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diff --git a/old/63959-0.txt b/old/63959-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 4408b02..0000000 --- a/old/63959-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7548 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Harim and the Purdah, by Elizabeth Cooper - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - - -Title: The Harim and the Purdah - Studies of Oriental Women - - -Author: Elizabeth Cooper - - - -Release Date: December 5, 2020 [eBook #63959] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HARIM AND THE PURDAH*** - - -E-text prepared by Richard Tonsing, Fritz Ohrenschall, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images -generously made available by Internet Archive (https://archive.org) - - - -Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this - file which includes the original illustrations. - See 63959-h.htm or 63959-h.zip: - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/63959/63959-h/63959-h.htm) - or - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/63959/63959-h.zip) - - - Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - https://archive.org/details/cu31924023537552 - - -Transcriber’s note: - - Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). - - - - - -THE HARIM AND THE PURDAH - - -[Illustration: - - DANCING GIRL OF JEYPORE. - - Frontispiece.] - - -THE HARIM AND THE PURDAH - -Studies of Oriental Women - -by - -ELIZABETH COOPER - -Author of “My Lady of the Chinese Courtyard,” “The Soul Traders,” etc. - -Illustrated - - - - - - -New York -The Century Company - -(All rights reserved) - -(Printed in Great Britain) - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CONTENTS - - - PAGE - INTRODUCTION 9 - - CHAPTER - I. EGYPTIAN WOMEN OF THE PAST 19 - - II. THE MODERN EGYPTIAN WOMAN 39 - - III. MARRIAGE, DIVORCE, POLYGAMY 56 - - IV. THE WOMAN OF THE DESERT 69 - - V. INDIAN SOCIAL LIFE 85 - - VI. INDIAN HOME LIFE 100 - - VII. MARRIAGE—THE GOAL OF WOMAN 113 - - VIII. INDIAN MOTHERHOOD 130 - - IX. WOMAN’S SORROW 143 - - X. HYDERABAD AND THE MOHAMMEDAN WOMAN 154 - - XI. MOHAMMEDANISM WITHIN THE ZENANA 170 - - XII. BURMAH 179 - - XIII. BURMESE RELIGION AND SUPERSTITION 200 - - XIV. THE LADY OF CHINA 211 - - XV. THE RED CHAIR OF MARRIAGE 240 - - XVI. WHEN CHINESE WOMEN DIE 254 - - XVII. CHANGING CHINA 260 - - XVIII. JAPANESE WOMEN AT HOME 271 - - CONCLUSION 307 - - - - - ILLUSTRATIONS - - - DANCING GIRL OF JEYPORE _Frontispiece_ - - Facing page - “TWO WOMEN SHALL BE GRINDING AT THE MILL” 9 - - EGYPTIAN WOMAN OF THE LOWER CLASS 19 - - RAMESES AND HIS WIFE 20 - - A WATER-CARRIER 36 - - THE TAILOR 44 - - A WOMAN OF THE MASSES 64 - - CHILDREN ON THE NILE 66 - - BEDOUIN WOMEN IN FRONT OF TENT 69 - - A HOLY MAN, BENARES 96 - - CRADLE IN VILLAGE, BARODA 132 - - INDIAN WOMEN SPINNING 148 - - A CARRIAGE FOR WOMEN 154 - - MOHAMMEDAN WOMEN, HYDERABAD 170 - - HUSKING RICE IN A BURMESE VILLAGE 179 - - BURMESE GIRL 180 - - DANCING AT A VILLAGE FESTIVAL, BURMAH 183 - - A BUDDHIST SCHOOL MANDALAY (SHOWING BEGGING-BOWL) 194 - - BURMESE BOY WITH TATTOOED LEGS 196 - - _EN ROUTE_ TO A FESTIVAL, BURMAH 198 - - A BURMESE WOMAN AND HER CIGAR 206 - - BURMESE WORKING WOMAN 208 - - GOLDEN PAGODA, MANDALAY 210 - - CHINESE WOMEN WARMING HANDS AND FEET WITH BRAZIERS 214 - - CHINESE WOMEN AND CHAIR-BEARERS 218 - - BOUND FEET OF CHINESE WOMAN 221 - - AN OLD-FASHIONED CHINESE GIRLS’ SCHOOL 224 - - WHEELBARROW AND COOLIE—USED IN PLACE OF WAGONS IN TOWNS - AND COUNTRY VILLAGES NEAR SHANGHAI 236 - - RAIN-COATS OF CHINESE WORKMEN 246 - - RICE-BOATS ON CANAL, CHINA 260 - - JAPANESE CHILDREN PLAYING 276 - - AN OUTDOOR KITCHEN IN JAPAN 290 - -[Illustration: - - “TWO WOMEN SHALL BE GRINDING AT THE MILL.” - - To face p. 9.] - - - - - INTRODUCTION - - “What thou biddest - Unargued I obey. So God ordains; - God is _thy_ law, thou mine: to know no more - Is woman’s happiest knowledge, and her praise.” - - -This is the creed of the woman of the East to-day. It is the same as it -has been for centuries; it will continue the same for centuries to come. -Indeed, it is a question whether the Oriental woman, with all her -intellectual and social advance which is already beginning, will be able -ever to free herself from those traditional and inherent influences -which have been wrought into the very warp and woof of Eastern humanity. - -The Eastern woman is primarily a traditionalist. She is more closely -bound by hereditary tendency than the woman of the West. One of her -outstanding characteristics has lain for years in her dependency and -passive reliance upon her husband for economic support and protection. -Her very seclusion means to her, not that which the word would connote -to the Westerner, slavery or imprisonment; to her it is rather the -mantle of protective care and interest thrown over her by her lord and -master. It has helped to make her feminine, as it has naturally added to -her inefficiency as far as any work is concerned that bears a similitude -of masculine activity. - -With the exception of the Burmese woman, and to an appreciable and -growing extent the women of Japan, the Oriental woman has been -influenced and moulded by her economic necessities. The Eastern attitude -toward woman, which in general has been to keep her ignorant and to -consider that her charms other than those relating to her physical -attractions are minute, has brought about a feminine type peculiar to -itself. The result is a woman who outside of the home has no power of -gaining a livelihood, and who as a natural consequence has turned her -whole thought, emotion, and imagination upon her domestic affairs. -Furthermore, we find in such countries of the Orient as Burmah and -Japan, where women are solving the problem of self-support, that they -have also been able, not only to have greater freedom, but also, to a -certain extent, they have demanded the right to choose their own mates -and regulate the laws concerning their home life. For instance, in each -of these countries the wife has the right of divorcing her husband—a -right denied the woman of other Oriental lands. The property rights of -women in these lands, where women are just beginning to be wage-earners, -are also clearly set forth in their civil codes, giving justice to the -women. - -The realm of the Eastern woman is primarily the realm of the home. She -has the true spirit of the bee; she considers the collective good of the -household before her own. Her great vocation is to be a wife and mother. -She attends personally to her household duties, and domestic service is -to her not a disgrace. Her children are to her a veritable life-work. -She looks after them personally, superintends their every act, and -watches closely their development. Even the high lady of the East does -not consider it demeaning to cook with her own hands that which she -knows will appeal to the taste of her family. Cooking, indeed, is -regarded as a fine art in the East, and recipes are handed down like -heirlooms from mother to daughter along with the family jewels. - -The Eastern woman is honoured by the honour of her household. It is her -business to make it possible for her husband and her sons to advance, -and she shines in the reflected light of their achievements. She has not -been taught, neither has she any suspicion of the Western ambition to -make name and fame for herself. There is a certain delight and -satisfaction in living behind the veil which one can hardly appreciate -from the Western point of view. That this Eastern feminine regards her -success as domestic rather than social is abundantly proved to any one -who lives intimately in touch with the women of these countries. - -The one great cry which goes up from the heart of every Oriental woman, -regardless of place or station, in any home between Algiers and Tokio, -is, “Give me sons!” It is this desire for men-children, and the belief -on the part of the woman that this is the primal and ultimate destiny of -womanhood, that has made marriage the universal custom for all women -throughout the East. Rarely indeed do you find an unmarried woman. In -India marriage is assured by betrothal in early childhood; and even in -those countries where education and Western influence are raising the -age limit of marriages one finds no diminution in the general feeling -that woman’s world is the home, with her children about her. - -This devotion to the purely domestic realm has left the woman a victim -to ignorance, superstition, and the many evils that follow in their -train. One finds the same superstition working in the minds of the women -in Cairo, in Calcutta, and in Peking. The Egyptian mother dresses her -boy in rags to guard him from the baneful influence of the “evil eye,” -while the woman of China pierces her son’s ears and places a ring -therein, to deceive the gods and make them think he is a girl. The woman -of Algiers will buy charms and magic symbols to bring her the blessing -of motherhood, while the woman of Japan visits shrines and holy places, -where her faith and superstition are traded upon by those who understand -the weakness of their womenkind. She has so long been accustomed to rely -upon her superstitions, her emotions, and to use her intuition in the -place of a brain, that the present beginnings in education have been -hampered. That, however, she will prove herself capable in the realm of -mental training is proven by the fact that, especially in Egypt and in -Japan, modern schools for girls are becoming really popular movements in -the development of these countries. Every advance in the education of -men adds to the possibility of intellectual emancipation for women. - -During long ages Eastern women have been denied the right to think for -themselves and have been compelled to feel their way emotionally, and -their power to feel thus has become abnormally developed at the expense -of their power to judge or reason. The woman of the Orient is a woman -swayed by emotions, by the heart instead of by the intellect. - -There is a logical line of connection to be traced among the modern -women of the East. Her phases of development have been the inevitable -outcome of influences to which she has been taught to submit as a duty. -Her religious sense—the strong spiritual craving that is deep within the -heart of all women—has been utilized as a means of influencing her to -yield implicit obedience to her mankind, whether he be father, brother, -or husband. She has made him, in a certain sense, her god, and in -yielding all to him she has ceased to think in the terms of her own -individuality, accepting the common opinion that the Eastern woman lives -for her home and the amusement and the material comfort of her husband. -A mental deficiency bill was passed upon her centuries ago, and the laws -command her husband to keep her under restraint. Her menfolks expect her -to be deficient, and have carefully guarded her from opportunities of -becoming otherwise. Her husband has not associated her with any of his -outside life, and she has found little or nothing in his conversation to -stimulate or to broaden her mind. Considering her as a being who only -understands her children and the petty gossip of the women’s quarters, -he has deprived her of the mental possibilities which have reached the -men of the East. He has not only tried to teach her not to think for -herself, but the Eastern masculine has endeavoured to make her -understand that she cannot think. Nor is this tendency entirely -abolished by modern education. The young girl fresh from her school in -Cairo or Calcutta, where she has caught glimpses of a new world, and -where her brain has been slightly awakened, marries and goes into the -traditional home, where her faith in herself is gradually diminished by -living constantly in the atmosphere of ignorance and superstition which -still rules so largely in her woman’s world. Finally, she gives up -trying, resigning herself to the standard of the man-made world in which -she finds herself, and her husband becomes her keeper in every sense of -the word. - -The Eastern woman naturally tends in this way to lose her self-reliance, -which she is not allowed to exercise. She often decides few matters for -herself, even the small details of her daily life being settled by her -husband. The effect is insidious, but none the less relaxing, since the -faculty of responsibility, like every other faculty, is strengthened -only by exercise, and passes away with disuse. - -Can the woman of the East be awakened to an advanced development without -harm to herself? Within her is found an enormous amount of suppressed -capacity for good and evil. This suppression, which has been her cue for -generations, possesses great dynamic power. Force becomes dangerous when -confined; it should be directed, and unless properly guided and -controlled, when it does burst forth, as it is bound to do with these -women who are becoming educated and learning their power, it is likely -to riot widely, with havoc for its effect. The Eastern woman who has -traded upon her emotional nature for her livelihood, who has used these -same emotions to keep her husband in a land where divorce is easy and -where polygamy is practised by many, may be guided by her feelings -rather than her intellect, using her new-found freedom to bring her -lasting unhappiness instead of the joy which she now believes is lying -just outside her doors. In India advance has come too rapidly at times, -and the woman in her desire to slavishly imitate her sisters from the -West has shocked the conservative traditions of her nation, and thereby -greatly retarded her cause. The Egyptian woman when in England or France -becomes almost ludicrous in her attempts to be like the European woman, -forgetting that she lacks the foundation of the years of freedom and -equality with men which bring judgment and confidence to the woman of -the Western world. - -The woman of the Orient is awakening and is setting herself the task to -consider what is best to be done. How can she remedy the deficiency of -the social life of her land? The case is not a hopeless one by any -means, even though her capacities and wonderful possibilities have lain -dormant for so long. Many of these women now see the things that are -wrong; they see the iniquity of a system in which they are not allowed -to choose their own mate; they see the crying wrongs of their antiquated -marriage and divorce laws, made for another period than the twentieth -century—laws which do not fit the present conditions, however successful -they may have been in other times. These women are learning to respect -themselves and their position, learning to appreciate and value the -weight of their majorities, and some are having the courage to speak -out. These bolder ones are being punished for their intrepidity; but it -does not check them. The cause for which they are working is gradually -becoming more and more possible with the advent of education and Western -influences, which are causing the present-day educated men of the Orient -to require a certain amount of education in their wives and daughters. -As this new order comes to the land of the Nile and the Ganges, the -old-time woman who passed her days lounging on the divans, eating -sweets, drinking coffee, and gossiping with servants and friends as -ignorant as herself, will pass away. The new woman of the East will -never be a suffragette; she will never attend mass meetings nor carry -banners marked “Votes for Women”; indeed, it would be as incongruous to -think of these sheltered women doing such a thing as to imagine the long -row of mummies at the Museum of Cairo suddenly starting a procession -down the aisles of the museum. These women, however, are setting up a -high standard for themselves, eager to accept all the Western world has -to offer them by way of education and growth, while they feel that they -have the capacity to attain the objects of their new ambitions. - -In all this change, will the Oriental woman remain the same as regards -the deepest things in her nature? Will she keep her innate sense of -modesty, her womanliness, her love of home and children, her feminine -qualities which seem to us of the Western world almost a weakness, but -which comprise her appealing charm? We cannot but feel that although the -woman of the East may change radically in the outward expression of her -life, inwardly she will remain the same. Indeed, it would be a great -mistake if the Eastern woman became satisfied with any mere superficial -imitation of her Western sisters. She would lose her birthright. She -would lose the consummate opportunity of being an Oriental in an -Oriental world, and bringing out of her treasure things new and old for -the benefit of the women of every race. Her message to the world of the -West in the devotion and the keeping of the home, in the love and pride -of children, in her self-effacement for the good of the family, is a -high message and in no period has it been more insistently needed. It is -this contribution which the woman of the Orient will bring in return for -the education and enlightenment from the Occident. - -If the Western woman comes to the Oriental bringing in her hands the -fair gifts of intellectual advancement and broadened life, her Eastern -sister will not be her debtor if she, by example, presents in return the -even more precious charms of obedience, modesty, and loyalty which -fundamentally are the priceless jewels in the crown of the world’s -womanhood. - -[Illustration: - - EGYPTIAN WOMAN OF THE LOWER CLASS. - - To face p. 19.] - - - - - The Harim and the Purdah - - - - - CHAPTER I - EGYPTIAN WOMEN OF THE PAST - - -The word Egypt opens the Book of Romance to the traveller in the East, -and he longs to come under the spell of its mysterious grandeur, and -gaze upon the monuments which will speak to him of the power and -splendour of a people long since gathered to their gods. It is a land in -which to dream dreams and see visions. The temples, broken columns, and -great pylons call with a voice that must be heard even by the prosaic -tourist, and the hands he sees painted upon the walls of Denderah or -Deirel Bahari will beckon him when sitting in office, club, or home, far -from the dazzling sands or burning sun of Africa. - -The charm of the land of the Pharaohs is very real, and it is hard to -speak of Egyptian life in a calm and lucid style, or free oneself from -extravagant descriptions. - -Egypt and its fascination are favourite themes for novelists and writers -of travel, and yet in spite of a good deal of general knowledge we -remain curiously ignorant of the Egyptian woman, from the point of view -of her moral and mental development. In common with women of other -Oriental lands, she has been an object of mystery to the Western world. -We know that in the olden time, in the days of the Pharaohs, she held an -important place in the life of her world. We see her pictures on the -tombs, temples were erected in her honour, and we know that there were -queens who in their day governed their country with dignity and rare -ability. - -In former days the purity of the blood of the royal line was assured by -the marriage of a brother and sister, the queen reigning equally with -the king. If a queen of royal birth took as her consort a male not -descended directly from a royal mother, even though his father might -have been a Pharaoh, at the death of his wife he was compelled to -abdicate in favour of the son or daughter who could call the queen -“mother.” This was shown when Thotmes I was compelled to resign his -crown in favour of that great Queen Hatshepsu, his daughter, who for -twenty years governed Egypt. Although her reign was a stormy one because -of her half-brothers who claimed the throne, her name and features -erased from all the monuments, and omitted from the official tablets and -chronological records, yet enough was left to show that her power had -been great and that she commanded the attention of the world. It is said -that Hatshepsu had herself everywhere depicted as a man, wearing the -dress and even the beard of the stronger sex, perhaps hoping in this way -to gain a greater allegiance of her people. - -[Illustration: - - RAMESES AND HIS WIFE. - - To face p. 20.] - -One of the most interesting temples along the Nile is that of the first -woman ruler of Egypt of whom we have accurate knowledge. One rides over -the hot sands beneath a burning sun to a series of great terraces and -broken white columns against a background of tiger-coloured precipices. -This beautiful temple of the XVIIIth Dynasty, called by the Egyptians -“the Sublime of the Sublime,” was dedicated to Amen Ra and his companion -gods, Hathor and Anubis, but it was really erected to commemorate the -glorious reign of a great queen. - -Another woman who influenced Egypt was the mother of Amenophis IV, the -great reformer. He disestablished the State religion, some say at the -instance of his mother; confiscated the lands and destroyed the power of -the priests of Amon who were becoming all-powerful; and established the -worship of one God. - -Solomon evidently held the Egyptians in high favour. He had many wives -before he married a princess of Egypt, but we hear of no palaces being -built especially for any of them, nor of the worship of their gods being -introduced into Jerusalem. Yet we are told that a magnificent palace was -built for Pharaoh’s daughter and that she was permitted, although -contrary to the laws of Israel, to worship the gods of her country. - -Then there was Hypatia, an Alexandrine, who established a school of -philosophy where learned men from all parts of the world came to listen -to her words of wisdom; and in the British Museum there is a manuscript -of the Old and New Testament, written on parchment immediately after the -Council of Nice, by an Egyptian woman, which goes to prove that men did -not possess all the knowledge nor learning of their time. - -We all know the story of Cleopatra and the part she played in the -downfall of her country, and history abounds with tales narrating the -bravery, courage, and charm of Egyptian women. - -Women are also associated with the religion of this old land. The -worship of Isis was as general as the worship of her brother Osiris, and -this goddess is reverenced as the representation of true and loyal -wifehood. - -Another woman, Athor, the goddess of love, who was called the “Great -Mother” and served as the protectress of earthly mothers, was good and -beautiful, lovely and gentle, the goddess of love and joy. Neith was -worshipped as the goddess of art and learning. Maat was the goddess of -truth and justice; and in ancient times judges, when trying cases, held -a small figure of the goddess Maat in their hands, and touched the -persons acquitted with it, to show that they had won their cause. - -There was Taur, the goddess of evil, and Sekhet, typical of the -scorching, destructive power of the sun, and many minor goddesses whose -emblems, seen on columns and walls of the ancient ruins, tell us that in -those days woman was thought fit to represent Divinity. - -The women of ancient Egypt were evidently not secluded, as is shown by -the story of Pharaoh’s daughter who was going with her train of maids to -bathe when she found Moses. The story of Potiphar’s wife and Joseph -would never have been told in modern times, as a man-servant would not -have dared to go to the women’s quarters. - -This valley of the Nile has always been the home of mystery and charm. -The inscriptions on its tombs and temples have been deciphered and -receive much attention in modern days; but they are not more interesting -than is the woman of Egypt, who, as we have learned, enjoyed greater -liberties and received more honour than is the heritage of her modern -daughters. It is difficult to understand her, as even yet she represents -traditions and the habits of dead centuries, fit to be relegated to the -past. - -She is the Sphinx of this Oriental land, and will not easily give to the -world her secrets. - - - THE MOHAMMEDAN WOMAN. - -When first one visits Egypt, romance seems to peer from beneath the veil -of each black-robed figure, and mystery lurks behind the intricate -carving that covers the windows where one is sure some languid beauty -sits waiting for the moment when her lord and master will be gone, that -she may wave a white hand to the passionate suitor below. This idea of -Egypt is generally derived from highly coloured and erotic novels which -always make this country alluring and often sensual. To one who has been -given this highly seasoned food for his imagination to feed upon the -modern Egypt, with its great glaring hotels, its motor-cars, its shops -that might be in London or New York, is a great disappointment. - -Illusions will again be lost if one is permitted to enter the beautiful -homes on the fashionable drives of Cairo, for they are not Eastern in -any sense, nor is there anything about them to indicate that their -owners are Orientals. They express no individuality, and might belong to -any person of means whether in the East or the West. The drawing-rooms -are furnished in French fashion, with gilded chairs, a grand piano, -hangings and curtains made in England or France. Great glass chandeliers -holding the glaring electric lights express the cosmopolitanism which -the mistress feels she must show the world, in order that she may not be -considered as belonging to the old school of Egyptian womanhood. - -One hears the word harim and instantly conjures up an Arabian Nights -picture of rare hangings, subdued lights, beautiful odalisques lounging -on soft divans, slaves, incense, and a general air of sensuousness -pervading the entire place. I read a book not long ago written by a -well-known woman writer who says, “I am thankful to say that I have -never been within a harim except twice, and the memory of that dreadful -place will rest with me for many years.” Yet she admits that on her -first visit to this “dreadful place” she had no interpreter and could -only draw upon her imagination to give the women she saw their position -in the elaborate household. This imagination was evidently a vivid one, -as she believed that many women she saw were “the poor deluded slaves” -of the master of the house, while quite likely they were the innumerable -relatives and woman-servants that always throng the rich man’s home. - -In reality, in present-day modern Cairo, if one enters the harim of the -better class, or of the official class, one is greeted by a hostess -dressed in the latest French creation, tea is served, while the politics -of the world are discussed easily in either French or English by the -polished, up-to-date Egyptian women. - -The word harim is much misunderstood by the people of the Western world. -The Arabic word harim simply means the women’s quarters. The selam-lik -are the apartments in which the men of the household have their business -offices, receive their friends, and pass their time, while the harim-lik -are the apartments reserved for the female members and children of the -family. The literal meaning is exclusiveness, seclusion, privacy. In its -restricted sense it embodies the two meanings of the women of the -household and their exclusive apartments. In the wider acceptance of the -term we understand by harim an established social system deriving its -sanction from a body of laws promulgated by the Arabian prophet -Mohammed. When a woman is harim it means that she is secluded, and we -hear the expression in regard to schoolgirls. “Yes, my daughters go to -school,” a mother will say, “but they are kept harim.” - -In Persia and Turkey the word zenana is used, and in India the common -form of expression for the woman who is not seen by any male except -those of her immediate family is, “She is purdah-nashim, or simply -purdah.” The purdah is the screen that shuts her from the outside world, -and the Oriental, whatever his race, whether in Egypt, Turkey, or India, -whether he calls it the harim, purdah, or zenana, speaks of it in his -literature and poetry as the “Sanctuary of Conjugal Happiness.” - -One can live years in the East and get little idea of the life of the -Moslem woman of the better class. In Egypt ten million out of the twelve -million inhabitants are followers of the prophet Mohammed, and to -understand at all the Eastern woman one must learn something of the -religion that dominates the entire life of the Mohammedan. The actions -of the Moslem woman, whether in India, Arabia, Egypt, Persia, or -Algiers, are controlled and forced to comply with the laws made by the -Arabian prophet of the seventh century, and even to-day his word -practically governs each act of the domestic life as well as the world -outside the home. - -Before Mohammed’s time there were no social, religious, nor educational -institutions in Arabia, as we understand them. Unlimited polygamy, -slavery, drunkenness, polytheism, gambling, child murder, and plunder -existed. He taught that there was but one God, forbade child murder, -limited the number of wives to four, forbade the use of intoxicating -liquors, gambling, usury, and gave women a definite legal status. - -The reforms inaugurated by this wonderful man effected vast and marked -improvement in the position of the women of the Eastern world. Her -status had degenerated from that held in ancient times until her -position was extremely degraded. She was the chattel of her father, -brother, or husband, like his camel or his sheep, and could be bought -and sold as any other chattel. She was an integral part of her husband’s -estate and was inherited by his heirs. The son inherited his father’s -wives and often married them. This Mohammed severely censured, and laid -down most exacting laws in regard to the women lawful for a man to -marry. He says:— - - And marry not them whom your fathers have married; for this is a - shame and hateful, and an evil way—though what is past may be - allowed. Forbidden to you are your mothers and your daughters, and - your sisters, and your aunts, both on your father’s and your - mother’s side, and your foster-mothers and your foster-sisters, and - the mothers of your wives, and your stepdaughters who are your - wards, born of your wives, and the wives of your sons, and ye may - not have two sisters. - -He is severely criticized that he authorized polygamy, but when one -remembers the wild, lawless people whom he governed, it seems that he -showed extreme moderation in limiting the number of wives to four. He -added that a man might possess the slaves within the household, and his -followers say he was compelled to put in this postscript in order to -quiet the unrest that was caused by the new domestic regulation which -was so contrary to all ideas then controlling his immediate world. - -He expressly stated that if a man could not deal justly and love equally -all his wives, he must then marry but one. All true believers quote this -as meaning that Mohammed really intended his people to be monogamous, as -it was fully known that no man could love four women with equal ardour. -The husband is also enjoined to partition his time equally amongst his -families, and there is a saying that if a man inclines particularly to -one of the women of his household, in the day of judgment he will -incline to one side by being a paralytic. - -He allowed women to inherit property, although he gave a girl only half -the inheritance of a boy. A wife may inherit one-fourth of her husband’s -estate if there are no children, and one-eighth if there are children; -if there is more than one wife, the eighth is divided equally amongst -them. A man may inherit one-half of his wife’s property in the event of -her being childless, but only one-quarter if she leaves children, and -neither one can disinherit the other. - -Yet the laws show clearly that a woman was not legally the equal of a -man, as it takes the testimony of two women to equal that of one man, -and the price of a woman’s life was only fifty camels instead of the -hundred camels demanded for the life of a man. There is a reason for -this other than the mere disregard of women. Those days were lawless -days, when tribe was fighting tribe and the non-fighting women were -naturally not held in such esteem as were the men who were needed to -fight in the continuous tribal wars. - -Moslems claim that the Mohammedan woman is more truly protected by the -laws of Mohammed than are the women of Western countries. She can -dispose of any property that she may receive, either from her family or -her husband, as she sees fit. She is not responsible for the debts of -her husband; she can sue and be sued; or she can make contracts or enter -into any business undertaking without consulting her husband; and she -may even take him before the courts if he does not live up to an -agreement he may have made with her. - -Yet this wily Eastern prophet did not believe in the absolute equality -of women; as he says:— - - Men are superior to women on account of the qualities with which God - hath gifted one above the other, and on account of the outlay they - make from their substance for them; - -and he warns his followers from making too large settlements on them or -in giving them too many valuable gifts: - - And entrust not to the incapable the substance which God hath placed - with you for their support; but maintain them therewith, and clothe - them, and speak to them with kindly speech. - -A Moslem woman is supposed to share the responsibilities of life as well -as its pleasures. In the case of destitute parents, sons are required to -contribute two-thirds towards their support, while the daughters must -add their third. This is a very wise law, because Egypt, like -practically all Oriental countries, makes no provision from its public -funds for the maintenance of the poor or old. Each family must care for -its own helpless. - -Many reasons are given for the laws compelling the women of Mohammedan -lands to be veiled and to pass their life within the inner apartments -reserved for their especial use. Some say that Mohammed caused women to -be veiled because of his jealousy of his young wife Ayesha; others claim -that the prophet, becoming enamoured by the beauty of his adopted son’s -wife, caused her to be divorced, afterwards marrying her, contrary to -the laws he himself had made; he wished to protect men from being -subjected to the temptation which had overtaken him and had brought upon -him the displeasure of his people. But the seclusion of women was found -in Asia, in ancient Rome, in Syria, and even in Athens, long before the -time of Mohammed. It was in practice amongst many Oriental nations from -the earliest times, and quite likely Mohammed simply adopted the customs -of the people with whom he came in contact on his conquering tours. - -The seclusion of women, especially among the nomads, can be traced to -the warlike habits of the people. In times of war the enemy would first -of all carry away the women, children, and cattle of the tribe with whom -they were fighting. In order to protect the helpless they were kept in -inner rooms. The richer and stronger the family, the more secluded were -the women, and it became a mark of caste to be kept within the women’s -quarters, or protected. Thus what first originated as a necessity became -afterwards a matter of aristocracy, and the man who could keep his women -strictly harim was looked upon as higher in the social scale than one -who was compelled, from economic reasons or otherwise, to allow the -females of his household to come and go freely in the world. - -An Egyptian woman, from the time when she is seven or eight years old, -never shows her face unveiled to any man except her father, her brother, -or her husband. No chance is given the followers of the Arabian prophet -to have the little flirtations that are so dear to the heart of many of -her Western sisters. Mohammed says:— - - And speak to the believing women that they refrain their eyes and - display not their ornaments, except those which are external; and - that they throw their veils over their bosoms, and display not their - ornaments except to their husbands, or their fathers, or their - husbands’ fathers, or their sons, or their husbands’ sons, or their - brothers or their brothers’ sons, or their sisters’ sons, or their - women, or their slaves or their children. And let them not strike - their feet together so as to discover their hidden ornaments. - -The present-day Mohammedan woman observes this law more strictly than -was at first intended, even to not being seen by the father of her -husband. I know an Egyptian woman who is never seen by her father-in-law -except on the first day of the year, when he calls upon her to wish her -the joys of the coming year. She enters the room closely veiled and -offers him the season’s greetings, then leaves without further -conversation. I was calling upon an Indian Mohammedan woman who could -not enter the room until her father-in-law had left it, as it would have -been a serious breach of etiquette for him to see her. - -This seclusion does not rest heavily upon the Mohammedan woman, as she -considers it the desire of her husband to protect her, and she would be -the first to resent the breaking of her seclusion, as showing that she -had lost value in his eyes. She lives for no one except her family, is -supposed to be of no interest to any one else, it being a great breach -of social decorum for any male member of a family to even inquire about -her. A man would never say to another man, “Is your wife well?” He would -say, “Is your household well?” And the husband would never speak of his -“wife” to another man, but would speak of his “house,” which would -naturally include the female occupants. - -The harim is the “Holy of Holies” in the Moslem world. Even a police -official would hardly dare to penetrate the women’s quarters in search -of a criminal. When a man has retired to his harim he is free from any -disturbing influence from the outside world. If a friend or enemy should -call and servants would say that the master was in the harim, the caller -would be compelled to leave or wait until the master was disposed to -enter again the selam-lik, or rooms assigned to the male members of the -household. - -The greatest evil in the harim life lies in the dreadful seclusion and -the paralysing monotony. Many of the older women are unable to read and -write, and they pass their days in weary idleness and a vacuous routine -which is only broken by visits to women friends as mentally impoverished -as themselves. Not being allowed the friendship of the opposite sex, -they are denied the stimulation of the mind which would no doubt result -from the interchange of ideas with men who come in contact with the -outside world. Naturally the intellectual development is restricted, and -this starving of the mentality of the women must have a result -detrimental to the rising generation. - -Seclusion also makes a woman very much more the actual possession of her -husband than she would be if allowed to come and go in the world, to -know her rights and the means by which to enforce them. Although the -laws are very much in her favour, in regard to property rights -especially, it takes a woman of more than ordinary courage and -intelligence to break away from the walls which encircle her and parade -her troubles in open court. We are told of the wonderful laws allowing -the woman to dispose of her property as she wishes; but we are not told -that she may give this property to her husband, and when once within the -harim, pressure is often brought compelling the woman to give all that -she possesses to her husband, making her doubly helpless and wholly -within his power. - -They have a proverb that a woman must always answer the call of her -husband, “even if she is at the oven.” Her happiness depends entirely -upon the treatment she receives from him. His visits to the harim are -the only breaks in the monotony of her life, and he brings to her the -only touch she may have with the great man-world outside. By a few men -the wives are treated as if they were intellectual equals, but these are -few and far between. The average Oriental treats his womenfolk as if -they were upon a lower plane than himself, “brought up amongst ornaments -and contentious without cause.” - -One would judge that, handicapped as they are, Moslem women would take -no part in the political or social life of their country, but facts -prove that they can rise to great heights and exhibit rare courage and -executive powers in time of need. Ayesha, the favourite wife of -Mohammed, showed an instance of bravery and courage that might belong to -women of any land. When Ali, the cousin of the prophet, rebelled against -the successors of Mohammed, Ayesha took the field against him, -commanding the troops in person at the “Battle of the Camel,” and in -later days they have shown that the restrictions of the harim do not -deaden the fires that burn in women’s breasts when tyranny or oppression -rules their land. - -In Persia, where Mohammedanism in its strictest sect has sway, the women -have been known to rise in force and demand the rights of their people -when all the efforts of the men have failed. In 1861, at the time of the -great famine, foodstuffs rose to an exorbitant price, because of a few -greedy officials who were enriching themselves at the expense of their -starving countrymen. It was impossible to bring the matter before the -Shah by the methods generally employed, but the women rose, and one day -thousands of them surrounded his carriage as he was returning from a -hunting trip, and stating the wrongs of his people, demanded that he -should make an investigation. The Shah was thoroughly frightened at the -sight of this unprecedented exhibition on the part of his usually unseen -subjects, and promised all they asked, and, what was more wonderful, -kept his promise. The leaders of the party who were causing the distress -were beheaded, and the price of bread was diminished by half within -twelve hours. It is only a few years ago that the women of Persia -confronted the President of the Assembly in his hall, and tearing aside -their veils and producing revolvers, confessed their decision to kill -their husbands and sons and add their own dead bodies to the sacrifice -if the deputies should waver in their duties to uphold the liberties of -the Persian people. - -[Illustration: - - A WATER-CARRIER. - - To face p. 36.] - -These Moslem women display a fortitude and courage that is almost -fanatical in times of persecution. Thousands in Persia have given their -lives for their faith in Baha Ullah, the leader of a sect of reformed -Mohammedans. They have been dragged from the harims to the public -market-places, where they have been subjected to unheard of indignities -before having the privilege of dying for their faith. They have also -been compelled to sit in rows facing the public execution grounds while -their husbands and sons were beheaded before their eyes, but even the -torture and death of those they loved did not cause them to waver from -what they believed to be right. The story of one woman exemplifies the -fanatical courage that will dominate such a shut-in woman, when in some -dim, tragic hour she has been compelled to give her contribution in the -life she loved to her religious cause. In Tabriz one day a crowd of -women were seated facing the executioner’s block, and amongst them a -delicate, dainty woman who had been protected all her life within the -harim of one of the prominent men of Tabriz, but whose death had left -his women helpless to bear the brunt of his enemy’s wrath. Chance had -made this enemy the city Governor, and he remembered that the family of -the man he hated even in death were followers of Baha Ullah. On this -morning in June the mother was brought to see the death of her -fourteen-year-old son, her only child. When the executioner had done his -work, the head was tossed into her lap, and she was told “Take back your -son.” She stood up, and holding the loved head in her hands, held it -towards the sky, as if to give it as an offering to the God who seemed -to have deserted her in her hour of need, looked long into the closing -eyes, then threw it to the official’s feet, saying, “I do not take back -what I give my God!” and turning quickly, took her place among the -sorrow-maddened women. - -Her cousin, who told me the story and who was a witness to the scene, -said to me: “It is impossible for a Western woman to understand a Moslem -woman. Perhaps because of our exclusion and the lack of means of -self-expression, we have over-developed our inner emotional natures, -which at times of sorrow burst forth like a hidden flame. We not only -gave our lives in those dread days of Tabriz, but what is worse, we gave -the lives of those we loved—and still lived on.” - -The women of Egypt have as yet had no reason to rise up _en masse_ and -show what they may do in times of national distress. It is unusual for -the women of any Mohammedan land to usurp the prerogatives of men. They -are fundamentally intensely feminine, the home their only domain. -Sa’adi, the Persian poet, said:— - - No happiness comes to the house of him whose hen hath crowed like a - cock. - -It will be many years before the Egyptian woman joins the ranks of the -militant suffragettes, and tries to blow up the Pyramids or deface the -walls of Egypt’s famous temples in the spirit of emulation and zeal for -_the Cause_. - - - - - CHAPTER II - THE MODERN EGYPTIAN WOMAN - - -The conservative woman of Egypt prides herself that she never leaves her -home. I know several ladies well advanced in years who say they have -never been outside their homes since they were brought there as brides. -An Eastern household is composed of many people, and this seclusion of -the women does not cause such loneliness as would be felt by a Western -woman if thus closely confined always to the home. In the East the -patriarchal life prevails, and the financially fortunate member of the -family finds himself supporting an immense army of poor relations, who -act in all capacities, from maids in the kitchen to the servants at the -door. They expect little or nothing as wages, but they _do_ expect that -the prosperous member of their clan or family will provide clothing, -food, and a roof beneath which they may live. - -In all Egyptian homes of the better class there are many servants. They -are not the competent, trained servants to which we are accustomed, and -it takes many of them to accomplish what one well-trained servant will -do in England or America. They have no system, each servant doing his -task in his own appointed time and in his own way. Within the harim the -servants are generally women, and they are on much more familiar terms -with the inmates than are servants in the West. They take on a feeling -of equality with their mistresses, taking part in the conversation when -guests are present, entering doors without knocking, and generally -considering themselves as part of the family. Mohammed taught that all -true believers are free and equal—the servant the equal of his master. -This is one of the reasons that the traveller is often surprised by -having the donkey-boy offer his hand when saying good-bye. He does not -intend it as an impertinence; he simply wishes to bid his patron “God -speed” in the Western manner. - -The women of the harims take much time to dress, and spend long hours in -the public baths, if they do not possess that luxury at home. They take -great care of their skin, using all the arts to keep it soft and -unwrinkled. They have not yet learned the charm of beautiful hands, and -the manicurist has not yet penetrated the harim, but it is only a -question of time when she will arrive, as the Egyptian woman seizes with -avidity every means of improving her personal appearance. - -Many of them tint their straight black locks with henna, by making a -paste which is allowed to dry on the hair for twenty-four hours, then -removed. This, when used not too freely, gives a charming glint of -reddish gold to the thick hair, and utterly obliterates any trace of -age. The henna-tinted locks are not seen as much as formerly, as the -custom is passing out with the advent of the newer generation, and is -mainly to be seen on the older women or the women of the desert. In -former times the nails of the hands were tinted a deep orange, but this -also is being relegated to the “things that were,” as the young girls -are beginning to see that instead of a beautifier, it makes the hands -appear most untidy. I have seen an old lady with her fingers stained a -deep brownish yellow to the first joint, the palms of her hands, the -toes, and even the bottoms of the feet coloured with the henna paste. - -The house dress of the Egyptian woman is a long _négligé_ made in an -empire form or what we used to call a “Mother Hubbard,” with the -fullness of the cloth gathered to a much-trimmed yoke, and ending in a -train that sweeps the floor. The wearer may follow her fancy in the -choice of goods with which these dresses are made. The ordinary dress -worn every day is of some material easily laundered, but the gown for -gala occasions is often most elaborate, made of rich silks, satins, or -brocades with great figures in gold or silver. Many of them appear as if -made of cloth originally intended for furniture covering. If she has a -wide range from which to select the material for her dresses, she also -is not restricted in the choice of colours, as each woman indulges in -whatever shades she most admires, and a party of women with their red, -blue, yellow, and mauve creations look like a party of animated dolls -dressed for a fancy bazaar. - -The hair is braided in one or two braids and allowed to hang down the -back, sometimes tied with strings on which dangle gold coins or balls. A -veil is always worn over the head, hanging down to the waist line. It is -very graceful and adds to the dignity of the Egyptian woman. With the -poor this head covering is a large piece of cotton with a gay-coloured -border, and even ladies wear in the morning a cotton veil, but on dress -occasions it is of chiffon or net elaborately bordered with gold or -silver, or in some cases sewn with sequins, very similar to the shawls -offered by the vendors in front of the big hotels. - -The feet are slipped into toe slippers that can easily be removed when -entering the living-rooms or when sitting upon the divans. In the matter -of footwear there is a wide range from which to choose. From the wooden -bath clog to the tiny heelless covering for the toes, embroidered in -gold or silver or even tiny seed pearls, the Egyptian woman’s slipper is -a thing of beauty and dainty femininity. Stockings are considered a -superfluity while in the house, except by those influenced by the -customs of foreign lands. - -If the lady wishes to make a call she dons a black silk or satin skirt -with a long train, and over it ties a piece of black goods shaped like a -large apron hanging down the back instead of the front. The lower end is -brought up over the head and tied under the chin, acting as hat and -shoulder covering, completely disguising the form. Over the face below -the eyes is tied a piece of white chiffon. This is really an addition to -the woman’s charming appearance, as the present-day Egyptian woman is -wearing the veil so thin that the shape of the features can be dimly -seen, softened and refined by the delicate chiffon, until even a plain -woman takes on an appearance of beauty that perhaps vanishes when the -veil is removed. She is allowed to show her chief attraction, her great -black eyes, which peer at one curiously over the folds of white. They -are not so large as are the Indian woman’s eyes, but they are very -expressive, shaded by long straight lashes, which are generally touched -up by kohl, since even with the advent of modernism the Egyptian woman -cannot be persuaded to relegate her kohl-pot to the lumber-room. - -The woman of the labouring class, seen on the street, is dressed in a -long gown hanging straight from the shoulders, over which, when she -leaves her home, she drapes a large black shawl covering her from head -to feet. The veil of this class of woman is of black cloth, so thick -that it is impossible to distinguish the features beneath it, and often -weighted at the bottom with gold or silver coins. Covering the nose is -the disfiguring piece of wood which holds the veil in place. The picture -of this sombre-clad woman, with her ugly veil and grotesque nosepiece, -is taken by the average tourist as representing the Egyptian woman, -while, in fact, she represents only the lower class, such as the wife of -the labourer, the small artisan, or the petty merchant. These women may -be seen on the streets walking with the stately grace that is given to -the woman who carries a burden on the head, or five or six of them may -be seen sitting on a flat-bottomed cart drawn by a much decorated donkey -_en route_ to visit relatives or watch the festivities connected with a -marriage, or going to the cemeteries. This last seems to be a favourite -excuse for an outing with women of this class, as it gives them a chance -to have a good gossip on the way, and opportunity of strolling in the -open air, which must be a great boon to the poor in the large cities, as -their homes are small, dark, dirty, and most unsanitary. Yet as one -lives in the Orient and sees the conditions under which the great -majority of the population live, one grows to believe that there are no -such things as microbes, else all these people would have been dead long -ago. - -[Illustration: - - THE TAILOR. - - To face p. 44.] - -Even in modern Cairo one rarely sees a lady except as she passes in a -closed carriage or limousine. Women do not go to the mosques, as -Mohammed said that women in places of public worship distracted men from -the real business which brought them there. They are also never found in -restaurants, hotels, nor coffeehouses. In fact, an Egyptian woman never -goes to a place where she might be looked upon by men other than those -of her immediate family. Even the most modern product of the present -system of education would hardly dare to be seen in any place that was -not harim. At the bazaars held for charity and other public functions a -day is set apart when the women may visit them without danger of being -looked upon by men. An Egyptian woman told me that these men must be -educated and elevated before Egyptian women will dare to go freely upon -the street. Even a foreign woman dreads passing the outdoor cafés, where -the men turn noisily in their chairs and stare rudely at the woman who -has the courage to pass them. In the case of an Egyptian lady, I was -told that these men do not confine their rudeness to stares, but that -the low remarks made to her confirm the belief that the time is not yet -ripe for the Egyptian woman to try to enter the world, so long closed to -her. - -These harim women are just beginning to learn the joys of shopping. -Formerly the husbands or fathers bought the goods for their dresses, or -the shopkeepers sent their assistants, who laid the gay stuffs and -jewels on mats within the courtyards, where the women could make their -choice. But now in some of the larger shops parties of veiled ladies may -be seen fingering the soft silks and satins, looking with curious eyes -at the hats, and selecting the jewels with which they love to adorn -themselves. Cairo is the happy hunting ground of the Parisian jeweller, -as Egyptian women are noted for their love of bracelets, ear-rings, -necklaces, and pins. The old-time heavy gold chains and hoops are losing -their charm, and now the lady whose husband has a purse easy to open -buys long pendant ear-rings set with many diamonds, bracelets of pearls -and rubies, rings of turquoise and sapphires, and necklaces of emeralds. -Quantity, not quality, she desires, and the colour and purity of a stone -are not so much to be desired as the size or number. The women who make -no claim to modernism are still seen in the goldsmiths’ shops in the -native streets, sitting in front of the tiny cupboard-like holes in the -wall, weighing, pricing, trying on the great barbaric hoops of gold for -the ears, or the chains with large hammered pendants, made in the same -form and with the same design as those worn by their mothers and their -grandmothers. The merchant does not need to originate new designs to -attract the conservative Egyptian woman who still clings to her native -jewelry. It has been the same shape and design from time immemorial. - -Another product of the West has penetrated the harims of Cairo—the -French dressmakers. Many of the rich merchants’ wives and the wives of -the officials who cannot get their gowns direct from Paris, and who are -discarding the straight empire pattern for clothes more _à la mode_, get -their dresses fashioned by these clever French women, who come to the -women’s courtyards loaded down with fashion books, tape measures, and a -running stream of flattering talk, leaving with many orders written in -their little books. It must be admitted that the Egyptian woman looks -best when dressed in her native costume, which mercifully disguises the -over-abundant flesh with which most women who spend their lives within -the harims are blessed. Sweets, a sedentary life, and many sweetened -drinks conspire to make the lady of Egypt extremely fat, after the first -flush of youth is past. This is not a sorrow to her as it would be to -her Western sister, and when she has arrived at the age of thirty, and -the pounds that she feels should come with the advancing years have not -been added to her figure, she sends to the chemist for a mixture to -convert her into the present ideal of Egyptian beauty. This ideal in the -olden time, if we may judge of the pictures seen upon the walls of the -tombs and temples, was that of a slight, willowy figure. But that ideal -has changed. The woman now seems to strive to be as wide as she is long, -and because of this fact and also because stays are not looked upon with -joy by the Egyptian woman, who has always been allowed an uncompressed -figure, the modern dress is not adapted to her style of beauty. - -Women are not prisoners in any sense of the word, nor are they pining -behind their latticed windows as we are sometimes led to believe by -writers of fiction. They visit freely amongst each other, and their -visits are not confined to the passing of a few senseless platitudes -that generally mark conversation of Western women making afternoon calls -upon each other. They do not “call,” they go for a visit of several -hours or even days. - -When a lady enters the home of her friend, she takes off the veil and -the cape-like covering of her head, steps out of the long black skirt, -and stands arrayed like Solomon in all his glory. They dress as -elaborately for their women friends as if to meet admirers of the -opposite sex, and they spend hours drinking the delicious coffee, -sipping sherbets, eating fruits or confectionery, and chatting over the -gossip of the day. When time for serving the meal arrives, a large tray -is brought into the room and placed upon a low stand, around which the -women group themselves in comfortable attitudes on rugs. From these -trays they help themselves to the deliciously cooked mutton or chicken, -the vegetables and desserts with which it is laden. Pork is never -served, as it was forbidden by Mohammed. They eat with their fingers, -using only the right hand, as the left hand is ceremonially unclean, and -after the meal a servant pours water over their hands from a -long-spouted brass ewer, the water falling into a brass basin. Many of -the ladies smoke, but it is not a universal habit. If they indulge in -the habit with which we always associate the Eastern woman, it is by -using a large water pipe with an extraordinarily long, supple stem, the -smoke passing through perfumed water and becoming cool before reaching -the user’s lips. - -The Eastern woman loves perfumes and prefers them much stronger than we -of the Western world think agreeable. A hostess will pass around the -little wooden scent-bottles, and each guest may add as much as she -wishes to her already over-perfumed body. The mixture is not always -pleasant to sensitive nostrils. Incense and sweet-smelling woods are -often burned in little braziers and add to the congeries of odours. - -Many of the old-time Egyptian women cannot read; indeed, it is stated -that only three out of a thousand women could read ten years ago; their -conversation is therefore confined to the gossip of the neighbourhood: -who is married, who is engaged; the social and financial standing of the -families involved; the presents and the trousseaux. Society is divided -into cliques, as in any other part of the world, and there is a decided -“Who’s Who,” especially in Cairo and in the larger towns. - -The woman’s life seems to centre around her children, since it is this -evidence of Allah’s blessing that makes her greatest happiness. A great -part of their talk is involved in the discussion of their children’s -ailments, the remedies, their children’s education and life in general. -There are no nurseries in Egypt, and both boys and girls live within the -harim until they are seven years old, when the boy, if he does not go to -school, has a tutor and lives in the selam-lik. When, as at present, -Government schools are established in every small town and village in -Egypt, both boys and girls go to school. The girl is kept strictly harim -even in the school, and the teachers are women, who guard carefully from -men’s eyes the girls who are entrusted to them for the day. - -Besides visiting with their friends or relatives, the Egyptian women go -to weddings, where they look upon the dancing and hear the singing from -their places behind the screens, or they make pilgrimages to the tombs -of saints or holy men, where they pray for the health of their children; -or, if they have not been so fortunate as to have children, they pray -for that blessing. They do not pray _to_ the saints, as even Mohammed -himself cannot answer prayers, but they believe that the austere lives -passed by these holy men will intercede for them with the Great and One -God. - -An Egyptian friend of mine, telling me of the efficacy of one of the -places of pilgrimage in the cure of eye troubles, said:— - -“Yes, I believe in these charms obtained at the tomb of some of the -marabouts, and I have been on several pilgrimages, although it is not -much encouraged in our family. You saw my brother’s wife to-day. She has -visited the tomb of every saint in the vicinity of Cairo, but it is just -because she is restless and wants to get out. She cares no more about -the saints than you do, but it gives her an opportunity to get away from -my mother. My life, that you think so restricted, is wildly exciting to -what it was when I was a girl at home. Mother is most conservative, and -will not even allow a man-servant near the harim. Her cook has never -seen her, although he has been in the family since I was a baby. Here in -the country I have men-servants who see me unveiled, but they are the -descendants of slaves who were in the family of my husband for -generations, and that is permitted if we are not too orthodox.” - -I noticed while visiting friends in the country with this progressive, -educated Egyptian woman that if we passed an ordinary fellah, or -workman, she did not take care to cover her face. If we met an overseer -or a man above the farmer class, she very carefully drew her veil across -her face, leaving only the eyes visible. - -The women are very superstitious, and believe in the efficacy of charms -and amulets for every known disease. Nearly every woman wears around her -neck, lost to sight amidst the innumerable chains with which she covers -the upper part of her body, an amulet or charm of some kind. Perhaps it -is a silver box containing a few words of the Koran, or a small piece of -parchment with mystic letters written on it, guaranteed to guard her -household from harm. All Egyptian women know of charms and lotions and -shrines or mystic words to give the wife who has not presented a son -unto her lord. One of the first questions asked by Egyptian women is, -“How many children have you?” If the answer is “None!” they cannot keep -the looks of pity from their eyes, nor the sympathetic words of -condolence from their lips. They are also most generous in giving -talismans to remedy this defect, and will wax enthusiastic over the -beneficial effects of some favourite pilgrimage, amulet, or prayer. - -I have a piece of sheepskin with the ninety-nine names of Allah written -upon it in gold, intended to insure, not only the advent of a son, but -also, if bound upon his arm, to guard him from all danger throughout his -lifetime. - -At the opera in cosmopolitan Cairo one may hear rustlings and low -laughter from behind the closely screened boxes, and know that an -Egyptian Bey or wealthy merchant is there with his family, allowing them -to enjoy the play and watch the people in the house, themselves unseen. -But this joy is given usually only to the women of Cairo, as the smaller -towns have not as yet become sufficiently modernized that the women may -go to the public theatres. In the conservative homes, if a hostess -wishes to entertain her guests with professionals, she sends for the -singing girls or dancing women to come to her home, and there they -perform before the ladies, who watch them from the divans, and talk and -laugh with their entertainers, getting far more amusement from them than -by simply looking at them on the stage. - -Fortune-tellers are often brought into the women’s quarters, and blind -men who chant the words of their sacred book, the Koran. This latter is -a popular form of entertainment, and even to Western ears the sad, minor -music has a charm, although after a time it becomes monotonous to one -who cannot understand the Arabic in which the Koran is written. - -Even the conservative Egyptian mother is now beginning to see that she -must educate her daughter as well as her son, if she wishes her to make -a good marriage. The modern Egyptian youth does not care for an ignorant -wife who can only entertain him with household gossip when he comes from -office or shop. - -There is ample opportunity given the Egyptian girl to obtain an -education, as the Government has established schools in every city, -town, and village. One sees also a great number of private schools for -girls, supervised by every imaginable type of mistress. The Italian, -Spanish, French, and English woman is taking advantage of this craving -on the part of young Egypt for education. Many of these schoolmistresses -are unfitted for their work, but as yet her pupils are not able to judge -of the quality of information they are so eagerly absorbing. The mission -schools, next to those provided by the Government, are perhaps the best -equipped with trained teachers from England and America. These latter -schools are filled with bright-faced young girls, who are taking the -newer ideas to their secluded mothers, who shake their heads dolefully -over the new spirit of independence so swiftly creeping into the lives -of their children, and which they fear, but to which they must accede. - -Egypt, in common with the entire world, is experiencing vital changes, -and her younger women, although walled in by custom, tradition, and -habit, are eager to get into step with their advancing sons and -husbands. It is only the older woman who is the implacable foe of -progress, as she fears a change may mean the destruction of her little -world. Yet she is fast losing the power as well as the wish to resist -it, and the number of schools for girls shows that a real awakening to -Egypt’s greatest need is being felt and met. At first the mother feared -her daughter would be led astray from the true Faith, but the English -Government bore this well in mind when establishing the educational -system. The Koran and the practical observances of its tenets are taught -by faithful followers of the prophet in the schools, and this has -induced mothers to look with complacent eyes upon the new learning. - -Infinitely better daughters and prospective mothers come each year from -the Government and mission schools, if for no other reason than that -they are intelligently trained in domestic economy and in the laws of -hygiene. The frightful waste of infant life which heretofore has been -caused by the ignorance of mothers will stop. The present training of -the young girl strikes directly at this huge infant mortality and in the -coming mother, educated and equipped for her duties, lies the hope of -Egypt. - - - - - CHAPTER III - MARRIAGE, DIVORCE, POLYGAMY - - - SOCIAL LIFE OF EGYPTIAN WOMEN - -The Koran enjoins marriage on all and calls bachelors the worst of -mankind. Consequently there are few spinsters or bachelors in any Moslem -land, and a woman who is divorced or widowed must have another husband -found for her as soon as possible. - -Although Mohammed believed that all men should be married, there were -four classes of women against whom he warned his fellows:— - -A _Yearner_—that is, a woman who has children by a former husband and -wishes to get everything possible for them from her present husband. - -A _Deplorer_.—One who is constantly deploring the loss of her first -husband and stating his virtues to the disparagement of the present -incumbent. - -A _Backbiter_.—One who is kind to her husband’s face and behind his back -accuses him of cruelty, miserliness, and ill-treatment. - -A _Toadstool_.—A beauty who is lazy and tyrannical and uses all the -substance of her husband to buy silks, jewels, and perfumes with which -to adorn herself. - -There is no courtship as we know it. The marriage is made by the parents -or by a “go-between,” and the parties most interested do not see each -other until the night of the marriage, although they may have exchanged -photographs and have heard eulogistic descriptions of each other. But -there are no shy meetings, no gazing into the eyes of the loved one. A -girl would be considered as lacking in modesty and maidenly reserve if -it were known that she attempted to see the man to whom she will be -compelled to owe all allegiance and who will practically own her, body -and soul, as soon as she is his wife. - -During the time before the marriage the bridegroom, if a man of wealth, -sends his bride-to-be many costly presents, generally in the shape of -jewelry, silks, fans, slippers, and boxes of sweets. Her gifts to him -are cigarette cases, embroidered sleeping suits, a rich fez, or some -other practical evidence of her affection. - -In families of any social pretensions whatsoever, there is drawn a -marriage contract which stipulates the amount of dowry and whatever -business relationships are entered into by the husband and wife. If the -amount of dowry is not expressly stated in the contract, the woman is -entitled to the customary dower of a woman of her class, which is judged -according to that received by the other female members of her family. -This contract can also contain a stipulation that the husband may not -marry another wife so long as the present wife is living with him, and -it also often states that the wife may divorce her husband for certain -expressly stated causes. - -There are two kinds of dower, one called “prompt” which is all paid at -the time of the marriage, the other where only part is given at that -time and the rest retained to be paid in case of divorce or on the death -of the husband. In the latter case the dower must be paid before the -other debts of the estate are settled. The wife has absolute rights over -her dower and can refuse to go to her husband’s home until it is paid. - -The trousseau is provided by the father of the bride, and the articles -she takes to her new home in the shape of furniture, jewelry, etc., are -her property and can be taken with her if she should return to her -father’s home or if she should be left a widow. The bridegroom is -supposed to help pay the expenses of the elaborate feasting which lasts -from three to seven days, and which is often a great drain upon the -resources of both families. Custom has commanded that no parsimony shall -be shown at this time of rejoicing, and each family tries to outdo its -neighbour in the form of entertainment offered to its guests. - -Theatrical entertainments are held in the courtyards, or in the large -guest-room. Dancing girls dance and jugglers perform, while food is most -plentifully provided, but there is no drinking of intoxicating liquors -in the home of a follower of Mohammed. In the place of wines, sherbets, -fruit juices, and coffee are served. - -The culmination of the festivities comes when the bride in a gaily -decorated carriage is conducted to her new home. In the streets of any -large city one often sees these processions, the band leading the march, -dozens of singers preceding the carriage, and friends following, all -trying to show their joy in the happy event. - -According to Western ideals there is one great bar to the lasting -happiness of the Moslem woman, and that is the question of divorce. It -is said that 90 per cent. of the marriages in Egypt end in divorce, and -that two people who live to an old age together without one of them -being divorced are rarely found. Mohammed has been severely censured -because of this great blot upon the progressive laws he made for his -people, but before his time there was no check on divorce; a man could -divorce often and for no reason, and a woman was helpless. This wise man -laid down laws far in advance of his time on this subject, and (what was -then an unheard of thing) allowed a woman to divorce her husband for -explicitly stated causes. - -If they divorce for mutual incompatibility—that is, if they both agree -to it—there need be no question of the courts; but if the wife wishes to -be free and the husband will not permit it, the woman may go before a -judge and state her case, and if her charges are proven she will be -granted her petition. Often a woman will return her dower or agree to -forfeit the part not yet paid, or in many cases make a money payment to -the avaricious husband in return for her liberty. A case not long ago -came before the judge where the husband treated his wife brutally in -order to force from her a certain sum of money in exchange for her -freedom. The woman paid the sum demanded, then took the case before the -judge, and proved that his cruel treatment would entitle her to a -divorce, and the courts compelled the man to return the money to his -ex-wife with an added gift. - -The different sects have different modes of procedure. One requires the -husband to pronounce the words of divorce once in a single sentence and -not live with his wife for three months, when the divorce is -accomplished. Another form requires that the words be pronounced three -times in succession at the interval of a month, the divorce becoming -effective when the last formula is pronounced. Another formula allows -the husband to say three times in succession, “I divorce thee! I divorce -thee! I divorce thee!” and the legal separation takes place. - -A woman may say to her husband, “Give me a divorce in exchange for my -dower,” and if the man will say, “I do,” a lawful dissolution of the -marriage is effected. - -Whatever the rule, divorce is very easy for the Moslem husband, and the -woman lives in constant fear that she will hear the words “I am -discharged from the marriage between you and me,” and will be compelled -to return to her home. This insecurity of the marriage bond causes the -woman to hoard what money she may obtain, and takes away the interest -she might otherwise have in the affairs of her husband, fearing that -prosperity may only mean that he will yearn for a younger and more -beautiful woman to share with him his riches. It also makes her try in -every way to preserve her beauty, buying cosmetics and talismans that -clever merchants assure her will aid in retaining the love of her -husband. - -In the event of divorce the woman is commanded to remain single three -months, but the man may marry immediately. There is no especial disgrace -attached to divorce, yet the woman’s value is lowered to a certain -extent, and quite likely she will not be able to make so good a marriage -again. - -No child under two years may be taken away from the mother, as the Koran -commands her to suckle the infant for that period. Unless it is proved -that she is totally unworthy to bring up her child, or unless she -marries an unbeliever, the boy is entitled to live with his mother until -he is seven years old, and the girl until she is nine, when the father -takes the guardianship of them both. Often they are allowed to live on -indefinitely with the mother, especially the girl, if the father marries -again and the new wife does not wish the care of the children of her -predecessor. This makes the burden of divorce fall heavily upon the -innocent children, as the mother generally marries and her husband may -not care for the children of another man; consequently they are left in -the care of the mother’s parents or other relatives, who quite likely -consider them a superfluous addition to an already overcrowded -household, although the father is compelled to contribute towards their -support. - -If divorce is prevalent in the Land of the Nile, that other great -domestic evil, polygamy, is slowly dying out, mainly for an economic -reason. All the wives in a family are supposed to have equal support, -and in these days, when the women of Egypt are beginning to know and -crave the luxuries of life, it is hard for a man, unless of the very -wealthy class, to provide for more than one family. In a rich household -each wife would demand, not only her own suite of rooms, but quite -likely her own house and staff of servants, and she would see that her -husband did not show favouritism in regard to clothes, jewelry, or -amusements towards the women and children in his harim. Often in poorer -homes one sees two wives living in peace together, but the man with more -than one wife is becoming rarer each year. It is said that not one man -in fifty has more than one wife. The cynics say that it is because -divorce is so much easier and cheaper, but we believe that it is because -of the higher ideals that are coming to the Egyptian along with the -education that he is receiving from the Western world. - -It is easy for the Western mind to take exaggerated views of the -unhappiness of the life in the harim. I found, among the better classes, -with whom I came into contact more than I did with the very poor, the -same average of happiness that prevails in any land. Seclusion which -seems so dreadful in our eyes has grown to be a matter of caste, and the -older women, at least, have no desire to depart from it. The power of -the husband is greater than it is in foreign lands, but he is generally -a kindly man who leaves the women’s department strictly alone, to be -ordered as his wife desires. It is she who has charge of the children -while in infancy, teaching them or having them taught the Koran, taking -them with her on visits to friends, and being with them much more than -does the average Western mother of the same class. A middle-class -Egyptian woman does practically the same things as does the wife of a -middle-class Englishman. She cooks, washes, mends the clothing, keeps -the house, and sews her children’s dresses. If she is able to have -servants—and one is very poor in Egypt not to be able to afford at least -one servant—the work of the household is superintended directly by the -mistress. Of course she may not go to the market nor to the shops, but -she inspects the food when brought to the house by the vendor or the -cook. - -The care of the clothing is a great task if there are many sons in the -family who dress in the native costume, which is made of light-coloured -silk; the long black cloak is prone to sweep up the dust of the streets. -The children of the poor wear only a short shirt until they are about -six years old, but the children of the rich don European dress, either -made in the house or bought in the shops. The ready-made clothing has -found its way to the harims and saves the mother much work, as the -sewing-machine is not so well known there as it is in the homes of the -West. - -Although the Egyptian woman is not seen in the mosques, she is very -religious, and more zealous in the faith than is her husband, who has a -chance to broaden his religious views by coming in contact with people -of other beliefs. The wife does not observe the prayers as strictly as -does her husband, but she has been taught her Koran in childhood and -follows its precepts to the best of her ability. - -The woman, like women all over the world, is much more rigidly ruled by -her superstitious beliefs than is the man. She attributes the -extraordinary phenomena of Nature to the work of good or evil spirits -and believes in placating them or controlling them as far as possible. -These evil spirits are liable to lurk in all places, in the ovens, the -wells, and even in the market basket, which is covered to protect it -from the evil eye of covetous passers-by, or to guard it from a -wandering spirit who may be seeking a place of retreat. - -[Illustration: - - A WOMAN OF THE MASSES. - - To face p. 64.] - -The women in general are very ignorant in regard to all sanitary laws, -and there is an enormous amount of preventable sickness within the -harims. Children are allowed to eat what and whenever they wish, and -sweets are indulged in at all times. All babies suffer from eye trouble, -mainly caused by uncleanliness. A baby is not washed for eight days -after birth, then if the father or mother is suffering from any form of -skin disease, it is considered fatal to put water on the child. Flies -and mosquitoes abound, carrying contagion to all. Doctors are unknown -amongst the poorer class, and the mothers are in the hands of unskilled -midwives at the time of child-bearing, and the mortality is great. - -When the angel of death enters the household of an Egyptian, it may be -known by the wailing of the women. The custom of weeping and wailing, -beating of the breasts, and tearing out of the hair still prevails on -the death of the member of a family. The body is buried within -twenty-four hours. It is enclosed in a coffin which is covered by a rich -shawl or piece of embroidery and carried to the cemetery on the -shoulders of men, preceded by blind men chanting the Koran and followed -by friends and relatives. The same ceremony is observed for the women as -for the men. - -The soul is supposed not to leave the body for three days. The first -night an angel whispers in the ear of the deceased, “What is your -faith?” and the soul must answer, “I am a Moslem.” The angel again -whispers, “In whom do you believe?” and the soul will answer, “I believe -in the One God,” and the third question is, “And who is your prophet?” -and the answer, “Mohammed is the Prophet of God,” allows the soul to be -left in peace. - -Three days, seven days, and forty days after death memorials are held at -the home of the late deceased, when friends call and offer their -sympathy, and food and money are distributed in great quantities to the -beggars. At times of festivity or mourning the poor come in crowds, and -are never turned away empty-handed. There are practically no almshouses -in Egypt, nor any organized charity, but Mohammedans are commanded to -give one-twentieth of their income to the poor. Whether they follow this -law exactly or not, they are very generous to those in need, not giving -with much discernment, but always willing to drop a coin into the -outstretched hand or to fill the empty bowl. - -One cannot judge of the life of the average Egyptian woman by living -only in Cairo, where the note of modernism has sounded with such call as -to reach even the inner rooms of the harim, but in the smaller towns of -Egypt one sees the real Egyptian life, untouched by the customs of alien -lands. - -[Illustration: - - CHILDREN ON THE NILE. - - To face p. 66.] - -I visited in a home on the banks of the Nile and watched with interested -eyes the life around me: saw the mother attend to her household duties -in the morning, giving the servants directions for the day’s work, -measuring and weighing out the stores to the cook, and taking his -accounts as he came from the market-place with the day’s provisions. An -old blind woman came in the morning to give the children their lesson in -the Koran. She would start a surah, then the children would repeat the -remaining verses in a sing-song voice, the slightest break in the -intonation calling forth a rebuke from the leader, whose nodding head -kept time to the chant. At nine o’clock the older children took their -books under their arms and started for the village school, in the same -noisy manner as do our children at home. I watched the fellaheen as they -lifted the water from the river to irrigate the thirsty fields, and saw -the black-robed women filling their water-jars and placing them upon -their heads with a beautiful sweeping gesture, walk gracefully away to -their little mud huts that could scarcely be distinguished from the -sands around them. - -Trains of camels passed our wall on their way to the distant city, and -the shepherd boys drove their flocks of sheep and goats in search of -pasture. I remembered Browning’s beautiful David, who sang:— - - And I first played the tune all our sheep know, as one after one - So docile they come to the pen door till folding is done. - They are white and untorn by bushes, for lo, they have fed - Where the long grasses stifle the water within the stream’s bed. - And now one after one seeks its lodging, as star follows star - Into eve and the blue far above us—so blue and so far. - -We watched the little boys ride the great unwieldy water buffaloes to -the water side, slipping off their backs to allow them, groaning with -content, to wallow in the sluggish waters, and when the hard white stars -came out in the sapphire sky, we looked far over the Libyan hills, which -had changed from the gold and opal of sunset to the grey blue that -heralds the coming of the Egyptian night. The evening breeze that always -comes with the setting of the sun brought the smell of the desert to us, -and the deep swish of the Nile came as an accompaniment to the cry of -the muezzin from the tiny mosque in the distance, and we saw its -response in the fellah kneeling beside his waiting camel, lifting his -hands to the heavens, as the clear, bell-like voice came over the -evening air:— - - There is no God but God, and Mohammed is His Prophet. - -[Illustration: - - BEDOUIN WOMEN IN FRONT OF TENT. - - To face p. 69.] - - - - - CHAPTER IV - THE WOMAN OF THE DESERT - - -“Behold the townsman,” cried one of the Bedouins, “they have for the -desert but a single word, while we have a legion.” - -The desert, which in many eyes is a wilderness of desolation, has for -the dweller beneath the tents another aspect. It is the desert which he -loves, where he was born, under the brown tents of his tribe where he -hopes to pass his life, and in the sands where he wishes to be buried. -He loves each one of its many phases, from the sand burnt to powder by -the white fire of the noonday sun, to the cool breeze of the dying day, -that causes the smoke from the many fires to rise in blue-grey wreaths -to the evening sky, which changes from violet to greyer blue, and then -to the intense dark blue of the precious sapphire. - -The Bedouin, to whatever tribe he may belong, sitting astride his camel, -padding softly through the desert sands, sees before him the low black -tents of a desert village, and knows that he may descend and find a -welcome. The host will say to him, “Every stranger is an invited guest, -and the guest while in the tent is the lord thereof.” He may sit before -the large round bowl of mutton and eat his fill, and when the stars have -come out, and seem so near that he may put up his hand and pluck them -from their field of blue, he will be conducted to the guest-tent or to -the tent of the headman, and, wrapping himself more tightly in his long -cloak, he will lie down secure, knowing that his life is safe so long as -he remains a guest of the tribe, having eaten of their salt and drank -their water. - -These Arabs of the desert are proud with a pride we do not understand. -They are proud of their long lineage, of the purity of their blood, of -their unbroken traditions. They are an impulsive, restless people, who, -with their emotional temperament, give impetuosity to everything which -they touch. They are the real adventurers of the world, and their -nervous, high-strung, daring characteristics have become so absorbed -into their very being as to have become permanent marks of their race. -At the seat of all troubles, in countries where the Bedouins are strong, -one finds them ready to do and dare anything that appeals to their -imagination. At the rising of a Mahdi, it is the Arab of the desert who -is his strongest support, who will die for him, who will sweep down like -a holocaust upon the people who do not share with him his beliefs in the -cause, for which he throws his life away with a bravado that makes men -of a more sluggish blood gasp in astonishment. This cause must appeal to -his emotions—those same riotous emotions which never produce, but always -ruin. We are told that the Bedouin is the author of complete desolation, -and that destruction follows in his pathway; that his effects are always -sinister, and that this race brings ruin to any land where they have -been permitted to have full sway. We know he is not a creature of habit, -and that routine, a settled existence, a fixed round of duties, are -things which he does not understand nor practise. He does not reason and -is not practical, yet it is the Arab that has succeeded in sending the -faith of El Islam around the world, and every movement of revival comes -directly from the desert. - -Few people travelling in Egypt or Algeria see the real dweller beneath -the tents. There are Bedouins in the cities, and one soon learns to tell -them, with their keen eyes, their eager faces, and majestic stride, from -the more placid, self-satisfied Egyptian. But in the city he is not his -true self, as life in the cities has a permanent and degrading effect on -the character and physique of the race; the fire of the desert dies -within him. It is in the shifting sands beneath the tents that he is at -his best. There he carries out his tribal customs, and there he -practises that wonderful virtue of hospitality that Mohammed, himself an -Arab, laid upon his people. He said, “Whoever believes in God and the -Resurrection must respect his guest; and the time of his being kind to -him is one day and night; and the period of entertaining him is three -days; and after that if he does it longer, it benefits him more, but it -is not right for a guest to stay in the house of a host so long as to -incommode him.” It is said that even a deadly enemy may come to the tent -and demand water and salt, and it will be given him, and he will be -allowed to rest for the night. In the morning he will be sent on his -way, and his life is safe until he has passed the boundary of the -tribe’s dominions, then his enemy is entitled to follow him and kill him -if he can. - -All tourists passing through Egypt look forward to a few days passed in -the desert. The guide paints in glowing colours the wonders of the -sands, the colours of the evening sky, the sounds of the hobbled camels -as they wait for the morrow’s march, and the traveller from the West -decides to see for once the life of which he had read and dreamed so -many years. In every soul is a cry for romance, a desire to leave the -prosaic everyday life which he knows too well, and explore the mysteries -of the unknown, hoping that there by chance he will find food to feed -his hungry imagination. A trip to the desert does this for many people. -There the broker or the banker, with the wife he has looked upon for -many years, sit in front of their hired tent, and watch the camel man, -as with scolding voice he prepares the growling, surly camels for the -night. When all is quiet but the distant barking of the dogs, they sit -in front of the evening fire and watch the stars come out in the sky -that seems a great inverted cup of blue above them. The camel drivers, -dragomen, and guards sprawl in easy attitudes and chant mournful, weird -songs that have come to them from the Persian mystics of olden time. -These people from New York or London do not realize that they are not -seeing the real desert nor the people of the desert. The setting is all -staged most carefully by the wily dragoman, who imports his Bedouins -from the neighbouring villages, who dresses tents until they would cause -the man who calls them home to stare in blank amazement at their tawdry -hangings. The only thing he cannot import is the wonderful dessert -sands, the sky, the cooling breezes that always come when the sun has -set. These are free for all, to the ragged camel driver as well as to -the man who scatters so freely the English gold. - -We had the pleasure of knowing the chief of a large tribe of Bedouins, -and from his castle on the edge of the desert were permitted to make -many visits to these picturesque people. Our first glimpse of the true -man of the desert was obtained from the visitors in the guest-house, -where any Bedouin could stop from one to three days as the guest of the -chief, and every day about sundown strange white-robed men with guns -strapped across their back rode up on horses and dismounted at the gate, -craving the hospitality of the chief. There were always from ten to -thirty guests within the rest-house, men looking like the Senouisses, -who cause so much trouble for the unbelievers of foreign lands. We were -told that many of them were going to join their brothers in Tripoli to -fight against the hated unbeliever. They were not permitted by the -Government to go openly, as Egypt was supposed to be neutral, so they -took the long caravan journey of thirty days across the desert to aid in -what they considered an unjust war against the true faith. - -Within the harim of my hostess were rooms set aside for travelling -Bedouin women, but they were seldom occupied, as the women of the tents -are not wanderers like their husbands, unless the whole tribe moves. My -hostess was a young, educated girl, to whom the confines of a Bedouin -harim must have been very wearying. The laws concerning the women of the -tribe were very strict, one being that a woman must stay within her -apartment until the birth of her first child. My friend was not blessed -with children, but had been compelled to conform to the usages of her -husband’s family, in part at least, by remaining within her home for a -year. Now she went about freely among the villages of the Bedouins near -the castle, only taking the precaution of being veiled. These Bedouin -women were quite another type from those seen in the cities. They had -magnificent physiques, tall and supple, and carried themselves with a -stately grace. They were dressed in long, straight, cotton gowns of blue -or black, and a many-coloured sash was wrapped around the waist. The -only foot covering was the anklets of silver that fell down over the -instep; and they wore over their hair, which was braided in many braids, -and in which was plaited small gold coins that clinked as they moved -their heads, a veil of black with a coloured border, or of dark red with -a yellow border. This veil adds to the dignity and beauty of a woman in -a most charming manner. At the time of feasting or of gaiety the plain -veil is changed for one sewed with bright-coloured beads or sequins. - -From the lower lip to the neck, and lost in the covering of the dress, -are three dark blue lines of tattooing. This is seen now only on the -older women, and is being thrown on the altar of modernity by the -daughters of the Bedouins who have peeped into the world and are trying -to be like their more sophisticated Egyptian neighbours. The hair is -straight and black, and with many has been given a tinge of red by -washing it in henna. I saw no grey-haired women; because those who have -been touched by the finger of time, kindly custom has allowed to dye -their locks, and there were many flaming heads above wrinkled faces. -While a guest with the Bedouins, they were quite determined to give me -the touch of red that to them is so beautiful. They say it keeps the -hair cool and prevents it from falling out, protecting it from the -burning sun. I resisted, although I watched the process, which was most -interesting. The henna powder is mixed with water until the consistency -of a paste, and then the head is covered and left for the night, when in -the morning it is washed, and if not applied too thickly there is just a -glint in the dark locks. Henna is also applied to the nails of the -fingers and toes, and with many it practically covers the fingers to the -first joint, making the hands look most uncleanly to European eyes. The -inside of the feet and the palms are not forgotten by the Bedouin or the -Egyptian woman who has conserved the customs of her mother, but the -henna-dyed hands are rarely seen now by the newer generation, who have -relegated the henna-pot to the lumber-room along with the tattooing-ink. -A great mass of jewellery was worn, not the diamonds and rubies found in -the French shops of Cairo, but the true ornaments of a barbaric people. -Great hoops of gold were in the ears, one from the top of the ear, -another hanging from the lobe. The neck, even to the waistline, was -covered with chains formed of balls of gold or of coins, and on the arms -were bracelets. In writing coldly of the Bedouin woman, her tattooing, -her henna-coloured hair, her kohl-blackened eyes, and her massive chains -of gold and anklets of silver, it seems as if she were living in an age -of barbarism, yet it is becoming to her rich colouring, and she is not -overdressed. They all belong to the time and place, and are made for -these women, who need strong settings for their savage beauty. - -The women of the desert are much more free to come and go than are the -women of the cities, and it is only when they come in close proximity to -an Egyptian village that the Bedouin expects his wife to be secluded. -They do not mix with members of the other sex as do the women of the -West, because that is contrary to the instincts of all Eastern women, -but naturally they cannot be confined so strictly within the tents as -can the women who live in houses. In each tent is a division or curtain, -behind which the women retire when men approach, but they may be seen -sitting in front of their doorways, and passing to and fro in the -villages without veiling their faces. They pass their spare time when -not occupied in the household duties in weaving gaily coloured blankets, -striped red and yellow and black. These constitute the woman’s fortune. -My friend took me to one tent in which there were forty of these -blankets piled around the edge of the tent, and she said, “Five or six -of these in the possession of a woman and she is considered rich in this -world’s goods. This woman is a multi-millionaire.” She was an old woman -who seemed to be the leader of her village. It was she who met us and -conducted us to the guest-tent, which was at least twenty by thirty feet -in circumference, and which was hung with these beautiful hand-woven -blankets. The sands were covered with rugs on which we sat, and on which -the large round tray was placed for the meal which the kindly hospitable -women insisted that we should eat with them. There are no tables, beds, -nor chairs. The Bedouin says that we can never understand the desert -until we get close to her, rest our feet on her sands, and our head on -her bosom— - - But man is earth’s uncomfortable guest - Until she takes him on her lap to rest. - -One thinks of a tent in the desert under the pitiless sun as a most -uncomfortable place of retreat, but I found it quite the opposite, as -the strong wind, that seems to be always trying to temper the actions of -its enemy, blew over the desert and entered the open flaps, and crept -under the turned-up edges of the tent, fanning into flame the fire of -sweet-smelling woods that had been kindled in the tiny brass jar. Water -was hanging in porous bottles and in sheepskins in the draught, and when -mixed with the perfumed syrups was cool and refreshing. Coffee with a -touch of ambergris in the cup was served, and melons were given us in -great cool slices. These latter are a favourite fruit of the desert -people, I presume because of the vast amount of water of which they are -composed, and water is the luxury of all luxuries to those who dwell -among the sands. An old Arabian poet said: “There are seven things when -collected together in a drinking-room, it is not reasonable to stay -away. A melon, honey, roast meat, a young girl, wax lights, a singer, -and wine.” Twice during our visit was perfume sprinkled over us, and the -brass brazier was often replenished with sandalwood, a small packet of -the latter being given us as we were leaving. The Arabs, in fact all -Eastern people, love perfumes, and they use them in far greater quantity -and of stronger essence than we consider delicate. Musk and a heavy -perfume distilled from jasmine and roses seems to be a favourite. -Mohammed himself loved perfumes, and speaks of them in his promises to -the faithful who shall fall in battle: “And the wounds of him who shall -fall in battle shall on the day of judgment be resplendent with -vermilion and odorous as musk.” We visited the smaller tents, and in -some it was impossible to stand erect even at the ridge pole. In one was -a young baby wrapped in white cloth and twined with yards and yards of -camel’s-hair rope, only his tiny head and feet protruding to show that -there was a real baby in the bundle. He was bound practically the same -as are the babies of our North American Indian. I took him in my arms, -and he stared at me with great black eyes, and then he laughed and -cooed, much to the delight of the young father, who stood proudly by. -The mother was quite a young girl, not more than fifteen years old, I -should judge, and in her shyness she retired into the security of the -tent, resisting all my friendly overtures to have her picture taken with -the baby in her arms. Children abounded; there will be no race -extinction of the Bedouins so long as they remain in their deserts. -Their little brown bodies snuggled up to us, and their black eyes -twinkled saucily as they shyly held out their hands for the gifts which -evidently my friend always brought with her. They were a much better -type of children than are those in Egyptian villages—strong, pretty -bodies, and without the unhealthy eyes that are seen so much on the -young in Egypt. - -In every tent was hung a gun, as robbers are frequent visitors, and each -dweller in the tent must protect his own. He keeps a fierce and noisy -dog that sees a stranger far across the sands, and one is followed far -beyond village confines by these canine police. - -Polygamy is practised by the Bedouin more than it is by his city -brothers. I visited in the tent of a woman who was the second wife of -her husband, the other wife living in a tent adjoining. She had two -children, and the first wife one, and from what I heard there was not -the most pleasant relationship between them. Divorce is also one of the -evils, and these primitive men take advantage of it to an alarming -degree. Nearly every one I met had been divorced some time or other. It -was such a common occurrence that it produced no feeling of shame in the -woman who had been divorced. - -The Bedouins are so proud of their lineage that they wish to keep the -tribal blood pure, and it leads to intermarriage. Cousins are frequently -married, and often a whole tribe is related in some manner. I was told -that the Bedouin settled an argument with a scolding or recalcitrant -wife by giving her a good chastising with a stick. While in Cairo I met -a most charming Bedouin who had left the sands for the gaieties of the -city. He was quite the polished gentleman to be found in any city, and I -was surprised when told that he had divorced his Bedouin wife because -she was not as progressive as his cosmopolitanism now required, and my -gossipy friend informed me, “They used to quarrel dreadfully and he -would beat her most frightfully.” I saw the lady in question, who had -returned to the tribe and remarried, and I rather admired the hardihood -of the somewhat effeminate man who would dare to try to beat this great -stalwart Bedouin woman, who looked as if she would take an active part -in any chastening that might be passing around her tent. - -There is no such word as “privacy” in the Bedouin vocabulary; their -private life must be an open book to all the tribe. Their one great -blessing is the wonderfully clear, dry air, which gives them health and -vigour and makes them immune to many of the diseases that afflict their -Egyptian neighbour. But if they leave the desert and go to live within -the cities, they fall easy victims to the great white plague, -tuberculosis. - -The Bedouins are followers of Mohammed, but they put their faith in holy -tombs and charms and sacred groves. They are not so strict in regard to -prayers as are the people who live within call of the muezzin, and the -religion of the women seems to be more superstition than worship of a -God. They placate a God who may do them harm, and they have innumerable -charms and amulets for the guarding of their children. In the desert -whirlwinds they see sweeping across their sands are “ginns” and evil -monsters; and at night, when a star shoots across the dark blue sky, -they believe it is a dart thrown by God at an evil genie, and they -whisper, “May God transfix the enemy of the faith.” Around the naked -children’s neck is hung a small box containing some quotation from the -Koran that will guard them from the evil eye, that curse most dreaded by -all mothers of an Eastern land. For every evil that man is heir to, the -Koran is the cure. A few words from its precious pages are bound upon -the arm of the camel driver, who feels that with this as guardian he -will not be lost upon the trackless sands. When ill, the wife will call -the astrologer, who writes a few words upon a piece of paper, and -soaking it in water, gives it to the wailing child, and the mother is -assured that all will soon be well, because has he not drunk of the very -fount of wisdom, the words that came from God? - -The old custom of a life for a life prevails in the desert, and feuds -are handed down from father to son. If a father or brother is killed, it -is the duty of the son or brother to take the life of the enemy of his -house. In the olden time there was blood money which could be paid, -although it was considered a cowardly thing to accept it. A man’s life -was worth a hundred camels, a woman’s only fifty, but the man of honour -asked the life. The chief of the tribe has the power to decide in all -cases between his people, and the English Government does not materially -interfere in the life of the Bedouin. - -In regard to the custom of taking a life for a life, there is a story -told of how in the early days the missions made a convert from -Mohammedanism, the only convert made among these tribes. In a blood feud -a man stabbed his enemy, but not fatally, and fleeing to the tent of a -friend he lingered there many days. This tent was one visited by the -missionary of the Christian faith, and while lying on his bed of pain -the wounded man heard of a faith that said, “Love your enemies,” and -before his death he sent word to his tribe that they must forget his -death and not try to avenge it. He even sent word that he forgave his -enemy. This was so astonishing that neither could the man who killed him -nor his tribe believe the fact, and secretly the enemy decided to find -for himself what had caused the unheard of message to be brought to his -tent. He learned of the new religion that said, “Revenge is Mine, saith -the Lord,” and he became the only Bedouin convert to the Christian -faith. - -Living in this home on the edge of the desert we saw the real life of -the tent people. We watched them as, weary and tired looking, they -returned from their long journeys. We saw the trains of laden camels as -they started for the distant cities. We saw the shepherd boys drive in -the flocks of sheep or goats, looking as they did in olden Bible times. - - - - - CHAPTER V - INDIAN SOCIAL LIFE - - -There is no woman in the world who is so bound down by custom, so tied -to the wheel of conventionality, as is the Indian woman, both Hindu and -Mohammedan. In the olden times the ancient law-makers realized the -danger menacing a people surrounded by an inferior race, as were the -natives of India compared to their Aryan invaders, and instituted that -remarkable social system that peculiarly affects the women of the -country, and is the cause of many of the evils that has made her life -one not to be envied—caste. - -Hindu society is divided into hundreds of communities consisting of -several clans, each clan having its own peculiar customs and iron-bound -rules. The clans are composed of families, governed by the family -custom, which in turn must obey the clan custom, and these must be -governed by the rules of the community. If a person violates the custom, -he forfeits all the privileges which he or his family may have in the -life of the community. His social life is entirely cut off from other -families and from the protection of his people. No one of his community -will eat or drink with him, visit his house, or marry his children. The -priest will not serve him, the barber will not shave him, nor the -washman wash for him. He will be absolutely alone and friendless in the -world, not able to get employment, even allowed to starve by the members -of his own family, who dare not help him, knowing they themselves would -be outcasted. He may not have the solace of joining another caste, -either lower or higher, because he must live and die in the caste in -which he was born. - -Originally there were only four great castes in India: the Brahmans, or -priestly class, who held all the intellectual or cultural prerogatives; -the Kashatriyas, or warrior caste; the Vaisayas, or merchant caste; and -the Sudras, or working class. Below that still are the outcastes, who -are almost slaves, and do the lowest menial services. Manu, the great -law-maker, said that the Brahman issued from the head of Brahma, hence -his intellectual superiority; the warrior from his arms, the husbandman -from his thighs, and the Sudras from his feet, thus exactly placing the -man’s social position in life. - -The laws of caste as explained by Mr. Dutt, a Hindu writer, are as -follows— - -Individuals cannot be married who do not belong to the same caste. - -A man may not eat with another not of his own caste. - -His meals must be cooked by persons either of his own caste or by -Brahmans. - -No man of an inferior caste is to touch his food or the dishes in which -they are served, or even to enter his cook-room. - -No water or other liquid contaminated by the touch of a person of -inferior caste can be made use of—rivers, tanks, and other large sheets -of water being held incapable of defilement. - -Articles of dry food, such as rice, wheat, etc., do not become impure by -passing through the hands of a person of inferior caste so long as they -remain dry, but cannot be taken if they become wet or greased. - -Certain prohibited articles, such as cow’s flesh, pork, fowls, etc., are -not to be eaten. - -The ocean and other boundaries of India must not be crossed. - -These rules would not be so oppressive if there were only the four -original great castes into which society was first divided, but now each -class is divided into thousands of subdivisions, whose members may not -intermarry, nor eat together, nor even touch the food prepared by those -of another community. Mr. Sidney Low has very well expressed the -difficulties caused by this very intricate social ruling in his “Vision -of India”— - -“To get a loose analogy, we might suppose that everybody who could claim -descent from one of the old Norman families in England formed one caste; -that members of the ‘learned professions,’ who had never soiled -themselves with commerce, were combined in a second; and that others -consisted exclusively of bankers or moneylenders, or of pork butchers, -costermongers, bricklayers, and so on _ad infinitum_. - -“Add that a man born in the costermonger class would remain, or ought to -remain, a member of that connection to the end of his days, and that he -would bring up his sons to the same business; that a greengrocer ought -not to eat food in company with a poulterer, that a baker might not give -his daughter in marriage to a cheesemonger, and that neither could have -any matrimonial relations with a bootmaker; and, further, that none of -these persons could place himself in personal contact with a clergyman -or a solicitor—imagine all this, and you begin to acquire some faint -notion of the involved tangle in which the entire Hindu community has -managed to get itself enwound.” - -Mr. Low quotes from the census report of Sir H. Risley further to -illustrate what the caste system means in the matrimonial sphere, that -sphere that especially touches the womanhood of India— - -“He imagines the great tribe of the Smiths throughout Great Britain -bound together in a community, and recognizing as their cardinal -doctrine that a Smith must always marry a Smith, and could by no -possibility marry a Brown, a Jones, or a Robinson. This seems fairly -simple; there would be quite enough Miss Smiths to go round. But, then, -note that the Smith horde would be broken up into smaller clans, each -fiercely endogamous. Brewing Smiths,” Sir H. Risley asks us to observe, -“must not mate with baking Smiths; shooting Smiths and hunting Smiths, -temperance Smiths and licensed-victualler Smiths, Free Trade Smiths and -Tariff Reform Smiths, must seek partners for life in their own -particular section of the Smithian multitude. The Unionist Smith would -not lead a Home Rule damsel to the altar, nor should Smith the tailor -wed the daughter of a Smith who sold boots.” - -In its effect upon women the caste system has been most deleterious -because of the difficulty of finding husbands within the same caste. It -has led to the making away with undesirable daughters, which was -frequently practised by the parents before the English Government -stepped in and made female infanticide a crime and severely punished the -culprits. Yet we are told that the disproportion of female to male -children shows that the practice has not been completely stamped out, -and that many fathers foreseeing the financial difficulties to be -encountered in marrying their daughters, have deliberately made away -with them at birth. In the smaller villages the crime is difficult of -detection, but when the ratio of girls to boys falls particularly low in -a community, the Government quarters extra police upon the people, -making all the inhabitants contribute towards the cost of their -maintenance, and the records soon show that girl babies are again being -born in the villages. - -Life in a high-caste Brahman family is much more complicated than that -of the low-caste family, and many burdens are added to the already heavy -ones borne by the Hindu woman, because of the rituals and customs woven -around this caste system. A woman told me that she had a friend who -lived in the house of two maiden aunts who were most orthodox Hindus. -This woman was not allowed to touch a thing in the morning before her -bath. Beside her bed was a long pole with which she must handle her -towels and clothing, and she was not permitted to enter the presence of -her aunts until her uncleanliness had been removed by ablutions and -prayers. - -The mother-in-law of my friend has practically no social intercourse -with her son’s wife because she has broken caste, eats with Europeans, -and wears shoes made from leather. Her own mother at first felt her -daughter’s disgrace keenly, and would not see her for many years. At -last love triumphed over custom, and now the mother will visit the -daughter if assured that a place will be made ceremonially clean where -she may spread her mat of holy dharba grass, on which she sits while -chatting. She will receive nothing from the hand of her daughter, -neither water nor food, and when she returns home she takes a complete -bath and changes her wearing apparel that has become polluted by contact -with her daughter’s house. - -Orthodox Hindus do not like sitting upon a mat of cloth or walking upon -a carpet. In many houses a wooden bench or board is kept for visitors. -The wife of a Resident in one of the Indian cities gave a reception to -which came several ladies from the conservative Hindu families. They -carefully avoided walking upon the rugs, and sat upon the edge of the -chairs, looking most unhappy. The wife of the Resident asked an advanced -Hindu lady why her afternoon was not a success so far as the Indian -guests were concerned. She was told that the only thought that possessed -these little women was a desire to get home. They wished to be polite -and stay as long as etiquette demanded, but they welcomed with avidity -the finality of the party when they might return and bathe and purify -themselves from the close contact of foreigners and Mohammedans. - -The members of the Brahmo Samaj, that progressive offshoot of Hinduism, -have broken caste and allow their women to go about freely. I was in a -town of Southern India with a member of this sect, and we called upon -the head mistress of a large school for girls. She was at home with her -newly born baby, waiting for the forty days of uncleanness to pass -before returning to her school. She was a very intelligent woman, -talking freely of the good and the bad of their social system. She said -that a school for girls such as that of which she was the head, where -four hundred young girls were being educated in modern thought, would -have the greatest influence upon the women of the next generation, but -that it would take time to eradicate the instincts of generations of -ignorance and superstition, so deeply woven into the very nature of the -Indian woman. - -At the close of the visit the baby was brought to me, and rather lacking -a subject for conversation I made the unfortunate remark to the baby, -“You will grow up a good Hindu and stick to your caste.” I was not -prepared for the storm of protest it raised from my friend who had -brought me to the home. She turned on me furiously and said: “How can -you say such things, you, a modern woman? Caste is the ruin of India. If -we want progress we must break caste: it is our only hope.” - -It is not caste alone that makes the rules that govern the life and -actions of the Indian woman, but from birth to the burning-ground every -detail of life is cast into a mould of ceremony and ritual, which in the -hands of a less spiritual people would have degenerated into mere sham. -Of the sixteen events in the life of a man, all are viewed from a -religious aspect, and accompanied by a religious ceremony. The most -sacred prayers are said in the morning before partaking of food, and it -is the husband, the head of the house, who is supposed to say the -prayers for all beneath his roof-tree. “No sacrifice is allowed to women -apart from their husbands, no religious rite, no fasting; as far as a -wife honours her lord, so far is she exalted in heaven,” says the laws -of Manu, yet the instinct of religion is strong in the Hindu woman, as -it is in women all over the world, and they do perform a worship. At the -time of her marriage, at the marriage of her children, and at many of -the sacred feasts, the wife must sit with her husband during the time he -is engaged in the performance of the acts of worship, though she takes -no active part in the ceremonies. If a man has lost his wife, he cannot -perform the sacrifice of fire. - -The Hindu woman has her gods, which she keeps in the kitchen, the most -sacred room in a Hindu household. In all the time I was in India I never -saw the inside of the kitchen of any of my Indian friends. I have been -told that it is divided into two parts, the smaller room used for the -cooking and as pantry for the storing of food, and must be kept free -from ceremonial defilement. The larger half of the kitchen of a -middle-class household serves as dining-room, and in an alcove or in one -corner are the household gods and the utensils to be used in their -worship. None of the images used by a woman are consecrated, but she -lights her lamp and bows her head and prays for the safety of her dear -ones, then offers a bit of fruit or betel or a sweetmeat that she has -prepared, and scatters sandal paste and coloured rice or the petals of -sweet-smelling flowers over her god. There is generally in each tiny -yard or in the kitchen a tulasi plant, around which the women walk while -chanting a prayer. This plant is considered the wife of Vishnu, and is -revered by all. There are many blessings promised to one who attends and -waters one of these plants, and it will keep care and tribulation from -its worshippers and grant pardon to the sinner who cherishes the tulasi -plant. Yet it is more particularly worshipped by women. At one time, it -is said, women were commanded to walk around it one hundred and eight -times each day, which certainly was a blessing from a hygienic point of -view, as it gave exercise to these shut-in women, who are restricted to -the four walls of their homes. - -At night when the lamps are lighted the wife makes obeisance to the -flame, saying— - - The flame of this lamp is the supreme good. - The flame of this lamp is the abode of the Supreme. - By this flame sin is destroyed, - Oh, Thou light of the evening, we praise thee. - -At the time of the evening meal the men have an elaborate religious -ceremony, but the women say simply, “Govinda, Govinda,” a name for -Vishnu, before partaking of their food. - -The devout mother teaches her children the tales of the gods, and at -worship time when the bell is sounded they are taught to place their -hands together in the attitude of prayer and bow their little heads to -the gods. It is the father who is expected to teach them the Vedic texts -and the truths to be found in the Puranas. - -The daily worship is held in the homes, but on feast days or for -especial acts of devotion, such as prayers for the blessings of a son, -or the giving of thanks for favours received, the women go to the -temples. These are crowded on holy days or days of anniversary of the -gods. No one ever goes to the temple empty-handed, and one sees the -little brass jar of holy water, the wreath of marigold or sweet-smelling -flowers which are supposed to give pleasure to the aesthetic senses of -the gods. Many women take a coconut to the temple, which fruit seems to -be generally connected with temple worship. The breaking of the coconut -is said to represent the slaying of the sacrificial animal, which is -only done now in the temples dedicated to Kali, that goddess of terror -who delights in the blood of her victims. - -While in Benares I visited a temple dedicated to Shiva, in which were -several enormous bulls, the animal sacred to this god. They were of a -bluish grey in colour, and from long living in the temple had become as -clever as the priests in looking for offerings from their worshippers. -But while the priests looked for silver or gold, the bulls had an eagle -eye with which to discern from afar the woman who carried a basket of -grain. They stood at the back of the temple and eyed each worshipper as -she entered. If the pious woman had only a brass water-pot in her hand -they did not move; but if they saw a basket, they immediately started -for her, and graciously allowed her to pour the grain into their open -mouths, the woman taking care that she did not pollute the bulls by -touching their lips with her hand. A wreath of marigolds was then thrown -over the neck of the bull, the holy water was poured on his shoulders, -and he returned to his place. I saw an old lady lovingly stroke the back -of one of these pampered beasts, ending with the tail, the end of which -she used to stroke her face, and afterwards lovingly kissed this -appendage of her idol. The expression on her face was one of deepest -reverence, and for her the great blue bull represented the god for whom -her hungry soul was longing. The educated Hindu would say that she was -struggling to find a god as are we all, but that she was still a child -in matters spiritual and required a material representative of her -ideal. They say that the real Hindu, the man who has studied the Vedas -and understands the spirit of his religion, needs no images nor ritual. -In his prayer he plainly shows that to him God is a spirit. He says— - - Oh, Lord, pardon my three sins. I have in contemplation clothed Thee - in form, who art formless; I have in praise described Thee, who art - ineffable; and in visiting shrines I have ignored Thy omnipresence. - -[Illustration: - - A HOLY MAN, BENARES. - - To face p. 96.] - -In many of the temples, besides the priests to minister to the gods, are -dancing girls, whose duties are to dance at the shrines, sing hymns, and -generally delight the gods. They are a recognized religious institution, -and are honoured next to the priests. They are obtained when quite young -by purchase or by gift. Often in times of famine a girl is sold to the -temple, that her price may save the rest of the family from starvation. -One is given that all may live. In other cases a girl is often a -thank-offering given to the gods because of recovery from sickness or -great tribulation. A rich man, instead of presenting his own daughter, -would buy the daughter of some poor family and present her. These girls, -who have no word to say in regard to the disposal of their persons, are -public women, and the gains of their profession go towards the support -of the temple. If there should be children born to these professional -dancing girls, they are brought up in their mother’s profession, very -much as were the children born to the priestesses of Aphrodite in the -temples of Alexandria. - -All Indian girls must be married, consequently these temple women are -formally married to a dagger, a tree, or some inanimate object, who, as -a husband, cannot object to the actions of his wife. Lately, in some -places it has been made a criminal offence to sell a girl or give a -daughter to a temple, and it is only done surreptitiously. One is told -in India that it is a thing of the past, yet in one large temple in the -South there are said to be over one hundred dancing girls kept for the -amusement of the blasé gods. - -These dancing girls share with their sisters, the nautch girls, the only -real freedom given to Indian women. The latter are taught to read and -write, to play musical instruments, and to make themselves attractive -and charming to men. They come and go freely, mingling with both men and -women. They are found at all feasts and public ceremonies, and have a -very definite and honourable place in Indian society. Whatever discredit -may be attached to her calling, she is considered a necessary adjunct to -the temple and the home. Her presence at weddings is considered most -fortunate, and in some castes it is the nautch girl who fastens the tali -around the neck of the bride, a ceremony similar to placing the -wedding-ring upon the finger. She holds the centre of the stage at all -entertainments given in honour of guests. While we were in a native -province ruled by a prince who had the reputation of liking wine, women, -and song even more than did the average ruling prince in India, we were -edified by the dancing of a woman brought from Bombay at the expense to -the prince of nearly one hundred pounds a day. - -The dancing is extremely modest, as the dancer is fully clothed, and it -is the graceful, languorous poses of her slim body, the waving of her -arms heavily laden with bracelets, and the slow moving, gliding steps -that keep time to the tinkle of the anklets, that charm her admirers. -There is a proverb that says, “Without the jingling of the nautch girl’s -anklets, a dwelling-place does not become pure.” - - - - - CHAPTER VI - INDIAN HOME LIFE - - -Although the women are supposed to have no religious standing and are -considered unfit to read the Vedas or touch the consecrated gods, still -their entire life is influenced by religion or superstition, and the -religion and superstition of the Eastern woman, of whatever land, is so -inextricably entwined, that it is hard to tell where one leaves off and -the other begins. Like her sisters of China and Egypt, she is afraid of -the evil eye. She firmly believes that if her jewels, her dress, or her -children are looked upon with jealous or covetous eyes, much sorrow will -come to her, and she has many charms and ceremonies with which to -counteract the baneful influence of spiteful persons. It is never wise -for a visitor to regard a baby too closely or to admire its jewels or -clothing openly, as, even if the mother is one of the advanced minority, -instinct will assert itself, and deep within her heart, bred there by -centuries of tradition, will be a little feeling that something _might_ -happen to her dear one. Quite likely, when the unwise caller departs, -the mother will make a lamp of kneaded rice flour and fill it with oil -or clarified butter, which, when lighted and passed round the baby’s -head, will remove the dreaded evil. - -The Hindu woman’s life is ruled by omens to a far greater extent than is -the life of the woman of the Western world. If she is starting on a -visit to a friend, it is a very bad sign for her to meet a widow, any -one carrying a new pot, a bundle of firewood, a pariah, a lame man, two -men quarrelling, a leper—in fact, there are about a dozen things she -should avoid, or else be under the necessity of returning to her home -and saying a few prayers before daring to start on her journey again. If -she should sneeze once, it is most unfortunate, and should be followed -by a second in order to avert the evil, but if the second sneeze is -followed by others, the more the better, it is a most certain sign that -her most ardent wishes will soon be granted. When one yawns it is polite -to snap the fingers and say, “Govinda, Govinda,” as many believe that -the life may leave the body while yawning, and to avert this calamity -from a baby the mother snaps her fingers and murmurs, “Krishna, -Krishna,” in its tiny ears. - -Mohammedan and Hindu customs are so much alike that it is often hard to -say that one is a Mohammedan custom or that another is purely Hindu. At -the marriages, and the return of the daughter to her home to give birth -to her first child, at the birth of the children, and in many of the -social customs of the Mohammedans are seen the influence of the Hindu -religion. It was the Mohammedans who brought the “purdah” system, or the -seclusion of women, into India. Before the invasion of these warlike -people the women of India went about freely, but now the Hindus are -practically as secluded as are the Mohammedan women. In the North, where -the influence of the followers of the Arabian prophet made itself most -dominant, the women are much more secluded than in the South, where the -Mohammedans did not come in such large numbers. - -It is in the villages that true India is to be found, unchanging, -languorous India. Here is a self-centered commonwealth, with little -dependence for its welfare upon the outer world, and the people have -remained the same as their fathers and their father’s fathers, -impervious to new innovations and ideas. To look at one of these -villages is very different from ideas one may have formed of them by -reading books of travel. The first impression received upon entering one -is that of an enlarged barnyard, as cows and farm implements take entire -possession of the narrow streets. The low, thatched mud houses are -without doors, windows, or chimneys. The floor is generally plastered -with cow dung, which, when dry, leaves a hard shellac-like polish, -considered by the natives most sanitary. It has to be redone every two -weeks, and to Western eyes is a most unsightly operation, as it is done -with the hands of the housewife. It is said that when the Salvation Army -sent its first volunteers to India, they required them to live the life -of the Indian, and that this smearing of the earthen floors with the -national substitute for varnish was one of the chief causes why women -were not always ready to volunteer for service in the East. - -There is virtually no furniture in the homes. The stove consists of -three or four bricks, around which the fuel, consisting of dried cakes -of mud and cowdung, are broken, and which smoulder rather than burn. A -few earthenware pots and a large dish in which to serve the food, some -brass utensils, and a large jar for carrying water, complete the -culinary arrangements. For plates, banana or plantain leaves are used, -or, lacking these, small leaves are sewn together. This saves the -drudgery of washing dishes, as the leaves are thrown away after each -meal, and the fingers are used in place of the knives and forks of the -more aesthetic races. Chairs and tables are not needed, as the Indian -squats upon his haunches, as only an Oriental can; and in silence, -regarding only his own food, to which he helps himself from the central -dish, he eats his meal. When the lord of the household has finished, he -graciously allows his wife to eat from the same leaf. No Indian woman -who conforms to the customs of her race ever eats at the table with the -men of her household, yet this is not confined to the women of India. -The separation of the men from the women at the dinner-table is -practised by all Orientals. The women of China and Japan eat with the -younger children when the master of the house has finished, and no -Egyptian husband, unless one of the small class who have become -thoroughly Westernized, would think of inviting his wife to share with -him his evening meal. - -In the village homes the man shows his superiority also in the fact that -the only bed in the house of the peasant or workman is that for the -master, if bed it can be called—simply a rough framework of wood with -coir ropes strung across it. The extra wardrobe of the family, if they -are so fortunate as to possess more than the one garment which they -wear, is hung on a pole in a corner of the room, and need not take much -space, as the clothing of India’s poor is scant—a loin-cloth, a sheet -for the shoulders, and a long piece of cotton for the head suffices him. -His wife will only possess a tight-fitting little bodice, and six yards -of cloth which she will drape gracefully around her body, making it -serve both as dress and head covering. Yet the woman’s arms are covered -often with bracelets, anklets tinkle as she walks, and as she draws her -sari across her face when passing the stranger, the glint of a nose-ring -is seen, or the light flashes from a necklace that rests against her -brown skin. This jewellery may be of gold, silver, brass, or even of -glass, but the woman of the village loves these aids to feminine charms -as well as does her city sister. In the olden time the peasant had no -trust in banks, and when he accumulated a few extra rupees, he added a -bangle to his wife’s arm, or bought a nose or ear-ring. It served the -double purpose of saving money which might be foolishly spent at the -autumn fair, and also was easy to take to the moneylender in times of -stress. There are many thousands of pounds of gold that go into India -each year and disappear. The officials say it is turned into jewellery -for these wives and daughters of India’s great middle class, who seem -never too poor to have a touch of gold or silver upon the persons of -their womenfolk. - -The village wife is relieved of the necessity of providing clothing for -the children, because until they are seven or eight years old an amulet -string or a silver anklet completes their wardrobe. There are many of -these little brown bodies around every doorway, looking like -dark-skinned cupids. One rarely sees a child in India with a bad skin, -which perhaps is due to the oil-baths which they receive in early -childhood. Mothers bathe their babies in oil, then wash it off with a -vegetable soap, leaving the skin soft and shining as satin. This is a -luxury indulged in by older people also, and the giving of oils for the -bath is a favourite present among friends. - -In the shade of the porch is often seen a cradle, a very simple affair -made of four pieces of wood with a hammock of cloth held between them. -Around the top of the cloth is arranged baby’s toys so that he may lie -and amuse himself, which is quite necessary where the mother has as many -household duties to attend to as the Indian farmer’s wife. In places -where the woman is working in the field, the baby may be seen wrapped in -a hammock-like affair and tied to the limb of a tree; and it is a common -practice among labouring women, I am told, to give the babies a drug to -keep them quiet while the mothers work. Opium is very generally used in -India, especially among the higher classes, although forbidden by both -Hindu and the Mohammedan religion. It is supposed to invigorate the -aged, and an Indian told me that he thoroughly believed that all men -after they pass the age of fifty were better for the moderate use of -opium. - -The wife of the village man or peasant is not “purdah nashim,” or -secluded, as is the wife of the rich man. She takes her share in the -agricultural work, besides carrying water from the village well, making -the cakes of fuel and plastering them against the side of the house to -dry, grinding the meal, husking the rice, washing the clothing, and -cooking the meals. Yet with all her work the monotony of her life is -broken by many feasts and ceremonies in which she takes a part. Each -district and temple has its own particular fête day, and there are many -family feasts where work is given up at the time of special rejoicing. -Relatives and friends meet together, the houses are decorated, bright -saris are brought forth, and the time is spent in pleasure and -merry-making. There are eighteen obligatory feasts in the year for the -orthodox Hindu, but only a few of the principal ones are celebrated. - -Many of the ceremonies in the home originated in sanitary laws, which -would not have been obeyed unless the people were made to believe that -they were of divine origin. At a certain time of the year when smallpox -is rife, and the epidemic has passed, there is a worship of the -“Mother,” which requires the house to be thoroughly cleaned and -purified, all the old vessels broken, all old clothing burned or placed -in the sun for a certain time, before the women are permitted to go to -the temple to worship their favourite goddess. There is another spring -feast, when the women go down to the water dressed in yellow, and send -small lighted lamps down the stream to the spring goddess. At the feast -of the serpents the villagers take offerings to the sand-hills, and pour -milk and honey into the holes where the snakes are supposed to dwell, -asking protection of these gods of wisdom, who especially guard the eyes -of their worshippers. At another feast the women take red water and -sprinkle it upon each other, rejoicing over the slaying of the giant god -of evil. The girls take part in a pretty feast in the fall, when they -decorate their little brothers with flowers and garland the houses, and -at night light innumerable little lamps, making a village look like a -miniature fairyland. - -The village women appear rather sullen, but when known they are found to -be as happy as is the wife of the average working man. If there is no -drought drying up the crops, if no disease comes to the cattle, if the -moneylender is not too avaricious, if a few pennies can be saved to buy -bracelets from the bangle-man at the annual festival, and if the gods do -not disgrace her by sending too many daughters, she is happy. Yet the -village woman and her family are always but half a step in advance of -the waiting wolf; famine comes with swiftness, and quick deaths from -plagues to hundreds of thousands of these peasant people, who constitute -nine-tenths of the population of India. - -The life of the women in the small towns and villages is like life in -another world compared to that led by the women in the large cities of -Calcutta or Bombay or Madras. Here the Indian lady seems to be trying to -lose her national characteristics, and Indian society is very -disappointing to a visitor from the West who wishes to see something of -the life lived by the lady of India. It seems to be merely a copy of the -life of the English society woman, and her day is filled with teas, -society concerts, and receptions. Their homes are thoroughly English in -every department, their drawing-rooms are filled with English -bric-à-brac, they go to the entertainments in most luxurious motors; -their children, dressed in European clothes, are brought down to see the -guest by an English governess, and English is the language of the home. -Many of the Indian women are members of clubs, musical societies, and -are taking active part in the charities for the benefit of their people. - -The Indian woman wields a strong influence over her husband, and has -more of a place in the life around her than we imagine, from the stories -we hear of unhappy days spent “Behind Zenana Bars.” We are apt to -consider the secluded, shut-in Eastern woman as a cowed, frightened -creature, afraid to say her soul is her own, while among the better -class, at least, it is quite the contrary. It takes a brave man to go -absolutely against the wishes of his womenfolk, as they have the -advantage of numbers in their favour. In every great household there are -innumerable women relatives, satellites, and servants revolving around -the personality of the mistress. These Eastern women have been schooled -in the art of intrigue and understand thoroughly the efficacy of passive -resistance. If the wife wishes to accomplish a certain object, and is -able to enlist the women of the household on her side, the man will be -compelled sooner or later to submit to her wishes. - -The older, conservative women are very tyrannical, and try their best to -combat the newer ideas brought to the zenanas by their sons and -daughters. Many of the younger generation are trying to break from the -patriarchal custom of all the family living under one roof. They say it -is very fine in theory, and has worked with good results in the -villages, but that it has many bad points, the chief of which is that it -allows no expression of individuality. The personality must be sunk in -the family. When all the men will work and become producers and -contributors to the family fund, it makes for harmony in the home, but -when some are drones and live on the toil of others, it makes the burden -too heavy for the few and causes quarrels and dissensions. - -Women are helpless in India in the earning of a living for themselves, -and if widowhood comes they must depend for support on some male -relative of their own or of the family of their deceased husband. I know -a boy of eighteen who is the only support of his wife, his aunt, a -widow, his widowed mother, and his young sister. He was compelled to -leave school and take a position in an office in order to take care of -all these women, as he was the responsible head of the family. It is -hard for a boy who is ambitious and anxious to obtain an education, when -there are many women in his household, as they care more for the -immediate necessities than for a prospective successful future. They -feel that his father and his father’s father were able to provide for -the wants of the family, so why should the boys of to-day spend years in -studying books when they might be adding to the family exchequer? - -It is the women who are compelling the younger boys and girls to conform -to the old usages and traditions in regard to marriage. Many a boy -leaves school and would like a chance to find a place for himself in -life before burdening himself with a wife. But this he is not allowed to -do. His mother believes that all boys should be married early in life, -consequently the boy is saddled with a family at about the age when the -American boy is taking his first shy look at the girl across the aisle -in the schoolroom. These modern young men would also like to have a -voice in the selection of their wives, but that also is denied them. -They must conform to the traditions of their caste and the customs of -their family. I know a boy who was compelled to marry his niece, -although his education had taught him that these intermarriages were not -for the good of his race; still, he was helpless, and could not -successfully oppose the combined wishes of the women of his family. - -Side by side with these Indian women who guard jealously the customs and -traditions of other days are the Westernized society women, who seem to -share with their husbands in the spirit of imitation that has entered -into the very soul of the Indian people who have come into contact with -the English. The Indian gentleman feels that he must talk “sport,” the -schoolboy prides himself upon the knowledge of cricket and football and -talks the jargon of Eton and Rugby. Because the meat-eating Englishmen -from cold, dreary England must exercise in order to live, the Indian -also devotes himself to a strenuous regime that is absolutely alien to -his habits and the requirements of his climate. The Indian lady, with -her exaggerated English accent, and her costume that is neither of the -East nor of the West, is a paradox. She may well be zealous in borrowing -what she needs from the English, but it seems hard for her to assimilate -what she takes and make it a part of herself. The affectations which she -uses to show her cosmopolitanism are palpably grafted upon her tree of -knowledge, and we who wish to see the real India are only consoled in -the thought that these unusual conditions which prevail in the large -cities are only the graftings, and that the tree itself is not affected -by them. The real woman of India is bound to grow in knowledge brought -by education and experience, but deep down in her heart she will be -essentially the same for years to come. She will not try to exchange her -personality for another’s, even in outward appearance. - -The dawn of consciousness that has been preceded by long twilight is now -awakening in the soul of the Eastern woman, and she will see by its -light that she has a strength and individuality of her own and that she -need not mortgage her birthright to borrow alien charms from the women -of other lands. - - - - - CHAPTER VII - MARRIAGE—THE GOAL OF WOMAN - - -There are three great events in a Hindu woman’s life: first, her -marriage; second, the birth of her son; and third, if she should be so -unfortunate, her widowhood. - -These three events are of immense importance to all women, but as a -woman of the Far East is supposed to be created for one purpose only, -the rearing of sons to her husband’s house, marriage and birth of -children assume a larger place in her life than in the life of the -Western woman, where these two events are often merely incidents. Also -when a Hindu woman marries she expects to stay married, as she cannot -divorce her husband, and he can only divorce her for infidelity. Even -death will not open for her the doorway to remarriage, because if her -husband should die before her, she must remain true to his memory for -life. - -The woman’s inclinations are seldom consulted in regard to the choice of -a husband, because, quite likely, when she is not much more than a -child, her parents begin to look around for a suitable alliance for her. -Their choice must fall upon a man of the same caste, a relative if -possible. The prospective bridegroom may be a young boy, or he may be an -old man, a widower. The girl _must_ be married. There are no reasons in -the Hindu philosophy which allow a girl to pass the marriageable age -without a husband being chosen for her. Men may become “sanyassis,” that -is, renounce the world and remain bachelors, but this is not allowed -women under any circumstances, as they must fulfil their destiny, which -is to be the mothers of men. - -If a girl passes the marriageable age, if she should be twelve or -thirteen without being settled in life, her family would feel that they -were disgraced, and she would have slight opportunity for marriage in -any respectable family. Therefore, it is incumbent upon her parents to -find for her a husband as soon as possible, which leads to one of the -greatest crimes against Indian womanhood—child marriages. - -There are many preliminaries to be arranged before the final choice of a -bridegroom is decided, but when he is found at last, the important -question of the dowry arises. In some places the father of the bride -gives a dowry with his daughter, in others the groom’s father pays a -certain sum to the parents of the little bride, practically buying her. -Nearly every caste has a different mode of procedure regarding the -exchange of presents and money. - -The girl’s personal jewellery and everything she receives from her -future father-in-law, or that she takes with her to her new home, are -most clearly set down, article by article, in a document, and constitute -her own personal property, which she may claim if she becomes a widow. - -Marriage is a most ruinous operation financially for the parents, -especially for the father of the bride. He must give a feast lasting for -five days to all friends and relatives, presents to all the contracting -parties, and great liberality must be shown the Brahmans and priests who -assist in the ceremony. If his new son-in-law is an educated youth, he -will demand a much larger dowry with his bride, in these days when -Western education is meaning so much in the life of the Indian youth. If -he is a “failed B.A.,” he may only demand, we will say, one thousand -rupees from his father-in-law. If he successfully passed his -examinations and is a full B.A., he quite likely would feel that those -letters added to his name were worth at least two thousand rupees; and -if he should by chance be a Doctor of Laws, his demands might be limited -only by the knowledge of the amount of gold the father of his bride has -stored for this emergency. - -After the preliminary ceremonies have been concluded and the family -priest has decided upon the most propitious day for the nuptials, the -family begin to make preparations for the wedding. Invitations are taken -to friends and relatives who are within visiting distance by the women -of the household, who make upon the forehead of the invited female guest -the round red caste mark, and leave a small bundle of pan leaves and -betel-nut for the other members of the family. Often a little sandalwood -paste is touched to the chin and between the shoulders by the bearer of -the invitation. Mohammedan ladies send a tiny mica box with a cardamom -seed in it and a piece of confectionery, which is given with the verbal -invitation by the messenger, who must, if possible, be some member of -the family instead of a servant. - -In the case of rich people the strong box is opened and the hoarded -rupees brought forth with which to buy the gold and silver jewellery for -both bride and groom, the elaborate wedding garments, and the saris, -which are given as presents to the women guests, and shawls for the men; -the store-rooms are examined to make sure that there is rice in plenty, -also wheat flour, butter, oil of sessaman, peas, vegetables, fruits, -pickles, curries, in fact, all the many foodstuffs necessary in the -preparation of the elaborate feasts which are the main events of the -wedding. Sandalwood powder is bought in great quantities, antimony for -the eyes, incense, the red paste which wives use on the forehead, and -innumerable numbers of the beautiful flower wreaths with which the -guests are garlanded after the entertainments. Plenty of new earthen -dishes are selected from the potters’ store, for these vessels may never -be used the second time. - -In the case of the poor man, now is the time when the visits are made to -the moneylender, because, rich or poor, prince or peasant, there must be -no question of stint at this time of rejoicing. - -A wedding is a very gorgeous affair, being limited only by the means of -the contracting parties, but it is generally conceded that all Indians, -of whatever class of society they may be members, spend far too much -upon the nuptials of their children. - -Each one of the five days has its especial religious rite. One ceremony -typifies the giving of the girl by the father to the husband and the -renunciation of his parental authority. On another day the husband -fastens the tali around his young wife’s neck, which is practically the -same as placing the marriage-ring upon the finger of the new bride. This -tali is a small gold ornament strung on a little cord composed of one -hundred and eight very fine threads closely twisted together and dyed -yellow with saffron. Before tying the tali it is taken to the guests, -both men and women, who bless it. Old ladies whose husbands are alive -are specially requested to bless the tali, in order to insure the couple -a long married life. This symbol of wifehood is tied with three knots, -thus trebly ensuring the marriage tie, and is never to be removed unless -the wearer is so unfortunate as to become a widow, when the cord is cut. -The most unkind thing one woman can say to another is, “May your tali be -cut!” - -After the tying of this emblem the newly married couple walk three times -around a lighted fire, which is the ultimate binding of the marriage -contract, for there is no more solemn engagement than that which is -entered into in the presence of fire. Rice is thrown over the pair, and -they throw it upon each other, signalling that they hope to enjoy an -abundance of this world’s goods and a fruitful union. Rice is used at -weddings in nearly all Eastern countries as typifying prosperity and -fruitfulness, and it is perhaps from the Far East that we borrow our -custom of throwing rice upon the newly married pair. - -Many Hindu women wear, in addition to the tali, an iron bracelet to -indicate their marriage state. Among the rich it is gilded and, -consequently, not easily distinguished from the many bracelets that -always cover the Indian lady’s arm. - -A young Hindu boy is not supposed to chew betel-nut nor put flowers in -his hair until he is married. On the fourth day of the marriage -festivities the groom is given his first betel-nut by his -brother-in-law, and his head is wreathed with flowers. In a few castes -the bride has her left nostril bored on the fifth day of the marriage -and an ornament placed therein. After marriage in some parts of India -the woman wears a streak of red powder in the parting of her hair, and -in practically all provinces she wears the little round mark of wifehood -between the eyes, which, as age comes, is elongated, until gradually, by -the time that children and grandchildren cluster around her knee, the -little red mark has grown into a straight line, losing itself in the -whitening locks. In Mysore and in some of the southern provinces a woman -does not tuck up her dress in the back until she is married. Then an end -of the long sari, which is twisted several times around the body, is -brought from the front to the back and tucked into a belt, forming a -sort of trousers, and incidentally exposing more brown leg than we women -of the Western world think consistent with modesty. - -At the final feast the bride and groom eat together from the same leaf -to show their complete union. This is the first and last time that the -wife will eat in company with her husband, if he is an orthodox Hindu -and not imbued with the new Western ideas. Always, in the future, she -will serve him his meal, and after he has finished she will eat with the -other women of the household and the smaller children, using the same -leaf which has done service for her lord and master. - -When all the religious rites are finished and the festivities have come -to an end, there is a final procession, when the wife and husband, -gorgeously arrayed in all their jewellery, are carried round the town to -the accompaniment of music, the explosion of fire crackers, the shooting -of rockets, and the shouting of friends. Then, if the bride is still a -child, she returns home with her parents, who keep her secluded until -the time arrives for her to return to her husband’s home and fulfil the -duties of a wife. The day the husband and mother-in-law come to take the -wife to their home is made another time of rejoicing. She remains with -them for a month when she revisits her old home, and often for the first -few years, or until she has children, she lives alternately in her -husband’s house and in that of her parents. If she finds herself -ill-treated by her husband and tormented by her mother-in-law, the young -girl often seeks her father’s home for shelter and protection, and -remains with them until the husband or his mother come in person to -persuade her to return home. Nearly always her family add their -persuasions, if not their force, to compel the wife to return to her -husband’s roof, as it is a great disgrace to all concerned to have a -wife leave her husband. After the children come, the wife rarely leaves -her house and devotes her time and energies to the rearing of the little -ones that fill all homes, from the mansions of the rich to the huts of -the poor peasants. There seem to be more little brown bodies in India -than in any place I have visited, unless I except China, where the -staple articles are rice and babies. - -The new wife has to accommodate herself to the customs of her husband’s -family, and much of her future happiness depends upon the women members -of the household. If it is a very aristocratic family, she may have all -the luxuries of life, beautiful gold-embroidered saris, jewels, -servants, and slaves, but very little liberty. There is a saying that -you can tell the degree of a family’s aristocracy by the height of the -windows in the home. The higher the rank, the smaller and higher are the -windows and the more secluded the women. An ordinary lady may walk in -the garden and hear the birds sing and see the flowers. A higher grade -lady may only look at them from her windows, and if she is a very great -lady indeed, this even is forbidden her, as the windows are high up near -the ceiling, merely slits in the wall for the lighting and ventilation -of the room. - -There are many rules of etiquette prescribed for the young girl-wife if -she would show that she has been properly trained by her parents. For -example, she must never speak of her husband by name, nor may she use a -word with the same syllable as her husband’s first name. A friend of -mine has a husband whose name begins with the same syllable as that used -in the word sugar. She always speaks of sugar as “the substance you put -in your tea,” and she generally refers to her husband as “he.” Nor would -the man say “my wife,” but “my house,” or some word denoting the home. A -man in Hyderabad met his doctor on the street and said, “I wish you -would come and see me. My house has a boil on its neck.” - -This same wife would not sit in the presence of her mother-in-law or her -husband if others were present. It would show extreme lack of respect; -nor would she speak if her husband were in the room. We called upon the -wife of a high official of Bangalore, who came into the room with her -daughter-in-law and her young daughter, an extremely pretty girl. The -daughter-in-law would not sit down in the presence of her husband’s -mother, nor did she speak, and looked extremely awkward and -self-conscious, as she stood with her sari drawn across her mouth and -watched us with her big black eyes. The little daughter played the -veena, the national instrument, and as she sat upon the rug, gorgeously -arrayed in an elaborate red and gold sari, with jewellery on arms, neck, -ankles, toes, and with diamonds in each tiny nostril, she made a picture -never to be forgotten. - -In some of the big households where the sons bring their wives to live -beneath the family roof-tree, the married quarters are not large enough -to allow a separate room for each couple, and the women sleep in one -room and the men in another. The mother has the right of assigning the -couples who are to inhabit the married quarters for the week. But even -the eagle eye of the mother-in-law cannot always watch the young people, -and many a girl-wife steals across the courtyard to find her husband, -who is waiting for her in the shadows. A crowd of young men in a school -were asked to give their idea of what was the most beautiful music in -the world. One answered, “The song of the bul-bul,” another, “The -plaintive strains of the zither,” a third, “The cry of the night bird,” -but a young bridegroom said, “The music of my wife’s anklets as she -tries to suppress their sound when she steals to meet me in the -moonlight.” - -One is amazed at the amount of jewellery worn by the Indian women, yet -this vanity is not confined solely to the women, as in some of the -provinces nearly every man has a jewel in his ear, and many of them wear -most expensive finger-rings. The women excel in the artistic use of -jewellery that on other people would seem tawdry and barbaric, but on -these dainty little women is most becoming to their rich, dark beauty. -Jewellery is not only worn by the lady, but women of every class are -covered with it. The village woman will have perhaps but one cotton -sari, and her home would be merely a mud hovel, but she will clink as -she walks, and you know she wears silver anklets, and as she moves her -sari to peep at you, you see the glisten of a bracelet. It may be of -brass or it may be of silver, or, if she be very poor, coloured glass -bangles will satisfy her cravings for the beautiful, and her arms will -be covered with these ornaments from the wrist to the elbow. - -At a railway-station near Baroda I saw women whose legs to the knee were -covered with huge brass bands that must have been most inconvenient and -heavy to carry. In Poona we stopped to watch a merchant of toe-rings -place his wares upon his patron’s toes which were held out to him for -the purpose. The rings were so tight that soap had to be used to force -them over the twinging toes. The operation was most painful to vanity, -judging from the faces of the victims, but evidently the sight of the -shining ring as they trudged down the dusty road repaid them for the -suffering they had undergone. In this same market were innumerable -booths for the sale of the glass bracelets that are worn by all the -women of India, with the exception of widows. I watched an old woman in -the bangle bazaar working them over the hands of the women who sat on -the ground in front of her, prepared to spend unlimited time in -acquiring these articles of adornment. The purchaser made her choice -from the green or gold or red bangles piled carelessly upon the trays in -front of her, then the bangle-seller squeezed and manipulated the hand, -slowly working, pushing, coaxing the bangle over the hand, until finally -it was on the arm, where evidently it would remain. - -My husband and I dined with a Mohammedan who, after dinner, asked me -into the zenana to meet his wife. The bareness of my arms shocked her, -and she insisted upon presenting me with three bracelets for each arm, -working them on so skilfully that it did not pain me, but on arriving at -the hotel I found I could not remove them. I tried to persuade the -Indian servant to break them for me, but he was horrified and said it -would bring me very bad luck, as only widows had them broken on the arm. -I feared I would be compelled to wear them all my life as my husband -would not break them, having overheard the remarks about the widow. -Finally I broke them myself, much to the detriment of my arms, which -carried the scars for many days. - -There is an immense amount of money going into India each year that -never gets into circulation, as the gold coins are strung upon chains or -melted to make the bracelets for the women and children. Life could be -made much more comfortable for the Indian peasant if he would turn the -money invested in jewellery for his womenfolk into comforts for the -home. - -The Hindu woman has few legal rights. Any property which her husband -wishes to leave her must be given to her in his lifetime, as she cannot -inherit his estate, but she may claim maintenance from his heirs, and if -she should survive her son, she may become his legal heir. The male -relatives are supposed to provide maintenance for the women of the -family. - -An outsider looking upon the Hindu home does not see where real union -can possibly exist between a husband and wife. This is especially true -at the present time, when nearly all the better class of India’s sons -are being educated, and are reading, listening, touching hands with the -outside world. The women of the middle and lower classes, except in rare -cases, are practically without education, few being able to read or -write. The signs point to the fact that they will not long remain in -this ignorant state, because the young men are demanding educated wives, -and a desire for education is abroad in the land, although an old -proverb says that to educate a woman is like placing a knife in the -hands of a monkey. The English Government is establishing schools for -girls in every town and village, and in Baroda enforced schooling is -demanded for girls as well as for boys. But because of the early -marriage of the girl, she has little opportunity of becoming a real -companion to her husband, as he may continue his studies for years, -while, when she becomes a wife, her schooldays are over. - -I met a gentleman of about fifty years of age in the South of India who -asked me to call upon his wife, a young girl of seventeen years, who -became his bride at the age of twelve. She was not at all what the -average girl of seventeen years would be in England or America. She was -the polite hostess, with no trace of self-consciousness or gaucherie, -graceful in her every movement. She was exquisitely dressed and covered -with jewels. Large diamond clusters were in her ears, diamonds in each -nostril, and around her neck a chain of rubies with a large pendant of -pearls. Her manners were charming, and as we were parting she excused -herself for a moment then returned to the room with a small tray on -which was the red powder for the caste mark, betel-nut, fruit, and a -small bouquet of flowers. She came to each of us and bowed, then with -her right hand made the mark of wifehood upon our foreheads, and handed -us the betel-nut and flowers. This gracious and pretty service is one of -the many little kindly acts that are always performed by the hostess -herself, as it would not be polite to delegate it to a servant. - -I was charmed with this dainty little woman, yet I could not help -thinking that she might be a pretty toy, but not a companion to the man -with whom I had been conversing a few hours previous, and in whose -library I had seen Emerson’s “Essays,” Farrar’s “Life of Christ,” -“Pilgrim’s Progress,” the works of Tolstoy, Epictetus, and lying upon -the desk, as if just left by the master, Maeterlinck’s “Life and Death.” - -According to the ethical, moral, and religious standards of the Hindus, -man and woman are equal. The Vedas teach— - - Before the creation of this phenomenal world, the first born Lord of - all creatures divided his own self in two halves so that one half - should be male and the other half female. Just as the halves of - fruit possess the same nature, the same attributes and the same - properties in equal proportion, so man and woman, being the equal - halves of the same substance, possess equal rights, equal - privileges, and equal power. - -This sounds very well in print, and learned Hindus quote us the Vedas to -show that in their country women and men are considered equal. They are -most indignant at the conception by the Western people of the treatment -accorded the Indian woman by her husband. They say that books are filled -with the stories of the brutality of husbands who marry these girl-wives -without love on either side, yet they point out that it is a well-known -fact that there are fewer wife-beaters in India than there are in -England. Manu, the great law-giver, says, “A woman’s body must not be -struck hard even with a flower, because it is sacred.” - -In the olden time we are told that women were well versed in the Vedas, -although it is now claimed that they are forbidden to read them or to be -taught their truths. It is known that two of the famous songs of the Rig -Veda were revealed by women, and when Sankaracharya, the great -commentator of the Vedanta, was discussing this philosophy with another -savant, a Hindu lady well versed in the Hindu scriptures was requested -to act as umpire. - -Whatever may have been her position in former times, at present there is -no woman on earth who reveals more true attachment and devotion to her -husband than does the Hindu wife. There is a beautiful saying, “Man is -strength, woman is beauty; he is the reason that governs and she is the -wisdom that moderates.” - -In the Mahrabarata we find this definition of a woman— - - A man’s wife is his truest friend; - A loving wife is a perpetual spring - Of virtue, pleasure, wealth; a faithful - Wife is his best aid in seeking Heavenly bliss. - A sweetly speaking wife is a companion - In solitude, a father in advice, - A mother in all seasons of distress, - A rest in passing through life’s wilderness. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII - INDIAN MOTHERHOOD - - -When it is known that the girl-wife is to fulfil her destiny by giving -her lord a child, she becomes a person of importance in her home circle, -and there are endless ceremonies to be observed. Feasts are given -friends, and many days are passed in rejoicing. One of the earliest -celebrations is given the children of all friends and relatives, when -the glass-bangle man comes with his wares, which are bought and freely -distributed to the guests. About two months before the baby is expected -the mother takes the daughter to her home, where she remains until after -the formal purification, which is forty days after the birth of a girl, -and thirty should she be so fortunate as to give a man-child to the -world. At the end of that time her husband or his mother must come and -take her home again. It would be an insult to send a lesser person, -unless it were absolutely impossible for either of them to be the -messenger. This custom of the young mother giving birth to her first -child under her own family roof-tree is followed by Mohammedans as well -as by Hindus. - -The midwife in the villages is generally the wife of the barber, and -naturally her knowledge of medicine is very much limited. She is ruled -entirely by superstition and old-time custom. Her chief knowledge -consists in different prayers, and a woman who is an expert in this -field of obstetrics is always in demand, because there is no time when -prayers are a greater necessity than at the birth of a child. Both the -baby and its mother are peculiarly susceptible to the evil eye, to the -influences of lucky and unlucky days, and a thousand other superstitions -that make this time of a woman’s life one of great danger. Happily for -Indian women, the Marchioness of Dufferin, and the wives of other -viceroys, have taken the cause of Indian womanhood to heart, and have -established hospitals for women and supply nurses for the home. There -are nearly two hundred and fifty hospitals and dispensaries throughout -India, and women doctors with degrees from the highest institutions in -Europe are giving their life to help the women of India. These doctors, -with their assistants, their native students, and trained nurses, during -the year 1903 took care of a million and a half of girls and women. Yet -there is a vast opportunity for the enlarging of the work, as I was told -that there are still a hundred million people who have no knowledge of -the blessings to be obtained from European medicine and surgery, but who -depend entirely upon the native doctors and midwives. - -Many hospitals are maintained by missionaries, who have always been the -forerunners in work to help the helpless, and it will only be a question -of time when the mothers of India will not be compelled to be sacrificed -to the superstition and ignorance of the women who are the only ones -allowed near them in their time of travail. Even the most advanced men -in India to-day would hardly allow a man doctor to attend his wife at -the birth of a child. He would rather lose the life of the wife than so -violate the customs of his class. - -When the child is born, the date of the month, the hour of the day, and -the star that is in the ascendant are carefully noted in order that the -guru, or family priest, may cast the horoscope. Many of these -astrologers are astute humbugs, and impose upon the credulity of their -patrons to an enormous degree. - -[Illustration: - - CRADLE IN VILLAGE, BARODA. - - To face p. 132.] - -The house where a child has been born, as well as those who live in it, -are considered impure for ten days, unless it is a rented house, when -only the room in which the mother lies is unclean, and into which no one -can enter except the midwife. The room is kept extremely warm, and -incense is burned in it every day, and leaves are hung in front of the -door to ward off evil spirits. On the eleventh day the linen and -clothing is sent to the washman, and the mother, taking the child in her -arms and with the husband sitting beside her, goes through the ceremony -of purification by the family priest, after which he purifies the entire -household and the rooms. Still the mother is not supposed to receive her -friends, and must keep apart from the rest of the family until the -thirty or forty days are passed, when she passes through another -purification ceremony, and then goes to the temple to offer sacrifice. -Even the little baby is considered impure for twenty days, and must not -be touched unless clothed in silk or woollen. - -The new-comer has a succession of ceremonies to celebrate his arrival -into this world of sorrows. On the twelfth day he is named; on a later -day the first bracelets are put upon his arms and tiny anklets upon his -ankles. When he is six months old he is given his first food. Five kinds -of syrup are made, and the baby is given a taste of each one, and rice -is put into his mouth. The father offers sacrifice to the household -gods, the first loin-cloth is tied on the little man, the women sing, -music is played, and feasting is indulged in by all. Each event is made -the occasion of an elaborate feast, to which friends and relatives are -invited and presents are given to the guests and to the priests. In -fact, the priests seem to be omnipresent at all occasions in a Hindu -family. A woman whom I was visiting was complaining of the many -ceremonies that had taken place in her family during the past year, and -she said that she was thoroughly tired of the worry and expense -connected with them. I said: “But who benefits by these elaborate feasts -and rituals that give so much trouble and cause such an outlay in -presents and money?” She said wearily: “Who benefits? Why, the priests -and the Brahmans. They always reap their harvest, whether we are born, -marry, or die. If we are wicked, we must ask them to intercede for us; -if we are good, we must ask them to thank the gods for us; and if we -die, they must help us across the river of fire. We can do nothing of -ourselves; they are our taskmasters with ever-open palm.” - -If the newborn son survives the first two years—and the mortality of -babies is frightful, especially in the cities—he will quite likely have -the opportunity of having the tonsure made for the first time, and this -event is only rivalled by the entertainment given when, whether boy or -girl, the ears are pierced by the goldsmith and it is announced that -babyhood is passed. These endless feasts would be ruinous to the poor -Hindu were it not for the fact that it is practically the only time when -he entertains his friends. There is no promiscuous dinner-giving as -among the Western people; friends are invited only in connection with -some religious rite or to inaugurate a special event in the family. - -If a member of one of the higher castes, the mother who has watched her -baby grow from babyhood into boyhood, looks forward to the most solemn -and important event in his life, the ceremony called “the introduction -to knowledge,” when he is invested with the sacred cord. This ceremony -lasts from four to five days and is nearly as expensive as a wedding. -The father must provide many pieces of cotton cloth and small gold and -silver coins to be given as presents to the guests. He must have -unlimited food and a great collection of pottery, because, as at a -marriage feast, the dishes are broken after their first use. - -This cord may be seen on all Brahmans and on the members of a few of the -higher castes, hanging from the left shoulder to the right hip. It is -composed of three strands of cotton, each strand formed by nine threads. -The cotton with which it is made must be gathered from the plant by the -hand of a Brahman, and corded and spun by persons of the same caste, in -order that it may not be defiled by passing through the hands of persons -who are ceremonially unclean. For a young boy the cord has only three -strands, but after he is married it is composed of six strands and may -have nine. It is symbolical of the body, speech, and mind, and when the -knots are tied, means that the man who wears the thread has gained -control over these three organs that cause all worldly troubles. - -At the end of the ceremony the guests accompany the boy, who is -elaborately dressed and seated in an open palanquin, through the streets -to the sound of singing, music, and merry-making. On his return to his -home, he, for the first time, performs the sacrifice of fire, showing -that he is now a member of his caste and a twice-born son of India. - -If the mother belongs to a poor family, quite likely her boy will work -to earn a few annas to add to the family exchequer, or if they are -farmers, his days will be passed in the fields frightening the greedy -crows from the ripening crops or driving away the animals that infest -the fields which are near the jungles. In Baroda, education is -compulsory; but many a mother gets around the law by paying the fine of -two rupees a month, and selling her small boy’s labour for five rupees, -thus gaining a livelihood. - -England has established free schools in every town and village, and -there is little excuse even for the boy or girl of poor parents not to -have an education. Even members of the depressed classes, or, as they -are called, the pariahs, have their schools. The question that is -agitating the minds of the educators is what form of education should be -given these sons of a people who have been practically slaves for many -centuries. Many contend that they should have only a technical -education, that the sons of the carpenter caste should be made better -carpenters, and that they should not be made barristers. A lady said to -me: “Said, my sweeper’s son, goes to school, and after getting an -education he naturally feels himself better than his father, a sweeper, -or his uncle, who is my groom. He cannot affiliate himself with a higher -caste than that into which he was born, as they will not accept him, and -he has outgrown his own caste. What is he to do? He puts on a foreign -hat and leaves his home, and in the next census, drops his name of Said -Faruki and becomes John James Jones, a half-caste, and the census-taker -wonders why there has been such an increase in half-castes. The -population of half-castes grows from the lower castes who wish to raise -themselves, but it is kept down in the census returns by the half-castes -who wish to better themselves socially, and call themselves Portuguese -or subjects of some other dark-skinned race of Europeans.” - -This question of the education of the Indian youth is a very serious -problem with which those who have the welfare of India at heart have to -contend. Many a boy when he returns to his home and his people says: -“Why did they educate me?” There are few avenues of livelihood open to -the Indian boy, as there is no Army or Navy or Church in which to enlist -so many of the younger sons as in England or America. The main prizes -are the Government offices, and failing these, the chief desire of all -Indians is to be a lawyer. There are few places in the Government employ -now, and the country is flooded with impecunious barristers. - -The Indian feels that he has a real grievance in the question of the -Civil Service examinations. For the higher positions in this service it -is necessary for the student to go to England and obtain his degree at -an English university. The question of expense is a bar to the great -majority. One often hears of parents mortgaging their homes and -practically selling themselves to the moneylender for life, that the boy -may have this one great opportunity. If he wins, they have not struggled -in vain, but if he fails, life will be very grey and grim, because quite -likely his life and his son’s, and his son’s son’s life will be given in -a vain attempt to get rid of the burden of debt which seems to always -hang over the heads of India’s poor. - -The question of the education of the daughter is not so much a matter of -thought to the middle-class Mohammedan or Hindu mother, because at the -time when, if she were in Western lands, she would be taking her books -under her arm and starting for her first day at school, in India she is -getting married. She may, if in a village, attend the school with her -brothers until she is eight or nine years old, but rarely, except in the -highest classes, does the little girl have a longer opportunity for -study. In the cities the rich families are sending their daughters to -private schools, and the Oriental home is the happy hunting ground for -the English governess, who is engaged to teach, not only the knowledge -to be found in books but also the etiquette to be observed in English -society, as it seems to be the main object in life of the educated -Indian, both man and woman, to be more English in manner than are the -English themselves. - -In all the better class homes the piano is seen, and seldom now does the -daughter of the house play upon the veena or any instrument of Indian -music. In Calcutta I went to a reception given by a great Indian lady. -With the exception of the costumes worn by the pretty dark-eyed -Bengalis, and the absence of men, I would have thought I was in an -English house at an afternoon tea. English was spoken by nearly every -one, the music was European, the refreshments were from an English -caterer, and there was no distinct note of India in all the afternoon’s -ceremonies. Most of the ladies wore high-heeled French slippers, and -many of them had their beautifully draped saris twined around bodies -held in place by the French corset, which must have been most -uncomfortable for these people, used to untrammelled freedom in regard -to their dress. - -Times are changing so fast in India that it is hard to say “This is a -custom” or “That is a custom.” Education is opening the eyes of the -younger generation of Indian women to the fallacy of many of the -old-time rites and superstitions. Still, many of the mothers are -conservative and feel keenly their daughter’s departure from the beliefs -of her day, yet the pressure is so strong that many of these -conservative mothers are sending their daughters to the schools, both -mission and Government, where in the former they avail themselves -eagerly of the education, but are not influenced by the religious -teaching. One devout Mohammedan mother said to me: “Yes, I send my -daughter to a mission school, as it is the best in our town. I feel that -they cannot hurt her, as she has had a good religious training in the -home.” - -A great many of the mothers feel that the present system of education -for women in India is wrong, and that the text-books are not the ones -that should be adopted for the use of Indian children. The stories have -little to do with Indian life, and the children do not understand them. -For instance, stories of snowstorms, ice, and things that are to be seen -in a foreign land, are far above the understanding of the average Indian -girl. It is also said that the girl is taught of Joan of Arc and of -English heroines, but nothing is said of the heroines of Indian history, -nor is anything taught of Indian history before the English occupation. -There is nothing given the child to inspire a feeling of patriotism, nor -is she given any moral training except in the mission schools. She is -given a certain amount of book knowledge, which quite likely she cannot -assimilate, and is considered educated. I remember visiting a girls’ -school where the teacher asked a class of girls to recite Wordsworth’s -poetry, extracts from Shelley and Keats; they could tell the place of -birth and give the list of English poets and chronology of the English -kings most glibly, but what actual good it afforded the Indian girl to -have all these interesting facts in her little head I could not see. - -The Indian girl learns easily and is often most eloquent. There are no -better public speakers than are the Bengali women, who seem to share -with their men in the alertness of their brain. A prominent educator of -India said:— - - I have come in contact with people from all over the world in my - capacity as educator, but I believe there are no men of any country - who can compare with the Indian in quickness of thought and in - capacity to learn. Within the small round head of the Bengali is a - dynamo of resistless energy, that is for ever working, either for - good or bad, but which ever way it turns, we of England must - recognize its power. - -The crying need of India is the great teacher, both man and woman; the -teacher who will really take an interest in his pupils and not feel the -bar of race. This is the fault of the average man who comes to India, -and if he does not have it when he arrives he soon acquires a pride in -being one of the ruling race. The Indian boy and girl are extremely -clever, and feel instantly this racial prejudice of the Englishman, and -consequently resent his attitude of superiority. Tennyson’s indictment -of English schoolmasters could be justly applied to many of the teachers -in India to-day:— - - Because you do profess to teach, and teach us nothing, feeding not - the heart. - -There are wanted teachers who will give the Indian boy and girl the true -value of an education other than its advantages from an economic -standpoint. That must be considered also, and in a land where the crowds -are great and famines many, it assumes even a larger importance in the -lives of the boys who must become the wage-earners, than it does in -Western lands, where life is not such a fierce struggle for the -necessities. But along with the training for the making of a livelihood -should be given another training. These boys and girls of India who are -just starting on the road that their Occidental brothers and sisters -have been treading for many generations should be given the broader view -of education, its worth and meaning. They should be taught by loving -teachers the true knowledge of which so beautiful a definition is given -by Bishop Mant:— - - What is true knowledge! Is it with keen eye - Of Lucre’s sons to thread the mazy way? - Is it of civil rights, and royal sway, - And wealth political, the depths to try? - Is it to delve the earth, to soar the sky? - To marshal nations, tribes in just array; - To mix and analyze, and mete and weigh - Her elements, and all her powers descry? - These things, who will may know them, if to know - Breed not vainglory; but, o’er all, to scan - God in his works and Word shown forth below, - Creation’s wonders and Redemption’s plan; - Whence came we, what to do, and whither go: - This is true knowledge, and the whole of man. - - - - - CHAPTER IX - WOMAN’S SORROW - - -Abbe Du Bois says: “The happiest death for a woman is that which -overtakes her while she is still in a wedded state. Such a death is -looked upon as a reward of goodness extending back for many generations; -on the other hand, the greatest misfortune that can befall a wife is to -survive her husband.” - -Death is a tragedy in all lands, but with the Hindus it is made doubly -tragical because of superstition and the endless ritual connected with -their religion. The idea of mourning is not so much sorrow as it is -uncleanness, defilement. - -When death seems imminent the family priest is summoned to administer -the last sacrament. The dying person is lifted from the couch and laid -upon the ground, which has been made ceremonially pure by smearing it -with cowdung and by placing the sacred dharba grass upon it. It is said -that if a man dies upon a bed he must carry it through eternity. It is -most important that a man should breathe his last upon the earth, and -not within the house, as there are certain phases of the moon when it -would be a serious annoyance for all within the house to have a death -beneath the roof. In fact, it pollutes the whole neighbourhood to have a -death in the vicinity, and the neighbours share in the unclean state of -the family until the corpse is carried to the burning-ground. Often if a -death occurs in a house in an unpropitious phase of the moon, the -dwelling must be vacated until such time as the priest shall permit it -to be purified; sometimes the ban cast upon the place lasts from three -to six months. - -The duration of the state of ceremonial impurity varies according to the -age of the deceased. In the case of mere infants the time is about one -day. In the case of a boy who has not been invested with the sacred -cord, or a girl not married, the time is three days; and after that, in -either case, the time is ten days. In the case of a married girl, -whether or not she has gone to live with her husband, her own people -must observe the ceremonial for three days. During these periods the -near relatives of the dead are unclean and their touch would defile any -person or thing. They must not enter their own kitchen nor touch any -cooking utensil. The food must be cooked by some one not personally -connected with the dead, but of equal caste. If for some reason the -mourning family cannot get any one of their own caste to cook for them, -they must procure kitchen utensils and cook their food in some place -other than the usual kitchen, not using the utensils again. If a person -in mourning went into a kitchen or storehouse, everything would have to -be thrown away immediately. - -The wailing of the women tells the story of a death, as they abandon -themselves completely to their sorrow, tearing their hair, striking -their foreheads, and uttering shrill cries to show their desolation. As -soon as the breath leaves the body preparations are made at once for its -disposal, as a corpse is never kept longer than twenty-four hours in -this hot climate. The eldest son, if there is one of suitable age, or -the father or eldest brother in order of nearest relationship, or the -husband if the deceased is a woman, must conduct the funeral ceremonies. -The body is washed and shaven and adorned with the marks of his caste, -and placed in a sitting position, with the head uncovered, and the son -or heir performs a sacrifice before it. Then the two thumbs and the -great toes are tied together and the body is enveloped in a new white -cloth and placed upon a bier, formed of two long poles with seven -cross-pieces. With the heir at the head, carrying a pot of fire, the -procession starts for the burning-ground. This bier must always be -carried by relatives or members of the same caste. When a man is ill and -it is necessary to tell him that he will soon depart from this world, it -is broken to him gently by some one saying, “You will soon ascend a -palanquin carried by bearers of your own caste.” On the way to the -cemetery the procession is stopped three times and the bier placed on -the ground, the face uncovered, and a prayer is said. If, as sometimes -occurs, the person is not really dead and he revives, it is most -unfortunate for all concerned, the revived man included, as he is -considered as dead and not allowed to return to his home or to his -caste. - -Arrival at the burning-ground, where the funeral pile has been prepared -by men whose profession it is to attend to the dead, and who are always -of the pariah class, the untouchables, the body is put on the pyre and -the sacred thread and loin-cloth are removed with the winding-sheet, as -the body must depart from the world in the state in which it entered it, -completely naked. The head should be placed towards the south and the -legs towards the north. If near a sacred river, like the Ganges, the -body is laid for a few moments with the feet in the sacred water, and -water is sprinkled over it. The heir performs the sacrifices, and it is -he who sets the pile alight, while the priests repeat the prayers for -the dead. After the pyre is lighted the family retire to a distance and -leave the body to the administrations of the men in charge. In some -places the heir is supposed to break the skull so that the gases may -escape and the body may not explode. I was told of one woman who wished -to establish her right to a rich man’s property; consequently at the -critical moment she dashed from the arms of her friends and with one -blow of a stick broke the head of her late liege lord, thus clearly -showing her heirship, as only the legal heir is entitled to perform this -last kind office for the dear departed. - -I heard one rather peculiar story while in India in regard to the -cremation of the dead. I sat at dinner beside an English official who -had been many years in the Government service of India. In the course of -the conversation I asked him what he thought about cremation. He said, -with a smile: “Well, I am perhaps a little prejudiced in regard to the -cremation of the dead. I had rather a peculiar experience.” I settled -back in my chair, hoping I was to hear one of the many stories of Indian -life which these old officials have to tell us if they find we are -interested in the lives of the people amongst whom they work. He said: -“I had an acquaintance once, a Scotchman, who died here in India, and -asked in his will that I and another friend would cremate him, and not -allow an Indian hand to touch him, but that we should personally attend -to all the details. We were young then in things Indian, and made our -first mistake in buying the wood for the pyre. Unfortunately for our -friend, the wily wood-merchant sold us green wood, and for the first day -he only smoked. By the second day the wood had dried out, and all would -have been well if we had known that the skull of a person burned should -be broken in order to allow the gases to escape. We did not know -this—our friend blew up. We spent the remainder of the second day in -gathering his remains and replacing them upon the fire. The third day -the work was fully accomplished; his ashes were collected and now repose -in a beautiful urn in his family chapel near Edinburgh.” - -Ceremonies are held and sacrifices are made for ten days by the members -of a family in which there has been a death. If the deceased was a -married man, it is on the tenth day that the widow is degraded into her -state of widowhood. This rite is called “the cutting of the cord,” -because then the tali, the symbol of wifehood, is cut, and the woman has -no more place in Hindu society. The relatives and friends come to the -house and deck the poor woman in all her festive clothing; jewels are -put upon her, flowers, and sandal paste. Her friends mourn with her for -a time, then her bright clothing is removed, her beautiful black hair is -cut, and she must remain for ever close-shaven and clothed in a garment -of white. She may attend no feast, is permitted to eat only one meal a -day, and that should be prepared by her own hands, may not partake of -meat, and if she is so unfortunate as to be poor in this world’s goods -she becomes the drudge and servant of her husband’s family. She is -considered unclean, a thing of ill-omen, so unlucky that if a man were -starting on some business venture and on leaving his doorway should by -chance meet a widow he would return to his house and say a few prayers -to counteract his bad luck. - -[Illustration: - - INDIAN WOMEN SPINNING. - - To face p. 148.] - -When the widow is a child, not yet arrived at the age of living with her -husband, the only ceremony at the death is the cutting of the tali cord. -The other ceremonies and degradations are reserved for the time when she -arrives at the full age of wifehood, when the whole ceremony is enacted -as though the wife had been a real wife, and the little girl-widow is -compelled to join that great army of women in India, nearly twenty -million strong, of whom a million are child-widows. - -I met a great many widows in India, and even among the Brahmo Samaj, -which sect is now trying to break the tyrannical yoke of custom, I never -heard of one who dared to brave public opinion and remarry. I knew one -charming widow—I think the most beautiful woman I saw in India—who had -practically broken all class restrictions except this last. It was said -that she had been in love with a man for many years, and he had -repeatedly tried to persuade her to undergo the censure of her people by -marrying him, but she dared not do it. She was only thirty years old, -but she must remain until the end of her life a widow, almost an -outcast. - -In the cities and among the modernized people of India this state does -not hold such sorrow for women as in the villages and country districts, -where the people have not come into contact with Western civilization. -In these purely Hindu towns, where all social life is controlled by -custom and the influences of superstition and religion, when the woman -can no longer wear the red mark of wifehood upon her forehead, her case -is pitiable. - -The Indian Government has made laws legalizing the remarriage of widows, -but even when it has the Government sanction, custom and tradition are -too strong, and practically no woman will take advantage of it. It would -mean not only lifelong disgrace for her, but also would reflect so -severely upon her relatives and the members of her caste that they would -be involved in endless disgrace. - -There are many homes scattered throughout India for these helpless -women. Pundita Ramabai has a place near Poona where she has nearly eight -hundred widows in her charge, and they are a sad sight as they go in -squads of from two to three hundred to their work at the printing press -or at the looms attached to the mission. Some widows had been with her -for years, and quite likely will remain for life, as no one will marry a -widow, and they do not seem to be acquiring a practical education with -which they could earn their living in the world. The Gaekwar of Baroda -is solving the widow question by educating them as teachers at the -Government expense, only asking that in return for his care they devote -a certain number of years as school-teachers in his State. - -Pundita Ramabai’s home for widows is a very remarkable institution, and -well repays one for a visit. It is a faith mission—that is, its members -do not receive a salary, but depend upon donations for their support. -What remains after the expenses of the establishment have been met is -divided among the workers according to their needs. They are a very -devoted band, with an orthodox, old-fashioned brand of religion that -holds the wrath of God and the terrors of hell over these emotional -women, whose only outlet for their emotions is their prayers, and at -noon they are permitted to pray aloud and express their desires and -their states of feeling. One day we heard a great buzzing, sounding from -the distance like an immense swarm of bees, and found it was the 1,350 -widows, rescued street women, and children having their noonday prayer. -Some of them worked themselves into a veritable ecstasy of religious -emotion, swaying their bodies, the tears running down their faces as -they prayed for the forgiveness of their sins, real or imaginary. - -The business manager was more interested in the practical than the -religious aspects of the mission, and looked at the whole question with -the eye of the man who has to provide for all these people who give -nothing to the common good. When asked the outcome of it all, he said he -could not see what good was being accomplished except in the actual -saving of the lives. They could not marry, they could not support -themselves, they were helpless, and would be a burden on others’ -shoulders so long as they lived. He said: “Now look! There go four -hundred women who should be married to-morrow; but who will marry them? -No Hindu would dare break his caste by marrying one of them. It would -completely ostracize him from his community. And again, we would not -want to marry a Christian girl to a Hindu or a Mohammedan.” - -I asked: “Are there no Christian boys to marry them?” - -He replied: “There are not enough to go around, and even a Christian -does not marry a widow.” - -“Do you ever have any offers?” I asked. - -He laughed. “Yes, once in a while some man takes courage and comes here -to find a wife, but he generally goes away without one. We seem here -rather to go on the principle of getting rid of the speckled apples -first, and if there is a girl with a hare lip, or only one eye, she is -the one trotted out for inspection. Naturally, the boy beats a hasty -retreat, saying he believes he does not want to get married to-day.” - -The lot of the widowed woman in India is not so pitiable if she has been -so fortunate as to have borne sons. In India, as in all Eastern -countries, filial piety, the respect for parents, is bred into the very -fibre of the man’s soul. When the mother becomes a widow and dons the -gown of white, her son cares for her and cherishes her all her days. She -is still the ruler of his household, and it would be a most unfilial -son, on whom his world would soon cry shame, if he did not ask the -advice of his mother on matters of importance, nor heed her warnings in -times of stress. Her whole life is given for others, as this world is -supposed to have no joys for her except the joy of service. For her -“this world is but a dream: God alone is real”; and her days are passed -in caring for the many lives around her and in prayers and religious -rites that will help her to more swiftly pass the time ere she may join -her lost one. The woman of India who has lost her mate turns -instinctively to the gods for solace, because she has been taught from -childhood that “the religion of the wife lies in serving her husband: -the religion of the widow lies in serving God.” - - - - - CHAPTER X - HYDERABAD AND THE MOHAMMEDAN WOMAN - - -The city of Hyderabad seems to have been dropped to the earth from an -Oriental dream. It is the most Eastern city in this most Eastern land, -and you are filled with a sense that it is not at all real, but -especially staged and set for your amusement, and when you leave, it -will all disappear. The gaily painted shops will be pulled down and put -in the property-room, the goldsmiths who make the bracelets, nose-rings, -and necklaces for the pretty, dark-eyed women within the zenanas is only -waiting for his cue to leave the stage. The men on the corners with -their great wreaths of white flowers, with their marigolds and garlands -to be hung about the necks of friends, or to curtain the doorways at -some feast or wedding, are there only for show, to add colour to the -picture. These women passing by with saris of purple or crimson, with -gleaming bracelets and tinkling anklets, with kohl-blackened eyes that -stare at you wonderingly from above the closely drawn sari, or, what is -more peculiar to visitors from the West, the women draped in long white -cloaks like winding-sheets, which cover them completely from the view of -the passer-by, seem part of the chorus; and the sheen of knives and guns -and huge silver chains hanging over the shoulder of the man from the -North, the elephant swaying slowly down the street, looking with keen, -twinkling eyes at the people who make way for him, are all a part of the -pantomime, or a mirage caused by the brilliant sunshine of this -Southland. - -[Illustration: - - A CARRIAGE FOR WOMEN. - - To face p. 154.] - -We are told that Hyderabad is the oldest and greatest native State in -the Indian Empire, and we have heard from childhood of the magnificence -of the Nizam of Hyderabad, the man who seemed to outrival Solomon with -his palaces, his jewels, and his wives. His hospitality was given with -Oriental lavishness. Those who were fortunate enough to be his guests at -the great Durbar at Delhi, when King George was proclaimed Emperor of -India, will never forget the gorgeousness and prodigality of his -entertainment. For sixteen months he had an army of workmen clearing the -ground, making the lawns and flower-gardens, and erecting the tents that -were to accommodate his guests and the four thousand people he took with -him from Hyderabad. His women were lodged in an old palace at a distance -from the tents of the guests and were unseen, viewing the spectacle from -afar. - -Even those of the immediate circle surrounding the Nizam at Hyderabad -knew nothing of his private life within the zenana, and only conjectures -were made in regard to the number of women within its walls. Gossip says -that when the late Nizam died there was a cartload of broken glass -bracelets (the bangles that are worn by wives, but that are broken on -their wrists when they become widows) taken away from the palace. This -fortunate man was credited with a great many more wives than he actually -possessed. Hyderabad is a feudal country, with many of the customs that -prevailed in France under the old feudal régime. The Nizam is the -overlord. His feudal princes when possessing a pretty daughter are -always anxious to give her as wife to the Nizam. He perhaps may accept -her and send her to his women’s quarters, never seeing her again. But -her people are satisfied, as they have the honour of having a daughter -in the Imperial zenana, consequently a friend at Court, as she will -naturally remember her family when Imperial offices or gifts are being -distributed. She receives a stated income, said to range from sixty -dollars to four hundred dollars a month, according to her status, number -of children, etc. - -The Nizam was planning to give his first ball while I was in Hyderabad, -and every one was on the _qui vive_ regarding those who should be asked -and those who should not. It is remarkable how everything seems to -revolve around the ruler of one of these principalities. His Highness is -an absolute autocrat concerning the life and actions of his people, and -the foreigners seem to have caught the infection, because in every State -we visited the name of the ruler was on all tongues. “His Highness -thinks so and so,” or “His Highness does not think so and so,” was the -ultimate, final word for everything. His greatness and his Oriental -splendour seem to overpower the people and make them subservient. Yet it -is not from any personal contact, as few of even the Nizam’s ministers -have seen him, and his people never have that honour, unless at some -great Durbar, where, arrayed in royal magnificence, he permits them to -view him upon his throne, or when, as he is being swiftly whirled along -in his motor, four shrill blasts from the whistles of the police notify -the populace that their ruler is passing. - -A native ruler seems to attract a genuine admiration and respect from -his subjects. He appeals to their instincts with his display. They love -to hear the glories of his magnificence, to see his elephants, his -guards, and his foreign motors. He can understand his people and his -people understand him; and even if the taxes are oppressive and he -grinds the faces of the people into the dust to get money to squander -upon his favourites and to build great palaces, the peasant will bear it -all and not complain, as he feels it is ordained, and his Rajah is the -child of the gods and entitled to his very life. - -There is no fear in the State of Hyderabad that the present race of -rulers will become extinct. When a child is born to the Nizam there is a -public holiday in the State, the schools are closed, cannon are fired, -and every one is supposed to rejoice with the happy father. While we -were there the people enjoyed four public holidays within eight days -arising from this fact, and nine more were expected the following week. - -While we were in this State there arose a case that was causing a great -deal of comment. The son of a woman was killed and the murderer was -condemned to death. In this Mohammedan country the law “a life for a -life” prevails, and the death penalty cannot be revoked unless the heir -of the dead man demands it. In some Hindu communities, where the saving -of life is a meritorious performance, the village or city will often -raise a certain sum and offer it to the heir in exchange for the life of -the condemned prisoner. Men, I was told, will sometimes take the money, -but women, especially if it was their son or husband who was killed, -will practically always demand the life. In this instance the woman, who -was a devout Mohammedan, took the money and sent it to help her -fellow-Mohammedans in their war with the infidel Italians. Her religious -zeal overcame the instinct for revenge, so deeply planted within the -breast of all followers of the Arabian prophet. - -At tea at the home of a Mohammedan I met several ladies, who willingly -discussed with me the difference between the social customs of our -Western land and those governing the life of the woman of the East. I -was told that there is no society life as we know it, no calling, nor -promiscuous making of new acquaintances. The social life centres around -the three great events of Indian life—births, weddings, and deaths. If a -wedding occurs in a family, the mother will send invitations to all the -ladies of the same social standing as herself, and, dressed in their -most gorgeous saris and jewels, they come to the house, where elaborate -refreshments are served with much gossiping and merry-making. The guests -stay hours or days, according to their relationship to the family. Also -at times of death they go and offer their condolences to the bereaved -family, and although colours are much more subdued at the time of sorrow -than at the time of rejoicing, it is often another place in which to -show off new finery. These secluded women feel like the little girl who -stopped to see a friend on her way to a funeral. She was dressed in a -bright pink sari, and when remonstrated with on wearing such a gay dress -on such a mournful occasion, said, “Why, how can I be sure that I will -get another chance to show it.” - -I said to my hostess in the course of the conversation: “If I were a -Mohammedan or a Hindu lady and came here to live, would the ladies whose -husbands perhaps had business associations with my husband come to call -upon me?” She said: “No, not at all. You would never meet the ladies -unless at the time of some festivity you were invited.” I asked the -reason for this, and they answered, “Custom”—the word that rules the -whole Eastern world. This lack of exchange of courtesies between new -people is traced in some cases to the attitude of the husbands, who seem -afraid to allow their wives to make new acquaintances. They must decide -whom the wife shall visit. They must know that the house visited is -strictly secluded, that the hostess has no advanced ideas, and that the -husband is a man of standing before they allow their women to make new -friends. They say that it is the desire of protection, not deprivation -of liberty, that causes them to take such care of their dear ones. - -An Englishwoman ten years ago tried to meet the Indian ladies, and sent -sixty invitations for a tea. Only three of the invited guests put in an -appearance. She persisted, convinced the husbands that no male eyes -would gaze upon their secluded treasures, and now the original sixty -have come with nearly every high-class lady in Hyderabad, so that on her -reception days the house is crowded. - -There is a club where the Mohammedan and Hindu ladies meet once a month -and play badminton, and eat much cake and gossip. Still, they are not as -yet taking any active interest in social work, nor in what is going on -in the world outside. Mme. Sarojinni Naidu, the Indian poetess whose -charming poems have been so well received in England, and who is herself -a social favourite in that country, has been trying to interest the -ladies of Hyderabad in social work among women. She has been specially -interested in reviving the old industry of silk-weaving, and the weavers -through her efforts have been encouraged to do their best work. She has -sold thousands of rupees worth of the beautiful silks to her friends -within the zenanas, but it is rather discouraging work, as it has caused -her to be looked upon with suspicion by many of the officials, who fear -that she may be using her influence with the people for some Socialistic -movement. - -While in Hyderabad I saw a great deal of this wonderfully attractive -woman, who looks like a young girl, but who is the mother of children -nearly as big as herself. She herself is not “purdah,” and she has -violated the customs of her caste by marrying a man of another caste. -She goes to public entertainments and lives the life of an Englishwoman. -I went with her to see the “sports,” that form of entertainment which -always follow the English wherever they go. They were held at the race -track, and in the grand stand were the entire foreign community, with a -mixture of Indian gentlemen. We watched the riders in the field below, -and I must confess the Indian gentlemen easily carried the honours. They -are wonderful horsemen, and are most picturesque. I think there is no -handsomer man in the world than the high-class Indian gentleman. With -his clear brown skin, his large black eyes, his stately carriage, and -magnificent physique, accentuated by the pugaree or turban on his head, -he is a picture that, once seen, cannot easily be forgotten. The average -Englishman looks either too fat or too thin, does not hold himself well, -has generally, if a resident in the East, a most unhealthy complexion, -and in comparison with his Indian neighbour makes a very poor showing. - -Mme. Naidu was the only Indian woman in the grand stand, and after tea -was served, she asked me if I would like to visit the Indian women. We -went upstairs to an enclosed room, which was filled with Indian ladies, -who could see all that was going on in the grounds below, but were -protected from view by the carved woodwork enclosing the room. They came -to a side entrance in their carriages or motors; a screen of canvas was -made from their carriage to the entrance so that they could pass -immediately from their carriage to a covered stairway, themselves -unseen. - -There were about twenty ladies, dressed in most brilliant colours and -decked with an immense amount of jewellery. One woman had seven -piercings in her ears, in four of which were set small buttons of -turquoises, and in the others great hoops of gold in which were hanging -pearls about the size of a pea. In her right nostril was a diamond and -in her left a ruby. Her arms were covered with bracelets, and there were -five necklaces of diamonds around her neck. Her trousers, the ugly -trousers of the Mohammedan lady, were of bright pink brocade, the tunic -was of white, and over it all was a long veil of light blue gauze. One -would imagine a glaring clash of colours, but all this riot of colour -blends and makes the right setting for the dark beauty of these Indian -women. They are extremely pretty, with the colouring of an Italian or -Spaniard from the South; their big black eyes are shaded by long silky -lashes, their noses are most delicate, and they have exquisitely shaped -mouths. I do not think that I saw an ugly woman all the time I was -visiting the “purdah” women of India. Some of them with age become a -little too stout, but their dress disguises the figure if too well -blessed with flesh, and softens harsh outlines if too thin. - -The women in this secluded enclosure seemed to be enjoying themselves -much more than the conventional Englishwomen below them. There was a -table with a varied assortment of non-alcoholic drinks, and many kinds -of cakes and sweets. Each lady had her silver pan-box, and made pan for -her friends, all chatting and laughing with the utmost freedom and -good-fellowship. They do not seem to feel it a deprivation at all to be -compelled to pass their lives with women. I am sure they would feel very -ill at ease if they thought that they could be seen by any man except -their husband, brother, or immediate relative. - -I had an example of what instinct will do in the fear of being seen by -some one outside of the family circle. Mme. Naidu and I called upon a -Mohammedan lady who was strictly “purdah.” We were taken into a -drawing-room furnished in European fashion, where the father-in-law of -our hostess was chatting with another gentleman. The stranger left -immediately, but the father-in-law remained to talk with me while Mme. -Naidu went in search of the mistress of the house. She returned soon, -and said to the man, “You must leave,” and after his departure the lady -entered. When she sat down she noticed that one of the blinds of the -window was open, and she drew her sari across her face and spoke to Mme. -Naidu, who went to the window and closed the blind. Even that did not -satisfy her, and a servant was called, who saw that all the windows were -securely closed and that no one could possibly look into the room from -the outside. It seemed a useless precaution to me, as the windows opened -on to a garden, and no one could pass unless some member of the -household. She laughed apologetically and said: “I know what you think, -but I cannot sit here with any degree of comfort if I think some one, a -servant or one of my husband’s guests, might pass by. It is instinct; my -mother and my mother’s mother were ‘purdah’ women, and it is in the -blood.” - -She asked us to come to her rooms and look at some new clothing. Her -rooms were big and rather bare, as are most rooms in this hot country, -but the furniture was all European. Bed, dressing-table, and chairs all -looked as if made in England or France. She had a servant bring her -pan-box. This giving of pan is the first thing offered to a guest on -arrival and the last thing on going away. Her pan-box was of silver, -about nine inches wide by twelve long. It had a shallow tray in the top, -in which was kept in tiny compartments the betel-nut and spices. In the -bottom of the box, covered with a damp cloth, were the leaves. The -hostess takes a leaf, covers it with a thin layer of lime, and with a -pair of scissors breaks a betel-nut into small pieces, puts it with half -a dozen different spices into the leaf, folds it up, sticking a clove -through the leaf as a fastener, and hands it to the guest. The guest -removes the clove and places the leaf in the mouth, where it makes a -huge bunch on the side of the face until it is slowly masticated. It -gives forth a juice which colours the inside of the mouth and the teeth -a dark red, but not permanently, as it rinses quite easily. The pan has -a spicy taste, and leaves the mouth feeling deliciously clean, I presume -owing to the lime in it. Many of the great houses have a servant or -slave whose only duty is to make pan for the inmates of the zenana. One -such servant said she made five hundred a day and her wrist became quite -lame from time to time caused by cutting the betel-nut. - -Our hostess had a box of clothing put in front of her on the floor, and -she showed us a beautiful collection of saris of woven gold cloth made -in Benares, long tunics of embroidered chiffon-like gauze, and trousers -of heavy gold and silver goods, almost like tapestry. - -I asked them to tell me the duties of a high-class lady of Hyderabad. -Mme. Naidu laughed and said— - -“About eight o’clock in the morning my lady yawns, and a slave-girl will -say, ‘Will not the Begum rise?’ and the Begum will slowly get out of bed -and allow her slave to brush her teeth with powdered charcoal and wash -her face and hands. Then she would sit down upon a mat and have her hair -dressed, while other slaves came in with articles of dress or of the -toilet. Soon the other women of the household would join her, and they -would chew betel-nut and talk and gossip until about ten o’clock, when a -large tray would be brought in with breakfast, consisting of rice and -curry and sweets. After breakfast, more friends or relatives come in, -and the sewing women and higher servants, and they all talk and laugh -together. In the afternoon the silk merchants may send their wares or -the jewellers their bracelets and rings and precious stones, which are -brought into the zenana by women. These shopwomen are great gossips, and -tell all the news from other zenanas—who is engaged and who married and -what presents were given, etc. The women shop and haggle, and perhaps -buy and perhaps do not, and by the time the merchants leave it is time -to eat again. In the evening the husband or the sons visit the women’s -quarters and brings the Begum the news of the world of men outside, and -then it is time to sleep again.” - -A great many women—nearly all Indian women, in fact—attend personally to -their households. For instance, I went with one of my friends, who -belonged to a very rich and powerful family, to call upon her mother, -and found her and her daughter-in-law sitting in the courtyard preparing -the vegetables for dinner. All ladies know how to cook, and think it no -disgrace to prepare the dinner with their own hands. If a guest is to be -especially honoured, the mother or wife will prepare the meal for him. -In a Hindu community, where the food must be cooked by a person of their -own or a higher caste, where no one of a lower caste is even allowed to -look into the kitchen, it might cause great annoyance if the women of -the household did not know how to cook, as even in India the mistress -has the servant question with which to contend from time to time. - -In these old families in Hyderabad there are a great many people under -the one roof. The patriarchal family life prevails—that is, the sons -bring their wives to their father’s home, and a large house shelters -many families. The mother is the head of the women’s quarters and her -word is law. Innumerable servants and poor relations are ever present, -and to our Western eyes disorder and chaos seem to reign. There are some -old families in this city that keep up the state of princes or petty -kings. There is one great lady who is surrounded by a bodyguard of -amazons, women dressed as soldiers, who salute and present arms with -military precision when her courtyard is entered by a visitor. - -We went from the house of our young hostess, loaded down with pan and -fruit, to the home of a colonel in the Nizam’s bodyguard. His wife is -“purdah,” but his daughter is allowed to be seen in public. In the -drawing-room was a man tuning the piano, and Mme. Naidu said to the -daughter, “Your mother cannot come here. There is a man.” The daughter -replied: “Oh, it is all right, he is blind.” The mother had travelled -extensively in Europe, Egypt, and Turkey. While abroad she went about -freely as any European, only becoming the secluded Indian wife while in -her own country. Her daughter was to be married and she showed me the -clothes for the trousseau. There were about fifty complete outfits, made -of gorgeous Benares cloth, heavy with gold. This clothing lasts a -lifetime, and is handed down from daughter to daughter, as styles do not -radically change. The mother told me that the custom of giving so much -clothing is dying out, and money is given instead, allowing the daughter -to buy from time to time, according to her fancy. - -While we were talking the husband came in. He was dressed in English -riding clothes, and was a very up-to-date man-of-the-world. The moment -he entered, the mother and daughter, who up to this time had been -chatting affably and freely, became silent. They virtually did not speak -a word while he was in the room, but became at once true Indian women, -silent before that superior being—the man. - - - - - CHAPTER XI - MOHAMMEDANISM WITHIN THE ZENANA - - -We are often told that Mohammedan women are not religious, that they -leave all devotional exercises for their lords and masters, who are -accountable to Allah for their salvation, and to whom they must look for -permission to enter the abode of the blessed. It is a fact that the -women followers of the Arabian prophet are not seen in the mosques, -because no Mohammedan woman appears in a public place where she may come -in contact with the other sex. Mohammed discouraged the worship of women -in public by saying, “The presence of women in the mosques inspires men -with feelings other than those purely devotional.” - -[Illustration: - - MOHAMMEDAN WOMEN, HYDERABAD. - - To face p. 170.] - -Although restricted to the home in which to say her prayers, the -Mohammedan woman is very religious, and often more narrow and bigoted -than her husband, who has the opportunity of broadening his religious -views by contact with those of other faiths. The Mohammedan religion, -like those of Western lands, has its divisions and subdivisions, -differing from each other on the subject of ritualism and the different -interpretations of the Koran. The two most important branches of El -Islam are the Shiahs and the Sunnis. At the death of the prophet, Abu -Bekr was elected to take his place—wrongfully, as many believe. They -feel that the mantle of prophethood should have fallen upon the -shoulders of his son-in-law, Ali, who was one of his first disciples and -his cousin. The coterie who adhered to the election of the caliph -instead of the hereditary descent are called the Sunnis. All of the -Egyptians, the Turks, and many Indians are followers of this party. -Those who think that Ali was deprived of his just rights are called the -Shiahs; the Persians, many Arabs, and a few Indians compose the main -body of this division. Ali was finally made caliph, but was murdered, -the caliphate passing out of his family instead of descending to his -grandsons, Hossain and Hassan, who rebelled against the ruling caliph -and were killed in battle. They are considered the great martyrs of the -Mohammedan faith, and their deaths are mourned annually by the Shiahs. - -We were in Hyderabad, the great Mohammedan State of India, at the time -of mourning, and I was fortunate enough to be asked to a “mourning -party,” given by the women of one of the old Mohammedan families. It was -most exceptional, as outsiders are never asked to these homes during -this time of religious emotion. Even their Sunni friends and their -acquaintances in the Hindu faith, know that intruders are not looked -upon kindly during the days set apart for sorrow. - -We arrived at the home, which was surrounded by a great wall, in which -was a massive wooden door studded with iron nails. In the olden time -these homes were used as fortresses, and were made strong enough to -repel an invasion by the enemy. Within an embrasure by the side of the -gate was a man on guard, with a gun beside him. It is true that the gun -was of an obsolete pattern, that would quite likely do the user more -damage than any one else, if the guard had been called upon to act, but -it looked picturesque. The guard immediately turned his back when he saw -that the carriage contained ladies, and our servant went ahead to see -that all men-servants were out of sight before my Mohammedan friends -would enter the courtyard. We drove into what seemed an immense -stable-yard. Bullocks were standing by the side of great lumbering -carts, horses were in their stalls, and stable accessories were -scattered about in great disorder. A curtain was raised by a -woman-servant, disclosing a short stone stairway, ascending which we -found ourselves in the women’s quarters. It was a courtyard, with rooms -opening upon it from the four sides. These rooms were more like large -alcoves, being separated from the court only by arches. - -At one end was a large room, where about sixty ladies were sitting on -the floor in front of a strip of white cloth, that served as table and -tablecloth combined. They were seated on the three sides of the room, -leaving the open space in the middle for the servants to pass while -serving the food. We left our shoes at the entrance and were taken to a -servant, who poured water over our hands from a brass ewer, allowing it -to fall into a basin in which was some finely chopped straw to conceal -the water. Our hostess seated us opposite her, and an old servant dipped -from a central bowl of rice a generous helping for me, and then various -curries, unknown to me, were passed. I watched my friend, and took from -the dishes she favoured, mixing it with the rice upon my plate, making -rather a sticky mess, that was conveyed to my mouth with difficulty. -Eating with the fingers is not so easy as it may appear to a casual -observer, but evidently practice makes perfect, because all seemed most -adept, using only the thumb and three fingers of the right hand. No food -must be touched with the left hand, as it is, religiously, unclean. - -After my feet had so thoroughly gone to sleep that they ceased from -paining me, I took the opportunity of looking around and trying to -become acquainted with my neighbours. The ladies wore no jewellery, and -their dresses were supposed to be of a subdued hue, yet every colour of -the rainbow was represented except red, which is the colour of joy and -associated with festive occasions. The Mohammedan dress is not so -graceful as is the Indian sari. The women wear a pair of tight trousers, -made of satin, silk, or brocade, coming to the tops of their embroidered -slippers. Over the chest is a small sleeveless jacket, then a tunic of -white or embroidered gauze, and over all a chiffon-like drapery which is -drawn over the head. All of these outer draperies were of so diaphanous -a material that they did not disguise the outlines of the figure. - -Down the centre of the strips of cloth which served as table were great -dishes of rice and sweets, many curries, fruits, and an elaborate -assortment of cakes. Servants were everywhere, and it was hard for a -stranger to distinguish between some of the servants and their -mistresses, as many of the former were very well dressed and covered -with jewellery. They wore bracelets, anklets, nose-rings, ear-rings, and -necklaces, mainly of silver or glass; but one often saw the glint of -gold upon the neck of a serving-woman, and found she was the personal -slave of some member of the family. - -Slavery exists still in Hyderabad, although in a modified form. No -person of good family would think of selling a slave, and the slaves -themselves feel the honour of belonging to one of the old families. In a -quarrel with a servant a slave will draw herself up proudly and say, -“You are only a servant—_I_ belong to the family.” Both servants and -slaves are treated with a familiarity unknown in the West. They take -part in the conversation, enter the rooms without knocking—in fact, I -don’t believe there is such a thing as a locked door in all India—and -talk to the mistress on terms of equality. While at dinner a small boy, -very prettily dressed, came to the hostess and snuggled his head against -her, while he stared at the peculiar-looking foreign woman opposite. I -asked if he was her son. She turned his face up to study it more -carefully, then said, “No; he is the son of one of my sister’s slaves.” - -Resisting all the importunities of my hostess to have my plate refilled -with the curry and rice, we rose and went again to the servants in -charge of the ewer and basin, and our hands were washed. We then -adjourned to a courtyard, where many of the guests had preceded us. -There appears to be no etiquette in regard to leaving the table; when a -guest has eaten her dinner she rises and leaves, not asking to be -excused, nor feeling that it is necessary to wait for her hostess. - -The ladies were sitting on the floor of the alcoves in groups of six or -seven, and pan boxes were much in evidence. Our hostess went into the -open courtyard and mounted a low, square table, over which was thrown a -rug. We sat down opposite her and she proceeded to make pan for us, and -we remained there for perhaps half an hour, waiting for the servants to -finish their dinner. There were at least fifty servants and slaves, all -running around aimlessly, doing whatever they found to do at the time, -with what seemed no system nor order governing their work. The mistress -had rather a shrill voice, and her orders could be heard very distinctly -as she called to some one in another part of the court. I asked my -friend if Indian ladies generally had such loud voices and commanding -tones, and she laughed and said: “Well, if they have not to begin with -they soon acquire them, as they must be heard above the confusion always -reigning in one of these great houses, where there are innumerable -servants, slaves, and poor relations. It takes a strong-minded woman, -and one with no mean executive ability, to keep peace and harmony in an -Eastern zenana.” - -After every one had gossiped to her heart’s content, we went to a large -room at the end of the courtyard, which was fitted up as a chapel. In -front of an altar were three pieces of wood wreathed with flowers to -represent the tombs of Ali, Hossain, and Hassan. Facing the tombs were -ten girls, and the guests grouped themselves around them on the floor. -When we were all seated they began to chant. One would sing a line, then -the rest would join their voices and sing four or five lines; then a -short pause, and the leader would again start the chant. The listeners -were absolutely quiet, and the music rose and fell in weird, minor -strains that sounded tragic even to ears that could not understand the -words. The whole story of the slaying of the martyrs was told, and this -recital of their passion play moved the hearers deeply. From one part of -the room I heard a sob, then from another, and soon there was not a dry -eye in the place. At a certain strain in the music all rose, preceded by -the women carrying the miniature tombs, and marched slowly into an outer -courtyard, where incense was waved over the flower-wreathed pieces of -wood, after which a return was made to the room and the chanting -commenced again. We did not sit down, and the most dramatic part of the -performance began. All stood and beat their breasts in time with the -music, and, as chorus to the verses, would cry, “Hossain, Hassan! -Hossain, Hassan!” The servants beat their breasts so severely that it -seemed they would seriously hurt themselves, and it is considered a -great mark of piety to severely chastise themselves at this time, but -the ladies were more conservative and kept time with light taps. - -This continued, with slight intermissions, for half an hour, some -sobbing, others crying quietly. At the end each one dropped to her knees -with her face towards Mecca, and from outside the wall the voice of a -man from the mosque chanted a benediction. It was most exquisitely sung, -and added the final touch to a weirdly beautiful scene—the moon shining -down into the courtyard, the flickering lights before the tiny -flower-wreathed tombs, the dark-faced women in their pretty gowns, with -the tears glistening on their eyelashes, kneeling, while the unseen -voice cried softly, “Salaam! Peace be with you! There is no God but -God.” - -[Illustration: - - HUSKING RICE IN A BURMESE VILLAGE. - - To face p. 179.] - - - - - CHAPTER XII - BURMAH - - -Passing from India to Burmah is in many ways like going from darkness to -sunlight, from tears to gaiety. India is a land of tragedy; Burmah is a -land of comedy. In India you see faces sad, worried, harassed, and life -seems a bitter struggle for the great masses in their endeavour to keep -the hungry wolf from the door. But in Burmah you are greeted with -smiles, no one is serious, and no one except the Chinese seem to be -really working. The women in the little booths within the bazaars, -smoking their long cheroots, gossiping with their neighbours, and -flirting with the youth passing by, give one the impression that it is -not business in which they are interested, but that they are there for -their amusement and to pass a few hours with their friends. - -The dress also shows the difference in the temperaments of the people. -In India the women’s saris are made of dark reds, dark blues, and heavy -purples. In Burmah the colours are light and gay; you rarely see a -darkly clad person. The long piece of silk wound tightly around the -woman’s body is always of light blue, or pink, or yellow, or else a gay -check composed of all three colours. The loose cotton or linen jacket is -spotlessly white, and around the neck is thrown carelessly a piece of -silk or a handkerchief of contrasting colour to the skirt. The hair, of -ebony blackness, is well oiled and twisted high upon the head and twined -with flowers. Their toes are tucked into small heelless slippers, which -take a certain amount of dexterity to keep in place; but all young girls -learn early in life to give that flirtatious outward jerk of the heels -which keep the slipper from falling, and also prevents the folds of the -skirt from opening in front. The city belle when she starts forth upon -the street has well powdered her nose and often touched her lips with -carmine, and goes forth boldly to claim the admiration of all, not like -the Indian woman, who is compelled to hide her charms behind the sari. - -The man of Burmah also dresses in gaily coloured silks. He wears a long -silk cloth around his body, tucks it in with a twist in front, and the -remaining portion he allows to hang in folds or throws jauntily over his -shoulder. He wears a short white cotton jacket, over which another one -of darker cloth is worn for street wear. The old and wealthy when they -are paying visits of ceremony or going to worship at the pagoda wear -long white coats, closed only at the neck and reaching to the knee. Men -of all classes wear flowered silk handkerchiefs around their heads as -turbans, but when age comes these are exchanged for simple ones of white -muslin. - -[Illustration: - - BURMESE GIRL. - - To face p. 180.] - -The women of Burmah have unlimited freedom as compared with the women of -other Eastern countries. Unlike the women of India, China, or Egypt, -they may choose their own husbands and have a courtship such as we of -the Western world so thoroughly understand. From the time of the first -great event in a young girl’s life, the boring of her ears, which -announces to her world that she is no longer a child but a woman, until -her betrothal, the Burmese girl looks forward to the finding of a -husband as the one aim of her life. Until her ears are bored she is a -child and may run and play with her brothers upon the village street, -but finally the day arrives when her friends and relatives bring with -them the ear-borer and the soothsayer, and the frightened girl must pay -the price of gaining maidenhood. Her cries are drowned by the music and -the talk and laughter that seem so heartless; but the pain is soon over, -and she herself will make the hole larger by every means in her power, -because until the hole is large enough to receive the great round tube, -nearly half an inch in diameter, she does not feel that she is indeed a -woman. It is her initiation into womanhood, it corresponds to the -entrance into the monastery or the tattooing of his legs of her brother, -the sign that he is no longer a boy, but may sit with men and chew -betel-nut and discuss affairs of the world with wondrous wisdom. - -After the ear-boring ceremony each man our maiden sees may be a possible -husband, and she copies the coquettish sway of the hips that is so -effective in her older sister as she walks down the street with mother, -aunt, or married friend, who carefully guards her from all improprieties -now that she has arrived at marriageable age. - -When all these arts have had the desired effect and her roving eye has -alighted upon the man of her choice, the Burmese girl may have her days -of courtship. She can meet her sweetheart at pwés, those festive parties -that seem to occur every night in Burmah, at which she may have a stall -for selling tobacco, or long cheroots, or flowers. This keeping of a -stall is not lowering to a woman’s social status, and numbers of -well-to-do women set them up at all places where crowds are liable to -congregate. There may be a reason for this besides the economic one, as -it is said a stall or shop or booth within the bazaar is the quickest -way of attracting a desirable husband. In the smaller towns there is -scarcely a house where the women have not arranged a small shop for sale -of betel-nut, coco-nuts, little looking-glasses, toilet articles, or -cotton goods from Manchester. The profits of this little trade are given -as pin-money to the wife or daughters. The English say that the Burmese -woman is a better businessman than her husband, and that in driving a -sharp bargain her successes are far in advance of those of her less -aggressive husband. - -[Illustration: - - DANCING AT A VILLAGE FESTIVAL, BURMAH. - - To face p. 183.] - -Pagoda feasts offer exceptional opportunities for lovelorn swains, and -many young couples have found their future happiness when gazing into -Buddha’s eyes. Evening-time is courting-time in all the world, -especially in this country, which is too hot during the day to permit of -any useless expenditure of energy, even by an ardent lover. They also -say that the men of Burmah are influenced by the proverb that says: “In -the morning women are cross and peevish, in the middle of the day they -are testy and quarrelsome, but at night they are sweet and amiable.” - -If the lover does not expect to meet his sweetheart at a festival or a -theatrical entertainment, he waits around until he thinks the old people -have retired for the night, and then with a friend or two as chaperons -he calls upon his adored one, and finds her with powdered face and -pretty dress awaiting him in the moonlit veranda. There is little -privacy in this courtship, because divisions between the rooms are often -only made of matting, and mothers in Burmah are proverbial for the -quickness of hearing when it concerns the courtship of their daughters. -There is no lovemaking as we know it—kissing, and holding of hands, and -embracing—which would be most shocking to the modest instincts of the -Burmese maiden. Yet love has signs, and finally father’s and mother’s -consent is asked, the dowry fixed, and the astrologer consulted, who -will tell them if a boy born on Monday and a girl on Wednesday may wed. -No matter how ardently the match is desired by the interested parties, -some unions, judged according to their birthdays, would be most unlucky. -For example:— - - Friday’s daughter - Didn’t oughter - Marry with a Monday’s son; - Should she do it - Both will rue it, - Life’s last lap will soon be run. - -Each day of the week is guarded by an animal, and it naturally follows -that if a man was born on a day that was ruled by a serpent and a woman -on a day ruled by a mongoose, the serpent’s deadly enemy, they would -surely not live happily together. But if the parent’s consent is given, -the combination of birthdays are lucky, the dowry is satisfactory to all -concerned, then the propitious day must be found from the horoscope for -the actual wedding to take place. During June, July, August, and -September, the Buddhist Lent, all marriages are barred to the strict -followers of Buddha, and it would be a very unregenerate son or daughter -who would shock his old father and mother by daring to ask to marry -during this time. Marriage is a very precarious proceeding, because if -it takes place in certain months the couple will be rich, in other -months they will always love each other, while there are unfortunate -months that bring sickness and death to those tempting Hymen at this -time. Nevertheless, notwithstanding all the obstacles that seem to be -placed in the way of marriage, there are few spinsters in Burmah, and -virtually every man over twenty years of age has a wife. - -The marriage ceremony is a strictly civil affair, no religious rite -entering into the performance. The friends meet at the house of the -bride’s parents, where a great feast has been prepared at the expense of -the bridegroom’s father, and the eating and drinking and publicity of -the affair make the marriage as binding as are any marriages in Burmah. -Contrary to all Eastern usages, the young couple take up their abode -with the bride’s parents instead of going to the home of the groom’s -people, which is the custom in India, China, and Japan. If the home roof -is too small to shelter the new family, they may build a new home for -themselves. This is not an expensive affair, as the houses are extremely -simple. They are practically all of one story, because of the Burman’s -aversion to any one walking over his head. The house is built on posts, -thus raising the floor seven or eight feet from the ground, which is -very desirable in rainy weather. It consists of two or three rooms and -an open balcony, where the family may sit of an evening or where the -daughter of the house may receive her lover, and not interrupt the -slumbers of father and mother, who have spread their sleeping-mats upon -the floor of the main living-room. - -In the rainy season the cooking is done in one of the rooms, but in the -long, dry months the yard at the back of the house serves as kitchen. In -the smaller towns the roofs are thatched with palm-leaves or with grass, -but in the cities the ugly iron roofs are now seen, with here and there -a more pretentious roof of tiling. - -Moving is not a laborious process, as there is little necessary -furniture in a Burmese home. A few rush mats, which serve for beds, some -rugs and blankets for use when nights are cold, which during the day are -rolled up and placed in an unused corner of the room, a cooking-range, -which is simply a square box filled with earth on which the wood is -lighted, some earthen pots for making curries and the cooking of the -rice, a water-jar, ladles made of the half of a coconut placed on a -handle, the huge round lacquer tray, which serves as table, and the -bowls for the curries and deserts. - -With nearly every house there is a small yard, in which are found -flowers if the wife is inclined to love the beautiful; but if she is -more practically inclined chickens hold sway within the small domain, -until the evil day arrives for them when they pass into the curry-pot. -The strict Buddhist does not utilize the eggs, believing that they hold -the germ of life which it would be sinful to destroy. These Burmese -roosters can take the place of clocks, as it is said that they crow -regularly four times a day—at sunrise, noon, sundown, and at midnight. -The story goes that in the olden time there was a great fire made of -books that contained unlawful teaching. Among these books were those of -a famous astrologer, and after the fire the cocks came and ate the -ashes, thus taking into their very being the knowledge of the stars and -the actions of the sun. - -If the wife lives in the city, she does not have the weary task of -husking the rice, as it is bought ready for cooking, nor does she need -waste much thought in planning the menu for the day. The two meals are -practically the same—the plain boiled rice upon the table-tray, around -which sit the household, squatting upon their heels. No knives or forks -are needed, as each takes upon his plate from the central dish the rice, -pours over it curry, arranges on the top the vegetables and condiments -that he loves, and eats it with the forks with which Nature has provided -him—his fingers. The food is very good if too much dried fish, which is -a delicacy loved by Burmans, or garlic has not been incorporated in the -curries. Only water is drunk at mealtime. If the husband has acquired -the habit of tippling, which has come to Burmah with other foreign -customs, he must go to the shop where it is sold to indulge in what, to -every good householder, is still a thing of which to be ashamed. - -After meals every one smokes—father, mother, and children. It is said -that baby learns while at his mother’s breast to take the long cigar -from between her lips and puff it between alternate draughts at Nature’s -font; but Burmese deny this most indignantly, and say that smoking is -forbidden the children until they have learned to walk. I can quite -believe this, because it would take a strong baby to manage the enormous -cheroot smoked by all Burmans, although they are so mild that they would -not affect the nerves even of a child. The cigar seen in the homes is -from six to eight inches in length and about an inch in diameter. It is -made of the pith of a plant mixed with chopped tobacco-leaves, wrapped -in the leaf of the teak-tree, the ends tucked in and tied by a piece of -red silk, where stiff pieces of pith keep the loose tobacco from the -mouth. It splutters and scatters its fine fire in all directions, and -cannot be smoked by an amateur without danger to himself and all about -him. These are often made within the home by the wife and daughters, yet -they may be seen in tiny booths at all festivities, where pretty girls -sell them to admiring swains who are too lazy to roll them for -themselves. - -Chewing betel-nut is also indulged in by both man and wife, and the -stain it leaves upon the lips and tongue is not an addition to the -beauty of the mouth; yet it can be easily cleansed, as witness the -pretty teeth and rosy lips of the women one meets in the street. There -is no furniture to dust, few dishes to wash, and little clothing to be -sewn, and small care expended upon the children. Their daily bath -consists in throwing a few buckets of water over their naked bodies, -which they learn early to do for themselves, and often around a village -well the tiny babies, dressed in only an amulet string, may be seen with -coconut ladle throwing the cooling water over their bodies and shrieking -with delight. The children of the poor go naked until about eight or -nine years old, and those of the better class dress practically as do -their fathers and mothers while in the street, although, even in houses -of the rich, clothing is considered a useless luxury for the young. - -The simple life leaves much time for the wife, which she employs in -gossiping with friends, in attending pagoda festivals and pwés until -that happy event arrives, the birth of the first child. From the moment -it is known that the wife is to become a mother she is the recipient of -much care and attention and presents from her family and from her -friends, and when she can say, “I am the mother of a son,” then, like -all Oriental women, she has attained the great crown of womanhood. But -because of the lack of medical skill in Burmah she has to face a most -dreadful ordeal. As soon as her child is born the mother is rubbed all -over with saffron, a fire lighted near her, and all the blankets that -can be begged or borrowed are heaped upon her. She is given a drink -prepared by the midwife for the purpose of making her perspire. This is -given her many times a day, and together with the large bricks that are -heated and wrapped in damp cloths and placed in her bed conspire to have -the desired effect, and the poor mother passes seven days in a Turkish -bath. Then on the seventh day, as a finish to this trying ordeal which -she has undergone, she is forced to go through a most elaborate steaming -process, and if this does not smother her completely, she is pronounced -well. The midwife receives her mats, her allotment of rice and her -shilling, and the woman returns to her household duties. In the larger -towns now the Burmese woman may call in the European-trained doctor, and -there are hospitals which answer the great need that the women have for -proper care at this critical time of their lives. Yet I am told that the -mortality at child-bearing is not so great as that in India and other -Eastern countries. The main effect upon the woman is to age her greatly; -at the birth of her first child she changes from the pretty girl-wife to -the middle-aged woman. - -About two weeks after the birth of the child a great feast is given to -celebrate the naming of the new arrival, and on this day also the young -man’s head is washed for the first time. All the friends of the family -and the neighbours are invited, and they come, bringing presents with -them to help pay for the feast. The mother sits down with her child in -her arms, then some elder or relation of the parents suggests the name, -and everybody accepts it at once, whereupon all adjourn to the feast, -where they eat, chew betel, and smoke cheroots until nightfall. If the -people have sufficient means, there is a pwé, which lasts until morning. - -It is a rule amongst families that a child’s name must begin with one of -the letters belonging to the day on which it was born, and they all -believe that the stars which were in evidence at the hour of birth -decide a man’s character. A man born on Monday will be jealous, on -Tuesday honest, on Wednesday bad-tempered, on Thursday quiet, on Friday -garrulous, on Saturday quarrelsome, and on Sunday stingy. Each day also -has a particular animal which represents it. Monday is represented by a -tiger, Tuesday, a lion, etc., and in temples one sees yellow and wax -candles made in the form of these animals, representing his birthday, -placed before the god by the man who wishes special benefits from lord -Buddha. - -Swinging by a couple of ropes from the roof is a rude home-made basket, -which is used for baby’s cradle. Even this useful article of furniture -in which the Burmese baby passes his sleeping hours is subject to the -actions of belligerent spirits, and must be hung in such a manner as not -to tempt the nats to use it for a resting-place. Burmese mothers, like -mothers all over the world, croon lullabies to their babies as they -swing them back and forth while waiting for the sand-man to come. I give -a verse of one of the popular lullabies known generally to all babies in -Burmah— - - Nasty, naughty, noisy baby, - If the cat won’t, nats will maybe - Come and pinch and punch and rend you— - If they do I won’t defend you. - Oh, now please, - Do not tease, - Do be good, - As babies should, - Just one tiny little while; - Try to sleep, or try to smile. - -When the son is eight or nine years of age he goes as a matter of course -to the monastery school, which is open to all alike, the poor and rich, -and which is practically the only thing that the priests, which flood -this country, afford the people in return for the food which is placed -in their begging-bowls each day. Every Buddhist boy is taught to read -and write, and he learns many of the formulas connected with the tenets -of his religion and the stories relating to the existence and teachings -of Buddha. Until the English came, all little boys went to the monastery -schools, but now there are Government schools and Burmese laymen schools -and many private schools, to which the more advanced Burmans are sending -their sons; yet the schoolrooms in the monasteries are not vacant. The -young Burmese are not so forced by the economic conditions to acquire -the foreign education as is the Indian boy, where life is much more -difficult and the Government certificate simply a means to an -end—Government employment. Until lately it was not thought necessary to -educate the girls. To be pretty, to know how to take care of her -household, to smile sweetly, and be of a gay disposition were sufficient -for a woman; and as book knowledge would not help her in those -accomplishments, book knowledge was, therefore, dispensed with. But now -the larger towns provide educational facilities for girls, and in -Rangoon and Mandalay there are many private schools for the daughters of -the better class. - -Until a Buddhist has entered the monastery, joining the noble order of -the yellow robe, if for no longer than a day, he is nothing more than a -mere animal. He has a name given him for worldly purposes, so has a dog, -a horse, or a cow; but until he has shown himself ready to leave the -world by retiring into the quiet and peace of the monasteries, he cannot -expect to reap the good that he has sown in the past life, nor would it -be possible for him to look forward to a happy future. At the beginning -of the Buddhist Lent, all Buddhist boys from the age of twelve to -fifteen don the yellow robe and carry the begging-bowl before the priest -on his daily rounds. On this most important day in his life his parents -give a feast, where the young novice, dressed in finest clothes, loaded -with all the family jewels, goes slowly through the village, preceded by -a band of music and his friends and relatives dressed in their gayest -clothing. He calls at the houses of his friends and pays respects to the -officials of his village. Returning to his home, he finds, seated upon a -raised daïs, several priests from the monastery to which he is soon to -retire. They hold before their faces the large lotus-leafed-shaped fans, -so as not to see the row of pretty women, dressed in their pinks and -blues and yellows, flowers in their hair, jewels and chains on necks, -and bracelets on arms, and pearl powder softening smiling faces. The -solemnity of the ceremony commences when the boy throws off his fine -clothing, and, binding a piece of white cloth around his loins, sits -down before the barber and permits that glory of his boyhood, his long -black hair, to be cut off close to his head. After he has been carefully -shaved, water is poured over his body, and, dressed again in his bright -clothing, he prostrates himself three times before the monks, begging in -Pali, which quite likely he does not understand, that he may be admitted -to the holy assembly. Then the yellow garments are given him, the -begging-bowl is hung around his neck, and he is formally a member of the -monastery. With the departure of the priests and the novice feasting -begins, which, according to many Burmese festivities, lasts until dawn. - -[Illustration: - - A BUDDHIST SCHOOL, MANDALAY (SHOWING BEGGING-BOWL). - - To face p. 194.] - -In many cases, if the boy is working and his services are needed, he -remains in the monastery only long enough to enable him to go once -around the village begging from door to door in the train of the -priests. Some stay seven days, some a fortnight, and others, if they are -able, remain throughout the four months of Lent. Of course many of them -enter the monastery for life, and there is no country in the world where -there are so many priests as in Burmah. The monasteries offer a refuge -for men in trouble, for those who desire to leave the cares of the world -and lead a life of meditation and repose. And it is said that this -departure from the world is made by many a man in this country, where -women are noted for the strength of their characters and the length of -their tongues. - -The Burmese boy does not consider he has attained manhood until he has -been tattooed. When I was first in Burmah, being rather nearsighted, I -thought all Burmese men of the lower class wore short, dark, skin-tight -drawers, but when I became more courageous and examined them more -closely I found what I considered underclothing was the man’s own skin. -This had been tattooed from the waistline down to the kneecap with a -series of pictures so closely set together that they could not be -distinguished one from the other, and melted into a background of blue -and black, with here and there a softened red to accentuate the fading -colours of the darker dye. This is a sign of manhood, which, the Burmese -say, will probably not die out, because a Burman would be as ashamed to -have a spotless white skin without a mark of the tattooer’s needle as -would the American boy to find no manly hairs upon his chin at the age -when other boys begin to shave. And woe to the hapless youth if a -wind-blown paso should show the girl he was courting a white and -spotless leg; she would tell him that his place was in the women’s -quarters and offer him a woman’s dress! Each figure in this mosaic has a -meaning, and there are charms for protection of the body, for the -gaining of a loved one, thus assuring the wearer great riches, and, -mixed with these, are figures of all kinds—lizards, birds, and pictures -of the Buddha. Sometimes women who wish to ensnare the object of their -affection endure the pain of having a love charm tattooed upon the -tongue or upon the lips. Often a few round spots tattooed with the -prescribed formula repeated over it and placed between the eyes will be -enough to bring back a wandering lover to her side. If this is not -effectual or if the maiden sees herself drifting towards a lonely middle -age with no lover in her view, she cuts off the locks of hair hanging -over her ears, announcing to all the world that she is looking for a -lover. They say in Rangoon that if a woman is tattooed it means that she -desires an Englishman for her husband. - -[Illustration: - - BURMESE BOY WITH TATTOOED LEGS. - - To face p. 196.] - -In olden days Burmah shared with Japan in the number of its women given -in marriage _à la mode_ to men of alien races. Nearly every English -official and merchant had his house presided over by a little native -maiden. These arrangements were very happy and tragedies did not occur -until the Englishman, longing for home sights and sounds, and the -dignity of an English wife, went back home and returned to his station -with the woman of his choice. Then there was sorrow, and even the -English gold could not repay the little Burmese woman for the loss of -the love of the kindly, careless man who had been her master for the -many years. Often attempts were made to regain that master’s love, and -many a time the attempts succeeded, because in the formality and dignity -of his English home and the coldness of his English wife, the man -remembered the happy days and nights spent under the Burmese roof and -the pretty little Burmese girl who shyly slipped her hand in his and -called him master, lord of all her days and nights. - -There is a story told of an English official in Upper Burmah who, when -time for leave of absence came, closed up his Burmese home, giving to -its little hostess money sufficient to make her rich for life. On his -return to Burmah he brought with him the girl from Devonshire to whom he -had been betrothed for many years. At dinner their first night soft -steps were heard upon the verandas, and curtains moved as if in the -swaying of an evening breeze, but nothing could be seen. The next -morning when starting for his office the frightened horse shied madly at -a little mound of silk lying by the side of the gateway. It was the -little Burmese wife, with a dagger through her heart. Pinned upon her -pretty dress was a letter for her lord, in which she said: “I have -looked upon thy newly wedded wife and found her good. If I had seen -within her eyes—and love would quick have told me—that she were not the -worthy one, that she were not fitted to be thy mate through all these -years to come, I would have plunged my knife deep in her heart, but now -I know it is better for me to go, as life without thee has no joy.” - -One can understand the charm that these happy, smiling, care-free little -women have for the men who come from homes where levity and -_laissez-faire_ are things to be condemned. The Burmese wife makes no -demands upon her lord and master; she is obedient, attendant to his -every want, and never scolding and discontented. As far as material -wants are concerned, the native woman of any Eastern country makes an -ideal wife for the average European, yet they can never be real -companions one with the other. There is more than the bar of language -between them; there is the bar of instincts, customs, and traditions. -The entire life of each has been passed in different environments. -Practically always the woman has little or no education, and knows -nothing of the world outside the town where she was born. There is never -any question of equality between the foreign husband and the native -wife; he is always her lord, she is always his slave. To the -light-hearted Burmese woman, to whom the marriage tie even with a man of -her own race is not a binding cord, these “marriages for a day” are not -always things of tragedy, but the curse falls heavily upon the child if -there should be one. In all Eastern countries—Egypt, India, Burmah, -China, and Japan—the half-caste is a being set apart. Ostracized by the -members of his father’s race, unrecognized by his mother’s people, he is -a social pariah, and one almost feels that, if society could enforce it, -he would be compelled to call out, “Unclean, unclean!” as did the lepers -in the olden time. - -[Illustration: - - EN ROUTE TO A FESTIVAL, BURMAH. - - To face p. 198.] - - - - - CHAPTER XIII - BURMESE RELIGION AND SUPERSTITION - - -Judging from appearances, the Burmese woman is deeply religious. We see -her offering her flowers before the many shrines scattered throughout -the country, and hear the deep-toned bell hanging before the lord of -light as she strikes it three times to call the attention of the spirits -of the air to her piety. On days of festival the pagoda is thronged with -gaily dressed women, and at the greatest of all pagoda feasts, that of -the Shwe Dagon in Rangoon, women pilgrims from every part of Burmah come -to lay their tribute before the greatest shrine in Buddha-land. They -come by train and boat and bullock-cart, and to many it is the most -important event of the whole year. Girls look forward to the chance it -offers to show their charms to the male world, old ladies count on the -meeting of friends and the discussion of the events of the past year, -while to all it offers a chance to lay up merit for themselves and -advance a step on the long road that leads to Neban. - -Near the temple are marionette shows, and theatrical companies make -these festivals their place of greatest profit, while the merchants -offer their wares for sale, and the sellers of incense, candles, -flowers, and offerings for the different shrines reap their harvest. Yet -over the whole joyous occasion, which would strike the casual observer -as simply a holiday for these happy people, is thrown the veil of a deep -religious motive. In the fascination of the secular gaieties around -them, these spiritual women do not forget the real object of their -pilgrimage, and the prayers and protestations before the altars, and the -constant booming of the deep-toned bells, show that praise of the Lord -of lords is not forgotten amidst the excitement and pleasures of the -world outside. - -The Burmese woman may go to the pagoda on the duty days of each month, -of which there are four, or she may stay at home. The only force upon -her is that of public opinion, yet she generally goes, as it is the -meeting-place of all her world, and the care-free Burmese, both men and -women, are always looking for a chance of amusement and a meeting with -friends. - -Whether or not she attends these duty days once a week is solely -dependent upon her piety, or her love of companionship; but deeply -ingrained within her soul is a daily duty that no Burman, unless of the -very advanced class, neglects—the propitiation of the nats, those -spirits inhabiting the air, the ground, the water, and all things, both -animate and inanimate. Even the stones upon the roadside may be the home -of spirits who may prove destructive or hostile at any time. To guard -against the evils that might come with neglect of such powerful enemies -to his happiness, the Burmese erects a shrine at the extremity of his -village, sometimes no larger than a bird house built in the pipul-tree. -There he may offer food, and light his tiny lamps, and pour his -offerings of water, and burn his incense. - -He leaves the nats of the household to the especial care of his wife, -who covers all the posts within the rooms with white cloth, so that they -may be comfortable while sitting in their favourite places. To -counteract the effect of the evil spirits who may wish to take up their -dwelling within the home, the careful housewife keeps near at hand a jar -of water that has been blessed, and daily sprinkles floor and roof for -the protection of her family. It is believed that people who have been -executed for their crimes or who have met a violent death become nats -and haunt the place where they so suddenly departed from this world, and -this belief led to many cruel practices in former times. The burial of -men and women alive under the gates of a city originated in this desire -to protect its inhabitants, as these spirits wander around the place of -their death, and bring disaster upon strangers who may come with evil -intent. It is said that under the palace gates fifty men and women were -buried alive to protect those within the Imperial residence. - -This belief in spirits leads to many evils, and the woman’s life is one -of constant fear for herself and for her loved ones. She naturally -consults in time of trouble with those who have a knowledge of spirit -lore, or who have power to control them and make of no avail their wrong -intentions. Consequently Burmah abounds in astrologers, necromancers, -wizards, and witch-doctors, who impose upon the fears of the women to a -marvellous extent. These charlatans vie with the doctors in their -ignorance. - -A man of medicine in this land ruled by superstition needs no diploma, -and he administers a mixture of herbs and nasty tasting condiments in -such strong doses that they are bound to cure or kill. Quantity, not -quality, is what the sick Burmese requires; and if after a medicine is -administered five times she is not better, another kind is tried, and if -the desired effect is not produced, another doctor is called, who -perhaps makes a distinctly different diagnosis of the case, and the -dosing is commenced all over again with another set of medicines. It is -well known by all that the body is composed of four elements—earth, -water, fire, and air—and derangement of these four properties may cause -the illness. Before medicine is administered, the horoscope must be -consulted in order to learn the proportions of the elements within the -body, when perhaps it is found that the sickness is caused by an evil -act committed in a former life, or the seasons may be the cause of her -misfortune. It is always a most complicated affair, and perhaps the -doctor finds that the sufferer must refuse all food whose initial letter -begins with the same letter as that of the day of her birth. There are -ninety-six diseases that afflict mankind, and it often takes many -doctors and much medicine to decide with which one of the ninety-six -ailments the woman is contending. - -If she should die, it is believed that the soul, in the shape of a black -butterfly, issues from the mouth, and dies at the same time as that of -the body which it inhabited. Although the Buddhists do not believe in -the actuality of the soul as we know it, this black butterfly is the -real spirit of the woman, and is with her constantly except at times of -sleep, when it may leave the earthly body and go roaming over the world. -It can never visit places strange to its owner, as it might lose its way -and not come back again, when both would die—the body because its spirit -was gone, the butterfly because it had lost its earthly home. One reason -why a Burman will not rouse one suddenly from a deep slumber is because -he is afraid that the butterfly might be on a visit and unable to return -to its home upon the man’s awakening, which, of course, would be most -fatal. This roaming spirit takes many chances, as there are goblins and -evil genii who desire nothing better than to eat black butterflies, and -often they become so frightened that they return home in a great panic, -which throws the owner of the soul into a fever. It sometimes happens -that the spirit is kept prisoner, and then the witch doctors are brought -in and many incantations are gone through to induce the evil gnomes to -release their hold upon the poor butterfly before it is too late. - -Two souls who deeply love each other often wish to leave the world -together, or a mother dies and wishes her loved one, perhaps her only -child, to join her in the other land, and her spirit calls for her -baby’s butterfly, who will follow that of the mother unless frustrated -by the machinations of some wise woman who understands the way of -spirits. This woman comes to the house, and placing a mirror on the -floor by the dead mother or wife who is calling for her child or -husband, entreats the dead not to demand the soul of the living. As she -pleads with her she allows a piece of down to slip slowly on to the face -of the mirror and catches it in a handkerchief, which is then gently -placed on the breast of the living, and the spirit comes back to its -resting-place. - -Superstition dominates the life of the Burmese woman as much as it does -her Indian sister. She believes in love potions and philtres to bring a -longed-for lover to her side. She consults with wise men, who tell her -whether the waning love of husband is caused by the nat or guardian of -the house; or if she is not yet wedded, she finds that the horoscopes of -herself and lover are not propitious and that he is not intended for her -mate. She also uses this man of science to revenge herself upon a hated -rival, and will cause an image to be made of clay, over which are -chanted devilish rituals which will cause death or madness to fall upon -the unsuspecting person. - -Not only do the spirits of all worlds influence her, but each act of the -things around her has its meaning. If a hen should lay an egg upon a -cloth, the lucky owner will receive a present; and if she is going on a -journey and a snake should cross her path, her misfortune would be -certain. If a dog should carry a bone into the house, she blesses him, -as great riches and honour will come to all beneath her roof. But she is -hampered in her actions by the number of lucky and unlucky days that -control her destiny. There are days unfortunate for all the world, and -others that apply only to her, when she must act with exceeding care, -and understand the lore of the stars which were in the ascendant at her -birth. Thursday is generally a good day for all, but if a woman was so -foolhardy as to commence a work on Tuesday it might be fatal and she -would lose her life. Friday is the day of days on which to commence a -new enterprise, as success is bound to follow. The hair should be washed -once a month, if possible, but never on Monday, Friday, or Saturday. A -good mother on sending her son into the monastery would see that the -rite of cutting the hair did not fall upon Monday, Friday, or his -birthday, and it limits the choice of days, as this latter event, the -birthday, occurs once a week. There are also a few months especially -unlucky for a woman born under certain stars, and no undertaking should -be commenced in those months. In fact, the Burmese woman is ruled by -signs and omens from her birth to her death, and when the necromancers, -the wizards, the doctors, and the witches are unable longer to keep the -spirit, the little black butterfly, within the body, and she is gathered -to her fathers, rules and traditions govern her laying away to her last -resting-place. - -[Illustration: - - A BURMESE WOMAN AND HER CIGAR. - - To face p. 206.] - -In former days the dead were all cremated, but now burying has come into -general use. When death comes to a family it means elaborate -preparations and feasting from the time that the breath has left the -body and the coin is put into the mouth to pay the ferryman for the last -journey over the lonely river, until the seven days of mourning are -over. Yet it is hard to speak of these days as days of mourning, for -music, dancing before the bier, and the feasting in the home would cause -the onlooker at a Burmese funeral to believe that he was witnessing a -wedding-festival instead of a scene of sorrow. - -The Burmese, like most Eastern nations, spend far too much upon their -funeral observances; and often a man goes into debt for life to pay for -the extravagances which custom and tradition make necessary to uphold -his standing in the community when the Angel of Death visits his -household. - -A new custom, or an old custom made more elaborate, has increased the -cost of living for the hospitable Burman. When invitations are given for -any festivity, the invitation is accompanied by a present, often a silk -handkerchief or a turban, but with the rich this present is growing more -expensive, until it is becoming a burden that is causing many of the -conservative to complain. I was told while in Mandalay that when a -certain gentleman sent out invitations for his daughter’s wedding, he -accompanied each invitation with a gold sovereign, and as he bade more -than two hundred guests to the feast, his entertainment cost him a -goodly sum before the actual expense of the festival took place. This -useless expenditure falls heavily upon the small official who is trying -to live upon his salary, as salaries are not large in Burmah. A -gentleman with a sense of humour was calling upon us, and in the course -of conversation we touched upon the servant question. He asked us what a -Chinese butler received for his services in America. I told him ten -pounds a month. He gasped, and then he laughed and a twinkle came to his -black eyes as he said: “I am an official of the city of Mandalay, and I -receive just that amount. I think I will go to America.” - -[Illustration: - - BURMESE WORKING WOMAN. - - To face p. 208.] - -The Burmese woman in her home is allowed much more liberty than any -other Oriental woman. She is her husband’s equal, although she is taught -to look upon man as a superior being; still, that is only theoretical. -In actual life she is one with him in business, his amusements, and in -his religious life. He consults her upon matters of importance, and she -has proved worthy of trust and confidence, because she has a good mind -and has been allowed to use her judgment in matters of business as well -as in her own particular realm—the home. She has domestic troubles with -which to contend, but public opinion is helping her, especially in the -case of polygamy. This destroyer of woman’s happiness is sometimes -practised, but sentiment is against it, and it is a very brave man who -cares to run counter to the general opinion of his village or city in -regard to the number of women he shelters beneath his roof-tree. But if -the Burman may not marry more than one woman at a time, he may divorce -as many wives as he wishes. As the woman also shares in this -prerogative, the law is not so one-sided as it is in Mohammedan -countries. Manu, the ancient law-maker, allowed women to divorce their -husbands if they were too poor to support them; if they were lazy and -would not work; or if they were incapacitated by reason of old age, or -became cripples after marriage. The husband may send his wife away if -she bears him no male children; if she is not loving; or if she is -disobedient. Divorce is purely a personal affair, and the marriage tie -may be dissolved at any time the parties concerned think fit, without -calling in priest or lawyer. - -There are very definite provisions in the laws in regard to the property -of the separating couple. In the event of divorce each party takes with -them the property brought by them to the new home, and what they -accumulated since marriage is either divided by mutual agreement or by a -decision of the village elders who sanction the separation. - -I am told that divorce is not so common as one would believe, -considering the ease with which it may be obtained. The Burman is a very -easy-going man, the Burmese wife a clever woman who makes it her -business to understand her lord and master, and consequently she -generally rules him. “Burmah is the land of henpecked husbands,” one -Burman told me, “all the world knows our shame”—and then he laughed. - -Education is coming more slowly to the Burmese woman than it is to the -Indian or the Egyptian. She has not seen its need, consequently has not -demanded it. But it will come in time, and the intellectual broadening -will free her from the cloud of superstition that now surrounds her and -controls her actions to a great extent. - -[Illustration: - - GOLDEN PAGODA, MANDALAY. - - To face p. 210.] - - - - - CHAPTER XIV - THE LADY OF CHINA - - -It is not easy for the woman of the Occident to understand the life of -the woman of the Orient. The woman of the West, in her freedom, her -complex social life, her husband’s love, looks pityingly upon the -Eastern woman in what appears to be a seemingly restricted sphere—the -home. It is known that she is practically a prisoner, not by force but -by custom and convention; that the wall of the compound are the walls of -the world to her. It is not realized, however, that there she is -supreme, and from within those compound-walls, she sways to a great -extent the thought and life of China. - -The Chinese lady does not lead a life of leisure or indolence. The -picture of the Eastern woman sitting upon divans and eating sweetmeats -does not apply to the women of this country. If she is the wife of an -official or of a man of wealth, she has a large household over which she -must preside. If the husband has a mother living the mother is the head -of the house, and her will is absolute. This was shown rather forcibly a -few years ago in Peking. The son of a Chinese official while abroad -married a European woman. She returned to Peking with her husband, and -within a few months fled to a foreign embassy and asked protection, as -she believed her life in danger. The mother-in-law had said: “While I -was in Europe with you I was powerless, but here I am absolute. I could -even kill you and no one would question the act. It is my right to do -with you as I wish.” The minister could do nothing, as by her marriage -the girl had become a Chinese subject and was under the laws of China, -which gave the mother of her husband absolute control over her life and -person. - -Often there are an incredible number of people living under one -roof-tree, as all the sons bring their wives to their father’s home -instead of establishing separate households. Sheng, the director of -railways, told me that there were 250 people who took rice each day -within his compound. The walls of his garden enclosed a small village. -There was a large building containing his office and residence. -Radiating from this there were rows of smaller houses, where his -brothers and married sons lived with their numerous families. - -A Chinese house, even of the very rich, is a shabby affair, judged from -Western standards. It is always surrounded by a wall, generally painted -white. Within the entrance gate is a large wooden screen, placed to -insure privacy, and also to guard the doorways from evil spirits, which -are known to travel only in straight lines and to abhor corners. If the -family is large the home consists of a series of houses built around -courtyards. Across the first court are the master’s rooms and offices; -then come the houses of the different families, as each wife has a suite -of rooms for herself and her children. Some of the wives of the more -wealthy Chinese occupy an entire building. The kitchen and the servants’ -quarters are at the end of the last courtyard. - -The floors of all the rooms are of rough boards, with great cracks -between them, sometimes covered with a rug but more often bare. The -walls are composed of the same wide boards, with here and there an -embroidered hanging or a scroll bearing the words of some honoured sage. -The furniture of the reception-room consists of small tables alternating -with straight-backed chairs, arranged with mathematical precision around -the three sides of the room. Opposite the doorway is the seat of honour, -or an opium-couch. Often the furniture is elaborately carved or inlaid -with mother-of-pearl, but it looks formal and precise. The chairs, with -their red embroidered cushions, are very uncomfortable for the -Westerner, because of their straight, low backs and high, narrow seats, -that make one long for a footstool. There are no buffets nor sideboards -in the dining-rooms, and stools are used in place of chairs. The tables -are square, seating eight, and neither tablecloths nor napkins are -considered necessary adjuncts to dining. - -The bedrooms are small, and filled wellnigh to overflowing by an -enormous carved bed, with red embroidered curtains hanging from the -heavy canopy and long silken tassels draping the four posts. The Chinese -do not indulge in mattresses nor springs, sheets, nor pillow-cases. The -pillows are small bolsters, and the bedclothing consists of a series of -wadded “comfortables” made of silk or cotton. Their dislike of springs -is very intense. A hospital for the Chinese was opened in one of the -interior towns, and the doctors, wishing to do the very best they could -to make their patients comfortable, bought, at great expense, foreign -beds with springs. They found, to their disgust, that the patients, as -soon as the nurse turned her back, insisted on placing the bedclothing -upon the floor and lying there, instead of in the nice comfortable beds -that had been provided for them. They claimed that the springs made them -“seasick.” When Chinese ladies are calling upon a foreign woman, one of -the chief ways to amuse them is to take them over the house and permit -them to see the furnishings of the homes of the people from over the -sea. They are always intensely interested in the beds and look at the -springs from all sides, sitting on them and pressing them down with -their hands, finally shaking their heads, as much as to say, “It is past -all belief what these strange people will have in their houses.” - -[Illustration: - - CHINESE WOMEN WARMING HANDS AND FEET WITH BRAZIERS. - - To face p. 214.] - -The chief article of furniture in the kitchen is the stove, a huge -affair made of brick. This stove has generally three holes, in which are -set the iron cooking-pots, shaped like large washbowls and made of very -thin metal, in order that the ingredients may cook with the smallest -amount of heat necessary, as the question of fuel is a serious one in -China. In the country around Shanghai, rice-straw and faggots are the -main fuel, while on every hillside in the country one sees women and -children cutting the dried grass and gathering every available thing -that may be burned. Because of the lack of body in the fuel it keeps one -person busy feeding the fire while another attends to the cooking. - -The food served at a feast, and which the average foreigner sees, is -quite different from that eaten every day. At a feast there are often -twenty or thirty courses. Swallow’s-nest soup, shark-fins, pigeon eggs -cooked with nuts, ducks prepared in many ways, fowl, fish, and -innumerable sweets. Rice is served as the last course, while at the -ordinary dinner it is the principal dish. It is to the Chinese what -bread is to the European or potatoes to the Irish. The food is cooked in -vegetable oil, made from beans or cabbages, or, for the richer class, -from peanuts. The chief meat is pork, which is cut into little bits and -cooked with a vegetable. Beef is not used by the average Chinese. The -cow is a beast of burden, and none of her products are eaten. I have -seen a great official, on being told that the ice-cream he was eating -was made of milk, deposit upon his plate the contents of his mouth with -more haste than grace. One receives the impression from pictures that -the Chinese politely picks up a few grains of rice with his chopsticks -and carries them slowly to his mouth. This is a picture of Occidental -imagination rather than Oriental reality. He takes with his chopsticks -some vegetables from the dishes in the centre of the table, to which all -have access, and, after depositing the chosen morsel on the top of his -rice, he lifts the bowl to his face and uses his chopsticks to shovel as -much of the rice into the opening as its capacity will permit. The -Chinese are supposed to be a slow and phlegmatic race, but if one were -to judge by the rapidity with which a bowl of rice will disappear, one -would easily give them a place among the most rapid and progressive -races of the world. - -Food used by the Chinese is very cheap. The Viceroy at Nanking, a man of -unlimited wealth and power, told me that the food for himself did not -cost more than twenty cents a day. The servants in the American -Consulate had their food bought by the second cook, paying him five -shillings each per month, which sum included food, cooking, and service. -On board a foreign houseboat the captain is paid four shillings per day -for the hire of six men, and they are fed by him out of this sum. It is -made possible by the cheapness of the vegetables. I have seen him buy -three bushels of a curly-leaved vegetable resembling spinach for -twopence. - -The lady of China takes no part in her husband’s business or social -life. Much of the business in China among the official and rich class is -transacted socially, and the dinners are generally given at a tea-house -or restaurant, or on the pleasure-boats kept for that purpose. Even the -very finest of these entertainment-places are very shabby affairs, from -a Western standpoint. They are also extremely dirty. The floors are made -of unmatched boards that have never seen the scrubbing-brush, and the -guests throw their fish-bones, cigarette-ends, etc., under the table. - -The Chinese understand the art of dining, and we who simply go to eat -cannot appreciate the social side of this form of entertainment as does -the Eastern man. He eats a few courses, sheds a jacket, loosens a belt, -talks to a singing girl, smokes, then eats a few more courses, gambles a -while, and really enjoys himself for four or five hours. When he enters -the room for the feast he is given a slip of paper, on which he writes -the name of his favourite singing girl and her place of residence. When -all the guests arrive the slips are taken by a servant to the different -places, and at intervals during the dinner the girls arrive. These girls -are owned by men or women who bought them when they were very young, and -have trained them for singing girls or professional amusers. They sway -in on their tiny bound feet, beautifully dressed, painted and powdered, -and take their place behind the man who sent for them. They sit on a -narrow stool, chat with the man, have a few puffs from a water pipe, eat -melon-seeds (they never eat or drink anything from the table); then -their maid brings them their musical instrument, and they sing, in a -high falsetto voice, a song or two. If the song and the singer are -admired, the guests show their approval by loud “Hah, hah’s.” After her -song the girl arises, says good-bye to her patron, and leaves for her -next engagement. The girl’s owner receives from four to sixteen -shillings, according to the fame of the girl; she receives nothing, -unless a present is given her by some admirer. Many of them have -beautiful bracelets and hair ornaments of pearls and jade, and many own -gold water pipes that are very costly. They all carry little makeup -boxes, and powder their noses whenever the desire seizes them. To -Western eyes they are not pretty, with their red and white faces. They -paint their forehead, nose, and around their mouth white, the cheeks and -under-lip bright red, and to obtain the proper willow-leaf pattern for -the eyebrows their own are shaved and others more slanting are painted -in their place. It is hard to see any charm in these little women. They -sing through their noses, talk very little, and that the most inane -gossip, powder themselves, then bow and go away. They seem to have -neither ideas, expression, nor figure. - -[Illustration: - - CHINESE WOMEN AND CHAIR-BEARERS. - - To face p. 218.] - -With each one of these entertainers is a maid, who supports her as she -sways along on her little feet, and who sees that she does not try to -run away from her master. If the girl is popular and in much demand she -has a sedan chair and two bearers; if a very young girl, she is carried -on the shoulders of a strong, husky coolie. Many of them lead pitiful -lives, and a singing girl’s only hope of escape is to become the -secondary wife or concubine of a rich man; then, if she should be so -fortunate as to bear a son for her husband she would hold an honourable -position, and nothing could be said against her because of her former -life. - -A Chinese gentleman is out to dinner practically every night, or else he -is entertaining friends. He sleeps until noon, goes to his particular -club for amusement and to meet his friends in the afternoon, and returns -to his home in the wee sma’ hours of the night. The wife or wives stay -at home and take care of the house and children. No Chinese lady ever -dines at a restaurant; in fact, no Chinese lady ever eats at the same -table with her husband; he would “lose face” if he ate with a woman. -Although a lady is never seen dining in public, she frequently gives -dinner parties to her friends and relatives. The courtyards are then -filled with the chattering chair-bearers, who, squatting on their -haunches as only an Eastern servant can, drink innumerable cups of tea -served by the servants of the hostess. The guests are met at the -entrance to the women’s quarters by the lady of the house, and a great -many bows are made, varying in depth according to the rank of the guest. - -Each guest has a maid, who from time to time brings her mistress a -vanity box, from which is extracted powder and rouge; and she, like her -frailer sister, the sing-song girl, applies a little more white to her -already whitened nose, or rouges her cheeks, or touches a little red -paint to the lower lip. Paint and powder are not confined to the women -of the amusement class, as the Chinese lady (that is, the younger ones; -older women do not make up at all) paints her face more than is -beautiful to foreign eyes. Even the hands are not forgotten, and within -the palms the rouge brush is used. The hands of a Chinese lady are -beautiful—long, slender, and delicate, looking as helpless as a flower. -In the olden time long fingernails were worn as a mark of ladyhood, and -were often covered with jade or gold, telling plainly that the wearer -belonged to the leisured class and did not need to toil. In fact, the -whole expression of a Chinese lady is helplessness. From her exquisitely -coiffured head, with its mass of pearl and jade, to her tiny feet, on -which she sways instead of walks, she impresses one as a dainty piece of -jewellery, too fragile for real life. The small feet accentuated this, -but now they are passing, and the new woman of China is not binding her -daughter’s feet. - -[Illustration: - - BOUND FEET OF CHINESE WOMAN. - - To face p. 221.] - -The curse of footbinding does not fall so heavily upon women who may sit -and embroider, or if needs must travel can be borne upon the shoulders -of their chair-bearers; but it is upon the poor girl, whose parents hope -to have one in the family who may better their fortunes by a rich -marriage, and, hoping thus, they bind their feet. If this marriage fails -and she is forced to work within her household, or, even worse, if -poverty compels her to work in the fields, or add her mite gained by -most heavy labour to help fill the many eager mouths at home, then she -should have our pity. We have seen the small-footed woman pulling heavy -boats along the tow-paths, or leaning on their hoes to rest their tired -feet while working in the fields of cotton. To her each day is a day of -pain, and this new law forbidding the binding of the feet of children -will come as a blessing from the gods. But it will not pass at once, as -so many now loudly proclaim; it will take at least three generations: -the children of the present children will quite likely all have natural -feet. The people in the country, far from the noise of change and -progress, will not feel immediately that they can wander so far afield -from the old ideas of what is beautiful in their womenkind. - -The most noticeable thing about a Chinese woman, poor as well as rich, -is her hair: it is jet-black, and made shiny and smooth with a paste -until not a strand is out of place. At certain times of the year small -wreaths are made from tiny yellow flowers and placed around the knot at -the back. The hair is never untidy, and the artistic disorder of the -hair of the foreign woman is secretly much disliked by the Chinese. The -late Empress-Dowager once gave the wife of a foreign Minister a set of -combs as a present. The Minister’s wife was delighted, as the gift was -enclosed in an elaborate silver box, and she did not see the subtle -suggestion in the present, over which the Chinese of the province -chuckled for many a day. - -A party of Chinese ladies presents a very gay appearance. They wear silk -or satin, nearly always brocaded and often heavily embroidered. In the -winter, as the houses are not heated, many furs are worn, but almost -entirely, except in the case of sable, as linings for the silken coats. -One garment is put on over the other until the right degree of warmth is -obtained. Instead of speaking of degrees of cold, the Chinese say it is -three-coat weather or five-coat weather. The children are clothed in -wadded garments, so thick that the overdressed babies look like little -round balls and can scarcely move. In the summer the ladies wear -delicate gauzes over their undergarments of grass-linen. - -Nearly every province in China has its own customs and peculiarities in -dress as well as in everything else, but they all agree on the rich reds -and blues, the purples and mauves for the making of their jackets, while -their wide, skirt-like trousers are often of a much deeper colour than -the jacket and trimmed with a wide band of black. The mixture of tints -sounds most incongruous to foreign ears, but Chinese women have the -faculty of weaving the most clashing hues into a work of harmonious art. -Except in the case of an old lady, black is seldom worn, and as white is -the colour of mourning, it is seen only on occasions of sorrow. A -Chinese lady can never understand why European babies are dressed in -white. Children are the symbols of happiness, and it seems to them most -inappropriate to garb them in sorrow’s colours. All the gayest and -brightest colours of China’s dye-pots are made to produce the clothing -for China’s children. - -The dress of the Chinese woman, rich or poor, is very modest, fastening -close around the neck, with sleeves coming to the hands and the loose -jacket formed so as to disguise the lines of the body. European women -are severely censured in China because of their _décoletté_ gowns and -tight dresses, which seem to the Chinese the height of vulgarity. When -one of the Imperial princes was _en route_ to England, he attended his -first foreign dinner in Shanghai. About twenty-five of the guests were -English and American ladies, dressed in their most elaborate gowns, -which means extreme _décoletté_. The attachés of the prince had tried to -prepare his highness for the sight he was to witness; but they had -evidently underestimated its startling qualities, because when the -prince arrived and gave one amazed look at his hostess and the line of -waiting ladies he was nonplussed. He looked pitifully for his -interpreter, and, not receiving aid from him, put down his head, shut -his eyes, and bravely stumbled around the room, groping blindly for each -lady’s hand, as he had been informed that he should shake hands with -them. This was another serious breach of Chinese etiquette, as no -Chinese man must ever touch a woman. The Chinese views in regard to -modesty connected with the dress of women has caused the missionaries in -the interior to expurgate from the magazines that may by chance fall -into the hands of Chinese visitors all pictures of lightly clad ladies -who are used to advertise soaps and powders and the underwear of our -American markets. - -The Chinese are very fond of their children. They say, “In the children -our parents return to us; in the children we live again.” When ladies -visit each other they always ask for the children, who are brought in by -the nurses. With their jackets of red, their trousers of bright green or -purple, their baby-caps with its rows of tiny brass Buddhas that shine -and glitter like gold, and the mark of red paint on the forehead or on -the tip of the tiny nose, they look like brilliant little elfs. The -girls are dressed quite as richly as the boys, and it is to the interest -of the nurse to make the children as attractive as possible, because the -pleased visitor generally gives her a small present of money wrapped in -red paper. - -[Illustration: - - AN OLD-FASHIONED CHINESE GIRLS’ SCHOOL. - - To face p. 224.] - -Visiting a high-class Chinese lady, one is impressed with the number of -children and servants that seem to be swarming over the place. When one -of a family has distinction or wealth, all the poor relatives come to -dwell with him. Li Hung-chang built a home in Shanghai in which to live -when he should retire from private life. When asked why he built so far -from his home province, which was contrary to Chinese custom, he said he -built as far as possible from his native town, hoping that his poor -relations could not obtain the money with which to come to Shanghai. - -The servants in a Chinese family are not expensive, so far as wages are -concerned, but they cost a great deal in perquisites. They rarely -receive more than eight shillings a month, but they are given their -food, and they help themselves lavishly to anything they may desire. -They dress themselves from the old clothing of the family, freely take -the hairpins and the toilet articles of the mistress, clothe their -children from the common wardrobe, and, in fact, are a part of the -family. - -There is a peculiar democratic custom which servants may claim, but -which is seldom used—the right of reviling the family when discharged. -The youngest son of Li Hung-chang lived next door to me, and an old -serving-woman was discharged for a reason that evidently did not appeal -to her sense of justice. She sat beneath the gateway and for three hours -called down curses upon the Li family at the top of her voice. This -happened on one of the principal residence streets of Shanghai, and the -police passed and repassed, but no one tried to stop her. The house -steward made two or three feeble attempts to persuade her to leave, but -she would turn her facile tongue upon him, and he would gather his -skirts in his hands and start on a most undignified run for the house, -evidently believing discretion to be the better part of valour. At the -end of three hours, when she was completely exhausted, she was led away. - -The Chinese lady and her servants gossip together as friends, rooms are -entered without warning, conversations interrupted, and suggestions -offered which, to the foreigner, seem to be of the grossest -impertinence. This intimacy is due partly to the restricted life the -lady leads, and partly to the fact that many of the servants are distant -relatives. Practically the only news from the outside world that comes -to the woman behind the walls is brought by her sons or by the servants. -She makes few visits, and these usually at the home of some relative, -entering her closely covered chair within her courtyard and carried -swiftly to the courtyard of the house where she is to visit. There is no -such thing as “calling” between the wives of men who are mutually -interested in affairs or who are business associates. The wife of a -Treaty Commissioner called upon the wives of the Chinese officials who -were associated with her husband in conducting the treaty. They were -very polite and returned her call, but are still wondering _why_ she -called. - -The wife of a consul wished to give a luncheon to the wife of the Mayor -of Shanghai. She asked the interpreter who was assisting her in the -arrangements if other Chinese ladies of the same rank might be asked. -The interpreter said, “No; a Chinese lady would rather not meet women -other than relatives.” - -The Chinese wife lives entirely for her family and with her family. She -rarely goes to a public place of amusement, although in some of the -ports, like Shanghai and Canton, entire families are seen at the Chinese -theatres. Theatrical companies come to the houses of the rich and -official class for the amusement of guests, and story-tellers and -musicians, nearly always blind, go from door to door asking to be taken -into the women’s courtyards to help while away the dreary hours. -Astrologers and fortune-tellers pass along the resident streets, -striking their little gong to attract the notice of the women behind the -walls. They are extremely clever, and cast horoscopes in a manner -similar to that of the Egyptians of olden times. They are very popular -among the Chinese women, as are fortune-tellers with women of all races. - -We are prone to sympathize with the Chinese woman because of the -plurality of wives, but one sees little evidence of the need of our -sympathy. The Chinese have a saying: “The head wife should cherish the -inferior wives as the great tree cherishes the creepers that gather -round it.” I do not know whether this sage advice is always followed, -but I have seen the several wives of many officials, all friendly as -sisters and all working for the common good of the home. - -I called upon the wife of an official and was met at the door by two -ladies. One of them was a very old Chinese lady, with the smallest bound -feet that I have ever seen; they could not have been more than 2½ inches -in length. She was partially supported on one side by a servant, and on -the other by a beautifully dressed Manchu woman. After I was seated in -the place of honour at the left of the elderly lady, and tea was -brought, I asked the usual question, “What is your honourable age?” She -replied, “Sixty-two”; then, as always follows, I said, “How many -children have you?” She replied, “Five.” I asked their ages, and, to my -astonishment, heard her say that the eldest was seventeen years and the -youngest two months. When I could find words to continue the -conversation, I turned to the Manchu lady and asked her practically the -same questions. She replied that she was thirty-five years old, was the -mother of five children, the eldest being seventeen years and the -youngest two months. Then I realized that the first wife had no -children, but, according to Chinese custom, claimed as her own all -children born to the secondary wives. - -The custom was further exemplified by the wife of a magistrate who was -calling upon me, accompanied by the second wife. After the usual -questions in regard to age and health, I asked this lady how many -children she possessed. She looked at me in a puzzled manner for a -moment, then turned to the other wife and, keeping track of the names by -turning down a finger at each count, said: “Let me see—how many children -have I? Tsai-an has three, Wo-kee has five—that is eight; Ma-lu has -two—ten; Sin Yun has four—fourteen; Sih-peh two—sixteen; and you have -three”; then, turning to me, she said, “I have nineteen children.” - -I have a Chinese friend who lived in Canton until he became involved in -some political trouble that caused him to leave for Shanghai, where he -would be under the protection of the foreign settlements. He left behind -him his mother, four wives, and sixteen children. He became lonely in -his exile, and asked his mother to send him a couple of his wives. She -wrote him that they were busy attending to the education of their -children, and that they did not speak the dialect in Shanghai and would -feel like strangers; consequently it would be better for him to marry a -couple of women native to the province, who would be more contented. He -took her advice. - -There is an American woman doctor in Shanghai who goes to the homes of -the rich Chinese in the practice of her profession. I asked her one day -if she knew the wife of Mr. Lu, a prominent merchant who had a most -beautiful home on the smart drive in Shanghai. She replied that she knew -a part of her—numbers one, four, seven, and eleven. A rich man is only -restricted in the number of wives he may possess by his ability to -support them. Gossip says—I do not know how true it is—that Yuan Shi-kai -has the unlucky number of thirteen wives beneath the roof-tree of the -President’s palace in Peking. - -One would naturally suppose that endless complications of a disagreeable -nature, leading to quarrels and bitterness, would arise, yet there does -not seem to be more unhappiness in the average Chinese home than in -those of any other country. The first wife, she who has been chosen by -the parents, is the head of the household, and her word is law, the -other wives practically occupying the position of servants. That is the -theory, but in actual practice she who is fortunate enough to be the -mother of sons, or perhaps the last girl-wife, is generally the -favourite, and wields great influence over the master of the household. -I said to a woman calling upon me one day that I should not feel so -badly after the first wife was chosen to replace me, but that the choice -of my immediate successor would make me very unhappy. She looked -astonished, and said: “That depends entirely upon the woman. If she is -agreeable and pleasant, it is a pleasure to have her in the family. -Often a first wife chooses a second.” - -We of the Western world look upon a great many wives as a luxury only to -be enjoyed by the very rich. I have a friend who is very intimate in a -Chinese family in which there are five wives. Since hearing her talk I -have changed my mind in regard to the luxury of the plurality of wives. -In this household the first wife lives with the husband’s family at -their country place; the other four live with him. The husband supplies -a cook for the common use of the family, and this cook provides rice, -the staple article of food for the household. Each wife is given a -servant and one pound a month with which to buy her luxuries, and once a -year she is given a complete suit of silk or satin clothing, and if a -favourite, I presume she receives jewels, etc., from her husband. A man -told me that in the interior of China (Shanghai, Peking, and some of the -larger cities are much more expensive) he could support easily his four -wives and fourteen children on an income of £200 a year. - -There are many foolish women who marry attachés of the Chinese embassies -in England and America, or, more foolish still, who marry a Chinese -merchant. They are, in fact, marrying the romance of the East -represented to them in the person of the suave little almond-eyed man, -and they pay bitterly for their mistake if they ever return to their -husband’s country. They are recognized by neither Chinese nor -foreigners, have no social standing in any community, and lead an -existence that calls for pity. - -There lived in Shanghai a man who had once been a secretary of the -Legation in London. He had a great career ahead of him until he married -an Englishwoman, when he was ordered home, degraded, and lived for years -as the petty official in the office of the mayor of the city, at a wage -scarcely liveable even for a Chinese. His wife, recognized by neither -English nor Chinese, became addicted to opium and drink, and died after -a few years of unhappiness. A woman doctor told me that she found the -body lying in an outhouse, on a bundle of straw, waiting for burial, -where finally it found a resting-place in a Chinese cemetery. - -A few years ago a woman came to the English Consul in Nanking and asked -for protection. She had married a Chinese merchant in London, and on his -return to his own country he met with business reverses that reduced him -practically to the position of a coolie. She had been forced to go into -the paddy-fields transplanting rice. It is bad enough to see a Chinese -woman standing in the mud and water to her knees, doing this -back-breaking work, but it would be heartrending to see a woman of our -race toiling alongside of the ignorant Chinese peasant, under the rays -of the tropical sun, which beats down so pitilessly upon the exposed -rice-fields. The Consul was extremely sorry for the woman, but could not -interfere in the domestic life of a Chinese subject. When she found -nothing could be done for her, she took the little round ball of sleep -with which so many Chinese wives pass across the bridge of death—opium. - -If these women who think that it would be such a wonderful experience to -live in the glorious East, of which they have read most glittering -tales, would realize that when the man returns to his homeland his -parents have the right of choosing a wife for him, who is his real wife, -and the poor foreign woman is reduced to the position of a concubine, I -think many of them would not take a step so fatal to happiness. Dr. -Barchet, of the Baptist Mission near Ningpo, saw an American woman -living in a small village who was one of four wives, all occupying the -same peasant’s cottage. When asked why she did not return to her -homeland, she said that she was ashamed to have her people learn of her -great mistake, as she married against their wishes. The bad air and -coarse food were having their effect upon this delicately raised girl, -and she was a victim to the great white plague that claims so many lives -in China. - -Suicide is very common among the women of China. When the mother-in-law -becomes too oppressive, or life becomes intolerable from other causes, -the wife often takes the law into her own hands and takes opium or jumps -into the well. She then not only receives surcease from her sorrows, -but, according to Chinese superstition, her spirit will linger around -the home, haunting and tormenting the person who was the cause of her -taking the fatal step. - -There is very little intercourse between foreign and Chinese women. The -latter do not seem to care about making the acquaintance of the women -from over the seas. It is only of late years that the wives of foreign -officials in Shanghai have had any intercourse with the families of the -local officials. Such intercourse consists simply in an interchange of -calls, and a luncheon given once a year by the wife of the senior -Consul, and returned by the wife of the Chinese taotai or mayor. There -can never be any degree of friendship between the Chinese woman and the -European. Their lives are radically different; the Chinese woman’s -ideals are not the same as those of her foreign sister. Their only -common subject of conversation is in regard to their children; and even -there a bar is soon put across the conversation, as the Chinese mother -has different hopes and ambitions for the future of her children than -those of the woman from England or America. She knows nothing of the -outside world, and her only subjects of conversation relate to household -gossip, clothes, and the actions of her friends. In Shanghai a society -is formed that is trying to bring the women of all nationalities into -touch with one another, but it is not a very great success so far as the -Chinese lady is concerned. She feels awkward and ill at ease in the -presence of these women, who talk so easily on matters of which she -knows nothing, and she much prefers the quiet of her courtyards, amidst -the life she understands. - -When a Chinese lady is persuaded to go into the world she is always most -dignified, even under embarrassing circumstances. I once gave a luncheon -for the wife of a Governor of a province, to which the wives of the -consuls and a few other ladies were invited, about twenty in all. When -the guest of honour arrived all the other guests rose to meet her. As -she entered the doorway her tiny bound feet stepped upon a rug, which -slipped from beneath her, and instead of swaying gently across the room -she sat down and slid to the feet of her astonished hostess. She was -helped to rise by the frightened guests, and turned and shook hands with -them gravely, without a flicker of the eyelids to indicate that sliding -was not the usual mode of entering a drawing-room. - -The Chinese lady is trained not to show emotion of any kind. Her face, -to be beautiful, must be absolutely placid, care-free, “like unto the -full moon in its glory.” They consider the foreign woman extremely ugly, -with their long, care-lined faces. They say that if it were not for the -clothing they could not distinguish men from women. Their faces, with -their prominent noses and deep-set eyes, appear to them coarse and -unrefined. I have seen children when suddenly confronted with a foreign -woman scream in terror. - -The Chinese do not impress the casual visitor as a nervous people. It is -said that they can bear without murmuring the most severe punishments, -and a torture that would reduce a foreign man to frenzy will elicit only -a groan from a member of this phlegmatic race. The women seem to share -with their menfolk in this lack of “nerves.” I once made a visit to the -wife of the city magistrate, whose home was in the official “yamen.” She -showed me over her house, and on entering her bedroom I went to the only -window in the room to see what kind of a view was to be obtained. What -was my horror to find that the window looked directly upon the -punishment courtyard, where a man was then being held down upon his face -and a bamboo vigorously applied by the lictor. The moans of the victim -could be faintly heard, and what it would be in the summer-time, when -the windows were open, could very well be imagined. I turned to my -hostess and said, “How frightful! How can you stand it?” She shrugged -her shoulders and said, “Oh, one becomes used to it.” - -The Chinese woman is very devout, and observes all the feast days and -days of fasting. It is really the woman who keeps up the religion of -Confucius and Buddha. An official who had just returned from sacrificing -to the dragon who was supposed to have swallowed the sun at the time of -an eclipse, was asked if he believed in this dragon. He laughed and -said, “Of course not.” “Then,” the curious questioner continued, “why do -you do it?” He said, “Why do men in America go to church? Mainly because -their wives wish them to go. It is the same here. It is the women who -are the spiritual force of China. It is they who are devout, and it is -they who keep open the temples and preserve the belief in the gods.” - -[Illustration: - - WHEELBARROW AND COOLIE—USED IN PLACE OF WAGONS IN TOWNS AND COUNTRY - VILLAGES NEAR SHANGHAI. - - To face p. 236.] - -The Chinese woman’s religion is difficult of definition, but whatever -she is, a follower of the teachings of Confucius or of the Great Buddha, -she turns to her gods both in time of trouble and in time of -thanksgiving. It is a real factor in her life. Buddhism has a great -festival in the spring, about the time of our Easter. Then the roads are -covered with processions of women going or coming from the temples. All -ranks are seen—the lady borne swiftly along in her sedan chair with the -spirit money hanging from the poles; the middle-class woman riding on -the passenger wheelbarrows with four or five of her friends, with her -incense and candles in her lap; and the poor woman trudging along the -stone-covered road, carrying her offerings in a basket of rice-straw -which she has woven at home. When they arrive at the temple they are all -of one great sisterhood. The spirit money of rich and poor alike is -placed in the great incense-burner in the outer courtyard, where it goes -up in flames to the gods. Then the temple is entered, the candles are -lighted, and the incense is placed before the particular deity whose -kind offices they implore; the head is touched to the floor, prayers are -uttered, and the woman returns to the courtyards, where she may pass the -time with her friends, feeding the carp in the ponds or admiring the -great trees which are found within the courts of many of the big -temples. If a special boon is to be asked, or if there is doubt and -trouble, she takes a hollow bamboo vase, about the size of a quart -measure, in which are a couple of dozen sticks of slit bamboo. She -kneels three times, touching her head to the floor each time, then -shakes the bamboo with a rotary motion until one of the sticks detaches -itself from the others and falls to the floor. This she takes to a -priest, who reads the number upon it and gives her a slip of yellow -paper covered with Chinese characters, and from it she will find the -answer to her prayers. It takes considerable imagination to obtain -solace from one of these pieces of paper, as they are made to fit all -cases, and carry about as much meaning as does the “fortune” on the card -handed one by the figure in the slot-machine for which we pay a penny. - -The gods are not only worshipped at the temples, but religious adoration -plays an important part in the home life. Over the kitchen stove, in a -niche, reposes the household god. From that high place he watches all -that goes on within the household. He knows the sins of commission and -the sins of omission. Once a year he is taken down and with great -ceremony burned and sent up to the Great God to report upon the actions -of the household for the year, and a new god is installed in his place. -In the meantime he is propitiated in various ways. The first thing in -the morning a small bowl of rice and another of water is placed before -him, and incense and candles are burned daily at his feet to gain his -favour. - -Priests are frequent visitors at the homes, and religious ceremonies -attend all the great family events, like the first shaving of the baby’s -head, or that most important day when the mother attains her fiftieth -year. This is a day of general rejoicing, when her children unite and -buy the happy mother the greatest and most precious present she can -receive—her grave-clothes. They are presented amidst much feasting, and -chanting of prayers, and burning of candles and incense, and the mother -is congratulated by all her friends for the blessing of such filial -children. - - - - - CHAPTER XV - THE RED CHAIR OF MARRIAGE - - -The home must have its basis in marriage, and to that important episode -in woman’s life the greatest attention is given. In China, as in India, -the betrothal ceremony is as binding as the marriage, although I am told -that the “new woman” of China is rebelling at the child betrothals and -the lack of freedom granted her in the choice of a mate. It is said that -in Shanghai a couple who have been betrothed in childhood by their -parents, on arriving at marriageable age, may go before a magistrate and -repudiate the agreement, and in many instances their cases have been -upheld even against the protests of father and mother. This shows the -most extreme progressiveness of present-day China, as hitherto a child, -especially a girl, was simply a chattel to be disposed of according to -the dictates of the nearest male relative. Still, with the exception of -the foreign settlement of Shanghai, the old customs of betrothal and -marriage prevail, and the principals in the marriage have very little to -say in regard to the disposal of their future. Often children are -betrothed before their birth by parents, who, being good friends and -desiring to unite the families, agree that if a boy is born in one -family and a girl in the other, they shall marry. Other matches are made -by a professional “go-between,” who is employed by the parents of either -the boy or girl to find a suitable alliance for their child. This -“go-between” is so thoroughly recognized that the Chinese have a saying, -“Without a go-between no happy marriage can be effected.” - -After the search culminates in the discovery of the bride and groom of -equal social standing and endowed with the proper amount of this world’s -goods, the names of the girl and boy are written upon a paper and taken -to the necromancer, who decides whether the marriage will be fortunate. -Every child is born under the protection of some animal; if the -protecting animal of the daughter is a sheep and that of her fiancé a -lion, naturally they should not marry. But if the guardian animal of the -bride-to-be should be a bird, they will live in peace with one another. -The girl must be thirteen or fifteen or seventeen years of age, as an -even number would be most unlucky. Seventeen years is about the average -marriageable age of a Chinese girl at present, although formerly they -married when hardly more than children. - -The marriage customs are essentially the same all over China. The -husband gives a certain sum of money to the bride’s parents, which -varies with the position of the families. Among the poor the girl is -practically sold, although the money is supposedly used for the purchase -of the wedding outfit. The bride’s standing in the family of the husband -often depends largely upon the trousseau and the furnishings she takes -with her to her new home. - -The outfit a girl of the middle class should take with her, in order -that she might command the proper respect of her new relatives, should -include three red trunks, one table, two chairs, one wardrobe, three -tubs, two buckets, one washstand, one dressing-case, a set of scissors, -a footstove, a teapot, wine-pot, two candlesticks, a basin, sugar-bowl, -tea-caddy, one set of cups, a complete set of bowls and dishes, two -wadded quilts, two embroidered pillows, embroidered curtain for the bed, -and a complete outfit of clothing. - -This donation of the bride’s parents to the formation of a new home is -carried before the bride in the wedding procession. Often musicians -herald the coming of a bride, who, from her closely covered red chair, -watches with beating heart the procession taking her to her new -mother-in-law, who can make of her future home a prison or a palace of -love. When she finally arrives at the house, that is decorated with red -hangings and long scrolls of red silk and flowers, both real and -artificial, she sees her husband for the first time as she steps over -the threshold. After the one quick look, they go before the ancestral -tablet, and, kneeling, touch their heads three times to the floor. Thus -she shows that she is now one of the family, worshipping her husband’s -ancestors instead of those of her own family; and after prostrating -themselves before her husband’s parents and drinking from the same cup -as a symbol of their unity, they retire to a room, where they sit upon -two red chairs and the merry-making begins. Their friends come in, and, -facing them, try to make the bride laugh, showing that she will be a -most frivolous woman. There is much music, feasting, and playing of -tricks on this joyous occasion, and for this little woman, dressed in -red satin embroidered in gold, with a big crown upon her head and -bead-fringe hanging over her face, the three days of the wedding -festivities are most wearying. But she realizes that she must enjoy them -if she can, because after they have passed she settles down into the -daughter-in-law, which too often proves to be almost the place of a -slave, or at the most a household drudge. One can imagine the discord -and strife there is within a household where there are several sons who -are married, each bringing his wife to his parents’ home. I knew a -family of grandparents, parents, and children numbering thirty-eight, -all living in one modest house. We can understand the Chinese savant -making the character for discord a roof with two women under it. - -Often in a rich girl’s dowry are slave-girls, and although it is really -against the law to own slaves, it is, in fact, one of the great evils of -China. These helpless people are owned by even the poor. The mother of -my maid possessed two slave-girls whom she had bought when very young. -She treated them well, and when they grew to marriageable age expected -to find husbands for them, giving them an outfit of clothing and a small -dowry. In times of famine girls are sold for very small amounts of money -or exchanged for the more precious rice. This seems most cruel; but in -order that the rest of the family may live, one must be sacrificed. When -everything of value is sold, when the winter clothing is in the -pawnshop, when there is no rice to give to crying children, then there -is but one thing left for the despairing mother, she must sell her -daughter. Chinese mothers are the same as mothers from all over the -world, and she only parts with her little girl as a last resort, to the -merchants who follow the disasters and fatten on the misery of the -Chinese peasant. When it has become known that a famine has made -desperate the poor of a province, the merchants from the tea-houses and -the brothels of the great cities go to the little towns and villages in -the track of the famine, and buy the girls from the fathers and mothers, -who can see nothing but death ahead for all unless they sacrifice one. -The clever, pretty girls are trained for the tea-houses, inmates of -brothels, or concubines of rich men. The ugly, stupid ones are -domestics, and often are most cruelly treated. - -The owners prefer buying the girl very young, from five to seven years -of age, when she can be more easily trained. If she is a pretty girl, -her feet must be bound, and if this is a cruel operation under the -tender hands of a mother, how much more dreadful it may become when -attended to by some one whose only thought is to profit by the girl’s -beauty! - -The slaves in a rich family fare very well. Each child is given one or -two personal servants, and when the children grow up and marry they -follow them to the new home. Often a pretty, attractive slave-girl -becomes the secondary wife of her master, and if she should be so -fortunate as to bear him sons, she ranks with her mistress in the honour -given her within the household. - -There is a home in Shanghai for the rescue of little girls whose -mistresses are more than ordinarily cruel. There is also a branch of the -Florence Crittenden work for the rescue of girls sold to tea-houses. It -is very hard for the people who are engaged in this good work to obtain -the girls unless they are so badly treated that it comes to the notice -of the magistrate, who may send the girl to the home for a given period. - -I saw a pitiful case at a hospital at Soochow. We were sitting in the -clinic when a very pretty woman came in and threw herself on her knees -before the doctor and began to cry. She said between her sobs: “Oh, -foreign doctor, help me to get away, help me, help me!” She was a -respectable girl from Ningpo who had been sold by her husband to a place -in Soochow for four years. She loathed the life, and when for the first -time she had eluded the old woman who always goes out with these -unfortunates to see that they do not get away, she had appealed to the -only hope she knew. Yet that appeal was useless, as nothing could be -done for her. She was nothing but a chattel of her husband, according to -Chinese law, and he had a perfect right to sell her if he wished. I saw -another pretty girl of sixteen who had been sold for eighty dollars to -the same place. She came to the hospital to have her back treated, as -she had been severely beaten with a brick because she would not make -herself sufficiently pleasing to a guest. - -But the average Chinese girl goes to her husband’s home quite likely -within a short distance of her girlhood village, and passes a most -uneventful life, one day being exactly like another unless broken by the -ceremonies attending the births, weddings, and deaths of her husband’s -people. Every village is surrounded by trees and is exactly like its -neighbour, with its one-story, thatched-roof houses, or, perhaps, if the -owner is especially prosperous, the pointed roofs may be formed of -blue-grey tiling. Part of the front yard is beaten and made smooth to be -used for threshing the rice, the front room of the house is used for the -storing of the farming implements, and the other rooms are given to the -different members of the family according to their needs. There is no -light and little ventilation in these rude village homes. Windows are -expensive and cold, as the houses are not heated in the winter. The -mothers may be seen sitting in their doorways, holding in their hands -brass hand-warmers, in which are a few burning coals of charcoal, and -under their feet are the braziers which provide the only heat for these -poor people during the cold months of the year. - -[Illustration: - - RAIN-COATS OF CHINESE WORKMEN. - - To face p. 246.] - -The life lived by these village people is life reduced to its simplest -form. The main food is rice and a little cabbage. Meat is an unknown -quantity unless on special feast days. Beef is not used, as the cow is a -beast of burden, and the Chinese have the same feeling in regard to its -flesh that we have for the flesh of horses. Ducks, chicken, eggs, fish, -crabs, snails, and clams are the poor man’s luxuries. No hole is too -muddy nor water too filthy for a fish-net to be drawn across it, or for -the little crowd of boys who catch the crabs to help fill the family -pot. - -The question of clothes is a simple one and easily solved. The father -wears a pair of blue cotton trousers in the summer, while the mother -wears the same style garment with the addition of an apron effect which -covers the bust. An amulet and a string are sufficient clothing for the -children during the warm days, but when winter comes the wadded clothing -must be brought forth, often from the pawnshop, where it goes in the -spring to obtain money to buy the seed for planting. - -The great prayer which rises from the heart of all Chinese women, rich -and poor, peasant and princess, is to Kwan-yin for the inestimable -blessing of sons. “Sons, give me sons!” is heard in every temple. A -woman is not honoured until she has sons to worship at the tablets of -her husband’s ancestors. One of the chief reasons for divorce in China -is the lack of sons, and if the first wife has no male children, and the -secondary wife has borne sons to her lord, the lot of the first wife is -very bitter. In one of the foreign hospitals in Shanghai for Chinese -women, the wife of an official in Tientsin gave birth, much to her -sorrow, to a girl. She was inconsolable, and would not allow the -dreadful news to be sent to her home, and the doctors feared that she -would take her life. But through a servant the unhappy woman saw a way -to regain the love and respect of her family. At the same time that the -daughter was born to her a beggar-woman in the charity department gave -birth to a boy. She bought the boy and telegraphed her husband, “Thou -art the father of twins.” - -One of the upper servants in a consulate, growing rich on the foreign -spoils, took to himself a second wife, giving as his excuse that he had -four daughters and no sons. At the birth of a son to the new wife the -first wife tried to starve herself to death, and failing that, took -opium and gained her wish. She could not survive the ignominy of being -only the mother of girls. - -Sons mean so much to a Chinese mother that she feels that the gods must -be jealous of her happiness, consequently she puts an ear-ring in one -ear of her boy to deceive the god and make him think the loved one is a -girl. She also calls him her “ugly one,” her “stupid one,” or simply -gives him a number so the gods will not see how much he is loved and -covet her treasure. There is an economic reason behind all this love for -the man-child. A poor Chinese, a workman, cannot save enough money to -provide for even his simple wants in his old age. Try as he may, he can -only earn enough to live upon from day to day, but if he has sons he -knows that when old age comes, and he can no longer work, that care will -be given him and he will not want. There is no crime so great as the -lack of filial piety, and the State punishes severely the son who does -not provide for his aged parents. Indeed, of the five punishments of the -criminal code directed against three thousand offences, disobedience or -neglect of parents is the most severe. - -An illustration of this occurred not long ago in the interior of China. -A man arose in the night at the sound of a burglar, and in the struggle -in the dark the robber was killed. On bringing a light it was found that -the robber was the father of the man whose house he entered. He was -known to be a ne’er-do-well, but the unparalleled act of killing one’s -own father aroused intense excitement in the whole province. The case -was deemed of such importance that it could not be tried by the local -magistrate, but it was transferred to the courts in Peking, which -condemned the man to death, not because he killed the robber, but -because his father had evidently been compelled to rob for a living. - -Another similar case came to the notice of the foreigners in Shanghai. A -man accidentally hit his father with a hoe, causing his death. The whole -village took the man to the city, but while on the road they met the -magistrate, who asked them not to bring the dreadful case before him -officially, but for the clan or village to mete out the punishment and -then report to him. They buried the son alive. - -Missionaries from a town in the interior asked the American Consul to -intervene in the case of a boy nine years old, who, while in play, -allowed a stool accidentally to slip from his hand, hitting his mother -on the head and killing her. He was condemned to death, but because of -his youth was to be kept in prison until he was sixteen, when he would -pay the penalty. The Consul did all in his power to save the boy, but, -outside of friendly arguments, nothing could be done, as he was a -Chinese subject and came under the jurisdiction of Chinese courts of -law. - -Because of this necessity for the provision for the old age of parents, -there are no homes for the aged nor houses for the poor in China, unless -one excepts those established through foreign influence. Each family -must take care of its own helpless, and if a person is so unfortunate as -to have no family, the begging-bowl by the roadside is the only recourse -when the years are many and the once strong arms are weak. - -The filial piety and respect for parents that are so strongly entrenched -in the Chinese character causes the son to obey his father until the day -of his death. I know a man fifty years of age who was offered the post -of secretary of the Embassy in London, but who declined this very -advantageous position because his mother did not want him to go to a -foreign land. He gave up willingly the chance of a lifetime rather than -cause sorrow to his mother in her old age. - -A mission in a certain town was very desirous of buying a certain piece -of ground on which to erect a church, and the plan was balked by the -local official. The missionary conducting the negotiations could find no -suitable reason for the official’s action in the matter, and finally -asked the help of his consul. The taotai was firm in his refusal, and -offered the mission land in another part of the city for their church. -When pressed for a reason for his refusal he finally said: “My mother -passes that place each time she goes to her favourite temple, and she -objects to a building holding a foreign god being erected there. She -thinks it would pollute the good spirits of the air. I know it is what -you call superstition, but she is my mother and I must obey her wishes.” - -Family life has been from time immemorial the foundation-stone of the -Chinese Empire, and filial piety is the foundation-stone of the family -life. The Chinese is taught that the interest of the family is always of -greater importance than the interest of the individual. This respect and -veneration is not only for the living, but also for the dead. The death -days of two generations of parents are kept sacred with solemn rites, -and every home has its family shrine, to which all the members must pay -due reverence. - -This respect and worship is paid by the woman to the ancestors of her -husband’s family, as it is her destiny on reaching womanhood to go to a -new home and live in submission to her new parents, and burn incense -before the shrines of her husband’s people. When she marries she -practically leaves her home for ever. If she is returned to it—that is, -if she is divorced—“shame shall cover her to her latest hour.” Divorce -is very rare in China, but there are seven reasons given for divorcing a -wife. The first is disobedience to father- or mother-in-law, barrenness, -lewdness, leprosy, overmuch talking, and stealing. - -The woman is taught that her lifelong duty is obedience. Her husband -must be looked upon as “heaven itself,” and she must pay all outward -respect to his parents. Her first duty each morning is to bring a cup of -tea to the bedside of her husband’s mother, and to bow her head before -her as a sign of submission and respect. She is taught that the only -qualities that benefit a woman are gentle obedience, chastity, -quietness, and mercy, and that the five worst infirmities that may -afflict a female are indocility, discontent, slander, jealousy, and -silliness. Confucius says: “These five vices are found in seven or eight -out of every ten women, and it is from these that arise the inferiority -of the sex.” - -Generations of this teaching has made the Chinese woman into a modest, -quiet, lovable woman, to be protected and cared for, appealing to all -that is chivalrous in her menfolk, her very weakness her greatest -strength. - - - - - CHAPTER XVI - WHEN CHINESE WOMEN DIE - - -In a country where the worship of ancestors plays such an important part -in the religion, death has a greater meaning than it has for those of -Western lands. The Chinese spend far too much upon the ceremonies -connected with death, rich and poor alike vying with each other in the -elaborate arrangements for the disposal of their dead. I met not long -ago the funeral procession accompanying the body of a captain of labour -to his last resting-place. He was many times a millionaire, who began -life as a boatman. The sons boasted that they spent twenty thousand -dollars on his funeral. There were eight native bands in the procession, -led by the European band of Shanghai, twenty men carrying banners and -umbrellas, about fifty men carrying scrolls, on which were written the -name and rank of the deceased; there were over two hundred Buddhist -priests, dressed in their sackcloth robes, and the wailing mourners and -friends in their mourning clothes of white, followed in sedan-chairs and -carriages. The enormous coffin was covered with red embroidered satin -and carried by thirty chanting coolies. Within the home the walls were -covered with white, and there were long scrolls from friends telling of -their sympathy and of the greatness of the deceased family. At twenty -tables, seating eight each, feasting was carried on day and night for a -week. - -In the summer-time there are hundreds of deaths, and the funerals of the -poor pass our house daily. They are very different from the elaborate -processions of the rich men. The coffins, instead of being made of the -finest teak or heaviest ebony, are nothing but plain, rough boxes, and -the mourners either are on wheelbarrows or they walk to the place of the -dead, the weeping wife being supported on each side by a friend, who -practically carries her as she stumbles along in her grief. Paper money -is always scattered in front of the corpse in order to pay his way into -the new world; and often one sees either a live rooster or an imitation -one standing on the coffin to bring back to his home one of the man’s -three souls. - -The body is often kept months within the houses before a suitable day is -found by the necromancer on which to bury him, but because of the manner -of preparing for burial it is not insanitary to keep a corpse in the -house for a few months. The coffins are made of hardwood of four or five -inches in thickness. First a certain number of bags of lime are placed -in the bottom, varying according to the weight of the person; over that -is laid a wadded blanket, if of a rich family it is of silk and often -embroidered, if the person be poor it is only cotton; the body is laid -in the coffin, dressed in as handsome a suit of wadded clothing as is -consistent with the means of the family; the ancestral tablet is laid -upon the breast, paper money at the feet; he is covered with the blanket -and the coffin hermetically sealed. The coffin is the most precious -possession of the Chinese, and is often purchased years before death in -order that they may be sure of a dignified last resting-place. - -We often hear stories told at women’s clubs of mothers who throw babies -within the “baby tower” to die. These baby towers are small, round -houses, situated on the outskirts of a city or a village for the purpose -of permitting the poor to dispose of their dead children without the -expense of a coffin or a funeral. The interior of the house is partially -filled with quicklime, and a small door opening on to a slanting chute -permits the poor mother to give her baby its final resting-place. I have -never heard of a case of a live baby being sent to these baby towers, as -I found that a mother’s heart is the same all over the world. My cook -came to me one morning with his eyes red from weeping. I asked him the -cause of his sorrow, and he told me that his three-months-old baby had -died the evening before. He had no money with which to pay for its -burial, so in the night, when the mother had at last fallen into a -sleep, he softly arose and, wrapping the tiny body in a blanket, had -laid it upon the table with twenty cents beside it in order that the -garbage-man who came in the early morning might take it to the baby -tower outside the city. I said to him: “But, cook, why did you not bury -it properly? Does not your wife feel very badly?” He shook his head -sorrowfully, and said: “Yes, she too muchee cry, but what can we do? We -must buy rice for live babies.” That is the great secret of the stoicism -of the Chinese race. They must buy rice for the living, and what often -seems to us as heartlessness and cruelty is simply the effect of the -great economic pressure in a land where millions are on the verge of -starvation, and where the lack of a day’s work means the lack of a day’s -food. - -In times of great epidemics rich Chinese and the guilds or clubs of -different forms of industry, such as the Bankers’ Guild, the Tea Guild, -or the Goldsmiths’ Guild, provide coffins for the burial of the poor, -and in times of famine these same guilds are most generous to their less -fortunate brothers. Near Soochow is a tomb of a man who gave his entire -fortune to relieving the wants of the people of his province during a -time of famine. He is buried in the most picturesque spot in the hills, -the road to which is bordered by a great many enormous boulders that -rise straight up from the ground. The Chinese say that these stones -stood up to show their respect for the great man when his body was -carried to its last resting-place and that they are waiting his commands -to lie down again. - -The dead are buried on the family estate; if there is not room for all, -a spot is leased from a neighbour. The interment is not beneath the -surface except in a few provinces; the coffin is set on the ground and -the dirt is heaped over it. Sometimes the fields are so thickly covered -with mounds that there is little room left for cultivation. Especially -is this so in the country around Shanghai, which looks to the casual -passer-by like one vast graveyard. Funeral expenses for parents are the -most sacred of obligations, and it is not uncommon for the sons to part -with everything they have in the world in order to render proper respect -to the memory of their parents. A son is supposed to mourn three years -for his father, during which time all occupation is to cease. In the -case of a son holding an important official position, he often has to -resign his post during the period of mourning, or else be called -unfilial. Strict mourning for the mother only lasts three months, -otherwise the same honour is paid her memory as given to the head of the -household. - -When a woman is left a widow, she often vows that she will not remarry, -and she spends her life in pious acts that cause her village or her clan -at her death to erect a memorial to her honour. This is generally in the -form of an arch, built of stone and erected near her village. In the -country districts one can see many of these concrete evidences of the -respect which the Chinese have for loyal womanhood. - - - - - CHAPTER XVII - CHANGING CHINA - - -China is changing so rapidly, and is becoming so thoroughly Westernized, -especially in the ports where the Chinese come in contact with the -foreigner, that she can scarcely be recognized by her old-time friends. -We all admit that the change is for the better so far as the nation is -concerned, but whether it makes for the individual good is another and -more serious question. China is flooded with foreign adventurers who -want her untouched wealth, and who have cast their greedy eyes upon her -mines of coal and iron and gold. These foreigners from all classes and -grades of society have brought dishonesty and corruption in business -dealings to the merchant of China, whose word in the old time was as -good as his bond. In those days when a Chinaman said, “Can putee book,” -it was known that the contract was settled and that he would live up to -his spoken word, whether it meant loss or profit to him. But when -dealing with the foreigner the Chinese found that there were no old-time -customs to bind the merchant from over the seas, except those of bond -and written agreement. If he had any traditions of honour, he evidently -left them in the homeland, as nothing less than a court of law would -hold him to his contract if it seemed expedient for him to break it. - -[Illustration: - - RICE-BOATS ON CANAL, CHINA. - - To face p. 260.] - -For years the word “China” meant to the adventurer of other lands a -place for exploitation, where money was to be obtained easily by the man -with fluent tongue and winning ways. Even foreign officials did not -scruple to use their influence to enter trade. In one of the great -inland cities there was no water nearer than a river several miles away. -A foreign official, boring an artesian well upon his place and finding -pure, clear water, conceived the idea of boring wells throughout the -city and bringing water to the doors of the half-million of people who -resided in its narrow streets. He interested the officials and raised a -sum of money, and to doubly assure the Chinese that their money was safe -he signed the contracts, not only with his name but affixed to them the -great seal of his Government. After a few months’ trip to his homelands, -and a few aimless borings in the earth in search of the water that never -came, he relinquished the project, but not the money, and the officials -could do nothing but gaze sadly into the great holes that had taken -their silver. They learned that wisdom comes with experience and now put -into practice the proverb: “When a man has been burned once with hot -soup, he for ever afterwards blows upon cold rice.” - -Another case in which the Chinese officials were duped by clever-tongued -foreigners was in Ningpo. Three Americans visited that city and talked -long and loud of the dark streets, the continual fires caused by the -flickering lamps of oil that were being constantly overturned by the -many children. They showed the officials the benefits of electricity, -that a light upon each corner would make it impossible for robbers and -evildoers to carry on their work, which must be done in darkness. They -promised to turn night into day, to give poor as well as rich the -incandescent lamp at no greater cost than the bean-oil wick. They were -most plausible, and raised thirty thousand dollars as contract money. -They left, ostensibly to buy machinery; the years have passed; they -never have returned. Ningpo still has streets of darkness, men still -walk abroad with lighted lanterns, the lamp is seen within the cottage, -and will continue to be quite likely until the hills shall fade, if -electricity depends upon the officials who once dreamed dreams of a city -lit by a light from Western lands. - -This is one of the most serious handicaps of the missionary in trying to -Christianize China. The dissolute white man is in every port, -manifesting a lust, greed, and brutality which the Chinese, who are -accustomed to associate the citizenship of a person with his religion, -attribute to Christianity. It is no wonder that it is hard for the -missionary to make converts among the people who have business dealings -with men from Christian nations. - -But there are other questions besides those of business integrity -vitally affecting the Chinese youth to-day. Along with the slight -knowledge which they have obtained of the manners and customs of the -Western world, they have absorbed many of its vices. With their -rose-wine and their samshu the Chinese boy has learned to drink -champagne and brandy. I know the father of five sons who told me that he -would give all that he possessed in the world if he had not brought -those sons to Shanghai. - -Change is now the order of the day in China, educationally as well as -politically. We do not hear the children shouting their tasks at the top -of their little voices, nor do they learn by heart the thirteen -classics. The simple schoolroom, with hard benches and earthen floor, -with a faint light striking through the unglazed windows, is no more. -The old-time examinations at Peking have gone, the degrees which have -been the nation’s pride have been abolished, the subjects of study in -the schools have been completely changed. The privileges which were once -given the scholars, the social and political offices which were once -open to the winners of the highest prizes, have been thrown upon the -altar of modernity. The faults of the old system of education lay in the -stress it placed upon the memorizing of the many books whose contents -were not always understood by the young mind, and in the lack of -original ideas that might be expressed by a student, who must give the -usual interpretation of the classics. Now the introduction of free -thought and private opinion has produced an upheaval in the minds of -China’s young men, and they say what they think, even trying to show -that Confucius was at heart a staunch Republican, and that Mencius only -thinly veiled his sentiments of modern philosophy. It is generally -conceded that the newer education leads to the greater individualism -which is now the battle-cry of China. - -The Chinese, both men and women, are reaching out eager hands to obtain -for themselves the knowledge that is being brought from other lands. Yet -this thirst for education is not a newly acquired virtue, for in no -country is real learning held in higher esteem than in China. It is the -greatest characteristic of the nation that in every grade of society -education is considered above all else. As a race they have devoted -themselves to the cultivation of literature for a longer period by some -thousands of years than any existing nation. To literature, and to it -alone, they look for the rule to guide them in their conduct. To them -all writing is sacred, and the very symbols and materials used in the -making of the written character have become objects of veneration. Even -the smallest village is provided with a scrap-box, into which every bit -of paper containing printed or written words is carefully placed, to -await a suitable occasion when it may be burned. - -The mission schools have been the pioneers in the education of the young -people of China, and if the teaching of Christianity has not as yet made -many converts, the effect has been great in the spread of higher ideals -of education, and much of the credit of the progress of the modern life -of China to-day must be given to the mission schools, which have opened -new pathways in the field of learning and caused the youth of China to -demand a higher system of education throughout the land. - -It is said that practically all the officials in the new China are men -who have been educated abroad or who have been in one of the many -mission schools scattered throughout the country. They are the ones who -have taken what they have learned of foreign lands and adapted it to the -needs of their country; but there are others who have been abroad only -long enough to acquire the veneer of Western education, and they are the -young men who become the discontented ones of China. - -When Chinese boys go to a foreign land they have many difficulties to -overcome. They must receive their information and instruction in a -language not their mother tongue. They have small chance to finish their -education by practical work in bank or shop or factory. They get a mass -of book knowledge and little opportunity to practise the theories that -they learn, and they are not clever enough to understand that their -textbook knowledge is nearly all foreign to their country and to the -temperament of their race. When they return to their home they often -find that they have grown out of touch with their people’s ways and -customs. They come back looking for employment, for a chance to use -their new-found knowledge; but they feel that they should begin at the -top of the ladder instead of working up slowly rung by rung, as their -fathers did before them. They feel that they are entitled to be masters, -not realizing that even with this wonderful foreign education acquired, -experience is necessary to make them leaders of great enterprises or of -men. It is these boys who are the teashop orators and preach the -Socialistic dogma for which China will not be prepared for many years to -come. - -The Chinese boys and girls are going too far and too fast in their -thirst for the broader knowledge and teaching of the Western world. It -is like the clothes that the Chinese girl is wearing, trying to imitate -her sisters of the Occident. She has discarded the soft, clinging silks, -the gay embroideries, the jade and flowers in her black locks, for the -straight, dark skirt, the ugly coats, and the untidy manner of dressing -the hair seen with the European women of the coast towns. These do not -become her, any more than the scientific degrees become the woman who -has been for centuries a woman of the home. We do not condemn education -for the Chinese woman any more than we entirely condemn the change in -the style of clothing; but they should both be adapted to the -individual. This new education seems to be too general, the personality -of the boy or girl being entirely left out. The youth are being made -into a set of jelly-moulds, all looking alike, all trying to be formed -upon the models brought them from England or America. - -Three things should be taken into account—who the boy or girl is, where -he is, and where he is going. The mistake should not be made in China -that has been made in India—that is, the turning out of a race of -barristers and clerks from her schools. China needs technical schools -for her boys and common sense applied to the education of her girls. I -have been in a school for the education of the daughters of the better -class of Chinese, where the main accomplishment for which the girl was -applauded was her facility in rendering a piece upon the piano. I should -have said “executing” a piece upon the piano, because that is exactly -what is done when a Chinese girl attempts to interpret foreign music. It -is alien to her in every way, and generations of study will not make the -Chinese maiden a musician in the foreign sense, nor will they really -care for the foreign music. These girls who have wasted so many hours in -the practise of the piano will go to homes where they cannot have a -piano, or if they did have one they would be the only persons in the -family who would appreciate its music. It would be a conglomeration of -bad sounds to father, mother, husband. Many feel that the young girls -would be better employed in learning a musical instrument understood and -appreciated by her people and one that would give pleasure to her -husband at night, and perhaps be a factor in keeping him from the -tea-house, and the singing girls who have a monopoly of the musical -talent of China. - -Another thing that causes sorrow to the conservative fathers and mothers -is the fact that as soon as their children receive a smattering of the -Western civilization they immediately begin to scoff at their own modes -of acquiring knowledge and the text-books which have trained their -people’s minds for so many years. They become proud of the fact that -they know nothing of the classics, and they quote Shelley, Byron, Burns, -and Browning instead of their own beautiful poets. But, what is more -serious for the youth of this Eastern land, this worldly knowledge seems -to have freed his intelligence without teaching him self-control, and it -has taken him away from the gods of his fathers without replacing them -with others. He, like his cousin of Japan, is inclined to become -agnostic and say, “There are no gods.” - -Whether the religion from the West is the religion best suited for the -Oriental we cannot say, but whatever he receives from us must be adapted -to fit the needs and conditions of his race and country. China must -raise up leaders from her own people, both men and women, as her -regeneration will come from within, not without. More and more the West -must see that the East and the West may meet, but they can never mingle. -Foreigners can never enter the inner door of Chinese thought or feeling. -The door is never wholly opened, the curtain never quite drawn aside -between the two races. They are unlike in almost every characteristic. -The Westerner is much more a materialist than is the cultured man of -China. To him the taste of the tea is not so important as the aroma, and -the acquiring of wealth and honours is not so much to be desired as is -the ability to live the leisured life, the life of thought and -meditation, when he may sit apart from the noise and cares of the -present day. - -The rush and worry of the Western world seem to have penetrated even to -the women’s courtyard, and there is no doubt that the new China will be -Westernized in every department of her being. But we who love China hope -that she will not change too rapidly, that she will take what is -necessary for her happiness from the knowledge and the mode of life of -the Occident, but that she will touch it with her own individuality, -making it a real part of her and not simply becoming an imitation of the -alien people by whom she is surrounded. - -There is a charm about old China, and there is more than a charm about -the old-time secluded Chinese women, who have been protected and guarded -from life’s worries and battles, until they represent all that is most -beautiful and feminine and demand the chivalry of the men of the world. - -Let the West come to China with all its modern inventions and its -politics and educational policies, but let us always be able to find -within its quiet courtyards the quiet, sweet-faced woman of China. - - - - - CHAPTER XVIII - JAPANESE WOMEN AT HOME - - -I have been eight times to Japan, living in the big European hotels in -Yokohama, Tokio, Kobe, and Nagasaki, stopping for days at a time in the -native inns in the interior, or visiting at the homes of friends. I -decided that my ninth trip to the little island would be different; -consequently we planned a few months’ stay in some out-of-the-way place -where we could keep house and live _à la Japonaise_. We had heard of the -beauties of Hakodate, the most northern port of any size in Japan, and -obtaining a letter to the American Consul, we wrote him asking if it -were possible for him to find us a furnished Japanese house for the -summer months. We were delighted to hear a few days later that he had -found a place for us, the summer home of a rich merchant, situated on -the mountain-side, overlooking the sea, and surrounded by giant -cryptomerias and pines. Needless to say, we were soon on our way to this -paradise. - -There were only four berths in the sleeping-car on the Northern Express, -and we engaged two, but were not given the opportunity of using them. At -one of the stations a prince with his retinue came on the train and -pre-empted the entire car. He used only one of the berths, as no one -could sleep over him, nor evidently near him, and on all the long -journey he selfishly occupied the room by himself, while we, in company -with the half-dozen men composing his suite, had to fit ourselves into a -tiny compartment that should have only accommodated four. The men -removed their elaborate outer robes, curled themselves into comfortable -positions, and smoked and chatted or slept until a station of any -importance was neared, when they donned their gowns, threw around their -necks a long, stiff piece of silk on which was embroidered the Imperial -chrysanthemum, and prepared to receive the delegation of townspeople who -were always at the station to present an address to his Imperial -Highness, or to send in an elaborate meal, served on beautifully -lacquered trays. - -I had a good look at the prince on his entrance, and found him exactly -like the representations of the daimios of olden times that we see on -the fans and tea-boxes. He had the long, slim, pale face of the -aristocrat, absolutely different from the round-faced Japanese who -comprise the greatest proportion of the island’s population. He looked -as if he might almost belong to another race. I was told by one of his -men that he represented to many thousands of the people a god, as in his -branch of the family a certain godhead had descended from father to son. -When the train stopped for any length of time at a station, the people -came in crowds and knelt, touching their heads to the ground, and one -old lady kept bowing and holding up her hands, with the tears streaming -down her face at the joy of beholding so great a divinity. He looked at -them without seeing them at all, never showing by any motion or sign -that there was anything to be seen except the distant hills. I do not -see how it was possible for any human being to look so thoroughly -impersonal at a crowd of bowing, worshipping people, when he knew he was -the object of all the adoration. Yet he looked at them as if their faces -were windows and their back hair the landscape. - -Train travel is interesting in Japan, if one will travel in the ordinary -day coach and watch the people. The Japanese are great travellers, and -the clack-clack of their wooden clogs makes a deafening noise at the -stations, especially on the bridges leading over the tracks. One sees -whole families going for an outing or on a visit to a distant relative. -They come on the train with bundles and packages—most mysterious things -done up in large squares of cloth. They drop their shoes before the seat -and curl their feet under them, and proceed thoroughly to enjoy -themselves. The seats run lengthwise of the cars, and often a little -woman gets tired of looking out of the windows or at her -fellow-passengers opposite, and, turning her back on the car and sitting -practically upright, will lean her face against the side of the window -and go to sleep. The manner in which they can sit upon their feet for -hours impresses a foreigner. At the larger stations tea in tiny pots, -with a little porcelain cup, is brought in by the salesmen, and “bento,” -the lunch of cold rice, pickles, and fish of some description, is sold -in neat boxes, the dainty lunch only costing ten cents, including a pair -of new wooden chopsticks. The Japanese masses, like their prototypes -everywhere, enjoy eating in public, and the car is filled with the -divers and sundry odours of fruit, sweets, tea, and food. They are not -noisy, and always most polite, and because of the dainty clothes of the -women and children, and the variety of their colouring, a few hours can -be spent quite well in studying travelling Japanese close at hand. At -one station a party of pilgrims came on, dressed in white. They belonged -to some club in a far northern village whose members paid a small -assessment each week, and each year lots were chosen to judge who should -benefit by the annual pilgrimage to some famous shrine or to Mount Fuji. -The lucky winners in the lottery joined other pilgrims, donned the -pilgrim’s dress, and under the direction of a guide made the one great -visit of their lives, the wonders of which they would be able to tell -their amazed neighbours when they returned. These would listen with -interest, as it might be their good fortune to draw the lucky number the -coming year. - -At the end of our long train ride, Amorri, we went on the small boat -bound for Hakodate, where we were met by the Consul, a jolly, big, -whole-hearted man, who took us, metaphorically speaking, at once to his -bosom and became as a long-lost brother. His wife, much to our surprise, -was a tiny little Japanese woman, no bigger than a good-sized doll, and -as pretty as a picture. They looked so incongruous together that one was -inclined to smile. He weighed at least 250 lb., was over six feet tall; -and I should think that when dressed in all her finery, Mrs. Consul -might have weighed 85 lb. She was a well-educated, well-informed little -woman, who needed all her charm and tact to keep her unruly family in -order. It was a big one, the last, a boy, being the pride of the -father’s heart, and as nearly spoiled as the clever mother would allow -him to be by his worshipping father. When I knew them better it was a -joy to me to see how she managed these children. The father, who had -been at one time captain of a sailing vessel, always spoke to them as if -they were at the top of a mast on a wintry night with a cyclone blowing. -Tommy, the irrepressible, would get up on the window seat, and his -father would hail him in a voice that could be heard by the boats coming -from Kamschatka: “Tommy, get out of that window seat; you’ll break your -neck.” Tommy would not move; again his father’s stentorian tone would -offend the evening air. The quiet little mother would turn and give a -nod of her pretty head to Tommy, and Tommy would immediately climb down -from his perch and proceed to behave himself as young boys should. - -The Consulate was partly foreign and partly Japanese, and the children -while at home in the morning dressed in kimona and wooden clogs, but in -the afternoon they were gay in “home” dresses and resplendent in hair -ribbons, only showing by the little turn of the eyes that they were -members of their mother’s race. - -[Illustration: - - JAPANESE CHILDREN PLAYING. - - To face p. 276.] - -Soon after our arrival we went to see the place that was to be our home -for the next few months. We did not see the house until we came to the -great gateway with its pointed roof leading into a path shaded by giant -cryptomerias, completely guarding the house from view of the passer-by. -This hillside garden contained about five acres of land, in which were -winding pathways, giant pine-trees, terraces of flowers, and here and -there a tori, a huge bronze stork, a grim stone lantern, or a calmly -reposing Buddha to show us we were in the land of Nippon. We looked out -over the northern ocean, dotted here and there with the sails of -fishing-boats, or saw the smoke of a steamer coming from Kamschatka, -Saghlain, or some of those mysterious northern ports, the names of which -were only places on a map. After listening for awhile to the murmur of -the surf, we visited the interior of the house, which contained five -rooms. The furniture consisted of the matting on the floor, the sliding -“shojis,” the fire-boxes, the cooking utensils, and dishes for the -serving of the meals. It was necessary for us to buy our “futons”—that -is, our bedding; but otherwise the home was completely furnished _à la -Japonaise_. The servant problem was easily solved, as the daughter of -the gardener wished to be our maid, the gardener would run our errands, -and his wife would be the general superintendent of the place. I -expected to do the cooking, as the time would be too short in Hakodate -to train a man in matters culinary. We were soon installed, and then -passed pleasant days in _dolce far niente_, spending our mornings in -trips to the seashore, watching the fishermen come in with their -boatloads of squids. Their arrival was the signal for all the women and -children of the village to flock to the shore and unload the boats, -then, after cleaning and pressing these ugly fish, hang them upon lines -to dry, making the whole ocean front as far as the eye could see a -miniature wash-Monday. We were not allowed to climb the mountain-sides -except to a certain distance, as the hills were heavily fortified, and -at sudden turns we were met by great signs which stated plainly in -English, French, German, Japanese, and Russian that further explorations -were forbidden. We never tried to disobey the laws in Japan, as these -little people are vigorous in their punishment of offenders, to whatever -race they may belong, and I feel that they have been justified in -upholding the manhood of their people. In India and in China you see the -white man treat the native with barbarous cruelty. While travelling once -in India our servant was making up the bed in the compartment we had -engaged on the train. A white man entered, and without one word of -explanation, grabbed our man and beat and kicked him and nearly threw -him out of the car. In reply to our indignant demands as to the cause of -his ill-treatment of our servant, he said that he thought the man had -made a mistake in the berth and was taking one for which he had paid. I -said afterward to Ali, “Why did you not strike him when he treated you -so brutally?” Ali replied: “Oh, mem-sahib, he was a white man. If I had -touched him I would have lain many long days in prison.” In China also, -on one hot day in August I saw a rickshaw coolie, naked to the waist, -with the perspiration running down his face in streams, running swiftly -with a heavy man inside his two-wheeled carriage. In passing by a -crowded corner, he brushed against a white man, who was having his -afternoon stroll. The white man angrily turned, and, grabbing the coolie -by his hair, beat him across his bare back with his cane until he -stopped from sheer exhaustion. The panting, perspiring coolie was -helpless as he could not drop the shafts, and so was compelled to take -the punishment. His patron in the carriage, a richly-dressed Chinese, -dared not interfere because he also was a native and understood there -was no court of justice when it was a question of a white man’s word -against that of the yellow man. They have a saying in China, that when a -Chinese walks along the sidewalk of his own city of Shanghai, he is -pushed into the middle of the road by the American, who only laughs at -him, by the Englishman, who swears at him, and by the German, who kicks -him, but—he is pushed into the middle of the road. This could not happen -in Japan, as the Japanese courts punish severely any one who dares to -lay his hand in violence upon a Japanese, however lowly may be his -station or however strong may be the provocation. While we were in -Yokohama, an officer of an American ship had his hand severely hurt -through the carelessness of a Japanese longshoreman. In his pain and -first flush of anger he knocked the Japanese down, and for his -impatience was compelled to remain six months in jail. His captain and -his Consul tried their best to help him, but it was in vain, and he saw -his ship sail away without him. - -I came very near sharing his fate while in Hakodate. The fisherman came -to our doors each morning with his enormous baskets of fish swung over -his shoulders. The maid, her mother, and myself, spent many interesting -moments in turning over the scaly contents of his baskets in order to -make our choice amongst the varied assortment he had for sale. I paid -him by the week, and one morning was called to the kitchen by an -indignant maid, who said the fisherman had greatly overcharged me. The -amount was far too small, it seemed to me, to cause such keen -excitement, and I intended to dismiss the man, saying I would pay him, -but employ him no more. I went over to a bucket of water, and taking up -the long-handled dipper to take a drink, and not noticing that it was -broken, I gave it a little shake toward the fisherman, and said, “Oh, go -away, and don’t make so much noise.” The cup part of the dipper flew off -and hit the indignant fisherman in the eye, whereupon he immediately -shouldered his baskets and started for the magistrate. Needless to say, -I was frightened, and I immediately donned my bonnet and started for the -Consulate. The Consul heard my story and sadly shook his head: “If you -really hit that coolie and he has you arrested, I can do nothing. It -will only make matters worse to have me to interfere, so the best thing -for you to do is to go with me and find that fisherman; offer him half -of your estate, but don’t get mixed up with the law in Japan.” For two -hours we haunted side-streets, where at last we found our man, and, -after a small money payment and a promise to take fish from him for the -rest of the season, and practically binding myself to listen to his -insolence as long as I was in Hakodate, he grudgingly assented to -withdraw his charge. - -These itinerant dealers make housekeeping in Japan easy. Men clad in -blue cotton coats with great straw hats on their heads and baskets piled -high with vegetables, come to the door each morning; one passing along -the streets both night and day can hear the cries of the travelling -vendors, selling all that the average householder may require. - -Hakodate is filled with crows—monstrous, black, impertinent thieves, who -will come boldly into the kitchen and take the fish from out the -frying-pan. Mornings I would take a pan of corn, and in the rear of the -house upon the hillside, and hitting upon the pan’s side with a spoon, -would soon be surrounded by hundreds of these beady-eyed birds, that are -almost considered sacred in this province. They were so tame that they -would fight at my feet for the kernels, and I would be compelled to push -them from my lap and then, much to the maid’s disgust, the greedy birds -would follow me into the house. - -We used to play a game, the crows and I. I would pound on the pan until -I had summoned fifty or sixty, then I would start the song, “Onward, -Christian Soldiers,” and rapping on the pan for accompaniment, would -march solemnly at the head of my serious, expectant army, up hill and -down dale, through the house, out again, down the small paths, until -even the maid who considered the crows her enemies, would be compelled -to laugh. - -Soon I found that if I was to live as the Japanese, I certainly should -dress in the clothes of the country, as European clothes and shoes are -not comfortable in Japanese houses. All my friends were Japanese, and I -found I must conform to their customs so far as was possible if I would -be happy and not an object of curiosity. Consequently I went with the -wife of our Consul and passed two delightful hours in choosing kimonas, -which, if I had been allowed to exercise my taste, would have been far -too gay for one of my years. I always associated kimonas with pinks and -blues and riotous colours, but I found that, being a married woman, I -must confine my choice of colours to greys and browns and soft-toned -mauves. I could indulge my love for ornamentation in the obis, as these -may be of stiff brocades in rose and gold, or purple and gold, or, in -fact, any colour one may wish. I found also that the Japanese dress -itself may not be expensive, but the price of the obis is ruinous to a -small pocketbook. It is in these last articles of adornment that the -Japanese lady spends her husband’s money. She buys obis and puts them -away in her treasure-chest, only bringing them to the light of day on -occasions of festivity. The tying of the obi is by no means a simple -process, and I could never learn its intricacies. The end must be of a -certain length, the big bow must be just so correctly arranged or else -it shows that one is not _à la mode_. My friends were always lengthening -an end or tying a little tighter the roll that gave the obi the correct -tilt at the back. I found it necessary to practise privately for several -days walking in the clogs before I dared try them in public. The -Japanese have three kinds of clogs—high ones raised by two pieces of -wood three or four inches from the ground and with a piece of leather as -a mud-guard for use in wet weather; another pair of dress clogs were -necessary, with the plain wooden sole covered with fine matting; and -still another pair of sandals, which were for use around the garden or -in places that did not necessitate rough walking. The two pieces of cord -that pass between the great and the first toe, and by which the clog is -held on the foot, compelled me to wear the Japanese sock, which is made -of white cotton, like a mitten, the great toe being separated from the -rest of the foot. These socks are short, only coming to the ankle, and -are fastened by two or three metal clasps. The shoes are never worn in -the house, always being left at the doorways, the thick cotton sole of -the stocking protecting the foot. It would be as insulting to walk on -the clean matting of a Japanese house as it would be to walk on the -snowy damask of your hostess’s dining-table. After a few falls and many -awkward movements I found the Japanese foot covering most comfortable, -the foot being absolutely free; but I soon learned that my American -stride did not conform to the close-fitting dress of the kimona, as with -it the feet should not be set apart and one should slightly “toe in” in -order that the folds of the kimona do not fly open. In one way Japanese -dress is not expensive, as the Japanese lady, whatever her rank or -wealth, does not wear jewellery—no necklaces, nor bracelets, nor -ear-rings, nor brooches; even rings are an innovation brought in with -foreigners. Her only jewels are the clasp of her obi fastener, generally -a piece of chased gold, and a couple of ornamental hairpins or a comb -for the hair. - -I did not attempt the hair-dressing, as that is a most complicated -affair, and must be left to the attentions of a hair-dresser, who comes -to the homes once or twice a week and makes the elaborate coiffures that -add so much to the beauty of a Japanese face. Each age has its coiffure, -and a woman never tries to disguise her age in Japan, because by her -dress and style of hair-dressing she frankly confesses the stage she has -reached in life. There is the baby with her shaven head, then the little -queue tied on the crown; afterward the hair is cut square across the -neck, like the little dolls we see in the London shops; then when she is -ten years old the hair is divided and made into a bow knot tied with a -piece of ornamental paper. As she arrives at young ladyhood there is the -elaborate “shimada,” which in the case of the young woman is very large, -and, if Nature has not been generous, helped out with tresses bought in -the shops. The married woman has a special coiffure which grows smaller -with age, until, when she is a matron of forty, the age when the woman -of the Orient considers herself an old woman, it is quite small. If the -woman is so unfortunate as to lose her husband, she cuts her hair, and -thus shows all the world that she is a widow. The Japanese mature early, -and old age comes to them sooner than it does to people from the West. A -Japanese proverb says that man lives but fifty years, and rarely does -his span exceed seventy years. In former days old age began at fifty, -and a man then considered himself unfit for business and made over his -name and property to his son, passing the rest of his life in ease -without the cares of business. Old age is not a burden to the Japanese -woman, but is a paradise to be looked for longingly. Then she, who has -perhaps been subservient to the mother of her husband all her married -life, knows that she will be the head of her household, with her sons -and daughters ready to obey her, and, because of her age and motherhood, -respected and holding a position in life denied her as a young woman. - -Many of these quiet, soft-voiced mothers of Japan were brought to call -upon me by Mrs. Consul. They taught me how to serve the tea, the -proper way of bowing, and even tried to make of me a good follower of -the Law by taking me with them to the temples and visiting shrines and -holy places. One kindly woman brought me a tablet for my -“august-spirit-dwelling,” which she placed in a tiny model of a Shinto -temple and put above the inner doorway of the hall, where I was -supposed to burn before it each morning candles and incense, and keep -the little cups for rice and water filled. I was well provided with -gods, as another friend gave me a Buddha for my household shrine, and -all the paraphernalia of service with which to worship him. - -Below us on the hillside was the swagger tea-house of the town, and the -tinkle of the samisens and the singing of the pretty girls came to us -faintly until late into the night. This pretty music, mingled with the -sound of the surf upon the shore, was always the last sound we heard at -night after the maid had placed the night-light, the tobacco-box, and -the brazier for the tea at our head, and then had knelt and said -“Goodnight.” In the morning we were wakened by a softly murmured “O -Hayo,” and a tray of tea was respectfully slid across the matting to -give us strength to begin the morning’s work. - -While in Hakodate I made the acquaintance of many Japanese ladies and -learned their customs and the manner of their life, which is controlled -by thoughts and ideals entirely different from those entertained by -women of the Western world. I think I much prefer the woman of the old -school, with her charming manners, her elaborate bows, and her -antiquated superstitions and beliefs, to her daughter, who, like her -sister of China, India, and Egypt, is trying too hard to wear clothes -not made for her, and to adapt customs and usages for which she is not -formed temperamentally or physically. The customs of the modern world -will come to the woman of Japan, but they must be adapted to her -conditions and not be taken _en masse_. - -One of the most beautiful characteristics of the Japanese is their -reverence for old age and their intense love for children. Japan has -justly been called the baby’s paradise, and certainly in no country does -the home life so thoroughly revolve around the children as it does in -Japan. Like all Eastern women, the desire for children is the most -ardent wish of the Japanese woman’s heart. The childless wife will move -heaven and earth in her desire to gain the blessing of motherhood. She -will visit watering-places, offer prayers at temples, make long, irksome -pilgrimages, wear amulets, drink strange decoctions, and allow herself -to be imposed upon and robbed by every charlatan who claims a knowledge -that will help her gain the craving of her heart—a child. It will, -therefore, be imagined with what eagerness the arrival of a little -stranger is awaited in the home, and the happiest day in the girl-wife’s -life is the day on which they tell her she is the mother of a son. - -As soon as the event takes place, a special messenger is dispatched to -notify friends and relatives while letters of announcement are sent to -those who are not so closely related in friendship to the family. All -thus notified must then make a visit to the new baby and either send or -bring with them a present. Toys or clothing, always accompanied by eggs -or a fish to bring good luck, come in great profusion, and when baby is -about thirty days old, return presents must be made to all who -remembered him at time of birth. When baby is seven days old he receives -his name, and when he is thirty-one—or if a girl, when she is -thirty-three—days old, the first important occasion of his life must be -observed. He is dressed in his best and gayest garments, and, -accompanied by members of his family, is taken to a temple and placed -under the protection of one of the Shinto deities, who is supposed to -become the guardian of the child through life. This is a day for -present-giving also, and one especial gift must come to the child, a -papier mâché dog, which is always placed at the head of the child’s bed -at night as a charm against evil influences. - -The infant should not walk until it is a year old; but if it is so -precocious that it commences to toddle before that time, a small bag of -rice is laid upon its back, and it is made to stumble and fall. To walk -before its first birthday is a sign that it will die young or else -become a resident of a distant land. There are many superstitions -connected with the early life of a baby. If he sucks his fingers before -he does his thumb, he will be a help to his parents in their old age. If -he crawls out of his covers at night, he will rise in the world, but if -he snuggles down in the bed and is inclined to crawl towards the foot, -it augurs that a downward course is his fate in life. If many of the -children of a family have died in infancy, the nervous mother will make -for this last gift of the gods a dress composed of thirty-three pieces -of cloth collected from thirty-three different families, or she will -shave his head until he is seven years old, or give him a girl’s name -instead of a boy’s, thus deceiving the gods who covet her treasure. If -baby has prickly heat, the first egg plant of the season is hung over -the door; while suspending the empty rice-pot, still hot, over the -baby’s head for a few moments will make him immune from that affliction -of childhood, the measles. It passes its days tied to the back of little -brother or sister or nurse until it can walk, then when it is two years -old the fifteenth of November is a great day for all the babies. They -are taken to the temple and the blessing of the gods is invoked, and the -priests purify their bodies by waving over them a sacred wand. This is -the occasion for showing new clothes and calling upon all friends, who -make presents to the child. - -At three or four years children are sent to a kindergarten, and at six -years they enter the Primary Schools, where there is a six-years’ -compulsory course for both boys and girls. Then it only rests with the -parents whether the child receives a higher education, as there are in -all towns and villages a Middle School for boys and a High School for -girls. The average girl stops her education with the Primary School, or -at most with the High School, but there is a University in Tokio where -the girl may complete her education and fit herself for a vocation. But -if she has been six years at Primary School and four years at High -School, she is sixteen years old, and of a marriageable age, although -the average girl does not marry until she is eighteen or nineteen. - -There are a great many accomplishments which it is necessary for a -Japanese girl of good family to know. The knowledge of needlework is so -general that it really is not considered an accomplishment. But the art -of letter-writing must be known by all accomplished young ladies, and -the tea ceremony, which is the strictest and most complicated of all the -ceremonies which surround the cultured Japanese, must be thoroughly -learned by the daughter of the house. Each movement is regulated by -custom, and a mistake in turn of hand or position of the body or the -omission of any of the minute details in regard to the bows and -salutations in offering, receiving, and returning the cups would show a -lack of proper training. The young girl is taught the arrangement of -flowers, which is an art by itself in Japan. In the sitting-room of a -Japanese home there is a single vase of flowers sitting in the tiny -alcove, and they would lose half of their attraction if they were not in -some manner symbolical in tone and colour with the picture upon the -kakemono which hangs above them. The young girl is often taught to play -upon the koto, a kind of zither, although the national musical -instrument is the samisen, which is played everywhere—at home, in -story-tellers’ halls and theatres, and at every tea-house party. Girls -start to learn this instrument at a very early age, because it is -necessary to learn it while the fingers are still pliant. It takes time -to learn these instruments, as there are no scores and the tunes must be -committed to memory. Women teachers come to the home to teach the girls -in all these arts, and often the samisen teacher has been a famous -geisha, whose support now is teaching the music that once made her -welcome at the dinner-parties of gay Japan. - -[Illustration: - - AN OUTDOOR KITCHEN IN JAPAN. - - To face p. 290.] - -After mastering the accomplishments, her business in life is now to -marry, and few Japanese maidens think seriously of any other lot in life -than that of marrying and becoming the mothers of future Japanese. Japan -is more progressive than any other Oriental country, if we except -Burmah, in that it allows the girl to exercise a certain amount of -choice in the selection of a husband. There are never cases of love -matches, but if she positively objects to a man who is proposed to her, -she is seldom forced to marry him. It would be thought most immodest if -she refused to marry a man until she loved him, as love is supposed to -come with marriage and the advent of the children. Only simple -toleration is expected before the marriage. The offices of a go-between -are asked to assist in the search for a husband or wife, unless the -match is made by friends of the interested parties. When the future -husband has been selected, the go-between, who must always be a married -man, as his wife takes an important part in the transactions, brings -about a meeting of the young couple as if by accident. They may be -strolling in a garden looking at the hanging wistaria, or meet at a -theatre, where the families are introduced, and the two most concerned -have a chance to take a good look at each other, and the next day, when -the anxious match-maker comes to the house to learn whether his choice -has met with favour, they will give their consent, or the match will be -broken off, and the go-between will start again the hunt for an eligible -alliance. If everything is satisfactory, a lucky day is appointed for -the formal proposal, presents are exchanged, and then all look forward -to the wedding. A couple of days before the wedding the bride’s -trousseau and household goods are sent to her new home, and its -elaborateness is only limited by the father’s wealth. Yet there are some -things considered indispensable in the outfit of a bride, such as a -bureau, a writing-table, a work-box, two of the little trays on which -meals are served, together with the full dining outfit, and two or more -complete sets of bed furnishings. If she is of a rich family, quite -likely the clothing she will bring with her will last her entire life, -as styles do not change so radically as to make gowns go so completely -out of fashion that they cannot be worn. A wedding is a most expensive -proceeding for the father of the bride, as each member of the groom’s -family—father, mother, brothers, sisters, aunts, and cousins, even the -servants—must all receive a present to mark the joyous occasion. The -wedding itself is in the presence of only a few witnesses, and consists -in a few formal acts, the most important of which is the drinking “three -times three” cups of saki together. To make the marriage conform to the -laws of Japan, the bride’s name is removed from her family register and -transferred to that of her husband’s family. - -After the ceremony there are entertainments in the new home and at the -home of the bride’s parents, and then the couple settle down into the -married state for two or three months, when the ultra-smart give a -series of entertainments to the friends who had no formal announcement -of the marriage. - -The young wife does not have the happiness of setting up an -establishment of her own, but she must go to the home of her husband’s -father. The mother-in-law question is a very serious one in Japan, -because she is absolutely the head of the household, and the young wife -has to submit in all things to her mother-in-law’s will. This is -especially serious for the modern Japanese girl, who perhaps has been -educated in the Government school, if she is compelled to go to the home -of a conservative old-time woman. Naturally, the mother cannot -understand why the ideas with which she herself was brought up should -not be good enough for the other, and finds fault with, what are in her -eyes, outlandish ways introduced by the new regime. These conservative -women are always loud in praise of the old state of things, and believe -that the world is going to ruin, socially, morally, and physically, -because of the innovations brought into their homes by their progressive -sons and daughters. - -In addition to the parents of her husband, the wife has to win the -affection of his brothers, sisters-in-law, and sisters, and her life is -often made intolerable by the envies, jealousies, and petty -faultfindings of the many women beneath the new roof-tree. The -patriarchal life prevails in Japan as in all Eastern countries, and the -successful man finds he must support a crowd of less successful -relatives, whose claims are not admitted by law, but whose appeals on -the score of kinship cannot be ignored, as custom allows those related -by blood or marriage to look for help to the least unfortunate among -them. The new civil code forces the support of parents, brothers, -sisters, and other near relatives upon the head of the household, in -addition to that of his wife and children. Thus a man is handicapped in -life and has to spend the money he might otherwise use in educating his -children in the support of uncles, aunts, and cousins, and perhaps a -host of his wife’s relations. From the social point of view this is -undoubtedly an excellent system, as it relieves the nation of the -support of its poor, but it bears heavily upon the individual, and many -a young man’s ambition has been shattered and his road to success -blocked by the sordid cares and petty troubles caused by the necessity -of maintaining a large household. - -The great authority on the conduct of women who marry was written by a -Japanese scholar, based on the teaching of the Chinese sages. In it the -wife is told she must give unconditional obedience to her husband, who -is in every respect her superior and the absolute lord and master of her -body and soul; whatever he does is right and she may not even murmur. -She occupies a position in her husband’s household practically of an -upper servant. She must not frequent public resorts, nor go sight-seeing -with the wealth her husband may obtain, and until she is forty years old -is not to be seen in company, but to remain at home attending to her -household and her children. This sounds very well, but women are women -the world over; and although Japanese wives are gentle, docile, and -obedient, yet they have a virility and strength of character that compel -the respect of their husbands, and in their own domain their word is -law. - -In the olden time each Japanese girl was supposed to know the precepts -contained in a book called “Greater Learning for Women,” written by a -famous scholar several hundred years ago. For nearly two hundred years -it was one of the indispensable articles that a bride took with her to -her new home, but the present modern Japanese maiden knows very little -of the “Greater Learning.” I am afraid, indeed, that she is more -thoroughly conversant with a parody of these famous precepts, which has -been written by a young man of modern Japan. This is so radical that it -is forbidden in the libraries of the mission schools in the fear that -the Japanese girl will imbibe too early the tendencies fatal to the -happiness of the Eastern woman, as she takes her first step from her -secluded doorway into the path that leads to the higher learning of the -Western world. - -Japanese women are womanly, kindly, gentle, and pretty, and perhaps they -owe this gentleness and courtesy to the precepts taught by their old -sages. - -According to Shingoro Takaishi, in his “Wisdom and Women of Japan,” the -famous moralist left the following instructions to help women in their -perilous journey through life— - -“Seeing that it is a girl’s destiny, on reaching womanhood, to go to a -new home, and live in submission to her father-in-law, it is even more -incumbent upon her than it is on a boy to receive with all reverence her -parents’ instructions. Should her parents, through their tenderness, -allow her to grow up self-willed, she will infallibly show herself -capricious in her husband’s house, and thus alienate his affection; -while, if her father-in-law be a man of correct principles, the girl -will find the yoke of these principles intolerable. She will hate and -decry her father-in-law, and the end of these domestic dissensions will -be her dismissal from her husband’s house and the covering of herself -with ignominy. Her parents, forgetting the faulty education they gave -her, may, indeed, lay all the blame on the father-in-law. But they will -be in error; for the whole disaster should rightly be attributed to the -faulty education the girl received from her parents. - -“More precious in a woman is a virtuous heart than a face of beauty. The -vicious woman’s heart is ever excited; she glares wildly around her, she -vents her anger on others, her words are harsh and her accent vulgar. -When she speaks it is to set herself above others, to upbraid others, to -envy others, to be puffed up with individual pride, to jeer at others, -to outdo others—all things at variance with the way in which a woman -should walk. The only qualities that befit a woman are gentle obedience, -chastity, mercy, and quietness. - -“A woman has no particular lord. She must look to her husband as her -lord, and must serve him with all worship and reverence, not despising -or thinking lightly of him. The great lifelong duty of a woman is -obedience. - -“A woman shall be divorced for disobedience to her father-in-law or -mother-in-law. A woman shall be divorced if she fail to bear children, -the reason for this rule being that women are sought in marriage for the -purpose of giving men posterity. A barren woman should, however, be -retained if her heart be virtuous and her conduct correct and free from -jealousy, in which case a child of the same blood must be adopted; -neither is there any just cause for a man to divorce a barren wife if he -have children by a concubine. Lewdness is a reason for divorce. Jealousy -is a reason for divorce. Leprosy or any like foul disease is a reason -for divorce. A woman shall be divorced who, by talking overmuch and -prattling disrespectfully, disturbs the harmony of kinsmen and brings -trouble on her household. A woman shall be divorced who is addicted to -stealing. - -“All the ‘Seven Reasons for Divorce’ were taught by the sage. A woman -once married and then divorced has wandered from the ‘way,’ and is -covered with great shame, even if she should enter into a second union -with a man of wealth and position. - -“It is the chief duty of a girl living in the parental house to practise -filial piety towards her father and mother. But after marriage her duty -is to honour her father-in-law and mother-in-law, to honour them beyond -her father and mother, to love and reverence them with all ardour, and -to tend them with practise of every filial piety. While thou honourest -thine own parents, think not lightly of thy father-in-law. Never should -a woman fail, night and morning, to pay her respects to her -father-in-law and mother-in-law. Never should she be remiss in -performing any tasks they may require of her. With all reverence must -she carry out, and never rebel against, her father-in-law’s commands. On -every point must she inquire of her father-in-law and mother-in-law, and -abandon herself to their direction. Even if thy father-in-law and -mother-in-law be pleased to hate and vilify thee, be not angry with -them, and murmur not. If thou carry piety towards them to its utmost -limits, and minister to them in all sincerity, it cannot be but that -they will end by becoming friendly to thee.” - -There is a sword of Damocles always hanging over the head of the -Japanese woman—that is, the fear of divorce. Among the higher classes -the dread of scandal and gossip serves as a restraint upon the too free -use of the power of divorce, but even now one meets many respectable and -respected persons who, some time in their life, have gone through such -an experience. Obtaining a divorce is not such a complicated affair as -it is in America. It is enough that the parties agree to separate and -make a declaration, witnessed by two reputable witnesses, at a local -magistrate’s office, and the divorce takes place by mutual consent. As -in the case of marriage the consent of the parents or guardians of a -girl under twenty-five years of age and a man who is under thirty must -be obtained, so this consent of parents or guardians is necessary before -a divorce may be granted. Then the domicile of the wife is retransferred -in the books of the registrar from the domicile of the family in which -she was married to that of her original family. If one of the parties -concerned refuse to give their consent to the divorce an application is -made to the courts. There are several grounds upon which judicial -divorce is granted—first, for bigamy; secondly, the wife may be divorced -for adultery, but not the husband, unless the crime has been committed -with a married woman, when the unfaithful wife and her lover are liable -to penal servitude for a term not exceeding two years, if the charge is -brought by the outraged husband. The man cannot be punished alone; the -woman must share his fate. As in many European countries, marriage is -forbidden between the respondent and the co-respondent in a divorce -case. - -Another, and one of the chief causes for divorce in Japan, are the -complications that naturally arise from the many people living in one -house. Either party may seek divorce if ill-treated or insulted by the -parents or grandparents of the other, and mothers-in-law, with their -hard tongues and bitter words, are the frequent causes of separation of -husband and wife. One provision of the law which serves to make most -mothers endure any evil of their married life rather than sue for -divorce is the fact that the children belong to the father, and the -mother returns childless to her father’s house. In this country, where -the woman is economically dependent upon her menfolk, even if she were -allowed to take the children, quite likely they would not be made -welcome in a home where there are always too many mouths to feed; -therefore the Japanese mother puts up with many brutalities and -heartaches in order to keep with her the only bright things she has in -life, her children. - -The Japanese wife leads a very busy life. In all but the very wealthiest -and most aristocratic families the wife and daughters do a large part of -the housework. In a house with no furniture, no carpets, no pictures, no -stoves or furnaces, no windows to wash, no latest styles to be imitated -in the making of clothing, there is not so much work in the care of a -house as there is in the Western world, where the rooms are filled with -a multitude of unnecessary articles that seem only made to give toil to -women. But because of the lack of conveniences it takes time to properly -care for the rooms in a Japanese house. Every morning there are the beds -to be rolled up and placed in the closets, the mosquito-nets to be taken -down, the rooms to be swept, dusted, and aired; and the veranda floor is -polished several times a day as if it were a precious piece of silver. -The cooking and washing of the dishes take a great deal of time, as the -former is done over a tiny charcoal stove and the dishes are washed in -cold water. There is not a moment of time that the wife is idle, as -there is always the family sewing to be superintended, the mats and -cushions to be recovered, the wadding to be renewed in the bed coverings -and the winter kimonas. Many of the Japanese dresses must be taken to -pieces whenever they are washed, and the wet breadths smoothed upon a -board and placed in the sun to dry. The careful housewife makes over the -older daughters’ dresses for the younger daughters, and these clothes -are washed, turned, dyed, and made over and over again so long as there -is a shred of the original material left to work upon. - -The Japanese believe that a woman passes through three critical stages -in her journey through life. If she passes her nineteenth, her -thirty-third, and her thirty-seventh years safely, she has a chance of -living to a good old age and seeing her children and her grandchildren -grow up around her. Her most critical year is her thirty-third, and not -only this year itself, but the years immediately preceding and following -are considered inauspicious. Consequently there are three years during -which period women will refrain as much as possible from acts which may -appear like tempting Providence. When a woman attains her sixtieth -birthday it is an occasion for great festivities, when she invites all -her friends to a dinner to celebrate this wonderful event. If a man or -woman should have occasion to celebrate their seventieth birthday, they -distribute among their friends and relatives large red and white cakes -with the character signifying “longevity” written upon them, and with -each increasing year the old man or woman gain in the respect of their -community. - -When the last illness comes to father and mother it would be considered -most unfilial for any of the children not to be present at the parent’s -death-bed. When all is over the son or the wife wets his lips with -water, and so universal is this custom that the expression “to wet the -dying lips with water” has come to signify the tending of a patient in -his last illness. One of the reasons why the Japanese believe that the -wife should be younger than the husband is that she may be able to -fulfil this last office for her loved one. - -It is known that death is in the room by the placing upside down of a -screen before the bed, and the quilt covering the body is reversed, the -foot covering the dead man’s breast. A white cloth is laid over the -face, as its exposure would be an obstacle to the soul’s journey on its -road to the other world. Everything done for the dead is the reverse of -that done for the living; for example, in the tub for the last bath cold -water is poured first, then hot water added until it is of the right -temperature. The head is shaved by touching it with the razor in small -patches instead of running it continuously as in life. The burial -garment is made by two women relatives, sewing with the same piece of -thread in opposite directions, and the kimona is folded from right to -left instead of from left to right as a man would wear it ordinarily. -Mittens, leggings, and sandals are worn, the sandals being tied on the -foot with the heel in the place of the toe, to signify that the dead -must not return, drawn back by the love of the world. Around the neck is -suspended a bag of Buddhist charms, and a small coin, or picture of a -coin, with which to pay the ferryman. If the wife dies, the husband does -not publicly mourn for her, although her children do; but if the husband -dies the wife should mourn the rest of her life, and she often cuts off -her long hair and places it in the coffin of her husband, showing that -she resolves to be always faithful to his memory. In a child’s coffin a -doll is placed to keep the child company on its first journey without -mother or father. The last rite is to cover the body with incense-powder -or dried aniseed, and then it is ready for the funeral ceremonies. - -A funeral procession in Japan is an imposing affair. The corpse, in its -palanquin or in the modern hearse, is preceded by men carrying large -white lanterns on poles, bundles of flowers stuck in bamboo pedestals, -stands of artificial flowers, and birds in enormous cages, which are set -free at the temples as an act of merit. The priests, friends, and -relatives move slowly and sadly to the temple, in which there is a -service, then the bier is taken to the crematory by the chief mourner -and the near relatives. The ashes are removed the next day to their -permanent home in the public crematorium or in the temple burying-ground -of the family. - -For fifty days after the death incense and lights are kept burning -before the tablet of the deceased at his late home, and prayers are -offered at the grave for the same length of time. A priest comes from -the temple every seventh day to offer incense and prayers with the -sorrowing family, who believe that for forty-nine days the spirit of -their dead wanders in the dark space that lies between this world and -the next. Every seventh day it makes a step forward and is helped by the -prayers of loved ones left behind. The sorrowing wife is taught that the -spirit cannot tear itself away from its old home and hovers over it, and -unless it is absolutely necessary no loving woman would remove from her -home until the forty-nine days were past, for fear of giving sorrow to -the spirit of her husband, if he did not find her in the place where -they had passed together their years of happiness. - -The dead are not quickly forgotten in Japan. Memorial services take -place the forty-eighth day, the hundredth day, and the first anniversary -of the death, and services are held for even fifty years. Lafcadio Hearn -expresses the reverence which these people give their loved ones who -have gone before them by saying:— - -“In this worship we give the dead they are made divine. And the thought -of this tender reverence will temper with consolation the melancholy -that comes with age to all of us. Never in our Japan are the dead too -quickly forgotten; by simple faith they are still thought to dwell among -their beloved and their place within the home remains holy. When we pass -to the land of shadows we know that loving lips will nightly murmur our -names before the family shrine, that our faithful ones will beseech us -in their pain and bless us in their joy. We will not be left alone upon -the hillside, but loving hands will place before our tablet the fruit -and flowers and dainty food that we were wont to like, and will pour for -us the fragrant cup of tea or amber rice-wine. Strange changes are -coming upon this land, old customs are vanishing, old beliefs are -weakening, the thoughts of to-day will not be the thoughts of to-morrow; -but of all this we will know nothing. We dream that for us as for our -mothers the little lamps will burn on through the generations; we see in -fancy the yet unborn, the children of our children’s children, bowing -their tiny heads and making the filial obeisance before the tablet that -bears our family name.” - - - - - CONCLUSION - - -The ocean that geographically divides the East from the West is not more -wide nor deep than is that invisible ocean between the minds of the -woman of the Orient and the woman of the Occident. A sympathetic -understanding between peoples whose ideals have been so differently -constructed, and who have had such radically opposite training, is next -to impossible. No matter what the Western woman may do in the hope of -touching the emotional life of the woman of the East, she soon finds -that further progress is barred, that a gate before unseen has closed, -shutting her out from the inner life. - -I knew a very advanced woman in Southern India who had broken caste and -who went about freely, mingling with both Europeans and Indians with the -same freedom as an American woman would. She dressed in a costume -partially Indian and partially European, wore slippers, and arranged her -hair in the European fashion. One day I went to her house rather earlier -than the usual hour for calling. I hardly recognized her, as she was the -Indian woman of the home, dressed in a sari, her hair hanging down her -back in braids, and with heavy anklets over her bare feet. She blushed -and said: “Oh, I do not want you to see me like this,” and she did not -understand me when I told her that I felt that I was seeing the real -woman for the first time. - -I thought many times in my long residence in the East that I had really -entered into the life and understood the thoughts, hopes, and ambitions -of the Eastern woman, when at some thoughtless word or action on my part -a wall of fog would come between us, with a thick, impenetrable, -blanket-like mist, made up of custom, tradition, and the results of -environment, and when it would lift we would find our little boats far -from each other on a sea of mutual misunderstanding. - -Despite our incapacity to enter into the soul life of this ancient East, -we find ourselves fascinated and bewitched by the charm of these -secluded women of the Orient, who live a life of instinctive -unselfishness, their days given to the making of happiness for others. - -We say: “Must there always remain the width of the world between the -Eastern woman and the woman of the West? Will the education which is -being grasped so eagerly by the woman of the Orient lessen the distance, -and will it break down the barriers?” Only time will tell. The children -of the present boys and girls in school and college will have had the -foundation of the three generations of intellectual training, and will -have learned to take what is best for them from Western knowledge and -use it as a means of breaking the iron bands of ignorance, superstition, -and loyalty to old-time custom and tradition, which stands an immovable -mountain in the pathway of true friendship between the woman of the West -and the woman of the East. - - - UNWIN BROTHERS, LIMITED, THE GRESHAM PRESS, WOKING AND LONDON - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - -Transcriber’s note: - - 1. Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling. - - 2. Archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings retained as printed. - - 3. 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