The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-02-16
A BARD OF 1t4E DESERT.

An English Arts, Writes interestingly
OF u Bcdouin Poet.
Mr.. Il. Talbot Kelly, the English
artist, writes of My Bedouin
Friends''in The Century. Mr.. Kelly
says Of tho tribal bard:
he was an old man, gray bearded
anu sur dried, and the look Of i'm.
p%ortance upon his brow was repeat
ed II the expression of reflected
glory which animated the counte-
nance of his son. Each carried an in.
strumcnt called cl kcmengch. a kind
of two stringcd fiddle.
Shutting his eyes AMI comfortably
rubbing his hands together, the OLD
man began, i'll % harsh, stridcnt
voice, to deliver Il pnnegyric upon
tho song he vas going to sing, call,
ing forth repeatedly CALCULATIONS of
"Aiwa!" "Yeuss!' and other an.
proving signs from the assembled
crowd. After ten minutes of this |
became inpatient end exclaimed, Il
drub ell kemcngeh ya ustn' C'Play
your fiddle, 0 my mastery, where
upon, with sympathetic grunts from
all, no began tho overture, Il weird,
walling melody, to which the son
played II kind Of second in Il minor
key which it is impossible to tran
scribe correctly i'll our annexation.
Beginning like the signing of tho
wine among the palm trees, It grad
ually gathered power and volume in
a crcscendo, then died away again to
a breath, playing infinite changes
upon the opening thomc. The effect
was distinctly artistic and quaint.
and l was gradually drifting into
n state OF dreamy imaginings when
suddenly the bard broke silence, and
in a voice of amazing power and in
cisiveness began to intonethc "Sony
of the Nephaata."
Going back for generations, the
legend described the growing of the
parent tribe into power in Mesopo-
tnmla, and how, i'll course of time,
whom men and canlels and horses
were in plenty, the head sheik de
clded upon the conquest of Tunis.
Admirably accompanied OH their i'll
struments. Il seemed to hear tho
hurried riding Of messengers dis
patched to summon distant families:
their horses hoof strokes gradually
dying in the distance until naught
was heard bur the signing Of the
night wind across the desert. Pres
entity rom far away was caught the
distant laundering of the gathering
hordes, gradually approaching near
or and nearer until the volume of
sound eliminated in Il general salu-
tation to the sheik who summoned
them. Then came the sheik's ex-
hortation, and the description of
their desert journey, which was to
occupy many months.
Incidents by the way-heat, thirst,
noise and dust by day and the eter-
nal silence of the desert by night,
the brightness of the stars, the wax
ing and waning of tho moon, the
hardships, excitements, plenty and
poverty of condition-were each in
turn graphically described to the
Same weird accompaniment.
Hour after hour this wont on, tho
bard's eye cleaning and his voice
growing stronger and stronger, IN.
til I was almost stunned by itsthun-
dcrjng monotone. Meanwhile the
tribesmen, shifting excitedly in their
seats and uttering quick ejaculn-
tons of approval, constituted Il scene
which kept me spellbound. Even
tually, i'll tho narrative, Tunis was
reached and the horde of Arabs en-
ca1nped beneath its walls.
1t was now midnight, and for four
long hours l had listened to this
wonderful epic, but realizing that |
was too thoroughly exhausted for
further amusement, l decided 10
turn in" and, getting up, l left the
assembly in the zenith Of their ex-
element and qualification.