(Praise be to God) from the judge, who rose up and continued the conversation while washing his hands, was the abrupt sign that our feast was at an end.
A servant held a brass basin while a second poured the water from a ewer over my hands, and, our ablutions at an end, we were conducted to the takhtabosh to sip our coffee and smoke. I was asked where I had dined before in Arab fashion, and my host was interested to hear about some dishes peculiar to Morocco, also how I had fared with the Druses in the Lebanon. An Arab meal, in fact, was not in itself a novelty to me; but, as I explained to the Sheykh, I had never dined in such beautiful surroundings. We got on to the subject of Japan, where the mode of eating is much more difficult to acquire than that of the Near East. My hearers showed a much greater interest in things Japanese than I expected, for as a rule a Moslem’s sympathies rarely extend to countries beyond the sway of Islam. How I had got on without meat, bread, milk or butter surprised them, and settled any possible doubts as to whether they might wish to go there themselves. I am told that during the Russo-Japanese war events were followed with keen interest in Egypt. Every victory of the Japanese was construed into a victory of a non-Christian people over a Christian power—of the Asiatic over the European. When a book I had written on my experiences in Japan appeared at the Cairo booksellers’, I was interviewed by the editor of an Arabic paper to give him as many particulars as I could concerning Japan.
THE TAKHTABOSH
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I avoided all talk as to the present régime in Egypt. Though one of my hearers had a safe billet, and the Sheykh probably felt a greater security for the property he holds than he would if our occupation of Egypt ceased, nevertheless the sting of being governed by the unbelievers is always there, let the unbeliever’s yoke be ever so light a one.
A suspicion that I might be hindering the afternoon nap induced me to bid farewell to my host and the judge.
Mansoor had been having a good time feasting with the servants, and when he joined me I asked him to divide a riyal between those who had served me. I watched him present the money to one of them and in the presence of the others, for I had reason to suspect his honesty. I could not hear the talk which followed, but saw the money passed on to a boy, who was told to go to a shop and change it. I saw no object in waiting any longer, so left the house. Mansoor wished to stay behind, and as I did not see why he should get any of the tip, I made him come with me. In the main street I hailed a passing cab. Mansoor now seemed rather disturbed and asked if he could go back. ‘The boy will not know where to bring the change of the riyal.’ ‘Did you not tell the boy to give the changed money to be divided among the servants?’ I asked. ‘No, I did not say it was for the servants,’ he answered, with the look of a detected thief; ‘I told him to bring the change back to you, sir. Please allow me to return to the house and I will tell them what your intentions were.’ I could not return myself to see the matter through, as I remembered an appointment I had to keep, and I let the man go. It dawned on me as I drove to my hotel that Mansoor’s object in hanging behind was to intercept the boy returning with the change and to pocket the lot himself.