ENTERTAINING VARIETIES. 837 



" There is my house," said he, pointing to the valley, " over yon- 

 der, where you see that large orchard at the foot of the hill." 



"And is the produce of that orchard not sufficient to support 

 you ? " I asked him. 



"My wants, sir, are but small," said he, "but I have a wife and a 

 daughter who are in need of wakkad * trailing-gowns with double 

 tails, and red-squirrel skins are very expensive." 



" Have they, then, no other garments ? " I inquired. 



" Many, sir," he replied, " but they are gray and single-tailed." 



" Father," said I, " I am a physician, and it is my duty to warn 

 you," for I had noticed that he breathed with difficulty, like a person 

 exhausted by a grievous cough. Such labor, I told him, would surely 

 aggravate his disease, and if he hoped to recover he must have more 

 rest and better food. 



" Alas ! we have sold our milch-cow," said the old man, " and I 

 have to furnish those gowns before the end of this season." 



" Then repurchase your cow," I replied, " and let your women wear 

 their usual garments." 



He sighed and shook his head. " The women of this country have 

 to follow the customs of Moropolis," said he, " a city of great wealth 

 and refinement. The Moropolitans have ordained that trailing-gowns 

 shall be red and double-tailed, and Monghistan has to obey. All the 

 women would be against me : I might defy them, but I dread the 

 consequences." 



By much persuasion I at last encouraged his heart, and agreed to 

 follow him to his home. The orchard was not far from our camping- 

 ground ; so I hoped to return before my companions had prepared 

 our meal. The old man conducted me through a flourishing tree-gar- 

 den, and ushered me into his cottage, where we found two women, 

 both unveiled, but of very decorous deportment. " My name is Mak- 

 el-Frit," said the old man, " and this is Pitha, my wife, and my daugh- 

 ter Pitheka." 



They received me with politeness and offered me the hospitality of 

 their table ; but, seeing a skewered pig upon their hearth, I asked them 

 to excuse me, adding that I would soon be obliged to rejoin my com- 

 panions. 



"How comes it, my husband," said the habira,\ at last, "that your 

 labor has ended so long before sunset ? " 



" It has ended for ever," said Mak-el-Frit, " I can endure it no 

 more " ; and, after explaining the nature of his disease, he told them 

 that he intended to repurchase his milch-cow, and that they must con- 

 tent themselves with gowns of gray-squirrel skin. 



At these words the two women started up and glared at each 



* Aboo-1-wakkad, literally " father of a great tail," a squirrel. The name is applied 

 both to the gray palm-squirrel and the civet-cat of Northern Africa. 

 \ Kabira, the " head- woman," the mistress of a house. 



