Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-02-18
IN AN ARAB MUSIC HALL
Egyptians Take Their Pleasure With Deal
of Sadness.
There is Really Very Little in the En-
tertainment to Add to the
General Gayety.

From the London Mall.
The philosopher Woo observed that the
English take their pleasures sadly should
have paid visit to an Arab music hall.
He might have proved equal to the occa-
sion, and, again, he might not
To the unappreciative Briton the place is
a veritable place of torture. Weird instru-
ments, driven to despair by the hands or
lungs of untring performers, emit wild and
unearthly sounds, and to the aecompani-
ment of these band of singers give vent
to doleful strains suggestive of untold in
ternal sufferings. But we shall have
enough of this later
There is a European cafe concert in
Cairo, conducted on the familiar lines, and
here the gilded youth in tarboosh and pat
ent-leather boots may hob-nob between the
turns" with fair performers from France
or Italy, and flatter himself with the con-
viction he is really seeing life.
No element of European frivolty, how
ever, clings to the cafe concert of the east.
Seated on divans on a stage at the end of
the room are the performers, some ten in
number-the orchestra and male singers on
the right, the female singers in the center
and the opponents of the eternal and
monotonous dance on the left. The faces
of the lady vocaiists are hidden by the
yashmak, but 1t is apparent that the fair
ones are endowed with an abundance of
adiDose tissue, for in the east, as in the
west a prima donna is generally a person
of weight. No veil, however, hides the
faces of the dancers. who, when not actual
ly engaged in distorting their bodies, puff
away with enjoyment at the ubiquitous
cigarette. The singing ladies wear robes of
black, while the opponents of the unerace-
full danse du ventre are attired in loose
drapery over a tight-fitting fiesh-colored
jersey, the whole surmounted by innumer-
able necklaces of juggling coins.
A dancer with an indescribable swagger
leaves the diVan and commences to posture
on the platform. A hum of appreciation
rises from her many admirers. for she is
prime favorite with the habitues of the
hall. For a solid quarter of an hour does
this brown-faced nymph continue her hid
eOuS contOrtionS-hideouS, at all events, to
persons of uncultivated tastes. The dance
over, the vocaiists have another turn. and
to the accompaniment of the instruments
of torture the performers raise their voices
in melancholy song, calculated rather to
make the most cheerful mortal think of his
future state than to enjoy the present.
The male singers, their cavernous mouths
turned toward the roof. again give vent to
dolorous cries, and their facial expressions
betoken anguish too deep for words.
The song, apparently, is unending. Now
a vocalist or musician drops out presently
another follows suit, and by and by the I'M
initiated begins to think the melody will
gradually die away into silence. But he is
sadly mistaken: no such good fortune
awaits him. Just the music seems to be
formers suddenly bursts out afresh with
startling vigor, the stentorian challenge is
taken up by his relentless confederates,
and in the twnkling of an eye the din is
louder than ever. So the entertainment
goes on, so ii has gone on for many thou
sand nights, and so it will go on until west
ern ideas permeate the land and Egypt
turns to western amusements.
Throughout the song and throughout the
dance an Arab of piratical mien walks to
and fro among the audience yelling at the
top of his voice. No one takes the slight
est notice of his cries: no one asks that he
may be elected for disturbing the peace.
This gentleman. indeed, is part of the
show; lie fufiiis the important office of
mUtaib. the peripatetic claGuer of the Arab
halls That he earns his pay there can
be no doubt. With a devotion worthy of
some great and noble cause he calls on all
there assembled to bear witness to the
magniiicence of the entertainment they are
enjoying, to the skill of the musicians the
sweet voices of the singers and the prof.
c:ency of the beaGteouS maiden in the
dance.
The mutaib-the name comes from the
Arabic word of taib signifying goods
an actor himself. At one stage he rolls his
eyes as If beholding some beatific vision;
at ANOTHER his countenance betokens dark
despair. Then it will light up again and be
Wreathed in smiles, fof it is a living look
ing glass, in which the emotions portrayed
by the performers find exaggerated ref1ec-
ton. The mutaib, arduous though his pro-
fessional duties be, has sim keen eye for
any liquid refreshment that may come his
way. He may be Mohammedan, but he is
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