CHAPTER II
A DONKEY RIDE AROUND CAIRO
AFTER it was all arranged, and Nabul and Abdal were actually surethat they were to be hired, they were so happy that they did not knowwhether they were standing on their heads or heels.
"Well, mount your steed, George, and we will be off," said the tallgentleman, George's uncle, Mr. Benjamin Winthrop. Mr. Winthrop hadalready mounted Abdal's donkey, hunching up his knees so that his feetwould not touch the ground, so George clambered up on Teddy Pasha'shigh red saddle and the little donkey started off at a lively trotwithout waiting for a tap from Nabul's stick. Away went the littleparty down the street, the two Egyptian boys running along, each by theside of his donkey, crying out so as to clear the road ahead, and everynow and again giving the donkeys a gentle stroke with their sticks, notto make them go faster, but to guide them. They gave them first a tapon one side and then on the other, as they wanted them to go to theleft or right.
"My! but they bounce you about," called out George to his uncle. It wasthe first time he had ever ridden a donkey and he was holding on fordear life for fear he would be shaken off.
"These Egyptian donkeys have got a funny sort of trot, but it's allright when you once get used to it," said Uncle Ben. "It's a bit roughat first, but just sit easy and you will soon swing into the motion."
So George tried to _look_, at least, as if he felt easy. Now they hadleft the new part of the city, frequented by the foreigners, behindthem, and were entering the old city where only the natives live.
Here the streets are so narrow that often the roofs of houses nearlymeet overhead, and they are so cluttered up that it is a wonder thatany one can pass along. There were no sidewalks and everybody walked inthe middle of the street. All the people who had any work to do seemedto be doing it in the middle of the street, instead of in their houses.
The donkeys soon had to slacken their pace, for there was a perfecttangle of people and donkeys and little carts, and even a two-horsecarriage tried to push through occasionally. This gave George a chanceto breathe easier, and watch the process by which Nabul guided thePasha through the crowd.
"Keep to the right, oh, my lord!" Nabul cried out to a richly dressedman who was crossing the street. "Look to the left of you, oh, mymother," he yelled to an old woman who was bending under a greatbasket of bread. Little Egyptian children usually call old women andmen by some such respectful names as "Mother" or "Father" or "My Lord."They know well how to address their elders.
Presently there was a great hubbub and everybody made way for two tall,strong fellows dressed in white, with gaudy red and gold embroideredvests and red turbans, who came running down the street shouting asthey went. Each carried a long white wand; behind them came a handsomecarriage and pair.
"Make way for the syces and the carriage of the great Pasha," criedNabul, and the little donkeys squeezed up against the side of thehouse, though even then there was barely room for the carriage to pass.
George wanted to know who syces were. Mustapha, who had accompanied theparty, explained that they were the men servants who ran before thecarriages of great personages to clear the way for them. They can runall day as fast as horses can trot, and never get weary.
"Don't you ever get tired, either?" asked George of Nabul as he ranalong beside him. The little Egyptian boy only laughed and shook hishead. It was funny, he thought, how all these strangers asked him thesame question when he took them to ride. He thought nothing of runningall day long by the side of his donkey. Egyptian children are a strong,hardy little race of people and never seem to know what it is to betired. They live much in the open air and they sleep on a hard bed, allof which tends to make them healthy and strong.
"Now how on earth are we going to pass through here?" asked George,as they turned a corner and saw a long string of camels coming towardthem. Across each camel were slung two great bulging sacks that nearlytouched the houses on each side.
"Hi-yah! Hi-yah! Jannib ya hu!" (which meant, "Keep to the side,oh, you!") shrieked Nabul and Abdal to the men who had the camels incharge. But the camels stalked along in the middle of the way, waggingtheir long necks and, of course, the donkeys had to stop, for there wasno room to pass.
AT THE BAZAAR.]
Such a clamour as set up! The donkey boys screamed at the cameldrivers, and the camel men yelled back at them; while Mustapha sat onhis donkey calling the camels and their owners all the names he couldthink of.
"One would think they were all going to break each other's heads,wouldn't you, Uncle Ben?" said George, beginning to get uneasy.
"It's only their way of settling a difficulty, they have no idea ofdoing harm to any one," answered Mr. Winthrop. And this was trueenough. Egyptians are not as quarrelsome as they seem. Peace wasrestored shortly, and the camel drivers prodded their camels withtheir sticks until they squeezed up against one side of the street,leaving just room enough for the donkeys to get past. As it was, thelast camel in the line nipped off George's cap and Nabul had to rescueit, but the boys only thought this a good joke.
Now they were trotting through a long covered way on either side ofwhich were tiny shops or booths for the sale of all sorts of wares.
"The Bazaar! the Bazaar where you buy pretty things!" said Nabul,pointing to the little booths where the merchants sat surrounded by allsorts of merchandise, clothes to wear, furniture and dishes to use, andgood things to eat.
"So these are what you call stores; they look more like boxes,"exclaimed George. "Sha'n't we stop now, Uncle Ben, and look at some ofthe things?"
"Mustapha says we should go to the great mosque first, and visit theBazaars after lunch," called back his uncle.
So on went the little donkeys, climbing up into the very oldest partof the city, called the Citadel. Here they clattered through an ancientgateway and soon found themselves in a dark, gloomy street. The littledonkeys went slowly now, for it was a steep climb around and aroundwith high walls on either side, until at last they came out at the verytop on a sort of terrace, overlooking the city now far below, and therestood the great Mosque of Mohammed-Ali, with its great central dome andslender towers or minarets.
"Isn't it fine?" exclaimed George, as he slipped off the Pasha andstood looking up at the great building.
"Yes, but there are other mosques in Cairo that are much older,"answered his uncle, "but this is the most interesting of all to see."
"Alabaster, all alabaster," said Nabul, laying his hand on the stonework near the great entrance.
"Much of the mosque is built of pure white alabaster," explainedMustapha, and indeed it is a fact that it is built of this fine whitestone. It shows plainly what good taste these old Mohammedan buildershad and what fine workmen they were.
"Can't we go inside?" asked George, starting at once for the door.
"Wait, the _babouches_," cried Nabul and Abdal together, catchingGeorge by the arm and pointing to a big pile of yellow slippers justinside the door. These slippers, or _babouches_, were in charge ofan old man with a long white beard and a dirty gown, and he had asassistants two or three boys who squatted beside the pile of footwear.On seeing the approach of the visitors one of the boys picked out thesmallest pair of _babouches_ he could find and motioned to George toput them on over his shoes.
"What is that for?" asked George, bewildered.
"No one can enter a Mohammedan mosque with the shoes in which he walksthe street," answered Mustapha. "We Mohammedans leave ours at the door,but for the strangers there are these slippers, or _babouches_, to beworn over their shoes so that the sacred carpets of the mosque may notbe defiled."
George thought it very funny as he stuck his feet into the big,wobbly yellow slippers. Nabul simply shuffled out of his own littlered slippers and left them in charge of the boys at the door, whosebusiness it was to guard such footgear while their owners were inside.Meanwhile Abdal stayed behind to guard the donkeys.
They entered a great hall where were many graceful columns, but theplace seemed bare, for there
were no furnishings of any kind, exceptthat the floor was covered with rich rugs, and from the ceiling hunghundreds of glittering lamps. On one side was a sort of pulpit at thetop of a short flight of stairs. There were a number of people sayingtheir prayers in the mosque. They would kneel and bow their heads tothe floor and stand up and raise up their arms, all making the motionstogether. It made George think of the gymnastic exercises in his schoolat home.
"Nabul, I believe I have lost one of those precious old slippers," saidGeorge, suddenly looking down at his feet.
Nabul looked horrified when he saw George with only one slipper on.
"I find," he said, and hurried back the way they had come.
Mustapha turned around to see what was the matter, and waved his armswildly and jabbered out a string of words when George told him what hadhappened.
"What do you suppose they will do to me, Uncle Ben," laughed George,"put me in prison? It is not my fault the old slipper came off, it's asbig as a boat anyhow."
"I know what would have happened not so very many years ago," answeredhis uncle. "We should probably all have been mobbed, if not killed, forit is only of recent years that people who are not Mohammedans havebeen allowed to come inside the mosques at all. There is nothing whichshows the character and habits of the natives of Cairo better than byobserving how their religion enters into their daily lives."
"It's a regular 'hunt the slipper game,'" said George, as he watchedthe little Egyptian looking carefully over the rugs.
Suddenly Nabul came running back with something in his clothes.
"Quick, I put him on," he whispered, slipping the missing _babouche_on George's foot, at the same time glancing around to see that no onewas looking. No one was looking, and nothing happened, though Georgewondered if that would have been the case if he had been found withonly one slipper.
At the door they dropped the _babouches_ for good, and outside foundAbdal playing games with some boys, and the donkeys fast asleep. Theywere soon waked up, and our party cantered back to the hotel for lunch,for as George said, "It's funny how seeing things makes you so hungry."
Mustapha told the boys to be back at two o'clock with their donkeys,but just now they were cantering off for their own midday meal. Nabulwas in such high spirits that he must stop and buy some hot friedpeppers and a pile of sticky sweet cakes from the man who sat under abig red umbrella frying big red and green peppers in a pan of olive oilwhich stood on a small brazier of charcoal. It is the custom for thesellers of vegetables and cakes to cook them in the open air in orderto attract trade by the odours and sweet smell of the cooking.
The man began to ladle out some of the hot greasy peppers. "More, more,'tis not enough for a coin like that," cried the boy, throwing down asilver piece with a lofty air.
"Oho, thou eatest like a nobleman to-day," said the old man, peering atthe coin. "Since when have the donkey boys become so rich?"
"There is a little American lord at the big hotel, and I am to be hisdonkey boy," answered Nabul, as he and Abdal carefully divided thepeppers between them.
"Umph, yes, for a ride through the Bazaar and back again like all thesestranger folk," said the old man as he flung some more peppers in hispan.
The boys only laughed and went off to eat their lunch in company withtheir companions in the great square.
There were a lot of their comrades there and they hailed our littlefriends at once, eager to know all about the strangers to whom they hadhired out their donkeys, but Nabul and Abdal kept a discreet silence,only hinting that the strangers were doubtless princes in their owncountry. Donkey boys love to brag, but they are apt to be a jealous lotand are on their guard against any interference from one another.
One by one the boys got tired of asking questions and dozed off curledup on the dusty ground; but the young Egyptians did not mind this; northe heat, the sun was very hot even though it was in winter; nor theswarm of flies that buzzed around them. But little Nabul could notsleep, he sat there thinking of the little American, and wondering howlong he would keep him for his donkey boy.
If he would hire him for a long time what a lot of money he would make,and what a lot of things he could buy with it. He would buy himself anew suit to wear on the last day of Ramadan, the Mohammedans' greatreligious fete, when everybody who possibly could put on new clothesof the finest stuffs and the brightest colours. He would buy a newsaddle for Teddy Pasha, for his present one was looking the least bitshabby, and the scratch that it got from the rough sack on the camel'sback that morning had not improved it in the least. The owner of ahorse or donkey in Egypt will always dress up his steed as elaboratelyas his means will allow, and never, never, if it can be helped, willhe drive him with a shabby saddle or bridle. Perhaps, even, therewould be enough to buy new dresses for the little girls and a pair ofsilver bracelets for the mother, for all Egyptian women folk are veryfond of jewelry. He would like to buy something, too, for the father,but before he knew it Nabul was fast asleep dreaming of untold riches,and only awoke with a jerk when Abdal reached over and shook him intowakefulness, for the sun told them it was time to be at work again.
George was hanging over the railing of the terrace of the hotel on thelook-out for them as they came up, and waved his hat in the air whenhe caught sight of Teddy Pasha again.
This time all started off towards the quarter of the big Bazaars.Here they found many tourists like themselves mounted on donkeys, foreverybody who comes to Cairo must take a ride through the Bazaars wherethere are such curious and beautiful things for sale. All the same,if one was not a mere tourist, and wanted to learn of the manners andcustoms of the people, these curious streets and squares of littleshops were quite the best places in the city to observe how hundredsand thousands of folk gained their living in most strange ways.
It was funny to see the merchants run out and hail the passers-by, andbeg them to look at their wares. One shopkeeper nearly lifted UncleBen off the donkey, much to George's amusement. Many of them were verypolite, too, and offered visitors coffee when they took their seats onthe stools in front of a shop. The people in the Bazaar were almostas interesting as the shops themselves. There were the tall Egyptiansof the towns and fellaheen from the country and Bedouin Arabs fromthe desert in their long, flowing white cloaks, and big black peoplefrom the Soudan in the far South. Everybody jabbered at once, but allspoke the same speech. It was curious how, looking so different, theywere all practically of one race and religion. There were also numbersof Egyptian women all bundled up in black with white veils over theirfaces, for neither the Egyptian nor Arab women would ever think ofallowing a strange man to see their faces.
George had a chance to become better acquainted with the boys whilehis uncle was making some purchases. He found that not only could theyspeak a little English, but some French and a few words of Italian,too. The little Egyptian donkey boys are remarkably quick to catch up aforeign language. Nabul told him how he had learned his funny brokenEnglish. He had first picked up words from the tourists who rode on hisdonkey, and Mustapha had taught him a good deal, for he spoke Englishvery well.
Their own speech in Arabic sounds very strange when translated intoour own tongue, as the Egyptians, and indeed all the races which speakArabic, are very fond of using big words, and they invariably expressthemselves in the most formal and dignified manner. In the eveningNabul had gone to the English school all one year, and really he hadacquired so much English that he could chatter away as fast as thelittle American, if not always so grammatically correct.
So by the time they had ridden through many more quaint streets and thebeautiful Esbekiyeh Gardens and were well on their way back the boyswere good friends.
"Please do tell them now that we will take them for our donkey boysfor all the time we are here, Uncle Ben," George whispered when theyalighted once more at the hotel.
"They do seem to be good obliging little fellows, and as you are theone to be pleased, for you will do most of the riding, I will tellMustapha to arrange it with
them," said Mr. Winthrop.
So it was settled that the services of the two boys and their donkeysshould be engaged for a month, with the understanding that they wouldbe free to do business with other people if at any time they were notneeded.
And weren't the little Egyptians delighted! They cried "Salaam, salaam,O gracious Effendi!" many times, which was their way of saying "Thankyou, sir!" They strutted through the usual crowd of donkey boys hangingabout, puffed up with pride, and were followed by the envious glancesof the other boys, for it was not often one of their number fell inwith such a piece of good luck.
And how happy they all were in Nabul's home when he rushed in with thenews. The little sisters hugged him and the mother gave him an extranice supper, and he went to sleep that night dreaming that he was abig, fine dragoman and that Teddy Pasha wore a great red turban andcould talk English.
Every morning bright and early Nabul and Abdal with the donkeys, alllooking as spick and span as possible, would be waiting in front of thehotel for the little "Effendi," as they called George Winthrop, andwhen Mr. Winthrop and George were ready away they would ride.
Big, fat Mustapha, jolting up and down on his own donkey, would leadthe way, and showed them each day some of the many strange and curiousthings to be seen in and around the city, until finally George feltquite as much at home in Cairo as did his new found friends.
One day they hurried through lunch to go to see the "WhirlingDervishes," a queer lot of people, who spin around and around like atop, as fast as ever they can, until they are so tired they drop onthe floor. They saw the "Howling Dervishes," too, men in gowns of manycolours, with wild faces and long hair, whose blood-curdling howls asthey swayed themselves to and fro almost frightened George, who couldnot understand how people could possibly do such queer things as anact of worship. These are only two of the many sects of the Mohammedanreligion.
One day they crossed over to the island in the river Nile, whereMustapha knocked at a gate which was opened by a man in a long greengown, and they found themselves in a garden among trees loaded withoranges and lemons. Here George crept behind the boys along the top ofa wall to a spot where, so the story runs, the baby Moses was foundasleep in his cradle in the bulrushes by a daughter of the Pharaoh.The Pharaohs were the ancient kings of Egypt. It was most interestingfor George, who was surprised indeed to find this land of Mohammedanismhad recollections also of his own Christian religion.
Another day they all rode out to a place named Heliopolis, where longago there was a great city called the City of the Sun. Now only a tallgranite obelisk stands there, and any little American can see its"twin," as George called it, if he or she will go to New York City andlook at the big obelisk which stands in Central Park. Once upon a timeseveral obelisks stood side by side at Heliopolis, but the Khedive, theruler of Egypt, some years ago wanted to make a valuable present to theUnited States, so he gave them one of these obelisks, the same whichto-day may be seen in New York City.
When they visited the great Museum Uncle Ben and George stood amazedbefore the great mummy cases and the petrified mummies themselves(many of them the old kings of Egypt), which have been buried forthousands of years, and only recently been brought to light. It is bypreserving all these great finds, dug up from the soil often in themost unexpected places, that it has been possible to write the historyof Egypt.