Evening star., 1935-02-03

Continued From Fourth Pope
took aid to her. Absolutely alone, no matter
how hard and long her labor. she must bear
her child-in the dark, beside the goats. If
her cries reach the village, her husband is
allowed to 60 and shoot his rifle from the sheds
roof to frighten away the evil spirits that are
tormenting his wife-but he must not, even II
she's dying go inside.
Fortunately the Hevsoor women are as tough
as the goats whose apartment they are using,
and give birth to their young with about the
same amount OF trouble.
CRUEI to their women. And also cruel to
- their horses. While its master lives, the
horse is treated like q son, loved and protected.
But when the master dies the horse must die
too. As the owners corpse is being borne to
the cemetery an expert rider mounts the horse
and rides 1t down canyons across rivers, up
hills, at the fullest possible speed, spurring and
spurring ito death. The corpse OF the horse
is left where it falls for the hyenas and birds
to dispose Of. :,
Meanwhile the greatest possible gayety Is
taking place at the dead mans house. His
family must 60 to any length to provide Q
banquet for the village. Nobody mourns, but
gets as drunk as possible and eats himself sick
on all the sweetmeats that have been especially
collected. It is the one event in the social life
OF Hevsooria to which everybody looks forward.
asked my hosts If they had any religion
how much Of their twelfth century
Christianity had they preserved?
Yes, they were still Christians They even
had q church. The church proved to be only
a shrine in the woods, containing an altar deco
rated with cross, bronze bells and the antlers
of deer-Symbols both Christian and pagan. All
theology, history, meaning of Christianity has
long since been forgotten. They have no idea
why they wear cross around their necks and
on their swords and shields. could not find
that they had any gods Of any sort.
QUT they do have code Of ethics and con-
- duct that Is as rigid as iron. One clause
in this code concerning honor-the honor Of the
family-has caused more bloodshed than all
their wars put together.
for any reason q Hevsoor IS killed by
another Hevsoor the heirs of the dead man are
honor bound to kill the killer. That the killing
may have been in self defense doesn't matter.
And then when this second assassination has
been accomplished the latest victims heirs must
kill his killer. And on and on, not for genera
tions, but for centuries, these vendettas con-
tinue, spreading and spreading until families
not at first remotely connected with the feud
are driven into it and the original occasion COM
pletely forgotten.
If the feud is between families of separate
villages, each village. spurs on its champion.
The honor of the village is at stake. The ap-
pointed executioner probably has no quarrel
whatsoever with the man he must kill, may
scarcely know him. That doesn't matter. Honor
must be served If the ranking relative Of the
latest victim does not seek vengeance he is
despised and spat upon as coward and q
sissy. The men will not eat or work with him.
The women will not speak to him except to
jeer. His own children and family are made to
suffer The poor man. hating to continue the
bloody and useless cycle, is driven to 1T by the
Hevsoor code, knowing full well it means, sooner
or later his own death in turn.