Every boy wears on his head a red fez with a black tassel.
In his new suit, the boy starts off for school on his pony, and his brothers go with him. The bells on the pony jingle, the boys shout and sing, and it is a very merry procession.
The schoolhouse stands near the church. Inside, it is very plain. There is a blackboard hung from the ceiling, a shelf for books and slates, and one for a water jar.
There is a little shelf for the teacher’s pipe, and a place where he makes coffee over a tiny lamp. For the teacher smokes and sips coffee while the children study their lessons.
The children sit cross-legged on mats on the floor, and study out loud, bending their bodies back and forth all the time. Perhaps they think this helps them to remember.
They learn their letters, and very queer letters you would think them, out of the Koran. They have no other book until they know this one by heart, and can repeat it and write it.
Then they learn a little arithmetic and a very little geography.
In olden times the girls did not go to school at all, but stayed at home learning to keep house, sew, and embroider. They were also taught to weave cloth and to make beautiful rugs.