Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1899-07-06
MOORS AS THEY MEET
THEIR QUAINT CUSTOMS AND ODD
MODES OF SANITATION.

Elaborate Social Caurtesies That Arc
EXCHANGED In Everyday Life-Em-
braces and Kisses - The Etiquette
of sneezes and Yawns.
In contrast to some northern nations, IL
IL hardly too much to say that the Moor,
of whatever class, is born a gentleman.
There Is such a grace about the hum blest,
such an easy dignity, that whenever cir
cumstances place them in positions calling
for the exercise Of courtesy they very sell
dom fail to respond, and thus II comes TO
pass that in q democratic nation, in which
every man of ability-cunning perhaps
would be the better word-may rise to the
highest place, even though he start life as
n slave, the self proclaiming parvenu Is
practically nonexistent. This is not, how
ever, to imply that gaucherie and the
pleasant manners which come from evil
dispositions or stupidity are unknown.
Unfortunately the life led by the average
Moor is one that dwarfs refinement of in
tellect rs it does development Of mind,
and the vices to which the ma iority sue.
cumb in early life too often stutify the
most prominent commencement.
1t is pretty sight to see two elderly,
dignified Moors salute. With measured
pace, the eyes of each fixed on those of the
other, they approach with slight inclins-
ton, holding the right hands slightly sd-
vanced. They press their finger tips to-
gether and begin a volley of prescribed
ealutations, greetings and inquiries, hard
| ly pausnx to insert replies and calculate
God be praised"' Then each presses the
finger tips which have been honored by
contact with those OF his friends against
his lips and then upon his heart as he
raises his head and redoubles his saluta-
tons
To every fellow Moslem the greeting is
given "Es .salam alaikum" Peace be
unto you"O. To which the answer Is wa
alaikumes- salam { And to you be peace").
| To the unbeliever the nearest approach to
this permitted is ALA salam' TAX CON
thy peace'O, which might mean anything.
The way to speed the parting guest is to
exclain, God give thee peace" or, moro
CURLY, "In peace. To those whose pres.
| ence has never been desired 1t is usual to
| exclsim in tones sufficiently explicit
"Allah ihaun ak" Good protect thee!'D
On arrival it is customary to exclaim to
the guest, "Welcome to theel' or Mar
habban, ahlan wa sahlan" g. Be welcome,
at home, and at ease') Courteous inter
rogatores fall thick and fast. How art
|
permitted to inquiry after a mans wife
Thy relatives? What news Is nothing
wrong?" To which he replies, If there is
nothing specially to complain of; "All
right, thank God. All are in prosperity"
Or, if bad news has to be given, God
knows. Everything is in the hand OF God "
When Moslem meets European &C
oompaned by Moor, though the latter
be the servant he not infrequcntly ignores
the presence of the foreigner and offers the
salutation to his coreligionist only but If
he passes a mixed company Of Moors and
Jews or Christians, he exclaims. Peace
be on the people of Islam" If two such
parties meet on the road, the phrase is,
Peace be to those accompanying the
Jews, )" or 1.-THE Nazarenes, and 1t is suf
ficient for one of each party to give aud
return the greeting, though In the coun-
try several often do So Interiors salutine
superiors usually kiss the hand shoulder.
top Of the turban, or feet, or the knee or
stirrup Of a horseman, according to tho
terms on which they approach. The more
Abject forms are naturally only used to
implore favor, though they are employed
sometimes to Europeans. In the extremity
Of duplication the very feet of ones horse
are embraced.
|
er's necks is still in vogue between friends
long separated. Men and women restrict
their greetings in public to words, but
personally was somewhat startled by the
sudden embrace of a negress whose free
dom my father had been the means Of OBJ
tanning when returning to the country
after some years absence. The kisses on
such occasions are, however, fortunately
delivered in the air or on the shoulder. 1t
is customary to exclaim at such meetings,
Il have been desolated for thee. "
To judge from the ordinations ever on
the tongues OF the Moors, they might be
an extremely pious people, and no doubt
there are among them those who really
mean what they say but generally the
most religious phrases have degenersted
into vain repetition Elaborate curses fall
} almost as freely.
When about to repeat some part Of the
Koran or q prayer, the petition is com
monty uttered, l take refuge with God
from satan, the stoned, " and when any
thing great or alarming occurs they ex-
claim, There is neither change nor powe
save in God, the High, the Mighty" Quo.
tations from the Koran are also freely in
troduced in conversation by the learned,
as are proverbs and sayings by the gener-
ality of Moors, knowledge of which is a
, great help in conversation,
Several little social usages of Moorish
life deserve attention, though not confined
TO Morocco, such as the exclamation 10
ono who sneezes, 1.-The forgiveness of God
be on me and on thee - to which the reply
is, Justice and praise to God - II a
man who yawns in public does not use the
prescribed formula. any one speaking to
, him may place the back of his hand 10 his
mouth, utterinE n pious sentence is the
devil is accredited with performing an un'
pleasant operation in yawning mouths.
On the other hand, any one wearing 4 new
} garment or looking specially spruce OF
, having performed some clever or merito
rious act receives the compliment, "Bi
sahh tax" elm thy strength.
!, Moor knows how to enjoy good joke
; TO the full, and, seated on the floor, hi
!, bends backward and forward without re
! straint in his laughter, Often the teller
l Of the story will join in the process too
Raising their right hands far above theil
, heads as they roll back, they bring them
together in a hearty shake There nevel
was a grander way Of enjoying a joke in
, vented. The women when happy give ven
TO their feelings by q shrll "Yoo 700 20,
700, 700 700 700 Pail Mall Gazette.
In the Bank of England.
One of the curiosities of the Bank o