some measure responsible
for this loss Of mental equilibrium, but only
in part. To great extent it is character
istic and abiding.
1t is one of the curious apparent con-
tradictions OF the country and the people
that, whereas a large percentage OF the
the hane Of the nation is overeducatiOn.
The university and night schools act as
magnets, attracting all the clever or am
bilious youth of the country, large num-
bers OF whom are duly stamped every year
with the academic seal. aud turned adrift
with larger demands on society than
their fathers ever had. and less means of
satisfying them. Hence a considerable
number OF young men throughout the
country, who can speak several languages
and have acquired large stores Of general
or technical knowledge, are forced to
earn their bread by means of Uncongenial
work.
These individuals are dissatisfied with the
established order OF things, which makes
no special provision for them, and they aIad-
iy lend their hand TO social reformeTs OF
political agitat0Ts Of all parties and pro-
fessians. Not that there are any goiitical
parties in Greece in the sense in which
these exist in most constitutional coun-
tries. Men, not measures, is the univer-
sal cry; individual interest is the line Of
cleavage The crowd follows one Of
the two men whose heads are above those
OF their fellows. The successful leader
then provides places for the few who are
chosen as well as called and high sounding
rhetoric for the many. People change
sides from time TO time, according to the
outlook, and nobody accuses them Of being
renegades. In no case is there any princi-
Ole at stake. The members OF the little
parliament at Athens receive but a couple
ofthousand dIachmasa year roughly speak
ing f5O) from the state; but in some cases
fx,f.i / Ianf
lator's family.
But they are frugal and temperate to an
extraordinary degree, and possess the
art of being thrifty with far more grace
than other people can throw into their
lavish hospitality. few black olives
and a chunk of coarse, souTish bread will
support the life of a Greek for any length
of time, and his ingenuity in obtaining
these is matched only by his dislike to work
for more than the mere necessaries Of
existence. Somebody said that if you
put two Greeks on bleak, rocky island
they will manage TO live upon each other
for years and will always call each other
s.adeIfe" (brother). 1t is a mystery to
most travellers how the people on this or
that sequestered and barren island manage
to exc out a livelihood under circumstances
which wound make even d German sick
at heart. Yet they not only solve the prob
lem successfully, but dress prettily, and
carry themselves with such simple dignity
as Spanish hidalgo might well envy. 1
have seen women vie with the goats in
plucking herbs and grasses in ntheinterstices
OF the brown, stony hills Of the Island OF
Milos, and yet prepare from the result Of
their labors, soups, salads and other dishes
which not only supported life, but kept
nm appcarances far more effectually than