BUYING A HOUSE
Even great men in the East rise early; so, when I arrived before the
castle of the great Druze chief at six o'clock of a summer's morning,
I was not surprised to find a crowd of black-cloaked and
white-turbaned mountaineers already waiting for an audience of his
grace; nor yet, when I had gained admittance as a favoured person, to
find the chief himself afoot and wide awake. What did surprise me was
to see him clad in Stambûli frock-coat and all its stiff
accompaniments at an hour when even the most civilised of Pashas still
wears native dress. He heard of my desire to settle in his country
with surprise and seeming pleasure, and made me sit beside him on a
sofa in an upper chamber of magnificent proportions--spoilt, to my
taste, by gaudy Frankish furniture and certain oleographs of the
crowned heads of Europe which adorned its walls.
He thought, as is the way of Orientals, visibly, with finger pressed
to brow. Then he exclaimed:
'I have a house close by, across the glen--a little ruinous, perhaps,
but we can soon repair it. Come to the window; you can see the place
from here.' He pointed out a kind of thickset tower which crowned a
pretty village set in orchards. 'If you care to see it we will go
there when I have received my people.'
He invited me to go with him to the reception; but, having seen the
crowd outside, I thought it wisdom to go back rather to the village
khan where I had left my horse, to warn Rashîd to have things ready
for a start, and get some breakfast.
I returned in two hours' time, to find the chief already mounted on a
splendid charger, led by a no less splendid servant, setting forth in
search of me, 'with half the world for tail,' as Rashîd put it.
It was in truth a long procession which meandered down the steep and
rocky pathway, deep in the shade of walls and overhanging trees, to
the ravine, forded the stream, and climbed the other bank.
The village, when we reached it, was in great commotion, all its
people crowding to the wide meydân, or levelled ground for
horsemanship, spread out before the house which might be mine. In the
midst of this meydân there was a fine old carob tree, with a stone
bench all round the foot of its enormous trunk.
The house itself was an old fortress, built of solid stone, with arrow
slits as well as modern windows, and an arched doorway at the top of
wide stone steps. Against it nestled lesser houses of the village
which seemed to climb up towards it for protection.
Some men of consequence came forth to greet the chief, who then
dismounted with their servile aid. He introduced me to a turbaned
Druze of reverend appearance, who (he said) at present occupied the
house, and also to the son of the said turbaned Druze, who knew a
little French and longed to air it.
The turbaned one, whose name was Sheykh Huseyn, was called on to
refresh his chieftain's memory with regard to various details of the
house and property and all the feudal rights and privileges
appertaining thereunto. He did so, as in duty bound, but in a very
mournful tone.
His son explained: Tu fiens habiter, nous defons quitter. Mon bère
n'aime bas quitter. Très bon marché'--from which I guessed that they
had occupied the house rent-free till they had come to look upon it as
their own.
Leaving aside the land, which we should visit presently, the owner of
the house, I was informed, had jurisdiction over the meydân, which was
in times of peace the village square, and owned one-fifth part of the
great tree in its midst. He also owned a fifth of all the water
flowing or to flow from the great village spring; and had the right to
call upon the fellâhîn for one day's work a year in return for his
protection of their land from enemies. When I inquired by what means I
could possibly secure my fifth share of the water from the spring, the
chief informed me that the stipulation was in case the source
diminished in dry seasons, which, thank the Lord, it never yet had
done.
We viewed the house, and I was pleased with the great vaulted rooms,
in which the pots and pans and bedding of the Sheykh Huseyn appeared
like nothing, and the women of the family of Sheykh Huseyn,
close-veiled against our inroad, made themselves exceeding small; and
then, remounting, we went off to view the land. This was scattered all
about the mountain side--a terrace here, a terrace there. It took us a
long while to see the whole of it.
The chief, fatigued, alighted and sat down beneath some walnut trees.
He ordered Sheykh Huseyn to cause refreshments to appear. The latter
shouted, and a dozen villagers went tearing off. In a very little time
a meal of honeyed cakes and fruit was set before us, and the ceremony
of making coffee was in progress on a brazier near us in the shade.
'Allah! Allah!' sighed the Sheykh Huseyn, telling his beads.
'Mon bère est triste, tu vois. Il aime bas quitter,' murmured his
hopeful son in tones of high delight, the feeling proper to express
before a new acquaintance of my quality.
'Curse the religion of these flies! It is extremely hot!' exclaimed
the chief in momentary irritation.
The trees went with the land without exception, I was glad to hear.
One-fifth of all the produce of that land of any kind whatever would
be mine, the rest belonging to the husbandmen by immemorial right.
There was never such a thing as wages for the cultivation of the land.
The Sheykh Huseyn implored us to return to luncheon at his house,
protesting that he had commanded a great feast to be prepared; but the
chief declared we were too busy to allow ourselves that pleasure. As
we were then some way below the village, we did not go back thither,
but rode off along a path through orchards till we found the road to
the ravine.
At taking leave, the eyes of Sheykh Huseyn met mine a moment. They
were large, benevolent, brown eyes, and they expressed much inward
sorrow, while on his lips there broke the smile demanded of
politeness.
'Au refoir, mon cher! Au blaisir!' cried his hopeful son.
Rashîd came up behind me as we rode along, and poured into my ear a
wondrous tale of how the Sheykh Huseyn was our ill-wisher and would
do his best to make things lively for us if we took the place. He had
conversed with people of the village while we viewed the house.
'But the majority are in our favour,' he assured me, with grave
satisfaction. 'They do not love the Sheykh Huseyn, who is a miser and
a hypocrite. They say, please God, we shall humiliate him to the very
depth of shame.'
He spoke as if we were at war, and within sight of victory, as if we
were already settled in the place. And I was glad, because it augured
well for my content if I should buy the place, which I was now
resolved to do if I could anyhow afford it.
'The price will be too great, I fear,' was my reply; whereat he
sighed, observing that the place was of a nature to exalt our honour.
Returning to the castle of the chieftain, I was ushered to his private
chamber, where I broached at once the burning question of the price.
He said: 'God knows I wish to give thee house and land since thou
desirest them. But I have a mortgage on some other lands of mine which
vexes me, because, though I can find the interest--which is
exorbitant--each year, I cannot in this country lay my hands upon the
principal. Discharge that debt for me and, God reward thee, take the
house and land.'
He named a sum of money. I could not believe my ears, it was so little
as compared with what I judged to be the value of the property. It was
well within the sum at my disposal. I wished to write a cheque out
there and then; but he forbade me, saying: 'Allah knows I might mislay
the paper or destroy it in a moment of forgetfulness. Do thou in
kindness pay my creditor and bring me the discharge.'
He named an Armenian gentleman of my acquaintance--an amiable, learned
man of modest means, the last person in the country whom I should have
thought a usurer. Nor was he one habitually, for he himself informed
me that this loan to the Druze chieftain was his sole investment of
the kind. I called on him one afternoon in the city, and handed him my
cheque, explaining how the matter stood.
'You do me a bad turn. Unlucky day!' he sighed as he received it. 'My
little fortune was more safe with him than in a bank, and every year
it brought me in a pretty income. Where can I find another such
investment.'
With groans he wrote out the receipt, which in due time I carried to
the chief, who thanked me and assured me that the house was mine and
should be made so formally.
I then rode over to the house again, and with Rashîd planned out the
changes we desired to make, the Sheykh Huseyn following us about
gloomily, and his cheerful son bestowing on us his advice in broken
French. They knew their tenancy was at an end. The Sheykh, resigned at
length to the inevitable, sought to establish good relations with me;
and he also gave us counsel, which Rashîd, who viewed him as our
deadly foe, at once rejected. Under these rebuffs the old man became
quite obsequious.
His son exclaimed excitedly: 'Mon bère est heureux, tu vois. If feut
bas quitter. Il feut rester afec toi comme chef de serfice.'