THE religious observances, the festivals, and the superstitions2 of Islam have been so fully3 described by Lane that it seems presumptuous4 to attempt to do so here. But they are so intimately associated with the life and character of the Egyptians that it is impossible to describe the people amongst whom I have so long lived without referring to these observances. From the first day of the month of the Prophet every street and bazaar5 in Cairo show some signs that the Moolid en-Nebi will soon be on us. Bands of dervishes, carrying the banners of the sects6 to which they belong, make happy incidents in the streets through which they pass. Should we go past a dervish tekke the sound of a zikr will be heard; and should we be bold enough to peep in we may see a group of men swaying backwards7 and forwards, and hear them repeat in unison8 the name of Allah till physical exhaustion9 causes a pause. Queer-looking fakirs beg for alms in the name of the Prophet; and whether they have lain low during ordinary times and only donned their rags for the great occasion, I cannot tell, but they turn up now like butterflies on a fine spring morning.
It is pleasant to wander about the streets of the old171 quarters after sunset. Their usual dark and deserted10 appearance is enlivened here and there by a display of lanterns hung beneath a marvellously patterned awning11, and one’s curiosity is incited12 to know with what thrilling romance the sháer is engaging the attention of his audience. It is also curious to find men who, after the religious excitement of a zikr, will sit in ecstasies13 in the little theatres while the sensuous14 dance of the ghazeeyeh is performed. Arabic music can also be heard at its best. Incomprehensible at first, as a strange language to the foreigner, it has a subtle charm which increases as the sounds become more familiar. A dark lane, where one or two small lanterns mark the entrances of some old mameluke palaces, may of a sudden be lighted at one end by the approach of a band of dervishes carrying now flaming cressets in lieu of the banners we may have seen in the daytime.
I neglected the old quarters, during my last stay in Cairo, when the month of the Prophet was on us. The commonplace, but luxurious15, modern quarters were made glorious by the wreath of blossoming shrubs16 and trees which adorned17 them. The Esbekiyeh gardens, which I usually avoid, were a great attraction to me then. A large and rather gimcrack grotto18, which I thought a horror during the winter, was now almost smothered19 by the gorgeous blossom of the bougainvillea. Seldom have I seen such an orgy of colour. I made some studies of it which I have since found useful; but I should then have left the bougainvillea severely20 alone. I heard of a fine display of its blossom in the zoological gardens, where I knew that the small entrance fee as172 well as the other attractions would allow me to work with less of an admiring crowd. Captain Flower (to whom we are indebted for having made this collection of the fauna21 and birds of Africa one of the most interesting in the world) gave me every facility for working in the gardens which he controls. Besides the masses of bougainvillea, I found the bohenia in full bloom; the hibiscus was in flower, the poinciana regia, as well as many other subtropical shrubs.
I started a morning as well as an afternoon drawing of the bougainvillea, and much as I was taken by this display of colour in nature, I found that somehow or another I could not get it to look pictorially22 right on my paper. The purplish-crimson fought unpleasantly with the green, and with the blue of the sky. It is a pity; for the otherwise delightful23 days I spent at the Gizeh gardens have this black mark against them.
The bougainvillea had hardly shed its blossom when the jacaranda began to show what it is capable of, both as to its beauty as in the difficulties it sets before the painter who attempts to record the delicacy24 of its colouring. I thought nothing more of the bougainvillea when the jacaranda put on its spring garments. Leafless trees of a graceful25 growth, which may be seen in almost every garden, but which we simply label in our minds as trees without paying them any further attention, become each one an object of admiration26 when April glides27 into May. I had generally been in Upper Egypt during that season, or had left the country too soon to see the jacaranda in bloom. The cherry-blossom had attracted me to Japan the previous year, I have made173 studies of the almond tree and the peach during one or two seasons in Italy, and I never fail to get at the apple-blossom should I happen to be in England in May. Each in its turn has filled me with enthusiasm. But there is none to compare with the beauty of the jacaranda.
Its local colour is a pale violet, but when the declining sun plays amongst its bloom-laden twigs28, it tells as a mass of warm pink against the turquoise29 sky. The fear of a hamseen increases as the blossom gets to perfection, for two or three days of the hot dry wind may rob the trees of most of their beauty. The colour is so different under a sand-laden sky that it is hopeless to continue a drawing begun when the wind came from a better quarter. Should the hamseen have done its worst before these trees break into blossom, we may enjoy their beauty for a fortnight or more. When once the green buds show between the blossoms, we know that in a day or two all will be over. The rapidity with which a leafless tree changes to a mass of green is surprising to any one who has spent his years in northern climes.
Whether the oleander was exceptionally fine that season I cannot tell, but I had seen nothing like it anywhere—and an oleander in flower is a thing no one with any ?sthetic sense would pass unnoticed. The scorching30 winds may have shrivelled up some of its bloom, but the profusion31 of buds was ever ready to fill up any gaps left by the falling petals32.
Where water is available anything seems to grow in this rich alluvial33 soil. Flowers were in plenty during the174 whole winter, but the flower gardens in Egypt attracted me less than do those nearer home. The blackish mud from which they grow makes an unpleasant setting. The large flowering shrubs get their moisture deeper in the soil, and little or no irrigation seems required. Cairo is but a few feet above the level of the Nile, and the roots of the larger trees probably reach down to where a continuous supply of water is ever available. I can only account in this way for the luxuriance of growth often seen in a dry and sandy courtyard.
It is difficult to say when the rose season is at its best; we were seldom without them. The bushes possibly take a rest during the hottest months of summer; during the autumn, the winter, and the spring they are hardly ever denuded34 of their bloom before they show signs of renewed efforts to break into flower.
The new suburbs, which are ever stretching out to the north and south of the modern Cairo, have little to attract one. Architectural studies may be made there to learn what to avoid. I avoided them altogether until the blossoming trees, the flowering shrubs, and the gorgeous colour of some of the creepers attracted me from one otherwise villainous house to another. There are scarcely any flowers to be seen in the old parts of the city, so that the houses and mosques35 could wait; but not so the blossoming trees in the gardens of the modern quarters.
Count Zogheb kindly37 showed me over his house, which forms a striking exception to the many tasteless175 buildings in its neighbourhood, and it was a pleasure to find that the planning and decoration of the best mameluke palaces can be adapted to modern requirements if the possessor has the means and the good taste to appreciate them. Herz Bey designed the building, and though it is no slavish copy of any existing old Cairene house, it has the spirit and the good taste of the best Saracenic work. I was also glad to see that it is possible to reproduce the handsome tiles, which I had repeatedly heard to be a lost art. Some panels which the owner pointed38 out to me were made up partly of old and partly of modern tiles, and I confess I found it difficult to tell which were which. Connoisseurs39 in old faience may smile at this, and they might have pointed out some differences in the glaze40; but in the decorative41 effect on the walls one was quite as useful as the other. I wish they had been made in Egypt, for any signs of a revival42 of the lost handicraft would be most welcome. The Count informed me that some were made in Venice from patterns he sent there, and others were manufactured in Austria.
Nassan, he of the lamp-shop, must have acquired a good customer in my new acquaintance, for a great number of his lamps were seen here, and they were beautifully adapted to the electric light. A fear I had before entering the house was that it might look theatrical43 and not suitable to present-day use; but I lost that completely after I had been there some while. There was no affectation on the part of my host and his family to live as medi?val Moslems, any more than the possessor of an old English house176 attempts to live as did his predecessors44. Chairs, tables, books and all other modern requirements were there, and they looked no more incongruous than did the unveiled faces of the handsome wife and daughters of my host. It was a bold venture, and if a less able architect than Herz Bey had had the designing of this home, it might have been a deplorable failure, instead of an encouragement to other wealthy Cairenes to try to do likewise.
The first attempt at a revival of Saracenic domestic architecture was the French Agency. I can only judge of it from its exterior45, which is a dignified46 and handsome building; competent judges have assured me that the interior is very beautiful. It is singular that this noble attempt to build according to the traditions of Cairo’s best period went on while Ismael Pasha was tearing down fine old mameluke palaces and destroying one of the most picturesque47 parts of the old city, in order to construct the hideous48 ‘Boulevard Mohammed Ali.’ This act of vandalism went on under French influence while a French architect was constructing the ‘Maison de France,’ as the agency is called, and endeavouring to give it the appearance of the houses the Cairenes were destroying. Fine old mushrbiyeh work was to be had in plenty, and the furniture of a fine mosque36, which was partly demolished49 in order to preserve the alignment50 of the Boulevard, were available to the architect of the agency. It contains, therefore, much genuine old work which was not procurable51 when Count Zogheb recently built his home. It is as well that this should be so. Age does little to improve the woodwork, whose chief beauty consists in the design, and of this plenty of examples remain. It is a hopeful sign that all that I saw in the Count’s beautiful house can still be achieved, providing an able architect be selected.
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1
awakening
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| n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的 | |
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superstitions
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| 迷信，迷信行为( superstition的名词复数 ) | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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presumptuous
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| adj.胆大妄为的，放肆的，冒昧的，冒失的 | |
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bazaar
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| n.集市，商店集中区 | |
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sects
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| n.宗派，教派( sect的名词复数 ) | |
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7
backwards
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| adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地 | |
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8
unison
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| n.步调一致，行动一致 | |
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9
exhaustion
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| n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述 | |
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10
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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11
awning
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| n.遮阳篷；雨篷 | |
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12
incited
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| 刺激，激励，煽动( incite的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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ecstasies
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| 狂喜( ecstasy的名词复数 )； 出神； 入迷； 迷幻药 | |
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14
sensuous
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| adj.激发美感的；感官的，感觉上的 | |
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15
luxurious
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| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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16
shrubs
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| 灌木( shrub的名词复数 ) | |
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adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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grotto
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| n.洞穴 | |
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19
smothered
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| （使）窒息， （使）透不过气( smother的过去式和过去分词 )； 覆盖； 忍住； 抑制 | |
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20
severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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fauna
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| n.(一个地区或时代的)所有动物，动物区系 | |
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22
pictorially
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| 绘画般地 | |
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23
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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24
delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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25
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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glides
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| n.滑行( glide的名词复数 )；滑音；音渡；过渡音v.滑动( glide的第三人称单数 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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28
twigs
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| 细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 ) | |
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29
turquoise
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| n.绿宝石；adj.蓝绿色的 | |
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30
scorching
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| adj. 灼热的 | |
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profusion
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| n.挥霍；丰富 | |
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32
petals
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| n.花瓣( petal的名词复数 ) | |
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alluvial
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| adj.冲积的；淤积的 | |
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34
denuded
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| adj.[医]变光的，裸露的v.使赤裸( denude的过去式和过去分词 )；剥光覆盖物 | |
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mosques
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| 清真寺； 伊斯兰教寺院，清真寺； 清真寺，伊斯兰教寺院( mosque的名词复数 ) | |
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36
mosque
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| n.清真寺 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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39
connoisseurs
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| n.鉴赏家，鉴定家，行家( connoisseur的名词复数 ) | |
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40
glaze
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| v.因疲倦、疲劳等指眼睛变得呆滞，毫无表情 | |
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41
decorative
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| adj.装饰的，可作装饰的 | |
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42
revival
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| n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振 | |
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43
theatrical
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| adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的 | |
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44
predecessors
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| n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身 | |
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45
exterior
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| adj.外部的，外在的；表面的 | |
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46
dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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47
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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48
hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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49
demolished
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| v.摧毁( demolish的过去式和过去分词 )；推翻；拆毁（尤指大建筑物）；吃光 | |
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50
alignment
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| n.队列；结盟，联合 | |
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51
procurable
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| adj.可得到的，得手的 | |
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