The times., 1898-07-10
A SYRIAN EVENING.
How the Ladies of Jerusalem En-
terrain Their Friends.

II have arranged for your good pleas
ure "A Syrian Evening. said the quaint
iy pretty note of the Syrian-born hostess.
I'VE hope 10 see you and your friends at
9 o'clock tonight"
AT last our dreams of the poetry of
motion, as. expressed by the Oriental
dancer and the rich imagery of Oriental
improxision were to be fulfilled. We let
our imaginations revel, unchecked in
our table talk 9of Miriam tossing her
timbrel aloft, leading the women who
went after her with timbrels. and the
triumphant chant that arose above the
ground-swell of the Red Sea. OF Jeph-
thah's daughter. ringing and tinkling
welcome to the victorious chief. How, as
far back as the days of job, the tabret
was in use, and men rejoiced with the
timbrel and harp. A pocket Webster in
structed us as to the identity of the tab
ret with the tabor of later times, and
that both meant small drum.
Our antiquarian prosed Iearnedly upon
what he called "Nebuchadnezzar' wind
and-string band" enightening us as 10
the forms and uses of the ancient cornet
flute. harp sackbut, psaltery and dulci-
mer, until affronted by the amateurish
attempt of a mischief-loving youth 10
establish near relationship between
sackbut and bagpipe. Whereat the man
/ Ol StltHCc WdASd NGOlu anu uuiND.
1t was, then, an eXpectant and gleeful
party that packed itself into three car
! riages and left the walled city by the
Jaffa gate, turning quickly TO the right,
| and into a maze of muddy lanes, lined
| on both sides with stone walls topped
! with punches of dried thorn bushes laid
! in mortar, after the manner of the brok-
| en-bottle chevauX de frise of more en-
| lghtened lands. a moonlight drive of
/ hale Of
! garden surrounding one of the square
| stone houses THAI are springing up rap
/ idly in the suburbs of Jerusalem. Our
| host met us at the gaze. and led us
| through the porch into a big hall, which
/ took up half OF the ground-fioor of the
! dwelling We had but hasty view of a
! lighted room packed with people max
! ing noise" as we were hurried across
! one corner of this han and into an inner
apartment, neatly furnished, in Euro
pean style. as a parlor. There We were
seated close to the open door of COM
| munication with the larger room All the
/ light in the parlor came through this
! door and we now perceived that the men
| of our company were theoretically inYis-
ibie. or. at best, represented 10 the rev.
! elers by their astral bodies.
The merry-makers were all women and
a certain fine Inconsistencies of the eX-
istence Of the Foreign spectators was in
imkable aud Impressive. Not an eye
| wandered In our direction, although two
| foreign consuts. whom most of the as
| sembly must have known by sight were
| with us. and a young English traveller.
as braWny as Hercules and handsome as
| Apollo leaned against the door frame
J just where the light come from the outer
room threw his profile rnco bold relief
| upon the dark background.
The noise. undated by our intrusion,
went on steadily when we were seated
and could define and classify the hub
bub The performers. and a few old wo-
men with babies in their laps. sat upon
the matted floor. their feet tucked under
them.
All were In gala dress-jewelry gleam-
ing upon arms hair ana hands. The
married women wore the picturesque
mendul. This is a square OF thin. flow
| ered-em mbroidered or plain-cOlored mus
Iin edged with silk lace. When the wear
! er IS indoors. one-half of the mendul is
folded back, kerchiefwise. upon the top
of her head When she goes abroad she
pulls this over her face. making a tri-
angular veil through which she can see,
but which masks her features.
Each of the younger women had a mu
steal instrument of some sort A minia
ture drum-which We took to be the 'ta
bor'' or 'tabret-set on the floor in from
OF her and beaten with the knuckles, wa!
the most popular. There were also tam
bourines ttimbrels?) and cymbals. anC
something not unlike a mandolin il
shape, with short, taut strings tina
twanged as shrilly as cicadae, above th'
shallow roll OF drum and tambourine.
AZ think" said the Mischief-lover medi
tatively. with demure glance at the An
tiquarian. am-quite-sure-tha thost
are sackbuts! Or, maybe, duIcimers."
There was no time in the music" Ou
ears discerned presently rhythm; a wave
like vibration in the drumming, hummint
and shrilling, that doubtless represented
time to the initiated After the hostess
had made us welcome, she took her stan'
in cleared space in the middle of tn
hall. Holding a tambourine, and shaking
II as she moved, with now and then
touch of deft thumb to the tight head.
she began to dance very slowly ant
gracefully, advancing a few steps and re
ceding as many, smiling and beckonini
| to one and another of the cross-legge
figures. She kept this up for severa
minutes before a plump, black-eyed littl
body arose from a corner and obeyed tn
mute invitation. She was dressed in
bright blue silk gown. unpicturesqueI
Partisan in cut and fit. The Oriental ele
ment was supplied by the blue mendul
and by ropes of gold chains dangling be
|
and flexible like the fine meshes of a Goa
of mail.
Taking the tambourine from the other
hand, she went through the same pa
seul: five or six steps forward, as man!
backward, varied by swayings of the bod.
above the waist line. whirling the tam
BOURNE about her head, and shaking /
| to the right and left. The steps were
shuttle; her feet never leaving the floor
1 CHI 6aORe6 the 'ar1Iha HlIb'' of ia n
rets and tambourines, the twanging o
| the mandolins and the measured clap
ping of hands (for all the world lik
'Pease porridge hot" said the Mischief
lover in my ear) went on with increasin;
ferVor
Sometimes they are really intoxicate'
by the music" said a cOnsuls wife, VIII
had lived in Jerusalem ten years. .
have felt the exhilaration myself upol
several occasions. There Is something
in the rhythmic beat that gets into tn
blood and the head
It did not get into ours. Indeed, tn
noise was becoming tiresome and tn
spectacle monotonous when-after a sue
cession of eight or ten women had ha
the floor, each repeating her predeces
sors motions-the hostess again appear
ed and clapped her hands sharply thre
times. Servants answered the signal
and passed first to us. then to the per
: formers trays containing tiny cups o
black coffee. glasses of native wine, an
wedges of layer cake, filed with dead
sweet conserves that made the WIN
taste as sour as vinegar.
While the refreshments were goin
around. womans voice was raised froI
the back OF the hall. She was young an
! rather comely, and her scarlet skirt di
not quite hide pair of trim feet encase