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174 motjstapha's house.
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Transcript
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Li Of Oj Tt ? Le Propriety All Arab The ...
like her mothers and aunts before Her from the beginning of time . Such a fair sweet bud of humanity is Fatma , the daughter
of Mohammed , and granddaughter to Moustapha , who lives in the very tumble-down house across the hill ; she puts up her
mouth to be kissed _whenever we meet her ; and if you were to see Mohammed giving an affectionate pinch to her small chin ,
or watch her trotting along by the side of her big brother All , who has a shaven head and turns his eyes studiously away from
the English ladies and talks at them over his shoulder as if he thought it was not respectable to look at their unveiled faces ,
you would wonder at Mohammed or Ali liking to part with their treasure in a very few years , to a suitor on whom Fatma
had never set her dark eyes , and whom she might not find at all to her inind . Fatma has an expression of shy innocence perfectly
irresistible to the beholder ; a demure kitten , a small white dove in the nest , or the lambs of proverbial notoriety in Dr .
Watts's hymns , would give but a faint image of her peculiar charm ; yet I am sorry to say that nobody will teach her to read
and write , and that her religious observances will chiefly consist of paying a visit to the graves of her ancestors on a Friday ,
eating cakes thereon in honor of their memory , and gossiping with some dozens of women similarly engaged . She will _j _^ obably
of become the Evil addicted Eye for to sweetmeats her children , . grow ¦ Finall fat y , , and she be will exceeding wither earl ly y afraid into
a very dry old woman with a shrill voice , and confine her spiritual anticipations to becoming a houri in a garden of roses , kindly
allotted by Mahomet to the obedient wives of true believers . The way in which I came to make Fatma's acquaintance was
as follows : —We were in want of some painted brackets such as are sold in the bazaars of Algiers , and form part of the furniture
of every Moorish house ; these are gay gilded little shelves , with bright colors and strange devices . Tables being rare , and cupboards
scanty , these little shelves are important to the fittings-up of a Moorish room ; and though we have as many tables as Christians
usually require for domestic comfort , we set our minds on some painted brackets also , and set off to Moustapha's house to order
them . Moustapha is a carpenter , and he lives over the hill about two miles off , in a dwelling known to be guarded by peculiarly
fierce dogs , who fly out at the stranger in a way which would suggest considerable difficulty in the securing custom to Moustapha ;
but the Arabs are not a commercial people it would appear . I £ orders are givenwell—they are—praise be to Allah ! and if orders
, ,, are not forthcoming , well , —they aren't , —praise be to Allah , likewise . It is said !
: We plunged down the ravines to the south , passing farms and gardensand the country-house lately bought ; by the Sisters of St .
, Vincent de Paul as ; a branch orphan asylum ; past a Moor who was .
_standing , on a small bridge twisting silk _> after a primitive , fashion ;
174 Motjstapha's House.
174 motjstapha _' s house .
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Nov. 1, 1861, page 174, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01111861/page/30/
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