Semi-weekly herald., 1909-05-10

NNc PiSJ""iNcs VI MS country
men. he dared not kill the dogs. Ac
he expelled the whole %.
nine population to an islaiR in the
Sea of Marn.cra. To this banishment
however. the dos we're not reeonclled
and they howled so dismally that tbs
Turks were on the polnt
of starting an insurrection In their
behalf when. by an imperial edct
the exiles were recalled. o~Hheir re.
turn they were received by the popu.
lace with demonstrations OF eutbus,
asm, and the day was celebrated
throughout the whole city.
In the street of Constantinoplp ev
cept in the Pera, Galata, and the Chris.
tian quarters, one sees neither ip
promptu gatherings nor drunken
brawls. For the Turk is sparinp nf
word and gesture. This grave and
contemplative air does not dena.e a
depth of thought. Far from It: n 10
but the cloak of unillumined dulnegs
The whole philosophy of the Turk
his whole history. naSre. and lie
can be- condensed into a single word.
The word is "Kief." "Kief'' mea,t
soorn of the past, Indifference tn tba
present. and unconcern about the fu.
ture. If you speak to Turk abot,t
any danger, fear, or evil presentiment
he will merely reply: "Allah kerimn
God is great"-which is to saw.
Eat, drink, and dream. and leave
the rest to Kismet destiny. Trust
Allah; the thing is all settled. and as
can't change it, won't give myself
belas (headaches)."
War is the one thing that can rouse
the Turk from his apathy. When
the fight is over, the Musselman re-
turns at once to his "Kief" Why get
excited about politics, science, phi.
losophy, and literature? Is not eyer.>
thing foreordained? Leave 1t to AL.
lah. With whole nation in thiss
frame of mind. 1t is not strange that
the Turk has neither thirst for kxowl-
edge nor any great passion. II Is
not strange that he has but little curl.
osity and no desire to travel, and that
officials display such Ignorance In re-
gard to the most elementary things
About fifty years ago a Turkish
man-of-war received orders 90 go to
Malta. A storm drove it far into The
Mediterranean. A month elapsed, but
not word of news. After two months
more friends began to besiege the war
office for information. Finally the
minister of marine was ordered to
send out another boat. Just as this
second expedition was ready to sail
they beheld on the far horizon the ship
that all had believed to be lost.
After the wanderer was safely an.
chored, the captain presented him.
self at the ministry of marine, where
he was eagerly awaited by the min.
lister, who inquired:
i We'll, captain, what have you been
doing these months? How was It we
never heard from your"
"Ah! my Pasha, we were very un.
Il
terrible tempest and driven out TO
sea. When 1t was calm again we
continued on our voyage, and sing
we traversed the Mediterranean from
one end to the other I must tell yen
that Malta does not exist. for we have
not found it. We discovered Crete
and Corsica, but Malta, no-there Is
no Malta"
The Turk is no Traveller.
The Turk has no love for travel
1t is natural, therefore, that he should
consider the Christian traveller stark
mad. Once when / was journeyng
with friend of mine on the coast Of
Asia Minor, We stopped one night Mt
a village where we met an old Turk.
who offered us hospitality. He was
a splendid-looking chap, but. try as
we would, we could never make him
understand why the giaours left their
own country to visit strange lands
and peoples.
l sO' ''Nh ho laihtis
brother, or sister," asked Ali.
"Oh, yes,' we replied
Allah! Allahl" he exclaimed. "You
have family and yet you have left
them to come so far, so far" And
he left us with indulgent pity.
As rule, however, the Europeslp
inspires in the true Turk only a feel.
ing of contempt. He appears to the
| Ottoman eye only frivolous and con.
ceited being. Our mighty labors Of
mind and body are to them trivial and
childish beyond words. To our civili
zation they are, therefore, always hos
tile, for they regard 1t as the influ
ence of the evil one. forever on the
alert TO destroy them.
To change themselves. to accommo-
date their customs to the charactsr OF
the Christians, is an appalling abomi.
nation. Incidence. pride. religion, con-
tempt, all oppose It.
| likeable-When Not Cuttipo off