The visitor places his verses secretly in the house and then decamps. If the owner of the house catches him he beats him, paints his face like a girl and leads him through the streets calling out, “This is the punishment for the man who throws snow”; and the visitor is then bound to give an entertainment. But if the owner of the house does not catch the visitor, he himself must prepare a banquet. If he fails to do so within a week, bulrushes are tied on the top of his door, and if this hint is not sufficient, the bier from the cemetery is placed outside his house.
Owing to Chinese influence, there is no Moslem country where respect for parents and for superiors is so strong as in Kashgar. During the lives of the parents they are never referred to by name by their children, but are always addressed as “My Lord.” A son will never sit in the presence of his father without special permission, but will stand with the head bowed and hands folded in token of humility. He would never dream of retiring to sleep before his father, nor of smoking in his presence. To superiors deference is shown by dismounting from horseback, and by always prefacing an answer with taksir or “fault,” which has come to be the equivalent of our “Sir.” Upon receipt of a robe of honour, the recipient bows low, sweeping the arms in a circle to stroke the beard. Women courtesy by bowing low with folded hands.
The Kashgaris have few games, but kite-flying, an elementary form of rounders, pitch-and-toss into a hole with walnuts or coins, and a kind of tip-cat are favourite amusements. Grown-up men indulge in ram-fighting and partridge-fighting, heavy bets being made on the contests.
Music is extremely popular, the Kashgar peasants being distinctly musical, and their refrains, sung in unison on returning from work, are pleasing to the European ear. The usual instruments are the tambourine, the mandoline and the four-stringed rubab. In Kashgar dancing is regarded as improper, and is indulged in only by professional women or boys; but in the Khotan oasis, among the Dulanis of Merket, the Sarikolis and the Kirghiz, men and women dance together at weddings. At entertainments the men and women sit on opposite sides and, when the music commences, a woman rises and places a handkerchief in front of a man, who thereupon rises also, sings a song and returns the handkerchief. This is done by all present, and men and women then dance together.
During my stay in Chinese Turkestan I sought for any custom which might be a survival from the days of the Nestorian Christians. One such is that horse-dealers, when a bargain is not concluded, make the sign of the cross on the horse to avert the evil eye. It is interesting to note that, owing to Chinese influence, black and dark grey are the favourite colours for horses, whereas few people care to buy a roan, whose colour is deemed unlucky.
CHAPTER XVIII
STALKING THE GREAT SHEEP OF MARCO POLO
Do you know the world’s white roof-tree—do you know that windy rift
Where the baffling mountain-eddies chop and change?
Do you know the long day’s patience, belly-down on frozen drift,