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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



giants of the animal world, weak as he 

 is — face of a mare, eyes of an elephant, 

 neck of a bull, horns of a hart, chest of 

 a lion, stomach of a scorpion, wings of 

 an eagle, thighs of a camel, legs of an 

 ostrich, and tail of a serpent." 



A SPEAKING LOCUST 



Since the present locust invasion has 

 left the country other cures than those 

 here related have been vouched for. Ac- 

 cording to an elderly sheik, when the 

 locusts appeared here fifty years ago a 

 certain Persian brought bottles of water 

 with him from his country and suspended 

 them in the two large mosques, and right 

 away black birds, like pigeons, called 

 "Samarmar," collected in endless num- 

 bers and miraculously devoured the lo- 

 custs. 



While the winged locusts were still 

 here Aisha brought the news that a native 

 of the Mount of Olives had caught a 

 locust, and as he held it between his fin- 

 gers it spoke, advising mankind not to 

 fight the locusts; for if they did a worse 

 calamity would befall them ; and so 

 frightened was the peasant that he took 

 it to one of the highest officials, where it 

 repeated what it had previously said, and 

 at once orders were sent out to stop the 

 locust fighting. 



It is needless to say that no such orders 

 were ever heard of. Aisha repeated the 

 story to us as if she was ashamed to be 

 found fully believing it, but still as if she 

 was afraid not to, while Abu Baddir 

 stood by and boldly placed himself as 

 thoroughly crediting the tale. 



THE FRUITFUL PALM TREK 



One morning while watching the fasci- 

 nating process of a locust moulting on the 

 dry twigs of a tree (a once beautiful 

 pomegranate in a corner of the yard), 

 Essa was called to look on, and viewing 

 the process for the first time, he broke 

 out, saying, with many gesticulations : 

 "Subhannk ya Rub" (Thy majesty, Oh 

 Creator!), "Amant b'ism Allah" (I be- 

 lieve on the name of God), etc., etc. 



An Occidental present mused on what 

 might happen if these newly winged crea- 

 tures should remain in the country and 

 lay their eggs. The young larvae would 



then be here just in time to destroy the 

 coming grain crops, which this year so 

 mercifully escaped. We shuddered at the 

 thought, for not yet had any of them 

 migrated, which they did subsequently, 

 thus allaying such fears. 



Essa, no longer able to contain his feel- 

 ings, broke out with "Don't be foolish! 

 Have you not been told the story of 

 Moses and the black dog? Well, the 

 prophet Moses (on whom be peace) once 

 asked Allah which of all beasts he most 

 despised, and 'the black dog' was the re- 

 ply. Moses, thereupon securing a black 

 dog, removed it into the wilderness where 

 no one passed by and left it chained to a 

 rock. Returning a considerable period 

 later, Moses was surprised to find the dog 

 well and fat, with a pure fountain of 

 water filled with fish, on which it had 

 been subsisting, before it. 



"When Moses wondered at the sight, 

 Allah answered : 'Oh Moses, with all life 

 which I have created I have also created 

 the necessary livelihood, and while I de- 

 spise the black dog, yet will I not allow 

 it to hunger.' ' Thus Essa drew an opti- 

 mistic moral that even should the locusts 

 return, the "Almighty" would provide. 



A story is told of an aged man planting 

 a young date palm and of the king passing 

 by and wonderingly questioning the peas- 

 ant as to his reasons for doing so, as he 

 never could live to see it fruit. The 

 planter replied : "Our fathers planted for 

 their children and we plant for our chil- 

 dren," which answer so pleased the king 

 that he ordered ioo gold "dinars" to be 

 given him as a reward. Immediately the 

 old man said : "See, oh king ! the date 

 palm has already borne fruit." The king, 

 doubly pleased at this second reply, or- 

 dered another gift, to which again the old 

 man replied: "See, oh king! this newly 

 planted date slip has already borne two 

 crops." 



In like manner Essa's optimism has 

 already borne fruit. A ship loaded with 

 flour, sugar and rice, and a few other 

 edibles has since arrived, sent by kind 

 hearts and hands in America to the needy 

 here, irrespective of creed, color, or re- 

 ligion. Thus the locust evil has been in 

 part mitigated, and undoubtedly the palm 

 tree will still continue to bear fruit. 



