VILLAGE LIFE IN THE HOLY LAND 



257 



guests, and for a while there are long 

 exchanges of salutations, while tiny cups 

 of coffee are sipped, and the more they 

 enjoy it, the louder they smack their lips. 



Bitter coffee is generally offered and 

 is served with only a sip at the bottom 

 of a very small cup, while when sweet 

 coffee is made, the cups are filled to over- 

 flowing. This, as will be readily seen, 

 has a symbolical meaning — "May bitter- 

 ness be little and sweetness abundant." 



AN INGENIOUS INSULT 



Traveling with a friend some years ago, 

 we were thus entertained. Entering the 

 guest-chamber, we noticed that the occu- 

 pants were unusually quiet and that one 

 man had no turban on. It was whis- 

 pered to us that this man, who was a 

 stranger, had been robbed the night be- 

 fore by one of the men of the village who 

 had a notoriously bad reputation, even 

 among his own people. The victim had 

 appealed to the elders of the town. With- 

 out a word, coffee was prepared. 



As we were foreigners, they made 

 sweet coffee for us, thinking we would 

 not like the bitter, and filled our cups 

 full, while the bitter kind was passed to 

 all the rest in little doles ; but to the man 

 suspected of robbery a full cup was 

 served. This was such an insult that he 

 flew out of the room ; a fight ensued, his 

 house was searched and the goods recov- 

 ered, and the stranger again donned his 

 headgear, which was among the things 

 that had been stolen. 



As they thus sit chatting and drinking 

 coffee they also smoke. Each man car- 

 ries a leathern pouch of tobacco from 

 which he rolls his own cigarettes or fills 

 a long-tubed water-pipe or nargheli. 



Little preparation is made for the mid- 

 day meal. Some hot bread, a plate of 

 fried eggs, another of curdled milk, or a 

 dish of fresh butter with a pile of fine 

 sugar on top, suffices. This meal is for 

 the guests alone. 



A FEAST FOR THE STRANGER 



The person whose turn it is to give the 

 supper does not start preparations till the 

 flocks come home in the evening, when 

 a fatling is slain, cut into pieces, and 

 boiled as a stew in a great kettle. An- 

 other large pot of rice is cooked. 



All the men of the village now slowly 

 congregate at the guest-chamber, each 

 throwing down on the coat, spread for 

 this purpose, a couple of thin loaves of 

 bread that he has brought with him. 



When all are assembled, the pile of 

 bread is torn up into small pieces and 

 placed in large wooden bowls. Over this, 

 in each bowl, a large pile of rice is put 

 and the meat on top, while a liberal sup- 

 ply of the gravy is added. 



Sitting on the floor, first the guests, 

 with the older and more important men, 

 fall into circles around the bowls, and be- 

 fore partaking each one says Bismallah 

 (in the name of Allah), to drive away 

 the genii. With the aid of the thumb and 

 first two fingers, great balls of rice and 

 soaked bread are made, which are dex- 

 terously popped into the mouth. 



The food is eaten very hot, and it is 

 surprising how much one man can con- 

 sume when at such a feast and how little 

 it takes to sustain him ordinarily. 



As each set finishes eating they wash 

 their hands, water being poured on them 

 by a servant, as we read of in Old Testa- 

 ment times. * Then they drink coffee and 

 smoke until time to retire, when beds are 

 spread on the floor for the guests, some 

 of the villagers remaining with them, 

 sleeping in their coats. The party usually 

 leaves the village early the next morning. 



The guest-chambers are not for wo- 

 men ; so, if a man is traveling with his 

 family, he does not go to this regular 

 reception place, but waits about the vil- 

 lage until some one passing invites him 

 into his house. This happens today just 

 as in the case of the Levite of old who 

 was traveling with his concubine and 

 servant from Bethlehem-judah, and was 

 entertained at Gibeah by the old man 

 from Mount Ephraim who found them 

 waiting in the street of the city.f 



concerning Family life 



Children in the peasant family are al- 

 ways welcome, girl babies sometimes ex- 

 cepted. The father prides himself on his 

 boys, and even the mother prefers them, 

 and, when questioned as to the number 

 of her offspring, she will invariably say 



* 2 Kings 3:11. 

 t Judges 19 : 15-21. 



