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Cornell University Library 
 GR285 .H23 1907 
 
 Folk-lore of the H°'y,,,a?,i,,|||ii™ 
 
 3 1924 029 903 816 
 
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Cornell University 
 Library 
 
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 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
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 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924029903816 
 
FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
All rights reserved 
 
FOLK-LORE OF THE 
 HOLY LAND 
 
 MOSLEM, CHRISTIAN AND JEWISH 
 
 J. E. HANAUER 
 
 EDITED BY MARMADUKE PICKTHALL 
 
 LONDON 
 
 DUCKWORTH & CO. 
 
 3 HENRIETTA STREET, W.C. 
 1907 
 
TO 
 MY DEAR WIFE, 
 
 WITHOUT WHOSE ENCOURAGEMENT 
 THIS BOOK WOULD NEVER HAVE 
 BEEN WRITTEN AND WITHOUT WHOSE 
 HELP ITS MATERIALS COULD NEVER 
 HAVE BEEN COLLECTED, IT IS NOW 
 MOST AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED. 
 
 J. E. H. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 SECTION I 
 
 CONCERNING THE CREATION AND DIVERS SAINTS 
 AND MIRACLES 
 
 FAQS 
 
 I. A Learned Moslem's Ideas on Cosmogony . . 3 
 The Tablet of Destiny, and the great fountain-pen. — The 
 creation of water, of Allah's throne, of the atmosphere, of the 
 great serpent, of the solid earth and the mountains, the "K8,f " 
 range, and the seven seas and continents. — How the universe is 
 upheld. — The cause of earthquakes and of eclipses. — How all 
 these things became known. 
 
 II. Our Father Adam ...... 9 
 
 Adam formed out of various kinds of dust. — Disobedience of 
 Iblis. — Adam's first troubles. — "El Karineh," Lilith, or " Bl 
 BrAsha." — Creation of Eve. — Iblis bribes the serpent, and thiia 
 gets back into Paradise. — Adam's forethought.^The fall of 
 Man, and the ejection from Eden. — Increase and origin of 
 various evil spirits. — Repentance of Adam and his reunion 
 with Eve. — He is shown his posterity. — His great stature. — His 
 death. — Place of Adam's burial. 
 
 III. NoAH AND Og 13 
 
 Idris. — Birth and dwelling-place of Noah. — The "Na,k(ls." 
 — Opposition. — The Deluge. — Iblis gets into the Ark. — A donkey 
 in Paradise. — Og. — Voyage of the Ark. — Noah's daughter and 
 her supposed sisters. — Noah buried at Kerak. 
 
 IV, Job AND his Family . . . . . .17 
 
 Job. — His wife's' patience. — El Hakim Lokman identified 
 with .iEsop. — Account of a surgical operation. 
 
 V. Abraham, " The Friend of God " . . .22 
 
 Circumstances of his birth. — Impiety of Nimrfld. — The child's 
 precocity. His longing for spiritual knowledge. — Destruction 
 of Idols. — The furnace. — The flying - machine. — Death of 
 Nimrfld. — Flight of Ibrahim.-^His buildings. — The sheep-skin 
 jacket. — Ibrahim's hospitality. — A false friend. — A churl. — 
 Several customs attributed to Ibrahim. — His death. — He is still 
 alive. — His posthumous protection of the Jews at Hebron. 
 
viii FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 PAGE 
 
 VI. Lot and the Tree of the Cross ... So 
 
 VII. The Last Hours of Aaron and Moses . . 39 
 Aaron's shrine on Mount Hor. — Legend concerning his death. 
 — Different accounts of the death of Moses.^Legend of Moses' 
 shepherd. 
 
 VIII. David and Solomon 44 
 
 David's piety.— Learns a trade.— His presumption and fall. — 
 His remorse. — Solomon and the two birds. — The carob-tree. — 
 Solomon's death. 
 
 IX. El Khudr 51 
 
 The fountain of youth. — Dhu'lkamein and his companions. — 
 El Khudr popularly identified with various saints. — His haunts 
 and habits. — The insane asylum near the " Pools of Solomon." 
 — The holy stone. — Other shrines. —Elijah's cave on Carmel. — 
 An English doctor's story. — StGreorge and the Dragon. — Elijah's 
 Synagogue at Jerusalem. — El Khudr and Moses. 
 
 X. Simon the Just ....... 62 
 
 His so-called tomb. — Biographical sketch. — Simon the Just 
 and Ptolemy Philopator.— Simon and the Nazarite. — Rabbi 
 Galanti and the great drought. 
 
 Notes ......... 6'8 
 
 SECTION II 
 
 CONTAINING LEGENDS AND ANECDOTES POSSIBLY 
 FOUNDED ON FACT 
 
 I. " Bab el KhalIl " or the Jaffa Gate . . 79 
 
 Origin of Name. — Antichrist. — Two cenotaphs. — Jeremiah 
 and Nebuchadnezzar. — El 'Ozair. — An ass in Paradise. — El 
 Bdhemleh. — Rabbi Judah ha Levi. — Mezuzah at Jaffa Gate. 
 
 II. " Turbet Birket Mamilla " JOHHA ... 83 
 
 Kubbet el 'Abd. — Legends. — Johha and his mother. — Johha 
 and the donkeys. — Johha's peg. — The baby saucepan and the 
 defunct cauldron. — Johha's neighbours. 
 
 III. "En Nebi Daud" 89 
 
 En Nebi DaM and Ibn Faraj.- The dagger.— The Jewish 
 washerwoman. 
 
CONTENTS ix 
 
 VII. Judgements of Karakash 
 
 The weaver. — The rsd gown. — The miser 
 VIII. The Saragossan Purim 
 IX. Sultan Mahmud's Autograph 
 X. A Wise Answer . 
 
 Notes ..... 
 
 PAQE 
 
 IV. "Bis EL AsbAt" 94 
 
 Traditionalnames.— The lions. —Sultan Selim's dream.— The 
 Legend of the Bath-house of Bolkis. 
 
 V, Detective Stories 99 
 
 Kolonimos. — Incident at house of a rabbi. — Two anecdotes of 
 Ibrahim Pasha. 
 
 VI. Scraps of Unwritten History .... 105 
 
 Traces of the Essenes.— Female Eeoluses. — A Legend of El 
 Hakim bi amr lUah.— The Avengers of Blood.— Massacre of 
 Kurds at Hebron. — Faction-fights. — Massacre at Artass. — A 
 petty despot. 
 
 120 
 
 124 
 126 
 127 
 129 
 
 SECTION III 
 
 STORIES AND ANECDOTES ILLUSTRATING SOCIAL IDEAS, 
 SUPERSTITIONS, ETC. 
 
 I. Folks Gentle and Simple ..... 141 
 
 Ahmad Almuttafakhir. — The two Wazirs. — The Emperor of 
 China's pig. 
 
 II. The Secret of Success . . . . .147 
 
 III. Three Proverbs ....... 153 
 
 Keep your legs stretched according to the length of your 
 coverlet. — Moving a tent peg. — " ShftrClKib." 
 
 IV. Moral Tales l6l 
 
 Honourable old age. — Trust in Allah. — Benevolence. — Dis- 
 interestedness. — An upright judge.— The surety. 
 
FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 PAGE 
 
 176 
 
 V. AZRAEL .....•■■ 
 
 His appointment. — Hia son. — Francesco. 
 
 VI. The Underground Folk — our betters — The name 
 
 OF Allah be round about us! . . • 188 
 
 Their creation, etc.— Tlie name of Allah.— Intercourse with 
 human beings. — Mysterious thefts. — Khuneyfseh. — The 
 abducted wife. — A shepherd's experience. — Experiences of a 
 good woman. — Of a chieftain's son. — The frog.— The wedding 
 procession. 
 
 VII. Nursery Tales 214 
 
 Ijbeyneh. — Uhdeydftn. — Bluebeard. — Snowmaiden. 
 
 VIII. Satire 234 
 
 Invention of a shrine. — The patriarch.— A learned clergyman. 
 — An almanac. — The fasting monk. — The endangered poultry. 
 — The ill-used camels. 
 
 IX. About Woman 246 
 
 Treatment of a mother-in-law. — A cunning old woman. — The 
 rebellious owl. — Stories told by a rebellious hoopoe. — The 
 mourner. — The partners. — The merchant and the animals. 
 
 X. About Animals ....... 261 
 
 The dog.— The cat.— The hyseua.- The fox.— The dib-dib. 
 — The serpent. 
 
 XI. About Plants ....... 286 
 
 The olive. — The storax. — The sage. — The lotus and the 
 tamarisk. — The tortoise herb. 
 
 XII. About Coffee ....... 290 
 
 Its discovery — First uses. — Subject of i-eligious controversy. 
 — Customs among the desert Arabs. — Esh-Sheykh esh 
 Shadhilly. — The Bedawi and the Memltik. 
 
 XIII. Some Magic Cures 297 
 
 MAmmia. — IndMko. — Fresk^llra. — Charms. — Translation of a 
 typical Kanii. 
 
 XIV. A Popular Calendar and some sayings . . 303 
 Notes . . . . . . . . .811 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 My aim in this preface being to afford the untravelled 
 reader of the following stories such a glimpse of the 
 country and people which produced them as may 
 render them intelligible, if not coherent, I shall 
 begin with a glance at the past history of the Holy 
 Land as illustrated in its present folk-lore. 
 
 Of Old Testament times the feUahin have count- 
 less stories, more or less reminiscent of their religious 
 instruction at the mouth of Greek priest or Moslem 
 Khatib,^ vivified by the incorporation in the text 
 of naive conjectures, points of private humour, and 
 reaUstic touches from the present day Ufe of the 
 coimtry, which shock the pompous hstener as absurd 
 anachronisms. Thus the disguise of a Russian 
 pilgrim ^ — a figure now commonly to be met with 
 on the road from Jerusalem to the Jordan — is given 
 to Satan when he beguiles the Patriarch Lot (sect. 
 i. chap, vi.) ; and our father Adam has been described 
 to me as sitting under the Tree of Knowledge, 
 " smoking his narghUeh." Nebuchadnezzar and 
 Titus become one person (Bukhtunussm:) and the 
 
 ' Village preacher and schoolmaster. 
 
 ^ The Russian Church, and the Coptic, still include a pilgrimage to 
 the Holy Places among the duties of the devout Christian. 
 
xii FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 personality of Alexander the Great (Iskender Dhu 
 el Karneyn) is stretched so as to include more 
 ancient conquerors. Moreover, the desire inherent 
 in Orientals to know how everything came to be, 
 content with any hypothesis provided it be witty, 
 has produced any number of dehcious Uttle fictions 
 which, to aU ends but the scientific, are much better 
 than fact. Such j eux d'esprit abound in the following 
 pages, as, for instance, the story of Noah's daughter 
 (sect. i. chap, iii.), and of how the mosquito came 
 to buzz (sect. iii. chap, x.) ; and they are useful 
 to be known by all who must converse Avith Orientals, 
 since for the latter they are a part of learning. Mr 
 KipHng's " Just So Stories " are examples of this 
 vein of Eastern humour. 
 
 Of Our Lord and the Apostles and the Blessed 
 Virgin there are sheaves of legends extant, many of 
 them current among Moslems as weU as Christians ; 
 for it must not be forgotten that the followers of 
 Muhammad have great reverence for Jesus Christ, 
 whom their Prophet named Ruh' Allah, the Spirit 
 of God. They believe in His Immaculate Conception 
 and all His miracles, but deny His Divinity. Only 
 St Paul is anathema to them, because they say he 
 took the pure faith of El Islam, the faith of Adam 
 and Noah and Abraham, as restored by Jesus, and 
 made of it a new rehgion. With the very doubtful 
 exception of the quaint story of Francesco and the 
 Angel of Death (sect. iii. chap, v.), no legend 
 
INTRODUCTION xiii 
 
 concerning the New Testament period has been 
 included in this work ; for the reason that such 
 legends ceased long ago to be local, and are most, 
 if not aU, of them elsewhere accessible, in the Apocry- 
 phal Gospels or one or other of the multiplied Lives 
 of the Saints. 
 
 To most legends of the centuries between Christ 
 and Muhammad, called by Moslems " the Interval," 
 a Hke objection seemed to apply. The stories of 
 the Seven Sleepers and of the Martyrs of the Pit, 
 of St Helen's Dream and the consequent finding 
 of the Cross, no longer belong to Palestine, though 
 they are still told there. But the legend of the 
 Tree of the Cross (sect. i. chap, vi.) and that of 
 St George in the chapter on " El Kliudr " (sect, i.), 
 with a tradition, given in sect. ii. chap, vi., con- 
 cerning some caves in Wady Isma 'in, called " the 
 Upper Chambers of the Maidens," undoubtedly 
 belong to this period. The romantic deeds of 'Antar 
 and Abu Zeyd, with all the wealth of stories ascribed 
 to the Arabs of the Ignorance,^ though known to 
 natives of Palestine, have not been locahsed. They 
 belong to the Arabic language and hterature, and 
 must be set down as acquired. 
 
 With the conquest of Jerusalem by the armies 
 of the Cahph Omar ibn el Khatt^b begins the histori- 
 cal memory in this folk-lore as distinct from the 
 
 ' The Time of the Ignorance is the name given to the days before 
 Muhammad, when a majority of the Arabians were idolators. 
 
xiv FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 Scriptural and the fabulous ; and I have heard 
 Christians as well as Moslems extol the character 
 of Omar and depict it not amiss. They relate that 
 when the homely old man arrived, xmattended, upon 
 the camel which had borne him all the way from 
 El Medineh, to receive in person the submission of 
 a place so holy as Jerusalem, the splendid slaves 
 of the late Byzantine government, cringing, led him 
 to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre; fully ex- 
 pecting him to say his prayers there, and tm-n the 
 church into a mosque. But he declined to pass the 
 threshold, praying from without upon the name of 
 Jesus. He was led thence to other churches, but 
 would enter none of them, preferring for the scene 
 of his devotions the summit of Mount Moriah, site 
 of Herod's Temple and of Solomon's, which was 
 at that time a waste of ruins. This was the Beyt 
 el Makdas, the House of the Sanctuary, to which 
 angels came in pilgrimage long before the creation 
 of Adam — that " further temple " to which Muham- 
 mad was carried in his sleep from Mekka, and whence 
 he started on his marvellous " night- joiu-ney " 
 through the Seven Heavens. Here the conqueror 
 caused to be built a noble shrine, the Dome of the 
 Rock, which we to this day call the Mosque of 
 Omar. 
 
 Omar's severity towards the Christians was so 
 much below their anticipations that he figures in 
 the popular memory almost as a benefactor of their 
 
INTRODUCTION xv 
 
 religion. They were deprived of their church-bells, 
 but kept their churches ; and if large numbers of 
 them embraced El IsMm, it was through self-interest 
 (or conviction) and not at the point of the sword 
 as has been represented. Indeed, the toleration 
 displayed by the Moslems towards the vanquished, 
 though less than we should practise nowadays, is 
 without a parallel in Europe tiU many centuries 
 later. It was not emulated by the Crusaders,^ 
 who, rushing to wrest the Holy Sepulchre from the 
 clutch of the " foul Paynim," were astonished to 
 find it in the hands of Christians, whom, to cloak 
 their disconcertion, they denounced as heretics. 
 
 From the Moslem conquest downward — with the 
 exception of the mad destructive inroads called 
 crusades, and the short-lived Prankish kingdom 
 (often referred to by the Mohammedan fellahin as the 
 Time of the Infidels) — one tradition has prevailed 
 in the land till quite recent years. In that conquest 
 the East reclaimed her own, the young civilisation 
 of the Arabs overpowering the luxury of the moribund 
 Roman empire : a judgment from God, it is said. 
 It was a return to the time of David at least, if not 
 of Abraham ; and this tremendous relapse must 
 be borne in mind of those who would deduce from 
 existing conditions in Palestine the life that was led 
 there in the time of Christ. From Omar's time, 
 
 1 Many of the Crusaders were so ignorant as to believe that the 
 Moslems were idolaters. 
 
xvi FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 with the reservation aheady made, the fellahin, 
 whether ruled in chief from Baghdad, Cairo or 
 Constantinople, have been subject to an Oriental 
 form of government, rough in the hand but genial 
 in the head, which, allowing great Uberty to the 
 individual, has furnished rich material for song 
 and story. A vast majority of the stories here 
 collected have the keen Oriental flavour of this 
 period. 
 
 In the fourth decade of the last century the Pasha of 
 Egypt, Muhammed AH, rebelled against his sovereign 
 lord the Sultan; when an Egyptian force under 
 Ibrahim Pasha invaded Syria and occupied it for 
 some time. Owing to French influence European 
 ideas had already made some way among the govern- 
 ing class in Egypt, and the radicalism of Ibrahim 
 made his rule offensive to the conservative notables 
 of SjTia. Still he was the kind of tyrant to appeal 
 most strongly to Orientals, heavy-handed but 
 humorous, knowing how to impart to his decisions 
 that quaint proverbial savour which dwells in the 
 mind of the people, and makes good stories ; and 
 his fame among the fellahin is that of a second 
 Solomon (see " Detective Stories," sect. ii. chap. v.). 
 With him begins the age of progress in the Holy Land. 
 Since the withdrawal of the Egyptian troops in 1840, 
 things have moved fast in a European direction ; 
 tiU there is now such an inflow of civiHsation and 
 education as to threaten the very source of folk-lore. 
 
INTRODUCTION xvii 
 
 making some such Noah's Ark as this seem necessary, 
 if aught is to survive the banal deluge. 
 
 The region from which Mr Hanauer has drawn 
 these stories is the hiU-country between Bethel on 
 the north and Hebron in the south. It is holy land 
 for the Mohammedan and the Jew hardly less than 
 for the Christian, and its population comprises aU 
 three branches of that monotheistic faith, whose 
 root is in the God of Abraham. The Moslems, who 
 are the dominant class, are the offspring of the Arab 
 conquerors and of such of the conquered as espoused 
 El Islam ; the Christians, the descendants of those 
 old inhabitants of Syria, subjects of the Byzantine 
 Empire, who at the conquest preferred their reKgion 
 to worldly advancement. Their stories against one 
 another, though abounding in sly hits, breathe as 
 a rule the utmost good nature. Only in the Jewish 
 legends one detects a bitterness which, in view of 
 the history of their race, is pardonable. 
 
 In the Middle Ages there existed in Jerusalem 
 and Hebron, as in the cities of Europe, small despised 
 communities of Jews, strictly confined to one quarter, 
 the gates of which were locked at night. To these 
 were added some three hundred years ago a company 
 of Spanish Jews (Sephardim), fleeing hither from 
 the Inquisition with their wives and famiUes ; who 
 still at this day form a separate group and use among 
 themselves an antiquated kind of Spanish which 
 they pronounce oddly. 
 
xviii FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 Another company of old time immigrants, whose 
 descendants have preserved individuaUty, were the 
 Mugh^ribeh (sing. Mughrabi) or Moorish Jews. 
 Pure Orientals in dress, speech and character, they 
 have earned a bad name in the land as charlatans, 
 many of them being professed wizards and conjm'ers. 
 But a vast majority of the large and growing Jewish 
 population are immigrants of the last fifty years, 
 borne to Palestine on the waves of the Zionist 
 movement, and looking about them surUly, with 
 foreign eyes. Coming from the towns of East and 
 Central Europe, the agricultural life expected of them 
 is as strange as the coimtry, and at first hostile. 
 The Jew is now a foreigner in the Holy Land ; and 
 the standpoint and posture of his ancestors of the 
 time of Christ to-day is found with the Moslem, 
 who also claims descent from Abraham. 
 
 About one-third of the matter here presented 
 has been published in America ^ in another version, 
 and the chapters on Animal and Plant-lore were 
 originally contributed to the Palestine Exploration 
 Fund Quarterly Statement, from which they are 
 reprinted by permission of the conamittee. Stories 
 spread fast and far in the East, and are soon localised 
 (I have found a considerable number of these current 
 among the people of Lower Egypt), and it may well 
 
 1 " Tales told iu Palestine/' by J. E. Hanauer. Edited by H. G. 
 Mitchell. Cincinnati : Jennings & Graham. New York : Eaton & 
 Mains. (Copyright (1904) by H. G. Mitchell.) 
 
INTRODUCTION xix 
 
 be that some of the following have found their way 
 into print ; but the author would have it dearly 
 understood that he has derived them aU from the 
 legitimate source of folk-lore, the Ups of the people 
 themselves. Where he has observed a coincidence 
 or similarity he has endeavoured to point it out, but 
 neither he nor his editor are skilled folk-lorists. 
 There are sure to be many such kinships which have 
 escaped our vigilance. 
 
 Although this compilation is but a pailful from 
 the sea, as compared with the floating mass of folk- 
 lore which exists in Palestine, I know of no other 
 attempt at collection on anything Uke so large a 
 scale ; and it has been our object so to present the 
 stories as to entertain the casual reader without 
 impairing their value for the student of such matters. 
 With much that is puerile, they contain both wit 
 and hiunour, and withal not a Uttle of that Heavenly 
 Wisdom, the Wisdom of Solomon and of the Son of 
 Sirach, to which, in the East, churches were once 
 dedicated. 
 
 MARMADUKE PICKTHALL. 
 
A MOHAMMEDAN LEGEND 
 
 INTRODUCTORY AND APOLOGETIC 
 
 " Tainting the air, on a scirocco day, the carcase of a hound, 
 all loathsome, lay in Nazareth's narrow street. Wayfarers 
 hurried past covering mouth and nostrils, and at last, when 
 purer air they reached, in Eastern style they cursed the dog, 
 and the dog's owners' ancestors, and theirs who, bound to care 
 for public cleanliness yet left the nuisance there to poison all 
 around. Then, that same way, there came 'Isa, the son of 
 Mary, of great fame for mighty deeds performed in Allah's 
 Name. He said, ' How lovely are its teeth, so sharp, and 
 white as pearls ' : then went his way." 
 
 Be the lot. Reader, thine, 'midst many faults to note some 
 beauty shine : some lesson new in Eastern legends old : and, 
 'mid much dross, to find some grains of gold. 
 
 J. E. H. 
 
SECTION I 
 
 TREATING OF TRADITIONS CONCERNING THE 
 
 CREATION, AND VARIOUS SAINTS, 
 
 SINNERS, AND MIRACLES 
 
SECTION I 
 
 A LEARNED MOSLEM S IDEAS ON COSMOGONY 
 
 Know, that the very first thing which Allah created 
 was the marvellous Tablet of Destiny upon which 
 is written not only all that ever happened in the 
 Past, or that will happen in the Present or the 
 Future, but also every human being's lot for ever : 
 whether he will be happy or wretched, rich or poor 
 in this life ; and whether he will be a true Behever 
 and inherit Paradise hereafter, or a Kafir and go 
 to Jehennum. The Tablet of Destiny was made 
 out of an immense white pearl, and it has two leaves 
 like those of a door. There are learned men who 
 assert that these leaves are formed out of two red 
 rubies of incomparable size and beauty, but Allah 
 alone knows if they speak truth. 
 
 Allah next created a great pen formed out of 
 a single gem. The pen is so long that it would take 
 one five hundred years to travel from end to end of 
 it. It is spKt at one end like an ordinary pen, and 
 pointed, and from the point light flowed forth in 
 the same way that ink flows from common pens, 
 or water gushes from a fountain. Then the voice 
 
6 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 on the surface of the earth should be formed into 
 seven concentric seas, separated from each other 
 by as many continents, but nevertheless connected 
 by divers gulfs and straits, and containing an in- 
 finite [number and diversity of Uving creatures, 
 as well as of the nom-ishment that sustains them. 
 The seven continents Ukewise vary in their cUmates 
 and conditions, as in the plants and animals that 
 abound therein. It took Allah two further days 
 to set these things in order. 
 
 Now the earth used to rock and roll like a ship 
 at sea, so that all Hving creatures were very sick. 
 Therefore Allah commanded a strong angel to go 
 beneath the earth and support it. The angel did 
 so, and stretching one arm towards the east, and 
 the other towards the west, he upheld the world. 
 Then, in order that the angel might have something 
 to stand on, Allah created a great rock of green 
 emerald, which He commanded to roU in beneath 
 his feet and support them. Then, as there was 
 nothing for the rock to rest upon, a great bull was 
 created, and ordered to go imder the rock and bear 
 it up ; some say on his horns, and others on his back. 
 Those who make the former statement explain 
 earthquakes as caused by the movement of the 
 bull's head when he shifts the rock from one horn 
 to the other. He has eyes so fiery red that no one 
 can look in them without blindness. He is named 
 Behemoth, and stands on the back of a great whale, 
 which swims about in an ocean which Allah created 
 for the piu'pose. Beneath the ocean, and surround- 
 ing it and the world, is air, which rests upon dark- 
 
SAINTS, SINNERS, AND MIRACLES 7 
 
 ness, through which in their appointed seasons 
 move the sun, moon, and stars, created for no other 
 service than to give light to the earth. 
 
 It sometimes happens that the sun or the moon 
 is ecUpsed, and the explanation of the phenomenon 
 is in each case simple. When the moon is at the 
 fuU, and her light falls upon that part of the great 
 sea in which the whale is swimming, the monster 
 will sometimes open his mouth and seize her. He 
 would doubtless swallow her up whole if AUah 
 permitted it, but he is compelled to relinquish his 
 prey — most speedily if the worshippers of the Unity 
 make great and loud lamentations, and offer prayers. 
 The cause of echpses of the sun is difierent. They 
 are signs vouchsafed from Allah, and solemn warnings 
 against sin. The first that ever happened was to 
 bid men heed the preaching of Ibrahim the friend 
 of AUah, on whom be peace ; the second, to enforce 
 the doctrine of Tsa the son of Maryam, on whom 
 be peace ; and in our own days the wonder is of 
 frequent occurrence to the end that all mankind 
 may take to heart the teaching of the Apostle of 
 AUah, on whom be prayer and peace.^ 
 
 Thus, as I have explained, the world rests upon 
 the shoulders of an angel, and the angel upon a 
 great emerald rock, and the rock upon the horns 
 or shoulders of a buU, and the buU upon the back 
 of a great whale, and the whale or dragon swims 
 in a great sea which is upborne by air, which is 
 surrounded by darkness. The heavenly bodies shine 
 
 1 It is also said that the sun and moon are a married couple, who 
 come together once every month, at which time the moon is invisible. 
 
10 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 Karineh " by the Arabs, and " Lilith " by the Jews 
 generally; " El-Brusha " by the Sephardim, or 
 Spanish Jews. She is the deadly enemy of all 
 women, especially such as have recently become 
 mothers. These must be carefully nursed and 
 watched, and, together with their new-born babes, 
 fenced round with charms and holy amulets, and 
 heads of garlic, lumps of alum, blue beads, and so 
 forth, lest the Karineh strangle them in her jealous 
 fury, or frighten the mother into madness. European 
 doctors, who pretend to know everything, do not 
 know the dreadful dangers to which they expose 
 women in childbed when they forbid other women 
 to visit and amuse them. 
 
 When " El-Karineh " had been driven from Para- 
 dise, Allah created oiu- mother Hawa, that is, Eve, 
 out of one of Adam's ribs, which He had extracted 
 from the latter whilst he slept. Adam and Hawa 
 were very happy together tUl Iblis succeeded in 
 getting back into Paradise concealed in the hollow 
 of the serpent's fangs. The Evil One had bribed 
 the serpent with the promise that it should have 
 the richest and most luscious of food, which, as 
 Iblis said, was human flesh. How the serpent was 
 outwitted by the swallow, we shall, Inshallah, tell 
 later on in the book. Having entered the garden, 
 Satan succeeded in persuading Hawa to eat of the 
 forbidden fruit, which, according to some of the 
 learned, was wheat. Adam, having been persuaded 
 by his wife to share his offence, was, as a punishment, 
 cast out of Paradise, together with Hawa, Iblis, and 
 the serpent. He had, however, the sense to snatch 
 
SAINTS, SINNERS, AND MIRACLES 11 
 
 up, and bring down to earth with him, an anvil, 
 a pair of tongs or pincers, two hammers, and a 
 needle. He was cast out of Paradise at the gate 
 named the Gate of Penitence ; Hawa from the Gate 
 of Mercy ; Iblis at the Gate of Malediction ; and 
 the serpent at the Gate of Calamity. So all four 
 of them fell to the earth, each coming down in a 
 different place : Adam at Serendib or Ceylon ; Hawa 
 at Jiddah ; Iblis at 'Allah, or 'Akabah ; and the 
 serpent at Isfahan in Persia. Two hundred years 
 elapsed before Adam and Hawa met once more at 
 Jebel 'Arafat, the mountain of Recognition, near 
 Mecca ; and, in the meantime, fresh horrors had 
 been enacted, for, being under the curse, Hawa had 
 borne offspring of the seed of devils, and Adam 
 had got many children by female jinns. The 
 descendants of those unclean monsters imder the 
 name of afrits, rassad, ghouls, marids, and so on, still 
 people the earth and try to harm mankind. 
 
 What happened at the end of two centuries, how 
 Adam repented and was taken by Gabriel to find 
 Hawa at 'Arafat, and how the forgiven couple went 
 and Uved in Ceylon, we need not tell, nor the 
 story of their sons Habil, Kabil, and Seth, seeing 
 that this is known to all the People of the Book, 
 whether Moslems, Christians, or Jews. What, how- 
 ever, is not generally known, is that Allah showed 
 Adam all his posterity, even all men that should 
 ever live, between his own days and the day of the 
 Resurrection. It came to pass in this manner : 
 Allah stroked Adam's back, and forthwith there 
 issued from the latter's loins multitudes of men, 
 
12 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 thousands upon thousands and tens of thousands, 
 each man no bigger than an ant ; and when these 
 had all borne witness that there is no God but 
 Allah, and that Musa should be the one to whom 
 Allah would speak, and Ibrahim El Khalil should 
 be the Friend of AUah, and 'Isa ibn Maryam the 
 one who should be bom of Allah's Spirit, and that 
 Mohammad should be the Apostle of Allah, and 
 when each individual had confessed his belief in 
 the World to come and the Day of the Resmrection, 
 they all returned into Adam's loins. 
 
 Adam was a tall man, taller than any palm-tree. 
 The hair of his head was also very long. The angel 
 Gabriel visited him twelve times. When he died, 
 his progeny had grown to the number of forty 
 thousand persons. 
 
 Some say, there being others who contradict the 
 statement, that it was he who first built the Beyt 
 el Makdas. There are also different opinions as 
 to the place where he is buried ; some stating that 
 his tomb is near Hebron, and others that he was 
 buried with his head at Jerusalem and his feet 
 stretching all the way to Hebron. Others say the 
 case is just the reverse, and that Adam's head 
 rests at Hebron, but his feet at El-Kuds. AUah 
 knows ! 
 
SAINTS, SINNERS, AND MIRACLES 13 
 III 
 
 NOAH AND OG 
 
 NoAH, on whom be peace, was one of the six greatest 
 prophets that ever lived, though he left no writings 
 behind him, as did his grandfather Idris,i who 
 was the first human being to use a pen, wherewith 
 he wrote thirty books of divine revelation — besides 
 works on astronomy and other sciences, which are 
 now lost — before AUah removed him to Heaven. 
 Another name of Noah was 'Abd el Gh^far, which 
 means Servant of the Forgiving One. He was 
 born one hundred and fifty years after the translation 
 of Idris. He lived at Damascus till Allah sent him 
 to warn mankind of the Flood and build the ark. 
 By Allah's command and direction he made the first 
 n4kus or gong, such as those which are used to this 
 day in oriental churches and convents. 
 
 Noah's efforts to convert mankind were vain. 
 He was beaten and mocked even by his own wife 
 Wa'ileh, an unbeUever, as well as by his wicked 
 son Canaan, and the latter's son Uj ibn 'Anak 
 (Og the son of Anak). Anak was the daughter of 
 Adam, a vile woman,^ and the first of witches. 
 These four wicked persons did their best to persuade 
 everyone that Noah was mad. 
 
 The Flood burst forth from underground out of 
 a " tannur " or oven, the site of which is uncertain, 
 some placing it at Gezer and others at Damascus. 
 
 ' Enoch. ^ Awwal sharmuteh kanet fi'd-dunvah. 
 
14 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 The ark was upborne by the rising waters, which 
 were swollen by torrential rains. Noah and his 
 family (his wife, Anak, Canaan, and Og excepted), 
 together with a company of other believers, Ihe 
 number of whom some say was six, others ten, twelve, 
 and even seventy-eight or eighty, half of them men 
 and half women, including Jorham the elder, the 
 preserver of the Arabic language, were saved, as 
 well as the animals which Allah had caused to enter 
 the ark. Among the latter was the ass, under whose 
 tail Iblis had hidden, disguised as a fly. This donkey, 
 reluctant to enter the ark bearing the Evil One with 
 him, was driven in by Noah with hard blows. To 
 compensate the donkey for this injustice, it had 
 been predestined that one of his descendants should 
 enter Paradise. This happened when the ass of 
 'Ozair ^ was raised to life again and admitted into 
 the Heavenly Garden. 
 
 The waters of the Deluge destroyed all mankind 
 except those inside the ark, and Og. The latter 
 was so tall that when the Flood came its waters 
 only reached up to his ankles. He repeatedly tried 
 to destroy Noah and his crew by submerging the ark, 
 but in vain. The pitch with which it had been 
 coated had made it so diflScult to grasp that it always 
 slipped from his hands and came safely up to the 
 surface. When hungry, Og would squat down on 
 his haunches and take up a handful of water. Strain- 
 ing it through his fingers, he always found a good 
 many fish left in his grasp. These he could roast 
 
 1 i.e. Jeremiahj Esdras, or Lazarus of Bethany : three saints who 
 have got confused in Syrian Hagiology. 
 
SAINTS, SINNERS, AND MIRACLES 15 
 
 by holding them up to the sun. When thirsty, all 
 he had to do was to put out his hands close together 
 and catch the rain which was tumbhng in bucketsful 
 from the skies. He hved several centuries after 
 the Flood till the time of Musa. One day, as he was 
 standing on Jebel esh Sheykh,i he wanted to stride 
 across El-Beka'a,^ but, misjudging the distance, 
 he stepped, not on to the Lebanon Range, as he had 
 intended, but far beyond it, into the great sea. 
 At another time when, suffering from fever, he lay 
 down to rest, he stretched from Banias, where the 
 Jordan gushes forth, as far as the Lake Merom. 
 As he lay thus, some muleteers passed Banias on 
 their way southward. When they approached his 
 face, he said to them, " I am too ill to move. For 
 the love of Allah, when you reach my feet, drive 
 away the mosquitoes that are tickling them and 
 cover them up with my " ab&yeh." The men 
 promised to do as he said : but, when they reached 
 his feet, they found no mosquitoes, but a crowd 
 of jackals. 
 
 Og died at last by the hand of Musa, in the following 
 manner. In order to destroy the Israehtes on their 
 way through the wilderness, the giant puUed up a 
 great rock out of the earth. It was so large that 
 it would have crushed the whole camp of Israel, 
 which covered a square league of country. Og was 
 carrying it upon his head, meaning to drop it on the 
 camp, when AUah sent a bird that pecked through 
 the stone a hole so large that the mass shpped down 
 over Og's head and on to his shoulders, in such a 
 
 1 Mount Hermon. ^ The wide plain of Coele-Syria. 
 
16 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 way that he could not get rid of it, nor see where 
 he was going. Hereupon Musa, whose stature was 
 ten dra'asji and whose miracle-working rod was 
 the same length, leapt up to the height of ten dra'as 
 and just managed to hit Og on his ankle, so that 
 he fell down and was kiUed. Stones were heaped 
 upon his body as high as a mountain. 
 
 To return to Noah : the ark floated to and fro 
 on the surface of the Flood tiU it came to the place 
 where Mecca is situated, and there it lay motionless 
 seven days. Then it moved northward till it reached 
 the site of Jerusalem, where, being endowed with 
 speech by Allah, it informed Noah that here the 
 " Beyt el Makdas," or House of the Sanctuary, 
 would be rebuilt, and inhabited by many prophets, 
 his descendants. After the Flood, when the men 
 and women who had been saved in the ark had gone 
 forth to re-people the earth, the Patriarch was left 
 alone with his daughter, who kept house for him, 
 his wicked wife (Wa'ileh) having perished. One day 
 a suitor for the girl appeared, and Noah promised 
 her to him on condition of his preparing a suitable 
 home for her. The man took his leave, promising 
 to return within a certain time. The term having 
 passed without his reappearance, Noah promised 
 his daughter to another man, upon the same con- 
 dition. He also departed and faUed to appear at 
 the time stated, so when a third suitor came, with 
 a home quite ready, Noah consented to the marriage 
 taking place at once. Hardly, however, had the 
 wedded pair departed, when the second suitor came 
 
 'The modern "dra'a" or "peak "=27 inches. 
 
SAINTS, SINNERS, AND MIRACLES 17 
 
 to claim his bride. Unwilling to disappoint him, 
 the Patriarch, by invoking the name of Allah, turned 
 a she-ass into a girl resembling his daughter, and 
 gave her to the expectant bridegroom. Soon after 
 the pair had left, the first suitor appeared demanding 
 his bride. Noah then turned his bitch into a girl 
 and married her to the laggard. Since then there 
 have been three sorts of women in the world. Firstly, 
 the God-fearing, who are true help-meets to their 
 husbands ; secondly, stupid and indolent slatterns, 
 who want driving with a stick ; and thirdly, shrews, 
 who, scorning both admonition and disciphne, con- 
 tinually snarl and snap at their owners. 
 
 IV 
 
 JOB AND HIS FAMILY 
 
 AvtB, on whom be Peace, was a very rich man with 
 a large family. In order to prove the sincerity of 
 his professed piety, Allah deprived him, not only of 
 all his worldly possessions and his children, but 
 of his health as well. He was afflicted with a skin 
 disease so loathsome that, on account of the smell 
 from his ulcers, nobody but his wife would come 
 within fifty yards of him. In spite of these mis- 
 fortunes the Patriarch continued to serve Allah and 
 to give Him thanks as in the day of prosperity. 
 His patience, though great, did not equal that of 
 his wife, who was a daughter of Ephraim the son of 
 Joseph, or else of Manasseh. She not only nursed 
 
18 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 her husband with great devotion, but supported 
 him by her earnings, and, when she could get no 
 work, used to carry him about on her back in an 
 ab§,yeh, while she begged from door to door. This 
 she did for seven years without a murmiu-. One 
 day, when she had been forced to leave her husband 
 for a short time, Iblis appeared to her, and pro- 
 mised that if she would worship him he would cure 
 her husband and restore his lost possessions. The 
 woman, sorely tempted, went to ask leave of Ayiib, 
 who was so angry with her for daring to parley with 
 the devil that he swore, if Allah would restore 
 him to health, to give her a hundred lashes. He 
 then uttered this prayer : " my Lord, verily evil 
 hath afflicted me : but Thou art the most merciful 
 of those who show mercy." Hereupon AUah sent 
 Gabriel, who took Ayub by the hand and raised 
 him. At the same instant the fountain which sup- 
 pUes the Bir Ayub in the valley below Jerusalem 
 sprang up at the Patriarch's feet. The latter, by 
 the Angel's direction, immediately drank thereof, 
 and the worms in his wounds at once fell from his 
 body ; and when he had bathed in the fountain, 
 his former health and beauty were restored. Allah 
 then restored his children to life, and made his wife 
 so young and handsome that she bore him twenty-six 
 sons. To enable the Patriarch to support so large 
 a family, and also to compensate him for the loss 
 of his wealth, the threshing-floors close to Bir Ayub, 
 which belonged to him, were filled with gold and 
 silver coinage rained down by two clouds sent for 
 the purpose. Softened by these evidences of the 
 
SAINTS, SINNERS, AND MIRACLES 19 
 
 Almighty's mercy, Ayub began to regret his rash 
 oath ; but could not see how to evade its performance. 
 In this dijG&culty Gabriel came again to his relief. 
 At the Angel's suggestion, the Patriarch took a 
 palm branch which had a hundred fronds, and giving 
 his wife one tap with it, considered that she had 
 received the promised beating. 
 
 Besides his devoted wife, Ayub had a relative 
 who, from aU accounts, was one of the most remark- 
 able men that ever hved. He is generally called 
 " El Hakim Lokman," though I have also heard the 
 name " El Hakhn Risto " appKed to him.^ 
 
 This personage was the son of Baura, who was 
 the son or grandson either of Ayub's sister or of 
 his aunt. He lived for several hundreds of years, 
 till the time of David, with whom he was acquainted. 
 He was extremely ugly, of a black complexion, with 
 thick Ups and splay feet ; but, to make up for these 
 deformities, Allah gave him wisdom and eloquence. 
 Offered the choice between the gifts of prophecy 
 and wisdom, he chose the latter. The prophet 
 David wished him to be King of Israel, but he 
 declined so onerous a position,^ content to remain a 
 simple Hakim. 
 
 Having been taken and sold into slavery by the 
 Bedu who raided the Ham-an and carried off Ayub's 
 cattle, he obtained his hberty in a remarkable manner. 
 His master, having one day given him a bitter melon 
 
 ' The latter name, which is only^ and that seldom, heard amongst 
 Christians, suggests that of Aristotle, but he is more easily identified 
 with the Greek Aesop ; all the fables attributed to the latter being 
 current in Palestine and ascribed to Lokman. 
 
 ^ I received this information from a learned Moslem. 
 
20 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 to eat, was greatly surprised at his obedience in 
 consuming the whole of it, and asked him how he 
 could eat so unpleasant a fruit. Lokman answered 
 that it was no wonder that he should, for once in a 
 while, accept an evil thing from one who had con- 
 ferred so many benefits on him. This answer so 
 pleased his owner that he set him free. 
 
 The weU-known fables excepted, the following 
 story is that most often related of this sage. 
 
 A certain rich man was very Ul, and the doctors 
 said he must die, because there was some animal 
 inside him, clutching at his heart. It was thought 
 it might be a serpent, for it is well known that if 
 people sleep in the fields where yellow melons are 
 growing they run the risk of young serpents sUpping 
 through their open mouths into their stomachs, and 
 thriving there on the food that ought to nourish 
 their victims. El Hakim Lokman was called in as 
 a last resource. He said there was one operation 
 which might save the patient, but to perform it 
 would be very dangerous. The sick man clutched 
 at this last chance of hfe. He sent for the Kadi, 
 the Mufti, and the whole Council of notables, and 
 in their presence signed and sealed a document 
 which exonerated Lokman from all blame in case 
 he died under the operation. He then took leave 
 of his friends and relatives. 
 
 Lokman invited all the other doctors in the dty 
 to assist at the operation : first making them swear 
 that they would not interfere through jealousy. 
 
 One physician, however, he did not invite, and 
 that was his sister's son, of whom he was very 
 
SAINTS, SINNERS, AND MIRACLES 21 
 
 jealous, but who, nevertheless, attained ultimately 
 even greater skiQ than Lokman himself.^ This 
 nephew, though uninvited, determined to witness 
 the operation, so he cUmbed on to the house-top, 
 where he knew of a small window through which 
 he could look into the sick-room, and see all that 
 was going on. 
 
 In the meantime Lokman administered benj to 
 the sufferer and, as soon as the anaesthetic had taken 
 effect, proceeded to lay him open. So doing, he 
 revealed a huge crab clinging to the heart. 
 
 At the sight even Lokman himself lost courage, 
 and said : " There, sure enough, is the cause of 
 sickness, but how to remove the beast I know not. 
 If any one here knows a way, for Allah's sake let 
 him name it." The physicians rephed, " We cannot 
 tell how to remove the creature, for, if we use force, 
 it will only chng more tightly to the heart, and the 
 man will die." Hardly had these words been spoken 
 when, to Lokman's surprise and shame, the unseen 
 watcher on the house-top shouted into the room, 
 " Ilhak bi 'n-n^r ya hom^r ! " " Follow up with 
 fire, thou ass ! " On hearing this most opportime 
 advice, Lokman sent one of his colleagues running 
 to the Butchers' Street, to ask the keeper of the 
 first Kobab-broiling-shop to lend him an iron skewer. 
 Others were told to prepare a brazier ; others to 
 
 1 That enmity should exist hetween such relatives is natural, for 
 his sister's son is commonly a man's worst rival : a circumstance 
 which has given rise to the common saying : " If thou hast no sister's 
 son, but art so foolish as to desire one, take a lump of clay and mould 
 one for thyself, and to thine own liking, and then, when he is perfect, 
 behead him lest he perchance come to life and do thee an injury." 
 
22 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 fetch cotton wool. When all was ready, the great 
 Hakim wrapped a wet cloth round one end of the 
 iron skewer for a handle, and thrust the other in the, 
 fire tiU it was red-hot, while one of the attendant 
 physicians, by his orders, manufactured two small 
 pads of cotton wool. When the skewer was red 
 hot the operator touched one of the claws with 
 it. The sudden pain caused the crab to Uft that 
 claw, when one of the pads was put beneath it. In 
 this way all the claws were loosened, and the crab 
 could be removed without danger to the patient. 
 
 Lokman was then going to clean the wounds with 
 a silver spoon ; but his nephew on the roof cried : 
 " Beware of touching a human heart with metal." 
 He therefore took a piece of wood that lay handy, 
 and fashioned it into a spoon for his purpose. 
 Having anointed the wounds in the heart, he sewed 
 up the chest of the patient, who thereafter recovered 
 and enjoyed long life. 
 
 ABRAHAM, " THE FRIEND OF GOD " 
 
 IbrahIm, whose surname is Khalil Allah, or the 
 Friend of God, was the son of Azar or Terah, a 
 sculptor, and also wazir to Nimrud, King of Kutha. 
 The impiety of Nimrud was so great that he com- 
 pelled his subjects to worship him as a god. 
 
 A dream which greatly disturbed him was inter- 
 preted by soothsayers to portend the speedy birth 
 
SAINTS, SINNERS, AND MIRACLES 23 
 
 of a great prophet who should overthrow idolatry 
 and cause Nimrud's ruin. To prevent this the 
 tyrant collected all men into a large military camp, 
 had every male infant in his dominions massacred, 
 and ordered that aU women Ukely to become mothers 
 should be closely watched and their offspring, if 
 male, destroyed at birth. 
 
 In spite of all these precautions, Azar's wife was 
 deUvered of Ibrahim without the knowledge of any 
 mortal but herself. When the hour of her trouble 
 approached, she was led secretly by angels to a 
 concealed and well-furnished cavern. Her trial was 
 rendered painless by AUah's grace, and, leaving 
 her new-born babe in the care of celestial ministrants, 
 she returned to her home in perfect health and 
 vigour. 
 
 Azar, who, Hke all the other men, was away from 
 home in constant attendance upon Nimrud, was for 
 a long time ignorant of what had happened dvu-ing 
 his absence. His wife was allowed to visit her child 
 every few days, and was every time surprised at 
 his growth and extraordinary beauty. In one day 
 he grew as much as any ordinary child would in a 
 month, and in one month as much as another would 
 in a year. He was also fed in a marvellous manner. 
 Entering the cave one day, his mother found the 
 infant sitting up and sucking his fingers with great 
 gusto. Wondering why he did this, she examined 
 his fingers, and found that from one there gushed 
 forth milk, from the next honey, whilst butter and 
 water respectively exuded from the others. It was 
 most convenient, and she ceased to be surprised 
 
24 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 that the child throve so remarkably. At the age 
 of fifteen months he could already speak fluently, 
 and, being very inquisitive, put the following shrewd 
 questions to his parent : " Mother, who is my Lord ? " 
 She answered, " I am." " And who is thy Lord ? " 
 " Thy father." " And who is my father's Lord ? " 
 "Nimrud." "Andwhois Nimrud'sLord?" "Hush!" 
 said the mother, striking the child on its mouth. 
 She was, however, so dehghted that she could no 
 longer keep the child's existence hid from Azar. 
 The wazir came and was conducted to the cavern. 
 He asked Ibrahim whether he really was his son. 
 The infant Patriarch answered in the affirmative, 
 and then propounded to his father the same series 
 of questions that he put to his mother, and with 
 the same result. 
 
 One evening Ibrahim begged his mother to allow 
 him to go out of the cave. His request being granted, 
 he marvelled greatly at the wonders of creation, and 
 made the following remarkable declaration. " He 
 that created me, gave me all things needful, fed me, 
 and gave me drink, shall be my Lord, and none but 
 He." Then, looking skywards, he perceived a bright 
 star, for it was evening, and he said, " Surely this 
 is my Lord ! " But the star, as he watched it 
 closely, sank to westward and disappeared, and 
 Ibrahim said, " I love not things that change. 
 This could not have been my Lord." In the mean- 
 time the full moon had risen and was shedding her 
 mild beams on all around, and the child said, 
 " Surely this is my Lord ! " and he watched her aU 
 through the night. Then the moon also set, and, 
 
SAINTS, SINNERS, AND MIRACLES 25 
 
 in great distress, Ibrahim exclaimed, " Verily, I 
 was in error, the moon eould not have been my 
 Lord ; for I love not things that change." Soon 
 after this the sky was tinged with all the glorious 
 colours of the sunrise, and the sun arose in all his 
 brightness, waking men and birds and insects to 
 Ufe and energy, bathing all things in a golden glory. 
 At his splendoiu", the boy cried, " Surely this is 
 my Lord ! " But, as the hours wore on, the sun 
 also began to sink westwards, and the shadows to 
 lengthen, tiU at last the shades of night again covered 
 the earth, and in bitter disappointment the child said, 
 " Verily I was again in error, neither star nor moon 
 nor sun can be my Lord. I love not the things that 
 change." And in the anguish of his soul he prayed : 
 " AUah, Thou Great, Unsearchable, Unchangeable 
 One, reveal Thyself to Thy servant, guide me, and 
 keep me from error." 
 
 The petition was heard and Gabriel sent to instruct 
 the earnest seeker after truth. As a child of ten 
 years of age, Ibrahim already began to exhort the 
 people to worship Allah only. One day he entered 
 the idol temple, and, finding nobody present, he 
 broke up all the images except the largest with an 
 axe, which he then laid on the lap of that which he 
 had spared. When the priests entered the temple 
 they were very angry, and, seeing Ibrahim, accused 
 him of sacrilege. He told them there had been 
 a quarrel amongst the gods, and that the greater 
 one had destroyed those who had provoked him. 
 When they answered that this could not be, he showed 
 them from their own mouths the folly of their idola- 
 
26 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 trous belief. Hereupon they accused him to Nimrud, 
 who had a great furnace built, filled with fuel and 
 set on fire. He then ordered Ibrahim to be thrown 
 into the fire. The heat, however, was so great that 
 nobody dared ventin-e near enough to carry out the 
 command. Then Iblis showed Nimrud how to con- 
 struct a machine by means of which the young martyr, 
 bound hand and foot, was hurled into the flames. 
 But Allah preserved him, and the furnace was to him 
 as cool and pleasant as a rose-garden watered by 
 fountains. He came out of the fire unhurt. Nimrud 
 then declared that he must either see this God of 
 Ibrahim's or kiU Him. He therefore had a lofty 
 tower built, from the top of which he hoped to get 
 into heaven. When the tower had reached the height 
 of seventy stories, each story being seventy dra'as 
 high, AUah confounded the speech of the workmen, 
 Seventy-three languages were thus suddenly spoken 
 all at one and the same time and in the same place, 
 causing great babbling, wherefore the tower was 
 called Babel. Pilgrims from Mosul and Baghdad 
 declare that its ruins exist in their coimtry to this 
 day. Foiled in this attempt, Nimrud constructed 
 a fl5dng-macliine, as simple as it was ingenious. It 
 was a box with one lid at the top and another at 
 the bottom. Four eagles which had been specially 
 trained, and had attained their full size and strength, 
 were tied one to each of the four corners of the box ; 
 then an upright pole was fixed on to the chest, and 
 to this pole a large piece of raw meat was fastened. 
 The birds flew upwards in order to get at the meat, 
 and in so doing carried the box, into which Nimrud 
 
SAINTS, SINNERS, AND MIRACLES 27 
 
 and an attendant archer had entered, with them. 
 The harnessed eagles could not get at the meat, and 
 so the fljdng-machine rose higher and higher. When 
 it had ascended so high that the earth could hardly 
 be seen, the giant ordered his companion to shoot 
 an arrow heavenwards. Before ascending, Nimrud 
 had taken the precaution to dip the tips of the arrows 
 in blood. Arrow after arrow was shot heavenwards, 
 and, when the quiver was emptied, the pole with 
 the meat on it was taken down and thrust through 
 the opening in the bottom of the box. On finding 
 themselves thus baulked of their food, the wearied 
 eagles of course began to descend, and on reaching 
 the earth, Nimrud pointed to the arrows which had 
 fallen back to the earth as a proof that he had 
 wounded Allah ; while the latter, as he boasted, 
 had not been able to do him the least harm. This 
 blasphemy completely deceived the people, whose 
 confidence in Nimrud had been rudely shaken by 
 Ibrahim's dehverance from the fiery furnace, and 
 they again began to worship the cunning giant. 
 Allah, however, did not let his wickedness go un- 
 punished. The more clearly to show the greatness 
 of His power, the Almighty employed the smallest 
 of His creatures in order to humble the most arrogant. 
 A sand-fly was sent to enter the giant's nostrils and 
 make its way to his brain, where for two hundred 
 years it tormented Nimrud day and night until he 
 died. Towards the end his agony was so intense 
 that he could only get relief by employing a man to 
 strike him constantly on the head with an iron 
 hammer. 
 
28 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 In the meantime, however, when Nimrud found 
 that he could do no harm to Ibrahim, and that many 
 people were being converted to his faith, he banished 
 the prophet from his dominions. But hardly had 
 he taken this step ere he regretted it, and sent a 
 troop of soldiers, mounted on the mules which had 
 been used to carry fuel to the furnace, in order to 
 recapttu-e him. When the Patriarch, who was 
 riding a donkey, saw the soldiers at a distance, he 
 realised that, unless he abandoned his beast and 
 found some hiding-place, there was no hope for him. 
 So he got off and took to his heels. 
 
 After running for some time he came across a flock 
 of goats, and asked them to protect him. They 
 refused and he was obliged to run on. At last he 
 saw a flock of sheep, which, at the same request, 
 at once agreed to hide him. They made him He 
 flat on the ground, and huddled together so closely 
 that his enemies passed him by. As a reward for the 
 sheep, Ibrahim asked Allah to give them the broad 
 and fat tails for which Eastern sheep are remarkable ; 
 and, to punish the goats, he procured for them little 
 upright tails, too short for decency ; whUe the mules, 
 which till then had been capable of bearing young, 
 were now made barren, because they willingly 
 carried fuel to the furnace, and bore the soldiers 
 of Nimrud swiftly in pursuit of El-Khalil. 
 
 After this, Ibrahim had various adventures both 
 in Egypt and at Bir-es-Seba,^ following which 
 came events which I cannot do better than tell 
 in the words of one of the sheykhs of the great 
 
 ' Beersheba. 
 
SAINTS, SINNERS, AND MIRACLES 29 
 
 Mosque at Hebron, who gave me the following 
 account. 
 
 Having escaped from Nimrud, El-Khalil was com- 
 manded to go to Mecca and build the " haram " or 
 sanctuary there. On reaching his destination, he 
 received instructions first to offer up his dear son 
 Ismain (Ishmael) as a sacrifice upon Jebel 'Arafat, 
 the mountain where Adam had recognised Hawa. 
 Iblis, hoping to make trouble between the Patriarch 
 and his Friend, went to our Lady Hagar, on whom 
 be peace, and implored her to dissuade her husband 
 from the cruel deed. She snatched up a stone and 
 hurled it at the tempter. The missile did him no 
 harm, but the pillar against which the stone dashed 
 is still shown to pilgrims. From this incident he 
 has the name " Esh Sheytan er Rajim," meaning 
 " Satan, the stoned One," or " who is to be stoned." 
 Having finished the Ka'aba, Ibrahim was directed 
 to build another " haram " at El-Kuds. This he 
 did, and was then ordered to build a third at Hebron. 
 The site of this last sanctuary would, he was informed, 
 be shown to him by a supernatural hght which would 
 shine over it at night. This is one account. Another 
 account says that three angels in human form having 
 appeared to the Patriarch, he, supposing them to be 
 men, invited them into his tent, and then went to 
 slay a fatUng as a meal for them. In some way or 
 other the calf eluded Ibrahim, who followed it till 
 it entered a certain cave. Going in after it, he heard 
 a voice from some inner chamber informing him that 
 he stood in the sepulchre of our Father Adam, over 
 which he must build the sanctuary. A third story 
 
30 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 runs that a strange camel was to come and guide 
 El-Khalil to the appointed place. This time Iblis 
 succeeded in deceiving the Father of the Faithful, 
 who began to bmld at Ramet el Khalil, an hour 
 from Hebron, but, after he had laid the few courses 
 which are still to be seen there, AUah showed him 
 his mistake, and he moved on to Hebron. 
 
 ^ Hebron was then inhabited by Jews and Christians, 
 the name of whose patriarch was Habrun. Ibrahim 
 went to visit him, and said he wished to buy as much 
 land as the " fvu-weh " or sheepskin jacket which 
 he was wearing would enclose if cut into pieces. 
 Habrun, laughing, said, " I wiU sell you that much 
 land for four hundred golden dinars, and each 
 hundred dinars must have the die of a different 
 sultan." It was then the 'asr,^ and Ibrahim asked 
 leave to say his prayers. He took off his furweh 
 and spread it on the ground for a prayer-carpet. 
 Then, taking up the proper position, he performed his 
 devotions, adding a petition for the sum demanded. 
 When he rose from his knees and took up the jacket, 
 there lay beneath it four bags, each containing a 
 hundred gold dinars, and each hundred with the die 
 of a different sultan. 
 
 He then, in the presence of forty witnesses, told 
 the money into Habrun's hand, and proceeded to 
 cut his furweh into strips with which to enclose the 
 land thus bought. Habrun protested, sajdng that 
 was not in the agreement ; but Ibrahim appealed to 
 
 ' Some of the details in the ensuing narrative remind one of the 
 story of the founding of Carthage. 
 
 2 Hour for afternoon prayer, half way from noon to sunset. — Ed. 
 
SAINTS, SINNERS, AND MIRACLES 31 
 
 the witnesses, who decided that the size or number 
 of pieces into which the furweh was to be cut had 
 not been specified. 
 
 This made Habrun so angry that he took the 
 forty witnesses to the top of the hill south-west of 
 the city, where the ruins of Dejr el Arba'in ^ now 
 stand and there cut their heads off. But even that 
 did not silence them, for each head, as it rolled down 
 the hUl, cried : " The agreement was that the jacket 
 should be cut." El-Khalil took their corpses and 
 buried them, each in the place where the head had 
 stopped rolling. 
 
 Next to his implicit faith in Allah's Providence, 
 Ibrahim was chiefly noted for his hospitahty. He 
 used often to say, " I was a poor penniless outcast 
 and fugitive, but AUah cared for and enriched me. 
 Why, therefore, should not I, in my tm-n, show 
 kindness to my fellow-men ? " He had a hall 
 built in which there was a table set ready for the 
 refreshment of any hungry wayfarer, as well as new 
 garments for such as were in rags. Before taking 
 his own meals he was wont to go forth out of his 
 camp to the distance of one or two miles in hopes of 
 meeting guests to keep him company. In spite of 
 his Hberahty he was not impoverished, but actually 
 grew richer, by Allah's blessing. One year there 
 was a sore famine in the land, and the Patriarch 
 sent his servants to a friend he had in Egypt, asking 
 the latter to send him a supply of corn. The false 
 friend, thinking that he had now an opportunity 
 for ruining the Friend of AUah, answered that, had 
 
 1 i.e. Convent of the Forty. 
 
82 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 the grain been wanted for the use of Ibrahim and 
 his own household and no others, he wovdd have 
 gladly furnished it ; but that as he knew that the 
 food, which was so scarce all the world over that 
 year, woiild only be wasted on vagabonds and 
 beggars, he felt that he would be doing wrong to 
 send any. 
 
 Ibrahim's servants, very loyal to their master, 
 were ashamed of being seen returning to his camp 
 with empty sacks, so they filled them with fine white 
 sand, and, reaching home, related what had happened. 
 The Patriarch was much grieved at his friend's 
 treachery, and whilst thinking on the matter he 
 fell asleep. While he slept, Sarah, who knew 
 nothing of what had occurred, opened one of the 
 sacks and found it fuU of the most beautiful flour, 
 of which she made bread. Thus, when earthly 
 friends failed, Allah succoured El-Khalil. 
 
 Being so hospitable himself, Ibrahim could not 
 imderstand how others could be the contrary. One 
 day he was obliged to leave his tents and visit a 
 distant part of the country, where some of his flocks 
 were pasturing in the charge of shepherds. On 
 reaching the place where he had expected to find 
 them, he was told by a certain Bedawi that they had 
 gone to other pastures a good way off. He therefore 
 accepted the Arab's invitation to enter his tent and 
 rest awhile. A kid was kiUed to furnish a repast. 
 Some weeks later, El-Khalil had again occasion to 
 go the same way, and met the same Bedawi, who, 
 in answer to his inquiry as to the whereabouts of 
 his shepherd, answered : " So many hoiu"s north 
 
SAINTS, SINNERS, AND MIRACLES 33 
 
 of the place where I kiUed a kid for thee." Ibrahim 
 said nothing, but passed on his way. Not long 
 after this he had occasion to make a third journey, 
 and on meeting the Bedawi the latter told him that 
 the flocks he was seeking were at such a distance 
 south of " the place where I killed a kid for thee." 
 The next time El-Khalil met the man, he told him 
 that the sheep were so and so far east of the place 
 where that precious kid had been killed. " Ya 
 Rabbi, my Lord," exclaimed Ibrahim, past 
 patience, " Thou knowest how ungrudgingly I ex- 
 ercise hospitahty without respect of persons. I 
 beseech Thee, therefore, that as this man is con- 
 stantly throwing his wretched kid in my teeth, I 
 may be enabled to vomit it out, even though it be 
 so long a time since I partook thereof." The prayer 
 received an instant answer, and the slaughtered 
 kid was restored ahve and whole to its churUsh 
 owner. 
 
 Amongst other things which, according to Moslem 
 tradition, began with Ibrahim, we may mention 
 three. The first of these was the rite of circumcision, 
 which was instituted in order that the corpses of 
 Moslems slain in battle might be distinguished from 
 those of unbeHevers and receive decent bm-ial. The 
 second was the wearing of the wide Oriental trousers 
 called " Sirwal." Till the time of Ibrahim the only 
 clothing worn was that which pQgrims to Mecca 
 have to wear on approaching that city. It is called 
 the " Ihram," and consists of a wooUen loin-cloth, 
 and another woollen cloth thrown over the shoulders. 
 Finding these garments insufficient for the demands 
 
34 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 of modesty, the Patriarch asked Allah that they 
 might be supplemented, and accordingly Gabriel 
 was sent from Paradise with a roll of cloth. Out 
 of this he cut the first pair of sirwals, and instructed 
 Sarah (who was the first person since the time of 
 Idris to use a needle) how to make them up. Iblis, 
 however, being jealous of the angel's tailoring, 
 told the infidels that he knew a better and more 
 economical way of cutting cloth, and, in proof, 
 produced the Frank trousers, which, in these de- 
 praved and degenerate days, are being adopted by 
 some Easterns. The third thing which began with 
 El-Khalil was grey hair. Before his time it was 
 impossible to distinguish young men from old, but 
 the Patriarch, having asked Allah for some sign by 
 which the difference might be known, his own beard 
 became snow-white. He was also the inventer of 
 sandals ; for people went altogether barefoot before 
 his time. 
 
 Ibrahim had obtained from Allah the promise 
 that he should not die imtil he expressly wished to 
 do so, and thus when the predestined day arrived, 
 the Almighty was obHged, since his " Friend " had 
 not expressed the wish, to inveigle it from him. 
 
 As before said, Ibrahim was very hospitable. One 
 day, seeing a very old man tottering along the road 
 to his encampment, he sent a servant with a donkey 
 to his assistance. When the stranger arrived, 
 Ibrahim made him welcome and set food before 
 him. But when the guest began to eat, his feeble- 
 ness seemed to increase. It was with difficulty 
 he carried the food to his mouth. 
 
SAINTS, SINNERS, AND MIRACLES 35 
 
 At last El-Khalil, who had been watching him 
 with surprise and pity, inquired, " What ails thee, 
 
 Sheykh ? " " It is the weakness of old age," 
 was the reply. " How old are you ? " asked Ibrahim, 
 and, on hearing the answer, " What ! " he exclaimed, 
 " shall I, when I am two years older, be as you are 
 now ? " " Undoubtedly," replied the stranger. At 
 that El-Khalil cried out : " Lord God, take away 
 my soul before I reach so pitiful a condition ! " 
 Hereupon the sheykh, who was Azrael in disguise, 
 sprang up and received the soul of the Friend of 
 Allah. 
 
 Ibrahim was laid to rest in the cave of Machpelah 
 at Hebron, by the side of Sarah his wife. His son 
 Isaac and his grandson Jacob were also, as time 
 rolled on, buried in the same place. However it is 
 a mistake to say that they are in tombs and dead, 
 for as a matter of fact they are not dead, but Uving. 
 These prophets, Kke David and EKjah, still appear 
 sometimes in order to save God's servants in times 
 of danger or distress, as in the following story, which 
 
 1 relate as it was told me by the chief rabbi of the 
 Jews at Hebron. 
 
 Some two centuries ago, a pasha, deputed to collect 
 the taxes in Palestine, came to Hebron, and in- 
 formed the Jewish community that, unless within 
 three days they paid a large sum of money, their 
 quarter would be looted and wrecked. 
 
 The Jews of Hebron were very poor, and had no 
 hope of procxiring so much money. They could 
 only fast and pray for succour in their dire ex- 
 tremity. The night before the day on which the 
 
36 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 money must be paid was spent by them in ceaseless 
 prayer in the synagogue. About midnight they 
 heard loud knocking at one of the gates of their 
 quarter. Some of them went and trembling asked 
 who it was who thus distiu-bed them. " A Friend," 
 was the reply. Still they dared not open. But 
 the man without thrust his hand through the solid 
 door and placed a large bag in a hole of the wall 
 within. The arm was withdrawn again, and all 
 was still. The bag was found to contain the exact 
 sum in gold demanded by the pasha. The Jews 
 next morning presented themselves before their 
 oppressor and laid the money at his feet. At 
 sight of the bag he blenched and asked how they 
 came by it. They told their story, and he con- 
 fessed that the bag and its contents had been his 
 until the middle of last night, when, though his tent 
 was straitly guarded, a sheykh in bright raiment 
 had come in and taken it, threatening him with 
 instant death if he moved or said a word. He 
 knew that it was El-Khalil, come to rescue the Jews, 
 and begged their pardon for his harsh exactions. 
 The Jews of Hebron stiU show the hole in the wall 
 in which the bag of money was placed by Ibrahim. 
 
 VI 
 
 LOT AND THE TREE OF THE CROSS 
 
 Our father Adam, on his death-bed, was so terrified 
 at the thought of dissolution, that he sent his son, 
 the patriarch Seth, to the gate of Paradise to beg the 
 
SAINTS, SINNERS, AND MIRACLES 37 
 
 cherub on guard there to give him a single fruit 
 from the tree of Life. The Angel, unable to grant 
 the request, yet touched with pity for the fallen 
 race, by Allah's leave plucked a branch that had 
 three twigs, and gave it to the messenger. Seth 
 returned to find his father dead. He planted 
 the branch at the head of Adam's grave, where 
 it took root and grew through the centuries. 
 Though it survived the Flood, it was forgotten by 
 mankind. 
 
 Now the patriarch Lot, whose wife had been 
 changed into the huge column of rock-salt which 
 is still a sight of wonder near Jebel Usdum on the 
 southern shores of the sea which bears his name, fell 
 into sin so grievous that, when his conscience awoke, 
 he despaired of salvation. He might have killed 
 himself had not an angel from Allah appeared and 
 told him to take a jar full of water from the Jordan, 
 and go into the hill- country to water a small tree 
 that he would find groAving at the head of Adam's 
 grave. The angel also told him that the plant, if 
 it throve, would be a means of grace for all man- 
 kind. Lot sped with joy on his errand. It was 
 a terribly hot day, and a fierce scirocco-wind was 
 blowing when Lot set out to do the angel's bidding. 
 As he toiled up the steep ascent to the spot where 
 the khan, called the " Inn of the Good Samaritan," 
 now stands, he saw a pilgrim (some say a Russian 
 pilgrim) lying beside the road, apparently at the 
 last gasp. Lot, being kind of heart, knelt down 
 and offered him a draught of water. Great was 
 his astonishment when the pilgrim, who was no 
 
38 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 other than the Evil One in human form, at one 
 draught emptied the jar. 
 
 Without a word Lot trudged back to the Jordan 
 and refilled the vessel ; but again, when he had 
 brought it a good part of the way, Satan, in the guise 
 of a worn-out pilgrim, abused his kindness and 
 drank all the water. A third attempt was frustrated 
 in the same way. At last the penitent, overwhelmed 
 by this third failiu'e, threw himself on the ground, 
 moaning : " If I fail to reUeve the suffering I shall 
 add another to the sins which weigh me down. 
 Yet, if I give drink to every thirsty man I meet, how 
 shall I water the tree of my salvation ? " Over- 
 come by fatigue and sorrow he fell asleep where he 
 lay, and in a dream the angel once more appeared 
 to him and told him who the pretended pilgrims 
 really were, adding that his unselfishness had proved 
 acceptable to Allah, and that his sins were forgiven ; 
 while, as for the tree, it had been watered by 
 angels. 
 
 Lot died in peace, and the tree grew and flom-ished, 
 but the Devil ceased not to scheme for its destruction 
 till at length he succeeded in persuading Hiram to cut 
 it down for the building of Solomon's temple. Thus 
 the trunk was carried to Jerusalem, but the architect, 
 finding no use for it, had it thrown into the valley 
 eastward of Jerusalem, where it served as a foot- 
 bridge across the torrent of the Kedron, and was 
 thus used till Belkis, Queen of Sheba, came to visit 
 Solomon. As she drew near to the city she was 
 inspired with consciousness of the precious nature 
 of the bridge she had to cross, and on reaching 
 
SAINTS, SINNERS, AND MIRACLES 39 
 
 it she refused to set foot on it, but knelt and wor- 
 shipped. The wise King of Israel, who had come 
 forth to meet his guest, was greatly surprised at 
 her behaviour ; but when she told him whence the 
 trunk came, and the purpose it was destined to serve, 
 he had it taken up, carefully cleaned, and preserved 
 in one of the treasm-e-chambers of the Temple. There 
 it remained until it was required to make the cross 
 on which Christ died. Anyone who cares to examine 
 the present stone bridge over the Kedron, close to 
 Absalom's Pillar, can see some of the large stones 
 where the trunk once lav. 
 
 VII 
 
 THE DEATHS OF MOSES AND AAEON 
 
 On reaching the confines of Palestine the Beni- 
 Israel encamped in the country near the Wady 
 Musa.^ One evening, soon after they had reached it, 
 Harun pointed out to Musa a place on a distant hill- 
 side which looked very green and beautiful in the 
 hght of the evening sun, and expressed his wish 
 to visit it. Musa promised that they should do so 
 next day. Accordingly, on the following morning, 
 the two brothers, accompanied by their sons, set 
 off on an expedition to the spot. By the time they 
 reached it they were glad to shelter from the sun 
 in an artificial cave they found there. On entering 
 they were much surprised to see a handsome couch 
 
 1 Petra. 
 
40 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 to which was attached an inscription stating that 
 it was intended for the use of the person whose 
 stature it would fit. The bedstead was tried in 
 succession by all of the party, and when Harun 
 came to lie there, it exactly suited him. While 
 he was yet on the bed a stranger entered the cavern, 
 and, respectfully saluting those present, introduced 
 himself as Azrael, the Angel of Death, and stated 
 that he had been specially sent by Allah to receive 
 the soul of Harun. The venerable high-priest, 
 though submissive to the Almighty Will, wept much 
 as he took leave of his brother, sons, and nephews, 
 commended his family to the care of Musa, and bade 
 him give his blessing to the people. Azrael then 
 begged the others to leave the cave a minute. When 
 he allowed them to return, the high-priest lay dead 
 upon the couch. They then carried out the body, 
 washed and prepared it for burial, and, having 
 offered up prayers over it, took it back and laid 
 it on the bed. Then, having carefully closed up 
 the mouth of the sepulchre, they returned sorrow- 
 fully to the camp and told the people that Harun 
 was dead. The children of Israel, who were fond of 
 Harun, on hearing these words accused Musa of 
 having mm-dered his brother. To clear His servant 
 of this accusation, Allah caused angels to carry the 
 couch with Harun's dead body through the air, 
 and hover with it over the camp in the sight of aU 
 Israel ; and, at the same time, to proclaim that 
 Allah had taken the soul of Harun and that Musa 
 was innocent of his death. 
 
 Of the death of the great Lawgiver himself there 
 
SAINTS, SINNERS, AND MIRACLES 41 
 
 are two different accounts. The first briefly relates 
 how Allah, having informed Musa that the time of 
 his decease was at hand, the latter spent the few 
 days of hfe left him in exhorting Israel to abide in 
 the fear of Allah, and keep His commandments. 
 Then, having solemnly appointed Joshua his suc- 
 cessor, and laid down the government, Musa died 
 while studjdng the Law. 
 
 The other legend, which is the more common, runs 
 as follows. Musa, on whom be peace, had, Kke 
 Ibrahun el Khalil, received a promise that he was 
 not to die until he, of his own free-wiU, laid himself 
 down in the grave. 
 
 Feeling himself to be secure in that promise, 
 the prophet simply refused to die when the A.ngel 
 of Death informed him that his hour had 
 come. He was so angry with Azrael that the 
 latter, affrighted, returned to his Maker, and com- 
 plained of the prophet's conduct. The angel was 
 sent back to expostulate and make certain allxuring 
 promises : for instance, that Musa's grave should 
 be annually visited in pilgrimage by beUevers, 
 and that the very stones of the place should be fit 
 for fuel. Azrael also reminded Musa of aU the favour 
 which, during his long hfe, he had received from 
 Allah, and told of yet greater honours in store for 
 him m Paradise. All in vain. The prophet turned 
 a deaf ear to every argument, and at length, disgusted 
 with the dread angel's persistency, he told him to 
 be off, and himself left the encampment and wandered 
 forth over the hillsides to the west of the Dead Sea. 
 Here he came across the shepherd to whom the charge 
 
42 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 of Sho'aib's^ and Mlisa's own flock had been en- 
 trusted when the latter was sent on his mission to 
 deliver Israel out of Egypt, and he entered into 
 conversation. The man was surprised to see the 
 Lawgiver, and inquired what reason he had for 
 leaving the haunts of men. When Musa told him, 
 the shepherd, to his great displeasure, took the part 
 of Azrael, and suggested that, seeing the prophet 
 was simply going to exchange the burdens, toils, 
 and sorrows of this life for unending joys at AUah's 
 right hand, he ought to greet the announcement 
 of his approaching change with joy. " I myself," 
 continued the shepherd, " greatly fear death, but 
 that is only natural, seeing that I am only a poor 
 sinful being; but you, who are so high in Allah's 
 favour, ought to rejoice at the prospect." 
 
 On being thus admonished, Musa lost his temper, 
 saying : " Well, then, as you say that you are afraid 
 of death, may you never die ! " " Amen," replied 
 the man to this wish, httle guessing it was a curse. 
 
 When the shepherd had hved out his days he 
 swooned away, and his friends, supposing him dead, 
 buried him in the place where his grave is still shown, 
 not far from the shrine of Neby Musa. But he is 
 not dead, for in consequence of Musa's words, " May 
 you never die," he cannot find rest in death, but is 
 stiU aUve and wanders about pasturing the ibex. 
 He is sometimes seen by wandering Bedu and hunters 
 of the wild goats in the district around the Dead 
 Sea, and in the wadys on the west of the Jordan 
 valley, as far north as the Sea of Tiberias. He is 
 
 1 Jethro's. 
 
SAINTS, SINNERS, AND MIRACLES 43 
 
 sometimes mistaken for El Khudr. He has been 
 seen in the act of casting himself from a precipitous 
 cKff, attempting suicide in his despair ; but in vain. 
 He is described as a very tall old man, covered with 
 white hair, his beard and nails exceeding long. He 
 always takes to flight if one tries to approach him. 
 
 To return to Musa. On leaving the shepherd, 
 the prophet wandered further along the chalky 
 hillsides till he unexpectedly came upon a group of 
 stone-cutters who were excavating a chamber in 
 a wall of rock. Having greeted them, Musa inquired 
 what they were about, and was told that the king 
 of the country had a very precious treasure which 
 he wished to hide carefully from human sight, 
 and that therefore he had commanded them to hollow 
 out a rock-chamber in this lonely spot in the wilder- 
 ness. It was now midday, and very hot. Feehng 
 tired, and as there seemed to be no shade anywhere 
 else, the Lawgiver asked permission to enter the 
 cave and rest there. Permission was courteously 
 granted. The weary prophet was not in the least 
 aware that he had asked leave to rest in his own 
 predestined sepulchre. Hardly had he assumed a 
 recimibent posture, when the leader of the gang 
 of workmen, who was the Angel of Death in disguise, 
 offered him an apple. Musa, having accepted and 
 smelt at it, expired immediately. His funeral 
 rites were then performed by the supposed workmen, 
 who were in fact angels expressly sent for the purpose. 
 
44 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 VIII 
 
 DAVID AND SOLOMON 
 
 Some of the Best Traditions 
 
 DAtJD (on whom be peace) was singularly pious and 
 anxious to do his duty to AUah as well as to his 
 neighbour. He therefore used to divide his time 
 into three parts, devoting one day to the worship 
 of AUah and the study of Scriptm-e, the second 
 to matters of State, and the third to domestic 
 duties and the earning of a hveUhood. He was 
 led to work with his own hands for the support of 
 his family by the following circumstance. 
 
 When he first came /o the throne he was anxious 
 to know whether his people were satisfied with his 
 rule, and, knowing how worthless is the praise of 
 courtiers, he resolved to find out for himself. He 
 therefore went about disguised among the common 
 people and heard what was thought of his adminis- 
 tration. On one such occasion he was informed by 
 an angel in human form that the great fault of his 
 government was that the king hved at the expense 
 of the pubKc treasury, instead of working with his 
 hands for daily bread. On hearing this, Daud was 
 greatly troubled, and besought Allah to show him 
 some kind of trade by the proceeds of which both he 
 and his family might be able to five without burdening 
 the nation. Hereupon Gabriel was sent to teach the 
 king the art of making coats of mail. Thenceforth, 
 during his leisure hours, the king was always to be 
 
SAINTS, SINNERS, AND MIRACLES 45 
 
 found at work in his armoury, and there was a great 
 demand for his handiwork, as the armour he made 
 was proof against all weapons. The usual price 
 of a full suit of mad was six thousand dinars. The 
 king made them at the rate of one a day. One-third 
 of the proceeds went towards the support of his 
 family, one-third in alms, and the remainder to 
 piu-chase materials for the building of the Temple. 
 Suleyman also had a trade. He knew the art of 
 kneading stone, and moulding it into various shapes, 
 in the same way that a pastry-cook or a baker moulds 
 dough. Some colonnettes with ciuiously twisted, 
 rope-hke marble shafts in the Dome of the Rock 
 of Jerusalem are shown as his work. 
 
 Daud made a pilgrimage to the graves of the 
 patriarchs at Hebron, and, on his retiun to Jerusalem, 
 expressed in prayer a longing to be as favoured of 
 Allah as they were. He even went so far as to say 
 that he was sure that, if exposed to their temptations, 
 he would overcome them ; with the prospect of a like 
 reward. In answer to this prayer AUah told Daud 
 that his petition would be granted, but that, seeing 
 how the race of Adam had degenerated, the All 
 Merciful, in granting his request, had added a favour 
 with which the patriarchs had not been indulged : 
 that he should be informed of the exact time of his 
 trial. The date and hour were thus announced to 
 the pious king. 
 
 When the day arrived, Daud, full of confidence, 
 shut himself up in the tower which still bears his 
 name, and gave orders that he was on no account 
 
46 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 to be disturbed. He passed the time in reading and 
 meditation. Then, as now, many vsdld rock-doves 
 flew around the tower, and the king was presently 
 roused from his devotions by a flutter of wings. 
 Looking up, he saw, just outside the window, a most 
 wonderful pigeon, its plumage gleaming with pris- 
 matic colours, and looking as if it had feathers of 
 gold and silver studded with precious jewels. The 
 king threw some crumbs on to the floor, and the 
 bird came in and picked them up at his feet, but 
 eluded every attempt at capture. At last it flew 
 to the window and settled on one of the bars. Daud 
 tried again to catch it, but the creature flew away, 
 and it was then, as he was looking after it, that he 
 saw that which led to his great crimes in the matter 
 of Uriah. 
 
 Two angels were some time afterwards sent, in 
 human form, to reprove the fallen monarch. On 
 their arrival at the gate of Baud's tower they were 
 refused entrance by the guards ; but, to the latter's 
 great astonishment, they easily scaled the fortress 
 wall and entered the royal chamber. Surprised at 
 their coming in unannounced and without leave, 
 Daud demanded to know their business with him. 
 He was thunderstruck when, having related the 
 parable of the one ewe lamb,i they denounced his 
 iniquity. When they had fulfilled their mission 
 they departed, leaving the king so full of remorse at 
 his failure to resist the temptation sent in answer 
 to his prayer, that he wept day and night. Mountains 
 and hills, trees and stones, beasts and flying things, 
 
 1 2 Sam. xii. 1-6. 
 
SAINTS, SINNERS, AND MIRACLES 47 
 
 which had been wont to echo his songs of praise 
 to Allah, now joined in his lamentations. There was 
 universal weeping, and the tears of Daud himself 
 flowed so copiously that they filled both the Birket 
 es Sultan,! and the Birket Hamm4m el Batrak.^ 
 At last a prophet was sent to tell the contrite sinner 
 that, in consideration of his penitence, Allah pardoned 
 the sin against Himself, but that, for the crime against 
 his feUow-man, he must obtain forgiveness from the 
 person injured. The king then made a pilgrimage 
 to the tomb of Uriah, and there confessed his sins, 
 when a voice came from the tomb saying : " My 
 Lord the King, since your crime has secured me 
 Paradise, I forgive you with all my heart." " But, 
 Uriah," said Daud, " I did it to get possession of 
 yom- wife." To this there was no answer, until 
 Daud, in despair, prayed AUah to make Uriah 
 forgive him. Then the voice came again from the 
 tomb : "I forgive thee, King, because for one 
 wife torn from me on earth, Allah has given me a 
 thousand in Heaven." 
 
 In the southern wall of the Dome of the Rock, often 
 erroneously called the Mosque of 'Omar, on the 
 right hand side, just outside the door, there are two 
 small slabs of marble which, having been shced from 
 the same block, show the same veining, and have 
 been fastened side by side in such a way that the 
 vein-lines form a figure which resembles two birds 
 perched on opposite sides of a vase. The picture 
 
 1 Traditionally known as the Lower Pool of Gihon. 
 
 2 Traditionally known as the Pool of Hezekiah. 
 
48 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 is framed in marble of a darker colour. Connected 
 with the picture is the following story. 
 
 The great Suleyman el Hakim was sitting one day 
 near a window of his palace, listening to the love- 
 talk of two pigeons upon the house-top. Said the 
 male bird loftily : " Who is Suleyman the king ? 
 And what are all his buildings to be so proud of ? 
 Why, I, if I put my mind to it, could kick them down 
 in a minute ! " 
 
 Hearing this, Suleyman leant out of the window 
 and called the boaster, asking how he could tell 
 such a he. " Yom* Majesty," was the cringing 
 reply, " will forgive me when I explain that I was 
 talking to a female. You know one cannot help 
 boasting in such circumstances." The monarch 
 laughed and bade the rogue begone, warning him 
 never to speak in that tone again. The pigeon, 
 after a profound reverence, flew to rejoin his 
 mate. 
 
 The female at once asked why the king had called 
 him. "Oh," came the answer, "he had over- 
 heard what I was saying to you, and asked me not 
 to do it." So enraged was Suleyman at the .ir- 
 repressible vanity of the speaker that he turned 
 both birds into stone, as a warning to men not to 
 boast, and to women not to encourage thera.^ 
 
 Suleyman was well acquainted with the language 
 of plants. Whenever he came across a new plant 
 he asked its name, uses, the soil and cultivation by 
 which it flourished, and also its properties ; and the 
 
 1 Gf. King Solomon and the Butterflies in Mr Rudyard Kipling's 
 "Just So Stories." 
 
SAINTS, SINNERS, AND MIRACLES 49 
 
 plant answered. He laid out the first botanical 
 garden. 
 
 One day, in the Temple courts, he noticed a young 
 plant of a kind unknown to him. He promptly 
 asked its name. "El Kharrub," was the answer. 
 Now El Kharrub means the destroyer. " Of what 
 use art thou ? " continued the king. " To destroy 
 thy works," rephed the plant. On hearing this 
 Suleyman exclaimed in sorrow, " What ! has Allah 
 prepared the cause of the destruction of my works 
 diu-ing my lifetime ? " 
 
 Then he prayed that his decease, whenever it 
 should occm-, might be hidden from the Jan till 
 all mankind should be aware of it. His reason for 
 making this petition was his fear that if the Jan 
 should know of his death before mankind knew of 
 it, they would seize the opportunity to do mischief 
 and teach men iniquity. Having prayed thus, the 
 king dug up the Elharrubeh and planted it close to a 
 wall ia his garden, where, to prevent, as far as might 
 be, any harm coming from it, he watched it daily, 
 till it had grown into a strong, stout saphng. He then 
 cut it down and made of it a walking-stick on which 
 he would lean when he sat superintending the labours 
 of the evil spirits he kept slaving for him, to pre- 
 vent them from exercising their power and ingenuity 
 against mankind. 
 
 Now, many years before. Reikis, Queen of Sheba, 
 had come to prove Suleyman with hard questions, 
 one of which was how to pass a siUc thread through 
 a bead, the perforation in which was not straight 
 through, but winding like the body of a moving 
 
50 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 serpent. It had been a hard tasR, but it was per- 
 formed, at the king's request, by a small white worm 
 or maggot which, taking the end of the thread between 
 its teeth, crawled in at one end and out at the other. 
 To reward this insignificant creature for its work, 
 the king granted its request that it might lodge inside 
 the seed-vessels and other parts of plants and feed 
 thereon. Unknown to Suleymi,n it had found a home 
 under the bark of the young Kharrub-tree, his staff, 
 and had penetrated to the very centre of the trunk. 
 The time arrived for the king to die, and he happened 
 to be sitting as usual, leaning on his staff, when 
 Azrael came and took away his soul, unknown to the 
 J^n ; who worked on steadily for fuU forty years, 
 not knowing that the king was dead, because the 
 staff upheld his corpse just as if it had been alive. 
 At last, however, the worm hoUowed out the staff, 
 which suddenly broke in two, so that the body of 
 Suleym^n roUed to the groimd and the evil spirits 
 knew that their tyrant was dead. To this day the 
 traveller in the East is shown a huge unfinished 
 stone in the quarries at Ba'albec, and others in 
 different parts of the country, and is informed that 
 they are some of the tasks left unfinished by the J4n, 
 when at last they were sure that Suleyman el Hakhn 
 was deadv 
 
SAINTS, SINNERS, AND MIRACLES 51 
 
 IX 
 
 EL KHUDR 
 
 One of the saints oftenest invoked in Palestine is 
 the mysterious El Khudr or Evergreen One. He 
 is said to have been successful in discovering the 
 Fountain of Youth, which is situated somewhere 
 near the confluence of the two seas.^ This fountain 
 had been vainly sought for by other adventm-ers, 
 including the famous Dhu'lkarneyn, the two-horned 
 Alexander, who with his companions came to the 
 banks of the stream that flowed from it, and actually 
 washed the salt fish which they had brought with them 
 as provision in its waters, and yet, though the said 
 fish came to hfe again and escaped them, failed to 
 realise the happiness within their reach. They went 
 on their way tiU they came to the place where the 
 sun sets in a pool of black mud, and their leader 
 built eighteen cities, each of which he called Alex- 
 andria, after himself ; but neither he nor his com- 
 panions became immortal, because they failed to 
 see and use the one opportunity of a Hfetime. 
 
 El Khudr, more fortunate or more observant, not 
 only found the fountain, but drank of its waters, 
 so he never dies, but reappears from time to time 
 as a sort of avatar, to set right the more monstrous 
 forms of wrong and protect the upright. He is 
 identified with Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, with 
 Elijah the prophet, and with St George. Jewish 
 
 ' The Mediterranean and the Red Sea. 
 
52 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 mothers, when danger threatens their children, in- 
 voke him as " Ehyahu ha Navi," Christian as " Mar 
 Jiryis," and Moslem as "El Khudr " ; and his 
 numerous shrines in different parts of the land are 
 visited in pilgrimage by adherents of aU three 
 reUgions. 
 
 Though it is beUeved that prayers addressed to him 
 at aU these places are efficacious, yet on Fridays 
 he himself worships AUah at different sanctuaries 
 in succession : one Friday at Mecca, the next at 
 Medina, and then in turn at Jerusalem, El Ktha, 
 and Et Tur. He only takes two meals a week, and 
 quenches his thirst alternately at the well Zemzem 
 in Mecca and that of Solomon in Jerusalem. He 
 bathes in the foimtain at Silwan (SUoam). 
 
 One of the shrines dedicated to El Khudr is situated 
 about a nule to the north of Solomon's Pools near 
 Bethlehem, and is a sort of madhouse. Deranged 
 persons of all the three faiths are taken thither 
 and chained in the com-t of the chapel, where they 
 are kept for forty days on bread and water, the Greek 
 priest at the head "of the establishment now and then 
 reading the Gospel over them, or administering a 
 whipping, as the case demands. 
 
 The following legend concerning this convent was 
 related by a native of the neighbouring village of 
 Beyt Jala : — 
 
 " A very long time ago, in the days of the ancestors 
 of our great-grand-fathers, the Greek priest was 
 administering the Holy Communion in the church 
 of El Khudr. Now, as you know, the Greeks crumble 
 the consecrated bread into the cup of wine, and 
 
SAINTS, SINNERS, AND MIRACLES 53 
 
 administer both the elements at the same time, by 
 means of a spoon. Whether the celebrant was 
 drunk or not I cannot tell, but this much is certain, 
 that whilst about to put the spoon into the mouth 
 of a communicant kneeling in front of him, somehow 
 or other he spiUed its sacred contents. They fell 
 on to his foot, made a hole right through it, and a 
 mark on the flagstone beneath. The wound which 
 the body and blood of the Saviour made in the foot 
 of the priest never healed, but was the cause of his 
 death. Some time afterwards, however, a man 
 afflicted with a grievous disease visited this same 
 chm-ch of Mar Jiryis, and, without being aware of 
 the fact, knelt down on the flagstone which had 
 received a mark from the falhng upon it of the con- 
 secrated bread and wine, and prayed for recovery. 
 To his great joy, and to the surprise of all present, 
 he was healed on the spot. The fame of his cure 
 brought many others who were stricken with in- 
 curable maladies to El Khudr, and, as soon as they 
 knelt on the sacred stone, they were cured, to the 
 glory of God and of Mar Jirjris ; so that the reputa- 
 tion of the church became widely spread, and even 
 reached the ears of the Sultan of the Muscovites, 
 who, jealous that so holy a stone should be kept in 
 such an out of the way vUlage, coveted it for the 
 benefit of himself and his people. He sent a man-of- 
 war to Jaffa, bearing a letter to the Patriarch of 
 Jerusalem, saying that the slab should be taken up 
 at once and transported to Jaffa. As the Sultan 
 of the Muscovites was a good friend, benefactor, and 
 protector of the Church, the Patriarch did not 
 
54 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 hesitate to obey his order, and had the stone con- 
 veyed to Jaffa. It was placed in a boat belonging to 
 the war-ship in order to be taken on board, but all 
 the efforts of the rowers to reach the vessel were 
 vain, for Mar Jirjds himself appeared and repeatedly 
 pushed the boat back to the shore with his lance. 
 This happened so often that the Muscovites were 
 obliged to desist from their purpose ; and when 
 it was reported to the Patriarch, he realised his 
 error, and had the stone brought back and reverently 
 deposited in the church at El Khudr, where it is 
 shown to this day." 
 
 As already stated, there are many churches and 
 convent-chapels dedicated to St George. Withm 
 the walls of Jerusalem there are at least two Greek 
 and one Coptic convent of that name ; whilst just 
 outside the Jaffa Gate, and on the western side of 
 the traditional Valley of Gihon or Upper Hinnom, 
 nearly opposite the Citadel, is another. The Moslems 
 believe that, at the Last Day, Christ will slay Anti- 
 christ, and some of them maintain that this convent 
 marks the spot where that wiU happen. They found 
 their opinion on the statement that what is now 
 known as the Jaffa Gate was formerly called the Gate 
 of Lydda. 
 
 On the northern slope of Mt. Carmel there is another 
 celebrated centre of El Khudr worship. It is fre- 
 quently Adsited by Jewish, Christian, Moslem, and 
 Druze pilgrims who are in search of bodily or mental 
 heaUng. Some very remarkable cures are said to 
 have been performed at this place. The following 
 
SAINTS, SINNERS, AND MIRACLES 55 
 
 example was told me by the late Dr Chaplin, who 
 was for many years head of the L.J.S. Medical 
 Mission at Jerusalem. One day there was brought 
 to him a young Jewess, suffering from a nervous 
 complaint which he considered curable, but only 
 by long treatment. The girl's relations at first 
 agreed to leave her at the hospital, but afterwards 
 took her away in spite of his remonstrances. They 
 said that they were sure that she was not really ill, 
 but only under the influence of a " dibbuk " or 
 parasitical demon, and they intended to treat her 
 accordingly. 
 
 Some months later the doctor happened to meet 
 the girl in the street, and found to his surprise that 
 she was well again. Asking how the cure, which 
 seemed to him astounding, had been effected, he was 
 told that her friends had sent her to Mt. Carmel 
 and locked her up one night in Elijah's cave. Shut 
 up alone, she said, she fell asleep, but was roused at 
 midnight by a light that shone on her. Then she 
 saw an old man aU in white, who came slowly towards 
 her, saying, " Fear not, my daughter." He laid 
 his hand gently on her head, and disappeared. 
 When she woke next morning she was perfectly 
 well. 
 
 Among the Jews Elijah is considered not only 
 as the special guardian of Israel, but as the invisible 
 attendant at every circumcision, and as such, a 
 special seat is prepared for him. In Hke manner 
 a chau- and a cup of wine are placed ready for him 
 at the time of the Paschal anniversary. Amongst 
 the Armenian Christians at Jerusalem there is a 
 
56 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 beKef that if, at a meal, a loaf, or even a slice of bread, 
 happen accidentally to fall or otherwise get into 
 such a position that it stands on edge on the table, 
 it is a sign that Mar Jiryis is invisibly present as a 
 guest, and has condescended to bless the repast. 
 
 The story of St George and the Dragon is, of course, 
 weU known in Palestine. The saint's tomb is shown 
 in the crypt of the old Crusaders' Church ^ at Lydda ; 
 and at Bejrriit the very well into which he cast the 
 slain monster, and the place where he washed his 
 hands when this dirty work was done. The following 
 is, briefly, the tale generally told by the Christians : — 
 
 " There was once a great city that depended for 
 its water-supply upon a fountain without the walls. 
 A great dragon, possessed and moved by Satan him- 
 self, took possession of the fountain and refused 
 to allow water to be taken unless, whenever people 
 came to the spring, a youth or maiden was given to 
 him to devotir. The people tried again and again 
 to destroy the monster ; but though the flower of the 
 city cheerfully went forth against it, its breath was 
 so pestilential that they used to drop down dead 
 before they came within bowshot. 
 
 " The terrorised inhabitants were thus obhged to 
 sacrifice their offspring, or die of thirst ; tiU at last 
 all the youth of the place had perished except the 
 king's daughter. So great was the distress of their 
 subjects for want of water that her heart-broken 
 parents could no longer withhold her, and amid 
 
 ' If I remember rightly the tomb is half in the present Christian 
 church and half in the adjoining mosque, the old Crusaders' Church 
 having been thus divided. — Ed. 
 
SAINTS, SINNERS, AND MIRACLES 57 
 
 the tears of the populace she went out towards 
 the spring, where the dragon lay awaiting her. 
 But just as the noisome monster was going to 
 leap on her, Mar Jiryis appeared, in golden panoply, 
 upon a fine white steed, and spear in hand. Riding 
 fuU tilt at the dragon, he struck it fair between the 
 eyes and laid it dead. The king, out of gratitude 
 for this unlooked-for succour, gave Mar Jiryis his 
 daughter and half of his kingdom." 
 
 As already remarked, Ehjah frequently appears in 
 Jewish legends as the Protector of Israel, always 
 ready to instruct, to comfort, or to heal — some- 
 times condescending to cure so shght a complaint 
 as a toothache, at others going so far as to bear 
 false witness in order to deliver Rabbis from danger 
 and difficulty.^ 
 
 The modern Jewish inhabitants of Palestine de- 
 voutly believe in his intervention in times of diffi- 
 culty. Thus, among the Spanish Jewish synagogues 
 at Jerusalem, there is shown a little subterranean 
 chamber, called the " Synagogue of EHjah the 
 prophet," from the following story : — 
 
 One Sabbath, some four centuries ago, when there 
 were only a very few Jews in the city, there were 
 not men enough to form a " minyan " or legal con- 
 gregational quorum. It was found impossible to 
 get together more than nine, ten being the minimum 
 number needed. It was therefore announced that 
 the customary service could not be held, and those 
 present were about to depart, when suddenly a 
 
 1 See Edersheim's " Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah," App. 
 viii. 
 
58 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 reverend-looking old man appeared, donned his 
 " talith " or prayer-shawl, and took his place among 
 them. When the service was over, " the First in 
 Zion," as the chief Rabbi of the Jewish community 
 at Jerusalem is entitled, on leaving the place of 
 worship, looked for the stranger, intending to ask 
 him to the Sabbath meal, but he could nowhere be 
 found. It was thought this mysterious stranger 
 could have been no other than the famous Tishbite. 
 
 The following story, a version of one told in the 
 Koran,! jg related by the Moslems of El Khudr : — 
 
 The great Lawgiver was much perplexed and 
 troubled when he thought about the apparently 
 confused and strange dealings of Divine Providence, 
 so besought AUah to enlighten him. He was told, 
 in answer to his prayer, to go on a certain day to 
 a certain place where he would meet a servant of 
 the Merciful, who would instruct him. Miisa did 
 as he was told, and found at the rendezvous a 
 venerable derwish, who, to start with, made him 
 promise not to make remarks or ask questions 
 concerning anything he might see while they jour- 
 neyed together. Musa promised, and the pair set 
 out on their travels. 
 
 At sunset they reached a village, and went to the 
 house of the sheykh, a man rich and kindly, who 
 bade them welcome and ordered a sheep to be killed 
 in their honour. When bedtime came they were 
 conducted to a large, well-furnished room. The 
 " tusht and ibrik," ^ which in most houses are of 
 
 ' Sura xviii. 60 ff. 
 
 2 Vessels for ceremonial ablution. 
 
SAINTS, SINNERS, AND MIRACLES 59 
 
 tinned copper, were here of silver plate set with 
 jewels. 
 
 Musa, being tired out, soon fell asleep ; but long 
 ere daylight his companion woke him, saying they 
 must start at once. Musa objected, finding the bed 
 comfortable. He declared it ungrateful to leave so 
 early while their host was stiU abed and they could 
 not thank him. " Remember the terms of our 
 compact," said the derwish sternly, while to Musa's 
 amazement he coolly slipped the silver " tusht " or 
 wash-hand-basin into the bosom of his robe. Musa 
 then rose in silence and they left the house. 
 
 That evening, quite worn out, they reached 
 another village, and were once more guests of the 
 sheykh, who proved the very opposite of their host 
 of the previous night. He grumbled at the necessity 
 he was under of harbouring dirty vagrants, and bade 
 a servant take them to a cave behind the stable 
 where they could sleep on a heap of " tibn." ^ For 
 supper he sent them scraps of mouldy bread and a 
 few bad ohves. Musa could not touch the stufi, 
 though he was starving, but his companion made a 
 good meal. 
 
 Next morning, Musa awoke very early, feeUng 
 hungry and miserable. He roused his guide and 
 suggested that it was time to rise and start. But 
 the derwish said, " No, we must not sneak away 
 Uke thieves," and went to sleep again. 
 
 Some two hours later the ascetic rose, bade Musa 
 put the fragments of the night's meal into his bosom, 
 and said, " Now we must bid our host farewell." 
 
 ' Chopped straw. 
 
60 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 In the presence of the sheykh, the derwish made a 
 low reverence, thanking him for his hospitahty 
 towards them, and begging him to accept a slight 
 token of their esteem. To the amazement of the 
 sheykh, as well as Musa, he produced the stolen 
 basin, and laid it at the sheykh's feet. Musa, 
 mindful of his promise, said no word. 
 
 The third day's jom-ney was through a barren 
 region, where Musa was glad of the scraps which, 
 but for the derwish, he would have thrown away. 
 Towards evening they came to a river, which the 
 derwish decided not to attempt to cross till next 
 morning, preferring to spend the night in a miser- 
 able reed-built hut, where the widow of a ferryman 
 dwelt with her orphan nephew, a boy of thirteen. 
 The poor woman did all in her power to make them 
 comfortable, and in the morning made them break- 
 fast before starting. She sent her nephew with 
 them to show the way to a ruinous bridge further 
 down the river. She shouted instructions after the 
 boy to guide their honoTirs safely over it ere he re- 
 turned. The guide led the way, the derwish followed 
 him, and Musa brought up the rear. When they got 
 to the middle of the bridge, the derwish seized the 
 boy by the neck and flung him into the water, and 
 so drowned him. " Monster ! murderer ! " cried 
 Musa, beside himself. The derwish turned upon his 
 disciple, and the prophet knew him for El Khudr. 
 " You once more forget the terms of our agreement," 
 he said sternly, " and this time we must part. AU 
 that I have done was predestined by Divine mercy. 
 Our first host, though a man of the best intentions. 
 
SAINTS, SINNERS, AND MIRACLES 61 
 
 was too confiding and ostentatious. The loss of his 
 silver basin will be a lesson to him. Om- second 
 host was a skinflint. He will now begin to be 
 hospitable in the hope of gain ; but the habit will 
 grow upon him, and gradually change his nature. 
 As for the boy whose death so angers you, he is gone 
 to Paradise, whereas, had he hved but two years 
 longer, he would have killed his benefactress, and 
 in the year following he would have killed you." 
 
 The " former " rains having failed during the 
 months of November and December 1906, prayers 
 for rain were offered up in all places of worship, 
 Moslem, Jewish, and Christian. About that time 
 the following tales were circulated at Jerusalem. A 
 woman who had just filled her pitcher, drop by drop, 
 from a scanty spring near Ain K4rim was suddenly 
 accosted by a horseman bearing a long lance, who 
 ordered her to empty her vessel into a stone trough 
 and water his horse. She objected, but yielded to 
 his threats. To her horror it was not water but 
 blood that ran from her pitcher. The horseman 
 bade her inform her fellow-viUagers that had Allah 
 not sent the drought, pestilence and other calamities 
 would have befallen them. Having given her this 
 charge, he vanished. It was El Khudr. 
 
 A Moslem woman at Hebron, giving drink to an 
 aged stranger at his request, was told to give to 
 the Hebronites a message similar to the above, and 
 to add that AUah would send rain after the Greek 
 New Year. We certainly did have some very wet 
 weather after that date. 
 
62 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 SIMON THE JUST 
 
 In thej[upper part of the Kedron Valley, not 
 far from the point north of Jerusalem where it is 
 crossed by the road to Nablus, is an old rock-hewn 
 sepulchre. Inside the waUed-up vestibule, the en- 
 trance to which is closed by a modern door, is an 
 ancient, but piu-posely mutilated and httle notice- 
 able, Latin inscription, which proves that at one 
 time this rock-tomb, which during the course of 
 ages has been much altered and now serves the 
 piu-pose of a synagogue, was the last resting-place 
 of a noble Roman lady named Juha Sabina. 
 
 In spite of this fact, however, the Jews of Jerusa- 
 lem assert that this is the tomb of Simon the Just, 
 and make pilgrimages to it on the thirty-third 
 day of 'Omer, and also on the Feast of Weeks, 
 seventeen days later. 
 
 Simon II., the son of Onias, Uved during that 
 period of Jewish history which intervenes between 
 the time of Zerubabel and that of the Maccabees. His 
 surname, " the Just," shows the respect in which he 
 was held by his contemporaries. He towered both 
 in body and mind above other high priests of the 
 period, and worthily closed the long Une of ancient 
 IsraeUtish worthies preceding the heroes of the 
 housejof Asmon. 
 
 Jesus the son of Sirach (chap. 50) describes his 
 work in the repairs and fortifications of the city 
 
SAINTS, SINNERS, AND MIRACLES 63 
 
 and Temple, and dwells with enthusiastic reverence 
 on his majestic appearance when he came from 
 behind the veil hiding the Holy of HoUes, into the 
 midst of the people as they thronged the Temple- 
 courts on the great annual Day of Atonement. It 
 was like the morning star bursting from a cloud, or 
 the moon at the fuU {vv. 5, 6), hke the sun's rays re- 
 flected from the golden pinnacles of God's house, or 
 the rainbow when it shines out clear from the black 
 background of the storm. It was Kke roses, like to 
 lilies by a stream, Kke the fruit-laden olive-tree, 
 like the stately fir-tree, Hke the fragrance of the 
 frankincense, Hke the beauty of a golden vessel set 
 with jewels. Every movement of the Pontiff is 
 described with glowing admiration. The high- 
 priestly garments of glory and beauty seemed all 
 the more gorgeous from the manner in which he 
 wore them. His form towered above those of his 
 feUow-priests, as does a cedar in a palm-grove ; and 
 aU his ceremonial acts, the pouring out of the Hba- 
 tions, to a blast of silver trumpets, the shouting of 
 the multitude, the harmony evoked by the band of 
 Levitical musicians and singers, above aU Simon's 
 deHvery of the final benediction, were things never 
 to be forgotten of the witness. 
 
 Nor was it his physical beauty alone which drew 
 out the love of those who knew him. Various are 
 the stories told of his influence with men, and the 
 prevaiHng power of his prayers with God. Accord- 
 ing to one tradition, he was the last survivor of the 
 " Great Synagogue " which fixed the Old Testa- 
 ment Canon. Another says that it was he who 
 
64 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 met Alexander the Great, when that conqueror 
 (known in Arab folk-lore as the second Iskander 
 Dhu'lkarnein, the first of that name having been 
 a prophet contemporary with El Khalil, and to 
 whom we alluded when speaking of El Khudr and 
 the Fountain of Youth) came to Jerusalem about 
 B.C. 330 ; while a third asserts that it was Simon the 
 Just who tried to dissuade Ptolemy Philopator from 
 intruding into the Temple at Jerusalem. The whole 
 city was panic-stricken when the monarch announced 
 his resolution. The dense crowds sent heavenward 
 a shriek so piercing that it seemed as if the very 
 walls and foundations shared in it. In the midst 
 of the tumult was heard the prayer of Simon, in- 
 voking the All-seeing God. And then, like a reed 
 broken by the wind, the Egj^tian king fell on the 
 pavement, and was carried out by his guards. 
 
 It is also related that, till the days of Simon the 
 Just, it was always the right hand of the high priest 
 that drew the lot for the scape-goat : but that after- 
 wards the right and left wavered and varied. Till 
 his time the scarlet wool bound round the horns of 
 the animal tm-ned white in token of the atonement 
 being accepted and all sin forgiven : but after his 
 days its changing colour was never certain. In his 
 days the golden candlestick in the holy place burned 
 without failing : afterwards it frequently went out. 
 Two faggots daily were sufficient to keep the flame 
 on the great altar of burnt-offering in front of the 
 Temple porch ahve in his time : but later, piles of 
 wood were not enough. In the last year of his hfe 
 he is said to have foretold his own death from the 
 
SAINTS, SINNERS, AND MIRACLES 65 
 
 omen that, whereas on aU former occasions he was 
 accompanied to the entrance of the Holy of HoKes 
 on the solemn yearly fast-day by an angel in the 
 form of an aged man clad in white from head to 
 foot, this year his mysterious companion was 
 clothed in black, and followed him as he went in 
 and came out. His teaching may be judged of by 
 the saying ascribed to him : " There are three 
 foundations of the imiverse — the Law, Worship, and 
 Almsgiving." 
 
 He greatly dishked receiving the ascetic dedica- 
 tion of the Nazarites. On one occasion, however, 
 he made an exception. A tall, handsome youth of 
 splendid bearing, with beautiful eyes and long locks 
 of hair falling in magnificent clusters on his shoulders, 
 arrived one day from a place in the south of Palestine 
 and presented himself before the high priest as 
 anxious to take the vows. " Why ? " inquired 
 Simon. " Would you shave off that glorious growth 
 of hair ? " The young man repUed : " I was keep- 
 ing my father's flocks, when, one day, whUst drawing 
 water from a well, I beheld, with vain-glorious feel- 
 ings, the reflection of my own image in the water, 
 and was, in consequence, tempted to give way to a 
 sinful inclination and be lost. I said to myself, 
 ' Thou wicked one ! wilt thou be proud of that 
 which does not belong to thee, who art but worms 
 and dust ? God, I will cut off these locks for the 
 glory of heaven.' " On that, Simon embraced the 
 youth, exclaiming, " Would there were many such 
 Nazarites in Israel ! " 
 
 With such a record of his life, it is no wonder that 
 
66 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 in modern times the Jews of Jerusalem ascribe 
 miraculous power to the intercessions of this saint, 
 and offer vows and prayers at his shrine, as in the 
 following story : — 
 
 About two hundred years ago, when Rabbi 
 Galanti was " The First in Zion," there came a 
 year of great distress for lack of rain. The whole 
 popidation of the city fasted and prayed, the Chris- 
 tians holding services and reciting litanies in their 
 churches, the Moslems in their mosques, and the 
 Jews at their Place of WaiUng ; but in vain. Infants, 
 Christian, Jewish, and Moslem, were also kept for 
 hours without food and water, in order that their 
 sufferings and cries might bring down the desired 
 blessing, since AUah loves the prayers of Uttle 
 children : and the pupils in the Mohammedan 
 schools marched in procession aU through and round 
 the city, chanting prayers and passages from the 
 Koran ; but still the heaven was as brass, and the 
 AU-Merciful seemed to have forgotten His chosen 
 Land and City. 
 
 In consequence of this fearful drought, popular 
 prejudice was roused against the Jews, and a Moslem 
 sheykh told the Pasha that Allah was keeping back 
 the rain because they were allowed to Hve in Jeru- 
 salem. Hearing this, the Pasha sent word to Galanti 
 that, unless rain fell within three days, the Jews 
 should be driven out. 
 
 The consternation caused by this message may be 
 imagined. The Jews spent the next two days in 
 constant prayer. Before sunrise of the third day, 
 Galanti bade his people clothe themselves for wet 
 
SAINTS, SINNERS, AND MIRACLES 67 
 
 weather, and accompany him to the tomb of Simon 
 the Just, to give thanks for the heavy rain that would 
 faU before evening. 
 
 The Jews beUeved their Rabbi had gone mad, 
 yet dared not to disobey " The Crown of the Head of 
 Israel." As the procession passed out at the 
 Damascus Gate, the Moslem sentries mocked them 
 for wearing winter clothing on that intolerably hot 
 day, imder that burning sky. But the Jews trudged 
 on their way regardless of ridicule. 
 
 On reaching the shrine of Simon the Just then- 
 Rabbi's faith infected them, and they joined him 
 with fervoin- in thanksgiving: ; when suddenly the 
 sky was overcast and rain came down in torrents. 
 Indeed so heavy was the downpour that, in spite of 
 their winter clothing, they were drenched to the skin. 
 
 As they retxirned, the soldiers at the gate who had 
 mocked them going out, fell at Galanti's feet and 
 asked forgiveness. The Pasha, Kkewise, was much 
 impressed, and for a long while afterwards they were 
 held in honour by the populace. 
 
NOTES 
 
 SECTION I 
 
 I 
 
 The contents of this chapter are practically identical with 
 Mejr-ed-din, vol. i. ch. i., though it is here derived from the 
 lips of an Arab Khatib. 
 
 P. 5. The idea of the great serpent is analogous to that of 
 the great Midgard-snake in Scandinavian myths. 
 
 P. 6. Behemoth and the great whale. — This is apparently drawn 
 from Talmudic sources. Thus we read in Bava Bathra, fol. 74, 
 col. 2, R. Judah said : Everything that God created in the world 
 He created male and female. And thus He did with Leviathan 
 the piercing serpent, and Leviathan the crooked serpent He 
 created them male and female. But if they had been united, 
 they would have desolated the entire world. What, then, did 
 the Holy One do.? He took away the strength of the male 
 Leviathan, and slew the female and salted her for the righteous 
 for the time to come, for it is said : " And he shall slay the whale 
 (or dragon) that is in the sea" (Isaiah xxvii. 1). In like 
 manner with regard to Behemoth upon a thousand mountains. 
 He created them male and female, but if they had been united 
 they would have desolated the world. What then did the Holy 
 One do .'' He took away the strength of the male Behemoth, 
 and made the female barren, and preserved her for the righteous 
 for the time to come." The Moslems, in like manner, believe 
 that the meat of a great bull and a great fish shall furnish 
 forth the feast of the righteous on their entry into Paradise. 
 
 There are, in Rabbinical writings, many similar allusions to 
 the great ox and the great fish or sea dragon. 
 
 P. 7. Eclipses of the moon. — On the 6th of October 1903, 
 we had the good fortune to bivouac within the walls of the 
 famous palace of Meshetta in Moab. While the sun was setting 
 the moon was eclipsed, and a more magnificent spectacle, in 
 surroundings so beautiful and so solitary, could hardly be 
 imagined. Even the impassive Arab servants, most of whom 
 had been long in European service, were impressed, and crowded 
 
 68 
 
NOTES 69 
 
 together with exclamations of surprise and, perhaps, fear. The 
 lady of our party went to remonstrate with them because they 
 had taken a cock from out of the fowl-crate and were whipping 
 him . . . they alleged " for making noise " ; he also had been 
 surprised by the phenomenon, and had crowed. One added, 
 " The people at home, who know no better, will be killing cocks 
 and beating drums . . . this," pointing to the rival pageants of 
 sun and moon, "will frighten them." Professor Euting then 
 recited the "Sura of the Daybreak," cxiii., which seemed to 
 meet the needs of the case ; the men expressed their satisfac- 
 tion, and the cock was restored to his family. (Dr Spoer's 
 "Notes on Bloody Sacrifices in Palestine," vol. xxv. pp. 312 ff. 
 oi Journal of the American Oriental Society, 1906, and page 104 
 of vol. xxvii. 1906). 
 
 II 
 
 P. 9- The mother of devils. — For the Jewish ■ notions on this 
 subject see Bodenschatz, iii. ch. x. pars. 5-7, pp. 169, 170. 
 
 P. 11. Origin of ghouls, etc. — For Jewish notions (which are 
 also current amongst other orientals) on this subject, see 
 Bodenschatz, iii. ch. x. par. 3, and Wiinche, " Bibliotheca Rabbin- 
 ica, Midrasch Bereshit Rabba," p. 94, and Edersheim, " Life 
 and Times of Jesus the Messiah," Appendix xiii. Section III. 
 par. 1., also note 41 of "Tales told in Palestine," by J. E. 
 Hanauer, edited by H. G. Mitchell (Cincinnati : Jennings & 
 Graham. New York : Eaton & Mains). 
 
 P. 11. Cain and Ahel. — Kabil and Habil, or Cain and Abel, 
 with their two sisters were the first children born to Adam 
 and Eve. Adam, by Allah's direction, ordered Cain to marry 
 Abel's twin sister, and that Abel should marry Cain's (for, it 
 being the common opinion that marriages ought not to take 
 place with those very near akin, such as their own sisters, it 
 seemed reasonable to suppose that they ought to take those of 
 the remoter degree, but this Cain refused to agree to, because 
 his sister was the handsomer.^ Hereupon Adam told them to 
 make their offerings to Allah, thereby referring the dispute to 
 
 ' Allah ordained that Hawa should produce children in pairs, a 
 male with a female, in order that some restraint of decency might be 
 imposed on mankind from the outset. It was forbidden for a son to 
 marry his twin sister. Cain, enslaved by the beauty of his twin 
 sister Abdul Mughis transgressed this commandment, and eventually 
 murdered Abel, to whom she was promised. To prevent such havoc 
 being wrought by woman's looks, it was from that time forth decreed 
 that all females having reached a certain age should go veiled. A 
 popular variant of the above. — Ed. 
 
70 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 His determination . . . Cain's offering was a sheaf of the very 
 worst of his corn, but Abel's a fat lamb of the best of his flock. 
 Allah having declared His acceptance of the latter in a visible 
 manner, Cain said to his brother, " I will certainly kill thee." 
 Abel was the stronger of the two, and would easily have pre- 
 vailed against his brother, but he answered, " If thou stretchest 
 forth thine hand against me, to slay me, I will not stretch forth 
 my hand against thee to slay thee ; for I fear Allah, the Lord 
 of all creatures." So Cain began to consider in what way he 
 should effect the murder, and as he was doing so the devil 
 appeared to him in human shape, and showed him how to do it, 
 by crushing the head of a bird between two stones. Cain, 
 having committed the fratricide, became exceedingly troubled in 
 his mind, and carried the dead body on his shoulders for a con- 
 siderable time not knowing where to conceal it, till it stank 
 horribly ; and then Allah taught him to bury it by the example 
 of a raven, who, having killed another raven, in his presence, 
 dug a pit with his claws and beak, and buried him therein. 
 Another tradition is that Cain was at last accidentally slain by 
 Lamech with an arrow, when the latter was hunting at Tell el 
 KaimAn, near the Kishon, at the northern foot of Mount Carmel. 
 (See Sale's Koran, pp. 76 and 77, text and foot-note. Chandos 
 Classics.) 
 
 P. 12. Burial of Adam. — A Christian tradition to the effect 
 that Adam was buried with his head resting at the foot of 
 Calvary, and that he was reawakened to life by some drops of 
 Christ's blood trickling on to his skull at the Crucifixion, may be 
 traced back to the time of Origen in the second century. 
 
 Ill 
 
 P. 13. The ndkus. — The nakfls is a plank or a plate of metal 
 which is struck with a mallet to announce the time of service. 
 When the Moslems under Omar Ibn el Khattab first took 
 Jerusalem (a.d. 637), the use of church-bells was prohibited, but 
 the n&kus was allowed because Noah, by Allah's command, used 
 one thrice a day to call the workmen employed on the ark, and 
 to attract people to hear his warnings of an approaching judg- 
 ment. When the Crusaders took Jerusalem in 1099 a.d., bells 
 were reinstalled in the churches. One of the complaints made 
 by the Latin Patriarch against the Knights of St John, was that 
 they disturbed the services held in the Church of the Sepulchre, 
 by ringing the bells of their great church close by. The church 
 bells throughout the Holy Land were silenced when the 
 Crusaders were finally driven away in a.d. 1292, but they had 
 ceased ringing in Jerusalem when the city fell into the hands 
 
NOTES 71 
 
 of Saladin, October 2, 1187. In 1823, we are informed by a 
 traveller of the period that the only bell in the city was a hand- 
 bell in the Latin Convent. Since the close of the Crimean 
 War, many large church-bells have been hung up and are in 
 constant use in various Christian churches in Palestine, though 
 the writer remembers the time when a great riot took place 
 amongst the Moslems at Nablus because a small bell had been 
 put up in the Mission school in that place. 
 
 P. 14. The donkey and Iblh in the ark. — Presumably to pay the 
 donkey out for this meanness, Iblis whispered in his ear that 
 all the females of his kind had been destroyed ; whereupon the 
 unfortunate beast made so terrible a noise of lamentation that 
 the Evil One was scared and made haste to comfort him by add- 
 ing, " But there is one left for you." At that the donkey's noise 
 subsided in one long " Ah ! " of relief. This is the origin of the 
 donkey's bra3rLng. (I have the story from a friend in Egypt.) 
 —Ed. 
 
 P. 15. The 'ahayeh, or 'aba, is the wide, coarse, outer garment 
 worn by all classes in Palestine, and on occasion adaptable to 
 other uses. See Deut. xxiv. 13; Amos ii. 8; P.E.F. Quarterly 
 Statement, 1881, p. 298. The fables concerning Og are doubt- 
 less derived from Rabbinical sources ; see article " Og " in 
 Smith's Bible Dictionary. 
 
 P. 17. "The ark informed Noah that here the Beyt el 
 Makdas would be rebuilt." Cf. " Uns el Jelil." Cairo edition, 
 vol. i. pp. 19-22. 
 
 P. 17. Marriage of Noah's daughter. — This story is a very 
 common one. There is a version of it given by P. Baldensperger 
 in one of the Quarterly Statements of the P.E.F. The tomb of 
 one of Noah's daughters is shown at 'EUarin Southern Palestine, 
 and another, it is said, at, or near, Baalbec. 
 
 IV 
 
 P. 18. Job. — In the fourth Christian century many pilgrims 
 used to visit the district east of the Jordan in order to see and 
 embrace the dunghill on which Job sat and scratched himself 
 in his day, and even now there may be seen at the ancient 
 sanctuary called " Esh Sheykh Sa'ad " in the Hauran, the famous 
 " Rock of Job," which modern research has shown to be a monu- 
 ment commemorating the victories of the Egyptian monarch 
 Rameses II. Besides this, there are in Western Palestine at 
 least two " Wells of Job " : one on the western shore of the 
 Sea of Galilee, the other, the well-known Bir Ayub, in the 
 Kedron Valley just at the point where it is joined by the 
 traditional Valley of Hinnom. This well is a hundred feet 
 
72 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 deep, and contains an unfailing supply of water, a great deal of 
 which is carried in skins to supply the needs of Jerusalem. A 
 few steps east of this well, under a ledge of rock, in which may 
 still be seen the vats used by the fullers of antiquity,^ is a small 
 opening. It is the entrance to a cave which, according to 
 peasants of the neighbouring village of Siloam, was once the 
 dwelling-place of the Patriarch. 
 
 It is said that Aylib was a Rflmi, a Greco-Roman descendant 
 of Esau,^ and that his wife's name was Rahmeh (Mercy). She, 
 rather than her husband, is the bright example of human 
 patience. A few years ago an Arab woman of the Orthodox 
 Eastern Church disagreed with her husband and went for 
 advice to a priest, who bade her take example from Job's wife. 
 
 P. 19. El Hakim Lokman. — The greater part of the thirty- 
 first sura of the Koran is a record of wise sayings of Lokman. 
 The following anecdote is related in the larger " Kfimds " 
 (Dictionary) of El Bistani : " A certain man asked Lokman, 
 " Did I not once see thee keeping sheep .'' " He answered, 
 " Yes." " Then how didst thou attain to this degree of great- 
 ness .'' " Lokman answered, "By speaking the truth, restoring 
 the pledge, and refraining from talk on matters which do not 
 concern me." 
 
 P. 20. Danger of sleeping in the Jields where yellom melons grow. 
 — In order to prevent such accidents, in the occurrence of 
 which they implicitly believe, the fellahin who have to watch 
 the melon-fields are said to eat a great deal of garlic, and to 
 strew bits of that rank vegetable around their beds. The smell 
 is said to be an effective protection, not only against snakes, but 
 also the evil eye. 
 
 P. 21. jBera; = Bhang, Indian hemp or hashish, figures in 
 Eastern tales, and with effects more wonderful than those of 
 chloroform. This story of Lokman is given in a different version in 
 " Tales told in Palestine," under the title of " El Hakim Risto." 
 
 Various editions and translations of the fables of Lokman 
 have at different times appeared in Europe. The most recent 
 that I know of is by A. Cherbonneau (Paris : Hachette & Cie. 
 1884). 
 
 V 
 
 P. 33. The rite of circumcision. — Sarah, in a fit of furious 
 jealousy, is said to have sworn to imbrue her hands in the blood 
 
 ^ The existence of these vats so near the well is one of the reasons 
 for believing-, as many do, that Bir Eyyub is the En-Rogel of the Old 
 Testament. 
 
 ^ An Arab subject of the Greco-Roman Empire. — En. 
 
NOTES 73 
 
 of Hagar. In order to save the life of the latter, and yet to 
 enable his wife to keep her solemn though savage oath, Hagar, 
 at Abraham's suggestion, allowed Sarah to perform upon her 
 the rite of circumcision, to submit to which has, since then, 
 become a "sunnah," or traditional and religious custom amongst 
 Mohammedan women. (See Mejr-ed-din, vol. i. p. 46.) 
 
 P. 35. The patriarchs said to be not dead but living. — The tomb 
 of the patriarchs at Hebron is very jealousy guarded against 
 intruders who are not Moslems. Very few Christians have ever 
 been admitted even into the courts of the Haram ; the first in 
 modern times who was allowed to enter being the Prince of 
 Wales (now King Edward VH.), who visited the Holy Land in 
 1862. 
 
 Even Mohammedans are forbidden to descend into the cave 
 below, which is generally supposed to be that of Machpelah, 
 lest they should disturb the patriarchs and their " harim," who 
 are conceived of as living in a state of sacred " keyf," or " dolce 
 far niente." A couple of hundred years ago a Mohammedan 
 had the temerity to enter the cavern. He suddenly came upon 
 a lady who was combing her hair. It is supposed to have been 
 Sarah herself. She threw her comb at the audacious intruder 
 and hit him in the eyes. He was, in consequence, blind to his 
 dying day. 
 
 It is also related that when Ibrahim Pasha took Hebron about 
 seventy years ago, he likewise attempted to penetrate into the 
 mausoleum of the patriarchs, and had an opening made through 
 the masonry enclosing it, but that, just as he was going to 
 enter, he was taken seriously ill, and had to be carried away 
 unconscious. 
 
 VI 
 
 An old tradition, which has been traced back to the time of 
 Origen, in the second century, says that the cross on which 
 Christ suffered was, at the Crucifixion, planted at the head of 
 Adam's tomb, and that some drops of the Saviour's blood, 
 percolating through the soil and the fissure made in the rock by 
 the earthquake that then occurred, touched Adam's skull and 
 revived the progenitor of mankind to life.^ He led the band of 
 
 1 A Maronite Christian once told me a story, beginning with the 
 burial of Adam and ending with the Crucifixion, which lasted a whole 
 summer afternoon. It included the subject of this note and also that 
 of the foregoing chapter, yet seemed homogeneous. Melchizedek 
 was, I remember, a leading character. He buried Adam, carrying his 
 body an unheard-of distance to Jerusalem, and kept appearing and 
 disappearing mysteriously throughout the narrative. The narrator 
 assured me he had found it all in a great book in the library of a 
 
74 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 saints, who, as the Gospel relates, rose from the dead after 
 Christ's resurrection, and entering Jerusalem, appeared unto 
 many. The origin of this legend seems to have been a mis- 
 understanding of the texts Ephesians v. I* and 21 ; 1 Corin- 
 thians XV. 21, 22 ; 45, 47. 
 
 VII 
 
 P. 41. Pilgrimage to Musa's grave. — The writer was some years 
 ago informed by a native Jew that he had been told by his late 
 father that the latter had been informed by a Moslem sheykh 
 that the annual Mohammedan pilgrimage to the traditional 
 tomb of Moses had been instituted by the early Moslem 
 conquerors of Palestine, in order that, in the case of disturb- 
 ances in Jerusalem amongst the Christian pilgrims who come 
 thither in order to celebrate Easter, a strong body of armed 
 believers might be in reserve and within call in case of necessity. 
 Whether this statement is correct I cannot tell ; at any rate, 
 the Neby M<isa pilgrimage generally coincides in time with the 
 Christian Easter festivities. 
 
 P. 41. The stones of the place should be Jit for fuel. — The lime- 
 stone at Neby Mfisa is bituminous, and somewhat combustible. 
 
 VIII 
 
 P. 45. " The tower still hears his (liavid's^ name." — This tower 
 is situated just inside the city, near the Jaffa Gate. It is often 
 called the Tower of Hippicus, though its base measurements 
 agree more nearly with those of Herod's tower Phasaelus. 
 
 P. 49- The Kharrub. — The Carob-tree (Ceratonia silique), said 
 by tradition to have furnished, in its pods, the locusts which 
 the Baptist ate ; and also the husks on which the swine, in the 
 parable of the Prodigal Son, were fed. 
 
 P. 50. Stones left urifinished at the death of Solomon. — These 
 stones are generally called " Hajar el Hibleh " or stone of the 
 pregnant woman, from the belief that the work of cutting and 
 carrying them had been assigned to female jinns in that condi- 
 tion. One such stone is pointed out in the south wall of Jerusalem, 
 and another huge block, on a hill-top near Hirsha, is said to have 
 been left there by a jinniyeh who dropped it when she heard 
 the welcome news of Solomon's death. (See Clermont Ganneau's 
 "Archaeological Researches," vol. i. 69.) 
 
 Like Abraham and El-Khudr, David appears sometimes in 
 
 certain convent in Mount Lebanon ; but, as he could not read, I 
 suspect the assurance was only to impress me, and I had been listen- 
 ing to a whole cycle of folk-tales. — Ed. 
 
NOTES 75 
 
 order to protect the Jews. Some instances will be mentioned 
 in Section II. in connection with legends possibly founded on 
 facts. 
 
 IX 
 
 P. 51. Dhu'lkamein. — See Sale's Koran, Chandos Classics 
 Edition, chap. xvui. pp. 224-225 and foot-notes. 
 
 P. 54. Elijah's cave on Carmel. — For other particulars con- 
 cerning this place and the "treatment" here practised, see 
 Dr Thomson's "The Land and the Book" (1886), vol. i. 
 p. 329 if. 
 
 P. 62. Simon the Just. — It seems now to be conclusively estab- 
 lished that this was Simon II., and that Josephus (Antip. 
 Book XII. chap. ii. 5) was mistaken in identifying him with 
 Simon I. G. (See Derembourg, 47-51; Dean Stanley's "Jewish 
 Church," vol. iii. p. 247.) 
 
 P. 62. The thirttj-third of'Omer. — That is the thirty-third day 
 after the fifteenth of Nisan and the second of Passover, when a 
 sheaf ('omer) of barley was offered to God in the Temple as 
 the firstfruits of the coming harvest (Lev. xxiii. 10). This 
 eighteenth of lyyar is also celebrated as the anniversary of the 
 disappearance of a plague in the days of Rabbi Akiba. (See 
 Friedlaender, "Text-book of the Jewish Rehgion," 27, and note 
 34, "Tales told in Palestine," p. 219.) 
 
 P. 62-64. Compare 3 Mace. i. 28, 29; ii. 21-24; vidth Dean 
 Stanley's "Jewish Church," vol. iii. p. 248. 
 
SECTION II 
 
 CONTAINING LEGENDS AND ANECDOTES POSSIBLY 
 FOUNDED ON FACT 
 
SECTION II 
 
 THE JAFFA GATE AT JEEtTSALEM 
 
 In Mohammedan eschatology B^b el Khalil figures 
 as the Gate of Lydda where 'Isa ibn Maryam 
 will destroy Antichrist, though some amongst the 
 learned, for instance Abulfeda and Kemal-ed-din, 
 assert that the event wiU take place near the entrance 
 to the town of Lydda, and, as a matter of fact, a well 
 inside a small domed building situated about half- 
 way between Lydda and Ramleh, and called " Bir 
 es Zeybak " or the Quicksilver Well, is pointed out 
 as the exact spot where the " Dejj41 " (Ut. impostor) 
 or Antichrist wiU be slain. 
 
 Just inside the gateway, and on the left-hand side 
 after passing the portal, there are two cenotaphs in 
 an enclosure behind an iron raiUng. Old jars, and 
 tins, saddles, etc., placed beside the cenotaphs, or 
 piled up in the corners of the open space around them, 
 show that two " WeUs " or saints are buried here. 
 As the once existing inscriptions are now quite 
 effaced, no one knows exactly who they were. Some 
 think the tombs are those of the two architect 
 brothers under whose supervision the present city 
 
80 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 wall was built in the early part of the sixteenth 
 centiu-y. Others have informed the writer that the 
 monuments mark the graves of " Mujahedin," or 
 warriors of Islam, in the days either of Bukh- 
 tunnussur (Nebuchadnezzar) ^ or of Salah-ed-din 
 (Saladin), while stiU another story relates that the 
 " wely " buried here was a namesake and contem- 
 porary of Salah-ed-din who was in charge of the gate 
 when the Christians besieged the city,^ and when 
 he fell in the battle, his severed head seized hold of 
 his scimitar with its teeth, and kept the Christians 
 off seven days and nights. 
 
 Concerning Nebuchadnezzar, it is related that long 
 before the destruction of pre-exUic Jerusalem, 
 Jeremiah or 'Ozair (Esdras), the prophet, knew 
 him as a starving lad, afflicted with a scabby head, 
 and covered with vermin. Having foretold his 
 future greatness, the prophet obtained from the 
 youth a letter of " Am&n " or safety for himself and 
 particular friends to be available at the time when 
 the disasters predicted by the prophet should come 
 upon the unhappy Beyt-el-Makdas. When, many 
 years later, Jeremiah heard that the Babylonian hosts 
 were actually on their way, he went down to Ramleh, 
 presented the document to Bukhtunnussur, and 
 claimed the protection promised. This was granted ; 
 
 1 Nebuchadnezzar and Titus are often confused by Moslem Arabs. 
 Thus St John the Baptist's blood is said to have continued walling up 
 like a fountain under the great altar till the Temple was destroyed by 
 Bukhtunnussur, and even then not to have stopped till Bukhtunnussur 
 had slain a thousand Jews. — Ed. 
 
 2 Which, by the way, did not happen in the time of Salah-ed-din ; 
 it was the other way about. 
 
LEGENDS AND ANECDOTES 81 
 
 but when the prophet begged that the city and 
 Temple might also be spared, the invader said that 
 he had received command from Allah to destroy 
 them. 
 
 In proof of his statement, he bade Jeremiah 
 watch the flight of three arrows which he shot at 
 random. The first was aimed westwards, but turned 
 in an opposite direction and struck the roof of the 
 Temple at Jerusalem. The second arrow, which 
 was pointed northwards, acted in the same manner, 
 and so also did the third, which was shot southwards. 
 The city and Temple were utterly destroyed, and the 
 golden furniture of the latter conveyed by Nebuchad- 
 nezzar's orders to Rome {sic). 
 
 'Ozair, however, received a promise from AUah 
 that he shoxild be privileged to behold the restora- 
 tion of Jerusalem. Passing the ruins one day, with 
 a donkey and a basket of figs, he could not help ex- 
 pressing a doubt if this were possible, when AJlah 
 caused him to fall asleep for a whole century, at the 
 end of which he was restored to hfe and found the 
 city rebuilt, populous, and prosperous. The skeleton 
 of his ass, being restored to Hfe and covered with 
 flesh and skin, began to bray, and was admitted into 
 Paradise, as a reward to that one of its ancestors 
 which had been wrongfully beaten for refusing to 
 convey Ibhs into the ark. On beholding the resmrec- 
 tion of his donkey, 'Ozair was convinced that his 
 experiences were real and that he had actually been 
 asleep for a himdred years. He then, in obedience to 
 the Divine command, entered Jerusalem and in- 
 structed its inhabitants in Allah's Law. The very 
 
82 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 spot where the prophet slept so long is shown at 
 El Edhemieh, north of the Holy City, in the large 
 cave called Jeremiah's Grotto ; and a story like that 
 of 'Ozair is read in the Greek churches during the 
 service appointed for November 4th, when the fall 
 of Jerusalem is commemorated. 
 
 Jewish traditions state that the celebrated Hebrew 
 poet. Rabbi Judah ha Levi, of Toledo,^ met his death 
 at this B4b el Khalil. From his earUest youth he 
 had yearned to visit the Holy Land and city, but 
 had been prevented. At last, in his old age, the 
 obstacles in his path were removed. But he never 
 entered Jerusalem. On coming up to the gate he 
 was seized with such emotion, that he prostrated 
 himself in the dust, and lay there weeping, heedless 
 of danger. A band of armed horsemen came gallop- 
 ing towards the town. The old man neither saw 
 nor heard them ; and so rapid was their approach, 
 that before anyone had time either to warn or 
 rescue the aged Jew, he had been trampled to 
 death. 
 
 Many of the orthodox Jews of Jerusalem believe 
 that, concealed within the gate-posts, there exists a 
 " Meziizah," or case Hke those to be seen at the door- 
 ways of Jewish dwellings, placed here by the Almighty 
 and containing a parchment upon which are written, 
 by the finger of God Himself, the texts Deut. vi. 
 4-9 and xi. 13-2L In consequence of this belief 
 
 1 The author of many hymns, and particularly of the elegies for the 
 9th day of Ah, anniversary of the death of Moses, as also of the de- 
 struction of Jerusalem, first hy Nebuchadnezzar, and then by Titus 
 many centuries later. 
 
LEGENDS AND ANECDOTES 83 
 
 many pious Jews, at passing in or out, touch the 
 gate-post lightly and reverently, and then kiss their 
 fingers. 
 
 II 
 
 TURBET BIRKET MAMILLA ^ 
 
 The most conspicuous object in this cemetery is a 
 small domed building marking the grave of the Amir 
 Ala ed din 'Aidi Ghadi ibn 'Abdallah el Kebkebi, 
 who died a.h. 688 (=a.d. 1289), according to the 
 inscription over the doorway. Inside the edifice 
 is a remarkable cenotaph, the ornamentation of 
 which leads one to suspect that it probably at one 
 time stood over the tomb of some distinguished 
 Crusader, a conjecture which seems to be strengthened 
 by two traditions which contradict the statements of 
 the above-mentioned inscription. 
 
 One aflfirms that the Amir here buried was a black 
 man of gigantic strength, who, on one occasion, when 
 fighting the Christians, cleft his opponent in twain, 
 with a single blow, from the crest of his helmet down- 
 wards.^ The other declares the mausoleum to be 
 that of the person in whose charge Saladin left 
 Jerusalem after wresting it from the Crusaders in 
 1187 A.D. The date of the inscription suggests the 
 time of Beybars. 
 
 A third story is that the edifice covers the grave 
 
 ^ Cemetery of the Pool of Mamilla. 
 
 ^ A feat said to have been performed by Godfrey de Bouillon, leader 
 of the first Crusade. 
 
84 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 of Johha, a famous jester, who is by the peasantry 
 generally confounded with the equally celebrated 
 Abu NowEls, and occupies in Eastern folk-lore a 
 position analogous to that of Eulenspiegel or Dr 
 Howleglas in European. Here are a few of the 
 stories told of Johha. The majority are unfit for 
 reproduction. 
 
 When he was quite young, his mother one day 
 sent him to the market to fetch some salt and also 
 some semneh or clarified butter. She provided him 
 with a dish for the latter, and took it for granted that 
 the grocer would put the salt into a piece of paper. 
 On reaching the shop, the boy handed the vessel he 
 had brought to the shopkeeper, in order that the 
 latter might place the butter in it. He then turned 
 it upside down, and directed the grocer to place the 
 salt on the bottom of the dish. Going home, he 
 said, " Here is the salt, mother." " But, my son," 
 said she, " where is the semneh ? " " Here," replied 
 Johha, turning the dish right side up. Of course, 
 the salt was lost in the same way that the butter had 
 been. 
 
 When Johha grew old enough to work for his 
 living, he became a donkey-driver. One day, being 
 in charge of twelve donkeys employed to carry earth 
 to the city, it occurred to him, before starting with 
 the laden animals, to count them. Finding the tale 
 complete, he took them to their destination and 
 unloaded them. He then mounted one of them, and 
 was going to return when he found one donkey 
 missing. At once dismounting, he put them all 
 in a row, and was astonished and greatly relieved to 
 
LEGENDS AND ANECDOTES 85 
 
 find the twelve there. He thereupon remounted, 
 and set ofi again, wondering as he rode along how it 
 was that he had missed one donkey. Suddenly the 
 suspicion flashed upon him that possibly the second 
 count had been faulty, so he counted again, to find 
 once more that only eleven were racing along in front 
 of him. Terribly disconcerted, he again got down 
 off the creature he was riding, and, stopping the 
 others, once more counted them. He was puzzled 
 to find there were again twelve. So absorbed was 
 he by this mystery, that he went on counting 
 and recounting the donkeys, till his master, sur- 
 prised at his long absence, came and solved his 
 difficulty by obliging him to follow his asses on 
 foot. 
 
 On his father's death, Johha inherited the family 
 property, a small house. Being in need of money, he 
 managed to raise it by seUing the building all but one 
 kirat,^ which he refused to part with ; and, in order 
 to mark that portion of the property which he was 
 resolved to retain, he drove a tent-peg into the wall, 
 having stipulated with the purchasers that that part 
 of the edifice was to be set apart for his own un- 
 questioned use. The new owners of the house were 
 for a time allowed to Kve there undisturbed. One 
 day, however, Johha appeared bearing a sack of 
 lentils, which he hung upon the peg, no one making 
 any objection. Some days later he removed this, 
 and hung up a basket containing something else 
 equally unobjectionable. He continued this pro- 
 cedure for some time without meeting with any 
 
 ' The twenty-fourth part of anything. 
 
86 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 remonstrance, seeing that he was only exercising his 
 undoubted rights. At last, however, he one day 
 appeared with a dead cat, which he left there till 
 the occupants of the house, finding that neither 
 remonstrances, entreaties, nor threats could induce 
 him to remove the nuisance, and knowing that 
 an appeal to law would be useless, seeing that 
 Johha had the Kadi's ear, were glad to re-seU the 
 house to him for a nominal sum. Ever since that 
 time, the phrase " a peg of Johha's " has been 
 used proverbially by orientals in much the same 
 sense in which EngUshmen speak of " a white 
 elephant." 
 
 One day Johha borrowed a large " tanjera," or 
 copper saucepan, from a neighbour for domestic use. 
 Next day he returned it together with a very small, 
 but quite new one. " What is this ? " asked the sur- 
 prised owner. " Your tanjera gave birth to a young 
 one during the night," repHed the jester, and, in 
 spite of the increduUty of the other man, main- 
 tained his assertion, refusing to take back the 
 smaller tanjera, on the ground that the young 
 belonged to the parent, and the parent's owner. 
 Besides, it was cruel to separate so young a chUd 
 from its mother. After a deal of protestation, the 
 neighbour, believing him mad, resolved to humour 
 him, and took the small tanjera, greatly wondering 
 at the jester's whim. Its point was revealed to his 
 chagrin, some days later, when Johha came and bor- 
 rowed a large and valuable copper "dist," or cauldron. 
 This he did not return, but carried it ofi to another 
 town, where he sold it. When its owner sent to 
 
LEGENDS AND ANECDOTES 87 
 
 Johha to reclaim it, the knave said that he regretted 
 his inability to send it back, but the utensil had 
 unfortunately died and been devoured by hyenas. 
 " What ! " exclaimed the owner angrily, " do you 
 think me fool enough to believe that ? " " Well, 
 my friend," was the reply, " wonderful things some- 
 times happen. You allowed yourself to be per- 
 suaded that your tanjera, for instance, gave birth 
 to a yoimg one ; why, then, should you not believe 
 that your dist, which is simply a grown-up tanjera, 
 should die." In the circumstances, the argument 
 seemed unanswerable, especially when, after search- 
 ing through Johha's house, the cauldron could not 
 be found. 
 
 Johha's neighbours, incensed by such practical 
 jokes, put their heads together. They succeeded in 
 persuading the joker to accompany them on an 
 expedition to a lonely part of the coast. Having 
 got him there, they told him they were going to 
 drown him unless he swore a solemn oath to leave off 
 his pranks, and " eat salt " with them. " I dare not 
 eat salt with you," repKed the rascal, " because I 
 have a covenant and have eaten salt with the Jin. 
 I shall not break my compact with them just to 
 please you." " Very well," said his neighbours, 
 " you have your choice. We shall bind you to this 
 tree, and leave you here tiU midnight, when, unless 
 you change your mind, and eat salt with us, we shall 
 drown you." " Do your worst," said Johha. Where- 
 upon they bound him fast to the tree and went 
 away. 
 
 Johha cudgelled his brains to devise some means of 
 
88 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 escape. Great was his joy, when, late that afternoon, 
 he saw, at a distance, a shepherd with a large flock 
 of sheep. He called the shepherd and persuaded him 
 to set him free. When asked by his dehverer why 
 he had been thus bound, he told him : " For refusing 
 to taste sugar." The shepherd seemed astonished 
 at that, observing that he himself was fond of sugar. 
 Johha then proposed that he should take his place. 
 The simpleton, in the hope of sugar, consented, and 
 after they had exchanged clothes, and the shepherd 
 had taught the buffoon his special sheep-call,^ the 
 former let himself be bound to the tree, whilst Johha 
 promised to take charge of the flock, lead it to a 
 certain cave, and there await the shepherd's return. 
 He felt sure that the man would be allowed to go his 
 way when it was discovered that he himself had 
 escaped. This was, however, not the case, for in 
 their haste, and owing to the darkness of the night, 
 the whistHng of the wind, the sound of the waves, and 
 the fact that the shepherd mimicked Johha's voice 
 to a tone, the enemies of the latter never suspected 
 the trick ; and when the poor shepherd told 
 them he would eat sugar, they pitched him into 
 the sea. 
 
 Great was the surprise and terror of Johha's enemies 
 when, three days later, he marched cheerfully into 
 the village followed by a fine flock of sheep. They 
 ventured to approach and ask him how he had 
 escaped the sea, and whence he had brought the 
 animals. " I told you," was his answer, " that I 
 
 ' " A stranger they will not folloWj but will flee from him ; for they 
 know not the voice of strangers " (St John x. 6). 
 
LEGENDS AND ANECDOTES 89 
 
 am in league with the J4n. Had I eaten salt with 
 you they would have treated me as a traitor, and 
 done me some grievous Ul ; as it is, however, they 
 not only spared my life, but gave me this flock as a 
 reward for my loyalty." 
 
 Johha's neighbours were greatly impressed by this 
 statement, and asked his forgiveness for their past 
 ill-will. They then humbly inquired in what way 
 they also might obtain the friendship of the J^n. 
 Johha strongly advised them to jump into the sea 
 at midnight on the same day of the week as that on 
 which they had tried to drown him, and from the 
 same rock from which he had been hiu-led. They 
 disappeared from the village soon afterwards, and 
 were never seen again. 
 
 Ill 
 
 EN NEBI DAtTD 
 
 A NUMBER of conventional tales, bearing a family 
 likeness to those related concerning the Patriarchs 
 at Hebron, are told concerning the prophet David, 
 and his tomb (En Nebi Daud) at Jerusalem. Here 
 are examples : — 
 
 " In the reign of Sultan Murad, the Governor of 
 Jerusalem, Mahmud Pasha by name, was a just and 
 upright man who favoured the Jews. As, however. 
 Government appointments could be purchased by 
 
90 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND ,, 
 
 anyone in those days, a worthless Arab, known as 
 Ibn Faraj, succeeded in obtaining the post from 
 the Pasha of Damascus, who was at the same 
 time Governor-General of Syria and Palestine. Ibn 
 Faraj proved extremely tyrannical and rapacious, 
 and greatly oppressed the Jews in Jerusalem. One 
 Sabbath day (Elul II. a.m. 5385, i.e. a.d. 1625) he 
 attacked the Synagogue during the hours of divine 
 service, and had fifteen of the most respectable Jews 
 cast into prison. They were not released till they 
 had paid 3000 ducats. Such events were of frequent 
 recurrence, and the Jews were, in consequence, 
 greatly impoverished. Many of them sought to flee, 
 but were prevented by guards specially stationed for 
 that pm-pose. At last, however, they succeeded in 
 letting the Sultan know the state of affairs in Jeru- 
 salem. The Padishah was very angry when he 
 heard of all this, and, on Kislev 22, 5386 (December 
 1626), he sent orders to the Pasha of Damascus to 
 dismiss the unworthy official. Ibn Faraj, how- 
 ever, succeeded in bribing not only the Governor- 
 General, but also the Agha, or Commandant, of 
 the troops in the castle. He now raged without 
 restraint, and many Jews languished in prison 
 because they were unable to satisfy his rapacious 
 demands. 
 
 Suddenly, on Tuesday the 12th of Kislev a.m. 
 5387, he took to flight, because, as is related in a 
 dociunent printed at Venice in the following year, 
 and attested by all the chief officials of the Jewish 
 Community then at Jerusalem, an aged and vener- 
 able personage, clad in a purple mantle, appeared 
 
LEGENDS AND ANECDOTES 91 
 
 to him in a dream, and was going to strangle him. 
 In his terror he asked why ? and was informed 
 " that King David wanted to avenge his subjects." 
 Having begged long and piteously to be spared, 
 his Kfe was granted, on condition that he left 
 Jerusalem and the Holy Land at sunrise next 
 morning.^ 
 
 Another Moslem Governor of Jerusalem, being on a 
 visit to En Nebi Daud greatly, desired to see the tomb 
 itself. He therefore went into the room immediately 
 above, it, and looked through a hole in the floor. 
 While so doing a jewelled dagger slipped from his 
 girdle ' and feU into the vault. Concerned at 
 the loss, he had one of his attendants let down 
 by a rope to search for it. This man remained 
 below so long that the others, growing anxious, 
 puUed in the rope. They brought up his lifeless 
 body. A second and third attempt to recover the 
 dagger failed in Uke manner ; tiU the governor, 
 determined not to lose the pretty weapon, bade 
 the sheykh of En Neb Daud himself go down and 
 fetch it. 
 
 The sheykh replied that it was clear the prophet 
 did not like Mohammedans to enter his tomb ; but, 
 since he was known to be fond of Jews, the Pasha 
 would do better to ask the chief rabbi. Accordingly, 
 an lu-gent message was forthwith sent to that digni- 
 tary, who at once called the Jews together to fast and 
 pray for dehverance from the anger of the Moslems 
 on the one hand, and on the other from that of King 
 David whom the Jews beUeve to be " alive and 
 
 1 Rabbi Schwartz, "Das Heilige Landj" footnote, pp. 402-403. 
 
92 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND * 
 
 active." ^ He begged for three days' grace in which 
 to find a person wilHng to undertake so desperate an 
 adventure. On the third day a Jew volimteered for 
 the task, in hopes to save the community. 
 
 Having purified his soul and body he was lowered 
 into the vault in the presence of all the leading 
 Moslems of the city. Almost immediately he asked 
 to be drawn up again, and appeared aUve and well, 
 with the dagger in his hand. On reaching the ground 
 he had found himself face to face with a noble- 
 looking old man, clad in robes hke shining lead, who 
 had handed him the dagger the instant his feet 
 touched earth and, with a gesture, bidden him 
 be gone. 
 
 An old Jewess, a widow, pious and industrious, used 
 to wash for one of the sheykhs of En Nebi Daud. 
 One day, when she had brought some clean clothes 
 to his house, he offered to show her the sepulchre of 
 David, and she followed him in great deHght. Open- 
 ing the door of a room, he made her enter, and then, 
 locking the door, went straight to the kadi and told 
 him that a Jewess had slipped into the sanctuary, 
 left open for a few minutes for the sake of ventilation, 
 and he, discovering the sacrilege, had locked her in 
 that she might be punished formally, for a pubUc 
 example. 
 
 ' In the special prayer for the monthly blessing of the moon, these 
 words occur : "David Melekh Israel khai va kayam " (David, King of 
 Israel, is alive and active). 
 
LEGENDS AND ANECDOTES 93 
 
 The kadi, with other Moslems, went at once to 
 En Nebi Daud, but when the room was opened, no 
 Jewess could be found. The sheykh swore solemnly 
 that she had been there when he locked the door. 
 " I know her well," he said ; " it was my washer- 
 woman." "That it was not," said one who stood 
 by, " for not a quarter of an hour ago my servant 
 went to her house with a bundle of clothes, and saw 
 her there hard at work." The inquisitors adjourned 
 to the woman's house. There she was, at her 
 washing, and ready to swear that she had been there 
 since daybreak. 
 
 Convinced by her earnestness, the kadi charged 
 the sheykh of En Nebi Daud with perjury, and had 
 him severely punished. It was not untU the woman 
 came to die, that she told the true story of her 
 adventure. Then, having summoned the elders of 
 the Jewish community, she confessed that the sheykh 
 had locked her in the dark room, as he had said he 
 did, but that a noble-looking old man, clad in 
 apparel as of shining lead, had straightway appeared 
 to her, saying : " Fear not, but foUow me." He 
 had led her by a path that wound through the heart 
 of the earth to a door which opened on a dunghill 
 in the Meydan.^ There he ordered her to go home 
 at once and get to work, and on no account to pubhsh 
 what had happened to her. 
 
 ' The Meydan is in the Jewish quarter, on the north-eastern brow 
 of the traditional Mount Zion. The exact spot where the washer- 
 woman came out was, till the early part of 1905, marked by a large 
 octagonal stone, which has now disappeared. 
 
94 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 IV 
 
 bIb el asbIt 
 
 Four different sets of traditions are associated with, 
 and furnish as many names to the only open gate-way 
 (there being others walled-up) in the Eastern wall of 
 Jerusalem. It is known to the Moslems, as " Bib 
 el Asb4t," or Gate of the Tribes, a name derived from 
 that of the adjacent " Birket Asbit Beni Israil," 
 or Pool of the Tribes of the Children of Israel, which 
 is generally abbreviated to " Birket Israil," a huge 
 reservoir lying along part of the northern side of the 
 Temple area, and said by learned Mohammedans 
 to have been one of three constructed by Ezekiel or 
 Hezekiah, King of Judah. Amongst the native 
 Christians the gate is called of " Our Lady Mary," 
 because just inside it is the traditional site of the 
 birthplace of the Virgin, and also because the road 
 leading through the gate is that by which her sup- 
 posed tomb, in a great underground church of the 
 crusading period down in the valley, is reached. For 
 several centuries past, Europeans have called the 
 gate by the name of St Stephen, because a tradition, 
 not older than the fourteenth century, states that he 
 was stoned on a bare rock which is pointed out by 
 the road-side not far from the above-mentioned 
 church. In crusading times the gate that stood 
 where the Bib el AsbUt now is, was called " the Gate 
 of Jehoshaphat," from the valley that runs past it ; 
 whilst amongst the modern German-speaking Jews, 
 
LEGENDS AND ANECDOTES 95 
 
 it is known as " das Loewenthor," from the pair of 
 roughly carved lions built into the city-waU on either 
 side of the entrance. 
 
 Now, as it is a rare thing to j5nd " the likeness of 
 anything in heaven or earth " in the ornamentation 
 of Mohammedan buildings, though here and there 
 (as in the case of the very interesting thirteenth 
 century bridge at Lydda), such representations are 
 met with, one nattu-ally looks for some tradition to 
 explain the imusual ornament. In the case of the 
 Bab el Asb^t the story has been preserved in current 
 folk-lore, and is as foUows : — 
 
 Sultan Selim ^ dreamed a dream in which he 
 imagined he was being torn in pieces by four Kons. 
 Awaking in terror, he sent at once for all the learned 
 to interpret his vision. But they could not. He 
 then had recourse to a famous sheykh who dwelt at 
 a distance. This sage, being informed of the matter, 
 asked to know what the Sultan had been thinking 
 about before he slept on the night in question. " I 
 was thinking how to punish the people of Jerusalem," 
 was the reply. " They have refused to pay their 
 taxes, and are quite unmanageable." " Ah ! " said 
 the sheykh, " AUah has sent the dream in order to 
 prevent yom* Majesty from committing a great sin. 
 El Kuds is the House of the Sanctuary, the city of 
 the saints and prophets. So holy is it that according 
 to the learned it was founded by the Angel Asrafil, at 
 
 * Sultan Selim conquered Palestine in a.d. 1527, and planned that 
 thorough restoration of the walls of Jerusalem which was carried 
 out by his son and successor, Suleyman, surnamed the Magnificent, 
 who, on the extant inscriptions, is styled : " King of the Arabs, the 
 Persians, and the Rum (Romans, i.e. Byzantines)." 
 
96 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 Allah's command, built by his assistant angels, and 
 then visited by them in pilgrimage fully two thousand 
 years before the creation of our Father Adam, who 
 was buried there. Ibrahim el Klialil, En Nebi Daud, 
 and many other prophets and saints lived and died 
 there ; therefore Allah Himself loves the place 
 and will punish all who hate it and would do 
 it an injury. I advise thee, O Monarch of the Age, 
 to put in hand some work that may improve the 
 city." 
 
 Struck by these words, the Sultan set out 
 shortly on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem ; and in 
 the course of his stay there gave orders for the 
 restoration of the Haram, and the rebuilding of the 
 walls. 
 
 The work on the walls was entrusted to the super- 
 intendence of two brothers, who were architects. 
 Each of them had his own party of workmen, and 
 his sphere of labour. They both began at Bkh el 
 AsbS,t, one party working northwards and the other 
 southwards. It took seven years ^ to complete the 
 task. At the expiration of that time both working 
 parties met again at B^b el IQialil. Tlie architect 
 who had been given the duty of enclosing the southern 
 part of the city was however beheaded by the Sultan's 
 orders, because he had left the Coenaculum and 
 adjoining buildings outside and unprotected by the 
 new rampart. The Hons at the B4b el Asb^t were 
 
 1 This statement that it took seven years is an orientalism. 
 According to the inscriptions still to be seen, the work was begun 
 A.D. 1636 on the north side of the city, and finished on the south side 
 A.D. 1539. 
 
LEGENDS AND ANECDOTES 97 
 
 placed there in order to recall the incident that led 
 to the great work. 
 
 The foregoing is not the only legend connected with 
 B&.b el Asbflt. Just inside the city, a few yards 
 from the gateway and between it and the historic 
 Church and Abbey of St Anne, there stood, till the 
 summer of 1906, an interesting old Saracenic bath- 
 house, which has been puUed down in order to make 
 room for a new building. The following legend used 
 to be told concerning it : — 
 
 When Belkis, Queen of Sheba, visited Jerusalem, 
 King Suleyman, enchanted by her loveUness, wished 
 to marry her ; but a mischief-maker told him that 
 the queen was not human, but a jinniyeh, having 
 legs and hoofs hke a donkey. The king ordered his 
 informant, a jealous woman, ^ to hold her tongue on 
 pain of death. But the charge rankled in his mind, 
 and he determined to see for himself that it was 
 untrue. So he caused the J4n to buUd a spacious 
 haU, whose floor was one huge pane of transparent 
 crystal, through which could be seen a stream of 
 running water with fish swimming about in it. At 
 one end he placed his own throne, and beside it that 
 of Belkis, which was made of the precious metals, 
 encrusted with the costhest jewels. On leaving her 
 own land the queen, who valued this throne as her 
 greatest treasure, had it locked up inside the inner- 
 
 ' Some of the learned say it was a jinni who came to Suleyman with 
 this tale ahout Belkis. The Jan feared lest the royal lady, whose 
 mother had been a jinniyeh, should be converted from idolatry to El 
 Islam and, on her marriage with the king, blab certain secrets of might 
 to keep them (the Jan) for ever in the servitude to which El Hakim 
 had reduced them. 
 G 
 
98 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 most of seven chambers, in the most inaccessible of her 
 castles, with guards at the gates day and night, to 
 prevent any one from getting near it. But aU these 
 precautions were vain, for Suleym4n, wishing one 
 day to convince her of the power of the name of Allah, 
 by invoking that name, had the throne transported 
 to Jerusalem in less time than it takes to relate.^ 
 
 When aU was ready he sent for the queen to 
 come and see his fine new building. On entering 
 she was surprised to behold the king upon a throne 
 which seemed to be set, Uke that of Allah, on the 
 face of the waters. In order to get to her own 
 throne, at his side, she perceived that she would have 
 to wade, so she hfted up her skirts, exposing her feet 
 and legs almost up to the knees. The next moment 
 showed her mistake, but, as shoes and stockings were 
 unknown in those days, Suleym^n had seen that her 
 feet were human feet, but yet her legs were covered 
 with shaggy hair, Hke a young donkey's. Having 
 converted her to the true rehgion, Sule3rm4n called 
 together all the learned for counsel how to remove 
 that extraordinary growth of hair. " Let her 
 shave," was the unanimous suggestion. " No ! " 
 roared Suleyman in anger, " she might cut herself, 
 and the hair would only grow again." He drove the 
 learned forth, and convoked the J^n, who either 
 could not or would not help him. In despair, he 
 finally asked help from real devils, who told him to 
 build the above-mentioned bath-house for the queen's 
 use, and also taught him how to concoct a depilatory, 
 
 ' He did this, of course, before her conversion. It is a sin to play 
 tricks upon a woman who is a true believer. 
 
LEGENDS AND ANECDOTES 99 
 
 by the use of which her Hmbs quickly became as 
 smooth, white, and comely as if they had been of 
 cast silver. " Ever since that time," says a famous, 
 learned, and veracious Arab liistorian,^ " people hav§ 
 used bathing and depilatories, and it is said that the 
 bath-house is the same that is situated at the Bab 
 el Asb^t, close to the Medresset es Salahiyeh,^ and 
 that it is the first bath-house ever built," 
 
 DETECTIVE STOEIES 
 
 In the early part of the eighteenth century the 
 learned Rabbinnical writer Kolonimos was head of 
 the small, and greatly oppressed Jewish community 
 at Jerusalem. 
 
 One Sabbath day, the Rabbi was at his devotions 
 at the Jews' Waihng-place, when the " Shamash " 
 or verger of the Synagogue came, breathless with 
 haste and fear, to tell him that the town was in an 
 uproar, and that the Mohammedans were threatening 
 to exterminate the Jews, because a Moslem boy had 
 been found slain in the Jewish Quarter. He had not 
 finished his tale when a party of Moslems came up and 
 began to beat the Rabbi, dragging him off towards 
 the serai. The Pasha, at sight of him, pointed to 
 the body of the murdered lad, which had also been 
 brought before him, and sternly told the Rabbi that 
 
 1 Mejr-ed-din. " Uns El Jelil," vol. i. p. 125. 
 
 2 Now St Anne's Church. 
 
100 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 unless he could produce the actual murderer, aU the 
 Jews would be massacred. 
 
 The Rabbi said he could detect the guilty party, 
 if pen and paper, together with a bowl of water were 
 given to him. When this had been done, the Rabbi 
 wrote on the paper the tetra-grammaton, or un- 
 pronoimceable name of the Most High, together with 
 certain passages from Scripture, and from Kabba- 
 Kstic writings. He then washed the document in the 
 water,^ repeating certain magic formulae aU the time. 
 The next thing he did was to apply the wet paper to 
 the dead lad's lips and forehead, the result being that 
 the murdered boy immediately sat up, and, after 
 gazing about him for a moment, sprang to his feet, 
 seized one of the by-standers by the throat, and 
 exclaimed, " This man, and no other, is guilty of my 
 blood." Then he sank to the floor, a corpse as before. 
 The man, thus charged with the crime, a Moham- 
 medan, confessed and was led away to punishment. 
 
 The Rabbi was at once released ; but remembering 
 how by writing and using magical arts he had not 
 only profaned the Sabbath but also been guilty of a 
 heinous sin, even though compelled thereto for the 
 preservation of his flock, he spent the rest of his days 
 doing penance. Nor was that enough. On his 
 death-bed, he gave orders that he should not be 
 buried honourably, but that his friends should take 
 his body to the brow of the hill over-looking the 
 Kedron, just opposite the traditional monument of 
 Zechariah the prophet, and throw it down in the same 
 
 ' For a 903iewhat similar ceremony in the Mosaic ritual see Numb 
 V. 23. 
 
LEGENDS AND ANECDOTES 101 
 
 way that the carcases of horses and asses are to this 
 day cast down the same slope. Where it stopped 
 rolKng, there it might be buried ; but no monument 
 must be erected over the grave, and, for a century 
 after his death, every Jew passing the spot must 
 cast a stone on it, as was the custom in the case of 
 malefactors. His friends carried out his instructions 
 till the body was buried, but could not bear to leave 
 his grave without some memorial. They therefore 
 placed a great stone upon it, but the very next 
 morning it was found broken and the same thing 
 happened every time it was replaced. They saw 
 that he would not be disobeyed. It thus became 
 customary, as Kolonimos had desired that it should, 
 for Jewish passers-by to cast a stone upon his 
 grave ; and also to repeat prayers there. 
 
 A few years ago an acquaintance of my own 
 happened to be at the house of one of the principal 
 Rabbis in Jerusalem, when a Mohammedan of very 
 good repute came to ask the Rabbifor advice and help. 
 He told how a certain Jew, whom he named, had 
 come to his place of business an hour or so previously, 
 when he was alone, for a few minutes. Soon after- 
 wards he had missed a valuable ring that was Ij^g 
 on the desk in front of him when the Jew entered. 
 No one had been in since. He could produce neither 
 proof nor witness against the Jew in question, but 
 felt sure he had taken the ring. Having questioned 
 the Moslem straitly, the Rabbi saw that he spoke 
 truth, and bade him wait while he sent for the 
 culprit. The Jew came without knowing why he 
 had been sent for. Before he had time to utter a 
 
102 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 word of salutation, the Rabbi addressed him in 
 Hebrew, in tones of excited pleading, '° I beg you, for 
 the sake of all that is Holy, to deny that you know 
 anything about the ring which this Gentile accuses 
 you of having stolen ! " " That," said the rascal, 
 quite thrown off his guard, " that is exactly what I 
 meant to do." " Very well," said the Rabbi sternly, 
 " as you have virtually confessed before all these 
 witnesses that you have the ring, hand it over to its 
 owner immediately, and be thankful if he takes no 
 steps to have you pimished." The thief gave back 
 the ring, and went unpunished. 
 
 During the Egyptian occupation of Palestine 
 between 1831 and 1840, Ibrahim Pasha, governor of 
 the country, happened to be at Jaffa, when a certain 
 goldsmith came to him, complaining his shop had 
 been burgled in the night, and demanding justice 
 in a high tone . " While we were under the shadow 
 of the Sxiltan," he said, " I never lost a thing. But 
 now, with you Egyptians who talk so much about 
 good government, in the first month I lose half my 
 substance. It is a shame to you and a great loss to 
 me ; and I think that you owe me compensation, for 
 your own honour." 
 
 " Very weU, I take the responsibiUty," said 
 Ibrahim in some amusement. He then sent a crier 
 through the streets calhng upon all who loved strange 
 sights to be at the goldsmith's shop at a certain hour 
 next day, with the result that when that hour 
 arrived, the street in front of the shop was packed 
 with people. Then Ibrahim appeared, attended by 
 
LEGENDS AND ANECDOTES 103 
 
 his officers and the pubUc executioner. He first 
 harangued the people on the virtue of trustworthi- 
 ness, saying that the Egyptian Government was 
 determined to administer the strictest justice, and 
 to punish, without partiality, the slightest breach 
 of trust, even though committed by a senseless and 
 inanimate object. Then, turning to the door of the 
 shop : " Even this door," he said, " shall be punished 
 for failing in its duty, which is to keep out thieves, 
 unless it tell me who it was that passed it the night 
 before last, and stole things out of the shop." The 
 door giving no answer, he bade the executioner, 
 administer one hundred lashes with his kurb^j .^ 
 
 When the punishment was ended, he again ex- 
 horted the door to speak, saying that, if it feared to 
 utter the name aloud, it could whisper in his ear. 
 He gave his ear to the door, as one listening, then 
 sprang erect and laughed in scorn : " This door talks 
 nonsense. Executioner, another hundred lashes ! " 
 
 After this second beating, he listened again to hear 
 what the door had to say, while the people mm-mured 
 and shrugged shoulders one to another, thinking him 
 mad. 
 
 " The same stupid tale ! " he cried despairingly. 
 " It will persist in teUing me that the thief is present 
 in this crowd of honest people, and stiU has some 
 dust and cobwebs from the shop on his tarbush." 
 At that a man was noticed hurriedly to brush his 
 fez, and the Pasha, on the watch for some such 
 action, had him arrested. He proved to be the guilty 
 party, and was punished. 
 
 1 A whip of hippopotamus-hide. 
 
104 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 Another story of the kind is told of Ibrahim Pasha. 
 They say that, while in Jerusalem, he encouraged the 
 feUahin of the country to bring their produce to the 
 city, assuring them that his soldiers would be 
 punished if they hurt them or took anything from 
 them without payment. One day, a woman from 
 Silwin, with a basket of jars filled with leben,i came 
 and complained of a soldier having seized one of her 
 jars and drunk off the contents without so much as 
 " By your leave," Ibrahim asked her when this had 
 happened, and if she thought she could identify the 
 soldier. She replied that it had happened just 
 this minute, and she would know the man again 
 among ten thousand. 
 
 "We shall see," said Ibrahim, and called his 
 trumpeter. Soon every soldier in the city was on 
 parade before the castle; and the Pasha led the 
 woman down the ranks, asking her to pick out the 
 offender. She pointed to a certain man and stopped 
 before him. Ibrahim asked if she was svire it was 
 the culprit, and she swore by AUah she was not 
 mistaken. Three times he put the question, and 
 she replied that she was quite sure. Then he drew 
 his sword, and, with a deft stroke, cut the soldier 
 open, releasing the leben, still undigested. " It is 
 lucky for you, you were right," he remarked to the 
 woman, " or your fate would have been far worse 
 than this soldier's." 
 
 ' Curds, or else buttermilk. 
 
LEGENDS AND ANECDOTES 105 
 VI 
 
 SCRAPS OF UNWRITTEN HISTORY 
 
 About a quarter of a mile below the " Bir Ayub " 
 near Jerusalem, on the right hand side as one goes 
 down the valley, there is a recess in the bank which, 
 if noticed in dry weather, might be taken for a gravel 
 pit. Here, however, in the rainy season water comes 
 to the surface in considerable quantities. The place 
 is called " 'Ain el Lozeh," or the Almond Fountain. 
 Many years ago Sir Charles Warren was told by a 
 peasant that, according to tradition, there was a 
 subterranean passage here approached by a stairway 
 cut in the rock, whose lowest steps were of precious 
 metal, and that the staircase and tunnel had been 
 closed by order of the Egyptian Government, because 
 the Egyptian soldiers had often hidden in the tunnel 
 to waylay women who descended in order to fetch 
 water.^ 
 
 From 'Ain el Lozeh a pathway runs up the hill- 
 side towards the ruins of the village of Beit Sahur, 
 the inhabitants of which fled one night, about eighty 
 years ago, in order to escape the conscription. Since 
 then their descendants have hved as Bedu in the 
 wilderness on the western shores of the Dead Sea. 
 
 ' This is indeed not the exact tradition as related by Sir Charles 
 Warren, but it is wbat the fellahin told J. E. Hanauer, and the latter, 
 who was at the time interpreter on Sir C. Warren's staff, related to 
 him. For a description of the wonderful tunnel which Sir Charles 
 discovered at 'Ain el Lozeh, see " The Recovery of Jerusalem," p. 
 257 ff. 
 
106 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 On the opposite side of the valley, and on the 
 declivity of its northern bank, is a ruin which, 
 though unmistakeably that of a cistern, is called 
 by the peasantry a monastery, " Deyr es Sinneh." 
 Close by, traces of a village and old baths were dis- 
 covered a few years ago ; and some curious stories 
 are related respecting the ancient inhabitants of the 
 convent and village who figure under the ethnic name 
 of " Es-Sanawineh." They are said to have been 
 such stupid people that AUah was obliged to destroy 
 them. They never cooked food properly, but hung 
 it in a pot from a hole shown in the roof of the cistern 
 above-mentioned, about twenty feet above the fire. 
 After burning any quantity of fuel, it was raw. 
 Their rehgion was a worship of the heavenly bodies, 
 of which they knew so Httle that one night, when the 
 moon was late in rising, they thought the men of 
 Abu Dis, a neighbouring village, had stolen it, and 
 went out against them, armed to the teeth. 
 
 From the top of the hill, which is between the two 
 villages, they saw the moon rise, whereupon they 
 shouted and danced in triumph, sajdng one to 
 another : " Those rascals had heard we were coming 
 and have let go our moon." 
 
 Whenever they were in difiiculties or perplexed as 
 to the course of action they should pursue, they were 
 accustomed, instead of asking the advice of other 
 people, to observe the actions of animals and take 
 hints from them. " All other men but ourselves," 
 said they, " are wicked, and therefore fooUsh, for 
 which reason they cannot instruct us. The birds 
 and beasts, however, are many of them innocent and 
 
LEGENDS AND ANECDOTES 107 
 
 wise, and so we may learn from them." So it 
 happened one day, that some of them wanted to 
 carry a long beam of wood into a chamber where 
 they wished to put up an oil-press. Try as they 
 would, they could not get it in because they carried 
 it stretching across the entrance instead of taking it 
 through endwise. Being greatly troubled, they 
 sent twelve men in different directions to try to get 
 some hint from the methods used by animals. The 
 messengers returned after seven days, but only one 
 had found a solution of the problem. This he got 
 from having noticed a sparrow draw a long straw 
 endways into a hole in which it was building its 
 nest. As a reward for this discovery the man was 
 made sheykh of the community. 
 
 Because they would not use the common-sense 
 which Allah has given to the sons of Adam that 
 they may excel other creatures in wisdom. He 
 decreed that they should all die childless with 
 the exception of one family, possibly that of the 
 aforesaid sheykh, whose descendants still hve at 
 Bethany. And even on them there rests a curse, 
 for they never have more than one son to repre- 
 sent them. 
 
 In the chff that towers above the railroad on the 
 northern side of the savage Wady Isma'in just east 
 of 'Artuf, is a large cave which bears evident traces 
 of having once served as an abode for ascetics. It 
 
108 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 has, for some years past, been called " Samson's 
 Cave," from the supposition that it was here that the 
 Danite champion found shelter after the exploit of 
 the foxes and the following slaughter. A Kttle 
 further east are several smaller caves which also 
 appear to have been used as hermitages, and are 
 known by the name of " 'Alali el Ben&t," or the 
 " Upper Chambers of the Maidens." ^ 
 
 The fellahin of the neighbouring village of 'Akur 
 say that in the times of the Infidels these caves, 
 too high up to be reached unless by ropes and ladders, 
 were full of beautiful girls who, having vowed to 
 keep single, had retired hither to be out of the 
 way of temptation. The necessaries of hfe were 
 lowered to them day after day by ropes from the top 
 of the chff, and their seclusion appeared of the 
 strictest. After some years, however, children were 
 seen rimning from one cave to another, and it was 
 found that the girls had lowered a rope into the 
 valley and brought up a handsome hunter, whom 
 they had espied from their eyrie. They are said to 
 have been starved to death for their hypocrisy. 
 
 High up on the southern side of the Wad er 
 Rababeh, the traditional Valley of Hinnom, just 
 where it opens into the Kedron Valley, there is the 
 
 1 The following legend may be assigned to the period between 312 
 and 614 a.d. when the Holy Land was covered with convents and 
 hermitages, and swarmed with recluses of both sexes. 
 
LEGENDS AND ANECDOTES 109 
 
 Greek Convent of St Onuphrius, erected in recent 
 years over a number of rock-cut sepulchres containing 
 many human bones. 
 
 Amongst the peasantry of Silw^n there exists a 
 very ciu-ious tradition that the human remains in 
 the above-mentioned sepulchres are those of Christian 
 hermits massacred during the persecution carried on 
 by the insane Fatemite Khallfeh El H4kim bi amr 
 lUah, whom to this day the Druzes worship as a god, 
 and who, in the fifteenth year of his reign (a.d. 1010), 
 compelled his Christian secretary, Ibn Khaterin, to 
 write the following fatal order to the Governor of 
 Jerusalem : " The Im4m commands you to destroy 
 the Temple of the Resurrection, so that its heaven 
 may become its earth, and its length may become its 
 breadth." The order was only too hterally executed, 
 and Ibn Khaterin, in his grief and despair, because he 
 had been forced to write this sentence, " smote his 
 head on the ground, broke the joints of his fingers, 
 and died in a few days."^ 
 
 The caves in Wad er Rababeh were at that time 
 the abode of a population of monks and holy men 
 who spent their time in fasting and prayer. Now 
 it happened that El H^kim needed money, so sent 
 orders to the Mutesarrif of Jerusalem to make 
 everybody pay a tax. The Mutesarrif and his 
 Council wrote back to say that it was impossible 
 to do that, since there were large numbers of poor 
 religious men in the land, who, though Christians, Hved 
 hke dervishes in bare caves, and had no means where- 
 with to pay a tax, however small. On receiving this 
 
 1 Renandot, quoted in footnote to Williams' '• Holy City," p. 349. 
 
110 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 news the Caliph bade his secretary write : " Number 
 the men." 
 
 Whether the secretary was careless in his writing 
 and placed a dot over the second letter of the first 
 word ; or whether El Hakim in his wickedness took 
 the order which his scribe had written and himseU 
 put in the dot, Allah alone knows, but when the 
 order reached Jerusalem the dot was there, and the 
 order read, not " Number," but " Mutilate the men."i 
 
 This cruelty was UteraUy carried out, and its 
 victims died in consequence, and were buried where 
 they had lived. The human bones now found in 
 the caves in the Wad er Rab4beh are theirs. 
 
 On a hiU-side in GUead is situated the village of 
 Remamin, inhabited chiefly by native Christians, 
 who account for their preservation in this remote 
 region, during the centuries that have elapsed since 
 the Crusaders, by the following romantic story : — 
 
 When the Crusaders first occupied Palestine there 
 were beyond the Jordan a great many Christians 
 dispersed in various old towns and villages, and 
 suffering daily martyrdom from the Moslems. Many 
 of these migrated westwards with their families and 
 their cattle, gladly exchanging the wooded mountains, 
 fertile pastures and rich vineyards of the country 
 east of Jordan for the less fruitful western districts 
 and a Christian government. Some, however, chose 
 
 ' Akhsa er-rijal instead of Ahsa er-rij&l, the difference in the Arabic 
 being of a dot only. — Ed. 
 
LEGENDS AND ANECDOTES 111 
 
 to remain, amongst them a man renowned for his 
 integrity, who, when the Bedu entered into possession 
 of the cultivated lands deserted by the emigrants, 
 consented to become the " wakil " or overseer of 
 those which fell to the lot of a great Arab sheykh 
 whose own followers scorned to till the lands ; and 
 who was therefore glad to secure the services of a 
 person competent to overlook the work of his slaves, 
 and such refugees of the feUahin across the Jordan 
 as had fled to his protection. 
 
 The arrangement worked weU till, on an evil day, 
 the chieftain quarrelled with the young wife he had 
 lately married, who was the daughter of an emir 
 of some distant tribe. As her father's tents were 
 far away, she fled to the dwelling of the Christian, 
 and continued there with his family, tiU reconciled 
 with her husband. 
 
 For a time things went smoothly between the 
 couple. Then a fresh quarrel arose, and the 
 sheykh said sneeringly to his wife, " Go ! again and 
 ask for shelter in the kennel of that Christian dog." 
 " He is no dog," retorted the woman, " but a man 
 of stock, though a Christian. If any one is a dog, 
 it is you ; " and to these words she added expressions 
 such as can only fall from the lips of an angry woman. 
 Stung to fury by her bitter tongue, the chieftain 
 resolved to avenge himself upon the Christian. He 
 therefore moimted his mare and galloped to the 
 abode of the latter, who received him with all 
 courtesy and entertained him. Taking leave at 
 length, he moimted his mare, the Christain holding 
 the stirrup. As soon as he was in the saddle, the 
 
112 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 Bedawi suddenly drew a dagger from his girdle, 
 drove it up to the hilt between the shoulders of the 
 stooping Christian, who fell to the ground. The wife 
 and three little sons of the murdered man beheld the 
 deed. The sheykh then galloped off. 
 
 The Christian woman thus suddenly widowed ran 
 to help her husband ; to find him dead. She drew 
 out the dagger, which had been left in the wound, 
 and there and then made her children swear upon it, 
 that if AUah spared them to grow to manhood they 
 would punish the assassin with his own weapon. 
 
 As soon as the mm-dered man had been buried, his 
 widow packed up her belongings and, accompanied 
 by one or two Christian neighbours whom her late 
 husband had dissuaded from migrating west of the 
 Jordan, went to Uve at Nazareth, where she had 
 relatives. 
 
 Years passed. The three little boys had become 
 men when, one day, their mother told them that it 
 was the anniversary of their father's death, recalled 
 to them once more every circumstance of the murder 
 and, placing the dagger in the hands of the first- 
 born, bade all three go and avenge their father's 
 death, as they had sworn to do beside his lifeless 
 body. 
 
 That night, fully armed and well-mounted, they 
 rode noiselessly away, having taken the precaution 
 of tjdng several folds of " lubb^d," or thick felt, 
 round their horses' hoofs. Travelhng by out-of-the- 
 way routes during the hours of darkness, and hiding, 
 when daylight approached, in some cavern, it took 
 them three days to reach the neighbourhood of the 
 
LEGENDS AND ANECDOTES 113 
 
 upland plain where, as they had heard at Nazareth, 
 their enemy was encamped. 
 
 Their first care was to find some place of shelter for 
 their animals to ensm-e their having an undisturbed 
 rest before the return jom-ney. Such a place having 
 been found, they lay there concealed until the sim 
 had sometime set, and they had reason to think that 
 the encamped Bedu were asleep. The three pre- 
 ceding days and nights had been intensely hot, but 
 now a refreshing west-wind, bringing dew-clouds, 
 had come up. Having left their steeds ready-saddled 
 for immediate flight, the avengers of blood drew near 
 the Arab camp. It was buried in silence and dark- 
 ness, the very dogs being asleep, not a sound to be 
 heard. 
 
 Approaching, two crouched down behind a boulder, 
 while the eldest, armed with the dagger, crept in 
 among the tents. The sheykh's was easily found. 
 His spear, the tip adorned with a bunch of ostrich 
 feathers, was planted in the ground before the 
 entrance, and the owner's priceless mare was tethered 
 close by. Loosening one of the tent-pegs, the young 
 man lifted the curtain, and crawled beneath it 
 into the tent. There lay his father's murderer, 
 now an aged man with a long white beard, asleep 
 on the ground before him. Beside the chief lay his 
 wife and children, aU fast asleep. By the faint Kght 
 of stars shining in through interstices of the tent- 
 curtains, the visitor perused the old assassin's 
 features. Having made sure that it was indeed the 
 murderer he raised the dagger in act to strike. But 
 at that moment, weakness came upon him. He 
 
114 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 could not kill thus, in cold blood, an old man lying 
 unconscious. That would be murder. With a 
 prayer to the saints that he might meet his foe, face 
 to face, and so punish him openly, he sheathed the 
 dagger and crawled back to the spot where his 
 brothers waited. 
 
 Having heard his tale the second took the dagger, 
 and crept forward into the camp ; to return in due 
 course with the same story. The youngest then 
 advanced. He also entered the enemy's tent, and 
 found him sleeping, but could not resolve to kill 
 him on the spot. He therefore crept out of the tent 
 again, and went up to the mare. With the foeman's 
 dagger, he cut off her beautiful mane and the long 
 locks of hair hanging forward between her ears. He 
 then cut all the hair off her sweeping tail, and, 
 wrapping the dagger in the horse-hair, re-entered 
 the tent and laid the dagger on the chieftain's pillow. 
 
 Leaving the tent, he drew his own dagger, and cut 
 every other tent-rope, leaving just enough to keep 
 the structure from collapsing. Then, drawing the 
 spear out of the ground he carried it off, and, return- 
 ing to his brothers, told them that their father was 
 avenged. The three then returned to the place 
 where they had left their horses, and before daybreak 
 were beyond pursuit. Pressing on by day and night, 
 they reached their home in safety. 
 
 Great was the consternation in the Arab camp 
 when the terrible insult to the sheykh was discovered. 
 It was clear that the miscreants must be deadly 
 enemies, thus to disfigure the sheykh's mare, cut his 
 tent-ropes, and remove his lance. It was likewise 
 
LEGENDS AND ANECDOTES 115 
 
 evident that the chieftain's Hfe had been at their 
 mercy, but why had they refrained from slaying 
 him ? Lastly, what did this dagger wrapped in the 
 mare's mane and tail hairs signify ? The sheykh 
 himself did not recognise the weapon, nor indeed, 
 as it was passed from hand to hand, did anybody 
 else, tiU it reached the chief's younger brother, who, 
 after closely examining it, suggested that it was that 
 with which the Christian wakil had been killed years 
 ago at Remamln. Then the sheykh remembered, 
 and imderstood how he owed his hfe to the magnan- 
 imity of his deadhest enemies. 
 
 He had known remorse for the murder of their 
 father. Now he resolved to do what he could to get 
 the matter accommodated without its becoming a 
 regular blood-feud. 
 
 Accordingly, accompanied by the elders of the 
 tribe, he rode to Nazareth, and got a friend there to 
 act as intermediary. He paid a " diyeh " or com- 
 pensation-fine for the murder, and, what was more, 
 assured the family of the mm-dered man that, in case 
 they chose to return to their father's land at Remamin, 
 they, their descendants, and Christian neighbours, 
 should be allowed to hve there respected and un- 
 molested. His terms were accepted, and ever since 
 then there has been a Christian Community at 
 Remamin. 
 
 Some four centuries ago, when Sultan Selim took 
 Palestine, he set a garrison of Km-ds at Hebron,^ 
 
 1 This story was told me by the sheykh of the village of Dura, south 
 of Hebron. 
 
116 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 who used the proud inhabitants of the city with 
 great arrogance. The Arabs, disunited by the feud 
 between the Keys and Yemen factions, could not 
 oppose their tyranny. The Kurds became lords 
 of Hebron, and espousing neither party hectored 
 both. They buUt fine houses on the hill-side north 
 of the Haram, and planted orchards of foreign trees 
 till then unknown. Now, it is a custom in Palestine 
 for anyone passing along a road to pick fruit hanging 
 over an orchard wall without rebuke.^ But the 
 Kurds, if they caught a man gleaning from the skirts 
 of their plantations, would cut off both his hands. 
 They were hateful in aU their ways. At last, their 
 tyranny grew so unbearable that the two rival 
 factions were at one in the determination to have 
 done with it, only waiting an occasion for a general 
 rising. On an evening, of the feast of Bairam, the 
 Kurds and their Agha were drinking coffee in the 
 market-place, when the Agha suggested that they 
 should send for Budriyeh, the daughter of a notable 
 of the city, to make fun for them. The men 
 of Hebron flew to arms at this insult, which was 
 soon washed out in blood, for the Kurds were un- 
 prepared, having always regarded the townsmen as 
 unwarhke dogs. Most of them were killed. A 
 remnant, including the Agha, fled to Beyt Ummar, 
 Beyt Fejjar, and other villages. 
 
 They never came back in force to Hebron, but 
 their leader one day disguised himself as a woman 
 and presented himself at the door of the father 
 
 ' For the corresponding provision of the Mosaic law, see Deut. xxiii. 
 24, ff. 
 
LEGENDS AND ANECDOTES 117 
 
 of Budriyeh at nightfall. He called for the master 
 of the house, and, on the latter stepping out to 
 see what was wanted, struck him dead and 
 departed. 
 
 It was about the same time that the Kurds were 
 at Hebron that the now ruined castle close to 
 Solomon's Pools, and the aqueduct conveying water 
 from the said pools to the Haram at Jerusalem, were 
 constructed. The people of the village of Artass were 
 entrusted with the care of the pools and aqueduct, 
 and, as a recompense for this service, were exempted 
 by the Government from paying of taxes. In conse- 
 quence of these privileges the feUaWn of this place 
 grew rich, and their sheykh gained considerable 
 power in the district. So great grew his influence 
 that disputes amongst the peasants were frequently 
 submitted to his arbitration ; and in time he even 
 had a prison for offenders in the tower he had erected 
 in the viUage. Prosperity, however, begat pride and 
 arrogance in a generation or two, and the Artassites 
 became so insolent that their downfall could not be 
 averted. 
 
 At that time faction-fights between the people 
 of different villages were frequent. When a battle 
 was to take place, the warriors of the respective 
 parties used to go forth accompanied by their wives, 
 daughters or sisters, shouting their respective battle- 
 cries. When the fighting was in progress it was no 
 uncommon thing for a hero to crouch or stand behind 
 his female companion and fire at the enemy over her 
 shoulder or from between her feet, because he knew 
 that his fire would not be retxirned ; it being an 
 
118 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 understood thing that the persons of women were to 
 be respected. If a woman got killed it was by 
 accident. 
 
 Now, one day, the people of Idhna, a village west 
 of Hebron, but allied to the Artassites, having been 
 worsted in a fight and forced to retreat to their 
 village where they were besieged by their enemies, 
 sent some of their women to Artass to ask for succour. 
 The envoys reached the village safely, but instead of 
 hastening to the help of the men of Idhna, the men 
 of Artass insulted the women and sent them home 
 to their husbands. 
 
 Justly incensed the people of Idhna made peace 
 with their enemies, and waited for an opportunity 
 for avenging the dishonour done to them. Hearing 
 that on a certain day a great wedding was to take 
 place at Artass, they quietly mustered their forces and 
 suddenly fell upon the unprepared villagers at a 
 time when they were unarmed and disporting them- 
 selves in the gardens. Only a few escaped,^ and 
 with their famihes found refuge in the castle at the 
 Fools, where their descendants continued to live 
 till some fifty years ago, when, the country having 
 become more settled, they returned to the adjacent 
 valley of Artass, and built new dwellings amid the 
 ruins of the former village. 
 
 During the early part of the last century the Hebron 
 district was misruled by a petty despot named 
 Sheykh 'Abd-ur-Rahman, who committed the most 
 horrible crimes with impunity. "Hie following story 
 is told by the fellaMn to illustrate his character. 
 
 1 Of. 1 Maccabees ix. 37-42. 
 
LEGENDS AND ANECDOTES 119 
 
 " A certain poor fellah of Hebron had a handsome 
 wife desired of 'Abd-ur-Rahman. In order to attain 
 his object he so intimidated her husband that the 
 latter, to save his hfe, divorced her. The woman, 
 however, abhorred the tyrant, and absolutely refused 
 to assent to his proposals of marriage. At last, 
 being greatly pressed, she, in a fury, said before 
 witnesses that she would rather have a dog than him 
 for a husband. Now, according to Moslem law, a 
 man who has divorced his wife, cannot take her back 
 untU she has legally been married and divorced 
 again by some other man ; and in order to get out 
 of this difficulty husbands, who have divorced their 
 wives and regret having done so, get them married 
 to some person who is physically unfit for marriage, 
 but who, for payment, consents to go through a form 
 of marriage followed by divorce. Seeing therefore 
 that his suit was vain, and being fuU of rage, the 
 despot took the poor woman at her word, and, in 
 order to prevent her from ever going back to her 
 husband, he had a legal marriage-contract drawn 
 up between her and his greyhound Rishlin, and 
 signed by witnesses who had heard her imprudent 
 speech, and lacked courage to oppose his will. In 
 consequence of this high-handed procedure, the 
 woman was known tiU the day of her death as " the 
 wife of Rishin." 
 
120 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 VII 
 
 JUDGEMENTS OF KARAKASH 
 
 A WEAVER, closing his shop for the night, left a long 
 needle sticking in his work on the loom. A thief 
 got in with a false key, and, as he was stumbling 
 about in the dark, the needle put out one of his eyes. 
 He went out again, and locked the door behind him. 
 
 Next morning, he told his story to Karakash, the 
 impartial judge, who at once sent for the weaver, 
 and eyeing him sternly, asked : — 
 
 " Did you leave a packing-needle in the cloth on 
 your loom when you shut yom? shop last night ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Well, this poor thief has lost his eye through 
 your carelessness ; he was going to rob your shop ; he 
 stumbled, and the needle pierced his eye. Am I not 
 Karakash, the impartial judge ? This poor thief 
 has lost an eye through your fault ; so you shall 
 lose an eye in Hke manner." 
 
 " But, my lord," said the weaver, " he came to 
 rob me ; he had no right there." 
 
 " We are not concerned with what this robber 
 came to do, but with what he did. Was your shop- 
 door broken open or damaged this morning ; or was 
 anything missing ? " 
 
 " No." 
 
 " He has done you no harm then, and you do but 
 add insult to injury by throwing up his way of 
 
LEGENDS AND ANECDOTES 121 
 
 life against him. Justice demands that you lose 
 an eye." 
 
 The weaver offered money to the robber, to the 
 Kadi, but in vain ; the impartial judge would not be 
 moved. At last, a bright thought struck him, and 
 he said : "An eye for an eye is justice, my lord 
 the Kadi ; yet in this case it is not quite fair on me. 
 You are the impartial judge, and I submit to you 
 that I, being a married man with children, shall 
 suffer more damage in the loss of an eye than this 
 poor robber, who has no one dependent on him. How 
 could I go on weaving with but one eye ? But I have 
 a good neighbour, a gunsmith, who is a single man. 
 Let one of his eyes be put out. What does he want 
 with two eyes, for looking along gun-barrels ? " The 
 impartial judge, struck with the justice of these 
 arguments, sent for the gunsmith, and had his eye 
 put out. 
 
 A carpenter was fitting the doors and latbice-work 
 to a house newly built, when a stone over a window 
 fell and broke one of his legs. He complained to 
 Karakash, the impartial judge, who called the lord 
 of the house, and charged him with culpable negh- 
 gence. " It is not my fault, but the builder's," 
 pleaded the lord of the house ; so the builder was 
 sent for. 
 
 The builder said that it was not his fault, because 
 at the moment he was laying that particular stone 
 a girl passed by in a dress of so bright a red that he 
 could not see what he was doing. 
 
 The impartial judge caused search to be made for 
 
122 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 that girl. She was found, and brought before 
 him. 
 
 " O veiled one,"i he said, " the red dress which 
 you wore on such a day has cost this carpenter a 
 broken leg, and so you must pay the damages." 
 
 " It was not my fault, but the draper's," said the 
 girl. " Because when I went to buy stuff for a dress, 
 he had none but that particular bright red." 
 
 The draper was forthwith siunmoned. He said 
 it was not his fault, because the Enghsh manufacturer 
 had sent him only this bright red material, though 
 he had ordered others. 
 
 " What ! you dog ! " cried Karakash, " do you 
 deal with the heathen ? " and he ordered the draper 
 to be hanged from the Hntel of his own door. The 
 servants of justice took him and were going to hang 
 him, but he was a tail man and the door of his house 
 was low ; so they returned to the K^di, who in- 
 quired : " Is the dog dead ? " They rephed, " He is 
 tall, and the door of his house is very low. He will 
 not hang there." 
 
 " Then hang the first short man you can find," 
 said Karakash.2 
 
 1 Ya musturah. Respectable Moslem and Christian townswomen 
 always go about veiled. 
 
 2 A delightful compound of this and the foregoing story is given as 
 a reading exercise in " A manual of the Spoken Arabic of Egypt," by 
 J. S. Willmore. It is called " El Harami el MazMm" (The ill-treated 
 Robber), and the name of Karakash is omitted. It is the funnier 
 from being written in the kind of baby- Arabic spoken by the Egyptain 
 fellahin.— Ed. 
 
LEGENDS AND ANECDOTES 123 
 
 A certain rich old miser was subject to fainting 
 fits, which tantaUsed two nephews who desired 
 his death ; for, though constantly faUing down 
 lifeless, he always got up again. Unable to bear the 
 strain any longer, they took him in one of his fits 
 and prepared him for burial. 
 
 They called in the professional layer-out, who 
 took off the miser's clothes which, by ancient custom, 
 were his perquisite, bound up his jaws, performed 
 the usual ablutions upon the body, stuffed the 
 nostrils, ears and other apertures with cotton wool 
 against the entrance of demons, sprinkled the wool 
 with a mixture of water, pounded camphor, and 
 dried and pounded leaves of the lotus-tree,^ and also 
 with rose-water ; bound the feet together by a 
 bandage round the ankles, and disposed the hands 
 upon the breast. 
 
 All this took time, and before the operator had 
 quite finished, the miser revived ; but he was so 
 frightened at what was going on, that he fainted 
 again ; and his nephews were able to get the funeral 
 procession under way. 
 
 They had performed half the road to the cemetery 
 when the miser was again brought to life by the 
 jolting of the bier, caused by the constant change 
 of the bearers, who incessantly pressed forward 
 to relieve one another in the meritorious act of carry- 
 ing a true beUever to the grave. Lifting the loose 
 hd, he sat up, and roared for help. To his relief 
 he saw Karakash, the impartial judge, coming down 
 the path the procession was mounting, and appealed 
 
 1 Zizyphus spina Christi. 
 
124 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 to him by name. The judge at once stopped the 
 procession, and, confronting the nephews, asked : — 
 " Is yom* uncle dead or alive ? " " Quite dead, 
 my lord." He turned to the hired mourners, " Is 
 this corpse dead or aUve ? " " Quite dead, my lord," 
 came the answer from a hundred throats. " But 
 you can see for yourself that I am aUve ! " cried 
 the miser wildly. Karakash looked him sternly in 
 the eyes. " Allah forbid," said he, " that I should 
 allow the evidence of my poor senses, and your bare 
 word, to weigh against this crowd of witnesses. 
 Am I not the impartial judge ? Proceed with the 
 funeral ! " At this the old man once more fainted 
 away, and in that state was peacefully buried. 
 
 VIII 
 
 THE SARAGOSSAN PURIM 
 
 A FEW of the Jews resident at Jerusalem celebrate, 
 beside the usual JcAvish feasts of Passover, Pentecost, 
 Tabernacles, etc., a yearly anniversary which they 
 call " the Saragossan Purim," in order to commemo- 
 rate the deUverance of the Jews of Saragossa, the 
 capital of the former kingdom of Arragon, from a 
 great peril. The story of this escape, as recorded 
 in certain small parchment scrolls or MegiUoth 
 written in the style and evident imitation of the Roll 
 of Esther, is read in pubhc at each celebration. I 
 had heard of the custom a good many years ago, 
 but on February 13, 1906, having been informed 
 
LEGENDS AND ANECDOTES 125 
 
 that the festival had been held two days before, I 
 obtained the loan, through a friend, of a copy of the 
 roll. It was, of course, in Hebrew, and on parchment. 
 The narrative is, briefly, as follows : — 
 
 About the year 1420, in the reign of Alphonso V. 
 of Arragon, there were in the city of Saragossa 
 twelve handsome synagogues supported by as many 
 congregations of prosperous and influential Jews, 
 who were so well treated by the Government that, 
 whenever the king came to Saragossa, all the rabbis 
 went out in procession to honour him, each carrying, 
 in its case, the Roll of the Law belonging to his 
 synagogue. People objected that it was dishonour 
 for the Sacred Rolls to be carried out to flatter the 
 vanity of a Gentile ; and so the rabbis, possibly glad 
 of an excuse not to carry the heavy manuscripts, 
 got in the habit of leaving the scrolls at the syna- 
 gogues on such occasions, and going out with the 
 empty cases. 
 
 Now a certain Jew, named Marcus of Damascus, 
 turned Christian, and in his zeal as a new convert 
 became the deadly enemy of his own race. When 
 the king one day was praising the loyalty of his 
 Jewish subjects, this renegade, who was among the 
 courtiers, rephed that his majesty was being grossly 
 deceived. The loyalty of the Jews was a sham, he 
 averred, Kke their carrying empty cases before the 
 king when pretending to bear the roUs of their 
 respective synagogues. 
 
 At this the king was angered against the Jews, 
 but would not punish them until he had ascertained 
 the truth of the charge. He set out at once (Shebat 
 
126 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 17th) for Saragossa, with Marcus in his train ; and 
 the latter was in high spirits, thinking he had ruined 
 the Jews, But that night an aged man roused the 
 servant of each synagogue, and told him how the 
 king intended to surprise the rabbis. So when the 
 noise of the king's coming went abroad next morning, 
 and they went out to meet him as usual, they were not 
 imprepared. Alphonso did not return their greetings 
 but, frowning, ordered the cases to be opened. His 
 command was obeyed very cheerfully, and every 
 case was found to contain its scroll of the Pentateuch. 
 The king then turned his anger upon Marcus, who 
 was hanged from the nearest tree. 
 
 To commemorate this event the Jews of Saragossa 
 instituted an annual feast, observed even after 
 subsequent persecutions had driven them from 
 Spain, and still, as we have seen, celebrated by their 
 descendants on the 17th of Shebat. 
 
 IX 
 
 SULTAN MAHMUd's AUTOGRAPH 
 
 On the southern wall inside the great Mesjid El Aksa 
 at Jerusalem, which stands on the site of Justinian's 
 famous Chm-ch of St Mary, there hangs in a gilt 
 frame a specimen of ornamental Arabic caligraphy. 
 It is the well-known koranic text concerning 
 Mohammed's night- joiu-ney from Mecca to Jeru- 
 salem, and the guardians of the sanctuary state that it 
 was penned by Sultan Mahmud, father of Sultan Abd 
 
LEGENDS AND ANECDOTES 127 
 
 ul Mejid, and by him presented to this mosque. 
 Sultan Mahmud was an excellent writer, and hearing 
 people vaunt the penmanship of a certain scribe, he 
 invited him to a trial of skill. The specimens of 
 handwriting thus produced were submitted to various 
 experts of whom, all but one, being courtiers, decided 
 for the Sultan. But one of the judges managed, 
 without offence to the padishah, to be just to his 
 more skilful rival. On the latter's paper he wrote 
 " The handwriting of the best of scribes " ; on Mah- 
 mud's, "The handwriting of the best of sultans 
 and scribes." The sultan, struck with his upright- 
 ness, made him a splendid present, and sent the 
 text which he had written to the Mosque El Aksa. 
 
 X 
 
 THE RIGHT ANSWER 
 
 A CERTAIN sultan dreamt that all his teeth fell 
 suddenly out of his mouth ; and, awaking, was so 
 frightened he woke his servants and bade them 
 summon the Learned with all speed. 
 
 The sages, gathered in haste, heard the dream, and 
 afterwards kept silence, seeming much embarrassed. 
 
 But a yoimg man, fresh from school, stood forth 
 unbidden, and faUing at the sultan's feet, exclaimed : 
 " O sultan of the age ! The dream be to your 
 enemies, and the interpretation thereof to all that 
 hate you. It means that all your relatives wiU be 
 destroyed before your eyes in a single day." 
 
128 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 The sultan, ftirious, ordered the officious wretch 
 to be bastinadoed, thrown into prison, and fed on 
 bread and water for a year. Then, turning fiercely 
 on the trembhng herd of councillors, he stamped his 
 foot, repeating his demand of them. For a while 
 they trembled in silence. Then the sheykh of the 
 Learned ^ stepped forward, and raising his hands 
 and eyes to heaven exclaimed : " Praise be to Allah, 
 who has deigned to reveal to your Majesty the 
 blessing which He holds in store for all the nations 
 under your dominion ; for this is the interpretation 
 of that Heaven-sent dream ; that you are destined 
 to outUve aU your kindred." 
 
 The monarch filled the old man's mouth with 
 pearls, hung a gold chain round his neck, and put 
 on him a robe of honour. 
 
 1 Sheykh el' Ulema. 
 
NOTES 
 
 SECTION II 
 
 P. 79- Sdb el Khalll. — The western Gate of Jerusalem, is 
 called Bab el Khalil (the Gate of the Friend, i.e. Abraham), pro- 
 bably because it is that by which any one who is going to Hebron 
 (El Khalil) would leave the city. But an ornamental Arabic 
 inscription, just inside the sixteenth century gateway, remind- 
 ing the passer-by that " Ibrahim was the Friend of Allah," may 
 have given the name. This gate was at one time called " Bab 
 mihrab Daud " (Gate of the oratory of David), because of its 
 proximity to the traditional Tower of David mentioned in the 
 first section of this book. The present Zion Gate now called 
 by the natives "Bib en Nebi DaM" (Gate of the prophet 
 David) used then to be known as " The Gate of Zion," or " of 
 the Jews' Quarter." 
 
 P. 79. 'Isa ibn Maryam and El Messih ed-Dejjdl. — The minds 
 of Moslem theologians have been much exercised by the diffi- 
 cult task of reconciling these conflicting traditions with actual 
 topography, especially as another Apocalj'ptic statement repre- 
 sents the Dejjal as coming from the East, and being met and 
 slain on his reaching the banks of the Jordan, by 'Isa, who, with 
 his believing followers will leave El-Kuds to withstand him. 
 The Dejj&l, will come either from the 'Irak or from Khorassan, 
 accompanied by an army of 70,000 Jews, who, having acknow- 
 ledged him as the Messiah, son of David, hope to be restored 
 to their kingdom under his guidance. From Jerusalem 'Isa 
 will bring with him three stones which he will throw at the 
 fleeing impostor ; saying, with the first, " In the Name of the 
 God of Abraham " ; with the second, " In the Name of the God 
 of Isaac " ; and with the third, " In the Name of the God of 
 Jacob." His aim will be unerring and fatal. The Jews, dis- 
 comfited, will seek to hide themselves ; but their places of 
 concealment will be endued with miraculous power, the very 
 stones behind which they crouch crying out, " There is a Jew 
 behind me." As the Jordan is east, and Lydda west of 
 
130 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 Jerusalenij the difficulty of reconciling these statements is 
 obvious. 
 
 P. 82. Jeremiah's Grotto. — Jeremiah's Grotto is so called 
 from the belief that the book of " Lamentations " was com- 
 posed and written there ; while the sheer artificial precipice, 
 at the foot of which it opens, is identified by modern Jewish 
 legend as the " Beth-ha-Sekelah," or place of execution by 
 stoning, mentioned in the Mishna. From this circumstance 
 some have supposed that St Stephen was stoned here ; and also 
 that the top of the hillock, now occupied by a Moslem cemetery, 
 was Calvary. This is not the place to discuss such speculations. 
 The spot where the relics of the proto-martjn:, said to have been 
 discovered about a.d. 415, as the result of a vision vouchsafed 
 to Lucianus, a priest of Kaphar-Gamala — wherever that village 
 may have been — were buried with solemn rites, is shown in the 
 recently and totally rebuilt church just north of the hillock, 
 which stands on the site of that erected by the Empress Eudocia 
 and consecrated in a.d. 460. It was a remarkable fact which 
 can be proved by reference to pilgrim-writers, that at different 
 periods of the history of Jerusalem, various spots, north, south, 
 east, and west of the city, have been pointed out in connection 
 with the death and burial of St Stephen. 
 
 II 
 
 P. 83. Turhet Birket Mamilla. — The great Mohammedan 
 cemetery bearing this name is situated about half a mile west 
 of Jerusalem. Modern research has shown that in crusading 
 times and long before, it was a Christian burial-ground, the last 
 resting-place of the canons of the Church and Abbey of the 
 Holy Sepulchre. 1 It is remarkable for a large pool or birket 
 called by Christian tradition the upper Pool of Gihon, by 
 Jewish, Millo. In the cemetery itself, are the tombs of several 
 distinguished Moslems, and, as might be expected, some inter- 
 esting legends are connected with it. The oldest of these is 
 attached to a cave some distance west of the pool and called 
 the "Charnel-house of the Lion." Its story is as follows: — 
 
 Many hundreds of years ago their lived in Persia a great 
 king who was both an idolater and a magician. He dwelt in a 
 lofty tower in the topmost story of which was a temple where 
 he worshipped the heavenly bodies with unholy rites, such as 
 the sacrifice of new-born babes. In this temple might be seen 
 very curious machinery which caused images of the deities, that 
 
 1 See Professor Clermont Ganneau's " Archseological Researches," 
 vol. i. pp. 279-290. 
 
NOTES 131 
 
 the heathen supposed to rule the diflferent heavenly bodies, 
 such as Jupiter, Mars, and Venus, to move as if they were 
 endued with life. Now this monarch, whose name was Khosru, 
 was as ambitious as he was wicked. He sent a great army to 
 overrun the Holy Land, massacre the monks at Mar-Saba, and 
 then take Jerusalem. They slew every human being in the city, 
 and having destroyed all the churches and carried off everything 
 of value, including the true Cross which had been enclosed in a 
 strong chest and sealed up by the Patriarch of Jerusalem some 
 time before the arrival of the invaders, they returned to their 
 own country. The skulls of the recluses martyred at Mar- 
 Saba, are shown there to this day. The Persians were obliged 
 to leave Jerusalem, where they had slain 60,000 persons, because 
 of the stench arising from the vast number of unburied corpses. 
 As there was no one to inter the fallen, God inspired a lion 
 with pity for the remains of His servants slain by the 
 pagans ; and the wild beast not only drove off all others which 
 would have devoured the dead, but actually conveyed their 
 corpses, one by one, to this cavern which was originally very 
 deep, and had a hundred steps leading down into it, and laid 
 them there reverently, side by side.i Several hundred years 
 later St Mamilla erected a church on the spot, and there 
 prayers used to be said daily for the repose of the souls of the 
 martyrs buried in the cave. In connection with this story, it 
 may be worthy of notice that in several legends of Palestinian 
 saints, lions figure in a remarkable manner. Thus St Jerome 
 (died A.D. 410) is, in mediaeval art, very frequently represented 
 in the company of a lion whose wounded paw the saint had 
 healed in the desert of Chalcis, and who, in gratitude, became 
 Jerome's faithful servant and protector.^ In like manner, 
 visitors to the convent of Mar-Saba are shown the cave where 
 the founder of that monastery took up his abode with a lion, the 
 former tenant, and are gravely told that when the saint ex- 
 
 1 According to Williams' " Holy City," vol. i. p. 303, this legend 
 is first mentioned by Eugesippus about a.d. 1120, and is introduced 
 in order to account for the name by which the cavern was then 
 known, namely "Caverna" or " Spelunoa Leonis," as William of 
 Tyre writes when mentioning the adjacent pool. In a tract by an 
 earlier writer, supposed by Williams to have been Modestus, there is 
 a statement to the effect that the pious care of " a Nicodemus and a 
 Magdalen " provided for the decent sepulture of those slain by the 
 Persians. The name of the man is said to have been Thomas ; whilst 
 a third version of the legend makes out that the corpses were buried 
 by an aged woman and her female dog. Quite a different story is 
 that the bodies buried in this cave were those of the Holy Innocents. 
 
 2 See Prothero's " The Psalms in Human Life," p. 27. 
 
132 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 pressed his opinion that the place was too small to accommodate 
 two lodgerSj the king of beasts courteously took the hint, and 
 found a dwelling elsewhere ; while in the Chapel of St Mary 
 the Egyptian, close to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, 
 pilgrims admire a painting showing how a certain hermit, when 
 on his way to visit the saint, found her dead, and a lion engaged 
 in the pious task of burial. 
 
 P. 85. One kirdt. — "It is customary in the East to measure 
 everything by a standard of twenty-four kirats. The kir4t 
 literally means an inch, or the twenty-fourth part of the dra'a 
 or Arabic ell. The English expression " eighteen carats fine " 
 for gold, is a survival of this usage. It signifies that the metal 
 contains eighteen parts of gold in twenty-four of the alloy. 
 Everything in the East is supposed to be made up of twenty- 
 four kirits or carats. Thus a patient or his friends will ask a 
 physician how many kir&ts of hope there are in his case. A 
 man will say there are twenty-three kirfits of probability that 
 such an occurrence will take place. A company divides its 
 shares into kirats, etc. (See Dr Post on " Land Tenure, Agri- 
 culture, etc.," in the Pal. Exp. Q. Statement for 1891, p. 
 100, foot-note.) 
 
 Ill 
 
 P. 89. En Nebi Baud. — Although it is only since the twelfth 
 century that Jewish and Christian traditions 1 have located the 
 
 * The following is the well-known story first told by Rabbi 
 Benjamin ofTudela who visited Jerusalem soon after a.d. 1160 : " On 
 Mount Sion are the sepulchres of the house of David, and those of the 
 kings who reigned after him. In consequence of the following cir- 
 cumstance, however, this place is hardly to be recognised at present. 
 Fifteen years ago one of the walls of the place of worship on Mount 
 Sion fell down, which the Patriarch ordered the priest to repair. He 
 commanded to take stones from the orginal wall of Sion, and to 
 employ them for that purpose, which command was obeyed. Two 
 labourers, who were engaged in digging stones from the very founda- 
 tion of the walls of Sion, happened to meet with one which formed 
 the mouth of the cavern. They agreed to enter the cave and to search 
 for treasure ; and in pursuit of this object they penetrated to a large 
 hall, supported by pillars of marble, encrusted with gold and silver 
 before which stood a table with a golden sceptre and crown. This 
 was the sepulchre of David, king of Israel, to the left of which they 
 saw that of Solomon, and of all the kings of Judah who were buried 
 there. They further saw locked chests, and desired to enter the hall 
 to examine them, but a blast of wind, like a storm, issued forth from 
 the mouth of the cavern, and prostrated them almost lifeless on the 
 ground. They lay in this state until evening, when they heard a 
 voice commanding them to rise up and go forth from the place. They 
 
NOTES 133 
 
 tomb of David at the spot situated outside the Zion Gate and 
 known as the Coenaculum, or upper room where Christ instituted 
 the Lord's Supper ; it is only since a.d. 1560 that Mohammedans 
 have recognised it as such.i Though, indeed, in 1479, Tucher 
 of Nuremberg found a mosque installed in the lower part of the 
 building, which already contained what were shown as the 
 tombs of David and Solomon and other Jewish kings ; there is 
 evidence that the Moslems did not believe in the tradition, and 
 they probably had the mosque there, in the first place, to be on 
 terms of equality with the Christians, and in the next, because 
 of their belief in the Ccenaculum as the place where 'Isa ibn 
 Maryam "miraculously caused a table to descend from Heaven." ^ 
 As a matter of fact, we know, from the special statement of 
 Mejr ed din (a.d. 1495), that in his day Mohammedans believed 
 that both David and Solomon were buried near Gethsemane.^ 
 He indeed mentions the Coenaculum, but only as the " Church 
 of Zion."* The group of buildings connected therewith was 
 originally erected as a convent for the Franciscans, and this 
 order had its chief seat here from 1313 to 1561 a.d. They had 
 been expelled from it before the later date, but had succeeded 
 in regaining possession. The tradition concerning their final 
 expulsion, is as follows : — 
 
 In A.D. 1560, a wealthy and influential Jew from Constant- 
 inople came to Jerusalem, and begged to be allowed to pray at 
 the tomb of David. The request being indignantly refused by 
 the Latins, he vowed to be revenged, and accordingly, on his 
 return to Constantinople, he told the grand wazir that it was 
 very wrong to permit the tomb of one of the great prophets of 
 Islam to remain in the hands of infidels. As a result of his 
 representations, aided it is said by bribes, the Moslems were 
 persuaded that the tomb of David was where both Jews and 
 Christians agreed in stating it to be, and accordingly the 
 
 proceeded terror-stricken to the Patriarch, and informed him of what 
 had occurred. He summoned Rabbi Abraham el Constantini, a 
 pious ascetic, one of the mourners of the downfall of Jerusalem, and 
 caused the two labourers to repeat the occurrence in his presence. 
 Rabbi Abraham hereupon informed the Patriarch that they had dis- 
 covered the sepulchre of the house of David and of the kings of Judah. 
 The Patriarch ordered the place to be walled up, so as to hide it 
 effectually from every one to the present day. The above-mentioned 
 Rabbi Abraham told me all this." (See Williams' "Holy City," vol. 
 ii. pp. 509, 510.) 
 
 ^ Robinson's "Biblical Researches," vol. i. p. 242, etc. 
 
 ^ " Uns el Jelil," vol. i. p. 146. Cairo edition. 
 
 3 " Uns el Jelil," p. 105 and 131. 
 
 * "Uns el Jehl," p. 402, vol. ii. 
 
134 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 Franciscans were again expelled, and had to find new quarters. 
 Since that time, the place has been in Moslem hands. 
 
 IV 
 
 P. 94. Birlcet Israil. — This great pool, which twenty years 
 ago, before the discovery of the Double-pools at St Anne's was 
 made public, used to be pointed out as " the Pool of Bethesda" ; 
 is now being rapidly filled up with rubbish. 
 
 P. 95. Bridge at Lydda — This bridge at Lydda was built by the 
 same Emir of Ramleh who treacherously sent assassins to kill 
 the crusading Heir-Apparent of England, the same who 
 afterwards became Edward I. 
 
 V 
 
 P. 99. Detective stories. — A good many tales are current 
 respecting the means used by specially gifted persons for the 
 detection of criminals. Some of them remind one of the 
 Biblical Story of Solomon and the two mothers (1 Kings 
 iii. ; V. l6 to end) and also of the Apocryphal account of Daniel's 
 procedure in the " History of Susanna." 
 
 For two other and similar stories, versions of which are 
 current in this country, see Dr Thomson's " The Land and the 
 Book," edition of 1873, p. 153. 
 
 P. 100. " Writing and using magic arts" on the Sabbath. — 
 Rabbinnic ordinances permit one for the preservation of life, to 
 cook on the Sabbath, or even to eat pork ; but it is doubtful 
 whether writing or the practice of magic is permissible. 
 
 P. 101. Burial of Kolonimos. — It is no uncommon thing for 
 very pious Jews to give orders that after their death, and by 
 way of expiating sins committed during their lifetime, their 
 bodies should be ill-treated. Some even direct that the four 
 modes of capital punishment' ordered in the Law, viz., behead- 
 ing, strangling, burning, and stoning, should be executed on 
 their corpses. Others arrange that they are, after death, to 
 have the "malkoth " or public scourging with forty stripes save 
 one, inflicted upon them ; whilst others again, as in in the case 
 of a lately deceased Grand-Rabbi of Jerusalem, give orders 
 that their bodies shall be dragged along the path to their 
 graves. In the case just mentioned, the bier on which the 
 corpse was \jmg was so dragged for a short distance. 
 
 P. 101. Grave of Kolonimos. — It is said that the small cairn 
 now shown as the tomb of Kolonimos, was thus formed, and 
 that the last stone was thrown upon it during the early part of 
 the nineteenth century. It is in the bed of the Kedron, a 
 little south-west of the so-called tomb of Zechariah. 
 
 The above story may contain a historical kernel. Kolonimos 
 
NOTES 135 
 
 was a well-known person, and in his days very few people in 
 Palestine could either read or write. Those who possessed these 
 accomplishments exercised a tremendous influence over their 
 contemporaries^ knowledge in their case being indeed power 
 as is proved by the following fact preserved traditionally : — 
 
 During the Greek War of Independence (1821-1828), a 
 Tatar courier arrived one day from Constantinople bringing a 
 written order from the Sublime Porte to the Governor of 
 Jerusalem directing him to put to death at once the Greek 
 Orthodox Patriarch and several of his chief ecclesiastics. It 
 happened, however, fortunately for the condemned, that of all 
 the Government officials, from the Pasha downwards, the only 
 one who could read and write was an eifendi well-disposed to 
 the Christians. The letter from Stambul was therefore placed 
 in his hands to be deciphered. Having read it through, he 
 informed his colleagues that it referred to a totally different 
 matter. No one doubted his word, and the document was left 
 in his possession to be answered. As soon as he could do so 
 unobserved, he called on the Greek Patriarch and the other 
 clergy mentioned in the order, and, having demanded a private 
 interview, showed them the death-warrant, but promised to 
 keep its real import secret. This promise he kept loyally, and 
 the Orthodox Greek Community, out of gratitude for this great 
 service, accorded to his descendants the right which they still 
 enjoy, of being entertained as honoured guests not only at the 
 Greek convent at Jerusalem, but also in all other Orthodox 
 monasteries within the Patriarchate of Jerusalem. 
 
 Now if this was the condition of things less than a century 
 ago, it must have been even worse in the time of Kolonimos. 
 What really took place was probably something like this : 
 Whilst the rabbi was writing and muttering his hocus-pocus, he 
 was furtively scanning the faces of the spectators in order to 
 see whether there were any present who seemed particularly 
 interested in the matter or in the result of his action. 
 
 Noticing fear or anxiety depicted on the features of one of 
 them, he concluded that it was caused by an evil conscience, 
 and, having made up his own mind, he needed only to point to 
 the shrinking culprit in order to elicit the truth. Such methods 
 for surprising wrong-doers into confession of their guilt are in 
 vogue at the present day. 
 
 VI 
 
 P. 106. The people ofDeyr es Sinneh. — v. 128, Josephus, Antig. 
 XV. 10, 5 ; Wars, ii. 8, 6 ; Antig. xiii. 5, 9 ; xviii. 1, 5, 6 ; xvii. 
 13,3. 
 
136 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 The suggestive name and the tales told of the eccentric 
 people of Deyr es Sinneh are supposed to be reminiscences of 
 the once famous sect of the Essenes, of whom mention is often 
 made by Josephus, but of whom, as far as the writer is aware, 
 no actual traces have as yet been discovered, except those of 
 the cistern and baths above referred to. 
 
 P. 108. " The times of the infidels." — This is the way in which 
 the Moslem peasants usually refer to the period when Palestine 
 was under Christian rule. 
 
 P. 109. Tombs on the site of the present Greek convent of St 
 Onuphrius. — Ecclesiastical tradition says that these tombs and 
 the ruined mediaeval building close by which covers a deep 
 rock-hewn pit, mark the site of Aceldama. During the Middle 
 Ages the earth from the hill-terraces here used to be carried to 
 Europe by the ship-load to various cemeteries, such as the Campo 
 Santo at Pisa, because of the general belief that it possessed 
 the peculiar property of accelerating decomposition. It also 
 was endued with the strange gift of knowing the difference 
 between one nationality and another. Thus we are informed 
 that " By order of the Empress Helena, two hundred and 
 seventy ship-loads of it were translated to Rome and deposited 
 in the Camp Santo near the Vatican, where it was wont to 
 reject the bodies of the Romans and only consume those of 
 strangers." ^ 
 
 P. 110. Christians beyond Jordan in the time of the crusades. — 
 Baldwin I. tempted many of the Christians living beyond Jordan 
 to come and settle at Jerusalem. They were granted special 
 privileges and immunities, and in a.d. 1121, his successor passed 
 a free-trade measure remitting all customary dues on articles of 
 commerce. (Will Tyrensis, xii. xv. ; Williams' " Holy City," vol. 
 i. p. 404 and foot-note.) It has for centuries been customary for 
 criminals and outlaws to flee to the district east of the Jordan, 
 and take refuge there under the protection of some Bedawai 
 sheykh. The custom illustrates such episodes as the flight of 
 Jephthah (Judges xi. 2), and David's sojourn in Philistia (1 
 Sam. xxi. 10; xxvii., xxviii. 1, 2). 
 
 VII 
 
 P. 1 20. The judgements of Karakash. — The expression " This is 
 one of the judgements of Karakash," is usual among the natives 
 of Palestine, when a decision arrived at is hopelessly absurd, 
 though based strictly upon the evidence in the case. It is said 
 to have originated several hundred years ago during the ad- 
 
 1 Monroe, as quoted by Barclay, " City of the Great King," p. 
 208. 
 
NOTES 137 
 
 ministration of the Emir Beha-ed-din Karakash, or Karakush, 
 who lived during the latter part of the twelfth Christian 
 century, and was a faithful lieutenant of the great Saladin who 
 entrusted to him the construction of the new fortifications on 
 the Jebel el Mokattam at Cairo. The rock-hewn trench pro- 
 tecting the citadel there is said to have been dug by his orders. 
 He was also in chief command of the garrison at Acre when 
 that town was taken by Coeur de Leon, about 1192 a.d. He 
 was therefore a historical personage, and the judicial eccen- 
 tricities for which he is remembered, may have originated in 
 lampoons circulated by his enemies. (Bohaeddin's " Life of 
 Saladin," P.E.F., Col. Conder's translation, p. 107, foot-note, and 
 also pp. 202, 209, 238, 260, 269.) 
 
 P. 122. " Hang the first short man you can find." — In 1857, an 
 American subject was murdered at Jaifa. The United States' 
 Government sent a man-of-war, the crime was investigated, 
 and the supposed criminal hanged at the yard-arm of the vessel. 
 However, to this day the tradition is current at Jaffa that the 
 victim was not the real murderer, but a poor and almost 
 imbecile negro bread-seller who was sacrificed in his stead. 
 
 IX 
 
 P. 126. MohammecCs " night-journey" from Mecca to Jerusalem. 
 — " From Jerusalem he is said to have been carried through 
 the seven heavens into the presence of God, and brought back 
 again to Mecca the same night." " It is a matter of dispute 
 amongst Mohammedan divines, whether their prophet's night- 
 journey was really performed by him coi-porally, or whether it 
 was only a dream or vision. Some think the whole was no 
 more than a vision and allege an express tradition of Moawiyeh, 
 one of the khalifehs, to that effect. Others suppose that he 
 was carried bodily to Jerusalem, but no further ; and that he 
 ascended thence to heaven in spirit only. But the received 
 opinion is, that it was no vision, but that he was actually 
 transported in the body to his journey's end ; and if any 
 impossibility be objected, they think it a sufficient answer to 
 say, that it might easily be effected by an omnipotent agent." 
 Sale's foot-note to verse 1, of Koran Surah xvii. entitled "The 
 Night-Journey " (Chandos Classics, pp. 206, 207). 
 
 P. 127. A sultan dreamt that all his teeth fell out. — 'To 
 dream that one has lost a single tooth is a fearful omen. 
 Grown up people suffering with their teeth make vows, and 
 
138 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 children, losing their first set, take each of the old ones as it 
 falls out, and throw it up to the sun, crying : " O sun, take 
 this donkey's tooth and give me instead the tooth of a gazelle." 
 The formula differs amongst the fellahin of Silwan, whose 
 children are taught to say : " O Sun ! take this donkey's tooth, 
 and instead of it give me the tooth of one of thy children." 
 Amongst native Arab Jews the tooth is thrown into a well with 
 the formula given in the text. Others say : " O Sun ! take this 
 iron tooth and give me a tooth of pearl." 
 
 Up to the year 1868, when the new iron dome was placed 
 over the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a great number of 
 human teeth were to be seen sticking, as witnesses to vows 
 made by their owners, in the cracks and interstices of the 
 clustered columns on the left hand side of the great portal to 
 the said Church. 
 
SECTION III 
 
 CONTAINING STORIES AND ANECDOTES ILLUS- 
 TRATING SOCIAL IDEAS, SUPERSTITIONS, 
 ANIMAL AND PLANT-LORE, ETC. 
 
SECTION III 
 I 
 
 FOLKS GENTLE AND SIMPLE 
 
 Ahmad Al-muttafakhir, ibn Al-muttashakhim, 
 sheykh of the Fasharm Arabs,i was unduly proud 
 of his noble ancestry and constantly boasting of it. 
 One day, when with a caravan on its way from 
 Tadmor to Akka, he was speaking on his favourite 
 theme when he saw a derwish sitting by the roadside 
 staring intently at a white object which he had in 
 his hands. Being of an inquisitive turn of mind, 
 Ahmad galloped up to him in order to see what it 
 might be. It turned out to be a human skull. The 
 sheykh asked the derwish why he was examining 
 it so closely. " Ah ! " said the holy man, who 
 evidently knew his man, " I found this skull lying 
 at the door of a cave which I passed this morning, 
 and am trying to discover whether it belonged, when 
 alive, to some great man, or whether it was only 
 the brainpan of some ordinary mortal like yourself 
 or me." Ahmad galloped off, offended, and for 
 that day said no more about his noble forefathers. 
 
 ' i.e. Ahmad the Conceited, son of the Vainglorious, sheykh of the 
 Boaster Arabs. — En. 
 
 141 
 
142 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 Subsequently, however, as the caravan was passing 
 a village cemetery, he noticed that the roof of a 
 burial-vault ^ had fallen in, and that the bones of 
 the dead were exposed. Of the skulls some were 
 black and brown, others white. " See ! " he cried, 
 " even after death there is a difference between 
 persons of good stock and those of meaner birth, the 
 skulls of the former are all white, and those of the 
 latter of a darker colour." Some days after he had 
 made this remark, the travellers approached their 
 destination. Fixed over the city gate were the heads 
 of men who had been put to death for hideous crimes. 
 Birds of prey, insects, and the action of sun and rain 
 combined, had completely bleached the skuUs. 
 " Look up, Emir," shouted one of the company, 
 " those skuUs up there must each of them have 
 belonged to a person, hke yourself, of noble family." 
 
 " A certain sultan had two wazirs, a Jew and a 
 Christian, who were jealous of one another. The 
 sultan one day questioned whether it were better 
 to be humbly born, but well-educated, or to belong 
 to some good family, however poor. The Jew stood 
 up for race while the Christian took the side of 
 education, saying that he himself had trained a cat 
 to do the work of a good servant. " If your Majesty 
 will let him show his cat," said the Jew, " I shall 
 demonstrate, in my turn, that good birth is above 
 training." 
 
 ' fustikiyeh. 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 143 
 
 The trial took place next day, when, at a signal 
 from the Christian wazir, a beautiful cat came on its 
 hind legs into the Imperial presence, bearing a small, 
 gold tray of refreshments. But the Jew had got 
 a mouse in a little box up his sleeve and, just as the 
 cat was offering the tray to the sultan, he released 
 that mouse. The cat, at once becoming conscious 
 of the presence of its natm-al prey, hesitated for a 
 moment, then let go the tray, and dashed off in 
 pursuit. 
 
 The Jew then asked that a weU-educated gipsy 
 from the Sultan's harim might be called into the 
 presence. The girl was brought, and he put a 
 question to her : " Suppose that, after midnight 
 but before daybreak, you awoke from sleep, how 
 would you be able to tell when the dawn drew 
 near?" She said, "I should hsten for a donkey's 
 braying, because at the approach of dawn they 
 bray hke this " ; and she gave an imitation of the 
 sound. 
 
 " Your Majesty will please observe," said the Jew, 
 when she was gone, "that she answered from her 
 ancestry and not her education. Now let us 
 ask some girl of good descent, but poor and un- 
 educated, the same question." A girl answering 
 these requirements was brought into the presence. 
 She had but newly joined the harim, and her manner 
 was of graceful shyness. When the Sultan asked 
 how she would perceive the approach of dawn, she 
 faltered : " May it please your Majesty, my mother 
 has told me that the hght of a diamond grows duU 
 when dawn approaches." The sultan and all present 
 
144 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 applauded her answer and gave to good birth the 
 palm over education. 
 
 A certain Emperor of China, a land of idolaters and 
 infidels, was once visited by a famous traveller who 
 related the marvels which he had witnessed in 
 different countries, and, among other things, in- 
 formed his Majesty that the Shah of Persia had a 
 lion so tame that it would follow its master about 
 everywhere hke a well-trained hound ; that the Emir 
 of Cabul had a tiger ; the ruler of Cashmere a leopard ; 
 and, in short, every potentate he had ever visited 
 or heard of, possessed some wild beast which had 
 learnt to be companionable. It made the ruler of 
 the Chinese feel small to think that he alone, among 
 the sovereigns of the earth, had no strange pet. As 
 wisest of men and chief of monarchs, he scorned to 
 ape such inferior mortals as either the Shah of Persia 
 or the Czar of Muscovy, and determined to adopt 
 some creature that no human being had ever dreamt 
 of taming. 
 
 Having, after much deliberation, made his choice, 
 he summoned his councillors and laid upon them his 
 commands to devise some means to tame that foul 
 and fierce animal, the pig, so completely that it 
 should become as clean, gentle, and weU-disposed 
 as a lamb. 
 
 The assembled sages and courtiers told their master 
 that what he asked of them was feasible, and in fact, 
 so easy that they would set about it at once. " All 
 that has to be done," said they, " is to give orders 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 145 
 
 that a sow in pig be closely watched, and, as soon as 
 she Utters, one of her young ones be snatched away 
 before it has had time either to smell her or to taste 
 her milk. It must then be suckled by a ewe, care- 
 fully washed every day, and trained in cleanly 
 habits. If this course be adopted the vilest of 
 beasts is sure to grow up as mild and unobjectionable 
 as a lamb." 
 
 The monarch ordered aU this to be done. An 
 official of high rank was appointed guardian of the 
 Emperor's sucking-pig. He had under him a special 
 stafi of washers and feeders, and the ruler of China 
 awaited, with Imperial patience, the result of his 
 servants' labours. The sucking-pig was duly 
 obtained; washed in frequent baths of rose-water 
 and other perfumes ; and brought up in the manner 
 directed by the learned. In time the officials in 
 charge had the honour to present to their lord a 
 pighng elegant and lamb-hke. 
 
 The monarch hberally rewarded aU concerned, 
 and made the tame pig his constant companion. 
 It followed him about everywhere to his great 
 deHght. 
 
 One day, however, the Emperor took it into his 
 head to extend his walk beyond the palace grounds. 
 His pig, wearing a gold collar set with jewels, followed 
 at his heels. All of a sudden, the animal forgot its 
 manners. It began to sniff the air and grunt in 
 most unlambhke fashion, and, before anything could 
 be done to prevent it, left its master and, scampering 
 across fields and scrambhng through hedges, rushed 
 headlong into a morass in which a number of swine 
 
 K 
 
146 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 were wallowing. The courtiers in attendance were 
 horrified and ran as fast as they could, forgetting 
 all dignity, zealous to save their lives. But in vain 
 every effort. When they reached the edge of the 
 slough, no one could tell which of the unclean heasts 
 rolhng about in it had been the royal pet. They 
 suspected indeed that one particularly filthy creature 
 might be he, but could not be sure seeing that there 
 was no trace of any collar ; so they returned in fear 
 and trembling to their sovereign, who threatened to 
 do terrible things. Orders were given that all the 
 absent members of the Council and all the wise men 
 in the capital should immediately appear before him. 
 When everyone of the frightened grey, black, and 
 brown beards had come into the presence they were 
 told that their master felt sorely tempted to have 
 their heads chopped off that very instant, but since 
 it pleased him to remember that he was the fount of 
 mercy as well as of retribution, he would give them 
 grace of three days, in which to find some infallible 
 means of turning a pig into a permanent lamb. 
 
 Grateful for the respite, the wazirs, the old men, 
 and the learned discussed the momentous question 
 in all its aspects. At the close of the last hour of 
 the third day, they returned to the hall of audience 
 and prostrated themselves before the throne. "0 
 mighty monarch of this golden age," said their 
 spokesman, " your humble and obedient servants 
 and slaves have very carefully considered and dis- 
 cussed the matter graciously entrusted to them, and 
 have found a solution of the diflBculty. The achieve- 
 ment is, indeed, a hard one, but just for that cause 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 147 
 
 worthy of so great a ruler. Therefore, if it please 
 your Majesty, let orders be sent to all your ambas- 
 sadors and representatives in foreign parts to promise 
 great rewards to that skilful surgeon who shall 
 undertake the operation of cutting both a live pig 
 and a Uve lamb open at the same time, and, extract- 
 ing the heart of the former, of inserting the lamb's 
 heart in its place. When the wound is sewn up and 
 the swine has recovered, it wiU be found a perfect 
 lamb, and the achievement will be one to add lustre 
 to the wonderful annals of yoxu: Majesty's most 
 glorious reign." So pleased was the Emperor of 
 China with this suggestion that he at once issued an 
 Irade commanding that orders should be immediately 
 forwarded to his envoys abroad. However, though 
 advertisements may have appeared in aU the leading 
 gazettes of BeMd el Afranj, I have not heard that 
 any sm-geon appUed in response to the invitation. 
 
 II 
 
 THE SECRKT OP SUCCESS 
 
 In a town not far from the capital there lived, years 
 ago, a young man noted for his learning. He had 
 completed his studies at the great University of El 
 Azhar at Cairo, and was a master in all the seven 
 sciences and an owner of the seven tongues, a beauti- 
 ful caUgraphist, a poet so accomphshed that his verse 
 were said by his friends to deserve to be afl&xed to the 
 
148 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 gates of the Ka'aba at Mecca,^ and a scholar so 
 erudite that none grudged him the right to wear 
 the wide formal and much respected shape of tiu^ban 
 called " mukleh." But, despite these advantages, 
 he could not get on in the world, having no influential 
 relative to push him forward. Nothing discouraged, 
 however, he resolved, being ambitious, to gain the 
 notice and approbation of the Sultan himself, and, 
 as a result, position and wealth, for he was poor 
 although of stately presence. 
 
 He therefore wrote a magnificent poem in praise of 
 the great Khan and mighty Khakan, the Commander 
 of the Faithful, our Sovereign Lord the Sultan 
 Ful^n,^ ibn-es-Sultan Ful^n, Sultan of the Arabians, 
 the Persians, and the Rum, whose fame and influence 
 extended over the seven continents and across the 
 seven seas. When the ode was finished he forwarded 
 it to the potentate, having sold nearly everything 
 he possessed in order to gain the favour of the various 
 officials through whose hands the document would 
 have to pass before it could be laid at the foot of the 
 couch whereon reposed the Sovereign of the Age. 
 
 Great were the hopes this young man founded on 
 his verses, but yet greater was his disgust when the 
 " sheykh el Hara," (or headman of the street in 
 which he lived) one day sent for him and called upon 
 him to sign a receipt for fifty dinars out of the 
 Imperial treasury, and when he had done so, coolly 
 told him that forty dinars had gone to pay the fees 
 of various officials between the throne and himself, 
 
 ^ This, from internal evidence, I judge to be a Christian fable. — Ed. 
 2 Fulan = " So and so " ; cf. Span. Don Fulano. — Ed. 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 149 
 
 that he himself must keep five for his own fee, and 
 three on some other pretext, leaving the poet a 
 balance of two only. Thoroughly disgusted with 
 his want of success, but being of a persevering 
 character, our hero wrote a second ode yet more 
 beautiful than the former, and then started on 
 foot for Stambul, resolved not to trust to inter- 
 mediaries, but to lay his work himself at the l>et 
 of the well-spring of all earthly bounty. He reached 
 the capital on a Thursday evening and took a lodging 
 at a khan. The next morning, having been to the 
 bath, he arranged his turban and robes in such a 
 manner as to make a good impression, and then took 
 up a position near the entrance of the mosque in 
 which the Padishah was wont to perform his public 
 devotions week after week. As soon as the Sultan 
 appeared the poet rushed forward, and, falling at 
 the Sovereign's feet, presented his poem. The paper 
 was graciously received by the monarch, who im- 
 mediately afterwards passed into the mosque. The 
 poet awaited his return and when the Sultan came 
 out and saw him standing, he graciously commanded 
 him to follow him to the palace. On reaching it 
 the Stiltan read the poem, and, being pleased with 
 it, went to his private money- chest, and, taking out 
 ten dinars gave them to the young man. Noticing 
 the look of disappointment on the latter's face, and 
 being himself in a very good humour, the Padishah 
 told him to say why he was not pleased and to speak 
 frankly without fear or reserve. On receiving such 
 encouragement, the poet fell at his Sovereign's feet, 
 told him of his aspirations, his disappointments. 
 
150 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 and how he had spent the whole of his property in 
 striving to achieve success and attain a high position. 
 " My son," said the benevolent ruler, when the poet 
 had stopped speaking, " be content with what I 
 now give you. For you to receive more at present 
 would only be a cause of trouble to you, for it would 
 be siu-e to excite the attention, and rouse the envy 
 and hatred, of your neighbours. I will, however, 
 add to it something of greater worth than aU the 
 talents and learning which you already possess. I 
 will tell you what is the secret of success in hfe. 
 It is expressed in the one Arabic word " Heylim.''^ 
 " Make ' HeyHm ' your rule of life and you will 
 be siu-e to attain eminence." With these words the 
 scholar was dismissed. Walking home, he pondered 
 on his Sovereign's strange advice. Suddenly a 
 bright idea struck him. Meeting a well-dressed 
 Greek priest in the lonely road, he accosted him. 
 " Nazarene, son of a dog, change clothes with me." 
 The priest objected at first, but finally yielded to the 
 Moslem's threats, and was glad to be allowed to go 
 his way unharmed, as a Mohammedan 'Mim or savant, 
 whilst the poet, as a Greek priest,returned to Istanbul 
 took a room in a quiet khan, and remained in retire- 
 ment till his hair was grown so long as to enable him 
 to pass for a priest of the Orthodox Church. 
 
 Having attained this object he called on the 
 Sheykh el Isl^m and desired a private interview 
 which was granted. " Three nights ago," said the 
 impostor, " I had a dream which greatly troubled 
 
 1 The English expressions " flatter, insinuate, ingratiate yourself, 
 and dissimulate " hardly express the full significance of this one word. 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 151 
 
 me. It has been repeated on the two succeeding 
 nights. I dreamt that a venerable man, who had 
 such and such features, and wore such and such a 
 garb," (here he gave a description which would 
 remind learned Moslems of the traditional appear- 
 ance of the Founder of IsMm), " appeared to me 
 and declaring that he had been sent to teach me 
 the true rehgion, made me repeat the following 
 prayer after him several times till I knew it by 
 heart. When I could do this, he told me to come 
 to you, repeat what he had taught me, and ask 
 for further instruction." He then, to the Sheykh's 
 great surprise, repeated the " Fatha " or first 
 chapter of the Koran with great unction. The 
 Sheykh el Islam cross-questioned his visitor shrewdly 
 but failed to disconcert him. It appeared he was 
 in truth a Christian priest to whom Mohammed 
 himself had taught the first rudiments of IslS,m, 
 a most interesting convert. The highest religious 
 ofiidal in the Moslem world, therefore, vouchsafed 
 him the desired instruction, and received him into 
 his house. Next day he informed his host that 
 he had again dreamed that he was visited by the 
 venerable person, and that the latter had taught 
 him a second set of texts, which he was to ask the 
 Sheykh to expound to him. He then repeated 
 the second sura of the Koran, entitled " The Cow," 
 and containing 286 verses, without making a mistake 
 in a single vowel-point or accent. The Sheykh 
 was astonished beyond measure, and not a little 
 flattered at the thought that the Prophet should 
 have singled Mm out to be the rehgious instructor 
 
152 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 of so miraculous a disciple. What would his enemies 
 say when it became known that his authority was 
 not only upheld by the Khalif eh, but by Mohammed 
 himself ? 
 
 During the next night the pseudo-Christian was 
 taught, as he stated, the third sura, and on the 
 following morning he repeated it correctly to his 
 host who then expounded it. Next night the fourth 
 sura was revealed, and so on, till the Sheyldi could 
 no longer abstain from inviting the learned of his 
 acquaintance to come and witness the marvel. 
 They came, saw, heard, questioned and cross- 
 questioned, but found more than their match, and 
 retired greatly mystified, if not convinced. In the 
 meantime the case of conversion was spoken of 
 openly throughout Stambul. The Christians dared 
 not gainsay the exultant Moslems who boasted 
 of the wonderful conversion of a great Christian 
 theologian which had been effected by the Prophet 
 himself assisted by the Sheykh el IsMm. The fame 
 of the latter went up by bounds. His " fetwahs " 
 or legal decisions were humbly accepted. Gifts 
 came to him from all sides, and being a generous 
 man, he shared them with his pupil. 
 
 The supposed Christian, however, retained his 
 clerical habit, asserting that the Prophet had bidden 
 him not to lay it aside nor be admitted into the pale 
 of El Isl4m by circumcision till his instruction was 
 complete. In due time news respecting the extra- 
 ordinary case reached the Commander of the Faith- 
 ful, who, being a wise man, first inquired about the 
 time when this remarkable Nazarene first apphed 
 
'IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 153 
 
 to the Sheykh el IsMm for instruction. His sus- 
 picions roused, he commanded that the supposed 
 Christian should be brought to him privately. The 
 Sultan knew him at a glance, in spite of his disguise 
 and long hair, and sternly inquired what was meant 
 by this mummery. " Ruler of the Age ! " rephed 
 the scamp, faUing at his feet, " Your Majesty advised 
 me to ' heyhm ' and I, obeying the precept, have 
 found it profitable." He then told his story, which 
 greatly amused the Sultan, who sent word to the 
 Sheykh el Islim that he himself would be responsible 
 for the further progress of the interesting convert, 
 who would remain in the palace as his guest. After 
 this, having commanded the palace barber to attend 
 the rogue, and dressed him in clothes befitting a 
 true behever, he made him one of his private secre- 
 taries, and by degrees advanced him to higher 
 posts in the Government. Ever since that time 
 the plain rule " Heyhm," or in other words, " kiss 
 a dog on his mouth tiU you have got what you want 
 from him," ^ has been well observed in the East. 
 
 Ill 
 
 ORIGIN OF THREE WELL-KNOWN SAYINGS 
 
 A WEALTHY merchant had three sons. He himself 
 was growing old and felt in doubt how to arrange 
 for the management of the property after his death ; 
 because, although his sons were grown-up men, 
 
 ' Buss el kelb ala fummo hatta takdi gharadak minno ; in the daraji 
 (common) Arabic of Palestine. — Ed. 
 
154 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAfND 
 
 industrious and dutiftd, he feared that they were 
 too good-natured, and, having from their childhood 
 been brought up in comfort, might not have suffi- 
 ciently realised the value of money. He therefore 
 tried by a trick, to find out which of his sons was 
 gifted with most common-sense. 
 
 He feigned to be very ill, and sent word to his 
 sons, employed in different branches of his extensive 
 business, that they must take turns in nursing, 
 for his days were numbered. 
 
 The eldest came at once. When he reached 
 his father's bedside the old man complained that his 
 feet were very cold. Noticing that they were un- 
 covered the young man drew the " Uhaf " or quilted 
 cotton coverlet, which in the East takes the place 
 of blankets, over them. A few minutes later, the 
 father complained that his shoulders were cold, 
 so the son drew the iUiaf upwards, and observing 
 that it was too short to cover both feet and shoulders 
 at the same time, wanted to fetch a longer quilt, 
 of which there were plenty in the house. The old 
 feUow, however, angrily refused to let him do this, 
 and said that he could not bear a heavier weight 
 of covering, and preferred the quilt he had to all 
 others. UnwiUing either to disobey or to provoke 
 his father, the eldest son dutifully spent a whole 
 day and night in drawing the scanty covering now 
 over his shoulders, now over his bare feet. He 
 was quite worn out, when the second brother came 
 to relieve him. The second son endured the same 
 experiences. In spite of coaxing and remonstrance, 
 the old merchant refused to let a longpr quilt be 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 155 
 
 brought to cover him, and yet was constantly crying 
 out, now that his shoulders, now his feet, were cold. 
 It came to the turn of the third and youngest son. 
 He also tried in vain to persuade his father to let 
 him fetch a longer quilt. Then on a thoughtful 
 observation of his parent, seeing him enjoy his meals, 
 and troubled with no special pain, he suspected a 
 game of some kind. He left the bedside for a minute, 
 cut a good and supple rod from a pomegranate- 
 tree in the garden, and straight returned to the sick 
 room where he was greeted with the usual complaint 
 of cold in the extremities. He suddenly brought 
 down the stick within an inch of the ancient's feet, 
 saying, " Very well, father ! Stretch your legs 
 according to your coverlet." 
 
 The effect was magical. The old man jumped 
 out of bed, completely cm-ed. He made arrange- 
 ments that at his death the supervision and manage- 
 ment of the estate should devolve on his youngest 
 son, who, without failing in duty, had proved himself 
 too shrewd to let himself be imposed on even by 
 his own father. This incident is said to have given 
 rise to the proverb : " Stretch your legs according 
 to the length of your coverlet." 
 
 An " afrit," who had grown old, feeling that his 
 term of existence was drawing to a close, resolved 
 by way of turning over a new leaf to go on a pil- 
 grimage. He therefore called his friends together, 
 informed them of his conversion, and bade them 
 farewell. Now, among them was a couple who 
 
156 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 had a son for whose future they were anxious. They 
 considered that it would be of the greatest advantage 
 to their young devil, to travel under the wing of 
 one so good and venerable. They therefore begged 
 leave for their son to accompany him. He at first 
 objected, but finally yielded to the soUcitations of his 
 friends, only stipulating that his companion should 
 swear by the seal of Solomon, that while traveUing 
 he would do no harm to man, beast, bird, or creeping 
 thing. To this condition the young devil and his 
 parents very readily agreed. 
 
 The penitent then set forth with his young disciple, 
 but the latter soon began to find the journey in- 
 tolerable without the recreation of a Httle mischief. 
 The " af4rit " ^ always journey by night and sleep 
 in the day. One dark, moonless night, the couple 
 reached a large encampment of Bedu.^ Everything 
 was silent, and it was clear that the whole tribe was 
 asleep. The two devils passed through the camp 
 without disturbing a soul ; but a httle later the 
 young one begged leave to return and walk once 
 more through the camp, declaring that he wanted 
 to go from ipvae curiosity and without any mis- 
 chievous intention. 
 
 He was gone but a minute, and they proceeded 
 on their way. But they had not made many steps, 
 before there arose a din to wake the dead 
 in the camp behind them — ^horses neighing, dogs 
 barking, women shrieking, men shouting. The 
 elder " afrit " turned fiercely on his pupil, crying, 
 
 ' Af^rit (pi. of afrit) = a sort of devils. 
 
 2 Bedu (pi. of Bedawi) = the desert Arabs.- — Ed. 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 157 
 
 " Perjurer ! You have broken your solemn oath ! " 
 " You lie," replied the youngster, " I have done 
 no harm to any living thing." " What, then is 
 the meaning of that noise." " I cannot think ; 
 unless it be that the Sheykh's staUion has got loose. 
 He was tethered to a tent-peg, and I thought I 
 would see if he was securely fastened. Perhaps 
 I loosened the peg a little." From this answer comes 
 the saying, when someone does much mischief 
 indirectly : " He only moved the tent-peg." 
 
 Karakoz and 'Iweyz were two rogues who had 
 long lived on terms of the closest amity, sharing 
 the toils and dangers, as weU as the fruits, of rascahty. 
 But a time came when they spoke no more to one 
 another. 
 
 'Iweyz was sitting one day in his dwelling, cud- 
 gelling his brains for some new trick by which to 
 fill his empty purse when there came to him one 
 of his acquaintance, a youth whose father had just 
 died. After the usual salutations, the visitor told 
 'Iweyz that his father had left him one thousand 
 dinars, but that he had not yet made up his mind 
 what to do with them. Meanwhile he was anxious 
 to find some honest person who would take charge 
 of them for him, till he, the owner, could decide 
 upon a Une of business ; and he asked 'Iweyz whether 
 he would do him the favour. Though inwardly 
 dehghted at the offer, the rogue assumed the 
 greatest aversion, crjdng, " No ! no ! no ! go and find 
 someone else to take charge of your money, I cannot 
 
158 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 be troubled with so great a responsibility." On 
 hearing this emphatic refusal the young man be- 
 came more importunate. " My father told me on 
 his dying bed," said he, " not to trust any one who 
 showed an eagerness to accept the offer of having 
 the money given into his charge, but, on the other 
 hand, to leave it with fuU confidence in the hands 
 of any one who showed a disUke of the responsibility. 
 As you are such a person, I beseech you to take 
 it from me." " No ! no ! no ! " repeated 'Iweyz, 
 with yet greater vehemence, " do what you like 
 with your money, bury it, throw it in a well, but 
 do not leave it in my keeping." " I shall leave 
 it here," said the youth, producing a bag of money. 
 And though 'Iweyz yelled at him to take it away, 
 he placed the bag on the diw4n, without having 
 taken receipt or summoned witness. When the 
 young man was gone, 'Iweyz took the bag, locked 
 it up safely, and felt very happy. An hour later, 
 Karakoz came in, and, struck, with his friend's 
 unusual gaiety, enquired its cause. " I have secured 
 uncontrolled possession of a thousand dinslrs," 
 said 'Iweyz, and related what had happened. 
 " That is very fine," remarked Karakoz, " but you 
 cannot ' eat up ' the money, even though it has been 
 placed in your hands without either receipt or wit- 
 nesses, for you may be forced to take your oath 
 concerning it at the ' mazar ' or shrine of some 
 saint, who wiU torment you in case you swear falsely. 
 What will you give me if I show you a way out of 
 the difficulty ? " 
 
 " My dear friend," answered 'Iweyz with some 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 159 
 
 warmth, " you know that we are comrades and share 
 equally in all that ' En Nusib ' ^ sends us. I shall, 
 of course, let you have half the money, that is, five 
 hundred dinars." 
 
 " Very weU," said Karakoz, " the expedient I 
 would recommend is a simple one. Whoever asks 
 you about the money, whether the fool who left 
 it with you, or the Kadi, or anyone, be sure in every 
 case, to answer : ' Shurulub.' " 
 
 " Your advice is good, and I shall follow it," 
 said 'Iweyz. 
 
 Several months passed, and at last one day, the 
 young man to whom the money belonged came to 
 Tweyz and asked him for it, as he had the intention 
 of starting business. 
 
 " Pth, tth, th," said the rascal 'Iweyz, stammering 
 and spluttering, " pth, tth, th, sh, th, shurulub." 
 
 His visitor was surprised, but explained again 
 that he wanted the money. 
 
 " Pth, tth, th, sh, th, shurulub," answered 'Iweyz 
 gravely. 
 
 " My money, give me back my money ! " shouted 
 the youth. 
 
 " Pth, tth, th, sh, th, shurulub," repHed the 
 hypocrite with a look of surprise and deprecation. 
 
 " If you do not give me back my money at once," 
 angrily said the owner, " I shall accuse you to 
 the Kadi." 
 
 " Pth, tth, th, sh, th, shurulub," retorted 'Iweyz 
 assuming an air of the greatest indifference. 
 
 Finding that aU entreaties, expostulations, and 
 
 ' i.e. luck. 
 
160 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 threats were useless, and that the only answer he 
 could get was the spluttering and stanunering, ending 
 with the meaningless expletive " shurulub," the 
 injured youth went and complained to the Kadi. 
 
 'Iweyz, on being summoned, appeared promptly 
 and in silence ; but the only answer he gave to all 
 questions and cross-questionings, even when they 
 were emphasised by a severe flogging, which he bore 
 without flinching, was " pth, tth, th, sh, th, shurulub," 
 
 So absurd did the case become that at last the 
 Kadi and his court were in fits of laughter, and dis- 
 missed the accused, after severely blaming the 
 plaintiff for having neglected the simple precaution 
 of depositing the money in the presence of wit- 
 nesses, if, as he confessed he had done, he insisted 
 on leaving it with a man who refused all responsi- 
 bility. 
 
 'Iweyz went home and was chuckling over his 
 success, when Karakoz came and asked for his share 
 of the booty. 
 
 " Pth, tth, th, sh, th, shurulub," said 'Iweyz. 
 
 " Now, 'Iweyz," pleaded Karakoz in surprise, 
 " don't play the fool with me after I have shown 
 you the way to secm-e this great fortune. You 
 surely are not going to cheat an old friend and 
 comrade ! " 
 
 " Pth, tth, th, sh, th, shurulub," replied 'Iweyz 
 with a mocking gesture. 
 
 The common expression " to swallow trust-money 
 shurulub " is said to be derived from this incident. 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 161 
 
 IV 
 
 MORAL TALES 
 
 When out riding one day, the Caliph Harun er Rashid 
 noticed a very venerable looking old feU^h planting 
 a fig tree. Accosting him, the Commander of the 
 Faithful asked why he was taking the trouble to 
 plant a tree, of the fruit of which he could hardly 
 hope to taste. 
 
 " Emir el Mumenin," rephed the greybeard. 
 " InshaUah, I may be spared to taste the fruit of 
 this tree, but if not, my sons wiU do so, even as I 
 have eaten the fruit of trees planted by my father 
 and great-grandfather." " How old are you ? " 
 asked the monarch. " One hundred and seven," 
 repUed the husbandman. " A hundred and seven ! " 
 exclaimed the CaUph in astonishment, and added, 
 " Well, in case you really do five to eat fruit from 
 this tree, be sure and let me know." 
 
 Several years passed, and Harun had quite for- 
 gotten the incident when one day he was told that 
 an aged peasant desired an audience, saying that by 
 the Caliph's own command he had brought him a 
 basket of figs. Having ordered the man to be 
 admitted, Harun was sm'prised to find that it was 
 the same feU4h he had once seen planting a fig 
 tree, who now brought him some choice fruit from 
 that very tree. The Commander of the Faithful 
 received the gift most graciously, making the old 
 man sit beside him on the diwan, and commanding 
 
162 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 a robe of honour to be put on him ; he gave him a 
 gold din4r for each fig, and then dismissed him with 
 all honoiu". 
 
 When the old feMh had left the Presence, the 
 CaUph's son El Mamun, asked his father why such 
 grace had been shown to an iUiterate peasant. 
 " My son," repUed Harun, " AUah Himself had 
 honom-ed him so I was bound to do the same." 
 
 The old iellkh. retvuned to his village in high glee, 
 and there extolled the hberaUty and condescension 
 of the Prince of BeUevers. Now next door to him 
 Uved a jealous and avaricious woman, who, envious 
 of her old neighbour's good fortune, resolved to 
 outdo him, and therefore worried her husband till, 
 for peace, he filled a large basket with figs and pre- 
 sented himself with them at the door of the 
 Khalifeh's palace. When asked what he wanted, 
 he answered that as the Commander of the Faith- 
 ful was famed for his impartiality, and had so richly 
 rewarded his neighbour for a few figs, he had also 
 brought some and hoped to receive a similar reward. 
 On hearing this reply the guards reported the case 
 to Harun, by whose orders the fooKsh man was 
 pelted with his own fruit. Angry and hurt, he went 
 home and divorced the wife whose foUy had exposed 
 him to such shame.^ 
 
 A certain Sultan was one day struck with the 
 
 1 Variants of this story are legion in Syria and Egypt, but the 
 greater number could not fitly be ranged under the headline, " Moral 
 Tales."— Ed. 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 163 
 
 difierence between the cries of two beggars in the 
 street near his palace. One of them was shouting, 
 " Allah, Thou Bountiful One ! " whUst the other 
 bawled, " Allah ! give victory to the Sultan ! " 
 The monarch, flattered by the interest which the 
 latter showed in his welfare, called his wazir and said, 
 " See to it that that beggar who keeps praying for 
 me gets a roast fowl stuffed with gold pieces ; but 
 to the other give a fowl cooked in the usual way." 
 
 The wazir obeyed, and the man who had called 
 Allah bomitiful was gratefully turning away to carry 
 the fowl to his wife when the other said to him, 
 " Buy this fowl from me. I have neither wife nor 
 children. What I want is money, and not rich 
 food." " I have only a bishhk," ^ was the reply, 
 " and that is nothing like the value of a roast fowl." 
 " You shall have it for that," said the other ; and 
 so it happened that the beggar who praised Allah 
 got not only a good dinner but also a small fortune. 
 
 This man now gave up begging, and opened a 
 little shop. His companion, however, having spent 
 his bishhk, returned to the palace gate and cried, 
 " Allah ! give victory to our Sultan." The 
 monarch commanded a second fowl stuffed with gold 
 to be given to him. On receiving it he hurried to 
 his former comrade and offered it for another bishhk, 
 which was promptly paid. 
 
 When the cry, " O Allah ! give the Sultan victory ! " 
 was again heard near the palace the Sultan cried, 
 " What is this ? I have made that fellow rich 
 twice over and he still must beg. Bring him in to 
 
 1 A coin worth a little less than sixpence. 
 
164 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 me." When the beggar was brought in, the Sultan, 
 frowning on him, asked, " Why do you go on begging 
 when I have made you rich ? " " Alas, Sultan 
 of the Age," answered the beggar, " aU that I have 
 received at your Highness 's gate were two fowls, 
 which I sold to another beggar who used to cry, 
 ' AUah ! Thou Bountiful One ! ' but who has 
 since grown rich and taken a shop." The Sultan 
 was amazed and cried, " WaUahi ! AUah has shown 
 that it is better to praise His bounty than to pray 
 for my prosperity." 
 
 A certain Sultan once had a dispute with his 
 wazir as to what constitutes true kindness. He 
 said that it might be found among the poorest of 
 the people, while the wazlr maintained that it 
 was impossible to show kindness, or to feel it, unless 
 one were weU-to-do. When the Sxiltan thought 
 enough had been said, he sunmioned the sheykh 
 el Isl4m, and ordered a record of the debate and of 
 the arguments on both sides to be made and de- 
 posited in the public archives. 
 
 Some time afterwards the Sultan, one afternoon 
 sent secretly for the sheykh, and the two disguised 
 themselves as derwishes and went out to settle 
 the question. In the city they found much to 
 interest them, but nothing bearing on the problem 
 which they wished to solve. By the time they 
 reached the outskirts of the town the sun was setting, 
 and as they advanced into the country it grew dark 
 apace. They were glad to behold a light shining 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 165 
 
 in a field beside the road, and went towards it. 
 It came from a little mud-roofed hut, the abode 
 of a poor goatherd. The man himself was out at 
 work, but his wife and mother bade the strangers 
 welcome in his absence. A few minutes later he 
 came home, bringing with him four goats which 
 were all his substance. The children, running out, 
 told him guests had arrived, and he at once came in 
 and saluted them. Having assm-ed them that his 
 house was theirs, he asked to be excused for a minute, 
 and going to the owners of the flock he tended, 
 begged two loaves of wheaten bread, as he could 
 not set coarse dhurrah ^ bread before his guests. 
 The two loaves with some eggs, curds,^ and oUves, 
 made a tempting meal. " But pardon us," said the 
 Sultan, " we are under a vow not to eat anything 
 but bread and kidneys for a year and a day." 
 Without a word, the host went out, killed his four 
 goats, and broiled their kidneys. But the Sxiltan, 
 when they were set before him, said, " We have a 
 vow to eat nothing until after midnight. We will 
 take this with us, and eat it when our vow has 
 expired. And now, I grieve to say, we must be 
 going." The goatherd and his family begged them 
 to stay tin morning, but in vain. 
 
 When the masqueraders were once more alone 
 on the highway, the Sultan said, " Now let us try 
 the wazir ! " They reached his house, from which 
 streamed hght and music ; he was entertaining. 
 The humble request of two derwishes for food 
 and lodging was promptly refused ; and when 
 
 1 Sorghum Annuum. '' Ar. leben. 
 
166 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 they still persisted, the wazlr was heard shout- 
 ing, "Drive away those dogs, and thrash them 
 soundly. That will teach them to plague their 
 betters." The order was so well obeyed that the 
 twain escaped with their bare hves. Bruised and 
 bleeding they reached the palace about midnight. 
 When they had put off their disguise, the Sultan 
 sent privately for a dumb physician to tend their 
 wounds. He then called together his council of 
 ministers, and, having described the whereabouts 
 of the goatherd's dweUing, told them all to go and 
 stand near it, but without disturbing the inmates. 
 " When the lord of that house comes out in the 
 morning," greet him with the utmost respect, and 
 say that I request the favour of a visit from him. 
 Escort him hither honourably and, between you, 
 bring the bodies of foxir goats which you wiU find 
 near his door." 
 
 The goatherd feared for his hfe, in the morning, 
 when he found his hut the centre of a crowd of 
 courtiers and soldiers. Nor was his alarm diminished 
 by the respectfulness of their manner towards him 
 as they invited him to the Sultan's palace, nor by 
 their inexplicable conduct in picking up the dead 
 goats and carrying them as honoured corpses. 
 
 When the procession reached the palace, the 
 Sultan made the goatherd sit beside him and ordered 
 the record of his dispute with the wazir to be read 
 aloud for all to hear. The recital ended, the Sultan 
 told the story of his adventures on the previous 
 evening. Then turning to the wazir, he said, " You 
 have betrayed your own cause ! No one in this 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 167 
 
 realm is in a better position than you to show kind- 
 ness to his fellowmen ! Yet you show nothing 
 but cruelty ! You are no longer my wazir, and your 
 wealth shall be confiscated. But this goatherd — 
 who begged better bread than he himself could afford 
 to eat, for the greediest and most ill-mannered 
 guests that ever came to man's house, and who 
 sacrificed his whole substance rather than disappoint 
 them — ^he shall be my friend and sit beside me." 
 Thus was kindness rewarded, and churhshness 
 dishonoured. 
 
 There once lived in Jerusalem twin brothers 
 who, even after they were grown up, hved and 
 worked together, sharing the produce of their fields. 
 
 One night after threshing their corn and dividing 
 it, as was their custom, into two equal heaps, they 
 slept out on the threshing-floor to prevent theft. 
 In the night one of them awoke and thought to 
 himself : " My brother is a married man with children 
 to look after, whereas I — praise to Allah — am single. 
 It is not right that I should receive a share equal 
 to his from the produce of our toil." 
 
 So thinking he rose, and noiselessly took seven 
 measures from his heap and put them on his 
 brother's ; then went back to sleep. A short while 
 afterwards his brother woke and, as he lay bUnking 
 at the stars, said within himself, " I, by the blessing 
 of the Highest, have a good wife and four lovely 
 children. I know joys to which my brother is a 
 stranger. It is not right that I should receive 
 
168 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY lAND 
 
 a share equal to his from the produce of our toil." 
 Thereupon he crept to his heap and transferred 
 seven measures thence to his brother's portion; 
 then went back to sleep. In the morning each 
 was amazed to find the heaps still equal ; tiU AUah 
 sent a prophet who informed them that their un- 
 selfish love was pleasing to the Almighty ; and that 
 threshing-floor ^ was blessed for evermore. 
 
 The Kadi "|AbdaUah el Mustakim," some of 
 whose descendants are said to reside at Jaffa at the 
 present day, Uved at Baghdad, during the reign of 
 El Mansur, one of the Caliphs of the dynasty of 
 " Abb^s " ; and is alleged to have obtained his 
 honourable surname, which means " the honest or 
 upright One " from the strict impartiality with 
 which he administered justice. The following story 
 is told of him : — 
 
 As the upright Judge was leaving his house one 
 morning he was met by a woman of the lower classes, 
 who, accompanied by a boy, her son, was driving 
 a donkey and weeping bitterly. On beholding 
 her distress the K4di, who was as kind-hearted to 
 the poor and afflicted as he was stern to wrong- 
 doers, stopped her and asked the reason of her 
 sorrow. " Alas ! my lord," said the woman, 
 
 ' It was on the hill traditionally known in Zion— the rock-hewn 
 base of a tower which once formed the south-west corner of the city 
 wall. It is now part of the foundation of Bishop Gobal's school. My 
 authority for alleging it to be the scene of the above incident is the 
 sheykh Mahmiid of Debi Daud, who used to tell this story of the 
 twins in connection with it. 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 169 
 
 " have I not cause to weep ? My husband died a few 
 months since, after making me swear on his death- 
 bed not to sell the small piece of land by the cultiva- 
 tion of which we had supported ourselves, but 
 take care of it for our son, this boy, and teach him 
 to till it as his ancestors had done for generations. 
 But the Cahph sent one of his servants and offered 
 to buy the land from me, because it adjoins an 
 estate belonging to him, on which he intends building 
 a palace. He says that he must have my piece of 
 ground in order to carry out his plans. I refused to 
 seU, for the reason which I have told you, and after 
 thrice pressing me to dispose of it and being refused, 
 he, this morning, had me and my son driven away 
 from our lawful possession, inherited from our 
 forefathers, and told us that as I would not sell 
 the land, it should be taken from me without a 
 recompense. We have thus lost everything, except 
 each other and this ass with an empty sack on its 
 back, and know not to whom to look for help, seeing 
 that there is none greater than the Khalifeh." 
 " Where is your land situated ? " asked El Mustaklm. 
 " In such and such a place." " And you say that 
 you have just come from thence, and that the 
 Commander of the Faithful was there when you 
 left ? " " Yes, my lord." " Very well, you remain 
 here in my house tiU I return, and in the meantime 
 let me have your donkey and its empty sack for a 
 few hours. Inshallah, as I am somewhat known 
 to the Emir el Mumenin,i j gj^all succeed in per- 
 
 • Prince of Believers, the phrase commonly translated, " Com- 
 mander of the Faithful." — Ed. 
 
170 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 suading him to alter his plans, and restore your 
 property." 
 
 On hearing these words the poor widow at once 
 consented to his proposal, and the Judge departed, 
 driving the ass before him. He soon reached the 
 place, and found the Khahfeh on the spot, giving 
 various orders to the architect who was to erect 
 the new palace. On beholding the ruler of El 
 Islamiyeh,^ the Judge, prostrating himself before 
 him with every reverence, begged for a private 
 audience without delay. The Khalifeh, who had 
 a great respect for the K4di, granted his request, 
 and Abdullah, acting as the widow's advocate, 
 earnestly pleaded with his master on her behalf. 
 Finding the monarch relentless, Abdullah said; 
 " Well, Prince of Behevers, you are our ruler 
 and may AUah prolong your rule, but, as your 
 Highness has seized the widow's and orphan's 
 property, I beg, in their name, to be allowed to 
 take one sackful of this earth for them." 
 
 " Ten if you Uke," laughed the Khalifeh, " though 
 I fail to see what good it can do them." 
 
 The K^di seized a pickaxe that lay near, loosened 
 the earth with it, and filled his sack. Then, turning 
 to the Caliph, he said, " I now adjure yom* Highness, 
 by all that we MusUmun hold sacred, to help me to 
 place it upon the back of this ass." " You funny 
 man," repKed the ruler, greatly amused, " why not 
 call some of those slaves to Hf t it ? " "0 Commander 
 of the Faithful," answered the K^di, "the earth 
 in the sack would altogether lose its virtues were 
 
 1 The whole region of El Islam. Cf. Christendom. — Ed. 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 171 
 
 your Highness to command others to Hf t it ; and your 
 Highness would be the greatest sufferer by the 
 loss. " Well, so be it," said the Cahph, growing 
 curious. With that he took hold of the sack, but 
 could not move it. "I cannot," said he, " it is much 
 too heavy." " In that case," said the upright 
 Judge, " as your Majesty finds that the weight of 
 one sack of earth, which you are willing to restore 
 to its rightful owners, is more than you can bear, 
 you wiU pardon me for asking how you will bear 
 the weight of this whole piece of land which you 
 have taken by violence from the widow and the 
 fatherless, and how you will answer for your in- 
 justice at the Day of Judgment ? " 
 
 This stern but faithful reproof provoked the 
 Caliph ; but on a minute's reflection, he said, 
 " Praised be AUah, Who has given me so conscien- 
 tious a servant. I restore the land to the widow 
 and her son and, to compensate her for the tears 
 she has shed through my fault, I remit all dues 
 and taxes payable on this piece of land." 
 
 A herd of camels happened to be passing an 
 orchard, the owner of which was seated upon the 
 " sinsileh " or rough stone fence. One of the 
 animals, a very fine male, caught hold of the over- 
 hanging bough of a fruit tree and broke it off with 
 his teeth. Hereupon the owner of the orchard 
 snatched up a stone and threw it at the camel. 
 The aim was unexpectedly true, and the beast fell 
 dead. Its owner, stung to fiu-y by the loss of his 
 
172 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY lAND 
 
 property, snatched up the same stone and threw it 
 with as deadly accuracy at the owner of the orchard, 
 who, struck on the temple, was instantly killed. 
 Horror-struck at his rash act, and realising what 
 the consequences would be, the frightened camel- 
 herd leapt on to the swiftest of his beasts, and 
 leaving the rest to shift for themselves, fled as 
 fast as he could. He was, however, promptly 
 followed by the sons of the slain man, and forced 
 to return with them to the scene of the tragedy, 
 which happened to be close to the camp of the 
 Caliph Omar ibn el Khatti,b. The sons of the dead 
 orchard-owner demanded the hfe of the man who 
 had slain their father, and, though the latter ex- 
 plained that he had not done the deed with malice 
 aforethought, but under the impulse of sudden 
 provocation, yet, as he had no witnesses to prove 
 that he was speaking the truth, and as the sons of 
 the dead man would not hear of a pecuniary com- 
 pensation, the Caliph ordered the man-slayer to be 
 beheaded. Now in those times it was customary 
 for the execution of a criminal to take place almost 
 immediately after he had been condemned to die. 
 The mode of procedure was as follows : a skin or 
 hide called "nuta 'a" was spread in the monarch's 
 presence, and the person to be beheaded was made 
 to kneel upon this hide with his hands bound behind 
 him. The " jelad " or executioner, standing behind 
 him with a drawn sword, then cried aloud, " 
 Commander of the Faithful, is it indeed your decision 
 that Ful4n be caused to forsake this world ? " If 
 the CaKph answered, " yes," then the executioner 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 173 
 
 asked the same question the second time, and if it 
 were answered in the affirmative, he asked it once 
 again for the third and last time, and immediately 
 afterwards, unless the potentate instantly revoked 
 the fatal order, he struck off the prisoner's head. 
 Now, on the occasion of which we are speaking, the 
 condemned, finding that his hfe was irretrievably 
 forfeited, earnestly besought the CaHph to grant him 
 three days' respite that he might go to his distant 
 tent and arrange his family affairs. He swore 
 that at the expiration of that term he would return 
 and pay the penalty of the law. The Caliph told 
 him that he must find a siu-ety to die in his stead 
 in case he should break his word. The poor man 
 looked around him in despair upon the crowd of 
 utter strangers. The " nuta 'a " was brought 
 and the executioner advanced to bind his hands. 
 In despair he cried out, " Has the race of the 
 manly ^ perished|? "gf^Receiving no answer, he re- 
 peated the question with yet greater emphasis, 
 whereupon the noble Abu Dhur, who was one of the 
 " Sohaba " or companions of the Prophet, stepped 
 forward and asked the Cahph's permission to become 
 his surety. The monarch granted his request, 
 but warned him that his own hfe would be sacrificed 
 in case the man did not return within the time 
 stipulated. Abu Dhur having agreed to this, the 
 condemned was set free. He started off at a run 
 and was soon out of sight. 
 
 The three days had passed, and as the man-slayer 
 
 1 Or " virtuous." Ahl el merowah ; lit. the family, or race, of manly 
 virtue. 
 
174 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 had not returned and nobody believed that he 
 would do so, the Caliph, yielding to the dead man's 
 relatives, gave orders that Abu Dhur should pay 
 the forfeit. The hide was brought and Abu Dhur, 
 his hands tied behind him, knelt upon it amid the 
 lamentations and tears of his numerous friends and 
 relatives. Twice, in a voice that was heard above 
 the noise of the assembly, had the executioner 
 asked the ruler of Islam if it was indeed his wiU 
 that the noble man should quit this world. Twice 
 had the monarch grimly answered " yes " when, 
 just as the fatal question was to be put for the third 
 and last time, some one cried out, "For Allah's 
 sake, stop ! for here comes some one running ! " 
 At a sign from the Caliph the executioner remained 
 silent, and, to every one's astonishment, the man 
 who three days previously had been condemned 
 to die ran up out of breath and, with the words, 
 " Praise be to Allah " sank exhausted to the ground. 
 " Fool," said the CaUph to him, " why didst thou 
 return ? Hadst thou stayed away, the surety 
 would have died in thy stead and thou wouldst 
 have been free." " I returned," repUed the man, 
 " in order to prove that not only the race of the 
 virtuous has not yet died out but also that of the 
 truthful." 1 " Then why didst thou go away at 
 all ? " asked the monarch. " In order," said the 
 man, who was now kneeUng with bound hands 
 upon the hide from which Abu Dhur had arisen, 
 " in order to prove that the race of the trustworthy/ 
 
 1 Ahl es sidk. 
 
 2 Ahl el amany ; lit. " the family of the pledge-acknowledging." 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 175 
 
 has not yet perished." " Explain thyself," said the 
 Commander of the Faithful. " Some time ago," 
 said the man, " a poor widow came to me and 
 entrusted some articles of value to my keeping. 
 Having to leave our camp on business, I took the 
 things into the desert and hid them under a great 
 rock in a spot which no one but myself could find, 
 and there they were when I was condemned to die. 
 Had my life not been spared for a few days, I should 
 have died with a heavy heart, as the knowledge 
 of the hiding-place would have perished with me ; 
 the woman would have been irretrievably injured ; 
 and my children would have heard her curse my 
 memory without being able to clear it. Now, 
 however, that I have arranged my household affairs 
 and have restored her property to the woman, I 
 can die with a Kght heart." On hearing this Omar 
 turned to Abu Dhur and asked, " Is this man any 
 friend or relative of thine ? " " WaUahi ! " repUed 
 Abu Dhur, " I assure thee, Emir el Muminin, 
 that I never set eyes on him tUl three days since." 
 " Then, why wast thou such a fool as to risk thy hfe 
 in his stead, for had he not retiu-ned, I was determined 
 that thou shouldst die in his place." " I did so 
 in order to prove that the race of the manly and 
 virtuous had not yet died out," rephed Abu Dhur. 
 On receiving this answer the Cahph was silent for 
 a while ; then, turning to the kneeling man, he said, 
 " I pardon thee, thou canst go." " Why so ? 
 O Commander of the Faithful ! " asked an aged 
 and privileged sheykh. " Because," answered 
 Omar, " as it has been proved that the races of the 
 
176 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 manly, the virtuous, the truthful, and the trust- 
 worthy have not yet perished ; it only remains 
 for me to demonstrate that the races of the clement^ 
 and the generous ^ are also still aUve, and I therefore 
 not only pardon the man, but shall pay the ' diyeh ' 
 (blood money) out of my own private means." 
 
 THE ANGEL OF DEATH 
 
 Three mighty angels were standing before the 
 throne of Allah Avith the most profound reverence, 
 waiting to fulfil His high behests, and Allah said to 
 one of them, " Descend to the Earth and bring 
 hither a handful of its dust." On receiving this 
 command the messenger, with swift wing cleaving 
 the atmosphere, descended to the Earth, and gathered 
 a handful of its dust in obedience to the most High. 
 No sooner, however, had he begun to do this, than 
 the whole world shuddered and trembled from its 
 centre to its circumference and groaned most pitifully; 
 and, moved and startled by the distress and anguish 
 which his attempt had caused, the gentle angel 
 let the dust which he had gathered fall back, earth 
 to earth, and returned weeping and ashamed to 
 the Presence of Him that had sent him. And Allah 
 said, " I blame thee not, it was not written on the 
 tablet of destiny that this should be thine office. 
 Stand now aside for other service." Then AUah 
 
 ' Ahl el 'afu ; lit. " the race of pardon." ^ Ahl el kurrum. 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 177 
 
 said to the second of the three angels, " Go thou, 
 and fetch a handful of Earth's dust." He, too, 
 flew swiftly down to Earth and tried to gather up 
 a handful of its dust, but when he saw how the Earth 
 shook and shuddered, and when he heard its groans, 
 the gentle angel could not do the deed but let that 
 which he had gathered fall, dust unto dust, and 
 lifting up himself, he returned ashamed and weeping 
 to the Presence of Him Who had sent him. And 
 Allah said, " This task was not for thee. I blame 
 thee not, but stand thou too aside, and other 
 service shall be thine." Then AUah sent the 
 third angel, who descended swiftly, and gathered 
 up the dust. But when the Earth began to 
 groan and shudder in great pain and fearful 
 anguish, the sad angel said, " This sore task was 
 given me by AUah, and His WiU must be done, 
 even though hearts break with pain and sorrow." 
 Then he returned and presented the handful of 
 Earth's dust at Allah's throne. And Allah said, 
 " As thou the deed hast done, so now the office 
 shall be thine, Azrael, to gather up for me 
 the souls of men and women when their time has 
 come ; the souls of saints and sinners, of beggars 
 and of princes, of the old or young, whate'er 
 befall ; and even though friends weep, and hearts 
 of loved ones ache with sorrow and with anguish, 
 when bereft of those they love." So Azrael became 
 the messenger of Death.^ 
 
 ' This account of the appointment of Azrael was given by a Moslem 
 lady of rank to a Christian woman, who passed it on to my wife. 
 
 M 
 
178 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 Azrael had done some wrong in Heaven, to expiate 
 which he was obliged to Hve a man's Kfe on earth, 
 without, however, neglecting his duties as Angel 
 of Death ; so he became a physician and, as such, 
 attained wide celebrity. He married and got a 
 son ; but his wife was a dreadful shrew ; and it did 
 not increase his happiness in her society to know 
 that she was destined to outhve him. 
 
 When Azrael had grown old, and the time for 
 his release drew near, he revealed his real character 
 to his son under oath of the strictest secrecy. " As I 
 am shortly to depart," he said, " it is my duty to 
 provide for your future. You know all that can be 
 known of the science and practice of medicine. 
 Now I am going to tell you a secret which will 
 seciu'e infallible success in that profession. When- 
 ever you are called to a bedside, I shall be present, 
 visible to you alone. If I stand at the head of the 
 bed, be sure the patient will die in spite of all your 
 remedies ; if at the foot, he will recover though 
 you gave him the deadliest poison." Azrael died, 
 as was predestined ; and his son, following his 
 instructions, soon grew rich and famous. But he 
 was a spendthrift, and laid by nothing out of all 
 he earned. One day, when his purse was quite 
 empty, he was called to the bedside of a rich notable, 
 who lay at death's door. On entering the sick- 
 room, he saw his father standing at the head of the 
 bed ; so, after going through a form of examination 
 and deUberation, he pronounced the patient's case 
 quite hopeless. At that the poor rich man, beside 
 himself with fear, clasped the doctor's knees, and 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 179 
 
 promised him half his possessions if he would save 
 his Kfe. The son of Azrael was sorely tempted. 
 " WeU," he said at length, " I wiU see what I can do, 
 if you will make it three-fourths of your wealth, to 
 be mine whether I succeed or no." The patient 
 in fear of death consented, and a contract was drawn 
 up, signed and sealed and witnessed. Then the 
 physician turned to his father, and by frantic gestures 
 implored him to move to the foot of the bed, but 
 the Angel of Death would not budge. Then, having 
 called in f om* strong men, he bade each take a corner 
 of the bed and, hfting all together, turn it roimd 
 quickly so that the sick man's head should be where 
 his feet had been. This was done very cleverly, 
 but Azrael stiU stood at the head. The manoeuvre 
 was oft repeated, but Azrael always moved with the 
 bed. The son was forced to rack his brains for some 
 new expedient. Having dismissed the four porters, 
 he suddenly fell atrembhng and whispered, " Father, 
 I hear mother coming." In a trice fear flamed in 
 the grim angel's orbs, and he was gone. So the 
 sick man recovered. But from that day forth 
 Azrael ceased to appear to his son, who made so 
 many mistakes in his practice that his reputation 
 fast declined. 
 
 One day he had been at the funeral of a Jew, his 
 victim, and was stroUing down Wady-en-Nar,^ in 
 sad thought of his father, when he saw Azrael stand- 
 ing at the door of a cave. " In a few minutes you 
 
 1 Hell has seven gates, one of which is in Wady-en-Nar ; and the 
 Angel of Death has his workshop in one of the caves in that gloomy 
 valley, as appears in this story. 
 
180 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 are going to die," said the father sternly. "For 
 thwarting me in my duties, your life has been 
 shortened." The youth implored his mercy, falling 
 at his feet and kissing them, till Azrael said more 
 kindly, " Well, come into my workshop, and see 
 if your wits can find a way out of the difficulty. 
 Though I myself am powerless now to help you, 
 it is possible that you may yet help yourself." They 
 passed through a suite of seven chambers, the sides 
 of which looked hke the walls of an apothecary's 
 shop, being covered with shelves on which were 
 all sorts of bottles, tu:ns and boxes ; each of which, 
 as Azrael explained, contained the means of death 
 for some human being. Taking down a vessel, 
 he unscrewed its metal Ud, and it seemed to the son 
 as if some air escaped. " A certain youth," he ex- 
 plained " has to die within a few minutes by a fall 
 from his horse, and I have just let loose the ' afrit ' 
 who wiU scare that horse." Of a second vessel 
 he said, " This contains egg-shells of the safat, 
 a strange bird, which never alights, even when mating. 
 Its eggs are laid while on the wing and hatched 
 before they reach the ground. The shells only 
 fall to the earth, for the young are able to fly as soon 
 as they leave the egg. These shells are often found 
 and devoured by the greedy and blood-thirsty 
 shibeh,! which goes mad in consequence and bites 
 every creature that comes in its way, thus spreading 
 hydrophobia and giving me plenty of work." 
 
 I Shibeh (lit. " the leaper ") is one of the names of the leopard. 
 But in folk-lore it is described as a creature combining the char- 
 acteristics of the badger and the hyaena. 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 181 
 
 Thus they passed from room to room tiU they came 
 to a mighty hall, where, on rows upon rows of tables, 
 were myriads of earthen lamps of various forms 
 and sizes ; some of which burned brightly, others 
 with a doubtful flame, while many were going out. 
 " These are the lives of men," said Azrael. " It is 
 Gabriel's place to fill and hght them ; but he is 
 rather careless. See ! he has left his pitcher of 
 oil on the table next to you." " My lamp ! where 
 is my lamp ? " cried the son feverishly. The Angel 
 of Death pointed to one in the act of going out. 
 " father, for pity's sake, refill it ! " " That is 
 Gabriel's place, not mine. But I shall not take 
 your hfe for a minute, as I have got to collect those 
 lamps at the end of the hall, which have just gone 
 out." The son, left standing by his dying flame, 
 grasped Gabriel's pitcher and tried to pour some 
 oil into his vessel ; but in his nervous haste he upset 
 the lamp and put it out. Azrael came and took up 
 his son's empty lamp, carrying it back through 
 the rooms to the mouth of the cave, where the 
 dead body of the physician was found later. " Silly 
 feUow," he thought to himself. " Why must he 
 interfere in the work of angels. But at any rate 
 he cannot say I killed him." Azrael always finds 
 an excuse, as the saying goes. 
 
 Among the soldiers of Herod there was an Italian 
 named Francesco, a brave young man who had 
 distinguished himself in the wars and was a favourite 
 with his master as with all who knew him. He was 
 
182 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 gentle with the weak, kind to the poor, and except 
 in fair fight had never been known to hurt a living 
 thing. Children especially used to deUght in his 
 companionship. He had but one vice: he was an 
 inveterate gambler, and all his spare moments 
 were spent at cards. 
 
 Not only did he gamble himself, but he seemed 
 to take a special delight in persuading others to 
 foUow his example. He would waylay boys and 
 lads on their way to school, and apprentices sent 
 running upon errands, and entice them to try their 
 luck at a game. Nay, so infatuated did he become, 
 that he is said to have ventured to accost some 
 respectable Pharisees on their way to and from 
 the Temple and invite them to join him at his loved 
 diversion. At last, things went so far that the 
 Chief Priests and Rulers betook themselves to Herod 
 in a body and demanded his punishment. But 
 card-plajring happened to be a pastime in which 
 Herod himself deUghted so he did not take the 
 charge against Francesco very seriously. Only, 
 when the Jewish rulers kept on worrying him, he 
 gave the Italian his discharge, and bade him leave 
 Jerusalem and never again be seen within its 
 walls. 
 
 Francesco entered on a new course of life. Gather- 
 ing round him certain of his former comrades whose 
 time of service had expired, he became the leader 
 of a band of armed men whose business it was to 
 waylay travellers on their way to and from the 
 Holy City. Their principal haunt was a large 
 cave on the road a little to the north of El Bireh, 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 183 
 
 the ancient Beeroth. In no case were they guilty of 
 violence and they always let the poor go unmolested. 
 Their mode of procedure was singular. They used 
 to stop and surround travellers who seemed wealthy 
 and invite them to their cave to play a game with 
 Francesco. The travellers dared not refuse so 
 courteous an invitation when dehvered by a band 
 of armed brigands. They were poUtely welcomed 
 by the gambler, treated to wine, and made to stake 
 at cards whatever valuables they had with them. 
 If they won, they went undespoUed ; if they lost, 
 they were compassionated and begged to come 
 again with more money and try their luck a second 
 time. 
 
 This went on for a long while, till, on a certain 
 day, the sentinel on the look-out announced that 
 a party of pedestrians was in sight. " If they are 
 on foot," said the leader of the outlaws, " they are 
 not likely to have with them anything worth playing 
 for ; stUl, let us see. How many of them are there ? " 
 " Thirteen," was the answer. " Thirteen," said 
 Francesco musingly, " that is a curious number. 
 Now where was it that I met a party of just thirteen 
 men ? Ah ! now I remember ; it was at Capernaum, 
 where the Carpenter-rabbi of Nazareth cured the 
 servant of one of the centvu-ions belonging to our 
 legion. I wonder whether by any chance, he and 
 his twelve pupUs can be coming this way. I must 
 go and see for myself." So saying he came out 
 of the cave and joined the watchman at his point 
 of vantage. The travellers were now near enough 
 for Francesco to know them for Our Lord and His 
 
184 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 Apostles. He hastily called his men together, and 
 told them that this time a really good man and a 
 great prophet was coming, and that they must 
 hide away the cards and aU else that was sinful, 
 for this was qmte a different sort of person from the 
 hypocrites of Jerusalem. Leaving them to prepare 
 for the coming guests, he hurried down the road 
 and, saluting the Saviour and His companions, 
 pressed them, seeing evening was at hand and a storm 
 threatening, to honour him and his comrades by 
 spending the night with them. The invitation 
 was accepted, and Jesus and His followers became 
 the guests of the outlaws, who did their best to make 
 them comfortable and, after supper, gathered round 
 the Divine Teacher and, drinking in his gracious 
 words, wondered. Although in all He said there 
 was not a word that could be construed into blame 
 of their way of hfe, yet a sense of gmlt fell on them 
 as they hstened. The brigands made the guests 
 he down on their own rough beds, whilst they them- 
 selves wrapped their abayehs around them and 
 slept on the bare groimd. That night it was 
 Francesco's turn to keep the watch. It chanced 
 to strike him that the Saviour, lying fast asleep, 
 had not sufficient covering, so he took off his own 
 abftyeh and laid it over Him. He himself walked 
 up and down to keep warm, but could not help 
 shivering. Next morning, having breakfasted 
 with the outlaws, Jesus and His Apostles departed, 
 Francesco and some of his own men setting them on 
 their way. Before parting, the Saviour thanked 
 Francesco for his hospitality and that of his comrades 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 185 
 
 and asked whether it were in His power to gratify 
 any special wish he might have. " Not one, 
 Lord, but four," repKed the gambler. "What 
 are they ? " asked Jesus. " First," said Francesco, 
 "I am fond of playing cards, and I beg Thee to 
 grant that whoever I play with, whether human 
 or otherwise, I may always win. Next, that in 
 case I invite any one to sit upon a certain stone 
 seat at the door of our cave, he may not be able 
 to get up without my permission. Thirdly, there 
 is a lemon tree growing near the said cave, and I 
 ask that nobody who cUmbs it at my request, may 
 be able to descend to the ground unless I bid him. 
 And lastly, I beg that in whatever disguise Azrael 
 may come to take away my soul, I may detect 
 him before he come too near, and be ready for him." 
 On hearing these strange petitions, the Saviour 
 smiled sadly and answered, " My son, thou has 
 spoken childishly and not in wisdom. Still, that 
 which thou hast asked in thy simplicity shall be 
 granted, and I will add thereto the promise, that 
 when thou shalt see thy error, and desire to make 
 a fresh request, it shall be granted. Fare thee 
 weU." 
 
 Years passed away and many of Francesco's 
 comrades had left him, when one day the Angel 
 of Death, disguised as a wayfarer, was seen approach- 
 ing. Francesco knew him from afar, and when 
 Azrael came to the door of the cave, the gambler 
 invited him to sit down on the stone seat without. 
 Having seen the angel fairly seated, Francesco 
 cried, " I know thee. Thou hast come to take 
 
186 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 my soul, or the soul of one of my comrades, but I 
 defy thee ! I entertained the Lord of Life in this 
 cave years ago, and He gave me power to forbid 
 any one who sits on that seat to rise from it without 
 my leave." The angel at once struggled to get 
 up but found himself paralysed. Finding rage 
 of no avail, he humbly begged to be released. 
 Francesco extorted from him a solemn oath not to 
 seek his soul nor that of any of his comrades for 
 the space of fifteen years, then let him go. 
 
 The fifteen years passed, and Francesco now 
 dwelt alone in his cave as a godly hermit, when the 
 Angel of Death drew near once more. The recluse 
 at once withdrew into the cave and lay down on 
 his bed, groaning as if in agony. This time, Azrael 
 entered the cave dressed in a monk's habit. " What 
 ails thee, my son ? " he asked. " I have fever and 
 I thirst," came the reply. " I beg you to gather 
 a lemon for me off the tree which grows close 
 to the cave, and to mix a little of its juice with 
 water that my thirst may be slaked." As it wanted 
 yet some minutes of the time appointed, Azrael 
 saw in the request a good excuse for administer- 
 ing a mortal draught ; so he chmbed the tree to 
 reach the fruit. But, no sooner was he up in the 
 branches than he heard a laugh and, looking down, 
 beheld Francesco in the best of health. He strove 
 to descend but could not move without Francesco's 
 leave, which was not granted until he had pledged 
 his word to keep away for other fifteen years. 
 
 That term elapsed and Azrael came a third time. 
 " Do you intend to play any more vile tricks on me ? " 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 187 
 
 he inquired of Francesco, now an aged man. " Not 
 if you will grant me one favour," answered Francesco, 
 " and allow me to take my pack of cards into the 
 other world." " Will my giving you the permission 
 lead to some fresh practical joke at my expense ? " 
 " No, I most solemnly assure you," replied the old 
 man. Hereupon the Angel of Death snatched up 
 Francesco's soul and his pack of cards and went 
 with them to the gate of Paradise where St Peter 
 sits to admit the souls of the righteous. Francesco 
 was told to knock at the gate. He did so and it 
 was opened, but when the porter saw who it was, 
 and that he had brought his cards with him, he 
 slammed the door in his face. So Azrael hfted 
 the poor soul up again and descended with him 
 to the gate of Hell where Iblis sits, eager to seize 
 and torment dead sinners. On beholding who it 
 was that the Angel of Death had brought, he said 
 in great glee, " Here you are at last, my dear. I 
 have waited long for your arrival, and so have 
 many others with whom you played cards on Earth. 
 They all hope to see you beaten at your own game, 
 for as you did not allow travellers to reach the Holy 
 City tin they had played with you, so shall I not 
 allow you to roast on the red-hot coals tiU you have 
 played a game with me. You have your cards, 
 I see, so we wiU begin at once." So Francesco 
 and the Evil One began to play, and to the surprise 
 of both Francesco won the game. Satan insisted 
 on a fresh trial of skill, and when he was once more 
 defeated, he would insist on another trial, till at 
 last, when he had been beaten seven times, he lost 
 
188 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 his temper and drove out Francesco, saying that 
 he could not have any one in Hell who excelled 
 him in any thing even though it were a game. On 
 hearing this, fresh hope was roused in the poor 
 sinner's heart, and, recalling the Saviour's pledge 
 to grant him one more boon, he begged Azrael 
 who had stopped to watch the game to take liiTin 
 back to the gates of Paradise, as he felt sure the 
 Saviom" would not treat him as harshly as the Prince 
 of Saints and the chief of lost spirits had done. So 
 Azrael took the poor soul to Heaven's gate and it 
 once more knocked thereat, and when St Peter 
 opened, and would have driven it away, it pleaded 
 the Saviour's promise to grant one more boon. 
 So St Peter called his Master, Who, when Francesco 
 asked for admission, confessing that his Hfe had 
 been one great mistake and offering to throw away 
 his pack of cards, told Mar Butrus to let him ia; 
 and so the lifelong gambler entered Paradise. 
 
 VI 
 
 THE UNDERGEOUND FOLK — OtTR BETTERS — THE 
 NAME OF ALLAH BE ROUND ABOUT US ! 
 
 The people of Palestine, Christian as well as Moslem, 
 beheve in the existence of a race of beings of pre- 
 adamite origin, called by the general name of " J4n." ^ 
 Whilst the angels dwell in the heavens and have 
 
 ■ Genis. Under the name of Shedim the orthodox Jews also 
 believe in their existence and general character as here described. 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 189 
 
 various offices and forms differing according to their 
 respective abodes (those in the lowest heaven, for 
 instance, being shaped hke cows ; those in the 
 second, like falcons ; in the third, Kke eagles ; in 
 the fourth, Kke horses, and so on), the J4n are said 
 by the learned to be created out of the fire of the 
 " simum " which they describe as a fire lacking 
 both heat and smoke.^ They are said to dwell 
 chiefly in or amongst the Jebel Kaf, the range of 
 mountains which surrounds the earth. Some of 
 the J4n are good Moslems, and do not injure their 
 human co-reUgionists, but the greater number of 
 them are unclean infidels who take up their abode 
 in rivers, fountains, cisterns, ruined buildings, baths, 
 cellars, ovens, caves, sewers, and latrines. Some 
 of them choose as dwellings cracks in the walls 
 or under the door-steps or thresholds of inhabited 
 houses, so that it is very dangerous for people, 
 especially females, to sit on a door-step in the evening 
 when these night-prowHng evil spirits may do them 
 grievous bodily injury. The Jan are believed to 
 be able to assume any shape they please and to 
 change it at pleasure. Among the peasantry, there 
 is current another story as to their origin. It is 
 that our mother Eve, on whom be peace, used to 
 bring forth forty children at a birth, but being 
 unable to nurse more than half that number, she 
 picked out the twenty best ones and threw the 
 others away. She told Adam on each occasion 
 that she had borne only twenty; but he did not 
 believe her. He therefore asked Allah to let any 
 
 1 Mejr-ud-din, " Uns el Jelil " (Cairo Edition), vol. i. p. 15. 
 
190 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 children she had thrown away hve underground 
 and go abroad at night when aU men sleep. Thus 
 the Jka came into being. 
 
 The Jka are envious of us men and women, always 
 on the watch for a chance to injure us ; and unless 
 we say " bismiUah " whenever we begin any work, 
 or take anything out of our stores, they succeed 
 in robbing us. There is, at the present day, a man 
 living at Ain Karim who has experienced this to 
 his cost. He has a silly, froward daughter, who, 
 in spite of frequent warnings from her parents and 
 neighbours, wiU not invoke the Name. He was 
 a man of substance, and brought home provisions 
 in plenty, yet the blessing of AUah did not rest upon 
 his property. At length, perplexed and discouraged, 
 he had recourse to a great sheykh, who asked, 
 " Whom have you in the house ? " " My wife and 
 daughter." " Does your wife invoke the Name 
 of Allah ? " "I would not have married her if 
 she had not done so." " Does your daughter also 
 ' name ' ? " "I regret to say she does not." 
 " Then," said the sheykh, " don't let her touch 
 anything about the house, and get rid of her at 
 once ! " 
 
 The father acted on the sheykh's advice ; and no 
 sooner had he disposed of his daughter in marriage 
 than the Jfin ceased to trouble him ; but the bride- 
 groom, till then a thriving man, has not now enough 
 money to buy oil to keep a lamp burning through 
 the night.^ 
 
 Not only are the J4n men and women like our- 
 
 ■ None but the very poorest will sleep without a night-light. 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 191 
 
 selves, but they can, and sometimes do, intermarry 
 with the other sons and daughters of Adam, often 
 against the will of the latter, when these have 
 neglected to ask the protection of Allah. In proof 
 of this I will relate an incident that occurred some 
 years ago. 
 
 There was a man of the village of El Isawiyeh, 
 in the valley north of the Mount of OKves, who, 
 going down to reap his harvest in the neighbour- 
 hood of Ushwah, near Artuf, was not heard of for 
 nine years. It was said he had been devoured 
 by a hygena. But in the end he reappeared and 
 told his story. He was sleeping one night on the 
 threshing-floor to protect his store of dhurra when 
 he was awakened about midnight by a sound of 
 voices drawing near. Supposing it to be the tax- 
 gatherer and his assistant " khayaleh," ^ he lay 
 quite still for fear of being beaten. But it was a 
 party of the J4n, and, as, at lying down, he had 
 neglected through weariness to invoke the protec- 
 tion of AUah, so now, sudden fear kept him from 
 using that simple precaution, and left him at the 
 mercy of the demons. He did not realise who they 
 were tUl it was too late and he had become then- 
 victim. All he knew at first was that a woman 
 came and smote his forehead, and the blow bereft 
 him of all strength of wiU. She bade him follow 
 her, and he obeyed blindly. 
 
 When they had gone some distance from the 
 threshing-floor she told him she was his wife, and 
 that, unless he submitted to her desire, her brothers, 
 
 1 Irregular cavalry. 
 
192 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 who had seen him follow her, would kill him horribly. 
 Soon afterwards her brothers came up, when he 
 saw that they were jinnis. They told him he had 
 become one of themselves, and would thenceforth 
 be invisible to the eyes of men. 
 
 Nine years he belonged to the J4n, and took 
 part in all their depredations, till one day, when 
 they were lying hid among some ruins, he noticed 
 how his companions kept away from one of the 
 walls on which was a luxuriant growth of feyjan 
 or rue, and himself, out of curiosity went towards 
 it. At a shriek from his jinnlyeh of " Don't go near 
 those plants ! " he ran and plucked whole handfuls 
 from the wall. Then, looking romid, he saw that 
 the J^n had vanished, and he was free to return 
 to his human family. When the fellahin, his 
 neighbours, disbeheved this story, he asked after 
 a woman named " Ayesha," and was told that 
 her husband had repudiated her because she robbed 
 him and gave his goods to her brothers ; there was 
 no other supposition that could account for the 
 way things vanished from his house. Thus, one day, 
 he had filled a large " kh^bieh " or mud-built bin 
 with barley, but when he opened it on the morrow 
 it was empty, and, in spite of his wife's protestations, 
 he beUeved her to be the thief. The man who had 
 been with the J4n explained that he had asked for 
 the woman on purpose to prove her innocence and 
 his own truthfulness. He had been present when 
 the barley was carried off by the J4n, who knew 
 that the Divine Name was not habitually called 
 upon in that house. Other things that had been 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 193 
 
 missed from the village while he was away had been 
 carried off in hke manner. Since that time every- 
 one has been careful to gather handfuls of the plant 
 rue, and to keep it in his house ; and no good man 
 will begin a piece of work without invoking Allah, 
 the Merciful, the Compassionate ; and no respectable 
 woman will take even a handful of flour from its 
 receptacle without hkewise calling on the Most 
 High. 
 
 A certain young married couple, though hard- 
 working and economical, could not achieve prosperity, 
 because one thing after another kept disappearing 
 from the house. Did the wife put a bag of wheat 
 beside the hand-mill overnight, in the morning 
 it had vanished ; and if she put aside cooked meats 
 or preserves, they were sure to be spirited off. Her 
 husband had a mare which he greatly prized. 
 Every night, before going to bed, he fed the mare 
 himself, carefully locked the stable-door, and kept 
 the key under his piUow tiU the morning. One 
 morning, when he unlocked the door, the mare 
 was gone ; and, beheving her to have been stolen 
 by some human enemy, he trudged to the nearest 
 towns in which cattle-markets were held, in the 
 hope to recover her ; but in vain. At last he con- 
 cluded that Bedu from the Belka had somehow 
 gained possession of a false key, and used it to rob 
 his stable, so he set out for the country east of 
 Jordan, hoping to find his missing steed in some 
 Arab camp. 
 
194 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND • 
 
 At nightfall of the first day he found himself 
 in a narrow gorge, in the sides of which were many 
 caves. Seeing Ught in one of them, he supposed 
 some shepherds or camel-drivers were putting up 
 there for the night, and hastened to join them. 
 But on entering the cave, he saw it was full of the 
 J^n. Afraid to give offence by a retreat he saluted 
 them with as cheerful a voice as he could command. 
 They repUed pohtely in the common formula: 
 " Our house is thy house, our dwelling and aU that 
 it contains belongs to thee." 
 
 The demons, on the point of sitting down to supper, 
 invited the guest to share the meal with them; 
 and he nervously accepted the invitation. Among 
 other dishes there was one of rice and lentils mixed, 
 of which, at the entreaty of the J&.n, he partook 
 though sparingly. Supper ended, he thanked the 
 Jin ; and they rephed, " We have already told 
 you that everything here is yours." Then, looking 
 around him, the man fancied a resemblance between 
 the furniture of the cave and things which had 
 mysteriously disappeared from his own house. 
 There followed a conversation in the course of which 
 he told his hosts about the loss of his mare, and 
 whither he was going in the hope to find it. They 
 told him he need go no further, for the mare was 
 there with them, and he could have her for the 
 asking. He managed to frame the demand, and 
 the mare was brought to him at once. Dark as 
 it was, he would have moimted then and there 
 and started homeward, but his hosts invited him 
 to stay the night, and, as he feared to offend them, 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 195 
 
 he tied up the horse and remained. When he arose 
 next morning he found the cave empty, but his 
 mare still tethered in the same place where he had 
 put her before lying down to sleep. 
 
 Without mishap he rode back to his home, where 
 his wife welcomed him with the news that all the 
 things which had been missing had reappeared 
 in the night as miraculously as they had vanished. 
 Her joy was increased by the sight of the mare. 
 Her husband, who had had no breakfast, asked 
 for food ; when she at once produced a dish of lentils 
 mixed with rice, explaining, as she did so, that she 
 had cooked it the day before, but not being hungry 
 herself, had put it by for his return. Thereupon 
 she uncovered the dish, to start back in surprise. 
 "What is this?" she exclaimed. "When I put 
 this dish away yesterday, it was full and carefully 
 covered, and yet as you see somebody has had a 
 taste of it. It cannot have been the cat, for, though 
 she might have moved the cover, she could not 
 possibly have replaced it." The young man was 
 himself surprised when his wife said this, till, examin- 
 ing the dish, he knew it for the same from which 
 he had eaten at the request of the Jan. This fact 
 threw a new hght on his strange experience. " My 
 dear wife," he cried, " I now know the secret of our 
 late misfortunes. It is that we h tve neglected a 
 pious custom of our fathers, to name the name of 
 Allah at all seasons. Om- things were stolen by 
 the J^n, through that neglect. Let us mend our 
 ways henceforth." Needless to say, from that day 
 forward the couple were careful to ask the Divine 
 
196 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 blessing on all they undertook, and thus, to the end 
 of their days, enjoyed the protection of the Most 
 High. 
 
 Not only is it held foolhardy to sit on the door- 
 step or the threshold of a house, especially about 
 sunset, but it is dangerous to call any animal, even 
 the smallest insect, without at the same time point- 
 ing at the object ; because many of the Jka. and other 
 demons are named after animals and other things 
 in nature, and should the name be used without 
 the gesttu-e, some jinni will think that he is called, 
 and will take advantage of the mistake to harm 
 the person calHng him. A perfect midtitude of 
 the JS,n may thus be summoned inadvertently, 
 for among them, as among men, some names are 
 common. For instance : — 
 
 A certain woman who had no children, but who 
 longed for ofispring, sat one evening on her door- 
 step, ignorant of danger, when she noticed a black 
 beetle crawUng along the road. " I want a child," 
 said the woman, " even though she be only a girl 
 and as black as a beetle. Khunufseh ! ^ won't 
 you come and be my daughter? " With that she 
 rose and went into the house. Some time later, 
 to her vast surprise, she actually gave birth to a 
 whole swarm of black beetles. " Lord ! " said 
 she, " I only asked for one. Whatever shall I do 
 with all these hundreds ? I will sweep them up 
 into the basket where I put dry dung," and carry 
 them to the tabun and bm-n them aU." She did 
 so, but, on the point of returning to the house, she 
 
 1 Blackbeetle. ^ Fuel for the tabun or hovel-oven, 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 197 
 
 noticed that one of the creatures had escaped 
 destruction by cKnging with its feet to the wicker- 
 work. " Well," she considered, " I did ask for one. 
 I will make a pet of this beetle, which, after all, 
 is my child." So she took the insect home and 
 made a pet of it. It grew bigger and bigger, and 
 in time, to the mother's joy, developed into a dark 
 maiden whom she named Khuneyfseh.^ The 
 creature, however, was a ghuleh, one of the most 
 dreadful enemies of the human race ; and she was 
 rapidly growing big and strong. At length, upon a 
 day, her mother bade her take four loaves of bread 
 and a plate of leben to her supposed father who was 
 ploughing. The monster ate up the bread and the 
 leben on her way, and when she came up to the 
 ploughman she swallowed him and his yoke of oxen. 
 Then she returned, and said to her mother, " I 
 have devoured the four loaves and the leben, as well 
 as the ploughman and his oxen, shall I also swallow 
 you and the dough which you are kneading ? " 
 " Do so," rephed her mother, who thought her 
 precious child was only jesting. The ghuleh at 
 once gobbled up her mother, the dough, and the 
 kneading trough. She went next to her grand- 
 mother who was spinning, and said, " Grandmother, 
 I have eaten the four loaves and the leben, the 
 ploughman with his yoke of oxen, the troughful 
 of the dough with its kneader. Shall I eat you ? " 
 " Do so, my child, if you hke," said the old woman, 
 and was instantly devoured together with her 
 spinning wheel. Then Khuneyfseh went out of 
 
 ' Little blackbeetle. 
 
198 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 the village. Seated upon the dunghill, after the 
 manner of viUage-elders, she found an old, wise 
 man, who, though she knew it not, happened to 
 be armed with a two-edged dagger. Accosting 
 him, " sheykh," she said, " I have devoured the 
 four loaves and the leben, the ploughman with his 
 yoke of oxen, the kneader with the troughful of 
 dough, and the old woman with her spinning-wheel. 
 Shall I devour you ? " Now that old man was 
 wise and the owner of experience. From the manner 
 of the dark girl's speech he guessed with what he 
 had to deal, and so he answered, " Very well, my 
 daughter, devour me if it please you." But when 
 she came near, he struck with his dagger and killed 
 her. Then he cut her open, when lo ! there came 
 forth from her belly, whole and mihurt, the four 
 loaves and the leben, the ploughman and his oxen, 
 the kneader with her troughful of dough, and the 
 old woman with her spinning-wheel. Since then 
 people have learnt not to sit on door-steps ^ in the 
 evening, and not to speak to any Uving creature, 
 except it be human, without pointing to it. 
 
 Another story illustrative of the danger people 
 run by calling animals by their names without at 
 the same time pointing to them is often heard. 
 
 A young peasant woman had one day so much 
 to do that it was not till evemng that she found 
 time to knead the bread. By the time it was ready 
 
 1 It is not uncommon among the natives of Palestine for a man or a 
 woman to bury a charm under the threshold over which some enemy 
 is bound to pass. A woman known to me, who was servant m an 
 English family, thus buried the shoulder-blades of a sheep covered 
 over with curses at a gate through which another servant had to go. 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 199 
 
 night had come, and it had grown so dark that she 
 was afraid to go, unaccompanied, to the village 
 oven.^ She begged her husband to escort her ; 
 but he ridiculed her fears, and just when she was 
 setting out called to a he-goat tethered in the yard, 
 " Here, O he-goat ! take her ! take her ! " He 
 meant it as a joke, and was surprised when she 
 did not return. He went to the oven, she was not 
 there. No one in the hamlet had seen her. He 
 inquired at every house, searched the whole district, 
 but in vain. Unable to beheve that she had gone 
 off with another man, since he knew her heart was 
 his, he could not accomit for her disappearance 
 to himself or to his neighbours, who began to suspect 
 that he had killed her for infidehty.^ 
 
 One day, when the bereaved husband was 
 ploughing, an aged derwish came up and entered 
 into conversation with him. The peasant bemoaned 
 the loss of his wife. " How much will you give 
 me if I tell you how to recover her ? " asked the 
 derwish. " You shall have this yoke of oxen," 
 repUed the peasant eagerly. " They would be 
 useless to me," said the recluse, laughing, " but give 
 me something to eat and I shall be satisfied." 
 
 The ; peasant took the derwish to his house and 
 set before him of the best he had. When the guest 
 had done eating, he said, " I am certain that your 
 wife is abducted by some jinni to whom your foohsh 
 
 ' Ar. tabun. 
 
 2 As every husband has a right to do, unless he prefer to hand her 
 over to her brothers, or nearest male relations; that they may them- 
 selves put her to death for her sin. 
 
200 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 jest gave power to harm her. I therefore advise 
 you to go this evening to such and such a cave 
 in such and such a wady, the usual trysting-place 
 of the J4n in this district. As soon as you see the 
 cave Kghted up after sunset, enter boldly and demand 
 yoiu" wife from those within." 
 
 The peasant did as he was told. That same 
 evening he took up his station near the cave described 
 to him, and, as soon as he saw light stream from it, 
 called Allah to aid and boldly entered. Within, 
 the king of aU the Jka was holding court. The 
 peasant, undismayed, demanded his wife. The 
 demon-king seemed neither sm-prised nor offended 
 by his tone of authority, but quietly inquired of his 
 subjects present whether any one knew where the 
 woman was. " I saw her in our own country, 
 the Jebel K&f, a short time since, in such a place," 
 said one. " How long wiU it take you to fetch her, 
 O Camel ? " asked the monarch. " Jebel Kaf is 
 a long way off, and I should need three years to go 
 there and return," was the reply. Then the ruler 
 of the Jan asked another demon named " Horse " 
 how much time he would need in order to fetch the 
 woman, and he said, " Three months." A third 
 jinni named " Wind," being asked the same question, 
 repUed, " Three weeks." All the rest of the J&n 
 answered in tm-n each naming the time he required 
 to do the errand. At last the king asked the man 
 to detail the circumstances under which he had lost 
 his wife, especially the words which he had used 
 at parting from her. The peasant then confessed 
 that he had thoughtlessly handed his wife over 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 201 
 
 to "He-goat." On hearing this the king ordered 
 the jinni thus named at once to restore the woman 
 to her rightful husband ; which he did. 
 
 A shepherd once, after folding his flock for the 
 night, went to sleep in a cave. He awoke about 
 midnight to find himself in the presence of a large 
 party of the Jan. Afraid to give offence, and being 
 curious, he lay still with half- closed eyes, pretending 
 to sleep. 
 
 The leader of the party sent out some of his 
 followers to forage for provisions. These soon 
 returned with plenty of aU kinds of food, and the 
 Jan feU to with a reUsh. 
 
 Among the dehcacies was a large tray of 
 " bakMweh " round which the whole party gathered. 
 Just then a young female suggested that they should 
 wake the sleeper and make him join them at the meal. 
 The others, however, objected on the ground that 
 he might ask a blessing on the food, and thus compel 
 them to disperse and leave behind them aU that 
 they had brought together out of the houses of 
 people who were not used to name the Name. " We 
 wiU put a large helping on a tray beside him, for 
 him to eat when he wakes up. By that time we 
 shall have gone, and his blessing, if he ask one, will 
 not hurt us." 
 
 Hearing this, the shepherd sat up suddenly and 
 exclaimed, " Bismillah er Rahman er RaWm " 
 (In the Name of AUah, the Merciful, the Compas- 
 sionate), as one awaking, startled, in strange company. 
 At the Name, the Jan all vanished, screaming. 
 The shepherd then slept undisturbed tiU morning, 
 
202 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 when he found the cavern stocked with provisions 
 sufl&cient to last his family for a whole year. He 
 accepted them as a gift from AUah, and had them 
 conveyed to his own house." 
 
 It is of the utmost consequence to remember 
 that the Jkn should always be treated with respect. 
 On entering an empty room, a cellar, cave, or even 
 when sweeping a room which has for some time 
 stood empty, one should never forget to say 
 " Dusturkxun ya mubarakin " (by your permission, 
 blessed ones),^ or, for short, " Dustur " (permission). 
 The same formula should be used whenever one is 
 carrying fire or water, so that the spirits rnay get 
 out of the way, and not run the risk of a wetting 
 or of getting burnt by accident. The safest way, 
 however, is habitually to invoke the Name and 
 protection of Allah. 
 
 Enghsh people are often shocked at the frequency 
 with which Easterns use the Name of Allah, re- 
 garding it as a breach of the third Commandment ; 
 but not reaUsing that they are merely following a 
 practice, which from their infancy they have been 
 accustomed to look upon as belonging to the very 
 essentials of reUgion, and the object of which is 
 protection from the powers of evil.^ The im- 
 
 1 " Thou blessed one ! " are the words with which you should 
 address a serpent, if you have the misfortune to meet one un- 
 expectedly. 
 
 2 The devil once had a bet with someone that he would obtain a 
 meal in a cerUin city renowned for piety. He entered house after 
 house at dinner-time, but was always frustrated by the name of 
 Allah tillj by good luck, he happened on the dwelling of a Prankish 
 consul who, when Iblis entered, was at table wrestling with a tough 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 203 
 
 portance attached to the practice has been already 
 explained, but is further illustrated by the following 
 tales. 
 
 There was once a good woman whose husband 
 was so poor that when their only knife got broken, 
 he could not buy her another. Want of a knife 
 caused her great inconvenience as her neighbours 
 were not always wiUing to lend their things. Thus, 
 one day when her husband brought home a sheep's 
 lights and hver for her to cook, and she went to a 
 neighbour whose husband was very rich, and begged 
 for the loan of a knife, she was refused it, and re- 
 turned home greatly hurt and very angry. For want 
 of a knife she was compelled to tear the raw flesh 
 asunder with her teeth and nails, just as if she had 
 become a ghuleh, for the ghuls do not know the 
 use of iron. In her vexation she forgot to " name," 
 and the J4n at once took advantage of the omission. 
 A sudden whirlwind swept her off her feet and down 
 through a crack in the floor. When at last the 
 motion ceased, and she had recovered her senses 
 sufficiently to look about her, she was in a large, 
 well-furnished room, which seemed empty save 
 for a handsome Persian cat.^ Noticing that the 
 creature was soon to have kittens she stroked her, 
 saying, " The mention of Allah be upon you ! AJlah 
 grant you full recovery ! " The animal appeared 
 to understand, and showed great pleasure by purring 
 
 beefsteak. "Devil take this meat," said the consul, and the devil 
 took it. — Ed. 
 
 1 For Moslem ideas about cats, see the chapter on animal 
 folk-lore. 
 
204 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 and rubbing up against her. Suddenly sounds 
 were heard as of a crowd approaching, when the 
 cat observed in Arabic, " Get under that chair 
 and fear nothing." The visitor had just time to 
 obey before a number of the Jkn trooped in, sniffing 
 the air and saying, " We smell the smeU of a human 
 being. If it is an old man, he is our father ; if an 
 old woman, she is our mother ; if it is a young man 
 or a young woman, he or she shall be our brother 
 or sister ; if a boy or girl, they also shall receive 
 fraternal treatment. Show yourself and fear not, 
 for we honour guests, and they are perfectly safe 
 in our company." 
 
 On this the woman left her hiding-place, and 
 greeted the new-comers, who used her kindly and 
 set good food before her. After the lapse of a 
 decent interval, she humbly begged to be sent 
 home. The whirlwind which had brought her 
 there, itself a jinni, was called and asked if she had 
 come of her own free-will. The wind acknowledged 
 that it had brought her against her wiU, because, 
 in a moment of worry, she had not " named." " In 
 that case, she may go home again," said the leader 
 of the Jan. But before she went he made her loosen 
 the string of her Hb^s, and filled that sackKke gar- 
 ment with onion peels. Then the whirlwind caught 
 her, and she was at home again. 
 
 It suddenly struck her that the contents of her 
 pantaloons were very heavy for mere onion peels. 
 She could not move for the weight of them, so made 
 haste to take them out, when, to her amazement 
 and dehght, she found they were all gold pieces. 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 205 
 
 Being a prudent woman, she said no word of her 
 good fortune to the neighbours, but hid the money 
 away till her husband came home, when she told 
 him what had happened to her, and showed him 
 the treasure. The couple kept their own counsel, 
 and purchased cattle and land so gradually that their 
 neighbours beUeved their prosperity to be the result 
 of industry. 
 
 One person could not credit this, and that was 
 the woman who had refused to lend a knife. Envy 
 made her suspicious, and she gave her friend no 
 peace tiU she had found out the secret. Having 
 learnt it, she went straight home and made her 
 husband bring the hghts and hver of a sheep, which 
 she tore to pieces with her teeth and nails, at the 
 same time omitting to " name." The immediate 
 result of her dehberate and studied action was the 
 same as of her neighbour's inadvertence. A whirl- 
 wind whisked her down into the bowels of the earth, 
 and she found herself in the room where sat the 
 Persian cat. But her behaviour was the very 
 opposite of that of the good woman. She abused 
 the cat, and even dared to say she hoped it would 
 not live to see its kittens. AVhen from her hiding- 
 place under the chair she heard the J4n assuring 
 her of her safety, she rudely neglected to salute 
 them when she came forth. Having devoured the 
 food set before her with great greediness, she de- 
 manded to be sent home. 
 
 The Jan, who took no notice of her rudeness, 
 then inquired of the whirlwind whether she had 
 come of her own free-will. " Yes," was the answer. 
 
206 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 Then the chief of the J&n bade her loose her trousers, 
 filled them with gold coins, and had her carried 
 home. But when she got there, and had closed 
 the doors and windows, she found her trousers 
 full of spiders, scorpions, and centipedes, which 
 soon put an end to her wicked life. 
 
 Noticing that a native nulkman, a fellah from 
 Siloam, was always in the habit of invoking the Name 
 of Allah before measvu-ing the milk which he handed 
 over to our servant every morning, I one day 
 asked him why he did so. " Oh," said he, " it is 
 always good to ' name,' and we feUahin always 
 do so when we put our hands into a vessel or com- 
 mence work of any kind." I said : " I quite agree 
 with you that we ought always to ask God to bless 
 us in anything we undertake, but, supposing you 
 were to omit this precaution, what do you think 
 would happen ? " " We should most certainly fall 
 into the power of the Jan," repUed the man very 
 earnestly, adding, " Ism illah hawwaleynah " (the 
 Name of Allah be around us!). "How?" I 
 inquired ; when, setting down his pitcher of mUk, 
 he told the following story : — 
 
 The son of a great Arab sheykh, a most accom- 
 plished youth, was sent forth by his father to travel 
 and see the world. One day, arriving at a certain city, 
 he chose a site for his tent, and bade his servants 
 pitch it while he went and strolled through the 
 markets. He had never before been within the 
 walls of a city, and was so much interested in what 
 he saw, that he spent more time than he had in- 
 tended ; and when he at last thought of returning 
 
roEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 207 
 
 to his camp it was night, and he could not find the 
 way. Coming by chance upon a large open space, 
 he resolved to sleep there till morning ; so, wrapping 
 himself in his 'ab&yeh he lay down upon the bare 
 ground, saying : "In the Name of AUah, the 
 Merciful, the Compassionate, I place my confidence 
 in Allah, and commend myself to the protection 
 of the owner of this field." 
 
 Now the J4n were celebrating a wedding-feast 
 that night, and invited the jinni of that particular 
 field to the feast. He refused saying that he had 
 a guest and could not leave him. " Bring him too," 
 said the merrymakers. " That is impossible," was 
 the reply, " because he ' named ' as well. I am 
 therefore responsible for his safety." " WeU, this 
 is what you can do," said the J4n. " The sultan has 
 a lovely daughter shut up in the castle. Take him 
 to her in his sleep, and leave him with her while you 
 come to the wedding. Before daybreak, you can put 
 him back again. So he will be quite happy, and no 
 harm wiU befall him." The host was pleased 
 with this suggestion and at once acted upon it. The 
 youth awoke towards midnight to find himself 
 lying in a luxurious bed by the side of a beautiful 
 maiden, on whose sleeping form the tapers in tall 
 golden candlesticks shed a subdued Ught. He was 
 lost in wonder and delight, when her eyes opened on 
 him ; and he saw the like rapture dawn in them. 
 They held loving converse, exchanged their seal- 
 rings, and then sank back to sleep. When the 
 youth awoke the second time, to find himself 
 on a piece of waste land near the wall of the city. 
 
208 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 he was at first inclined to regard his night's adven- 
 ture as a bUssful dream ; but when he saw on his 
 finger the signet-ring which his lady had placed 
 there he had no doubt of the reaUty of that strange 
 experience, and made up his mind not to leave the 
 city until he had solved the mystery. 
 
 The princess was equally astonished, when she 
 awoke, to find only a ring to confirm her recollections 
 of the night. In time she became with child ; but 
 the sultan, her father, being passionately fond of 
 her, could not make up his mind to kill her, as was 
 his duty, since she had no brothers. Her strange' 
 story, and the sight of the signet-ring which her 
 unknown love had given her, made him resolve to 
 spare her hfe ; for he knew the power and malice 
 of the J&n, and saw their hand in the matter. So 
 when his daughter had been safely deUvered of a 
 son, he sent her and the child into exile without 
 other attendants than one aged nurse. 
 
 Now the town to which she was sent happened 
 to be the same in which her lover still dwelt in the 
 hope of obtaining news of her. She abode there 
 in obscurity devoting herself to the child, who 
 would let no one but his mother carry him, and cried 
 whenever any one else tried to take him up. One 
 day, when the exiled princess was tired of fondling 
 him, she told her female attendant to take him out 
 of doors. While the nurse was carrjdng him in the 
 streets, she chanced to pass a place where the 
 young Bedawi was sitting Hstlessly. Something in 
 the child's crying touched his heart, and he asked 
 the woman to let him take the Kttle man. The 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 209 
 
 moment the transfer was made the child stopped 
 crying as if by magic and began to laugh, which 
 so pleased the unconscious father, that, before 
 handing him back to the nurse, he bought him loads 
 of sweet-meats from a passing vendor. 
 
 The woman, going back to her mistress, extolled 
 the beauty and goodness of the youth who had 
 quieted the baby for her. A hope at once flashed 
 upon the mother's mind. She commanded the 
 nurse to take her to that young man. 
 
 The couple, meeting, knew one another, and the 
 signet-rings confirmed their intuitions. They were 
 married forthwith, and with the Sultan's favour ; 
 and it is said that they Kved happy ever after. 
 
 When the milkman had finished his story, I said, 
 " would it not have been better for the young man 
 to have invoked the name of Allah without putting 
 himself imder the protection of the jinni ? Had he 
 trusted in Allah alone, aU this would not have 
 happened." " No," was the answer, " AUah only 
 does good. Had he omitted to claim protection 
 from the owner of the field, the jinni would have 
 hurt him, if not carried him off while he slept. By 
 claiming hospitahty he prevented anything of that 
 sort, and so nothing but good resulted to him." 
 
 A feUaheh of El WelejehUost an eye a few years 
 
 1 A village about nine miles S.W. of Jerusalem, and on the 
 Jerusalem-Jaffa railway line. 
 
 
210 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 ago, under the following strange circumstances, 
 related by another feU^heh. 
 
 She was returning from Jerusalem, and as she 
 was passing the fountain named " Ain El Hamyeh," 
 she heard a frog croak. Looking round she noticed 
 close to the stream a female frog much advanced in 
 pregnancy, and she thoughtlessly but iU-naturedly 
 said to the creature, " Allah grant that you may not 
 be dehvered of your child till I be called to act as 
 your midwife." Having uttered this unkind speech, 
 the woman went her way. In the evening she re- 
 tired to rest with her children, whose father had died 
 in the war, around her ; but what was her terror 
 when, awaking diu-ing the night, she found herself 
 in a cave surrounded by strange and angry lookiog 
 people, one of whom sternly told her that if she 
 ventm-ed " to name " she was a dead woman. " If 
 we, who Uve below," said he, " come to you who 
 Uve above-ground, then it is a protection for you 
 " to name " ; but if, as in your case, one of you 
 intrudes needlessly and ofl&ciously on us, " naming " 
 will not help you. What harm had my wife done 
 you that you should cm-se her as you did this after- 
 noon ? " "I do not know, nor have I ever seen 
 your wife," repUed the woman in terror. " She was 
 the pregnant frog you spoke to at 'Ain El Hamyeh,' " 
 was the answer ; " when we who Kve imderground, 
 want to go abroad by day-time, we generally assume 
 the form of some animal. My wife took that of the 
 frog you saw. You cursed her and mentioned ' the 
 Name.' She was in the pangs of labour but, in 
 consequence of yom: cruel malediction, cannot be re- 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 211 
 
 lieved till you assist her. I warn you therefore that 
 unless she give birth to a boy, it will go hard with 
 you." He then led her to where his wife lay, with 
 females round her. The woman from El Welejeh, 
 though ahnost frightened out of her wits, did her 
 best for the uncanny patient, who soon gave birth 
 to a fine boy. When the father was informed of 
 the happy event he handed the human midmfe a 
 " mukhaleh " or kohl-vessel and told her to apply 
 some of its contents to the infant's eyes in order 
 that they might become dark and bright. When 
 doing so she noticed that the baby's eyes, hke 
 those of the other Jan around her, differed from 
 those of ordinary men and women, in that the 
 pupil was longitudinal and vertical. When she had 
 applied the kohl to the little one's eyes, she took 
 the bodkin which she had used and put some kohl 
 to one of her own eyes, but before she had time to 
 put kohl to the other the female Jan, who noticed 
 what she was doing, angrily snatched the " muk- 
 haleh " from her. They then bade her loosen one 
 of her long flowing sleeves, in which, hke other 
 Syrian peasant-women she was wont to carry 
 things, and filled it with something, though she did 
 not know what. They next blind-folded her and 
 led her out of the cave. When they told her she 
 might uncover her eyes, she, on looking around her, 
 found herself standing alone at " Ain El Hamyeh." 
 Being curious to know what was in her sleeve she 
 opened it and found a quantity of onion-peels which 
 she promptly threw away. A few minutes later she 
 reached her home, where she found her children stUl 
 
312 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 asleep. As she was preparing to lie down, some- 
 thing feU out of her sleeve. She picked it up and 
 found it was a piece of gold. ReaUzing the true 
 nature of the supposed onion-peels she had thrown 
 away, she at once hurried back to the fountain, and 
 sure enough found the onion-peels lying untouched, 
 but aU of them turned into gold coins. Gathering 
 them up eagerly she returned home, and as there were 
 still some hours tiU dayhght, lay down and went to 
 sleep. On awaking next morning, she thought that 
 she must have dreamt all that has been narrated. 
 When, however, one of her children told her that 
 one of her eyes had kohl in it and the other not ; 
 and, above aU, when she saw her store of gold coin, 
 she was convinced that she had not been dreaming 
 but was now a wealthy woman. 
 
 Some time afterwards she went to El Kuds to 
 " howij," i.e. to do some shopping. As she was 
 standing close to the draper's shop — you know the 
 Jewish draper whose shop is just in front of the 
 wheat-bazaar — she saw the being whom she had 
 assisted in her confinement, minghng with the 
 crowd and pilfering as she went from shop to 
 shop. The woman from El Welejeh went up to 
 her, and, touching her shoulder, asked her why she 
 did so. Being frightened by the Jinniyeh's angry 
 look, she stooped and kissed the baby. The people 
 who stood by thought her mad when, as they sup- 
 posed, they saw her kissing the air, for, as they had 
 not had J^n's kohl appUed to their eyes they were 
 unable to see what was going on. The Jinniyeh, 
 however, said angrily, " What ! are you going to 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 213 
 
 disgrace us ? " and straightway poking a finger into 
 the poor woman's eye — the eye which had the kohl 
 in it — she bhnded it on the spot. What misfortune 
 might have happened had she appHed J^n's kohl to 
 both eyes, Allah only knows, but this seems certain, 
 namely, that by reason of their having such curiously- 
 formed eyes, the J^n can see and know many things 
 which ordinary mortals cannot ; and their kohl 
 helps them to a sort of second-sight which we do 
 not possess. You very rarely meet common people 
 who have such eyes. There is perhaps scarcely one 
 in ten thousand, but that one sees and can do things 
 which other people cannot, and therefore the Mug- 
 hlribeh (Arabs of North Africa) who by the powers 
 of magic know where hidden treasm'e may be found, 
 are always on the look-out for such persons, in hopes 
 of obtaining their assistance. 
 
 A mason, nearly related to one of my neighbours 
 rose very early one morning to go to his work. As 
 the fuU moon was shining he did not reahse how 
 early it was. Going along, he was overtaken by a 
 wedding-procession, all bearing torches, the women 
 uttering their zagharit. As they were going the 
 same way, he kept up with them out of curiosity, 
 noticing only that the men looked grim and fierce. 
 One of the women gave him a Hghted taper, which 
 he accepted. He now realized the true character of 
 these people whom he had taken for Circassians ; but, 
 having the presence of mind instantly to invoke the 
 aid of Allah and all the saints (he is a member of 
 
214 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 the Orthodox Greek Church), his dread companions 
 vanished ; and he found himself alone in the street 
 with a donkey's leg-bone in his hand. Terribly 
 frightened, he went straight home and was very ill 
 for a long while afterwards. 
 
 VII 
 
 NURSERY TALES ^ 
 
 Allah had given a certain woman seven sons, 
 and she was very thankful for them, but for all that 
 she longed to have a daughter and asked Allah 
 to let her have one. One day, as she was passing 
 through the market, she saw some fair, white goat's 
 milk cheese exposed for sale ; and the sight so moved 
 her that she exclaimed, " my Lord ! Allah ! 
 Give me, I entreat, a daughter as white and lovely 
 as this cheese, and I wiU caU her " Ijbeyneh." ^ 
 Her prayer was heard, and in due time she became 
 the mother of a beautiful girl with a complexion 
 like goats' milk cheese, the neck of a gazelle, blue 
 eyes, black hair, and a rose on either cheek. The 
 child was named " Ijbeyneh " and every one who 
 saw her loved her, with the exception of her cousins 
 who were very jealous. 
 
 When Ijbeyneh was about seven years old, these 
 cousins, at her own request, took her with them on 
 
 1 The story of Khuneyfsehj which properly falls under this heading, 
 was told in the foregoing chapter in connection with the Jan, as illus- 
 trating some of the ideas in vogue concerning them. 
 
 2 The diminutive of jibn = cheese. 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 215 
 
 an excursion into the forest,^ where they were in 
 the habit of going in order to pick the fruit of the 
 " Za'rur." ^ The child, having filled her square 
 Unen head-veil (" tarbi'ah "), with the berries, laid it 
 at the foot of a tree and wandered picking flowers. 
 When she returned to the place where she had left 
 her head-veil, she found bad berries instead of the 
 beauties she had gathered, and her cousins gone. 
 She wandered hither and thither through the " hish," 
 caUing to them, but received no answer. She tried 
 to find her way home, but went further astray. At 
 last a ghul, out hunting, came up and would have 
 devoured her, but, Ijbeyneh being Allah's gift to 
 her parents, and so protected, instead of eating 
 her up the monster pitied her. She cried, " O my 
 imcle ! teU me which way my cousins have gone." 
 He answered, " I do not know, Beloved, but come 
 and Uve with me until your cousins come back 
 and seek you." Ijbeyneh consenting, he took her 
 to his house on the top of a high mountain. There 
 she became his shepherdess, and he grew very fond 
 of her, and daily brought choice game for her to eat. 
 For aU that she was most unhappy, weeping often 
 for her home and parents. Now the doves belong- 
 ing to her parents, which she had been used to feed, 
 missed Ijbeyneh very much, and made search for 
 her upon their own account. One day they espied 
 her afar off, and came to her, showing their joy by 
 
 1 The " hish," thick brushwood, is dignified with that name in 
 Palestine. 
 
 ^ Crategus Azarolus, the berries are edible and make a delicious 
 jelly. 
 
216 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 settling on her shoulders and nestUng to her cheeks, 
 as they had used to do. And when Ijbeyneh saw 
 them she wept tears of joy and said to them : 
 
 " O ye doves of my mother and father, 
 O greet ye my mother and father, 
 Tell them that Ijbeyneh, the dear one, 
 Keeps sheep upon the high mountain." ' 
 
 Ijbeyneh's naughty cousins had gone home and 
 reported her as lost, without saying that they had 
 purposely deserted her. Her father and her brothers 
 sought everywhere ; her mother wept herself 
 almost blind, exclaiming that Allah had punished 
 her for not being content with seven sons ; and it 
 was noticed that the very doves seemed mournful, 
 and did not coo as of old. One day, however, the 
 behaviour of the birds changed suddenly. From 
 mournful they became lively and seemed anxious 
 to make their owners understand something. Their 
 dumb efforts were apparent to the neighbours, 
 one of whom suggested that the parents of Ijbeyneh 
 should try and discover which way the birds went 
 every day, and follow them. The father, the 
 brothers, and a number of sympathisers set out 
 on the quest. They found that the doves flew 
 straight to the summit of a certain mountain and 
 there settled. Climbing forthwith, they found the 
 missing girl, who was full of joy to see them. They 
 then took all the goods, cattle, poultry, and what- 
 
 ■ " Ya Haramam ummi wa abi, 
 Sallirau 'ala ummi wa abi, 
 Kulu an Ijbeyneh el ghalieh 
 Ibtir'a ghanam fi el Jebel el 'alieh." 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 217 
 
 not belonging to the ghul, who was out hunting, 
 and returned. When the ghul, came home to find 
 Ijbeyneh gone and his house looted, he burst asunder 
 from grief and died. But when Ijbeyneh had told 
 her story and it was known that her cousins had 
 taken away her berries and left her alone in the 
 wilderness, people were furious. A crier was sent 
 through the district, crying, " Let every one who 
 loves justice bring a fiery ember ! " So a great 
 fire was made, and the wicked httle girls were bm-nt 
 to ashes as they deserved. But Ijbeyneh grew up 
 and eventually the son of the sultan saw and married 
 her. 
 
 There once was a clever man named Uhdey-dun 
 who hved in a strong castle ^ on the top of a steep 
 rock. He was at emnity with a dreadful ghuleh, 
 who devastated the country and hved with her 
 three daughters in a gloomy cave in a wady near 
 the desert. In those days fire-arms were unknown, 
 and so Uhdey-dun could not shoot either the ghuleh 
 or her children, but he had a sharp hatchet and 
 long packing needle ^ as well as other things. The 
 ghuleh had nothing but a copper cauldron in which 
 she cooked the food for herself and her children. 
 But they very often did not take the trouble to 
 cook, but ate their food raw, and as they had no 
 knife, they used to tear the flesh with their teeth, 
 and break the bones by hammering them with a 
 stone. 
 
 ' Or palace ; Ar. kusr. ^ Ar. umsulleh. 
 
218 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 However, the ghuleh had an advantage over her 
 adversary in this respect, that she could change 
 her form at will. 
 
 Well, one day the ghuleh came in the guise of an old 
 woman to the foot of the rock on which Uhdey-dun's 
 house stood, and called out : " O Uhdey-dun, my 
 uncle, won't you accompany me to the forest ^ 
 to-morrow that we may get some wood ? " Now 
 Uhdey-dun was sharp and he knew that if the ghuleh 
 got hold of him all alone she would kill and eat him. 
 So, not to offend her, he answered, " Do not take 
 the trouble to come here for me, for I will meet you 
 in the forest to-morrow morning." Next morning, 
 very early, Uhdey-dun, who knew of a very short 
 way to the forest, took his hatchet and long 
 needle and a sack and went there. He was there 
 long before the ghuleh reached the spot, and he at 
 once cut down a great deal of wood and filled his 
 sack, leaving a hollow place in the middle into which 
 he crawled. He then tied up the sack and remained 
 perfectly quiet till the ghuleh appeared. How he 
 managed to tie up the sack when he was inside it 
 I do not know, but he was a clever man. In time 
 the ghuleh came, and when she saw the sack and 
 smelt Uhdey-dun, she looked about for him, but 
 could not find him. At last, tired of hunting for 
 him, she said, " I shall carry this sackful of wood 
 to my cave, and then come back to kiU my enemy." 
 So she hfted the sack and put it on her back. As 
 soon as she had gone a few steps, Uhdey-dun gave 
 
 • Ar. " hish/' In Syria, a kind of brushwood like the " maquis " of 
 Corsica is so named. — Ed. 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 219 
 
 her a stab with his long needle. The ghuleh thought 
 it must have been the end of a piece of wood that 
 had hurt her, and she therefore moved the sack 
 into a different position. As soon as she started 
 off again with her burden, Uhdey-dun gave her 
 another dig with his needle, and so on tiU, by the 
 time she reached her cave, she was bleeding from 
 countless wounds. " Mother ! " cried her daughters, 
 when she appeared, " have you brought us Uhdey-dun 
 for dinner as you promised ? " "I did not find 
 him, my dears," replied the mother, " but I have 
 brought his sackful of wood, and I am now going 
 back to find him and kiU him for our dinner." She 
 put down her load, placed a cauldron filled with 
 water on the fire, and departed. As soon as 
 Uhdey-dun thought she was beyond recall, he began 
 to make a noise hke somebody chewing gum, and 
 said quite aloud, " I've got chewing-gum, I've 
 got chewing-gum ! " " Who are you ? " asked the 
 ghuleh's daughters. " I am Uhdey-dun, and I've 
 got chewing-gum." " O please, give us some," 
 begged the little ghulehs. " Open the sack and let 
 me out," said Uhdey-dun. The little ghulehs did 
 as he wished, but when he got out he took his hatchet 
 and killed all three of them and cut them to pieces 
 and put them into the great copper cauldron which 
 had been placed on the fire fuU of water for 
 Uhdey-dun. Their heads, he hid under a " tabak " 
 or straw tray. Then he left the cave and went 
 home to his house on the great rock. 
 
 In the meantime the ghuleh sought Uhdey-dun 
 in the forest, but in vain. She returned to her cave. 
 
220 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 and not finding her little ones, but noticing the 
 scent of Uhdey-dun, and also of cooked meat, she 
 said, " O, I am sm-e that my enemy has been here 
 and my darlings have kiUed him and put him into 
 the copper to be cooked, and now they are gone 
 in order to invite their cousins to the feast. How- 
 ever, as I am very hungry, I shall take something 
 out of the cauldron and eat it." She did so and was 
 rather surprised to find the flesh so tender. She 
 did not suspect that she was feeding on her own off- 
 spring. When she was satisfied, she began to look 
 around her, and noticed that some blood was 
 trickling from under the straw tray. So she lifted 
 it up, and to her consternation, found the heads 
 of her three daughters. In grief and despair, she 
 began to bite the flesh off her own arms, and swore 
 to revenge herself on her crafty foe. Now some 
 days later Uhdey-dun was invited to the wedding 
 of his cousin, and as he was sure the ghuleh would 
 try to kill him on that occasion, he kept sharp watch 
 from a corner whence he could see all comers, himself 
 unnoticed. After some time he saw a great, fierce- 
 looking bitch approach and prowl about the house, 
 and observed how the other dogs slunk away from 
 her. He knew her for the monster that was seeking 
 his Ufe. The wedding meal, which, as usual, con- 
 sisted of pieces of meat cooked with rice, was served, 
 and Uhdey-dun sat down to eat. He took a large 
 bone, and having eaten the meat off it, went to the 
 house door and called the dogs. The ghuleh ran to- 
 wards him and he threw the bone at her with so true 
 an aim that it hit her on the forehead and cut it so 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 221 
 
 that the blood began to flow down her face. As it 
 did so, she Ucked it with her tongue, saying, " O 
 how sweet is the dibs ^ in my uncle's house ! " " Ah ! 
 said Uhdey-dun, as he brandished his hatchet, " do 
 you think that I can't see through your disguise ? 
 It was I who destroyed your children, I who poked 
 you with my needle while you carried that sack 
 of wood, and I'U kill you yet. Come near me 
 if you dare ! " " Now the ghilan are afraid of 
 iron and so, when the ghuleh saw that her enemy 
 was armed and on the alert, she slunk away 
 disappointed. 
 
 Some days later, she thought of a device to tempt 
 him to expose himself unarmed. In the form of a 
 peasant-woman she came to the foot of his rock, 
 and called up to him for the loan of a sieve. " Come 
 up and fetch it," said Uhdey-dun. " I cannot cUmb 
 the rock," repUed the ghuleh. " I will lower a 
 rope for you," said Uhdey-dun. He did so, but 
 noticing that his visit orwas coming up with unusual 
 skiU, he observed her more closely and recognised 
 her. He therefore let the rope go, and so the monster 
 fell down the precipice and was dashed to bits. 
 This was the way in which Uhdey-dun deUvered 
 the coimtry from the ghuleh and her brood. 
 
 There was once a poor wood-cutter,^ who had a 
 wife and three daughters dependent on him. One 
 day, while he was working in the forest, a stranger 
 
 ' Grape syrup or molasses. 
 
 2 This story seems to be a version of Bluebeard. 
 
222 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 passed that way and stopped to talk with him. 
 Hearing he had three daughters the stranger per- 
 suaded him, for a large sum of money, which he paid 
 on the spot, to let him have the eldest girl in 
 marriage. 
 
 When the wood-cutter went home at dusk, he 
 boasted of the bargain to his wife, and next momiag, 
 took the girl to a certain cave and there gave her 
 over to the stranger, who said that his name was 
 Abu Freywar. As soon as the woodman was gone, 
 Abu Freywar said to her, " You must be hungry, 
 eat these." So saying, he took a knife and cut off 
 both his ears, which he gave to her together with a 
 nasty-looking loaf of black bread. The girl refusing 
 such food, he hung her up by the hair from the 
 ceiling of a chamber in the cave, which had mean- 
 while become a magnificent palace. Next day, 
 Abu Freywar went again to the forest and found 
 the wood-cutter. " I want your second daughter 
 for my brother," he said ; " Here is the money. 
 Bring her to the cave to-morrow." The wood- 
 cutter, delighted at his great good fortune, brought 
 his second daughter to Abu Freywar, and directly 
 he had gone, Abu Freywar gave the girl his ears, 
 which had grown afresh, to eat. She said she was 
 not hungry just then, but would keep them to eat 
 by-and-by. When he went out of the room, she 
 tried to deceive him by hiding his ears under a 
 carpet on the floor. When he returned and asked if 
 she had eaten them, she said " Yes " ; but he called 
 out, " Ears of mine, are you hot or cold ? " and they 
 answered promptly, " Cold as ice, and lying under 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 223 
 
 the carpet." Whereupon Abu Freywar, in a rage 
 hung her up beside her sister. 
 
 He then went and asked for the youngest daughter, 
 whose name was Zerendac, saying, that he wanted 
 her for another brother. But the girl, a spoilt child, 
 refused to go unless she might take with her a 
 pet kitten and a box in which she kept her treasures. 
 Hugging those, she went with Abu Freywar to the 
 cave. 
 
 She proved wiser than her sisters. When her 
 husband's back was turned, she gave his ears to 
 the cat which devoured them eagerly, while she ate 
 some food which she had brought from home. When 
 the ogre returned and cried as of wont, " Ears of 
 mine, are you hot or cold ? " he received the answer, 
 " As hot as can be in this snug httle stomach," and 
 this pleased him so that from that time he began 
 to grow very fond of Zerendac. 
 
 After she had hved some days with him, he said, 
 " I must go on a journey. There are forty rooms 
 in this palace. Here are the keys, with which you 
 may open any door you please except that to which 
 this golden key belongs," and with that he took 
 his departiue. Zerendac amused herself in his 
 absence with opening and examining the locked- 
 up rooms. On entering the thirty-ninth, she 
 happened to look out of the window which opened 
 on to a burial ground, and was terrified to see her 
 husband, who was a ghul, devouring a corpse that 
 he had just dug out of a grave with his long claw- 
 Uke nails. She was so fascinated with the sight 
 that (hidden behind the window curtain), she 
 
224 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 watched him at his horrible repast. A few minutes 
 later she saw him start and hide himself behind a 
 monument in the cemetery. He had been disturbed 
 by the approach of a funeral. As the procession 
 approached she heard one of the bearers say, " Let 
 us be off as soon as possible, lest the ghul which 
 haunts this place get hold of us," and she could 
 see that the whole company seemed very anxious. 
 
 This discovery caused the girl great uneasiness. 
 She was anxious to know what was in the fortieth 
 room, and the discovery she had made as to the 
 real character of her husband prompted her to solve 
 the mystery at any cost. She took the golden 
 key and opened the door. She found her two 
 sisters still alive and danghng from the ceiling by 
 their hair. She cut them down, fed them, and as 
 soon as their health was restored, sent them back 
 to her parents. 
 
 Abu Freywar returned next day, but not for 
 long. He left home a few days later, teUing his 
 wife she might invite any of her relations whom 
 she cared to see. Accordingly she invited many 
 of her friends and relatives ; who came to see her, 
 but heard nothing of her troubles. It was well 
 for her that she did not complain, for her visitors 
 were not the persons they seemed to be, but simply 
 her husband in various shapes assumed in order 
 to entrap her. He succeeded at last in the form 
 of her grandmother to whom she was beginning 
 to teU all her sorrows ; when the old woman became 
 Abu Freywar and, taking a poisoned nail, drove 
 it into her breast. The wound did not kill her, 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 225 
 
 but it caused her to swoon away. No sooner was 
 she unconscious than the monster put her into a 
 chest and sank it in the sea. 
 
 Now the son of the sultan of that land was fond 
 of boating and fishing, and this prince happened 
 to cast a large net from a boat close to the place 
 where the chest in which she was lay at the bottom 
 of the sea. The net, happening to enclose the chest, 
 was hauled in with the greatest difficulty. The 
 sultan's son had it drawn into the boat, and, before 
 opening it, said to his attendants, " If it contains 
 money or jewels, you may have them aU ; but 
 should it contain anything else, it is mine." 
 
 He was greatly shocked when he saw its actual 
 contents, and mourned the sad fate of that lovely 
 girl. He had her body carried to his mother's 
 chamber, to be honoiuably prepared for burial. 
 During the process,^ the naU being found and 
 removed, Zerendac sneezed and came to life 
 again. 
 
 She married the prince, and in course of time 
 bore him a daughter. But one day, when she was 
 alone with the chUd, the waU of her room suddenly 
 spUt open, and Abu Freywar appeared. Without 
 a word to the mother, he snatched up the infant 
 and swallowed it, disappearing as suddenly as he 
 had come. Zerendac was so bewildered by this 
 fresh misforttme that, when asked where the baby 
 had gone, she could only weep despairingly. 
 
 Her second child, a son, and the third, another 
 daughter, were torn from her in the same horrible 
 
 ' Described in one of the Karakash stories. 
 
226 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 manner. On this last occasion, the cruel ogre 
 smeared the poor mother's face with her child's 
 blood. She washed it off, but, in her hurry and 
 angxiish, missed a slight stain beneath her under- 
 lip. Her husband and her mother-in-law, already 
 very suspicious, judged of course that she was a 
 ghuleh and had devoured her offspring. 
 
 Zerendac told her story, but no one would believe 
 it. Her husband, being loth to put her to death, 
 ordered her to be imprisoned in a small underground 
 chamber, and, at his mother's suggestion, sought 
 another bride. Hearing of the beauty of the 
 daughter of a neighbouring sultan, he went to ask 
 for her. But before setting out he sent for the 
 mother of his lost children, and asked her what 
 she would like him to bring her when he came back. 
 She asked for a box of aloes,^ for a box of henna,^ 
 and a dagger. Her request was granted, and when 
 the prince returned from his betrothal to the sultan's 
 daughter, he brought with him these things for 
 Zerendac. She opened the boxes, one by one, 
 saying, " O box of sebr, you have not in you more 
 patience than I have shown. O box of henna, 
 you cannot be gentler than I have been," and was 
 just going to stab herself with the dagger, when the 
 wall of her prison opened and Abu Freywar appeared, 
 leading a handsome boy and two lovely girls. 
 " Live ! " he cried, " I have not kiUed your children. 
 Here they are." He then by his magic made a 
 secret staircase connecting her dungeon with the 
 
 ' Ar. sebr, also meaning " patience." 
 2 The same word means " tenderness." 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 227 
 
 great hall of the palace. Having done this, he 
 seized the dagger and slew himself. 
 
 When the festivities in connection with the 
 prince's marriage began, Zerendac sent the three 
 children, richly dressed in clothes which Abu 
 Freywar had left with her, up the staircase, telling 
 them to amuse themselves without respect for the 
 guests or the fm-niture. Accordingly they did all 
 the damage they could think of; but the mother 
 of the prince was slow to punish them, because 
 they were pretty, and reminded her of her son at 
 their age. But at last, losing patience, she was 
 going to strike one of them when they all shouted 
 at once, " Ya sitt Ubdur, shufi keyf el kamr btadur," 
 which means, " Lady Full-Moon, look how the 
 moon is turning round." Every one rushed to the 
 window, and while their backs were turned the 
 children vanished. 
 
 On the actual wedding-day the children appeared 
 again when their father was present, ran about, 
 breaking china and glass, and did all the damage 
 they could think of. The prince forbade them. 
 They replied haughtUy, " This is oiu- house, and 
 everything here belongs to us and to our parents." 
 " What do you mean by that ? " inquired the prince. 
 The children answered by leading their father 
 down the secret staircase to Zerendac, who ex- 
 plained who they really were and how they 
 came there. The prince, greatly moved, embraced 
 her tenderly and swore to be true to her till his 
 life's end. The sultan's daughter was returned, 
 with excuses and a satisfactory present, to her 
 
228 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 father ; and the prince and Zerendac lived happy 
 ever after. 
 
 One snowy day, a woman who had just given 
 birth to a girl named her " Thaljiyeh " (" Snow- 
 Maiden "), and straightway expired. The mother- 
 less babe was tended by her grandmother, who kept 
 her father's house, tUl she could walk about and 
 play with other children. But then Thaljiyeh's 
 father took to wife a widow with two daughters, 
 and her grandmother left the house in disgust. 
 The new wife made her stepdaughter a household 
 drudge. Thaljiyeh had to carry jars of water on 
 her head from the distant spring. She had to rise 
 at midnight to help grind the corn for next day's 
 bread, and, when she was old and strong enough 
 to do this by herself, her stepmother and sisters 
 lay abed till sunrise. It was also her duty to go 
 out with other girls and gather fuel, brushwood, 
 thorny burnet, or dried cows' dung from the hill- 
 sides, then to heat the village oven ^ and knead 
 and bake the bread ; and when, as rarely happened, 
 there was nothing to do at home, she was sent out 
 to gather potsherds to be crushed into " hamxa " 
 for cistern cement. Whenever there was a wedding 
 or other merry-making, she was not allowed to go, 
 though she sat up late the night before, embroider- 
 ing many- coloured breast-pieces ^ to deck the festal 
 gowns of her unkind relatives. But AUah had given 
 Thaljiyeh a sweet nature. She found comfort in 
 
 ' Ar. tabun. ^ Ar. kubbeh. 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 229 
 
 singing at her work, and was always ready to help 
 others at theirs. But to see her thus cheerful did 
 not please her step-mother and the daughters of 
 the latter, whose own voices were as harsh and 
 unmelodious as those of screech-owls ; and they 
 forbade her to sing in the house. 
 
 One day when the rest of the family had gone 
 to a wedding, Thaljiyeh was left alone in charge 
 of the vineyard tower, for it was summer time. 
 Just outside the vineyard gate, by the roadside, 
 there was a cistern for rainwater, from which she 
 was wont to draw water for the house, and to fill 
 the drinking trough ^ for thirsty wayfarers. On 
 this day Thaljiyeh had lowered her bucket into the 
 cistern when the rope broke and the vessel sank 
 to the bottom and was lost. She was obhged to 
 go to a neighbour and borrow a well drag.^ Having 
 obtained one, Thaljiyeh tied it to a new rope, and 
 having said " dustur," ^ to warn any spirits that 
 might be in the cistern to get out of the way, she 
 lowered the drag while she sang : — 
 
 " O well drag ! gather, gather, 
 And all that you find sweep up, sweep up." * 
 
 Now, though she did not know it, these words 
 were a speU, and, as there happened to be in the 
 
 1 Ar. sebil. 
 
 ' Ar. khuttafeh. This instrument consists of a flat iron ring from 
 which iron hooks hang by short chains attached to its circumference. 
 The whole is suspended from a ring in the centre of the two curved 
 cross-bars fastened over the flat ring. 
 ' Lit. permission = By your leave. 
 
 * " Ya khuttafeh, hushi, hushi, 
 Shu ma lakeyti, kushi, kushi." 
 
230 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 cistern a jinniyeh who liked Thaljiyeh, the latter 
 immediately felt the drag catch hold of something 
 heavy; and when she drew it up, there was her 
 bucket full of the most lovely jewellery — rings, 
 massive gold bracelets, anklets, chains for tying 
 the headdress round the neck,^ and gold chaias 
 for the head-tie. Full of joy at her good fortune, 
 the girl took the pretty things into the tower, and 
 when her relations came home she gave them into 
 their keeping. They, however, pretended not to 
 want them, and, having been told how Thaljiyeh 
 had come by them, said they would get some for 
 themselves. They, therefore, each in turn dropped 
 the bucket into the cistern, and in loud arrogant 
 tones of command uttered the words of the spell 
 which Thaljiyeh had sung so sweetly. Try as they 
 would, they always brought up the bucket fuU of 
 mud, stones, and loathsome crawling things. So, 
 in their disappointment, they took Thaljiyeh's 
 jewels, continued to treat her with great unkind- 
 ness, and one evening, after her father's death, 
 actually turned her out of doors. 
 
 It was raining, and the poor girl did not want 
 to spoil her pretty shoes made of red Damascus 
 leather, which had been her dead father's gift. 
 She tied them together and threw them over her 
 shoulder, one hanging in front of, and the other 
 behind, her.^ It was now dark, and Thaljiyeh knew 
 not where to go. Seeing a Ught gUmmering from the 
 
 1 Ar. Iznak. 
 
 2 As the fellahin in Palestine always do whenever it is raining, and 
 they go barefoot in order to save their shoes. 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 231 
 
 open door of a cave-dwelling, she went towards it, 
 hoping to obtain shelter for the night. Seated 
 at the door of that humble abode was an old woman 
 spinning. It happened to be Thaljlyeh's grand- 
 mother, though the girl did not know her, she had 
 been so young when her father married the widow. 
 The old woman, however, recognised her grandchild, 
 and gladly granted her request for a night's lodging. 
 " Your mother's daughter," said she, " should 
 not be out of doors at this time of night, so, of course, 
 you may stay here. My own daughter died at the 
 time you were born, and if you like it you shall 
 take her place in my dweUing." She then set the 
 best food she had before her guest, who gladly 
 agreed to remain with the old woman when the 
 latter disclosed their relationship. 
 
 It so happened that one of Thaljlyeh's shoes 
 had been lost on her way to the old woman's cave. 
 The string with which the pair were tied had 
 given way, and the shoe which was hanging 
 behind her shoidder had fallen off, while its 
 fellow, by a curious chance, caught on a knot or 
 hook which was on her gown, so that it was not 
 tiU she had found shelter with her grandmother 
 that she discovered her loss. It was then too late 
 for her to go and look for the missing shoe, but she 
 meant to do so the first thing in the morning. 
 
 Now the old woman was spinning woollen thread 
 to make an 'abayeh for the son of a wealthy sheykh. 
 The young man was very handsome, and many a 
 mother, including Thaljiyeh's unkind stepmother, 
 had been plotting and planning, quite unsuccessfully. 
 
232 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 to obtain him for a son-in-law. Whilst Thaljiyeh 
 was having her supper, he approached the cave- 
 dweUing, having, as it happened, noticed and 
 picked up the girl's shoe on his way. Hearing a 
 man's step, the girl sprang up hastily and hid her- 
 self in a dark corner of the cave, where she could 
 see and hear without herself being seen. " My 
 aunt," said the youth, addressing the old woman, 
 " have you got aU the thread spun ready for my new 
 'abayeh ? " "I shall have it finished by to-morrow 
 at noon," answered the old woman, " but what 
 have you got in yovu- hand ? " " It is a girl's shoe 
 which I have just picked up," answered the youth, 
 " and it is so small and pretty that its owner must 
 be a very beautiful maiden, and therefore — Wallahi ! 
 WaUahi ! WaUahi ! — I shall search for her, and 
 when I have found her, she, and no other, shall 
 become my wife." The old woman was pleased 
 with this impetuous speech; but, being wise, she 
 said nothing to the young man, but laughingly 
 bade him meet her at the dyer's the next day. 
 
 Next morning, having finished her task, the old 
 woman left Thaljiyeh alone in the cave, having 
 enjoined her to keep the door closed and not to answer 
 the young man, should he, as she suspected he would, 
 come again to ask if the thread was all ready. Things 
 fell out as Thaljiyeh's grandmother thought they 
 would. The young man, who had thought she was 
 only putting him off with the promise that the 
 thread would be ready that day, came to the cave 
 instead of going to meet her at the dyer's shop. 
 He foimd the door closed, and received no answer 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 233 
 
 when he called to the old woman to ask whether 
 her work for him was done. Hearing Thalijyeh 
 singing as she tm-ned the spinning-wheel, he peeped 
 through a crack in the door in order to see who it 
 was that sung so sweetly ; and finding that the 
 maiden was alone, he went away, sorry for his rash 
 vow the previous evening, to the dyer's, where he 
 found the grandmother. She handed him the 
 thread, and when he asked her who was the maiden 
 singing in the cave, she answered, " Your bride." 
 " What do you mean ? " repKed he in surprise. 
 " It is the girl to whom the shoe which you picked 
 up last night belongs, and whom you swore thrice 
 by AUah that you would marry," said the old 
 woman. The youth was deKghted. His father 
 made no objection to the marriage, seeing that 
 Thaljiyeh was of good family. By the kindness of 
 the jinniyeh in the cistern, all the jewellery belonging 
 to the bride was found one morning at the head 
 of her bed in her grandmother's cave, and the cruel 
 stepmother and her daughters had the bitterness 
 of Ustening to the " Zagharit " ^ and the shouting, 
 as the veiled bride, the beautiful Snow-maiden, 
 whom they had so despised and ill-treated, seated 
 upon the bridal camel, was led in joyful procession 
 to her husband's house. 
 
 It is not Kkely that any reader will fail to recognise 
 in this tale a local version of " Cinderella." 
 
 ' Cries of joy of the bride's female friends^ properly zalaghit (sing- 
 zalghateli, zarghateh, or zaghrateh). The zaghrateh is a very shrill 
 fluttering sound peculiar to Eastern women, made by rapid revolution 
 of the tongue in the mouth. — En. 
 
234 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 VIII 
 
 SATIRE 
 
 On the mountain-top above a Mohammedan village 
 stood a wely or saint's tomb, of which the guardian 
 was one Sheykh Abdullah, a genial old man and 
 well-beloved in the neighbourhood. Accompanied by 
 an orphan boy named AH, his disciple, and mounted 
 on an ass which he had brought up ever since it 
 was a foal, he used to ride from village to village, 
 prescribing for the sick, and seUing amulets and 
 charms written by himself, which were warranted 
 to preserve their wearers from the evil eye and 
 other strange adversities. He would also draw up 
 horoscopes, and discover secrets in the magic mirror 
 of ink or by the sand table. 
 
 When Ali was grown up, the old man said to him : 
 " My son, I have taught you all I know. There 
 are few khatibs ^ with half your learning. AH 
 you have now to do is to become a Haji by pilgrimage 
 to the Holy Places. Then, in sh' Allah, you will 
 find it easy to obtain a post, like mine, of honourable 
 ease. As a derwish, you need no money. Take 
 my old ab&yeh, this mahajaneh, and the ass to ride 
 on ; start to-morrow with the other pilgrims. 
 
 AJi, though reluctant to leave his adopted father, 
 followed the sheykh's advice, and, having obtained 
 his blessing, set out next day. By the mercy of 
 AUah he journeyed in safety for many months, 
 
 ' The khatib is the Moslem village preacher and schoolmaster. 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 235 
 
 till on a day he found himself in a barren plain, 
 with a hot wind blowing, far from any well or human 
 habitation. He was walking to save his donkey's 
 failing strength, when suddenly the poor beast 
 stopped, rubbed its nose against his arm, and died. 
 He could not bear to leave the body of so old a 
 friend to the vultures and hyaenas, so he set to 
 work to dig a grave. This was no easy task, yet 
 he performed it before sunset, and prepared to sleep 
 beside the mound thus raised. All at once he heard 
 the sound of horses galloping, and looking up beheld 
 a troop of riders. He could hear their leader 
 call to his companions, " Look ! There is a holy 
 derwish moiu-ning on a newly made grave. Death 
 has overtaken the companion of his travels, and he 
 has piously buried him in this lonely spot. How 
 sad to die in so forlorn a place, where one cannot 
 find even water to wash a corpse ! I must go and 
 speak to him." So saying, he galloped up, and, 
 saluting, asked the name of the departed. " 'Ejrr," 
 replied AH, using a poetical and uncommon word 
 for " ass." " Ah ! poor Sheykh ' 'Eyr,' " sighed 
 the tender-hearted chief. " The ways of Allah 
 are most mysterious. Do not, however, let this 
 death deject you. His memory at least shall hve. 
 To-morrow morning I shall send men to build a 
 splendid shrine over his grave " ; and, ere Ali had 
 time to explain matters, the impulsive nobleman 
 galloped off with his men. 
 
 Ah could not sleep that night for thinking on his 
 strange predicament. Next morning, soon after 
 sunrise, he descried moving dots on the horizon. 
 
236 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 which presently resolved themselves into camels 
 laden with lime and donkeys carrying cut stone, 
 driven by a company of masons and labourers. 
 Coming to where the derwish stood, the men saluted 
 him with reverence, and informed him that they 
 came from the Emir with orders to build at once 
 the mak4m of Sheykh 'Eyr. Things had gone too 
 far for explanation. AH could only watch the work 
 which was begun without delay. First of all they 
 built a cenotaph over the grave and enclosed it in 
 a room of the right shape and size. Then they 
 made an open hall ^ with a prayer-niche,^ to mark 
 the kibleh. On the side of the hall opposite the 
 tomb-chamber, a second room was erected for the 
 accommodation of the guardian of the shrine. Last 
 of all, they built a Uttle minaret, dug a well, and 
 surrounded the whole with an enclosure-wall, thus 
 forming a large courtyard with cloisters along its 
 four sides. AH this work took time, but AJi, having 
 heard from the Emir that he was to be sheykh of 
 the shrine with a good stipend, patiently watched 
 its completion, and entered with content upon his 
 new duties. 
 
 Placed at a convenient halting-place for travellers 
 who had to cross the desert, the new shrine soon grew 
 famous, and was visited by hordes of pilgrims 
 yearly. Presents were showered upon its sheykh, 
 who began to show his wealth in dress and bearing. 
 
 News of this new popular shrine came at last to 
 the ears of old Sheykh Abdullah, who had visited 
 most holy places in his youthful travels, but could 
 
 1 Iwan. 2 Mihrab. 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 237 
 
 not remember even to have heard of this one. Out 
 of curiosity, he determined to make the pilgrimage 
 to Sheykh 'Eyr and find out for himself its origin and 
 history. On the last day of its season of pilgrimage,^ 
 he reached the mak4m, and was astonished at the 
 endless crowd of pUgrims. In the guardian of the 
 shrine he was still more surprised to recognise his 
 pupil AK. The pair embraced one another with 
 cries of joy, and went into All's house to feast 
 together. After supper Sheykh Abdullah fixed 
 his gaze on Ali and said solemnly, " My son, I 
 adjure you by the saints, the prophets, and all we 
 Muslimin consider holy, to hide nothing from me. 
 What is it that is buried in this place ? " The 
 young man told his story without reserve, and, 
 when it was finished, said, " Now, father, tell me 
 what saint hes buried at your shrine at home ? " 
 The old man looked down shamefacedly, but, pressed 
 by Ali, whispered, " Well, if you must know, he 
 is the father of your donkey." 
 
 There once lived at Jerusalem a pious old widow 
 named Hannah, who belonged to the Orthodox 
 Eastern Church. She was poor, yet dispensed 
 wide charity, and she had the love of all who knew 
 her. There was only one person in the world for 
 whose faults she could see no excuses, and that was 
 the patriarch, an exemplary if somewhat humorous 
 prelate. Years ago she had been nurse in the family, 
 where he, an only child, Hvely and spoilt, had made 
 her life a burden with his tricks ; and she could 
 
 ' Mausam. 
 
238 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 not be rid of the notion that he played tricks still. 
 In his childhood she had had no doubt but that 
 he would come to grief; but at school, instead of 
 being punished and expelled, as she expected him to 
 be, he acquired some fame] for diKgence, and was 
 a favourite both with boys and masters. " Ah," 
 she thought to herself, " some day they vn\l find 
 out their mistake." 
 
 His school days ended, he was ordained deacon ; 
 at which Hannah shook her head more solemnly, 
 and said in her heart, " Alas ! our pastors must have 
 been struck with spiritual blindness to admit that 
 scamp into holy orders." Her astonishment and 
 horror grew when, as time passed, he became 
 a priest, an arehimandrite, a bishop, and at last 
 ascended the patriarchal throne. She felt bitterly 
 the humiliation, when she met him in the street, 
 of having to bend and kiss his hand, although she 
 could see in his eye that mischievous twinkle which 
 she had learnt to associate with his tricks. How- 
 ever, she said to herself, " Here on earth, naturally, 
 mistakes are made, but in heaven they will be 
 corrected." 
 
 Hannah died in the odour of sanctity, and her 
 soul was wafted to the gate of heaven, where Mar 
 Butrus 1 sits with the keys to admit the worthy. 
 She timidly knocked for admission. " Who is 
 there ? " said Mar Butrus, looking out of the 
 machicolated window above the gate. " Ah ! 
 Another redeemed soul ! Your name, my daughter ? " 
 " Your servant, Hannah," was the meek rejoinder. 
 
 1 St Peter. 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 239 
 
 Mar Butrus opened the door at once and bade her 
 welcome, assigning to her a place among the 
 heavenly choirs. Here she was secure at last, and 
 for ever, from her aversion, the Patriarch. 
 
 Suddenly, three great knocks at heaven's gate 
 startled the happy songsters. Mar Butrus jumped 
 up and ran to the window to see who it was. He 
 gave one look and then, in wild excitement, sent 
 attendants hurrying in all directions. Presently 
 regiments of cherubs and seraphs marched down 
 to the gate and formed up on either side of the street 
 leading from it. Two of the archangels came and 
 stood by while Mar Butrus, with unusual ceremony, 
 slipped back the bolt. AU the blessed stood agog 
 to see who it was that had deserved this grand 
 reception. To Hannah's chagrin and dismay, it 
 was the patriarch. He strode in amid loud ac- 
 clamations, and his eyes meeting hers for a twinkHng- 
 space, she coidd see that he was still at his tricks. 
 He was led up to a high seat near the throne, while 
 his old nurse burst into a flood of tears. 
 
 Now, tears are not allowed in heaven. When, 
 therefore, the other saints beheld her weeping, they 
 thought she was one of the damned who had got in 
 by mistake, and drew away from her. She was 
 thus left quite alone in a circle of the blessed, all 
 huddled together Kke scared sheep and neglecting 
 their parts in the heavenly choir. Mar Butrus 
 noticed the interruption, and came to see what was 
 the matter. Seeing a saint in tears, he said severely, 
 " Who are you ? " " Your servant, Hannah," 
 was the reply, and he looked up the name in his 
 
240 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 register. " It seems all right," he said to himself ; 
 and, turning once more to Hannah : " Don't you 
 know that tears are forbidden here ? TeU me why 
 you are crying in this happy place." Then Hannah 
 sobbed out her story : how the patriarch as a child 
 had pinched and teased her, objecting to be washed 
 and dressed, and so forth, until she felt quite sure 
 that he would come to grief ; how he had after- 
 wards deceived his schoolfellows and masters, and 
 the authorities of the Church, and how Mar Butrus 
 himself had now destroyed her sense of justice by 
 giving the rogue a triumphal entry into heaven. 
 Mar Butrus burst out laughing, and patted her on 
 the back, saying : " There, my daughter ! go back 
 and take your part in the singing. He's not so bad 
 as you think him. And as for the triumphal entry, 
 why, there are hundreds of saints Uke you, thank 
 God, admitted every day, but only once in a thousand 
 years do we get a Patriarch." 
 
 There was once a young priest, who, besides 
 committing to memory the regular Kturgies, learned 
 to read a chapter of the Bible in Arabic, which he 
 was fond of reciting to his congregation. It began, 
 " Then the Lord said unto Moses." 
 
 The first time he read it the people were deUghted 
 and astonished at his learning ; but they soon 
 wearied of hearing the same lesson Sunday after 
 Sunday, and one morning, before service, one of 
 them went into the chiu"ch and moved the book- 
 mark. When the priest came to that point in the 
 service where he usually introduced his lesson, he 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 241 
 
 opened the book and began with confidence, " Then 
 the Lord said to Moses." But presently, needing 
 to refresh his memory, he looked at the page before 
 him. It was strange to him. Then he reahsed 
 that his mark had been moved, and began to tm-n 
 the leaves frantically, hoping to hght upon his own 
 chapter. More than once, thinking he had foimd 
 it, he began, " Then the Lord said unto Moses," 
 but could go no further. At last an old man in the 
 congregation, puzzled by the repetition of this phrase, 
 inquired, " Father, what did the Lord say imto 
 Moses ? " To which the priest replied angrily, 
 " May Allah destroy the house of the man who moved 
 my book-mark ! " 
 
 A certain priest had learned by heart the hst 
 of fasts and festivals of the Orthodox Church, with 
 the number of intervening days. To keep a tally 
 of the days as they passed, that he might give due 
 notice of the fasts preceding certain festivals, he 
 put in one of his pockets a number of peas equal 
 to the number of days he wished to remember, and 
 every morning transferred one of them to another 
 pocket. Thus, by counting the peas stiU in the 
 first pocket, he could always tell how many days 
 remained. 
 
 This priest had a wife,^ who did not know of this 
 arrangement. One day, when tidying his clothes, 
 she found pease in his pockets, and concluded that 
 
 ' The Greek parish clergy are obliged to marry, and, if their wife 
 dies, to retire to a monastery, as it is forbidden them to marry 
 again. — Ed. 
 Q 
 
242 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 he was fond of them. So, for love, she filled all 
 his pockets with peas. Soon after, the priest was 
 seen in distress of spirit, beating his forehead and 
 exclaiming : " According to the peas there will 
 be no feast." 
 
 One day during a fast,^ a monk who was stroll- 
 ing through the market came upon a peasant 
 woman with some eggs for sale. Sick to death 
 of eating nothing but vegetables, he bought a few 
 of them, carried them secretly to his ceU in the 
 convent, and there hid them tiU late at night, when 
 aU the brethren had gone to bed. Then he got 
 up and prepared to cook and eat them. Having 
 nothing to boil them in, he took one of the eggs in 
 a pair of tongs and held it over the flame of a candle 
 tiU he judged it done. Presently, as he thus treated 
 one after another, a smeU of bm-ning egg-shells 
 spread through the monastery. It reached the cell 
 of the Abbot, who at once arose and, candle in hand, 
 repaired to the convent kitchen. It was empty. 
 He then went up and down the passages, sniffing 
 at door after door, till he reached the culprit's cell, 
 where, peeping through the keyhole, he beheld the 
 monk in the act of roasting the last of his eggs. 
 
 StiU with his eye at the keyhole, he knocked at 
 the door. The monk caught up the eggs, hid them 
 under his pillow, blew out the Kght, and snored 
 
 1 The fast days of the Orthodox Eastern Church amount to more 
 than a third of the whole year. Abstinence is enjoined from all 
 animal food, including eggs, milk, and butter, and everything cooked 
 with those ingredients. 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 243 
 
 loudly. The Abbot knocked again more loudly 
 and called for admission. At last the snoring 
 ceased ^nd the brother sleepily asked, " Who's 
 there ? " " It is I, your Abbot ! " The door was 
 speedily opened. 
 
 Taking no notice of the monk's excuses, the Abbot 
 accused him of cooking food in his cell. The charge 
 was warmly denied, and the smell explained by the 
 fact that the candle in the ceU had btu-ned longer 
 than usual without being snuffed, because the 
 monk had forgotten himself and it in his devotions. 
 
 The Abbot then went to the bed, and feeling 
 imder the pillow, produced the sooty eggs. Unable 
 any longer to maintain his denial, the monk acknow- 
 ledged his guilt, but begged for mercy because he 
 had been tempted to sin by the devil himself. Now, 
 the Father of Evil happened at that moment to be 
 present in a corner of the cell, and on hearing the 
 monk's excuse, he sprang forward, crying, " That 
 is a foul he ! I never tempted this monk. There 
 was no need. I spend my days, it is true, in tempting 
 lajmaen, but at night I come to convents as a humble 
 scholar." 
 
 A monk, one day in the market, saw two fowls 
 for sale. It was not tiU after he had agreed upon a 
 price with the woman to whom they belonged that 
 it transpired that he was without ready money. 
 The woman offered to keep the fowls for him while 
 he went for his purse ; but he objected, preferring 
 to take one bird only, leaving the other with her as 
 a hostage. The woman refused, pointiag out that 
 
244 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 she did not even know his name, in case she had 
 to make complaint to his Abbot. " Oh," said the 
 monk, " that is easily remedied. We aU go by 
 Scriptm-e names in our convent. Mine is " 'Ufu 
 Hna Khatey^na." ^ You have but to inquire for 
 'Ufu lina Khateyana, and I should be called at once." 
 " Ah, that's a beautiful name," said the woman, 
 " but I have a better one : " La tadklulna fi et- 
 tajribat wa-lakin naji dajaj&ti min esh-sharir." ^ 
 
 There once lived at Damascus a rich man, Haj 
 Ahmad Izreyk by name, whose property consisted 
 of great herds of camels, from which he supplied the 
 caravans from that city. 
 
 When this man's time came to die, instead of 
 quickly departing, he lay so long at the last gasp 
 that his friends were sure he must have injured 
 some one who had not forgiven him. They there- 
 fore summoned all his acquaintance to come and 
 declare that they had no grudge against him. Even 
 his enemies, moved by his prolonged agony, came 
 to the bedside and begged H4j Ahmad to forgive 
 them as they forgave him any wrong he might have 
 done them. But in vain. The gates of death 
 remained closed to the djdng man. 
 
 At last some one imagined that it might be some 
 animal he had offended. As he had had most to 
 do with camels, it was decided to ask his camels to 
 forgive him. Camels are disobliging creatures, and 
 
 ' Forgive us our trespasses. 
 
 ^ Lead us not into temptation, but deliver my fowls from the EvQ 
 One. 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 245 
 
 these flatly refused to come until a whole day's 
 holiday had been given 'them in which to discuss 
 the matter. This was granted, and the next day 
 thousands of camels assembled on the plain beyond 
 the gardens of the city. The grunting, groaning, 
 gurgUng, snufi&ng, puffing, wheezing made a volume 
 of noise that was heard at Mazarib. The debate 
 was long and angry, but by dark they had come to 
 a decision, which their sheykh was to communicate 
 to Haj Ahmad. 
 
 This sheykh of the camels was so huge that he 
 looked Uke a mountain moving. Hair hung from 
 his sides Uke the tassels from a pair of saddle-bags. 
 At every step he raised a cloud of dust that darkened 
 the air, and his foot left a print as large as a knead- 
 ing-trough.^ AH who passed him exclaimed, 
 " MashaUah ! Praised be the Creator ! " at the 
 same time spitting to right and left against the evil 
 eye. 
 
 When this beast arrived before the house of H&j 
 Ahmad, he proved too big for the doorway. He 
 was asked to give his message through the window. 
 But, as a deputation from the most noble of aU 
 ajiimals, he was indignant at the suggestion, and 
 threatened to go away again. The friends of Haj 
 Ahmad then besought him to have patience, while 
 they pulled doAvn one wall of the house. At last 
 the camel came to the deathbed of his master, and, 
 kneehng doAvn, pronounced : — 
 
 " Haj Ahmad, be at rest, the camels forgive 
 
 1 Circular wooden dishes are used as kneading-troughs by the 
 Syrian fellahin. 
 
246 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 you ; but they have sent me to tell you why you 
 need their forgiveness. It is not for our burdens 
 nor for the blows we daily receive at your servants' 
 hands. Those are from AUah, and belong to our 
 lot in life. But, after loading us heavily and 
 stringing us together by the score like beads on a 
 rosary, to obhge us to follow the lead of a wretched 
 little donkey — this it is we find insufferable." 
 
 IX 
 
 ABOUT WOMAN 
 
 A CERTAIN man was Kving with his wife and her 
 bed-ridden mother in a two-storeyed house when 
 the house caught fire. The man, having thrown 
 all the furniture of the upper storey out of the 
 windows, was looking round for anything else worth 
 saving. He espied his wife's mother. Seizing her 
 in his arms, he carried her to a window and threw 
 her down into the street. Then, rolling up her bed 
 with care, he carried it downstairs. When he 
 emerged, his neighbours asked him what he was 
 hugging so tenderly. " My mother-in-law's bed," 
 he replied. " And where is your mother-in-law ? " 
 " Oh," said the bewildered man, " I dropped her 
 from the window " It was agreed that he had done 
 wisely. 
 
 There is nothing craftier and more to be feared 
 than an old woman. A person of this description, 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 247 
 
 walking out one morning, met Iblis, and asked 
 him where he was going. " Oh," he replied, " about 
 my usual business, getting people into trouble." 
 " There is nothing in that," said she ; " any fool 
 can do that." "So I have often been told," said 
 Iblis. " I have heard that not only fools, but old 
 women Uke yourself, can beat me at my own trade." 
 " Well," she said, smihng, " let us have a match." 
 The devil agreed, and offered her first innings ; 
 but she decUned, saying that, as he was the acknow- 
 ledged author of evil, he should have the precedence. 
 
 Near to where they stood champed a fiery staUion 
 fastened to a tent-peg. " See," said Iblis, " I just 
 loosen this peg, without drawing it from the ground ; 
 now mark the mischief." The horse, tugging at 
 his tether, at once pulled up the peg and rushed off, 
 trampling aU he met, so that before he was caught 
 he had killed two men, and injured several women 
 and children. 
 
 " Well," said the old woman, after reckoning 
 up the damage, " that was a villainous piece of 
 work. But now undo it ! " " What ! " cried the 
 devil. " That is something I never attempted. 
 Indeed, it is beyond my power." " Then I am the 
 more skilful," chuckled the woman, "for I can 
 repair what harm I do." " I should hke to see you," 
 sneered Iblis incredulously. " You have only to 
 watch me," was all she took time to say as she 
 proceeded to make good her boast. 
 
 She hurried home to get some money, and then 
 went to the shop of a dealer in sUk-stuff, a man 
 newly married. " A happy day, O my lord," she 
 
248 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 said, stopping before the bench where he was sitting. 
 " I want the most beautiful dress you have for sale." 
 " For your daughter," said he. " No, for my son." 
 
 " He is going to be married, then," remarked the 
 merchant. " Alas ! no," said the woman plaintively, 
 " but he is in love with a yoimg woman recently 
 married to another man, and she asks a rich dress 
 as the price of her favour." The merchant, astonished 
 at the confession, said, " A respectable old woman 
 hke you should not countenance such wickedness." 
 " Ah, my lord," she moaned, " he has threatened 
 to beat me imless I do his wiU." " Well," said he, 
 " here is the dress, but the price is five himdred 
 dinars, and after what you have told me, my con- 
 science will not allow me to sell it at a lower price." 
 After a deal of haggUng, he accepted two hundred 
 dinars, and the old woman took the dress and went 
 her way. 
 
 Iblis, who witnessed the transaction, exclaimed, 
 " fooUsh woman, you have harmed no one but 
 yourself by pajdng two hundred dinars for a dress 
 that is not worth half that amount." " Wait and 
 see," was the reply. 
 
 The old woman went home again, and changed 
 her apparel for that of a derwisheh, throwing a green 
 veil over her head and hanging a great rosary with 
 ninety-nine beads around her neck. It was noon 
 when she again set out, taking with her the dress 
 she had just bought, and went to the private house of 
 the merchant from whom she had bought it. She 
 arrived just as the muezzin of a neighbouring mosque 
 was caUing to prayer. She knocked, and, the door 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 249 
 
 being opened, begged for leave to enter and say 
 her prayers there, giving as the reason for the request 
 that she could not reach home in time. She was, 
 she explained, a devotee of mature age, ceremonially 
 clean, and no longer subject to the infirmities of 
 women. The servant told her mistress, who, happy 
 to receive so venerable a visitor, herself came to 
 greet her, and showed her up to a room, where she 
 might perform her devotions. 
 
 But the old woman was not easy to please. " My 
 dear," she objected, " the men have been smoking 
 in this room. Now, I have just bathed myself and 
 am perfectly pure, but if I took off my yellow boots 
 here my feet would be defiled." 
 
 She was taken to a different room. " Ah, my 
 daughter," she complained, " meals have been 
 eaten here. My mind would be distracted by carnal 
 things. Have you not some quiet chamber ? " 
 " I am sorry," answered the hostess : " there is no 
 other chamber except our bedroom." " Take me 
 there," said the old woman. 
 
 " When shown the bedroom, she professed herself 
 satisfied, and asked to be left alone at her prayers, 
 promising to include in them the petition that her 
 hostess might bear a son. 
 
 As soon as she was alone, the old woman hid the 
 parcel containing the silken dress under the piUow 
 of the bed, waited long enough to have said her 
 prayers, and then took her leave, with blessings 
 on the house and its kind owners. 
 
 The merchant came home as usual, supped, 
 smoked his pipe, and went to bed. Finding the 
 
250 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 pillow uncomfortable, and trying to put it right, 
 he felt the parcel, and, opening it, f oxmd in it a dress 
 he knew. Recalling what the crone who bought 
 it of him had said about the destination of that 
 dress, he jumped out of bed, seized his wife by the 
 arm, dragged her to the door, and, without a word, 
 thrust her forth half-dressed into the street, bolting 
 the door behind her. Fortunately it was a moonless 
 night and no one saw her disgrace, except the author 
 of it, the old woman, who was on the watch. She 
 found the unhappy lady crouching, terrified, in the 
 darkness, and asked with assumed horror what was 
 the matter. The poor soul repUed that her hus- 
 band had suddenly gone mad. " Never mind, my 
 daughter," said the old woman soothingly. " Allah 
 has sent me to help you. Come to my house for 
 to-night, and trust me to arrange matters." 
 
 The old woman's dwelling consisted of a single 
 room, in which her son was already fast asleep upon 
 a mattress spread upon the floor. His mother 
 fetched two other mattresses and as many cotton 
 quilts out of the alcove, and spread them on the 
 floor beside her son's bed. She then lay down on 
 the bed next her son, and invited her guest to rest 
 on the other. Thus the old woman lay between 
 her son and the guest, who was soon wrapped in 
 slumber. The old woman, however, lay awake, 
 Ustening to the noises of the night. At length she 
 caught the sound for which she was waiting, the 
 tramp of the watchmen going on their rounds, 
 when she sprang up, and flinging open the window, 
 cried, " Come, true behevers ! Come and see 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 251 
 
 the disgrace that has befallen my old age. My son 
 has brought a harlot into the house, and I am obhged 
 to sleep in the same room with them." The watch- 
 men, hearing the clamour, entered the house, seized 
 the innocent young people, and took them off to 
 prison. 
 
 Next morning, as soon as it was Hght, the old 
 woman, wrapped in a long veil, repaired to the 
 prison. HaAong got leave from the keeper, a man 
 well known to her, to speak with the young woman 
 who had been arrested during the night, she said, 
 " Fear nothing. I wQl set you free. Change dresses 
 with me, and cover yourself with this veU. So 
 you can pass the guard and reach my house un- 
 recognised. I wiU join you there." The young 
 wife did as she was told, and escaped without diffi- 
 culty. The old Woman waited until the prison- 
 keeper made his round, and then began to shriek 
 for justice. The official, seeking the cause of the 
 uproar, was sm"prised to find that it came from an 
 old acquaintance. The night watchmen must have 
 been drunk, she screamed, to enter her house and 
 take her and her son to prison without a pretext. 
 The gaoler saw clearly the trick played on him, but 
 he had broken the regulations by admitting a visitor 
 so early, and was averse to any fuss about the matter ; 
 so he ordered the couple to be set free. 
 
 The young man went to his work as usual. The 
 old woman waited tiU the city was well astir, and 
 then set out to visit the merchant she had bedevilled. 
 He saluted her with an imprecation, but she motioned 
 him to be silent, and, taking him aside, explained 
 
252 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 how, after visiting the shop, she had been hospitably 
 entertained by his wife and permitted to perform 
 her devotions in their bedroom, how she had care- 
 lessly left the parcel she carried under the pillow 
 of one of the beds in that room, and how his lady, 
 whom she had now the honom- to entertain in her 
 hmnble dwelling, was quite guiltless of the intrigue 
 ascribed to her. 
 
 The merchant was stupefied, but at the same 
 time vastly reUeved, to hear aU this. He loved 
 his wife, and, moreover, now that he had no evidence 
 against her, feared to be called to account by 
 offended relatives. Presenting the old woman with 
 the price of the dress, he besought her to intercede 
 for him. She consented graciously, and invited 
 him to her house. He came there, met his wife, 
 confessed his error, and was forgiven. Thus the 
 pair were united as before, and none but the old 
 woman ever knew that they had been separated. 
 The lady, in delight at the reconciliation, gave the 
 old woman a handspme present. And only IhUs 
 had cause to grumble, being convinced of the truth 
 of the saying, " The Devil is no match for an old 
 woman." 
 
 The ladies of King Solomon's harim, jealous of 
 his favourite for the time being, paid an old woman 
 to make mischief between her and the king. The 
 crone, after praising the charms of the favourite 
 till the latter was as wax in her hands, declared that 
 the king ought to manifest his love for her by grant- 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 253 
 
 ing some extraordinary request. As Siileyin&n 
 knew the language of birds, and had power ,over all 
 things living, it would be easy, the old woman 
 suggested, to build for his love a palace of feathers 
 floating in the air. The favourite took the hint, 
 and when next the king came to her she sulked 
 with him and pouted, as one aggrieved. By dint 
 of coaxing, Suleymftn karnt her grievance. He at 
 once ordered aU the birds to come before him and 
 devise some measure to content his love. All obeyed 
 except the owl, who flatly refused. But Suleym^n 
 sent word that if she persisted in disobeying him he 
 would cut off her head ; when she changed her 
 mind, and asked forgiveness for her first refusal. 
 The king promised to overlook it, but only on 
 condition of her answering aright some questions 
 he was going to put to her. 
 
 The Hakim asked her why she had not come 
 when he first called her. The reply was, " Because 
 a wicked old hag has tm-ned yom* fair one's head 
 and egged her on to ask an impossible thing, for 
 who can bvuld a palace without foundations ? " 
 Pointing to the thousands of birds there present, 
 the king asked, " Which of all these birds do you 
 think the handsomest ? " " My son," repUed the 
 owl. " Which are more numerous, the hving or 
 the dead ? " " The dead," said the bird. " How 
 do you prove that ? " "All who sleep are dead, 
 as far as the business of hfe is concerned." " What 
 is more abundant, day or night ? " " Day." " How 
 so ? " " Because when the moon shines it is day- 
 Kght and people travel. " " Only one more question, ' ' 
 
254 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 said the king : " Which are the more numerous, 
 men or women ? " " Women." " Prove it." 
 " Count up all the women, and then add all the 
 husbands who are governed by their whims," re- 
 plied the owl. At that the wise king burst out 
 laughing, and told the owl that she might go in peace. 
 
 Whenever King Solomon went abroad, the birds 
 of the air, by his command, hovered in flocks over 
 his head Uke a vast canopy. On the occasion of 
 his marriage, he commanded his feathered slaves 
 to pay the Uke honour to his bride. All obeyed 
 but the Hoopoe,^ who, rather than flatter a woman, 
 went and hid himself. 
 
 The king, on his wedding day, missing his favourite 
 bird, ordered the rest to go and find the hoopoe. 
 The birds flew north, south, east, and west ; and at 
 length after many months the fugitive was dis- 
 covered crouching in a hole in a rock on an island 
 in the most distant of the seven seas. " You are 
 many, and I but one," said the hoopoe, " there is 
 no escape now you've found me. I go with you 
 against my will to Suleyman, whose foUy in asking 
 us to do homage to the most worthless of creatures 
 exasperates and disgusts me. But before we start, 
 let me teU you three true stories of the nature of 
 woman, that you may judge in your minds between 
 the king and me. 
 
 A certain man had for wife a most beautiful 
 woman of whom he was consumedly fond ; and 
 
 ' Upupa epops. 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 255 
 
 she was even fonder of him, for he was very 
 rich. 
 
 " Were I to die," she would sometimes sigh in 
 his ear, " you would soon dry your eyes and take 
 a better wife ; whereas, if you died first, I should 
 end my days in grief." " Nay, by Allah," repHed the 
 man fiercely. " Were you to die, I would renounce 
 my business and weep on your grave seven years." 
 " Would you ? " she cried, enraptured. " Oh, I 
 would do more than that for your sweet memory ! " 
 The woman, as it was decreed, died first, and the 
 man, true to his vow, gave up his business, and 
 mourned at her graveside night and day for seven 
 long years, subsisting upon scraps of broken meat 
 thrown to him by the charitable. His clothes 
 turned to rags ; his hair and beard hung about 
 him Uke the fronds of maiden hair ; his nails grew 
 as long as eagle's talons, and his body became as 
 emaciated as that of the leaf insect.^ 
 
 At the end of the seven years El Khudr, being 
 sent that way, saw the strange mourner, and in- 
 quired his story. 
 
 The saint asked him whether he reaUy beheved 
 that his wife, had she outUved him, woxild have 
 done as much. " Of course," was the reply. " Do 
 you think that, if she were now ahve, she would 
 stm love you ? " " Of course I do." " WeU," said 
 El Khudr, " we shall see." He struck the grave with 
 Moses' rod and bade it open, when the woman arose 
 in her shroud, young and lovely as ever. El Khudr, 
 
 1 Mantis religiosa, called by the natives of the Jerusalem district 
 " St George's mare," or " The Jew's mare." 
 
256 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 having hidden behind a monument, the woman 
 saw only her husband. Horrified by his appearance, 
 she cried, " Who are you, dreadful creatiu-e, more 
 like a beast than a man ? Why am I here in the 
 graveyard ? If you are a ghul, I pray you not to 
 eat me." 
 
 She shuddered still more when she learnt that the 
 frightful creature was her faithful husband, and 
 deferred going home with him till nightfall, sajring 
 that people would talk if she went through the 
 streets in her grave-clothes. He sat down beside 
 her, laid his head in her lap, and in the reUef of 
 again possessing her, fell sound asleep. 
 
 A sultan, journeying by that way, saw the couple 
 near the open grave, and, struck by the woman's 
 beauty in her shroud, he invited her to be his love. 
 She laid her husband's head on the ground, and 
 stepped into a Utter that was in readiness. 
 
 When the cavalcade was gone. El Khudr came 
 and woke the husband, telling him how his wife 
 had been carried off, and suggesting that they should 
 foUow her. They started in pursuit, and reached 
 the palace soon after the Sultan's arrival there. 
 El Khudr demanded an audience, which, on account 
 of his commanding presence, was instantly granted. 
 The sultan was incredulous and very angry when 
 El Khudr proclaimed the identity of his companion, 
 while the woman vehemently declared that the 
 old fright had never been her husband. The saint 
 offered to settle the question, and commanded 
 that the woman should resume her shroud and be 
 taken back to the graveyard. The sultan, in awe 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 257 
 
 of El Khudr, was bound to submit, and the woman 
 was brought to the brink of her former grave. She 
 suddenly fell into it, a hf eless corpse ; some say ia 
 consequence of a withering look from El Khudr, 
 and others, as the result of a blow from the beak 
 of a great eagle, which suddenly swooped down 
 out of heaven. 
 
 El Khudr then closed the grave with a stroke 
 of his rod ; and by the command of Allah, her 
 husband regained the seven years which he had 
 lost. He was thus enabled to marry again and hve 
 long and happily with another wife, whom, having 
 lost his illusions, he was wise enough to keep in her 
 place. 
 
 Two good friends, who were merchants, went 
 into partnership. The one, a fat man, had a wife 
 who loved him ; the other, a lean one, was tethered 
 to a shrew who made hfe wretched for him. When 
 the fat man asked his partner to go home with him 
 and spend the evening, his wife, though not a party 
 to the invitation, made them heartily welcome ; 
 but when the lean man ventured to return the 
 hospitahty, he was met with abuse and driven forth 
 with his guest. The fat man simply laughed and 
 carried off the hen-pecked husband to his own house, 
 sajring : " Now I know the cause of your thinness 
 and yoiu- sad looks ; and I think I know a remedy. 
 Take my advice, and travel with our merchandise 
 for, say, six months, then send me a report that you 
 are dead. Your wife wiU then realise the good 
 
258 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 fortune she has lost and repent of her ill-treatment 
 of you. When I and my wife perceive that she is 
 reaUy humbled, I wiU let you know, and you can 
 return." The lean man approved of the plan, and 
 in due time started on his travels. Six months 
 later his partner received the letter announcing 
 his death. The fat man then informed the widow 
 that the shop and all the merchandise were his alone. 
 He further seized all her belongings under pretext 
 of some debt or other, leaving her destitute. As 
 a weU-known virago, she could find no employment, 
 and was at last compelled to ask the fat man's 
 help. He reminded her coldly of the rudeness she 
 had formerly shown to him, and reprehended her 
 ill-treatment of his friend, her late husband. 
 It was purely out of respect for that husband's 
 memory that he finally prevailed upon his wife 
 to employ her as a servant. The excellent couple 
 contrived to make her hfe with them so wretched 
 that she thought of her former hfe as paradise, of 
 her husband as an angel of hght. When, there- 
 fore, the lean man reappeared she fell at his feet, 
 and thenceforth to the end of her hfe was submissive. 
 
 There was once a merchant who knew the language 
 of beasts. But this knowledge had been granted 
 him only upon condition that, if he told the secrets 
 learnt by its means, he should die instantly. No 
 one, not even his wife, was aware that he was gifted 
 beyond the common. 
 
 One evening, standing near his stables, he heard 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 259 
 
 an ox, which had just returned from ploughing, 
 complaining bitterly of his hard labour, and asking 
 the ass on which the merchant rode to business 
 how he might lighten it. The ass advised him to be 
 very ill, to leave his food untouched and roU on the 
 ground in pain, when the ploughman came to take 
 him to the field. The ox took this advice, and next 
 day his master was told he was too ill to work. The 
 merchant prescribed rest and extra food for the ox, 
 and ordered that the donkey, which was strong and 
 fat, should be yoked to the plough in his place. 
 
 That evening the merchant stood again by the 
 stable, Hstening. When the ass came in from plough- 
 ing, the ox thanked him for his advice, and expressed 
 his intention to act upon it again next morning. 
 " I don't advise you to do that," said the ass, " if 
 you value your Ufe. To-day, while I was plough- 
 ing, our master came into the field and told the 
 ploughman to take you to the butcher's to-morrow, 
 as you seemed ailing, and have you kiUed to save 
 your Kfe ; for should you sicken and die, he would 
 lose the value of yoiu- carcase." " What shall I 
 do ? " cried the ox in terror. " Be well and strong 
 to-morrow morning," said the ass. At that the 
 merchant, unaware that his wife stood near him, 
 laughed aloud, and excited her curiosity. His 
 evasive answers only made her more inquisitive ; 
 and when he absolutely refused to satisfy her, she 
 lost her temper, and went to complain of him to 
 her relations, who soon threatened him with a 
 divorce. The poor man, who really loved his wife, 
 in despair resolved to tell her all and die ; so he 
 
260 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 put his affairs in order, made his wUl, and promised 
 to content her on the morrow. 
 
 Next morning, at a window overlooking the stable 
 yard, where a cock was gallanting with a number 
 of hens, he heard his watch dog reprove the bird 
 for such Ught conduct on a day of grief. " Why ! 
 what is the matter ? " inquired the cock. The dog 
 told the story of their master's trouble, when 
 the cock exclaimed : " Oxir master is a fool. He 
 cannot keep one wife in order, while I have no trouble 
 with twenty. He has only to take a stick and give 
 the mistress a sound thrashing to make her amiable." 
 These words came as light to the merchant's gloom. 
 Forthwith he called his wife into an inner room, 
 and there chastised her within an inch of her Hfe. 
 And from that hour she gave him no more trouble.^ 
 
 " You see from these true stories," concluded 
 the Hoopoe, " what silly, vain, and tiresome creatures 
 women are, and how wrong it was of Suleym^n to 
 ask us to do homage to one of them. When you 
 find a good woman, hke the fat man's wife, you may 
 be sure that her virtues are the fruit of the stick," 
 
 The assembled birds acquiesced in the soundness 
 of the Hoopoe's remarks. They considered that, 
 if these valuable facts were known to Suleym&n 
 he would mend his ways with the sex, and perhaps 
 reward the Hoopoe for having dared, from such 
 humane motives, to disobey him. They aU re- 
 
 ' This will be recognised as the identical story in which the wazir, 
 her father, delicately conveyed a threat to Sheherezad when she per- 
 sisted in asking him to give her to the murderous Shahriar (v. 
 " Arabian Nights "). — Bd. 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 261 
 
 turned to the king, who, when he had hstened to 
 the Hoopoe's three stories, took the crown off his 
 head and placed it on that of the bird, whose descen- 
 dants wear it to this day.^ 
 
 X 
 
 ABOUT ANIMALS 
 
 The dog and the cat were not always the enemies 
 we now see them. There was once strong friendship 
 between them. Their hostihty arose from the 
 following incident : — 
 
 Ages ago when the different kinds of animals 
 in the world had their various offices and duties 
 assigned to them, the dog and the cat, though classed 
 amongst domestic animals, were exempted from 
 drudgery, the former for his fideUty, the latter for 
 her cleanliness. At their special request they re- 
 ceived the written document attesting and confirming 
 this privilege. It was handed to the dog for safe- 
 keeping, and he buried it where he kept his bones. 
 Filled with envy, the horse, ass, and ox purchased 
 the services of the rat, who, burrowing, found and 
 destroyed the charter. Ever since that time the 
 dog has been hable, on account of his carelessness, 
 to be tied or chained up by his master ; and, besides 
 that, the cat has never forgiven him. Both the cat 
 and the dog hate rats and kill them when they can, 
 
 'For this reason the hoopoe is called by the fellahin "the wise 
 man's hird," or " the bird of Suleyman el Hakim." 
 
262 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 The horse, ass, and ox, on the other hand, permit 
 the rats to share their provender. 
 
 There are, however, some who say that the dogs 
 were once classed amongst wild beasts, and lived 
 in the fields, while the jackals had the duty and 
 privilege of being the friends and guardians of man- 
 kind. The reason why their positions are now 
 reversed is given as follows : The dogs, being envious 
 of the jackals, plotted to oust their rivals from the 
 towns and villages. One day the sheykh of the 
 dogs being ill, they asked the jackals to be so kind 
 as to exchange duties with them for a while that 
 their chief and other sick persons among them might 
 have the benefit of medical treatment, and they 
 themselves might acquire some civihsation. The 
 jackals good-natiu'edly agreed, but the dogs, being 
 the more numerous, the stronger, and much the 
 cleverer, having once obtained the position they 
 coveted, altogether declined to give it up again. 
 
 The cat is a clean beast, and has the blessing and 
 seal of Solomon set upon it. Therefore, if a cat 
 drinks out of a can containing milk or drinking- 
 water, what remains after she has quenched her 
 thirst is not unclean, and may be used by human 
 beings ; so, at least, I was assured by a feU§.h of 
 Bethelehem. The dog, however, is unclean, and 
 a vessel from which he has drunk is polluted. In- 
 deed, the dog is considered so foul an animal by the 
 stricter Moslems, more especially members of the 
 Shafe'i sect, that if, while they are at prayers, a dog 
 that has got a wetting shake himself at a distance 
 of forty steps from them, they at once arise, per- 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 263 
 
 form the preliminary ablutions, and start afresh 
 from the very beginning. On the other hand, there 
 are always to be found people who are fond of dogs. 
 A story is told of a Moslem who owned a handsome 
 " Slugi " ^ to which he was very much attached. 
 When it died he buried it in his garden reverently, 
 with his own hands. His enemies thereupon went 
 to the Kadi and accused him of having buried an 
 unclean beast with the respect and ceremonies 
 due only to a behever. The man would have been 
 severely dealt with had he not told the judge that 
 the animal had proved his sagacity by leaving a 
 wiU, in which a large sum of money was mentioned 
 as a legacy to his worship. On hearing this the 
 £adi decided that a dog of such rare wisdom and 
 discernment had indeed earned a right to decent 
 burial. 
 
 It is also related of Ibrahim El Khahl, on whom 
 be peace, that he was kind and hospitable, not only 
 to men, but to dogs as well. His flocks were so 
 numerous that 4000 dogs were needed to guard 
 them, and were fed daily by the Patriarch's boimty. 
 It is also said that in ancient times if one killed his 
 neighbour's dog he was hable to pay blood-money 
 for the creature just as for a hvunan being. The 
 amount of compensation is said to have been cal- 
 culated in the following manner. The dead creature 
 was hung up by the tail with its nose touching the 
 ground. A stake was then fixed in the ground, 
 of a height the same as that of the suspended 
 animal. Wheat — or, according to another state- 
 
 1 Properly seluki (from the town of Seluk) a kind of greyhound. — Ed. 
 
264 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 merit, flour — was then heaped round the stake 
 till the top was quite hidden, and as high as the 
 tip of the dog's tail would have been had its carcase 
 been left hanging there. The value of the grain or 
 meal heaped up was then estimated, and the slayer 
 of the dog had to pay the equivalent. 
 
 Just at the point where the road from Herod's 
 Gate in the northern wall of Jerusalem joins the 
 great road to Nablus, and close to the Tombs of 
 the Kings, is a cistern concerning which the old 
 guardian of the adjacent Moslem shrine of sheykh 
 Jerrah told me this legend. 
 
 Many years ago a man was murdered, and 
 his dog would not leave the place, but attacked 
 all passers-by. The animal was therefore killed, 
 but that was of no use, for his ghost now 
 appeared in the company of that of his master, 
 and frightened wayfarers. In order to lay the 
 ghosts the brother of the mm-dered man had the 
 cistern and drinking-fountain constructed on the 
 fatal spot for the free use of men and beasts. Since 
 then the spectres have no longer been seen, but 
 the cistern is still called " Bir el Kelb," the dog's 
 well. Another version of the story is, " that the 
 dog discovered the body of his murdered master 
 which had been thrown into the well." ^ 
 
 Here are three of the commonest proverbs con- 
 cerning dogs : " It is better to feed a dog than to 
 feed a man," meaning that the canine will not 
 
 ' See special note. 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 265 
 
 forget the kindness, while the human animal may. 
 " For want of horses and men, saddle dogs." " It 
 is the sheykh's dog that is sheykh." 
 
 The cat is hked by the Moslems, it is said, for the 
 following reason. When the Prophet was a camel- 
 driver, he was asleep one day in the shade of some 
 bushes in the desert. A serpent came out of a hole 
 and would have killed him had not a cat that 
 happened to be prowling about pounced upon and 
 destroyed it. When the Prophet awoke he saw 
 what had happened, and, caUing the cat to him, 
 fondled and blessed it. From thenceforth he was 
 very fond of cats. It is said that one day he cut ofE 
 the long sleeve of his robe, upon which his pet cat 
 was asleep, rather than disturb her slumbers. But 
 while the cat is a blessed animal, strange cats that 
 come to houses, and especially black cats, should 
 be avoided, as they may be demons in disguise. 
 A great Mohammedan sheykh in Egjrpt had a pet 
 black cat of which he was very fond, and which 
 used to sleep near him at night. One night the 
 sheykh was ill and could not sleep. As he lay awake 
 he heard a cat mewing in the street under his window. 
 His favourite at once arose and went to the window. 
 The cat outside the house called her distinctly by 
 name and asked her, in Arabic, whether there were 
 any food in the house. She answered, also in Arabic, 
 that there was plenty, but that neither she nor the 
 other could get it because " the name " was always 
 pronounced over the stores of provisions there, and 
 
266 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 so the would-be guest must go elsewhere. The 
 female demon " Lihth," the first wife of Adam,i 
 sometimes disguises herself as an owl, but more 
 frequently as a cat. The following story related by 
 a Spanish Jewess illustrates this beHef. " It is 
 quite true that La-Brusha " (that is, Lihth) " often 
 takes the form of a cat. This is what my mother 
 told me happened when she was born. It was told 
 her by her mother, my grandmother. Both were 
 very truthful women. For nine days after a child 
 has been born the mother and baby ought never 
 to be left alone in a room. What happened when 
 my mother was born was this. My great-grand- 
 mother, who was nursing my grandmother, had gone 
 out of the room, leaving the latter and the infant 
 (who was afterwards my mother) dozing. When 
 she came back the patient told her that she had 
 had a strange dream during her absence. She had 
 seen a great black cat come into the room as soon 
 as her mother's back was turned. It walked into 
 a corner of the chamber, and tm-ned itself iato a 
 jar. A cat was then heard mewing in the street, 
 and the jar thereupon became a cat again. It came 
 up to the bed (my grandmother being paralysed 
 with fear and helpless), took up the baby, went 
 with it to the window and called out ' Shall I throw ' 
 ' Throw,' was the answer given by the cat outside. 
 Thrice the cat in the sick-room asked the same 
 question and got the same answer. She then threw 
 the infant (my mother) out of the window. Just 
 at that moment my great-grandmother returned 
 
 1 See Section I. "Our Father Adam." 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 267 
 
 and the cat suddenly vanished. My great-grand- 
 mother, noticing that the child was neither in its 
 cradle nor in its mother's bed, with great presence 
 of mind hid her alarm and said to my grandmother, 
 ' Of course you were only dreaming. It was I 
 who came and took the little one in order to change 
 its clothes whilst you were fast asleep, and I shall 
 bring it back again in a moment.' So saying, she 
 left the room quietly, but as soon as she got outside 
 and had closed the door behind her, she rushed 
 out of the house and beheld a huge cat crossing a 
 field with the child in its mouth. Love lent her 
 speed. She soon overtook the dreadful creature, 
 and being a wise woman who knew exactly what 
 to do in such an emergency, she uttered a form of 
 adjuration which forced the demon not only to 
 drop its prey, but also to swear that for eleven 
 generations to come it would not molest her family 
 or its descendants. My great-grandmother then 
 brought the infant back, but it was not till long after 
 its mother was well and strong again that she told 
 her that her supposed dream had been a frightful 
 reahty." 
 
 To kiU a cat is considered by many of the feUahin 
 to be a great sin which wiU surely bring misfortune 
 upon the perpetrator. When a fellah of Artass 
 lost his eyesight, he and others attributed the mis- 
 fortune to divine retribution, seeing he had in his 
 youth been a kUler of cats. Though generally 
 respected, the cat is sometimes considered as the 
 personification of craft and hypocrisy. 
 
 A town cat, having destroyed almost all the 
 
268 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 mice and rats in the place, found itself forced, for 
 lack of prey, to go into the fields and hunt for birds, 
 mice, rats and lizards. In this time of need it 
 thought of the following ruse. It stayed away 
 for some weeks from its usual haunts, and 
 returning, lay down in front of a mouse and rat 
 warren, with a rosary round its neck ; then, 
 with its eyes closed, fell to purring loudly. Soon 
 a mouse peeped out of a hole, but, seeing the cat, 
 hastily retired. " Why do you flee ? " said pussy 
 gently. " Instead of showing pleasme at the return 
 of an old neighbour from the pilgrimage you run 
 away as soon as you see him. Come and visit me, 
 fear nothing." Sin-prised at hearing itself thus 
 addressed, the mouse again ventured to the door 
 of its hole and said, " How can you expect me to 
 visit you ? Are you not the enemy of my race ? 
 Should I accept your invitation you would surely 
 seize and devom- me as you did my parents and so 
 many others of my kindred." 
 
 " Alas ! " sighed the cat, " your reproaches are 
 just, I have been a great sinner, and have earned 
 abuse and enmity. But I am truly penitent. 
 As you see from this rosary round my neck, I 
 now devote myself to prayer, meditation, and the 
 recital of holy books, the whole of which I have 
 learnt by heart, and was just beginning to repeat 
 when you happened to look out of your hole. Besides 
 this, I have visited the holy places, so am a Hajji^ 
 as well as a Hafiz.' Go, my injured but neverthe- 
 less generous and forgiving, friend, make my change 
 
 ' Pilgrim. ^ One who has the whole of the Coran by heart. — Ed. 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 269 
 
 of life and sentiments known to the rest of your 
 people and bid them no longer shun my society, 
 seeing that I am become a recluse. Whilst you are 
 absent I shall resume my recitations. Purr, Purr, 
 Purr." 
 
 Much surprised at the news he had just heard, the 
 mouse made it known to the rest of his tribe. They 
 were at first incredulous ; but at last, after one and 
 another had ventured to peep from the mouth of its 
 hole and had beheld the whiskered ascetic with the 
 rosary round his neck apparently obHvious of earthly 
 things, and steadily repeating his pmr, piu-r, pmr, 
 which they supposed to be the contents of holy books, 
 they thought that there might be some truth in the 
 matter and they convened a meeting of mice and 
 rats to discuss it. After much debate, it was judged 
 right to test the reaUty of the cat's conversion, but 
 to be prudent at the same time ; and so a large 
 and experienced old rat was sent out to recon- 
 noitre. Being a wary veteran, he kept well out 
 of the cat's reach, though he saluted him respect- 
 fully from a distance. The cat allowed the rat to 
 prowl about unmolested for a long time in the hope 
 that other rats and mice would come out, when his 
 prey would be easy to catch and plentiful. But no 
 others came, and at last the pangs of hunger made 
 him resolve to wait no longer. The rat, however, 
 was on the alert and darted off the instant he noticed, 
 from a sHght movement of the cat's muscles, that the 
 pretended saint was about to kill him. " Why do 
 you go away so abruptly ? " mewed the cat ; " are 
 you tired of hearing me repeat scripture, or do you 
 
370 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 doubt the correctness of my recitation ? " " Neither," 
 answered the rat as he peeped from the hole in which 
 he had taken refuge. " I am couAdnced that you have 
 indeed committed the holy books perfectly to memory, 
 but at the same time, I am convinced that, however 
 much you may have learnt by rote, you have 
 neither unlearnt nor eschewed your habits of pouncing 
 upon us." 
 
 The hyaena is an evil and accursed beast. When- 
 ever an owl is heard to hoot at night, it is because she, 
 who is herself a metamorphosed woman, or Lilith 
 in owl-form, sees either a human thief, or a hyaena. 
 Among the Jews there is a belief that the hyaena is 
 formed out of a white germ, and that it has as many 
 different colours as there are days in the solar year. 
 When a male hyaena is seven years old, it becomes 
 either a female of the same species or else a bat. 
 The natives of Palestine generally beheve that the 
 hyaena, not content with digging up and devouring 
 dead bodies, often bewitches the living and lures 
 them to his den. He is wont to come up at night to 
 the soUtary wayfarer, rub against him endearingly 
 and then run on ahead. The man against whom 
 he has rubbed himself is instantly bewitched, and 
 with the cry, " O my uncle, stop, and wait for me," 
 he follows the hyaena as fast as he can till he gets into 
 the beast's den and is devoured. It sometimes 
 happens that the entrance to the den is very low, 
 and that, when he tries to enter, the human victim 
 hits his head against a projection of the rock. If 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 271 
 
 that happens, he at once recovers his senses and saves 
 himself by flight, for the hyaena is a great coward, 
 and never attacks a man unless th* latter be asleep, 
 or disabled, or has been bewitched by him. Some- 
 times the frightful creature hides itself behind stones 
 or bushes near the roadside ; and when, after night- 
 fall, a single person passes without a lantern, the 
 hyaena sets up a groaning hke that of somebody in 
 great pain. If the wayfarer turns aside to see what 
 is the matter, the wild beast will leap upon him and 
 so startle him, that he wiU be at once bewitched and 
 follow it. 
 
 The following story is often told of a feUah who 
 caught a hyaena in a very clever way. The feMh 
 was on a journey and had with him a donkey bearing 
 a heavy sack of grain. About sunset the man 
 reached a wayside khan. As it was a hot night, he 
 put up his donkey in the stable but left the sack 
 outside, and, wrapping his 'abba arotmd him, lay 
 down upon the sack and went to sleep. About 
 midnight he was disturbed by something scratching 
 up the groxmd near him. Opening his eyes, he saw 
 a large hyaena digging a grave alongside of him, 
 evidently intending to kill and bury him, and later 
 on to exhmne and devour him at his leisure. The 
 feMh let the hyaena dig on tiU the ridge of its back 
 was below the level of the ground. Then, starting up, 
 he rolled the sack of corn on to the animal, and thus 
 kept him down in the grave till morning, when it 
 was an easy task to secure him, for, though a Hon 
 at night,^ the hyaena is but a cur in the day-time. 
 
 1 Ed-dab' bil-leyl sab'. — Arabic proverb. 
 
272 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 However, even at night he fears fire, and a simple 
 way to drive him off is to biirn matches or to 
 strike sparks with flint and steel. 
 
 In spite of the evil quaUties popularly ascribed to 
 the hyaena, this animal is credited with one good 
 trait, that of gratitude to those who treat him 
 well. 
 
 A Bedawi having been found murdered, suspicion 
 pointed to a young man in a certain village as the 
 murderer, and though innocent, he had to flee from 
 his home to escape the vengeance of the dead man's 
 relatives. Flying northwards he encountered a 
 sheykh of his acquaintance who asked him whither 
 he was going, and dissuaded him from going further 
 in that direction, because the avengers of blood lay 
 in ambush ahead of him. The young man then 
 turned westward, but had not gone far before he met 
 another friend who turned him back, saying that 
 the kinsfolk of the dead Bedawi were waiting for him 
 a httle further on. He then went eastward, only 
 to meet a third friend, who warned him that in that 
 direction also a party of his enemies were on the 
 look-out for him. In this trouble he cried out " 
 Allah, Thou knowest that I am innocent, and yet, 
 which ever way I turn, I shall meet with those who 
 seek my Hfe." He then left the beaten track and 
 went down a hillside which was covered with thicket 
 and brush-wood, towards a valley where he knew of 
 some caves, one of which he entered. As soon as he 
 got used to the gloom of his hiding-place he per- 
 ceived to his horror that he was in the den of a female 
 hyaena which, leaving a litter of cubs asleep, had 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 273 
 
 gone abroad in search of prey. He was going to 
 fly the place when he heard human steps approach- 
 ing. Fearing that his enemies had foimd him out, 
 he drew back into the darkest recess of the cavern. 
 He saw a man crawl in, take up one hyaena's cub 
 after the other and put it into his 'abba to carry them 
 off for sale. The fugitive recognised the man, and 
 coming forward, begged him to spare the cubs, 
 sajdng that he himself now knew the bitterness of 
 being himted. Were his friend to spare the young 
 hyaenas, perhaps AUah would one day save them 
 both from evil. The man was moved, and, putting 
 down the cubs, left the cave, promising not to betray 
 the fugitive, but to let him know when it was safe 
 for him to return home. He had just gone when the 
 hyaena returned and, seeing a man in her den, was 
 going to attack him, when the cubs rushed up, and 
 by their yelping attracted her attention. After 
 much hyaena-talk between her and her children, 
 she seemed to understand that the man had been 
 their protector, and showed her gratitude by bring- 
 ing him food ; not carrion such as hyaenas love, but 
 hares, partridges, and kids, which she caught aUve. 
 Thus the youth abode as the hyaena's guest till 
 his friend came and told him that the real mm-derer 
 had been found and punished. 
 
 The fox is the most crafty and cunning of^beasts. 
 His tricks and wiles are innumerable. If there are 
 partridges about, he notices the direction in which 
 they win be likely to run, and then he rims ahead 
 
274 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 of them and lies down as if dead, foaming at the 
 mouth. When the birds come to the spot they 
 think him dead, and peck at him. They dip their 
 bills in the sahva running from his mouth, and then 
 he snaps at, and catches them. He one day played 
 a similar trick on a peasant-woman who was carrying 
 a basketful of hve fowls to market. Seeing the way 
 she was going, he ran ahead and lay down as above 
 described. When passing the spot she saw him, but 
 did not think it worth her while to stop and skin him. 
 As soon as she was out of sight, the fox jumped up 
 and, making a detotir, again ran ahead of her and lay 
 down a second time in the road at a point she would 
 have to pass. She was siu-prised to see him, and 
 said to herself, " Has a pestilence broken out amongst 
 the sons of Awi ? Had I skinned the first I saw 
 lying by the roadside it would have been worth my 
 while to stop for this one, but as I did not do so then, 
 I shall not do so now." She went on her way and 
 her surprise was unbounded when, after a while 
 she noticed what she believed to be a third fox dead 
 on the roadside. " Verily I have done wrong," 
 thought she, " to neglect the good things AUah has 
 placed in my way. I shall leave my fowls here, and 
 secxu-e the pelts of the first two before others take 
 them." No sooner said than done ; but before she 
 had time to return, wondering, but empty-handed, 
 the cunning fox had secured his prey and departed. 
 
 The fox is fond of playing practical jokes on other 
 animals ; he sometimes, however, gets practical 
 jokes played on him. 
 
 Meeting the eagle one day, he inquired how large 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 275 
 
 the world looked when seen from the highest point 
 to which he had ever soared. " Why," answered the 
 king of birds, "it is so small as to be almost in- 
 visible." The fox looked incredulous, so the eagle 
 invited him to motmt on his shoulders while he 
 soared, so that he might judge for himself. " How 
 big does the earth look now ? " he asked, when they 
 had risen a great way. " As large as a straw basket 
 made atLydda," answered Abu Hassan.^ They still 
 went up and up, and the eagle repeated his question. 
 " No bigger than an onion," said the fox. Higher 
 they went, and higher stUl, and at last, when ques- 
 tioned, the fox acknowledged that the world was out 
 of sight. " How far off do you suppose it to be ? " 
 asked the eagle maUciously. The fox, who by this 
 time was frightened out of his wits, rephed that he 
 did not know. " In that case you had better find 
 out," said the great bird, turning over suddenly. 
 Down went the fox, and would, of course, have been 
 killed had he not had the good fortune to fall upon 
 soft ploughed groimd, and to have come down right 
 upon the sheep-skin jacket which a ploughman, at 
 work close by, had left Ijdng there. Giving thanks 
 for his narrow escape, the fox shpped under the 
 jacket and ran ofi with it upon his back. He was 
 out of sight before the ploughman reahsed what had 
 happened. As he ran he came suddenly face to face 
 with a leopard who asked from whence he had 
 obtained his new dress. Abu Suleyman ^ promptly 
 rephed that he had become a fiu-rier and dealt in 
 sheep-skin jackets, and advised the leopard to order 
 
 ^ = Reynard. ^ Another name for the fox. 
 
276 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 one for himseH, warning him, however, that he would 
 have to provide six lamb-skins, two for the front, 
 two for the back, and two for the sleeves. The 
 leopard agreed to this, and having taken the fox's 
 address, promised to send him six lambs, whose flesh 
 the fox would take as payment for his work. Next 
 day, the lambs were brought to the door of the fox's 
 den. Abu Hassan, with his wife and seven cubs, 
 hved in luxiury, and thought no more about the 
 jacket, till the leopard called to ask whether his 
 garment were ready, when the fox said that he had 
 made a mistake in his estimate, and that he had used 
 all six lamb-skins for the body of the coat. Two 
 and a half lamb-skins were required for the sleeves. 
 " You shall have three," said the Uberal-minded 
 customer ; and sm-e enough, he next day brought 
 three lambs to the fox's door, and was promised his 
 jacket for the following week. At the appointed 
 time he came and asked for it, but was put off with 
 another excuse and told to come next day. When 
 ever he appeared the fox had some new story to 
 account for the non-appearance of the jacket. At 
 last, the leopard refused to wait any longer, and 
 losing patience, struck at the fox and managed to 
 catch hold of his tail just as he was sUpping into his 
 den. The tail gave way and the fox escaped with 
 his Hfe, as his hole was too small for the leopard to 
 enter. 
 
 " The rogue has lost his tail," said the leopard to 
 himself ; '•' so I shall know him again when we meet ; 
 but in the meanwhile I will ensure his receiving severe 
 punishment whenever he attempts to leave his den." 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 277 
 
 He waited till nightfall when hornets are asleep, and 
 then dug up a nest of them and placed it just above 
 the fox's door-way. When the fox awoke next 
 morning and wanted to leave his den he heard the 
 humming of the hornets outside, and, thought it was 
 the leopard purring. Instead of going out, he slunk 
 back into the innermost recess of his dwelling. For 
 many days he dared not venture forth, as the noise 
 continued. He was compelled by famine to devom" 
 his own cubs, one at a time ; and at last persuaded 
 his wife to wrestle with him, on the understanding 
 that the winner should devour the other. Though 
 twice worsted in the trial of strength, he each time 
 persuaded his mate to spare his life and give him 
 one more trial ; but he beat her at the third trial, 
 when he instantly killed and devoured her. After that 
 he starved for several days, tiU at last, as the humming 
 at his door still continued, he decided to stake his 
 Hfe on a bold and sudden dash for liberty. He slunk 
 cautiously to the door of his cave, and then rushed 
 out, only to find that the humming which had 
 frightened him into the destruction of his family was 
 caused by nothing worse than hornets. However, 
 it was useless to grieve, and he had stiU to secure 
 himself from the vengeance of the leopard, who 
 would know him anywhere, taiUess as he now was. 
 He invited aU the foxes to feast on grapes in a certain 
 fruitful vineyard. ^Tien they arrived he led each 
 guest to a different vine ; and, explaining that, should 
 they be allowed to roam at hberty and eat from any 
 vine they chose, quarrels might arise and the noise 
 of strife endanger aU, he tied each one firmly by the 
 
278 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 tail to his special vine. When aU were there tied up 
 and gorging sUently, he slipped away, unperceived, 
 to the top of a hillock and shouted out " Assemble 
 yourselves, O sons of Adam, assemble and see how 
 your vineyard is being plundered." On hearing this 
 alarm, the foxes, in their desperate efforts to escape, 
 tugged and pulled tiU they left their tails behind 
 them. As all were tailless, the leopard, when he met 
 our hero, was unable to prove that he was the 
 identical fox who had cheated him over that lamb- 
 skin jacket. 
 
 A poor old widow, whose relations were all 
 dead, Uved alone in a Httle mud-roofed hut far from 
 any village. It was a dark and stormy night, and 
 the water came dripping through the roof on to her 
 wretched bed. She rose and dragged her straw mat 
 and the old mattress that lay thereon into another 
 corner of the hovel ; but in vain, for the water came 
 through there as well, making, as it fell, the noise 
 " Dib, dib, dib, dib." Again she rose and dragged 
 her bed into another corner, but here also the 
 water dripped, dib, dib, dib, dib, — tiU, worn out 
 and in despair, she moaned : " my Lord ! 
 Allah ! save me from this dreadful dib, dib, dib, dib. 
 See how it torments me, robbing me of my sleep, and 
 to-morrow it will have made all my bones to ache 
 with intolerable pain, I fear and hate nothing so 
 much as I do this dib, dib. I fear no wild beasts, 
 whether lion, leopard, or wolf, or bear, or hyaena, 
 as much as I fear this horrible dib, dib, dib, that will 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 279 
 
 not let me sleep now, and wiU be sure to torment me 
 to-morrow." 
 
 Now, crouching outside the door of her hut, lay 
 a wild beast waiting for the old woman to go to sleep, 
 that he might break in and devour her. Hearing her 
 cry out thus, he began to wonder what sort of a 
 creature the dib, dib, dib, dib, could be, and came to 
 the conclusion that it would be prudent not to inter- 
 fere in a case which even at that moment the dib, 
 dib, was attending, and which it " would be sure to 
 torment to-morrow." One thing seemed certain to 
 the crouching wild beast, and that was that the 
 " dib, dib," must be a very frightful monster, with 
 whom he had better not contend. " I know what 
 the ' dub ' 1 is," said the wild beast, " and I know what 
 the ' dib ' ^ is, but I have never before heard of the 
 ' dib, dib,' and as I do not care to run unnecessary 
 risk, I think I will leave the old woman alone. She 
 has not much flesh on her, as it is, and if the ' dib, 
 dib,' finds her a toothsome morsel, well, let him 
 have her, I shall sup elsewhere. But hark ! What 
 is that approaching ? I should not wonder if it 
 were the ' dib, dib,' himself come to get the old 
 woman. I had better he qxiite stiU tiU he is gone, 
 lest he find me too, and torment me." 
 
 Now the creatiue approaching was a man, a 
 water-seller, from the nearest village, whose donkey 
 had run away that evening. It was a very tiresome 
 donkey, that was always running away, and it had 
 lost both its ears or the greater part of both, having 
 been repeatedly caught trespassing in corn-fields 
 
 1 Bear. 2 vTolf. 
 
280 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 not belonging to its owner. It was, in short, an ass 
 of bad character, whose owner had been out for 
 several hours searching for it that stormy night. He 
 was in a very bad temper, and when he came up to 
 the spot on which the wild beast was lying trembling 
 in every hmb for fear of the " dib, dib, dib," he 
 caught sight of an animal with short ears and about 
 the same size as his donkey. So he swore a great 
 oath that he would break every bone in its body, 
 and he cursed its father and all its forefathers and the 
 religion of its owner, and of his ancestors ; and, with- 
 out stopping to ascertain its identity, he began to rain 
 heavy blows upon the panic-stricken wild beast with 
 a great stick which he had in his hand. The wild 
 beast, now quite siu-e that it had fallen into the 
 power of the " dib, dib," was so frightened that it lay 
 quietly crouching without making the least resist- 
 ance to this furious onslaught, and when the man, 
 still cursing furiously, made it get up, and mounted 
 on its back, it bore the indignity with the greatest 
 meekness, and carried him in the direction that he 
 wanted to go. When the man had got over his 
 passion and was fairly on his way, he began to 
 reaUse that the seat on which he sat was different 
 from that which he was used to, and also that the 
 animal he was now riding had a noiseless tread quite 
 different from that of any donkey ; and he saw that 
 in his haste he had put himself into the power of 
 some wild creature. But so long as he was on its 
 back, he considered it would not be able to kUl him ; 
 and, as it seemed afraid of him, he determined to 
 keep it in that condition till he should be able to find 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 281 
 
 out what it was and a way of escape from it. 
 So, whenever the pace slackened, he thrashed the 
 beast well, and kept up a storm of cursing. When 
 dayhght broke, he found himself astride of an 
 enormous leopard, and wondered how he covdd ever 
 get off its back without the certainty of being torn 
 to death. The leopard, on the other hand, did not 
 discover that it was man ill-treating him, but stiU 
 thought it was the " dib, dib." As they were passing 
 under some trees with low branches, the man, with 
 quick resolve, seized hold of one of them, and loosen- 
 ing his legs, let the beast sKp through between them 
 while he swung himself into the branches. The 
 leopard thus unexpectedly set free, did not stop to 
 look at his tormentor, but rushed off as fast as his 
 legs would carry him. He suddenly encoimtered 
 a fox who, surprised to see a leopard in terror, very 
 civilly inquired of the matter. Finding himself in 
 safety, the leopard stopped and related all that he 
 had suffered at the hands of the " dib, dib, dib." 
 " Well," said the fox poUtely, " I am acquainted 
 with all sorts of animals, but I never heard of such 
 a creatiu'e as the " dib, dib, dib " ; and he suggested 
 that it might possibly have been a man. " Come 
 back with me to the tree where you left him, and 
 see whether I am right or not. In case I am wrong, 
 we can rim away before he gets near enough to hm-t 
 us, and if he is a man, you can easily kiU him and be 
 avenged for all the trouble he has caused you." 
 " How do I know you are sincere ? " repUed the 
 leopard. " Everyone speaks of you as a swindler 
 and a tricky rogue ; and what proof have I that you 
 
282 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 may not have been employed by the " dib, dib " 
 himself, in order to Ixu-e me to my ruin ? " " Tie 
 yoxu" tail to mine," answered the fox, " and then, 
 if I play you false, you will have me at hand and can 
 kiU me." The leopard accepted this handsome offer. 
 Having tied his tail to that of the fox, and made an 
 extra knot, they went towards the place where the 
 water-seller had been left. The latter was still in 
 the tree, for, though it was now broad daylight, he 
 feared to descend before all the world was astir lest 
 he should be ambushed by the leopard. So, although 
 it was the kind of day on which the sheykh of the 
 Haradin^ gives his daughter in marriage, the poor 
 drenched fellow stayed shivering in his tree. At last 
 he made up his mind, and was just on the point to 
 climb down when he saw the leopard, accompanied 
 by the fox, emerge from a thicket and come towards 
 him. At first he could not understand why the 
 two animals should have tied their tails together, 
 but being a man of ready wit, the true cause flashed 
 upon him ; and while the pair were still a good way 
 off, he cried : " Abu Suleymin, why have you 
 kept me so long waiting ? Hurry up with the old 
 marauder that I may break his bones." On hearing 
 those terrible words the leopard turned fiercely on 
 the fox, saying, " Did I not know you were a treacher- 
 ous villain, and would play me false ? " Then he 
 turned tail and ran for his hfe, dragging after him 
 the hapless fox, who was soon bumped to death 
 
 1 Haradin = a kind of lizards (Stellio vulgaris). The phrase is a 
 proverbial expression for a day of heavy showers alternating with 
 sickly gleams of sunshine. 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 283 
 
 against the stones and tree-trunks which the leopard 
 passed in his headlong flight. The water-seller came 
 down from the tree and returned to his home. Thus 
 Allah, to Whom be praise, punished the fox for his 
 former crimes, and the leopard for his wicked in- 
 tentions, whilst at the same time he protected the 
 poor old woman, and taught the water-seUer to be 
 more careful. 
 
 As might be expected, the serpent figures 
 largely in the animal folk-lore of Palestine. Ac- 
 cording to Jewish notions, " the spinal cord of a 
 man who does not bend his knees at the repetition 
 of the benediction, which commences with the word 
 ' Modim,' after seven years becomes a serpent ; " 
 while the feUahin believe that a serpent, when it has 
 attained the age of one thousand years, finds its way 
 to the sea, and becomes a whale. According to the 
 Talmud, " Seventy years must elapse before a viper 
 can reproduce its own species, and a similar period 
 is reqxiired for the carub-tree, while the wicked 
 serpent requires seven years." The following is a 
 characteristic serpent-story. 
 
 The serpent is the most accursed of all created 
 things, and very treacherous. It is at the root of all 
 the evil in the world. Who does not know that when 
 Iblis was refused admission into Paradise he went 
 sneaking round the hedges and trjdng in vain to 
 persuade the different animals to let him in ? At 
 last, however, the serpent, bribed by a promise of 
 the sweetest food in the world, which the evil one 
 
284 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 told him was human flesh, introduced the devil into 
 the garden, concealed in the hollow of his fangs. 
 From this hiding-place Iblis conversed with Eve, 
 who supposed it was the serpent speaking to her. 
 The mischief that resulted is weU-known. How- 
 ever, the serpent did not get his reward ; for when, 
 after the fall, an angel was appointed to assign to 
 every creature its special food and country, the 
 serpent — who even before the devil tempted him, 
 had felt jealous of Adam rechning in Paradise while 
 angels served him with roast meat and wine — 
 shamelessly demanded that he should have human 
 flesh for his sustenance, in accordance with the 
 promise given him. Our father Adam, however, 
 protested, and pointed out that, as nobody had ever 
 tasted human flesh or blood, it was impossible to 
 maintain that it was the most luscious of food. Thus 
 he gained a year's respite for himself and his race ; 
 and, in the interval, the mosquito was sent round the 
 world with instructions to taste and report upon the 
 blood of every Kving creatm-e. At the end of twelve 
 months it was to proclaim in open coiut the result 
 of its researches. Now Adam had a friend in that 
 sacred bird the swallow, which annually makes its 
 pilgrimage to Mecca and aU holy places. This bird, 
 unseen of the mosquito, shadowed it all the twelve 
 months till the great day of decision came. Then, 
 as the insect was on its way to the court, the swallow 
 met it openly and asked what flesh and blood it had 
 found the sweetest. " Man's," repUed the mosquito. 
 " What ? " said the swallow. " Please say it again 
 distinctly, for I am rather deaf." On this the mos- 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 285 
 
 quito opened its mouth wide to shout the answer ; 
 when the bird, with incredible swiftness, darted in 
 his bill and plucked out the dangerous insect's 
 tongue. They then proceeded on their way to the 
 place where, by appointment, all Kving creatures 
 were assembled to hear the final decision. On being 
 asked the outcome of his investigations, the mosquito, 
 who could now only]buzz, was unable to make him- 
 self understood, and the swallow, pretending to be 
 his spokesman, declared that the insect had told him 
 that he had found the blood of the frog most dehcious. 
 In corroboration of this statement, he said that he had 
 accompanied the mosquito on its travels ; and many 
 of the animals present, who had come from different 
 remote regions, testified to having seen both the 
 mosquito and the swallow at the same time in their 
 special countries. Sentence was therefore given, 
 that frogs, and not men, should be the serpent's food. 
 In its rage and disappointment, the serpent darted 
 forward to destroy the swallow ; but the latter was 
 too quick, and the serpent only succeeded in biting 
 some feathers out of the middle of its tail, which is 
 why all swallows have the tail forked. Bafiled in 
 this manner, the serpent — which was then a quad- 
 ruped, and could in one hom- travel as far as a man 
 could walk in seven days — though he might neither 
 devour men nor suck their blood, yet sought every 
 opportunity for stinging and slaying them, and did 
 no end of harm tiU the time of Solomon, the king and 
 sage, who cursed him so effectually that his legs fell 
 off, and he became a reptile. He indeed begged 
 hard to be spared the punishment, but the king, who 
 
286 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 knew what his promises were worth, remained 
 inexorable. Once, when Solomon was at Damascus, 
 the serpent and the mole came to him, the former 
 asking that its legs might be restored, and the latter 
 to be provided with eyes. The king repUed that he 
 was at Damascus on special business, and could only 
 hear petitions at Jerusalem, where he would be in 
 one week's time. On his return to El-Kuds, the 
 first petitioners announced to him were the serpent 
 and the mole. In reply to their requests he said that, 
 as they had both been able to travel from Damascus 
 to the Holy City in as short a time as he had done 
 with chariot and horses, it was clear that the serpent 
 did not need legs nor the mole eyes." 
 
 XI 
 
 ABOUT PLANTS 
 
 The Kharrub,^ among other trees and shrubs, such 
 as the fig, the sycamore and the caper-bush, is a 
 perch for demons of various kinds, and so classed 
 among unholy plants ; while the oUve-tree, among 
 others, is sacred, not only because of its great value 
 in furnishing oU and food, but also on account of the 
 following legend : — 
 
 " At the death of Mohammed the trees, with 
 a few exceptions — such as the oak, the pine, the 
 orange, and the citron — went into moiuning by 
 shedding their leaves as they do in winter. When 
 the others were asked why they did not do the same, 
 
 ' Oeratonia siiiqua. 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 287 
 
 the olive, as their elder and spokesman, replied. 
 You show your sorrow by external signs, but our 
 grief, who care not for the opinion of others, but only 
 that AJlah, who reads the secrets of the heart, should 
 approve of our motives, is no less sincere, though 
 inward. Should you cleave my trunk open, for 
 instance, you would find that at its core it has 
 become black with grief." 
 
 The Abhar ^ is another sacred tree, because its 
 nut is used in the manufactiu-e of rosaries,^ and 
 because, when he fled from Pharaoh, Moses, tired 
 in the shadeless desert, planted his staff of storax in 
 the soil and lay down in its scanty shade, which was 
 instantly increased, AUah causing the staff to sprout 
 and put forth branches bearing leaves and blossoms. 
 In like manner the Miriamiyeh or sage ^ is much 
 esteemed ; not only for its medicinal properties which 
 cause its dried leaves to be biu-ned in fumigation in 
 cases of cholera, small-pox, measles and other 
 contagious and epidemic diseases, while an infusion 
 of its leaves is a specific for various maladies ; but 
 also because the Virgin Mary, being overcome with 
 fatigue during her flight into Egypt, rested under a 
 sage-bush; and, breaking off a bunch of its leaves, 
 wiped her brow with them; and when she rose 
 refreshed, blessed the plant and bestowed upon it 
 the virtues it now possesses. 
 The Nubk or Lotus * is also a sacred plant. It 
 
 1 storax officinalis. 
 
 2 Called in Arabic Massabih (praising instruments), and used by 
 Moslems and Christians at their devotions. 
 
 3 Salvia ceratophyoc vel controversa. * Zizyphus spina Ohristi. 
 
288 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 often marks the boundaries between the lands of 
 different villages, and some believe that the hedge 
 surromiding Paradise is formed of it. When a Lotus- 
 tree has attained the age of forty years it often 
 becomes the abode of some departed saint. It is 
 therefore a dangerous thing to cut down a Lotus tree 
 that is above that age, as the saint might resent the 
 deed. In travelling through Palestine one frequently 
 meets with clumps of sacred trees, not necessarily 
 always Lotus, which are thus haunted by the spirits 
 of holy men ; and, on Thursday evenings especially, 
 one sometimes sees these trees hghted up, and can 
 hear snatches of sacred instrumental music proceeding 
 therefrom, while hghts appear to be darting from 
 tree to tree. It is a sign that the saints are keeping 
 festival, and exchanging visits. A sacred tree much 
 affected by such spirits is the Tamarisk.^ If, when 
 passing these trees on windy nights, you Usten 
 attentively, you may sometimes distinctly hear the 
 holy name " Allah " soughing through the branches, 
 It is not generally known that one of the proofs 
 that the time when the Orthodox Greek Christians 
 celebrate Christmas is the right one, and that the 
 Latins and other Westerns are wrong in the time of 
 their celebration, is that on the Greek Christmas 
 Eve all trees and plants, but especially those on the 
 banks of the Jordan, worship the Saviour. This 
 important fact was discovered in the following 
 manner : — A certain man rode into Lydda shortly 
 before midnight on the Greek Christmas Eve. On 
 reaching his quarters he tied up his donkey to the 
 
 ' Tamaria Syriaca. 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 289 
 
 trunk of a palm-tree which, as it lay prostrate in the 
 yard, he naturally supposed had been blown down 
 by a recent storm. Next morning, however, when he 
 arose and went to look after his donkey, his astonish- 
 ment was great to find the tree erect and the ass 
 hanging beside and from the palm-trunk. As the 
 animal was quite dead, the fact was proved beyond 
 dispute. 
 
 Another remarkable plant, much talked about 
 is the "'Ushbet el Kurka " or "Tortoise-Herb." 
 He who finds this plant has made his fortune in more 
 senses than one. In the first place, its leaves are of 
 pm-e gold. Further, if one is so fortunate as to find 
 and gather it, he has the marvellous power of un- 
 consciously gaining the goodwill of everybody, and 
 can, if he choose, fascinate both men and women 
 and make them his wiUing slaves. Even should he 
 unconsciously tread upon this plant, without picking 
 it, he is able, without himself being conscious of the 
 fact, or others being able to explain it, to win the 
 love and esteem of aU whom he meets. Even goats 
 which browse upon it have their teeth turned to gold. 
 Unfortunately this plant is extremely rare. Some 
 years ago there was a feUah hving in a village in 
 Judaea who knew all about it, where it grew, at what 
 season it might be found, its appearance, and so forth. 
 He was offered a large sum of money by a rich 
 Bethlehemite for these secrets, but, being a man 
 of high principles, he refused the offer rather than 
 betray the honour of the countryside by putting a 
 Christian in possession of such powers. He is dead 
 now, and his knowledge perished with him. 
 
290 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 XII 
 
 ABOUT COFFEE 
 
 The origin of coffee-drinking is connected with 
 various legends and superstitious ideas. The shrub 
 on which the coffee-berry grows is said to be indi- 
 genous in Abyssinia, and the story riuis that the 
 virtues of the plant were discovered by accident. 
 Fleeing from persecution, towards the end of the 
 third century, a party of monks from Eg3rpt found 
 refuge in the Abyssinian highlands ; where they 
 settled and supported themselves by agriculture and 
 the care of flocks, which were entrusted in turn to 
 the pastoral care of different brethren. One of these 
 came to the prior one night with the strange tale 
 that the sheep and goats would not go to rest in their 
 fold, but were frisking and lively to such a degree 
 that he feared that they had been bewitched. This 
 state of things continued, in spite of prayers and 
 exorcisms, for several days, tiU at last the prior 
 resolved himself to herd the animals. Leading 
 them out to pasture, he observed what plants they 
 browsed on, and thus discovered that their sleep- 
 lessness was the effect of the leaves of a certain shrub. 
 Experimenting on himself by chewing some buds of 
 the same plant, he found that he was easily able 
 to keep awake during the long night-services which 
 his form of religion prescribed. Thus was coffee 
 discovered. 
 
 It was not at first used as a beverage, but eaten 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 291 
 
 in form of a paste, something like chocolate. It 
 was introduced into Arabia in pre-Islamic times, 
 probably not later than the time of the famous 
 Crusade undertaken by Elesbaan, or Caleb Negus, 
 the Nagash of Arab authors, in order to punish the 
 Himyaritic Jewish ruler, Yusif Yarush, surnamed 
 " Dhu Nowas," who had been persecuting the 
 Christians. When Mohammedans were prohibited 
 the use of wine, its place was taken by decoctions of 
 cofiee-berries. The name " coffee " is derived from 
 the Arabic Kahweh (pronounced Kahveh by the 
 Turks), and, in its primary sense, denoted wine 
 or other intoxicating Kquors. " The city of Aden," 
 says Crichton, " is the first on record that set 
 the example of drinking it as a common refresh- 
 ment, about the middle of the fifteenth century. 
 A drowsy mufti, called Jemaleddin, had discovered 
 that it disposed him to keep awake, as well as to a 
 more Uvely exercise of his spiritual duties." This 
 is clearly a version of the story of the Abyssinian 
 monks above given. Jemal-ed-din, according to 
 Crichton, died a.d. 1470, " and such was the re- 
 putation which his experience had given to the virtues 
 of coffee, that in a short time it was introduced by 
 Fakreddin at Mecca and Medina." It seems, how- 
 ever, that it was not till the commencement of the 
 sixteenth century that it was introduced to Cairo. 
 
 Its introduction caused a bitter theological con- 
 troversy among the Moslems. In a.d. 1511, it was 
 pubUcly condemned at Mecca by a conclave of the 
 'ulema, who declared its use contrary to Islam and 
 hm-tful both to body and soul. This decision of the 
 
292 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 learned was echoed at Cairo. All the warehouses 
 where the " seditious berry " (bunn) was stored 
 were purposely burnt down, the coffee-houses 
 closed, and their keepers pelted with the sherds of 
 their pots and cups. This was in 1524, but by an 
 order of Selim I., the decrees of the learned were 
 reversed, the disturbances in Egypt quieted, the 
 drinking of coffee declared perfectly orthodox ; and 
 when two Persian doctors, who had asserted it to be 
 injurious to health, had been hanged by the Sultan's 
 orders, the coffee-cup began its undisturbed reign. 
 It now rules supreme in the East. If you want 
 anyone, to whom it would be an insult to offer 
 bakshish, to do you a favour, you find that " a cup 
 of coffee " renders him gracious, and open to per- 
 suasion ; and in the same way, if you want to get 
 rid of an enemy, all you have to do is to get someone 
 to administer " a cup of coffee " to him. This double 
 usefulness of " a cup of coffee " is proverbial. Coffee- 
 making and drinking among the desert Arabs are 
 associated with observances which make it a quasi- 
 rehgious ceremony. Only a man is allowed to 
 prepare the beverage and he must do it with the 
 greatest care. The berries are roasted in a shallow 
 ladle or pan (mahmaseh), and when half-roasted 
 they are pounded in a stone or wooden mortar, with 
 a great pestle (mahbash), the pounding being carried 
 on rhythmicaUy thus J J^.^J J 1 J J^.^J J | "a \ \ 
 Whilst the pounding is proceeding a coffee-pot 
 ( bukraj ) is placed on the fire. When the water boils 
 the pot is taken off the fire and the coffee-meal is put 
 into the hot water. It is then placed on the fire 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 293 
 
 again, and when it has boiled up, the pot is again 
 taken off, and then allowed to boil again a second 
 and a third time. The coffee-maker, holding in his 
 left hand a row of small cups placed one inside the 
 other, then pours a little coffee into the topmost and 
 rinses it with the Uquid, which he then pours into the 
 second and others in turn, rinsing them all in turn 
 with the coffee he poured into the first cup. When 
 he has rinsed the last cup he pours its contents into 
 the fire as a libation to the Sheykh esh Shadhilly the 
 patron of coffee-drinkers. Then, and not till then, the 
 drinking begins. Half a cupful is handed to the 
 eldest and most honom-ed guest, and then a second 
 cup, and so on to all others in turn. To offer a full 
 cup is considered a studied insult, and so also is the 
 offer of a third cup. The saying is, " The first cup 
 for the guest ; the second for enjoyment ; and the 
 third for the sword." ^ 
 
 Wherever a party of coffee-drinkers assemble, 
 there the spirit of esh ShadhiUy is present to keep 
 them from harm, and in hke manner when a bride 
 is leaving her parent's house in order to be taken to 
 that of her bridegroom, the keeper of a neighbouring 
 coffee-house wiU show his goodwill by rushing out 
 of his place of business and poiu-ing a cup of coffee 
 on the ground on the pathway at her feet in order to 
 propitiate his patron saint and dispose him in her 
 favour. 
 
 A large number of people were assembled in a 
 
 ' Who the mysterious 'Sheykh esh Shadhilly is I cannot tell, but 
 must refer the reader to page 121 of the Palestine Exploration Quarterly 
 for April 1905. 
 
294 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 village guest-house. Coffee was being prepared 
 for them. Beside the fire stood a very large stock- 
 pot, out of which the person who made the coffee 
 replenished a smaller pot in which he boUed the 
 liquor after adding fresh cofEee-meal. He then, 
 after the Ubation above described, handed a cup of 
 coffee to the man nearest him, who out of poUteness 
 handed it to the one next him, and he in his turn 
 gave it to the next, and so on, till it had passed aU 
 round the company untasted. The coffee-maker was 
 surprised when the cup was returned to him im- 
 tasted. Somebody suggested that esh Shadhilly 
 must have had some hand in the matter, and had 
 purposely prevented those present from tasting the 
 coffee. Hereupon the coffee-pots were emptied 
 out, when, to the horror of all beholders, the dead 
 body of a venomous serpent (according to one 
 version of this story, of a toad) fell out of the stock- 
 pot. How it got in no one ever knew, but it was 
 seen how esh-Sheykh esh ShadhiUy had protected 
 his votaries. 
 
 Besides the large stock-pot it is no uncommon 
 thing to have httle brass or tinned copper pots 
 standing near the fire ready to be fiUed from the 
 larger vessel and set to boil. It is not always safe 
 to partake of coffee made in such vessels, as they are 
 not always kept clean and freshly-tinned, and sad 
 cases of poisoning by copper oxide have happened 
 through their use. 
 
 The proverbial saying above quoted concerning 
 the third cup is illustrated by the following story :— 
 During a famine in the early part of last century a 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 295 
 
 Bedawi sheykh left his encampment somewhere in 
 the Gaza district and went down to Egypt with men 
 and camels to buy corn. Night came on after he 
 had crossed the frontier, and about midnight, seeing 
 a light in the distance, the sheykh, who had never 
 before visited that part of the country, thought that 
 some village must be near. He left his men and 
 camels where they were and went to reconnoitre. 
 The Ught proceeded from a house the door of which 
 was ajar. As he smelt coffee-berries roasting, he 
 concluded it was a guest-house, and boldly entered. 
 But he was mistaken. The only persons in the 
 Kghted chamber were an unveiled woman and a 
 Memluk, her husband. The woman screamed and 
 hid her face at sight of a man in the doorway, but 
 her husband rebuked her fears and asked the stranger 
 what he wanted. The sheykh rephed that he had 
 thought the place was a guest-house but, since he 
 was mistaken, would go away again. The Memluk, 
 however, insisted on his remaining, and gave him a 
 cup of offee. When he had drunk this his host 
 offered him a second cup, which he accepted. A 
 third cup he declined, although pressed to take it. 
 Finding his solicitations useless, the Memluk drew 
 his sword and threatened to kiU the Bedawi luiless 
 he took the third cup. The man still refused, saying 
 that he preferred being killed. " Why ? " asked 
 his grim host. " Because," answered the sheykh, 
 " the first cup is for the guest, the second for enjoy- 
 ment, and the third for the sword. Though, indeed, 
 I am a warrior, even as thou art, yet at present I am 
 unarmed, seeing that I am here on business connected 
 
296 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 with peace and not with war." " Well," answered 
 the Memluk, sheathing his weapon, " thy answer 
 shows thee to be a true man. I took thee to be a 
 skulking thief, but I see that I was mistaken. Re- 
 main under my roof as my guest." The sheykh 
 accepted the invitation, and when he told his host 
 the purpose of his visit to Egypt, the latter, who had 
 a great deal of corn for sale, transacted business with 
 him, and for several years in succession supphed him 
 and his tribe with grain. In the year 1811, how- 
 ever, the Massacre of the Memluks, by the orders of 
 Mohammad Ah, took place, and it so happened that 
 the only person to escape was the one who figures in 
 this story. He, it is said, managed to make his 
 escape to the tents of his Bedawi friend and was pro- 
 tected and harboured by him till the time came when 
 he could retiu-n home without fear. 
 
 Toiu-ists visiting the citadel at Cairo are, indeed, 
 shown the place where, according to legend, Emin 
 Bey made his horse leap from the battlements ; 
 but many of the native Cairenes assert that he was 
 not there at aU, having received warning of the 
 Pasha's plot through someone connected with the 
 harim. What the truth is Allah knows ! 
 
 Special Note. — The greater part of the foregoing paper was origin- 
 ally contributed by the writer to the Palestine Bxploration Funds 
 Quarterly Statement as well as several of the animal stories in Section 
 III. ; and they are reproduced with additional remarks by permission 
 of the P.E.F. Committee. 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 297 
 XIII 
 
 SOME MAGIC CUKES 
 
 The Hebrew part of A. M, Luncz's interesting 
 " Jerusalem Year-Book " for 1881 contains on pages 
 20-28, and under the title " Vain Belief," an account 
 of some abject and degrading superstitions connected 
 not only with quack nostrums but even with demon- 
 worship. From this account as well as from my 
 personal investigation the following notes are com- 
 piled, as I have ascertained that the said super- 
 stitions are still common among all creeds in 
 Palestine. 
 
 Of aJl popular quack-remedies the chief is 
 " mvimmia " or mummy. The drug is sold at a high 
 price, about five piastres or tenpence a dram, by 
 the native apothecaries, and is supposed to consist 
 not only of fragments of human bodies, bones, etc., 
 embalmed in Egypt centuries ago, but also of human 
 remains found among the sand-hiUs on the Haj- 
 route to Mecca and Medina. It is said to be specially 
 efficacious against the " evil eye," sudden frights and 
 nervous complaints ; and is generally used in the 
 following manner. 
 
 A small piece of " mummia " is pounded very 
 fine in a mortar, and sometimes mixed with sugar 
 or spice. A handful of this powder is then placed 
 over night on the house-top in order to be wet with 
 the dew, or it is mixed with a cup of coffee and 
 administered to the patient on nine successive nights. 
 
298 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 On the fifth and the ninth night the patient is bathed 
 
 from head to foot before the drug is administered to 
 
 him, or her ; and somebody must sit beside the sick 
 
 person the whole night through, to see if the remedy 
 
 takes effect which it is supposed it ought to do on one 
 
 of these two nights. The patient is generally 
 
 restricted to a diet of bread and milk ; though I 
 
 know a case of a girl nine or ten years old, who had 
 
 sustained a severe injury to her neck by a fall 
 
 from a mule (or, as the relatives asserted, " had 
 
 received a slap on the face from an angel "), being kept 
 
 for six weeks on a diet of honey and almonds only. 
 
 Throughout the period of treatment, the patient 
 
 must be prevented from smeUing any strong or 
 
 offensive smells, such as onions or fish ; and women 
 
 who are at all unwell or pregnant must not approach 
 
 the dwelling lest either they themselves or the patient 
 
 receive an injury. Whilst the " mummia "-cure is 
 
 being carried on such of the neighbom-s as hve in the 
 
 same building or courtyard and have faith in the 
 
 nostrum forsake their dwellings for fear of contagion 
 
 or other evil effects, which are, however supposed 
 
 to be neutraHsed by drawing the picture of a 
 
 hand ^ over the door of the dweUing. A case of 
 
 " mummia "-cure occurred to my knowledge only 
 
 last week (8/3/07). 
 
 ^t More remarkable than the " mummia " is the 
 " Indulko "-cure which is practised by the Sephar- 
 dim, who beKeve it to be a remedy for nervous 
 complaints, fits caused by sudden fright, barren- 
 ness, proneness to miscarriage, etc. etc. It is divided 
 into two categories, that of the " lesser " and the 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 299 
 
 " greater " Indulko (possibly the original name 
 was " indvilgo "), and is connected with an actual 
 ritual of demon-worship conducted by a witch 
 priestess — or " knowing woman." The details of 
 the ceremony may vary in unimportant points, but 
 its general features are as follows : — 
 
 AU members of the family and aU neighbours living 
 in the same building or court are obliged to quit the 
 dweUing for some days, during which time the patient 
 Uves alone attended by no one but the female who 
 is to perform the ceremony. The house is carefully 
 cleared of all books, papers, etc., on which the name 
 of God or any words of Scripture are written, and 
 even the " Mezuzahs " are removed from the door- 
 posts. The patient is instructed that he must 
 carefully abstain from offering up any prayer to the 
 Almighty, quoting words of Scrpiture, or mentioning 
 any of the names, attributes, etc., of the Most High, 
 during the nights on which the invocation of the 
 demons is to take place. The " wise woman " 
 brings with her a small quantity of wheat, barley, 
 water, salt, honey, four to six eggs, some nulk and 
 two kinds of sweetmeats or sugar. At midnight 
 she takes these eatables, the eggs excepted, and 
 having mixed them up she sprinkles them round the 
 patient's bed, at the threshold of the chamber, and 
 in its four corners. Whilst doing this she utters the 
 following petition : — 
 
 " We beseech you, our lords, that you would 
 have mercy and pity upon the soul of your sick 
 servant So and So, the son of your hand-maiden So 
 and So, and that you will cause his iniquity to pass 
 
300 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 away, and in case he have sinned against or injured 
 you that ye would pardon his sin and restore to him 
 his soul, his strength, and creation, i.e. perfect 
 health." (Should the patient be a barren woman 
 desiring offspring, the sorceress says : — " And that 
 ye would open her womb, restore the fruit of her 
 belly, and loose her fetters," For a female liable 
 to miscarriage the petition runs thus : — " And that 
 ye would quicken for her the lives of her sons and 
 daughters.") The prayer continues thus " And lo, 
 here is honey " (or sugar) " which is in order to 
 sweeten your mouths and jaws ; and corn or 
 barley as food for your kine and lesser cattle ; 
 and the water and salt are to establish love, 
 brotherliness, peace and friendship as by an ever- 
 lasting covenant of salt between us and you." 
 The woman then breaks the eggs into the latrines, 
 etc., prostrates herself on the floor in the attitude 
 of worship, and after kissing the pavement 
 several times, continues the invocation as foUows : — 
 " Lo this shall be to you the sacrifice of a soul 
 in substitution for a soul,^ in order that ye may 
 restore to us the soul of this sick person and grant 
 his desire." This invocation is several times re- 
 peated, and dm-ing three successive nights. It may 
 be done, should three nights not prove effectual for 
 a cure, seven, or even nine nights in succession. We 
 must remark that the latter part of these ceremonies 
 is performed in latrines, wash-houses, subterranean 
 chambers, cellars, and round about cisterns, etc. ; 
 
 1 As an egg contains the germ of a life, it is supposed to be a fit 
 substitute for a human life. 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 301 
 
 and that the sick person is sometimes kept all night 
 in such quarters. 
 
 • However, if the patient be poor and unable to 
 afford the expense of the ceremony above described ; 
 or in case the neighbours refuse to vacate their 
 dwellings ; then the person who officiates goes to the 
 cistern, or the wash-house, latrines, etc., and pours out 
 a Uttle salt water and utters the aforesaid prayer, 
 shortening it thus : — " Behold, here is salt and water, 
 let there speedily be peace between us and you." 
 On account of its being cheap this form of adjuration 
 is very often used. In case of a poor man being 
 discouraged because his business does not prosper, 
 salt water is in hke manner sprinkled at the entrance 
 to his shop, etc., whilst the shortened formula is 
 uttered. Should a man or woman meet with an 
 accident, such as a fall which has resulted in a broken 
 leg, or arm, a sprained ankle, etc. etc., the exact spot 
 where the misfortune occurred is ascertained and 
 sprinkled with water, whilst the short formula is 
 repeated. In some cases, however (as the present 
 writer has ascertained by personal enquiry), should 
 the injury received be a very severe one, the ceremony 
 is varied ia the following manner : — At midnight, 
 the knowing woman, after having sprinkled the exact 
 spot where the accident happened with salt-water, 
 and then strewed sugar over it, adds to her petition 
 the following clause, " Forgive, we pray you, So and 
 So, son or daughter of your handmaiden So and So, 
 for having unconsciously and without intending it, 
 disturbed and perhaps hiu't one of you, and restore 
 him or her to health, etc. etc." The dustof|the spot 
 
302 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 is then carefully gathered up, and mixed with water. 
 Doses of this precious mixture are then administered 
 to the patient from time to time. " The greater 
 Indulko " differs from " the lesser " above described, 
 in being more expensive, and continued for a greater 
 length of time, sometimes for forty or even fifty 
 days. The sick-room is luxuriously furnished, the 
 patient arrayed in " costly white garments," whilst 
 the room is brUUantly lighted up with wax candles, 
 and a table spread not only with the edibles above 
 mentioned, but with other sweetmeats, and dehcacies 
 as well as with flowers, perfumes, etc., in abundance. 
 The form of adjuration, or prayer to the demons, is 
 the same as that above described. 
 
 " Freskura " is the name of another superstitious 
 remedy used by Sephardim women for the benefit 
 of their children, if the latter happen to suffer from 
 fits, fever, etc. The nostrum is prepared in the 
 following manner : — 
 
 Vegetable-marrows or cucumbers (those grown 
 at Ain Karim, are said, for reasons not ascertained, 
 to be best suited for the piu-pose) have their insides 
 carefully scooped out. They are then soaked in a 
 solution of indigo and exposed on the roof over night, 
 in order to be wetted with dew. On the eve of the 
 ninth day of Ab, the anniversary of the destruction 
 of the Jewish Temples, no other day or night of the 
 year being appropriate, they are taken to the Sjma- 
 gogue, and when the service has reached a certain 
 point at which the ceremony of extinguishing lights 
 takes place, the vegetables are stuffed with a mixture 
 of pine-seeds (snobar) and yellow clay, moistened 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 303 
 
 with the juice of unripe grapes. The vegetables thus 
 stuffed are then left to dry in the sun for several 
 weeks till their insides have been baked hard. If 
 a child happens to be ill with fever a fragment of one 
 of these marrows is put into his mouth and rubbed 
 by " the knowing woman " against his palate. 
 Whilst she does this she says, " Depart heat, enter 
 coolness (' freskura ') ; enter coolness (' freskura ') 
 depart heat." Pieces of the dried vegetable and its 
 contents are then rubbed over the sufferer's body 
 and hmbs. The nostrum is said to be efl&cacious, 
 if worn as an amulet, to keep off danger from " the 
 evil eye," etc. 
 
 The superstition concerning " the Evil Eye " has 
 been so often written about by others, that it is 
 unnecessary to describe it here. Among the notes 
 to this section is the translation of a tj^ical written 
 Jewish charm or amxilet, which bears on the 
 subject. 
 
 XIV 
 
 A POPULAR CALENDAR AND SOME SAYINGS 
 
 Monday. — Go into debt for your food, but do not 
 work on a Monday. Do not visit an infirm 
 person on a Monday, for your doing so wiU 
 augment his sufferings. If you spend any of 
 your money on Monday morning you wiU be 
 a loser the whole week through. Maidens fast 
 on Mondays, in order that they may be soon 
 
304 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 married ; and old women in order that St 
 Michael may be with them when they die. 
 
 Wednesday. — Every Wednesday has at least one 
 milucky hour. 
 
 Friday. — Whoever falls sick on a Friday will die. 
 If a person is born on a Friday he wiU either 
 die himself, or else his father or mother will. If 
 a mother strike her son on the eye on a Friday, 
 whilst standing on the door-step at the time 
 when the muezzin calls to prayer, she causes 
 the Jan to ride the child and drive him mad. 
 The great underground river which runs past 
 the Damascus gate stops running, in order to 
 worship, on Fridays. Do not draw water from 
 a well on Fridays at the time of the muezzin's 
 call to prayer. Should you do so the J&n in the 
 well will snatch away yom- intellect. 
 
 Saturday. — It is a meritorious act to vi^it (the graves 
 of) the dead on Saturdays. 
 
 Kan'An el Awwal = December. 
 
 On St Barbara's Day (Dec. 4), water gushes 
 out at the mouse-hole. Maidens put kohl to 
 their eyes ; and in every family corn is boiled. 
 A plate of this boiled grain is set apart for each 
 member of the houiehold, relatives, friends, etc., 
 respectively, and, with sugar and pomegranate 
 seeds sprinkled over it, is put away for the 
 night, in order that Mar Saba, whose day is that 
 immediately after St Barbara's, may trample 
 upon it and bless the household and the 
 household stores. 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 305 
 
 The local form of the legend of St Barbara is 
 curious and runs thus : — 
 
 " Barbara's father was a great Roman officer, 
 a Pagan, who hved in the Kula'a or Citadel at 
 Jerusalem, where, it is said, his dwelling stiU 
 exists. The daughter was converted to Chris- 
 tianity, and as she refused to recant, her father 
 and brother were so angry that they shut her up 
 for four days in a hot oven. When, at the end 
 of the time they opened the oven, the maiden, 
 to their great surprise, came forth ahve and well. 
 As she stiU refused to deny Christ it was resolved 
 to boil her to death. A great cauldron full of 
 water, was therefore put on the fire ; but when 
 it began to boil and the heathen were about to 
 put Barbara in, it was found to be so fuU of 
 wheat that there was no room for the saint. 
 Her father and brother then took their swords 
 and between them slew her, but were them- 
 selves struck by Hghtning immediately after- 
 wards." St Barbara's Day is kept by Latins, 
 Greeks, and Armenians. 
 Kan-An eth TMni = January. 
 
 This month is dumb {i.e. damp and miserable) 
 and so cold that the hens lay blood-stained eggs. 
 On New Year's Day the table is left as it is, 
 with the dishes and food upon it, after meals in 
 order that the mighty ones amongst the J4n 
 (El furras el Janiyeh) may deposit bags of gold 
 upon it. On other days of the year, however, 
 the table is not left in this condition. If it 
 were it would be carried off by angels. 
 
306 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 At the Feast of the Epiphauy, the dough rises 
 without being leavened, and leaven made from 
 this dough must on no account be lent to any- 
 one. Special graces are showered down at the 
 Epiphany, and it is said that the trees on the 
 banks of the Jordan adore the Saviour on this 
 festival. (See " Animal and Plant-lore " 
 chapter.) Whoever eats lentils during the 
 twelve days following the Feast of the Nativity 
 is sure to be smitten with the mange. 
 Shebdt = February. 
 
 A smiter, a plunger, or waUower, and never- 
 theless with a summer-scent about him. No 
 reliance can be placed on February. This is 
 the month for cats to kitten. The sunshine of 
 February sets the head throbbing, i.e. causes 
 violent headaches. 
 Addr = March. 
 
 Ad^r is the father of earthquakes and showers. 
 Save up your largest pieces of charcoal for your 
 uncle Ad&r. He wiU satisfy you with seven 
 great snow-falls, not reckoning small ones. 
 And yet, during Adar, the shepherd can dry 
 his drenched clothing without a fire. It is said 
 that the sunshine of Adar causes clothes hung 
 out to dry to become exceedingly white. For 
 this reason it is a favourite time for women to 
 do their washing and more especially to wash 
 their " azars," i.e. the white sheets in which 
 they envelop themselves when they go abroad. 
 The sunshine of Adar also makes the complexion 
 fair. Therefore old women say, " The sunshine 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 307 
 
 of Sheb^t for my daughter-in-law (because it 
 causes headache) ; that of Adar for my daughter, 
 (because it beautifies the complexion) ; and 
 of Nis4n (April) for my senihty (because it 
 brings fresh hfe and vigour). On the Festival 
 of the Forty Martyrs it is customary to light 
 forty wicks, placed in oil, in honour of those 
 saints " who were Christians of the days of Nero. 
 In order to force them to recant they were 
 exposed naked the whole of a snowy night in 
 Adar, with revehy and festivity going on before 
 their eyes in a palace in front of them ; and they 
 were informed that if diu-ing the night any of 
 them desired to deny Christ, all he had to do 
 was to enter the palace and join in the fes- 
 tivities. At midnight one of them did so ; but 
 his place was inunediately taken by one of the 
 Roman sentries, who thus proved his sincerity 
 in confessing the Savioiu-. Next morning the 
 whole party, whose number had thus been 
 preserved intact, were found frozen to death." 
 The three first days of Ad4r are called "El 
 Mustakridat " a name which means " Lent 
 out ones," and is generally explained by the 
 foUoAsdng legend : — 
 
 " An aged Bedawi shepherdess, keeping her 
 flocks in one of the wadies trending downwards 
 to the Dead Sea, was heard by Sheb^t, who 
 is thought of as a personahty, mocking him 
 because he had failed to send rain. Furious at 
 being thus derided Sheb^t said to Ad&r, ' my 
 brother Adar, I have only three days left me, 
 
308 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 and they are not suflSicient to enable me to be 
 revenged on the old woman who has derided me. 
 Lend me, therefore, three days of thine.' Ad^ 
 wilUngly granted his brother's request. Six 
 days of heavy rain were the result, and the seyls, 
 or winter-torrents from the hills swept the old 
 woman and her flock into the sea." If the year 
 is to be good, it depends upon Adar. The 
 Moslems say, " The meat and leben of Adar 
 are forbidden to the infidels," meaning that 
 they are so good that the Christians must not 
 taste them — a chuckle at the strict Fast of 
 Lent. 
 
 Nisdn = April. 
 
 Nisan is the life of mankind, i.e. it revives 
 and invigorates. During the rain-showers of 
 Nis^n, the bivalves (oysters) Uving at the bottom 
 of the sea, rise to the surface and open their 
 shells. As soon as a rain-drop falls into one of 
 these open oysters, the shell closes and the 
 creature sinks to the bottom. The rain-drop 
 inside it becomes a pearl. 
 
 It is customary for people to pic-nic out during 
 Nisan and drink nulk at such pic-nics. 
 
 ly-ydr = May. 
 
 ly-yar ripens the apricots and cucumbers. 
 Serpents and partridges become white (I suppose 
 that this means that during this month snakes 
 change their skins and partridges moult). 
 
 Hezeran and Tamm^z = June and July. 
 
 Boil the water in the cruze, i.e. these are 
 hot months. 
 
IDEAS AND SUPERSTITIONS 309 
 
 Ab = August. 
 
 The dreaded month. However, pluck the 
 cluster (of grapes) and fear nought, i.e. the 
 grapes are ripe, and may be eaten with impunity. 
 Beware of holding a knife on Ab 29, the Day of 
 the beheading of St John the Baptist, 
 Eylul = September. 
 
 On the Eve of the Festival of the Cross (Holy 
 Cross Day, Sept, 14th) it is customary to expose 
 on the house-top dm-ing the night seven small 
 heaps of salt, which respectively represent the 
 seven months following Eylul. By noticing 
 next morning which of these heaps of salt is 
 dampest it is possible to know in which months 
 there will be heavy rain, 
 Tashrln el Awwal and Tashrin eth-thdni = October 
 and November. 
 
 People born during these two months are swift 
 to be angry. 
 
 In case of a death in the house, it is not per- 
 mitted to sweep it for three days, lest other 
 members of the household should die in con- 
 sequence. 
 
 Be careful never to spiQ out water without 
 "naming," otherwise the J^n may molest 
 and stick to you. Beware never to step over 
 a boy's head lest he either get a scabby head or 
 die in consequence. 
 
 During the period between the Carnival and 
 Pahn Simday, the souls (ghosts) of the de- 
 parted have permission to visit their Hving 
 friends. 
 
310 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 Every odd number, and especially the number 
 eleven, is unlucky. 
 
 It is better to meet a demon (kird) the first 
 thing in the morning than to meet a man who 
 has naturally a hairless face. 
 
 A one-eyed man is very difficult to get on with, 
 and a man with a " kussa " or pointed goat's 
 beard is more cunning than Iblis himself. 
 
 Boils are the consequence of the sufEerer's 
 having attempted to count the stars. He who 
 spills salt will suffer from tumours. 
 
 It is a sin to kill a turtle-dove because this bird 
 was tinged with drops of the Saviour's blood 
 at the Crucifixion. 
 
 If a quarrel is proceeding, and a person present 
 turns a shoe upside down, the strife wiU become 
 more violent. 
 
 Tall people are simpletons. 
 If a dog howls at night under the window of a 
 house, it is a sign that someone in that house will 
 die. 
 
 Should you hear a dog howling at night turn 
 a shoe upside down and he will be sure to stop. 
 
 Note. — The overturning of a shoe has been explained to me as 
 an act of respect towards the Jan. When Allah is worshipped the 
 face is directed towards Him and the soles of the feet are furthest 
 away. By turning the sole of a shoe, therefore, furthest away from 
 the Jan, one implies a respect bordering on worship. The demons 
 accept the compliment and are mollified, and Allah, who is good, and 
 knows that no insult is intended to Him, does not resent the act. 
 
NOTES 
 
 SECTION III 
 
 P. 141. Folks gentle and simple. — Considering the strange 
 vicissitudes of Eastern history, it is not surprising that many 
 people, now abjectly poor, should claim to be descendants of 
 famous men. Orientals generally have great regard for pure 
 blood and ancient lineage. Amongst the poor of Palestine 
 there are many who, though obliged to do menial work to 
 obtain a living, as household servants, labourers, etc., yet claim 
 that they are "Awlad asl," i.e. "Children of stock" or of 
 gentle descent, and that on this account, if they do their work 
 faithfully, they should enjoy a degree of respect not shown to 
 those low-born. It is related of one such that, being able- 
 bodied and very strong, but having no other means of liveli- 
 hood, he consented to accept emplojrment from a poor peasant 
 who had only one ox and could not plough for want of a second. 
 The scion of nobility in his dire distress actually agreed to be 
 yoked to the plough in the place of the missing animal ; 
 stipulating, however, that besides receiving food and wages, he 
 was to be treated with the greatest respect, and always to be 
 addressed as " O Emir." In consequence of this arrangement 
 the ploughman, while at work, was constantly calling out 
 "Yaminak ya Emu-," or "Shemalak ya Emir," i.e. "To the 
 right, O Emir," or " To the left, O Emir." 
 
 There is at the present day a poor seamstress at Jerusalem 
 whose family boast that they are descended from Chosroes, 
 king of Persia. A fellAh for some time in the writer's service 
 traced his hneage to the Fatimite Khalifeh " Ed Dahir," whilst 
 a teacher in one of the Jerusalem Mission-schools in 1874 
 asserted that he was descended from the ancient kings of 
 Armenia. There are some of these high-born people who 
 have been more fortunate than others. Thus, the family of the 
 celebrated Khalid ibn Walid, surnamed for his victories in the 
 early days of Islam " The Sword of Allah," is still powerful at 
 Jerusalem,! and there are, in the Lebanon, descendants of the 
 
 1 Tlie late Yussif Paslia El Khaldi, one of the representatives of 
 
312 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 great and chivalrous Saladin, who are pensioners of the German 
 Protestant Order of the " Johanniter " or Knights of St John of 
 Jerusalem. The value placed upon connection with a good 
 family is popularly expressed in the saying, " Take good stock, 
 even on the mat," i.e. marry a woman of good family, even 
 though she possess nothing but a mat. On the other hand, 
 persons assuming an arrogant demeanour solely on the strength 
 of their supposed noble ancestry, and whilst lacking any 
 personal merit themselves, are mercilessly ridiculed, as it is 
 right that they should be. The principle " Noblesse oblige " is 
 perfectly well appreciated, in theory, at any rate. 
 
 II 
 
 P. 148. "Affi.vedtotkegaiesqfiheKa'aba." — It was customary 
 among the ancient Arabs to reward poets of acknowledged 
 eminence by allowing copies of their verses to be affixed to the 
 gate of the temple at Mecca. Seven such poems were thus 
 distinguished, and are known in literature as the " Mo'allakat " 
 (Suspended Poems). 
 
 P. 148. Mukleh. — An illustration of this form of head-dress 
 will be found on page 49 of Lane's "Modern Egyptians," 
 vol. i. It is not uncommon in Palestine, where there may, at 
 the present day, be seen no fewer than sixty different forms of 
 Oriental male head-gear, by which Christians, Jews, Moslems, 
 Bedu, different classes of derwishes and peasants from various 
 districts, etc., may be distinguished from each other. 
 
 P. 150. Long hair of a priest of the Orthodox Church. — The 
 ecclesiastics of the Orthodox Greek Community are remarkable 
 for wearing their hair very long. Many Moslem derwishes do 
 the same, but amongst the Mohammedan peasantry it is 
 customary to shave the head, leaving only a tuft called 
 "shflsheh" on the crown. The tale often told by Christian 
 dragomans to tourists is, that this tuft is left in order that 
 Mohammed or good angels may have something to lay hold of, 
 when carrying dead Mohammedans to heaven, in the same 
 way that the Prophet Habakkuk was transported to Babylon. 
 (See "Bel and the Dragon," verse 36.) However, the more 
 reasonable explanation is that the custom originated in the 
 fear that if a Moslem should fall into the hands of an infidel 
 and be slain, the latter might cut off the head of his victim, 
 
 Turkey at the Berlin Conference, and sometime Mayor of Jerusalem, 
 belonged to this old family ; so also one or two of the Imperial 
 Ottoman Commissioners appointed to supervise the excavations of the 
 Palestine Exploration Fund. 
 
NOTES 313 
 
 and, finding no hair by which to hold to, put his impure hand 
 into his mouth, in order to carry it, for the beard might not be 
 sufficiently long. (See Lane's "Modern Egyptians," vol. i. 
 p. 40.) 
 
 Ill 
 
 P. 155. Au afrit. — The 'afrit is an especially malicious and 
 mischief-loving demon whose abode is on house-tops, and in 
 corners behind doors, as well as in cracks in walls or under 
 thresholds. It is considered very dangei'ous, for women 
 especially, to sit on the thresholds of doors after sunset, as then 
 the 'afarit issue forth from their lurking-places and might do 
 them serious injury. 
 
 P. 157. Karakoz and 'Iweyz. — Karakoz and 'Iweyz, something 
 like the English " Punch and Judy," are the names of the 
 actors in Oriental puppet-shows, for a description of which see 
 Lane's "Modern Egyptians," vol. ii. p. Il6. 
 
 (Karakoz is universal, but on the two occasions when I have 
 seen the KheyySl-ez-Zull (shadow-shapes) referred to, there 
 was no 'Iweyz. On one occasion, in Egypt, Asfiir was a 
 leading character. — Ed.) 
 
 IV 
 
 P. l68. " The Kadi Abdullah el Mustakim lived at Baghdad. — 
 El-Mansur, a.d. 941, having established his court at El 
 Hashemieh, was compelled by an insurrection to erect a new 
 capital, and in the 145th year of the Hejira, laid the foundation 
 of Baghdad, which, for nearly five centuries, remained the seat 
 of Imperial Oriental luxuiy. (See Crichton's " History of 
 Arabia," vol. xxxiii. p. 16.) 
 
 P. 181. Azrael and his son. — As a version of the foregoing 
 story, which entirely, and also in scraps, the writer has several 
 times heard told by natives of Palestine, is said to be found in 
 Grimm's collection of fairy tales, it is difficult to determine 
 whether its origin is Oriental or the contrary. The name of 
 the hero of the following, which is in circulation among the 
 peasantry of the native Christian village of Ramallah, situated 
 about ten miles to the north of Jerusalem, would seem to 
 indicate that it has been introduced by some Spanish or Italian 
 monk. It has been told to the writer by four different persons, 
 all of whom were natives, and on as many different occasions. 
 
314 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 P. 182. Francesco s card-playing. — Though at first sight it may 
 seem an anachronism to mention cards as having been played 
 in the days of the HerodSj seeing that the first actual mention 
 of them as having been used in Europe dates back to the year 
 A.D. 1388, and that their first introduction into France was 
 during the reign of Charles VII. (1432-1461), yet some German 
 savants are of the opinion that they were an invention of the 
 Chinese, and reached Europe through an Arabian channel. 
 (See Brockhaus, " Conversations-Lexikon " on "Spielkarten.") 
 
 VI 
 
 P. 192. The plant feyjan. — This Arabic name is evidently 
 only another form of the Greek Trijyavov. According to Bishop 
 Jeremy Taylor it was used by pretended exorcists in his day. 
 He says : " They are to try the devil by holy water, incense, 
 sulphur, and rue, which from thence, as we suppose, came to be 
 called 'herb of grace.' " 
 
 P. 201. Bakldweh. — A kind of mince-pie pastry covered 
 with syrup of sugar, and of which the natives are particularly 
 fond. A story is told of an Arab who, when threatened 
 with immediate death if he took any more of it, coolly com- 
 mended his family to the protection of the would-be murderer, 
 who stood over him with a drawn sword, — and took another 
 mouthful. (See Note 48. "Tales told in Palestine.") 
 
 P. 208. " 2'Ae Sultan could not make up his mind to Mil her as 
 was his duty since she had no brothers." — According to Oriental 
 social ideas, the result, doubtless, of the fact that polygamy is 
 allowed, it is the brother, aTid not the father, who is a girl's 
 natural protector, her avenger if wronged, and her executioner 
 in case she disgrace herself. This should be borne in mind 
 when reading such scripture narratives as Genesis xxxiv. or 
 2 Samuel xiii. 
 
 P. 213. Wedding procession of the Jdn. — Ten years ago, I was 
 told in Jerusalem the story of a servant of the Latin Patriarch 
 who played upon the reed-pipes very beautifully. This man 
 was sent one night on an urgent errand to the head of a religious 
 house at Nazareth, and as he rode out from the city down into 
 the gloomy valley, he amused himself and supported his courage 
 with the music of his favourite instrument. Suddenly he was 
 surrounded with torches lighting dusky faces, and found him- 
 self in the middle of a wedding procession, the members of 
 which besought him to stop and play for them. He cited the 
 urgency of his errand, but they told him not to worry about 
 that ; they could take him further in an hour than he could 
 
NOTES 815 
 
 hope to ride in a night. By that and their peculiar faces he 
 knew them for the JAn, so was afraid to deny them. 
 
 At an early hour of the next morning, when the Patriarch 
 was saying his first mass, he turned and saw this man kneeling 
 in the church behind him. The service over, he called him 
 and asked why he had not gone to Nazareth as he had been 
 told to do. The man replied : " I have been and come again," 
 and in proof of the assertion presented the answer to the 
 message with which he had been sent. The patriarch led him 
 straight to the confessional, and having heard his story, as a 
 penance forbade him ever again to play the pipes, of whose 
 music the Jan are known to be fond. — Ed. 
 
 VII 
 
 P. 217 ff. Uhdeydun. — This, at first sight, appears a foolish 
 story, but I seem to detect in it a legendary reminiscence of 
 the destruction of a savage and cannibal race or their subjuga- 
 tion by men more civilised. The name Uhdeydun, which is a 
 diminutive of " HaddSd " (blacksmith), and the fact that his 
 enemy had a copper cauldron temptingly suggest the Age of 
 Iron conquering that of bronze. 
 
 VIII 
 
 P. 234. The magic mirror of ink and the sand-table. — For a 
 description of the wonders performed by Oriental wizards with 
 the Mirror of Ink, see Lane's '' Modern Egyptians," vol. i. p. 
 367 ff., or Thomson's " The Land and the Book," in which Lane 
 is quoted at p. 157 (edition of 1873). For the sand-table see 
 Lane as above, page 362. 
 
 P. 234i. Mahajaneh (more properly " Mahjaneh "). — A stick 
 with a peculiar crotch at one end, always cut from an almond- 
 tree, and carried by derwishes. Its handle is the same in shape 
 as that of some symbolic staves often represented by the 
 ancient Egyptians in the hands of their deities. 
 
 P. 237. The " mausam " or season of pilgrimage. — This varies 
 according to the dignity of the mak^m. Many of the greater 
 shrines of famous saints, such as Neby MAsa and Neby Rubin, 
 have their own mausam which lasts a whole week. 
 
 P. 238, The machicolated window above the gate. — In the earlier 
 part of the last century such " machicolations " or protected 
 windows over doorways were very common in Jerusalem, not 
 only over the entrances to monasteries and public buildings, 
 but even in private dwellings. They are rarely met with now- 
 adays. 
 
316 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 p. 240 and following. Ignorance of Christian priests. — The 
 Christians of the various sects in Palestine now generally 
 appreciate the value of education, and vie with each other in 
 providing schools, especially for the training of ecclesiastics. 
 In and near Jerusalem, there are several such seminaries, and 
 though there are still, in out-of-the-way places more particu- 
 larly, ignorant ecclesiastics, yet the number of the latter is by 
 no means so great as it was during the early part of last century, 
 when the rural clergy belonging to the orthodox Greek Church 
 was notorious for its dense ignorance, and no adequate provision 
 was made for the instruction of the parochial ministers. Even 
 in Jerusalem, it was the custom for the Sunday preacher to 
 have to go during the previous week to a learned Archimandrite 
 in order to be instructed in a sermon for the occasion.^ It was 
 also then the custom to provide a successor for a village priest 
 who was becoming old or feeble, by selecting a likely lad from 
 the hamlet, and sending him as a servant to the convent at 
 Jerusalem. Here he had to attend the various services of the 
 Church and commit to memory the liturgies for Sundays, feast- 
 days, baptism, etc., so that, when occasion required, he could 
 read them, if nothing else, from the prayer-books. 
 
 IX 
 
 P. 254. The Hoopoe (Upupa Epops). — For particulars con- 
 cerning the Hoopoe, see Tristram's " Natural History of the 
 Bible," page 208 ff., and Hastings' "Bible Dictionary," articles 
 " Lapwing " ; also the Koran xxvii. 20, where, however. Sale 
 wrongly renders the Arabic name "Hud-hud" by "lapwing." 
 It is also mentioned by that name in the English Bible, Lev. 
 xi. 19. For the story of the Hoopoe in connection with 
 Solomon and Belkis, see " Mejr-ed-din," vol. i. page 115, Cairo 
 edition. 
 
 X 
 
 Most of the Animal Stories in this chapter appeared originally 
 in the P.E.F. Quarterb/ Statements for July 1904 and April 1905. 
 In the present reproduction I have altered some details and 
 added others which I did not mention in my original paper. 
 Other stories, for instance that about the old woman, and those 
 on plant-lore, are, as far as I know, new to the English-speak- 
 ing public. 
 
 P. 263. I'ke dog who earned his right to decent burial. — Since I 
 first contributed this story to the Quarterly Statement, as above 
 
 > See William's " Holy City," vol. ii. p. 648. 
 
NOTES 317 
 
 notedj I have, to my surprisej come across a version of it in an 
 old eighteenth century Spanish edition of " Gil Bias." 
 
 P. 264. Bir el Kelt. — It seems probable that the true origin 
 of the legend about the " Bir el Kelb " is the fact that the 
 Tombs of the King, only a few yards distant, are generally 
 called by the Jews " the Tomb of Kalba Shebua." This person 
 is said by tradition to have been the father-in law of Akiba. 
 He is said to have distinguished himself by supplying food, at 
 his own cost, to the poor of Jerusalem during the time of a 
 great famine. (This tradition is probably based upon the 
 historical fact connected with Helena of Adiahene and her 
 almsgiving). The grotto where Kalba Shebua distributed his 
 bounty is pointed out in the vicinity of the traditional tomb of 
 Simon the Just. 
 
 P. 270. " When a male hyaena is seven years old it becomes either 
 a female of the same species or else a bat." — See Dr J. Levy's 
 " Neu-Hebraisches und Chaldaisches Worterbuch," twelfth 
 part. " A male hyaena after seven years becomes a bat, a bat 
 after seven years becomes a vampire, that animal after seven 
 years becomes a nettle, a nettle after seven years becomes a 
 thorn, a thorn after seven years becomes a demon." "Bava 
 Kama," fol. l6. Coli. Quoted by Hershon, "Talmudical 
 commentary on Genesis," page 136.^ 
 
 P. 272. Story of the man who won the heart of the hycena. — 
 I relate the story as it was told me by a lady who had heard it 
 from a fellaheh. It seems to be Seneca's well-known tale of 
 the runaway slave and his grateful king of beasts (first men- 
 tioned, so it is said, in his "De Beneficiis "). The lion has 
 been extinct in Palestine for centuries, the leopard is rare, 
 though now and then met with, and so, the hyaena, at present 
 the largest of the Judean Camivora (the bear being found only 
 in the Lebanon and the anti-Libanus), whose name "Ed-Daba'," 
 is somewhat like the name " Es-Seba'," by which the lion is 
 most frequently known, has taken his place in the story. 
 
 P. 275. and following pp. The fox, the eagle, and the leopard. — 
 A version of this fox story is related by F. Baldensperger in 
 Quarterly Statement for July 1905, pp. 199, 201. 
 
 1 The hyaena from its habit of digging up and devouring dead 
 bodies is often called ghuleh by the fellahin, and confused with the 
 genuine ghoul. Indeed, there seems a general tendency among the 
 ignorant to impute a demoniacal character to wild animals. A 
 fellah in Egypt described a travelling menagerie to me as " all kinds 
 of afarit in cages,'' and I spent a strange morning in the Zoological 
 Gardens at Ghizeh with a hasbash, who took the majority of the 
 creatures there displayed for devils and mocked them, exulting in 
 their captivity. — Ed. 
 
318 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 p. 283. — The spinal cord of a man becomes a serpent... .See 
 Hershon's commentary as above. 
 
 P. 283. A serpent at the age of a thousand, becomes a whale. — 
 P. Baldensperger in Quarterly Statement, 1905, p. 204. 
 
 P. 283. Time required hy differeut creatures to reproduce their 
 species. — Twenty-one days are required for the full formation of 
 a hen in the egg and a similar period is required in the vege- 
 table kingdom for that of almonds ; fifty days for that of a dog 
 and figs ; fifty-two for that of a cat and mulberries ; sixty for 
 that of swine and apples ; six months for that of foxes and all 
 sorts of insects and cereals ; five months for that of small cattle 
 and grapes ; twelve months for that of large unclean animals 
 (such as horses, etc.) and palm trees, nine months for that of 
 large clean animals (as oxen) and olives, three .'years for that of 
 the wolf, lion, bear, hyaena, elephant, and chimpanzee, and a fruit 
 resembling figs ; seventy years elapse before the viper can repro- 
 duce its own species, and a similar period is required for the 
 carub-tree. The wicked serpent requires seven years, and 
 nothing in the vegetable kingdom requires a similar period. 
 ... In so far, then, as there is nothing corresponding to it in 
 the vegetable kingdom, the serpent is cursed above all cattle, 
 and above every beast of the field. Bechoroth, fol. 8, col. I. 
 Quoted by Hershon, page 134. 
 
 XI 
 
 P. 289. The tortoise-herb. — Cf. "Einiges aus dem Pflanzen- 
 reich," by L. Baldensperger. In " Evangelische Blatter aus 
 Bethlehem." Juli I906. Pp. 21 et seq. 
 
 XIII 
 
 Translation of a Typical " Kemi' " ob written Amulet, used 
 BY Oriental Jews in Palestine 
 
 BINV AMI ASV 
 AbbreTiation for the Abbreviation of He- Abbreviation of He- 
 Hebrew words " In the brew of "My help brew of "The Maker of 
 Name of God we shall cometh from Jehovah." Heaven and Earth." 
 do and prosper." 
 
 " And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called 
 by the name of the Lord ; and they shall be afraid of thee." 
 
 Deliver from fetters Bambina, daughter of Rena, to praise 
 Thy Name, and may the merits of the Patriarchs shield her. 
 A.N.S.V. (initials of the words 'Amen, Netzach, Tselah, 
 Vaad). 
 
NOTES 319 
 
 In the Name of the Most High and the Cause of all Causes, 
 the Exalted El Jah, the God of Israel, I am that I am, High 
 and Exalted, the Dweller in Eternity; Whose name is 
 Holy ; And in the Name of the Almighty of Sabaoth, Lord of 
 Lords, Living and Existent for everlasting Ages. Amen, 
 Selah. And in the name of HVHY (i.e. the tetragrammaton). 
 
 Prosper me in the writing of this parchment, that it be a 
 preservative, deliverance, protection and a perfect cure to the 
 wearer of this Charm from sundry and divers evil diseases 
 existing in the world, from an evil eye and an evil tongue. 
 I adjure you all ye kinds of evil eyes, a black eye, a hazel eye, 
 blue eye, yellow eye, short eye, broad eye, straight eye, narrow 
 eye, deep eye, protruding eye, eye of a male, eye of a female, 
 the eye of a wife and the eye of a husband, eye of a woman 
 and her daughter, eye of a woman and her kinsfolk, eye of an 
 unmarried man, eye of an old man, eye of an old woman, eye 
 of a virgin, eye of one not a virgin, eye of a widow, eye of a 
 married wife, eye of a divorced wife, all kinds of evil eyes in 
 the world which looked and spoke with an evil eye concerning 
 or against the wearer of this charm, I command and adjure 
 you by the Most Holy and Mighty and Exalted Eye, the Only 
 Eye, the White Eye, the Right Eye, the Compassionate the 
 Ever Watchful and Open Eye, the Eye that never slumbereth 
 nor sleepeth, the Eye to Which all eyes are subject, the 
 Wakeful Eye that preserveth Israel, as it is written, " The Eye 
 of the Lord is upon them that fear Him, and upon them that 
 trust in His Goodness." 
 
 By this Most High Eye, I adjure you all evil eyes to depart 
 and be eradicated and to flee away to a distance from the 
 Wearer of this Amulet, and that you are to have no power 
 whatever over her who wears this Charm. And by the power 
 of this most Holy Seal, you shall have no authority to hurt 
 either by day or by night, when asleep or when awake : nor 
 over any of her two hundred and forty-eight limbs, nor over 
 any of her three hundred and sixty-five veins henceforth and 
 for ever. A.N.S.V. (Abbreviation for 'Amen, Netzach, Tsilol, 
 Ve'ad). 
 
 UZAH. ADIAH. LEHABIEL 
 PI. JH. VH. JHVH. EHYEH. AH. ASHER. HV. GH. VH. 
 
 Kinbijah. Baduomfiel. Beduftiel. 
 
 " Shaddyam " (probably meaning power of the sea). And by 
 the power of all the holy names and seals written in this charm. 
 
320 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 I adjure all malignant powers, evil spirits, impure powers and 
 all kinds of plagues that molest human beings to be scared 
 away from, a ad fear the wearer of this amulet, and not to 
 approach her, nor to come within the distance of four cubits 
 from her ; nor to annoy her in any manner, either by day or by 
 night, when she is awake or when she is dreaming. May she 
 obtain a perfect cure from all malignant diseases which are in 
 the world, and from epilepsy, convulsions, askara, paralysis, 
 headache, a beclouded mind, oppression and palpitation of the 
 heart, and from all bondage and witchcraft, fright and vexa- 
 tion, trembling, startling, excitement, diseases of the womb, 
 evil imaginations and visions, male or female devils and 
 demons, and all hurts ; and from Millelin, and Letlin, and all 
 evil spirits and other occult powers, and impure powers, a 
 perfect cure, deliverance and shield from all evil diseases 
 existing in the world henceforth and for ever. And by the 
 power of: — 
 
 RVI. ASHA. VVTZ. TCHM. TRV. HSHT. ILICH. And 
 by the power and influence of VDA. HVI. SISH. IMI. RTZM. 
 TRM. HTB. VMCH. HHV. MRN. MAT. CIN. CMM. 
 LAB. KHSCH. LRL. TTSH. VDN. Kia. LTI. MLCH. all 
 this shall be established and confirmed to the wearer of this 
 charm. So be it. Amen. 
 
 Pishon, Gihon, Hiddekel, Euphrates. 
 Euphrates, Hiddekel, Gihon, Pishon. 
 Hiddekel, Gihon, Pishon, Euphrates. 
 Paghaf, Vidar, Shahekel, Vuleni. 
 Taluman, Rakuh, Padhach, Higeb. 
 
 Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. 
 Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. 
 Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. 
 
 A perfect cure, deliverance and shield from all bondage and 
 witchcraft from henceforth and forever. Amen. Selah. 
 
 NOTES 
 
 1. The apparently meaningless combinations in capital and other 
 letters, shown in the above charm, are formed from the names of the 
 angels, the four streams of Paradise, etc. The belief is, that the 
 changes in the position of the letters make these various names more 
 effective and therefore render the amulet more powerful. 
 
 2. In writing charms, etc., the father's name is never mentioned. 
 The reason alleged is the example of the Psalmist who prays, "0 
 Lord, truly I am thy servant ; thy servant and the son of thy 
 handmaid." 
 
NOTES 321 
 
 3. It is not the object of this work to treat the question of Jewish 
 and Eastern angelology and demonology, amulets, etc., exhaustively. 
 Much interesting information on these and kindred subjects may be 
 gathered from the following English works. 
 
 Edersheim, "Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah," Appendices 
 xiii,, xvi. 
 
 ITiomson, " Land and the Book," 1873, pp. 160, 151, etc. 
 Lane's, " Modern Egyptians," vol. i. pp. 300, 306, 317, 338, 361. 
 >, „ vol. ii. pp. 177, 256, 371. 
 
 4. Besides written amulets like that of which a translation from 
 the original Hebrew is given above, it is customary amongst Jews and 
 other Orientals to wear different objects made of metal, glass, bone, 
 etc., to keep away evil spirits, and ward off the effects of the evil eye. 
 Amongst these objects we may mention, a wolf's bone, blue beads, 
 and silver figures of a pair of frogs (the sex of each figure being 
 clearly indicated), a sword, pistol, gun, battle-axe, pair of scissors, 
 scimitar, a hand, tooth, etc., or to wear a sprig of rue, or a copy of 
 the Koran, etc. 
 
 5. The belief in the protective power of the name nilT' or 
 YHVH is shared by the Samaritans equally with the adherents of 
 orthodox Judaism. I have in my possession the photograph of a 
 Samaritan charm written on parchment, said to be several centuries 
 old, and to have been used by generation after generation of " the 
 foolish people that dwell in Sichem " (Ecclus. 1. 26), in order to cure 
 sick folk of their ailments. It is written in seven columns divided 
 from each other by lines of Samaritan writing in larger characters 
 than those covering the greater part of the document. A framework 
 of two lines of such writing runs along the four sides of the whole, 
 and, on examination with a magnifier, is easily decipherable as con- 
 taining the account of the overthrow of Pharaoh and his hosts in the 
 sea. The columns are divided into sections by from two to five lines 
 of similar writing (the names of Jehovah, the words " And Moses 
 prayed," etc.), whilst between the divisions are paragraphs of small 
 and closely written lines. The size of this precious document, for 
 which the trifling sum of 6000 francs was coolly asked, is shown by 
 the scale of centimetres photographed with it. It was in a terribly 
 dirty and torn condition, having been worn, rolled, and folded up 
 into a bundle about 2^ inches cube, and apparently next the skin. 
 About the middle of the eighth column is a " zair 'geh " table, with 
 letters arranged inside squares, like that shown by Lane, vol. i. 
 p. 366. 
 
322 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND 
 
 
 
 
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 a 
 
 not 
 
 fFert 
 
 fFert 
 
 
 
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 cn_. 
 
 u shalt 
 not su 
 ;hou su 
 
 ■ a 
 
 
 
 il 
 
 ^4 
 
 
 d o 
 
 rt <L> 
 
 O -w -^ 
 
 m ai 
 
 gS. 
 
 ive th 
 
 ushal 
 
 shalt 
 
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 T3 
 
 r:^ 2-^ 
 
 
 
 
 O rfl U 
 
 
 
 c€ 
 
 •M +3 -w 
 
 
 
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 -s-s ^ 
 
 eg ^ g 
 
 fl s fl 
 
 
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 wo ^^ A =s na+3 S-UrQP -t^S 
 
 ^ 5^"-P «a .\iA -Ei^^o nSoa a (US' 
 
 °?f^ t.2sS1 s"s-e A%^^% 1^. 
 
 (In >5 SpO 
 
 W) -^ t^ 2 
 
 -« B ■? ^ ^ 
 
 :> S* M K Ih -H 
 
 > 2 « 
 
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 en 4) (1> 
 
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''^^^g^ass^i=*=fl 
 
 p^ vy 
 
 'eeeeeeaaaaaa 
 ^i^eeeeeeaaaaaai 
 
 
 
 Bai«:^w T7y.^^s .VTjoiK^ ";:'5NjE'j-iDiti'iB'"!<'5iMi;'!^'5 nirTrTJ-ipE^Dir 7N ?]\?^3 
 
 1 • •- !•.■•- ■ I ^ * V • I -ri «| »1» - - "«1 TV- V V - 
 
 11 
 
 11 
 
 Mini \\'M \raiv ^Mi^ »p^H 'n Bpa 
 O'i'l: »»i -.-iij lira e's i'r l"pStf 
 
 ?'5P ?: irfi . ,i:W r;3 pfi p^pi, „,„. 
 
 -M);:) '301 -JVC? 'j„h i> -r-fti ?mu 
 
 »'7m ?rui -niaft ra-.-)io: pij ririij: »ft 
 
 .ft niJi .')ft vB3::.p.r?j ift D-pi ,■,; 
 
 li's r'33 OPiini) 3ir3j c;nr» iJ ',im: 
 
 ;wi:u ijii iinimjita if) 
 
 .;;»« .D1W p,-p .1P0M .'in PDH 
 »*?? .K=p nan .HsncB iI,«h me 
 ' nro"*ii .inSn .Kica 
 
 p6ni'3»6 oiIm D'33 s.'nipij'c? '" 
 
 •"iHn 331 nciJTi pn-.nron ij: ■.« 
 
 •)•» M'l'n anno 
 
 fis'i) fimi ftj'u fiosif) fcJ'J) 
 fij'uo':;,'! fij'i! ftsnfi frj'D fipiT ^>'i) finlsn 
 
 ft)'» pr,ipB ft)*!) ?^E' 6)'9 o"J fij'a ?3n* 
 rhn ftj'B RwMs fij'i) nupic Ari) ?iiia 
 fi>'» psfiic ft>'» nrpi3 6)'i) ruse fi)'j; 
 6)'a ip:f!i C'fii fti'ft f3,-:i)i ftj'U A^wn 
 iiMT )'i' j'nunpi tzhi fij'i; ?f3i rcA: 
 5iiU37 I'D ?iir3-7 r» wpn I'B ipn I'l) 
 i'n b ?=nj7 I'M rhi=i7 pa fonSAi I'B 
 ?-;3?i ?i;'3?i ppft-JC oiiua cc ftco fi;'» 
 Ii3i ftjDsrfii 6:*;iJ (b'3c) !» bid I'bs 
 
 flh ^VB fiE'ip fiS'B rftiB fiJ'P 6'9a3 
 
 fij'B -im ij irn '=' fti ft>'B fi'Ji'n fis's 
 
 fi.T,-5 b'B ft)'»' ftJST fij'B -IVR b i'i?T 
 
 fi:'i> 'nm fi)37 ftj'i) nriP ftrnj:h7 fo's 
 
 C'fi) ftH VB7fl ftiT '''J'» 'J'»J flS I)'J7 
 IJ pCB'ftl V'P='">ft 1'='3 I'J''!' J3 fij'O 
 
 3'r:7 ifiic'i ''wn fiXB 'simp in j^bo 
 rj? 3'n5i iftic "JBic ic" Hi cw (ii rjr 
 At?3 t7cr> D'in"»J I'fir ift '0 i-s 
 
 i'B is 115'JB .VBSrftl .T-IJ rftJu fij'D 
 
 ip-n-jni mwpi ipiBPi \'i'CTiZ frno fij'y 
 Die 033 ?'3' Ml 3"3 is Irui (D":e) Isn 
 fth Dr3 fti 3'3 i:3i (b"303) uilnJ ns 
 -3ft 01Z3 lii Dilns A>1 I'.ira fri ?J'i3 
 >'TJ r"c;n TJ 01E3 fill 1'73'^ 0*0-:)) 
 
 WD crfi : iBi ?iD Rii I^fi olii-Ji cvro 
 
 dIo 'J331Cn bSd ')1 'JliD -jiD •) 
 
 ,131 TfiDa a»i» 
 
 Facsimile of a Hebrew amulet printed at Jerusalem, and guaranteed by Tarious Rabbis of note 
 as an infallible protection from the Evil Eye, Lilith, etc., explained on p. 322 ff. 
 
NOTES 325 
 
 Translation of the Remainder. 
 PROTECTION (OE AMULET) 
 
 FOB, AN INFANT, AND A WOMAN IN CHILD-BED. 
 
 And in good luck. 
 
 Be reviled, O Satan ! 
 
 Psalm cxxi.j " A Psalm of degrees," from beginning to 
 end. 
 
 Chann against LUith vouched for as efficacious by several 
 famous Rabbis : — 
 
 " In the Name of YHVH the God of Israel Whose Name is 
 great and to be feared." 
 
 " Elijah, may his memory be blessed, was walking out one 
 day when he came upon Lilith. He said to her, ' Unclean 
 one ! where art thou going ? ' She said to him, ' I am going 
 to the house of So and So, who is in child-bed ; in order to 
 cause her death and to snatch and devour her child.' He said 
 unto her, ' Be thou smitten with the itch, and imprisoned by 
 the Name of the Most Holy One, and become a silent stone.' 
 She answered and said unto him, ' O my lord, let me off, and 
 I swear, in the Name of YHVH to forsake this my way, and 
 that whenever I shall see or hear any of my names I shall 
 straightway flee. And now I will make known to thee my 
 names. And whenever my names shall be mentioned I shall 
 have no power to do evil or to injure. I swear to thee to reveal 
 my names, and if they be vsritten and suspended in the dwell- 
 ing of the child or the confined woman I shall at once flee. 
 
 "'These are my names: — Satrinah, Lilith, Avitu, Amiz 
 Raphi, Amizii, Kakash, Odem, 'ik. Pods, 'ils, Petrota, Abro, 
 Kema, Kalee, Bituah, Thiltho, Partashah. 
 
 " ' And whoever fixes up these my names I shall at once flee 
 from the placard hung up in the house of the confined woman 
 or the chUd. This is a charm, and the child as well as his 
 mother shall never be hurt by me.' " 
 
 Cabbalistic Direction. — Rabbi Eleazar of Garmiza, the 
 author of the Josephta, may his memory be blessed, says : — 
 "As a charm against pestilence and fire, from which may 
 YHVH protect us, let this be hung against the window or 
 against (opposite to) the door and at once they will flee." Thus 
 
326 FOLK-LORE OF THE HO^Y .LAND 
 
 also Rabbi Arieh the Saint, has said in a MS. of his, " All this 
 is very marvellcius, as also Rabbi Eliezar Baal Shem Tore says." 
 
 In a good sign. 
 
 Shaddai. 
 
 Solemn Adjuration of the Evil Eye. (As this, though abbrevi- 
 ated, is almost identical with the Amulet translated on p. 318 fF, 
 there is no need to reproduce it here.) 
 
 Picture of a hand, on the back of which is written " Shaddai" 
 (Almighty) and " Adonai " (Lord) with permutations of letters 
 forming names of angels, etc. 
 
PRINTED BT 
 
 TDEKBTJLL AND SPBAHS, 
 EDDTBUBGR