New-York tribune., 1907-06-23
n DESERT IDYL.
Impressions of TraUel zcith Lore
Tale added.
THE VOICE OF THE SOUTH BY Gilbert Wat
son Illustrated by Aleardo and A J. Engel
IeTZ1 SYO pp Vi 324 Z. i. Dutton 4 60

Lott has done most TO make popular, and it has
also served the purposes Of more than one |
hoNenst- The reader can hardly take up Mr. |
WatSon's volume without feeling a little doubt !
as 10 his ability TO make it worth while How |
can he make the familiar scenes seem fresh |
How can he work the old Oriental coIors over
into new pattern? Well, Mr Watson has sue |
ceeded in doing these things by the very simnlA
process of making his whole book hinge upon
the personality of his guide. 1t was a daring thn.,
10 DO. but re has gone about the task in so nat
nrai a fashion that almost before the reader |
knows it he is taking the keenest interest in |
Alou Altman Ben Saiah, and regards Mr. Wat |
son cleVeriy drawn desert scenes as forming |
nothing more nor less than a background for a /
little human comedy
amman, as he is called for short is a curious !
TYPE at once an Arab and negro, a poet and
musician, dandy and an unsophisticated
child Of nature" When he is engaged as guide |
Ior a journey across the Algerian Sahara he |
SHOWS some anxiety TO the money he is to 1
receive, but he Is even more excited over the
prospect OF seeing his country and show
ing reverence to the tomb of his great grand |
Iaiher' very molly The modest caravan
SeiS ioFth and while nothing obviously i'm
porlaht occurs. the reader is all the time being
prepared for Athmans ultimate extraordinary
performance The preparation consists of initia-
:
Color Its indefinable spirit Now and then too
me authors strange guide makes him still
i"rther acquainted with the soul of the land by
giving him giimpses of the Arab mind, by tell
ing him for example. tales like this:
1i'h HISTORY OF THE THE LION LION. THE WOLF AND
:, BE it known unto thee that in the days gone by |
hunt Lien a, the Wolf and the Fox went forth
by evening they had captured donkey, a gazelle
Wolf" growled the Lion. thou seest our capt
spe nafs we pray gs Thee fair division of the
me. me Wolf eompacently- Thou, being the greatest
IA stature will take the gazelle: the Fox being
wholly insignificant must needs content himself |
Loudly snarled the Lion in sore dspeasure Lift
SO terrible that tearing one from socket, |
ox foared M ci fhe king 2H 'iT of S Beasts. thou sees
our dlieHaa assist US we pray thee with ti,y ad
'ssented the Fox with modest smile; My advice !
j that thou takest the donkey fer thy breakfast.
Tie gazelle for thy dinner and the hare Cor thy
cried he, his whiskers bristiing with sajisiacfion
ndeth 1n of iSSt tb f 3gf 0St ] eTeerht- % III II we we
pay thee. where didst thou seek inspirations" (
sire, answered the Fox, waving his paw toward
tte eye Of the Wolf
When Altman is making the days march is
telling a story like the foregoing, he is gleeful-
ness itself But he has other moments. when
Iassion burns fercely in his soul one of them
comes when another Of the authors servants
kills toad with peculiar cruelty Altman falls
upon him. and nearly kills him. The Arab paStime
in which the nhuman Abdullah had been alb
sorbed is, we gather from Mr.. Watson very COM
in the desert 1t is thus described The toad
is dragged from its retreat and lighted cigarette
carefully inserted within its mouth The Gig
arctic in position, the animal is unable to
expel it Being under the necessity to breathe
ii struggles for air; its efforts, however, but
succeed in drawing smoke into its lungs The
Iucre il struggles, the faster it smokes. In it.
agony it becomes desperate. Its eyes protrude
from its head; its body begins TO swell But
there IS no escape No pity is to be read in the
circle Of laughing faces who glOat its suf-
feTings- Fortunately death comes quickly to its
rescue" 1t is a horrible note. but it yivdly
illustrates the sinister side Of desert life the
evil forces lying beneath the wild beauty Of the
land
Trouble enters into Mr. Watson's narrative 80
the sound Of tinkling bangles Altman is happy
q cnilG. cleaning up a neglected tomb that
has been deGIed by jackals. nursing a baby fox,
attending TO his daily duties. cogitating
Iosm but dumb dancing girl pretty nearly de-
Ii:iycs him of reason. He falls in love with the
beautiful but sordd creature sitting out under
The stars to keep watch over her tent, and finally