EGYPT 249 



is not robed in a hobble skirt, people who mock 

 the Pyramids and would see a beer-hall perched 

 on the topmost summit. 



But Egypt can laugh at all the vandalism of 

 all the vandal world. You place tramcars in 

 the streets of Cairo, but you cannot drive the 

 camel and the kohl-tinted peasant from her. 

 You may deck the porches of her luxurious hotels 

 with the modern finery of Paris, but only the 

 eyes that peer at you over the yashmaks will 

 be always in your mind. 



Egypt is a land for the dreamer, for the lover 

 of a great slumbering silence, for the worshipper 

 of the sun. Thoth travelled in the Boat of the 

 Sun, and so will you when you visit the land of 

 the date-palm and the slumbering Nile. If 

 your life has been prosaic, Egypt will set it 

 tingling with the rhythm of new conceptions. If 

 each one of your years has writhed and quivered, 

 Egypt will regild your joyous dreams, soften 

 your nightmares, make you forget your carking 

 cares. 



You who have ghosts to lay to rest, bury them 

 in the golden depths of the Libyan sands. You 

 who would seek new paths in the careworn walk 

 of life, seek them where the Pharaohs ruled, 

 where the sunsets glow, and life has lustre and 

 love and light. Lend yourself to Egypt for a 

 while, and let her mesmerize you with her subtle 

 charms. For this is a land that was born like 

 a lovely woman, to delight and entrance. 



