A CLOISTER AT VATOPETHI 



Photograph by H. G. Dwight 

 MT. ATHOS, GREECE 



"The cells of the monks are big, clean, bare apartments, furnished chiefly with endless 

 sofas. There they lead a sort of family life, each elder keeping house with one or more 

 spiritual sons" (see text, page 263). 



wide marble corridor — with a delightful 

 balcony at the end — out of which opened 

 the guest-rooms of state. 



EATING THE OCTOPUS 



We owed it to the size and prosperity 

 of Vatopethi that ours was furnished alia 

 franca. It contained, that is, two iron 

 beds arranged like sofas, a monumental 

 stove of brick and plaster, and an electric 

 bell. Toilet arrangements it had none, 

 these being situated in the hall outside 

 and consisting of a tap set over a small 

 marble basin without a stopper. The 

 room had, however, a very superior view 

 across a sluice of quick water, an orange 

 garden, and a collection of lichened 

 roofs, to the blue bay. And in it, shortly 

 after sundown, we were served to such 

 a meal as an orthodox monastery may 

 provide during Lent. We lived to learn, 

 sooner or later, how to thrive on snails. 



This time, however, the piece of resist- 



ance was a stew of octopus. That tooth- 

 some creature, being bloodless, escapes 

 the ban which bars out fish and flesh, not 

 to mention eggs, milk, butter, and oil. 

 We also had a vegetable soup, a mixture 

 of leeks and rice, salad, good black bread, 

 a heavenly compound of caviar, lemon, 

 parsley, and — can I believe that mere 

 elbow grease completed that Lenten sub- 

 stitute for butter? — and more of the fa- 

 mous red wine of the peninsula than 

 we could drink. The old gentleman, the 

 two novices under him, and the cook 

 waited on us, always entering the room 

 without knocking. We found that to be 

 the general etiquette of Mt. Athos. The 

 monks built us a comfortable fire, they 

 smoked cigarettes with us after coffee, 

 they asked us wonderful questions about 

 our country, and they finally brought us 

 thick quilts with a sheet sewn to one side 

 of them, wherein to wrap ourselves for 

 the night. 



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