Though completely puzzled, I was somewhat disappointed with his performances, for they fell short of what he had accomplished, in many instances, in presence of certain of my friends and countrymen. On one of these occasions, an Englishman present ridiculed the performance, and said that nothing would satisfy him but a correct description of the appearance of his own father, of whom, he was sure, no one of the company had any knowledge. The boy, accordingly, having called by name for the person alluded to, described a man in a Frank dress, with his hand placed to his head, wearing spectacles, and with one foot on the ground, and the other raised behind him, as if he were stepping down from a seat. The description was exactly true in every respect: the peculiar position of the hand was occasioned by an almost constant headache; and that of the foot or leg, by a stiff knee, caused by a fall from a horse, in hunting. I am assured that, on this occasion, the boy accurately described each person and thing that was called for. On another occasion, Shakspeare was described with the most minute correctness, both as to person and dress; and I might add several other cases in which the same magician has excited astonishment in the sober minds of Englishmen of my acquaintance. A short time since, after performing in the usual manner, by means of a boy, he prepared the magic mirror in the hand of a young English lady, who, on looking into it for a little while, said that she saw a broom sweeping the ground without anybody holding it, and was so much frightened that she would look no longer.
I have stated these facts partly from my own experience, and partly as they came to my knowledge on the authority of respectable persons. The reader may be tempted to think, that, in each instance, the boy saw images produced by some reflection in the ink; but this was evidently not the case; or that he was a confederate, or guided by leading questions. That there was no collusion, I satisfactorily ascertained, by selecting the boy who performed the part above described in my presence from a number of others passing by in the street, and by his rejecting a present which I afterwards offered him with the view of inducing him to confess that he did not really see what he had professed to have seen. I tried the veracity of another boy on a subsequent occasion in the same manner; and the result was the same. The experiment often entirely fails; but when the boy employed is right in one case, he generally is so in all: when he gives, at first, an account altogether wrong, the magician usually dismisses him at once, saying that he is too old. The perfumes, or excited imagination, or fear, may be supposed to affect the vision of the boy who describes objects as appearing to him in the ink; but, if so, why does he see exactly what is required, and objects of which he can have had no previous particular notion? Neither I nor others have been able to discover any clue by which to penetrate the mystery; and if the reader be alike unable to give the solution, I hope that he will not allow the above account to induce in his mind any degree of scepticism with respect to other portions of this work.[[403]]
CHAPTER XIII.
CHARACTER.
The natural or innate character of the modern Egyptians is altered, in a remarkable degree, by their religion, laws, and government, as well as by the climate and other causes; and to form a just opinion of it is, therefore, very difficult. We may, however, confidently state, that they are endowed, in a higher degree than most other people, with some of the more important mental qualities; particularly, quickness of apprehension, a ready wit, and a retentive memory. In youth, they generally possess these and other intellectual powers; but the causes above alluded to gradually lessen their mental energy.
Of the leading features of their character, none is more remarkable than their religious pride. They regard persons of every other faith as the children of perdition; and such, the Muslim is early taught to despise.[[404]] It is written in the Kur-án, “O ye who have believed, take not the Jews and Christians as friends: they are friends one to another; and whosoever of you taketh them as his friends, verily he is [one] of them.”[[405]] From motives of politeness, or selfish interest, these people will sometimes talk with apparent liberality of sentiment, and even make professions of friendship, to a Christian (particularly to a European), whom, in their hearts, they contemn: but as the Muslims of Egypt judge of the Franks in general from the majority of those in their towns, some of whom are outcasts from their native countries, and others (though not all the rest, of course), men under no moral restraint, they are hardly to be blamed for despising them. The Christians are, however, generally treated with civility by the people of Egypt: the Muslims being as remarkable for their toleration as for their contempt of unbelievers.
It is considered the highest honour among the Muslims, to be religious; but the desire to appear so leads many into hypocrisy and pharisaical ostentation. When a Muslim is unoccupied by business, or amusement, or conversation, he is often heard to utter some pious ejaculation. If a wicked thought, or the remembrance of a wicked action that he has committed, trouble him, he sighs forth, “I beg forgiveness of God, the Great!” The shopkeeper, when not engaged with customers, nor enjoying his pipe, often employs himself, in the sight and hearing of the passengers in the street, in reciting a chapter of the Kur-án, or in repeating to himself those expressions in praise of God which often follow the ordinary prayers, and are counted with the beads; and in the same public manner he prays.—The Muslims frequently swear by God (but not irreverently); and also by the Prophet, and by the head or beard of the person they address. When one is told anything that excites his surprise and disbelief, he generally exclaims, “Wa-llah?” or, “Wa-lláhi?” (by God?); and the other replies, “Wa-lláhi!”—As on ordinary occasions before eating and drinking, so also on taking medicine, commencing a writing, or any important undertaking, and before many a trifling act, it is their habit to say, “In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful;” and after the act, “Praise be to God.” When two persons make any considerable bargain, they recite together the first chapter of the Kur-án (the Fát’hah). In case of a debate on any matter of business or of opinion, it is common for one of the parties, or a third person who may wish to settle the dispute, or to cool the disputants, to exclaim, “Blessing on the Prophet!”—“O God, favour him!” is said, in a low voice, by the other or others; and they then continue the argument, but generally with moderation.
Religious ejaculations often interrupt conversation upon trivial and even licentious subjects, in Egyptian society; sometimes, in such a manner that a person not well acquainted with the character of this people would perhaps imagine that they intended to make religion a jest. In many of their most indecent songs the name of God is frequently introduced; and this is certainly done without any profane motive, but from the habit of often mentioning the name of the Deity in vain, and of praising Him on every trifling occasion of surprise, or in testimony of admiration of anything uncommon. Thus, a libertine, describing his impressions on the first sight of a charming girl (in one of the grossest songs I have ever seen or heard even in the Arabic language), exclaims, “Extolled be He who formed thee, O full moon!”—and this and many similar expressions are common in many other songs and odes; but what is most remarkable in the song particularly alluded to above, is a profane comparison with which it terminates. I shall adduce, as an example of the strange manner in which licentiousness and religion are often blended together in vulgar Egyptian poetry and rhyming prose, a translation of the last three stanzas of an ode on love and wine:—
“She granted me a reception, the graceful of form, after her distance and coyness. I kissed her teeth and her cheek; and the cup rang in her hand. The odours of musk and ambergris were diffused by a person whose form surpassed the elegance of a straight and slender branch. She spread a bed of brocade; and I passed the time in uninterrupted happiness. A Turkish fawn enslaved me.
“Now I beg forgiveness of God, my Lord, for all my faults and sins; and for all that my heart hath said. My members testify against me. Whenever grief oppresseth me, O Lord, Thou art my hope from whatever afflicteth me. Thou knowest what I say, and what I think. Thou art the Bountiful, the Forgiving! I implore Thy protection: then pardon me.