WITH THE MONKS AT METEORA 



801 



by its side ; indeed, for a short distance 

 they often outpace the train. 



The villages, invariably set back from 

 the railway, are far better to look at in 

 the distance, for the stucco houses are 

 not attractive near to ; but their flat, red 

 roofs add a pleasing touch of color to the 

 middle landscape. 



Occasionally a Greek priest, with long 

 beard, long hair, and long garments, 

 rides by. His high hat and his large 

 cross indicate prominently his calling, 

 and, -if he is not in too great a hurry, a 

 pedestrian may stop him, kiss his cross, 

 and be touched on the forehead with a 

 little switch, presumably dipped in holy 

 water, and the sinner obtains absolution 

 for the day. 



We left the train at Kalabaka, and 

 there took horses and guides to climb to 

 the high-built monasteries. For three 

 hours the horses had to pick their way 

 over hillsides where, in the month of Feb- 

 ruary, no trail was visible. 



The snow grew deeper as we mounted 

 higher, and the coating of ice on the rocks 

 made our progress slow and slippery. 

 Up the bed of streams we went, fording 

 the rushing waters, which bespoke spring 

 freshets, and quite suddenly we came 

 upon a rock formation so awe-compelling 

 from its immense height and forbidding 

 steepness that Dore could have imagined 

 no more formidable bulwark. 



Andromeda might have been chained to 

 one of these sheer rocks, and the eagles 

 that swoop, and dip, and circle among 

 them could have been the only thing to 

 reach her, until Perseus came to set her 

 free. In those days the valley was evi- 

 dently a body of water and could easily 

 have harbored a monster of the deep. 

 Now a river winds along, like' a shin- 

 ing thread, with wide sandy banks, that 

 indicate the presence of a wider sheet of 

 water not so very long ago. 



As we looked in wonder at one de- 

 tached colossal pillar of stone, we dis- 

 covered on its seemingly unattainable 

 summit a building ! This habitation of 

 man, half natural rock and half artifi- 

 cial, seemed most extraordinary. Our 

 guides drew attention to the higher preci- 



pices, and as we grew accustomed to- 

 their outlines we saw, on all sides, mon- 

 asteries tucked into the ledges of the per- 

 pendicular walls. They are not all in- 

 habited today, but they are there, bearing 

 testimony that man has climbed, and 

 built, and lived on crags that seem im- 

 possible for goats to climb. 



The first abode of the contemporary 

 monks is Barlaam, which is said to con- 

 tain a wonderful Byzantine library ; but 

 entrance to this monastery is barred to 

 women. However, the cloistered broth- 

 ers are not forbidden to look at passing 

 femininity, even if they cannot harbor 

 them, for they called out to us as we 

 passed below them on the mountain side, 

 and we answered back, "Good day." An 

 hour further on we caught sight of 

 another monastery, Trinity, and there 

 upon arrival we were allowed to enter. 



The whole of the west plain of Thes- 

 saly lay at our feet, and the white moun- 

 tains of the Pindos range rose rugged 

 and imposing before us. At the base of 

 the rock on which Trinity is perched, 

 like an eagle's nest, our guides hallooed 

 and beat with a stick on a tin can, found 

 in the bushes. Soon an answering call 

 came back, and over the precipice, some 

 three hundred feet above us, the peering 

 faces of several monks were seen. Then 

 something serpentine flew into the air, 

 and as it dropped perpendicularly we saw 

 dangling from a coil of rope what looked 

 like a small fish net. Down came the 

 cable until it touched the earth at our 

 feet, and the fish net proved to be a large- 

 sized rope bag, which opened and spread 

 out flat on the ground. 



One at a time we were invited to step 

 into the middle of this net and squat, 

 Turk- fash ion-. The edges were gathered 

 together onto a large iron hook, a shout 

 was given, and the net soared upward, 

 while its occupant felt somewhat like 

 an orange at the bottom of a market 

 woman's bag. 



The ascent takes just three minutes. 

 Occasionally the openwork elevator 

 swings into the rock with a slight bump, 

 but the monks at the top wind the wind- 

 lass slowly, and the bumping doesn't 



