New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-05-28


parkness might have belonged to a herd OF wild
beasts watching their prey; but were privileged
e1es's or the Arab sheik IN whose tent we were
| sttHhs' and the gaze but that OF friendly Gu
| 'Osily' We had been placed on the seat OF honor
a rush mat at one side of the tent Opposite TO us
| sIuatted our host. venerable old man, with
44'e beard, which flowed over his bare, wrinkled
+9', with one arm he supported small boy who
FaSe Gu win the beads round the old chiefs neck.
De'~een US. in the centre of the hut, glowed
uS'Is nre' and beside it, silently watching the pot
On the ashes, sat the coffee maker. Now and then
| 80, seF@ped the ashes together round the pot.
- - veil OF smoke I'D slowly and dispersed
| 80 uhoer the low roof of the tent The silence
vas almost religious the darkness suggested witch
| 80 rainier than night: hobgoblin might have
p+ ing out Of the coffee makers pot and not been
~. o. keeping with the natural sequence OF events.
| r,tos a. olce, at the back of the tent. hand
| Seu' ana bundle Of fine brushwood came down
! 80 't'e nfe: in sudden blaze II uaomentarily lit
a. 0 HltF-three dark faces fared an instant.
| ~I'u' then as rapidly died away and we only
49, me gaze We had before. We silently
"o'Et4eo the coffee maker and our host who being
-e%test 10 the fire. were d!uly visible in It's re-
! a.s Hsht The attention Of the one was con-
- Neo on his pot; that OF the other in common
80 tS companions, fixed on U.s. There was
t,,, az LOT speech, for spoke in tongues unin-
oLiisIoe TO one another. and the only sound which
80 OIoke the ghostly silence was that language
60. @'ooo by all nations alike-the wall OF an in
-ai1t IN its mothers arms
| H'a4aaIn Aleikum,' we had been received with
-ie Shelk stood up to welcome US on our arrival
Hpected and unlimited, in the midst Of his tribe
We MAD been guided to his tent by the long spear
| - s1O0o upright at the door; and when he had
o'tcIeo US the token of Arab good will-ths CUP OF
conceive knew that were among friends He
"aseo US 10 our seats. and then, seating himself
na0 pued the child toward him; he patted his own
eAesG ana then pointed to the lad with pride
ms Youngest child interpreted the Turkish
sOIuieF VINO accompanied US, and who understood
Few words of Arabic
I-ese preliminary acts Of courtesy having estab-
tiSheo the requisite good feeling all need FOR
-I-et converse seemed at an end. and q comfort
able silence fell upon US all
me whole village had followed US into their
chiefs tent as matter of course, and those for
whorn there was room inside horded together at
the ooor. The Eastern standard OF ideas which
Allows respectful equality with ones superiors was
responsible for the total absence OF il-rnannered
JoStNng which would have characterized civilized
crowd in similar circumstance on the reception Of
strange foreigners.
THE coffee maker reached out his hand without
turning and one among the crowd at his back
handed him massive iron spoon on to which was
chained copper ladle. The sheik's little son. obey
ing a nod from his father pulled a bag out of
dark recess behind him; another bundle Of brush
wood was thrown upon the fire, and by the light OF
its sudden almost startling blaze the lad united the
bag and carefully counted out the allotted number
OF coffee berries The coffee maker dropped them
into the spoon for which he had raked out a hole
III the aSIleS Inc slight STIR caused by these
ceedings subsidized, the blaze died away and the at
tention Of all was again riveted on US save that
only Of the coffee maker. who sitting close UP to
the enbers, now scraped the white around the
pot now turned the roasting berries over with the
4ade chained 10 the spoon. The sheiks hand stole
on to the little boys head and the boy. looking up
stroked the old mans beard. On sat in the dark
silence, learning from these true masters of time
how neither TO it nor let it drag but going
step by step with it, laying ourselves open to
ceive all that il had to give.
The silence was SO prolonged and intense
that silently time flies, could almost hear it's
moments ticking away. 1t has been said that
take OF time except when count its loss
it might be said of all Easterns that they
conscious the they lose, because they take
Of it, they live unconsciously up the fact
that, the past being beyond recall and the future
unfathomable, the present only is in our power.
And the Fastener is master Of time because he
spends it in absorbing the present.
Meanwhile the berries had blackened, and the
man ernptied them into copper mortar; he
pounded them he caused the peste to ring in tune
against the sides of the bowl The child laughed
gleefulIy and pointed at him; the stern old man
smiled and shot a proud glance over at US.
Fiddle away, old Time rang out the tones Of
the metal pestle: It seemed TO give voice to our
joyful dersion Of time here was Time trying to
weary with himself. and we only laughed at him
Fiddle away old Time
Fiddle a% S old te5oV; ~, ,a
AiES a6 6sE t 6ot5 shr PS and ad 65''
Fiddle
Or
For faces pink or yellow;
scrape your song a lifetime long
Fiddle away, fellow
Not soul moved; outside in the dusk a stunted
black cow thoughtfully chewed the maize stalks OF
which the Enclosure around the tent was built. and
a kid rubbed his head up and down against a
child's bare leg. Beyond this the darkness had
nothing TO conceal; we were in the middle of a
bare largely unnhabted, desert land known only
TO a few wandering Arab tribes: outside. the mys-
ferrous open vault Of the dark sky with its many
hundred points Of light; inside, the mysterious
recess Of the dark with the fty-three pairs OF
cleaning eyes-everY fixed upon ourselves
Now and then, as a fash of lightning in the sky at
night will expose the immediate surroundings TO
view so a sudden spark from the fire revealed the
setting Of the eyes-the solemn, dusky Arab faces.
"A splutter the fire as the pot boiled over put
an end alike 10 the tune and to the meditations
called UP by it. The transferred the ground
berries TO a copper jug. and pouring the boil
ing water on to them, placed this second pot on
the hot ashes We had been sitting there for an
hour, watching these preparations. and it seemed
as if we might now reasonably entertain hopes of
tasting the results Our expectations in this drec-
ton were also enhanced by the appearance OF three
inv CUBS which had been unearthed from dark
corner and handed TO Of the men nearest the
fire. He proceeded to rinse them out one by one
with hot water displaying care and absorption
IN the process which contras,ed strangely with the
simplicity OF his task.
The coffee on the fire to the boil; the
coffee maker poured ii back into the original pot,
which he again. set on the ashes He then handed
the empty jug to the cup washer. who rnsed each
| CUP out carefully with few drops of the coffee
left for this purpose; very quietly, very precisely
the coffee maker and retreated into the background
.'The coffee the fire boiled up; We straightered
ourselves in expectation the coffee maker reached
out his hand; but he emptied the boiling liquid
back again into the original pot, and replaced 1t
o. The IRE now, burned very dmIy: Even the
| discernible only A black shadow. The stiffness