weigh out, bargain, and effect sales. A child naturally takes a pride in thus early finding itself useful and important, and there are few children in the world that are more precocious than those of my native country. A child brought up in this way would think it highly indecorous to romp and play about during business hours. In the evening, however, he is permitted to repair to the fields with his companions; the onus of business has been laid aside, and the perfect child shows itself once more in the merry game or joyous laugh of the sportive crew.
By the time a child is six years old, he seldom, if ever, requires chastisement; indeed, he thinks to be scolded is a perfect disgrace, and is consequently ever on the guard not to incur his father’s displeasure. The father who now thinks it is time that his son should be instructed to read and write, works upon the feelings of the boy so as to excite in him a great desire for learning. He usually commences by telling him that he is quite ashamed of having such an ignorant son whereas his neighbours’ children are all well instructed, and know the whole of the Psalms by heart, for the acquirement of these invariably forms the commencement of Syrian education; the child protests that he only lacks opportunity, and the next day his schooling begins.
The etiquette of Syrian manners is early instilled into the mind of the Syrian boy; he is taught, on first rising in the morning, after prayers and the necessary ablutions, to wish the “Saboh il Kahir” (“good morning,”) to every individual of the household, commencing with the father and finishing with the lowest menial in the establishment. After this, the son sees that his father is supplied with the necessary coffee, a slice of
toast, and his narghili, and then next to his father he ranks himself, excepting when strangers are present. On the arrival of a guest, he is taught to go forth and welcome him as far as the threshold of the entrance-door, and this he does meekly, taking and kissing the hand of the visitor if a man of advanced age, at the same time overwhelming him with such flattering compliments, as, for instance, “The day at this moment has become bright.” “My thoughts have always been concentrated on you, O light of my eyes!” The boy then follows the guest to the mistaba, where his father is ready to receive him, and having busied himself ordering necessary refreshments, he returns to the divan, and seating himself at some distance from the others, listens in respectful silence to their conversation, or pulling out the brass inkhorn from his side (Ezek. ix.), which contains likewise his stock of pens (and is an inseparable companion, being always thrust into the girdle and carried about with him from morning till night), he possesses himself of some stray piece of paper, may be the back of a letter, and improves the moments as they fly by furthering his knowledge in arithmetic.
When a priest calls at the house, then the son is all attention; none but himself is permitted to serve him; he replenishes the pipe-bowls, fetches the fire, hands him the coffee and other refreshments, and each time retires from the presence of the rev. father with fresh blessings heaped upon his head. The son is early taught to listen, but never to speak unless first spoken to, to be deferential to all old people, kind to the poor, and especially to the blind, sympathising with servants, whose faults he must correct with mildness and leniency, and above all, to abhor and hold in utter detestation all strong drinks and drunkards. You may travel from
one end of Syria to the other, and mingle with every grade of every creed, and I may safely state, that drunkards are rarely met with. None but those who have travelled in Europe, or have mixed with European society, are addicted to this vice.
The son is taught to adhere strictly to all laws of cleanliness. There are few people that are more rigid in the observance of them than the Syrian. On first rising, and on going to bed, before and after every meal, before and after every little promenade, hands and face are washed with soap and water and a few leaves of the lemon-tree; the mouth is also rinsed out, sometimes with simple water, sometimes with rose or orange-flower water, according to the opulence or poverty of the man. Tooth and hair-brushes are unknown among the Syrians. On entering a house, he is taught to leave his shoes before intruding into the visitors’ hall, and with light yellow slippers on, treads over the carpet; he advances to all the elders who happen to be present, kissing their hands and placing them on his head to intimate his respect and obedience. On entering a church in some parts of the country, he leaves his shoes outside. [242] This practice dates from the period of Moses and the burning bush, when the Lord addressed Moses, saying, “Draw not nigh
hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground” (Exod. iii. 5). Likewise he also lifts the turban off his head for a while, and then replaces it. During the reading of the Gospel and Belief all the males remain uncovered.
So soon as a boy’s education is completed, and this simply consists in his being able to read and write Arabic, with a slight knowledge of arithmetic, then the father anxiously looks out for some opening which may enable his son thus early to acquire a knowledge of the world, and of the necessity of fighting one’s own battles, so as to be independent of the support of others; but though the son may earn a sufficiency to maintain himself without drawing on his father’s revenue, he still remains an inmate of the parental roof; indeed, in many instances he never quits it, and it is not uncommon to see the son a man of mature years himself, with his own children fast growing up to manhood, paying the most implicit obedience and respect to his father’s commands and wishes, just with the same deference that a child six years old would obey an austere father; indeed such is the universal reverence with which parents are treated, that (though these instances are rare) fathers have been known to chastise their sons when they had attained the mature age of thirty-five or forty; and the son, though father of a family himself, and though smarting from shame and indignation at such an exposure before the eyes of his own wife and children, has meekly borne the correction and kissed the hand that chastised him. “Honour thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long in the land,” is a commandment acted up to the letter in Syria, and any son transgressing this law, would meet with small sympathy from his countrymen, would
be shunned by all, and be an object of indignation and scorn to all Orientals of whatever creed. Even that ferocious tyrant, Djessar Pasha, who never hesitated to sacrifice human life, whose wives and concubines were all massacred by his own hands to satiate his furious jealousy and rage against one unhappy girl, who had been discovered carrying on a flirtation with an officer of his court; even he, villain though he was, respected this law and enforced others to respect it. A story is told of a young Christian, who, being newly married, took possession of the whole of his father’s house, leaving the poor old man, who was a widower and a cripple, barely sufficient rags to cover his nakedness, or food to satisfy his hunger. The Pasha, hearing of this atrocious conduct, sent for the miscreant, and when he was brought trembling into his presence, exclaimed, “Hast thou no fear of God? In an hour’s time let me hear that your father, dog that you are, is in the possession of every comfort and luxury; or, by my beard, your head shall answer for this crime.”