“She's a handsome girl,” said I.
“Not for an Ouled-Na?l,” said he, adjusting his monocle and staring at her critically, very much as though he were appraising9 a horse. “An Ouled-Na?l's face is her fortune, you know, and in the Ziban, where they come from, she wouldn't get a second look.”
“She would get several second looks on Broadway,” said I, taking another one myself. “I once travelled twelve thousand miles to see some women not half as pretty.”
That is why I went to the Ziban, that strange and almost unknown zone of oasis-dotted steppes in southernmost Algeria. Hemmed10 in between the Atlas11 Mountains and the Great Sahara, it forms the real Algerian hinterland, a region vastly different in people, manners, and customs from either the desert or the littoral12. Here, in this fertile borderland, where the red tarbooshes and baggy13 trousers of the French outposts are the sole signs of civilisation14, is the home of the Ouled-Na?ls, that curious race, neither Arab, Berber, nor Moor15, the beauty of whose dusky, daring daughters is a staple16 topic of conversation in every harem and native coffee-house between the Pyramids and the Pillars of Hercules.
Rather than that you should be scandalised later on, it would be well for you to understand in the beginning that the women of the Ouled-Na?l are, so far as morality is concerned, as easy as an old shoe. It comes as something of a shock, after seeing these petite and pretty and indescribably picturesque17 women on their native heath, or rather on their native sands, to learn that from earliest childhood they are trained for a life of indifferent virtue18 very much as a horse is trained for the show-ring. But it is one of those conditions of African life which must be accepted by the traveller, just as he accepts as a matter of course the heat and the insects and the dirt.
Breaking home ties almost before they have entered their teens, they make their way to Biskra, to Constantine, and to Algiers, yes, and to Tripoli on the east and to Tangier on the west, dancing in the native [Pg 58] coffee-houses or in the harems of the rich and not infrequently earning considerable sums thereby19. The Ouled-Na?l promptly20 converts all of her earnings21 that she can spare into gold, linking these gold pieces together into a sort of breastplate, not at all unlike that jingling22, glittering affair which Mary Garden wears in her portrayal23 of Salome. When this golden garment becomes long enough to reach from her slender, supple24 neck to her still more supple waist, the Ouled-Na?l retires from business, returns to the tents of her people in the edge of the Great Sands, hides her pretty face behind the veil common to all respectable Moslem25 women, and, setting her daintily slippered26 feet on the straight and narrow path of virtue, leads a strictly27 moral life ever after.
Ouled-Na?l dancing-girls. “Petite, piquant28, and indescribably picturesque.”
Women of the “Great Tents.” The wife and daughter of a nomad29 sheikh of the Algerian Sahara.
SOME SIRENS OF THE SANDS.
The peculiar30 dances of the Ouled-Na?ls demand many years of arduous31 and constant practice. A girl is scarcely out of her cradle before, under the tutelage of her mother, who has herself been a danseuse in her time, she begins the inconceivably severe course of gymnastics and muscle training which is the foundation of their strange and suggestive dances. From infancy32 until, scarcely in her teens, she bids farewell to the tent life of the desert and sets out to make her fortune in the cities along the African littoral, she is as carefully groomed33 and trained as a colt entered at the county fair. Morning, noon, and night, day after day, year after year, the muscles of her chest, her back, her hips34, and her abdomen35 are developed and trained and suppled36 until they will respond to her wishes as readily as [Pg 59] her slender, henna-stained fingers. Her lustrous37, blue-black hair is brushed and combed and oiled and brushed again; she is taught to play the hautboy, the zither, and the flute38 and to sing the weird39 and plaintive40 songs the Arab loves; to make the thick, black native coffee and with inimitable dexterity41 to roll a cigarette. By the time she is thirteen she is ready to make her début in the dance-hall of some Algerian town, whence, after three or four or possibly five years of a life of indifferent virtue, she returns, a-clank with gold pieces, to the tented village from which she came, to marry some sheikh or camel-dealer and to bear him children, who, if they are boys, will don the white turban and scarlet burnoose of the Spahis and serve in the armies of France, or, if they are girls, will live the life of their mother all over again. It will be seen, therefore, that the profession is an hereditary42 one, which all the women of the tribe pursue without incurring43, so far as I could learn, a hint of scandal or a trace of shame. It is a queer business, and one to which no other country, so far as I am aware, offers a parallel, for whereas the geishas of Japan, the nautches of India, and the odalisques of Turkey are but classes, the Ouled-Na?ls are a race, as distinct in features, language, and customs as the Bedouin, the Nubian, or the Jew.
That the men of the Ouled-Na?l (which, by the way, is pronounced as though the last syllable44 were spelled “Nile”) look upon the lives led by their sisters, daughters, and sweethearts with much the same toleration and approval that an up-State farmer shows for the [Pg 60] village maid who goes to the city to earn a living as a waitress, a stenographer45, or a shop-girl, is proved by a little incident which Mr. S. H. Leeder, the English author-traveller, tells of having once witnessed on the station-platform at Biskra. A tall young tribesman of the Ouled-Na?l, the son of a sheikh of some importance, was leaving Biskra, to which town he had been paying a short visit with his mother. He was taking back with him one of his countrywomen, a dancing-girl named Kadra, who had been a resident in the Rue46 Sainte, as Biskra's Tenderloin is known, for two or three years, and was quite celebrated47 for her beauty, with the intention of marrying her. Here was this girl, after such an amazing episode in her career, quietly dressed, veiled to the eyes, and carefully chaperoned by the prospective48 bridegroom's mother, returning to assume a position of rank and consideration among her own people, while several of her late companions, tears of sorrow at the parting pouring down their unveiled and painted faces, clung to and caressed49 her with every sign of childlike affection. And such marriages, I have been assured by French officials, are not the exception but the rule in the Ziban. Never was the truth brought home to me more sharply that “East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet” than in the land of the Ouled-Na?ls, where, unlike our own, it is never too late to mend; not even for a woman.
Barring the two who appeared in the production of “The Garden of Allah,” the only genuine Ouled-Na?ls ever seen in the United States were those who, [Pg 61] owing to the enterprise of some far-seeing showman, were responsible for introducing that orgy of suggestiveness known as the danse du ventre to the American public at the Chicago World's Fair of 1893, a dance which, thanks to numerous but unskilled imitators, French, Egyptian, and Syrian, spread from ocean to ocean under the vulgar but descriptive nickname of “the houchee-kouchee.” As a matter of fact, the danse du ventre, as seen in the questionable50 resorts of our own country, has about as much in common with the real dance of the desert people, as performed on a silken carpet spread before the tent of some nomad sheikh, as the so-called “Spanish fandango” of the vaudeville51 stage has with the inimitably beautiful and difficult dances to be seen at Se?or Otero's dancing-academy in Seville. The dance of the Ouled-Na?ls is the very essence of Oriental depravity. It is the dance of the pasha's harem; it is the dance of those native cafés which the European tourists are always so eager to visit; it is the dance which every little girl of the tribe is taught—long years before she knows its meaning.
Depraved though they are, the Ouled-Na?ls never depart in their dress from that which would be considered perfectly52 proper and respectable even by Mr. Anthony Comstock. The painters of every country seem to have taken a peculiar delight in depicting53 Arab dancing-girls as conspicuously54 shy of clothing, but, picturesqueness55 aside, the décolleté gown of an American woman would embarrass and shock these daughters of the sands as much as it would all Moslems, for though [Pg 62] they may be somewhat lacking in morals they are never lacking in clothes. The women of the Ouled-Na?l are considerably56 below the medium height and, owing to the peculiar fashion in which their gaudy-hued tarlatan skirts are bunched out around the waist and are shortened to display their trim ankles and massive silver anklets, they appear even smaller than they really are. Their hands and feet are small and wonderfully perfect—if one is able to overlook the nails stained crimson57 with henna; arched eyebrows58 meet over eyes as big and lustrous and melting as those of a gazelle; while their wonderful blue-black hair, plaited into ropes and heavily bejewelled—whether the “jewels” are genuine or not is no great matter—is brought down over the ears in the fashion which made Cléo de Mérode famous.
But the really distinguishing feature of the Ouled-Na?l's costume is her jewelry59. She has so much of it, in fact, that there is no gold to be had in Algeria. Ask for napoleons instead of paper money at your bank in Algiers and you will meet with a prompt
“Impossible, m'sieur.”
“But why is it impossible?” you ask.
“Because we have no gold, m'sieur,” is the polite response.
“Where is it, then?” you inquire, scenting60 a robbery or an anticipated run on the bank.
“On the Ouled-Na?ls, m'sieur,” the cashier courteously61 replies.
And he speaks the literal truth. Every centime that a dancing-girl can beg, borrow, or earn goes toward [Pg 63] the purchase of massive silver jewelry, anklets, bracelets62, and the like, and these in turn are exchanged for gold pieces—whether French napoleons, English sovereigns, or Turkish liras she is not at all particular—which, linked together in that golden armour63 of which I have already spoken, envelops64 her lithe65 young body from neck to hips. When her portable wealth has attained66 to such dimensions it is usually the sign for the Ouled-Na?l to retire from business, going to her desert husband with her dowry about her neck.
When it is remembered that the native quarters of these towns in the edge of the Sahara are frequented by savage67 desert tribesmen who know little and care less about civilisation and the law, is it to be wondered at that time and time again these unprotected girls are done to death in the little rooms up the steep, dark stairs for the sake of the gold which they display so lavishly68 as part of their allurements69? During my stay in one of these Algerian towns an Arab, stealthily coming up behind an Ouled-Na?l as she was returning one night from the dance-hall through the narrow, deserted70 streets, drove a knife between her shoulders and, snatching the little fortune which hung about her neck, fled with it into the desert. But the arm of the French law is very long, reaching even across the sand wastes of the Great Sahara, and months later, when he thought all search for him had been abandoned, the fugitive71 felt its grasp as he sat, cross-legged, in the distant bazaars72 of Wadai. After that came the trial and the guillotine, for in Algeria, as in the other lands which they have conquered, [Pg 64] the French have taught the natives by such grim object-lessons that punishment follows swift on the heels of crime.
Now, if that same crime had been committed fifty miles to the eastward73, across the Tunisian frontier, the murderer would, in all likelihood, have gotten off with thirteen months in jail—that is, if he was caught at all. For, though the regency of Tunisia is French in pretty much everything but name, it has been deemed wise to maintain the fiction of Tunisian independence by permitting the Bey a good deal of latitude74 so far as the punishment of his own subjects is concerned, his ideas of justice (la justice du Bey it is called, in contra-distinction to la justice fran?aise, which is a very different sort of justice indeed) usually working out in a fashion truly Oriental. In Tunisia all death sentences must be confirmed by the Bey in person, the condemned75 man being brought before him as he sits on his gilt-and-velvet throne in the great white palace of the Bardo. In the presence of the sovereign the murderer is suddenly brought face to face with the members of his victim's family, for such things are always done dramatically in the East. The Bey then inquires of the family if they insist on the execution of the murderer, or if they are willing to accept the blood-money, as it is called, a sum equivalent to one hundred and forty dollars, which in theory is paid by the murderer to the relatives of his victims as a sort of indemnity76 if he is allowed to escape with his life. If, however, he does not possess so large a sum, as is frequently the case, [Pg 65] the Bey makes it up out of his private purse. Nine times out of ten, if the victim was a woman, the blood-money is promptly accepted—and praise be to Allah for getting it!—for in Africa women are plenty but gold is scarce. In case the blood-money is accepted the murderer's sentence is commuted77 to imprisonment78 for twelve months and twenty-seven days, though just why the odd twenty-seven I have never been able to learn. But it may have been that it was an only son, or a husband, or a chieftain of importance who was murdered, and in such cases the relatives invariably demand the extreme penalty of the law.
“Do you insist on his blood?” inquires the Bey, a portly and easy-going Oriental who has a marked aversion to taking life, even in the case of murderers.
“We do, your Highness,” replies the spokesman of the family, salaaming79 until his tarboosh-tassel sweeps the floor.
“Be it so,” says the Bey, shrugging his shoulders. “I call upon you to bear witness that I am innocent of his death. May Allah the Compassionate80 have mercy upon him! Turn him toward the gate of the Bardo,” which last is the local euphemism81 for “Take him out and hang him.” Five minutes later the wretch82 is adorning83 a gallows84 which has been set up in the palace gardens.
Due north from the land of the Ouled-Na?ls, and hemmed in by the snow-capped peaks of the Atlas, is the Grand Kabylia, a wild, strange region, peopled by many but known to few. Whence the Kabyles came [Pg 66] nobody knows, though their fair complexions85, red hair, and blue eyes lead the ethnologists to suppose that they are a branch of that equally white and equally mysterious Berber race who occupy the Moroccan ranges of the Atlas. Thirteen hundred years ago they came to North Africa from out of the East, bringing with them a civilisation and a culture and institutions distinctively86 their own. Retreating into their mountain fastnesses before that Arab invasion which spread the faith of the Prophet over all North Africa, they have dwelt there ever since, the French, who conquered them in the middle of the last century only after heavy losses, having wisely refrained from interference in their tribal88 laws or customs, which remain, therefore, almost unmodified.
Though the Kabyles, of all the Moslem races, treat their women with the greatest respect, neither imprisoning89 them in harems nor hiding them beneath veils and swaddling-clothes, they share with the mountaineers of the Caucasus the somewhat dubious90 distinction of selling their daughters to the highest bidder91. Between the Circassians and the Kabyles there is, however, a distinction with a difference, for, whereas the former sell their daughters in cold blood and take not the slightest interest in what becomes of them thereafter, the Kabyle parent expects, even if he does not always insist, that the man who purchases his daughter shall marry her. A fine, upstanding Kabyle maiden92 of fifteen or thereabouts, with the lines of a thoroughbred, the profile of a cameo, and a skin the colour of a bronze statue, will fetch her parents anywhere from eighty to three hundred [Pg 67] dollars, at least so I was told at Tizi-Ouzou, the chef-lieu of the district, and the man who told me assured me very earnestly that, the crops having been bad, a girl could be bought very cheaply, and begged me to think it over.
Though the Mauresques of Algeria, the Jewesses of Tunisia, and the fair-skinned beauties of Circassia combine a voluptuous93 figure with an altogether exceptional beauty of complexion and features, the women of Kabylia, with their flashing teeth, their sparkling eyes, their full red lips, their lithe, slender bodies, and their haughty94, insolent95 manners, suggest a civilisation older and more sensuous96, and entirely97 alien to our own. The humblest peasant girl, grinding the family flour between the upper and the nether98 stones in the doorway99 of a mud hovel, possesses so marked a distinction of feature and figure and bearing that it is not difficult to believe that Cleopatra or Helen of Troy might well have come from this same race.
The approach of a Kabyle woman is heralded100 in two ways: first, by a strong-scented perfume, which, like the celebrated parfum du Bey of Tunis, is composed of the blended scents101 of a score or more different kinds of blossoms, the odour changing from carnation102 to rose, to heliotrope103, to violet, and so on every few minutes (no, I didn't believe it either, until I tried it); and, secondly104, by the clink and jingle105 of the bracelets, anklets, necklaces, and bijoux of gold, silver, turquoise106, and coral with which they are loaded down, and which sound, when they move, like an approaching four-in-hand. [Pg 68] Good specimens107 of this Kabyle jewelry are becoming increasingly difficult to obtain, by the way, and bring high prices in the shops of Tunis and Algiers, being eagerly sought after by collectors.
Personally, I am quite unable to picture an admirer making love to one of these insolent-eyed beauties, for they are headstrong and hot of temper, and if the gentleman happened to say the wrong thing he would very probably find the yataghan, which every Kabyle maiden carries, planted neatly108 between his shoulders. They seem to be fond of cold steel, do these Kabyles, for at the conclusion of a wedding ceremony the bridegroom, walking backward, holds before him an unsheathed dagger109 and the bride, following him, keeps the point of it between her teeth. Another wedding custom of Kabylia, no less strange, consists of the partial martyrdom of the bride, who, clad in her marriage finery, stands for an entire morning with her back to a stone pillar in the village square, her eyes closed, her arms close at her sides, and her only foothold the column's narrow base, the cynosure110 of hundreds of curious eyes. Despite the stern stuff of which the Kabyle women are made, it is small wonder that the bride usually faints before this peculiarly harrowing ordeal111 is over.
As far removed from these half-savage women of Ouled-Na?l and of Kabylia as a Philadelphia Quakeress is from a Cheyenne squaw are those poor prisoner women of whose pale, half-hidden faces the visitor to the North African coast towns sometimes gets a glimpse at the barred window of a harem, or meets at nightfall [Pg 69] hastening home from their sole diversion, the weekly excursion to the cemetery112. You can see them for yourself any Friday afternoon if you will loiter without the whitewashed113 gateway114 to the cemetery of Bou-Kabrin, on the hill above Algiers, for they believe that on that day—the Moslem Sabbath—the spirits of the dead re-visit the earth, and hence their weekly pilgrimage to the cemetery to keep them company. When the sun begins to sink behind the Atlas these white-veiled pyramids of femininity reluctantly begin to make their way back through the narrow, winding115 lanes of the native city, disappearing one by one through doors which will not open for them until another Friday has rolled around. Picture such a life, my friends: six days a week encloistered behind jealously guarded doors and on the seventh taking an outing in the cemetery!
That many of these Mauresque women of the coast towns are very beautiful—just as many others are exceedingly ugly—there is but little doubt, though they are so sheeted, shrouded116, veiled, and draped from prying117 masculine eyes that a man may know of their beauty only by hearsay118. I imagine that the dress of the Mauresque woman was specially119 designed to baffle masculine curiosity, for if Aphrodite herself were enveloped120 in a white linen121 sheet from head to waist, and in enormous and ridiculous pantaloons from waist to ankle, she could go where she pleased without being troubled by admirers. Not only is a Mauresque woman never permitted to see a man—or rather, the man is not permitted to see her, for despite all precautions she sometimes [Pg 70] manages to catch glimpses of people through the lattices of her harem windows—but she may not receive a visit from her father or brother without her husband's permission. When she is ill enough to require the services of a physician—and she has to be very ill indeed before one is summoned—incredibly elaborate are the preparations. All the women of her household are ranged about the bed, while her servants hide her under the bedclothes almost to the point of suffocation122. If her pulse has to be felt a servant covers her hand and arm so carefully that only an inch or so of her wrist is visible. If she has hurt her shoulder, or back, or leg, a hole is made in the bedclothes so that the doctor may just be able to see the injured place, and nothing more. Should he have the hardihood to insist on looking at her tongue, the precautions are still more elaborate, the attendants covering the patient's face with their hands and just leaving room between their fingers so that her tongue may be stuck out. I know a French physician in Tunis who told me that he was once called to attend the favourite wife of a wealthy Arab merchant, and that while he was conducting the examination the lady's husband stood behind him with the muzzle123 of a revolver pressed into the small of his back.
JEWISH WOMEN IN THE CEMETERY OF TUNIS.
“They believe that the spirits of the dead revisit the earth, and hence the weekly pilgrimage to the cemetery to keep them company.”
Always over the head of the Arab woman hangs the shadow of divorce. Nowhere in the world does the law so facilitate the separation of man and wife. If a man grows weary of his wife's looks, of her temper, or of her dress; if he wishes to replace her with another; or if [Pg 71] he is tired of married life and does not wish a wife at all, he has but scant124 difficulty in getting rid of her, for in North Africa a divorce can be had in fifteen minutes at a total cost of a dollar and twenty cents. In theory, either husband or wife may divorce the other by a simple formality, without assigning any reason whatever. As a matter of fact, however, actual divorce by the man is rare, the Moslem husband usually preferring to get rid of his wife by a process called repudiation125, which bears with great injustice126 and cruelty on the woman. If he tires of her for any reason, or merely wishes to replace her, he drives her away with the words “Woman, get thee hence; take thy goods and go.” In this case, although the husband is free to remarry, the woman is not and can only obtain a legal release by returning to the man the money which he paid for her. The woman may apply to the courts for divorce without her husband's consent only if she is able to prove that he ill-treats or beats her without sufficient reason, if he refuses her food, clothes, or lodging127, or if she discovers a previous wooing on her husband's part, all previous betrothals, or even offers of marriage, whether the other lady refused or accepted him, being considered ground for divorce.
The next time you happen to be in Tunis don't fail to pay a visit to the divorce court. It is the most Haroun-al-Raschidic institution this side of Samarkand. A great hall of justice, vaulted128 and floored with marble and strewn with Eastern carpets, forms the setting, while husbands in turbans and lawyers in tarbooshes, [Pg 72] white-veiled women and green-robed, gray-bearded judges complete a scene which might have been taken straight from the Arabian Nights. The women, closely veiled and hooded129, and herded130 like so many cattle within an iron grill131, take no part in the proceedings132 which so intimately affect their futures133, their interests being left in the hands of a voluble and gesticulative avocat. On either side of the hall is a series of alcoves134, and in each alcove135, seated cross-legged on a many-cushioned divan136, is a gold-turbaned and green-robed cadi. To him the husband states his case, the wife putting in her defence—if she has any—through her lawyer and rarely appearing in person. The judge considers the facts in silence, gravely stroking his long, gray beard, and then delivers his decision—in nine cases out of ten, so I was told, in favour of the husband. Should either party be dissatisfied, he or she can take an appeal by the simple process of walking across the room and laying the case before one of the judges sitting on the other side, whose decision is final. A case, even if appealed, is generally disposed of in less than an hour and at a total cost of six francs, which goes to show that the record for quick-and-easy divorces is not held by Reno.
It is characteristic of the Moslem view-point that infidelity on the part of the husband is no cause for divorce whatsoever137, while infidelity on the part of the wife, owing to the strict surveillance under which Moslem women are kept and the prison-like houses in which they are confined, occurs so rarely as to be scarcely [Pg 73] worth mentioning. Should a Moslem woman so far succeed in evading138 the vigilance of her jailers as to enter into a liaison139 with a man, instead of a divorce trial there would be two funerals. To put his wife and her paramour out of the way without detection is a matter of no great difficulty for an Arab husband, for if any one disappears in a Mohammedan country the harem system renders a search extremely difficult, if not, indeed, wholly out of the question. In fact, it has happened very frequently, especially in such populous140 centres as Tangier, Algiers, Tunis, Tripoli, and Cairo, that a man has enticed141 his rival into his house, either keeping him a prisoner for life or slowly killing142 him by torture. Though the French authorities are perfectly well aware of such occurrences, neither they in Algeria and Tunisia nor the English in Egypt feel themselves strongly enough intrenched to risk the outburst of fanaticism143 which would inevitably144 ensue should they violate the privacy of a harem.
I am perfectly aware of the fact that it has become the fashion among those travellers who confine their investigations145 of African life to the lanes about Mustapha Supérieur, to the souks of Tunis, and to the alleys146 back of the Mousky, to pooh-pooh the idea that slavery still exists in North Africa. As a matter of fact, however—though this the European officials will, for reasons of policy, stoutly147 deny—slavery not only exists sub rosa in Algeria and Tunisia and in Egypt, but slave markets are still openly maintained in the inland towns of Morocco and Tripolitania, the French and Italian [Pg 74] occupations notwithstanding. When a wealthy Moslem wants slaves nowadays he does not send traders to Circassia or raiders to Uganda, but he applies to one of the well-known dealers148 in Tetuan, or Tripoli, or Trebizond, a marriage contract is drawn149 up, and all the ceremonies of legal wedlock150 are gone through by proxy151. By resorting to these fictitious152 marriages and similar subterfuges153, the owner of a harem may procure154 as many slaves, white, brown, or black, as he wishes, and once they are within the walls of his house, no one can possibly interfere87 to release them, for, the police being under no conditions permitted to violate the privacy of a harem, there is obviously no safeguard for the liberty, or even the lives, of its inmates155. As a result of this system, a constant stream of female slaves—fair-haired beauties from Georgia and Circassia, brown-skinned Arab girls from the borders of the Sahara, and negresses from Equatoria—trickles into the North African coast towns by various roundabout channels, and, though the European officials are perfectly well aware of this condition of things, they are powerless to end it. The women thus obtained, though nominally156 wives, are in reality slaves, for they are bought for money, they are not consulted about their sale, they cannot go away if they are discontented, and their very lives are at the disposal of their masters. If that is not slavery, I don't know what is.
In those cases where the European authorities have ventured to meddle157 with native customs, particularly those concerning a husband's treatment of his wife, the [Pg 75] interference frequently has had curious results. A wealthy Arab from the interior of Oran, starting on a journey to the capital of that province, bade the wife whom he adored an affectionate good-bye. Returning several days before he was expected, he seized the smiling woman, who rushed to greet him, tied her hands, and dragging her into the street gave her a furious beating in the presence of the astounded158 neighbours. No, she had not been unfaithful to him, he said, between the blows, nor had she been unkind. He not only was not tired of her, so he assured the onlookers159, but she was a veritable jewel of a wife. Finally, when his arm grew tired and he stopped to take breath, he explained that, passing through a street in Oran, he had seen a crowd following a man who was being dragged along by two gendarmes160. Upon inquiry161 he learned that he was being taken to prison for having beaten his wife. Therefore he had ridden home at top speed, without even waiting to complete his business, so that he might prove to himself, to his wife, and to his neighbours that he, at least, was still master in his own house and could beat his wife when he chose.
And here is another incident which illustrates162 the fashion in which the French administrators163 in Algeria deal with those ticklish164 questions which involve Arab domestic relations. A farmer and his wife were travelling through the interior; he was on a donkey and she, of course, on foot. Along came an Arab sheikh on horseback and offered the woman a lift. She accepted, and presently, growing confidential165, admitted that she was [Pg 76] unhappily married and detested166 her husband. Her companion proposing an elopement, she readily agreed. Accordingly, when they came to a by-road, this Lochinvar of the desert put spurs to his horse and galloped167 off with the lady across his saddle-bow, paying no heed168 to the shouts and protestations of the husband toiling169 along in the dust behind. Though he succeeded in tracing the runaway170 couple to the sheikh's village, the husband quickly found that plans had been made against his coming, for the villagers asserted to a man that they had known the eloping pair for years as man and wife and that the real husband was nothing but an impudent171 impostor. Unable to regain172 his wife, he then appealed to the French authorities of the district, who were at first at somewhat of a loss how to act in the circumstances, for the Europeans in North Africa are always sitting on top of a powder barrel and a hasty or ill-considered action may result in blowing them higher than Gilderoy's kite. Finally, an inspiration came to the juge d'instruction before whom the matter had been brought. Placing the dogs of the real husband in one room, and those of the pretended husband in another, he confronted the woman with them both. Now, Arab dogs are notoriously faithful to the members of their own households and equally unfriendly toward all strangers, so that though her own dogs fawned173 upon her and attempted to lick her hand, those of the sheikh snarled174 at sight of her and showed every sign of distrust. The judge promptly ordered her to be returned to her lawful175 husband—who, I fancy, punished her in [Pg 77] true Arab fashion—and had the village placarded with a notice in Arabic which read: “The testimony176 of one dog is more to be believed than that of a townful of Arabs.” To appreciate how much more effective than any amount of fines or imprisonment this notice proved, one must remember that the deadliest insult an Arab can give another is to call him a dog.
Perhaps it is because they live so far from the contaminating influence of civilisation, or what stands for civilisation in North Africa, that the lives of those women who dwell beneath the black camel's-hair tents of the Sahara are far freer and happier than those led by their urban cousins. Which reminds me of a little procession that I once met while riding through southern Algeria. It consisted of an Arab, his wife, and a donkey. The man strode in front, his rifle over his shoulder. Then came the donkey, bearing nothing heavier than its harness. In the rear trudged177 the wife, carrying the plough. Though the Arab women may, and probably do, till the fields yoked178 beside a camel, a donkey, or an ox, their faces are unveiled and they are permitted free intercourse179 with the men of their tribe. Even among the nomad desert folk, however, women are regarded with indifference180 and contempt, the Arabs saying of a boy “It is a benediction,” but of a girl “It is a malediction181.” With the Arabs a woman is primarily regarded as a servant, and long before a daughter of the “Great Tents” has entered her teens she has been taught how to cut and fit a burnoose, to sew a tent cover, and to make a couscous, that peculiar dish of [Pg 78] half-ground barley182, raisins183, honey, hard-boiled eggs, and mangled184 fowl185, stewed186 with a gravy187 in a sealed vessel188, of which the Arabs are so fond. By the time she is ten her parents have probably received and accepted an offer for her hand—and praise Allah for ridding them of her!—and by the time she is twelve she is married and a mother. When a match has been decided189 upon—and it is by no means an uncommon190 thing for an unborn child to become conditionally191 engaged—several days of haggling192 as to the price which is to be paid for her ensue, the bridegroom eventually getting her at a cost of several camels, cattle, or goats, her value being based upon her looks and the position of her parents. On the day of the wedding the bride—on whose unveiled face, remember, the bridegroom has never laid eyes—concealed within a swaying camel-litter which looks for all the world like a young balloon, preceded by a band and accompanied by all her relatives, is taken with much ceremony to her new home. When the long-drawn-out marriage feast is over, the hideous193 racket of the flutes194 and tom-toms ceases and the wedding guests depart. Alone in her tent, the bride awaits her husband, who will see her face for the first time. Seating himself by her side, her husband makes her take off, one by one, her necklaces, her rings, and her anklets, so that, unadorned, she may be estimated at her true worth. If, thus stripped of her finery, she is not up to his expectations, the man may even at this late hour declare the marriage off and send the girl back to her parents. Should he be satisfied with his latest [Pg 79] acquisition—for it is more than likely that he already has three or four other wives—he produces a club, which he places on the floor beside her, a custom whose significance requires no explanation. An Arab husband does not confine himself to a stick in regulating his domestic affairs, however, for only a few months ago the French authorities of Oran divested195 a desert sheikh of the burnoose of authority because, in a fit of jealous rage, he had cut off his wife's nose.
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1
perilously
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| adv.充满危险地，危机四伏地 | |
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2
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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3
carmine
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| n.深红色，洋红色 | |
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4
compartment
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| n.卧车包房，隔间；分隔的空间 | |
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5
plies
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| v.使用（工具）( ply的第三人称单数 )；经常供应（食物、饮料）；固定往来；经营生意 | |
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tunic
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| n.束腰外衣 | |
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7
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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appraising
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| v.估价( appraise的现在分词 )；估计；估量；评价 | |
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hemmed
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| 缝…的褶边( hem的过去式和过去分词 )； 包围 | |
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11
atlas
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| n.地图册，图表集 | |
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littoral
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| adj.海岸的；湖岸的；n.沿（海）岸地区 | |
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13
baggy
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| adj.膨胀如袋的，宽松下垂的 | |
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14
civilisation
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| n.文明，文化，开化，教化 | |
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15
moor
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| n.荒野，沼泽；vt.(使)停泊；vi.停泊 | |
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staple
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| n.主要产物，常用品，主要要素，原料，订书钉，钩环；adj.主要的，重要的；vt.分类 | |
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17
picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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18
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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19
thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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20
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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earnings
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| n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得 | |
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22
jingling
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| 叮当声 | |
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23
portrayal
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| n.饰演；描画 | |
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24
supple
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| adj.柔软的，易弯的，逢迎的，顺从的，灵活的；vt.使柔软，使柔顺，使顺从；vi.变柔软，变柔顺 | |
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25
Moslem
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| n.回教徒，穆罕默德信徒；adj.回教徒的，回教的 | |
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slippered
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| 穿拖鞋的 | |
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27
strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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28
piquant
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| adj.辛辣的，开胃的，令人兴奋的 | |
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nomad
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| n.游牧部落的人，流浪者，游牧民 | |
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30
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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31
arduous
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| adj.艰苦的，费力的，陡峭的 | |
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32
infancy
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| n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期 | |
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33
groomed
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| v.照料或梳洗（马等）( groom的过去式和过去分词 )；使做好准备；训练；（给动物）擦洗 | |
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34
hips
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| abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯，耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 )；[建筑学]屋脊；臀围（尺寸）；臀部…的 | |
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35
abdomen
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| n.腹，下腹(胸部到腿部的部分) | |
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suppled
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| 使柔软，使柔顺（supple的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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37
lustrous
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| adj.有光泽的；光辉的 | |
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38
flute
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| n.长笛；v.吹笛 | |
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39
weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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40
plaintive
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| adj.可怜的，伤心的 | |
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41
dexterity
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| n.(手的)灵巧，灵活 | |
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42
hereditary
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| adj.遗传的，遗传性的，可继承的，世袭的 | |
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43
incurring
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| 遭受，招致，引起( incur的现在分词 ) | |
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44
syllable
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| n.音节；vt.分音节 | |
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45
stenographer
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| n.速记员 | |
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46
rue
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| n.懊悔，芸香，后悔；v.后悔，悲伤，懊悔 | |
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47
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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48
prospective
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| adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的 | |
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49
caressed
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| 爱抚或抚摸…( caress的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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50
questionable
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| adj.可疑的，有问题的 | |
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51
vaudeville
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| n.歌舞杂耍表演 | |
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52
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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53
depicting
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| 描绘，描画( depict的现在分词 )； 描述 | |
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54
conspicuously
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| ad.明显地，惹人注目地 | |
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55
picturesqueness
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56
considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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57
crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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58
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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59
jewelry
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| n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝 | |
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60
scenting
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| vt.闻到（scent的现在分词形式） | |
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61
courteously
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| adv.有礼貌地，亲切地 | |
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62
bracelets
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| n.手镯，臂镯( bracelet的名词复数 ) | |
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63
armour
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| （=armor）n.盔甲；装甲部队 | |
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64
envelops
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| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的第三人称单数 ) | |
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65
lithe
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| adj.(指人、身体)柔软的，易弯的 | |
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66
attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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67
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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68
lavishly
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| adv.慷慨地，大方地 | |
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69
allurements
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| n.诱惑( allurement的名词复数 )；吸引；诱惑物；有诱惑力的事物 | |
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70
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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71
fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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72
bazaars
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| （东方国家的）市场( bazaar的名词复数 )； 义卖； 义卖市场； （出售花哨商品等的）小商品市场 | |
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73
eastward
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| adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部 | |
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74
latitude
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| n.纬度，行动或言论的自由(范围)，(pl.)地区 | |
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75
condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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76
indemnity
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| n.赔偿，赔款，补偿金 | |
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77
commuted
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| 通勤( commute的过去式和过去分词 )； 减（刑）； 代偿 | |
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imprisonment
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| n.关押，监禁，坐牢 | |
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79
salaaming
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| 行额手礼( salaam的现在分词 ) | |
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80
compassionate
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| adj.有同情心的，表示同情的 | |
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81
euphemism
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| n.婉言，委婉的说法 | |
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82
wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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83
adorning
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| 修饰，装饰物 | |
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84
gallows
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| n.绞刑架，绞台 | |
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85
complexions
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| 肤色( complexion的名词复数 )； 面色； 局面； 性质 | |
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86
distinctively
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| adv.特殊地，区别地 | |
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87
interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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88
tribal
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| adj.部族的，种族的 | |
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89
imprisoning
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| v.下狱，监禁( imprison的现在分词 ) | |
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90
dubious
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| adj.怀疑的，无把握的；有问题的，靠不住的 | |
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91
bidder
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| n.(拍卖时的)出价人，报价人，投标人 | |
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92
maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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93
voluptuous
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| adj.肉欲的，骄奢淫逸的 | |
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94
haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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95
insolent
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| adj.傲慢的，无理的 | |
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96
sensuous
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| adj.激发美感的；感官的，感觉上的 | |
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97
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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98
nether
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| adj.下部的，下面的；n.阴间；下层社会 | |
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99
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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100
heralded
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| v.预示( herald的过去式和过去分词 )；宣布（好或重要） | |
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101
scents
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| n.香水( scent的名词复数 )；气味；（动物的）臭迹；（尤指狗的）嗅觉 | |
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102
carnation
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| n.康乃馨（一种花） | |
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103
heliotrope
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| n.天芥菜；淡紫色 | |
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104
secondly
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| adv.第二，其次 | |
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105
jingle
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| n.叮当声，韵律简单的诗句；v.使叮当作响，叮当响，押韵 | |
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106
turquoise
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| n.绿宝石；adj.蓝绿色的 | |
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107
specimens
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| n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人 | |
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108
neatly
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| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
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109
dagger
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| n.匕首，短剑，剑号 | |
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110
cynosure
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| n.焦点 | |
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111
ordeal
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| n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验 | |
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112
cemetery
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| n.坟墓，墓地，坟场 | |
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113
whitewashed
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| 粉饰，美化，掩饰( whitewash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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114
gateway
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| n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法 | |
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115
winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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116
shrouded
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| v.隐瞒( shroud的过去式和过去分词 )；保密 | |
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117
prying
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| adj.爱打听的v.打听，刺探（他人的私事）( pry的现在分词 )；撬开 | |
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118
hearsay
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| n.谣传，风闻 | |
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119
specially
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| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
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120
enveloped
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| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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121
linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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122
suffocation
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| n.窒息 | |
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123
muzzle
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| n.鼻口部；口套；枪(炮)口；vt.使缄默 | |
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124
scant
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| adj.不充分的，不足的；v.减缩，限制，忽略 | |
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125
repudiation
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| n.拒绝；否认；断绝关系；抛弃 | |
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126
injustice
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| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
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127
lodging
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| n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍 | |
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128
vaulted
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| adj.拱状的 | |
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129
hooded
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| adj.戴头巾的；有罩盖的；颈部因肋骨运动而膨胀的 | |
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130
herded
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| 群集，纠结( herd的过去式和过去分词 )； 放牧； （使）向…移动 | |
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131
grill
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| n.烤架，铁格子，烤肉；v.烧，烤，严加盘问 | |
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132
proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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133
futures
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| n.期货，期货交易 | |
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134
alcoves
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| n.凹室( alcove的名词复数 )；（花园）凉亭；僻静处；壁龛 | |
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135
alcove
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| n.凹室 | |
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136
divan
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| n.长沙发；（波斯或其他东方诗人的）诗集 | |
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137
whatsoever
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| adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么 | |
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138
evading
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| 逃避( evade的现在分词 )； 避开； 回避； 想不出 | |
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139
liaison
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| n.联系，（未婚男女间的）暖昧关系，私通 | |
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140
populous
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| adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的 | |
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141
enticed
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| 诱惑，怂恿( entice的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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142
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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143
fanaticism
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| n.狂热，盲信 | |
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144
inevitably
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| adv.不可避免地；必然发生地 | |
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145
investigations
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| （正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究 | |
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146
alleys
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| 胡同，小巷( alley的名词复数 )； 小径 | |
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147
stoutly
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| adv.牢固地，粗壮的 | |
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148
dealers
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| n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者 | |
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149
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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150
wedlock
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| n.婚姻，已婚状态 | |
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151
proxy
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| n.代理权，代表权；（对代理人的）委托书；代理人 | |
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152
fictitious
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| adj.虚构的，假设的；空头的 | |
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153
subterfuges
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| n.（用说谎或欺骗以逃脱责备、困难等的）花招，遁词( subterfuge的名词复数 ) | |
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154
procure
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| vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条 | |
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155
inmates
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| n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 ) | |
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156
nominally
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| 在名义上，表面地； 应名儿 | |
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157
meddle
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| v.干预，干涉，插手 | |
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158
astounded
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| v.使震惊(astound的过去式和过去分词)；愕然；愕；惊讶 | |
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159
onlookers
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| n.旁观者，观看者( onlooker的名词复数 ) | |
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160
gendarmes
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| n.宪兵，警官( gendarme的名词复数 ) | |
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161
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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162
illustrates
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| 给…加插图( illustrate的第三人称单数 )； 说明； 表明； （用示例、图画等）说明 | |
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163
administrators
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| n.管理者( administrator的名词复数 )；有管理（或行政）才能的人；（由遗嘱检验法庭指定的）遗产管理人；奉派暂管主教教区的牧师 | |
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164
ticklish
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| adj.怕痒的；问题棘手的；adv.怕痒地；n.怕痒，小心处理 | |
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165
confidential
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| adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的 | |
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166
detested
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| v.憎恶，嫌恶，痛恨( detest的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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167
galloped
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| （使马）飞奔，奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 )； 快速做[说]某事 | |
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168
heed
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| v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心 | |
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169
toiling
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| 长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的现在分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉 | |
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170
runaway
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| n.逃走的人，逃亡，亡命者；adj.逃亡的，逃走的 | |
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171
impudent
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| adj.鲁莽的，卑鄙的，厚颜无耻的 | |
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172
regain
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| vt.重新获得，收复，恢复 | |
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173
fawned
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| v.（尤指狗等）跳过来往人身上蹭以示亲热( fawn的过去式和过去分词 )；巴结；讨好 | |
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174
snarled
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的过去式和过去分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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175
lawful
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| adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的 | |
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176
testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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177
trudged
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| vt.& vi.跋涉，吃力地走（trudge的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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178
yoked
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| 结合（yoke的过去式形式） | |
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179
intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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180
indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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181
malediction
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| n.诅咒 | |
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182
barley
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| n.大麦，大麦粒 | |
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183
raisins
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| n.葡萄干( raisin的名词复数 ) | |
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184
mangled
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| vt.乱砍（mangle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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185
fowl
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| n.家禽，鸡，禽肉 | |
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186
stewed
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| adj.焦虑不安的，烂醉的v.炖( stew的过去式和过去分词 )；煨；思考；担忧 | |
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187
gravy
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| n.肉汁；轻易得来的钱，外快 | |
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188
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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189
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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190
uncommon
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| adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的 | |
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191
conditionally
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| adv. 有条件地 | |
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192
haggling
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| v.讨价还价( haggle的现在分词 ) | |
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193
hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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194
flutes
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| 长笛( flute的名词复数 )； 细长香槟杯（形似长笛） | |
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195
divested
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| v.剥夺( divest的过去式和过去分词 )；脱去（衣服）；2。从…取去…；1。（给某人）脱衣服 | |
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