ALONG THE NILE, THROUGH EGYPT AND THE SUDAN 



309 



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A. \V. Cu 



the; unequal yoke of the east : an Egyptian fellah plowing with a camel 



and a buffalo 



The forked stick of the days of the Pharaohs is still seen along the Nile, although the cotton 

 boom stimulated the importation of more modern implements. 



the seacoast Arabs catch fish enough for 

 the hotels in the larger Egyptian cities. 



HOME LIFE IN EGYPT HAS ARABIC FLAVOR 



In the daily home life of the country 

 fellaheen, the influence of Arab culture is 

 uppermost. ''Marry what you like of 

 women, by twos and fours," says the 

 Koran ; so polygamy exists ; but it is too 

 expensive for the average fellah. 



Every village has its coffee-shop, where 

 water-pipes are for rent. Here, too, is 

 the ever-present professional story-teller, 

 the letter-writer, the snake-charmer, the 

 fakir, and the dancing-girl. 



From our viewpoint, such a life is 

 hopelessly dull. The Egyptian monologue 

 artist has told the story of Sultan Baibar 

 and the adventures of Abu-Zed, without 

 variation, for probably a thousand years ; 

 every member of the coffee-house crowd 

 knows the yarn by heart ; also, the tune 

 that is played on the "Aiid" lute, the 

 "Nai" flute, and the "Kamenge" fiddle, 

 for it is always the same. So is the 



Egyptian dance — not a new step or move- 

 ment since the days of Rameses ! 



Amusements are more varied in the 

 larger towns. Here American moving 

 pictures are shown, shabby one-ring 

 traveling circuses are met, and the rising 

 generation is beginning to go in for games 

 and sports. 



Plainly, a new era is dawning in Egypt, 

 and it is admitted through all the East 

 that far-reaching economic and cultural 

 changes are sweeping over the country. 

 But it probably will take many years of 

 progress to transform the, slow-moving, 

 fatalistic fellah of the lower rural class. 

 He still sticks to his humble mud hut, 

 scantly furnished with earthen pots, tin 

 cans, and straw mats, and to the habits of 

 life and work that long centuries have 

 drilled into him. 



Building contractors say the fellah 

 would rather carry dirt in a basket than 

 use a wheelbarrow because his ancestors 

 had no wheelbarrows. And, says the 

 fellah, vaccination and similar hygienic 

 measures are sinful, for is not one's fate 



