New-York tribune., 1906-11-25

proach is heralded by cry, which later becomes
a gasping sob. "Ya Hussan, va Husseyn"
AS the line serDentines round the courtyard
the intensity and insistence Of the groan, which
is prayer and lament in one, becomes intolera-
ble the cry Of vengeance and Of mourning
surges again and again until the deadly itera-
tion works It's effect. Longing and sorrow reach
their climax in a wave of sound. and in the in
stant's silence which follows the Orientals seem
to shudder and halt in forebodng Of some un-
known impending thing l have heard the call
Of drowning by night. but even that did
not attain to the paroXysms of urgency to which
the Persians reach. Surely schiamach
whether that of the priests of Baal or the fagel-
lants Of the Middle Ages has been as senseless
bloody this play
The men seem driven by the sound Of their
own imprisoned syllabes. terrified and reckless
the horses in a cavalry charge gallOping to
outstrip the thunder of their hoOfs. The pitch
of emotion which they aim is high for
qualification except in terms of suffering Souls
in pain appear to wait for great Judgment
in every face blind eyes seem straining TO see a
vision.
aware Of desire for the publication of a sor-
did soul in the fierce remuneration of self. the
sacrifice rather dedication or cnat which all
men hold precious 10 an ideal, not less com
manding because 1t is only half realized.
The tide Of feeling rises furious yet impotent,
q wild monOtony in one intention, until ii ends
in a breathless stiffness. a sudden silence men
acing and supplicating tortured by expectancy.
The agony Of stiffness is as tense as the frenzv
il succeeds. Every face might be the death
mask of one who had died with salvation near
but unobtainable.
After
Of time, the work Of mutation begins, the i'm
petuS grows ever more strenuous and the primi-
tive note of monotony maddens the already mad
dened worshiDpers.
The fanatics beat their naked backs with
chains, whose lilks bruse and deaden the flesh
before they cut it. Others armed with swords
strike their shaven heads till the place becomes
a carnival Of blood. The horses draped in white
became red, and the ffuttering doves upon them
were splaShed with the same color; the child
that seemed merely a detail Of the procession
became crimson. the torches fame trium-
phantly lit the blood In It's conquest Of white
The whole courtyard is a study of brilliant color
where the light strikes, or Of rather grewsome
dnness in the shadow. The reek comes up TO
the galleries with the vehement cry, not of
bodily but Of mental anguish, tormented peni-
tence OF souls in pain which only pain can eZ-
press.
At the Inception Of this Festival" the faces
Of the devotees arc stern. but haunted by the
prophetic fear Of pain which underlies the cour-
emotion and the jubant certainty carry them
forward on a wave Of magnificent feeling that
acts as an an@sthetic to the tOrtures Of the body
After the "FfstiVaP' had continued perhaps some
twenty minutes / remember noticing one man.
He showed no sign OF laceration. His eyes
fixed in A distant absorbed stare. I watched
him through my glasses and saw how he brought
up his scmtar At first reluctantly and then
willing. but the flesh was weak: he had thought
out and aCquicsced in the conclusion OF his fell
lows, but the trial was hard His face was set
and hypnotized by great determination which
prevailed BY some accident he struck one Of
the bigger veins. and instantly the rigid features
and eyes focused on one purpose were blotted
out and his white tuuic hidden under a red
gueh which shOne under the torches.
To a European these ecstasies or Mysteries are
simply a form Of religious lbertinisn. seeming
more irrational than the practice OF the hagel-
lapts and more ob1ectless than the ordeal by
fire Yet the excitement is certainly contagious
and I have sometimes questioned the people as
to what they felt themselves. They rarely at
tempt to make their practice accord with logic.
even TO the extent of bringing II into symmetry
with their creed 1t is certainly a grim parody
OF the ,chivalry II is intended recall. ST.
Francis who esp0used poverty. found a cathe-
dfal seDulcIire richer than thai Of many an eIl-
percr. and so by the irony of fate the memory
of TIusrvn, once the mirror az knigilthoud. IS
celebrated with dim 1arine lights IA this orgy
OF tears sweat and blood.-Blackwood's