THE SOCIAL LIFE OF THE VILLAGE
Kinship, religious association, party traditions and proximity, these
four influences are important in the order named in helping to form
society. Among the people whom we are considering the fact of kinship is
the first determining cause of social relations. In fact it is so
important that the farther we get away from a city the more does it tend
to become the sole basis of friendly association. In the villages
kinship overshadows all other considerations. In the desert there is
practically no other bond in which is the possibility of society. The
law of hospitality is really an invention of necessity, the guest
becoming by a fiction a temporary kinsman.[168]
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As men come to live more closely together they are compelled to heed
other considerations than blood relationship, and so in the village,
while kinship dominates everything, yet there must be some regard to
other claims. One might live in a village a long time without realizing
the fact, but a little inquiry would elicit it, that any happy social
group of people is almost certain to be a group of kindred. The village
will have as many distinct sections, or, as we should say, wards, as
there are tribes. One does not discover much that is comparable to
society existing between members of different divisions of the village.
Religious association counts for something, however, in making society
for the villager, though this is less the case than in the cities. The
celebration of feasts, pilgrimages and ecstasies gives the Moslem not
only society but a deal of entertainment. The Christian population finds
an important social center in the church, and in the festivals and
celebrations of the church much of its pleasantest entertainment.
Party traditions, such as those which have divided the villages of
Palestine into Yemen and Ḳays, have besides their divisive effect a
social significance in an interest which is engendered between the
villagers the country over belonging to the same party. As the old
enmities die out this broader social spirit may persist and even offer a
basis for wider interests.
Proximity might seem at first thought to offer only added occasion for
hostility between those whose family or religious differences keep them
apart, and so, no doubt, it often does have this effect. But it was
noticeable that, when a squabble arose between Christians living in
el-Bîreh and others in Râm Allâh, the Bîreh Moslems threw themselves
into the question in favor of the Bîreh Christians, and the united Bîreh
populace came over in a rage to take vengeance on the Râm Allâh people.
It was not that Bîreh Moslems welcomed an opportunity to fight
Christians even to the extent of assisting other Christians, but it was
a pure case of neighborliness with the nearer neighbor. Ordinarily Râm
Allâh and el-Bîreh are neighborly enough, both being of the Ḳays
faction.
The diversions of the Syrian peasant are extremely simple. Doubtless
conversation is the chief social delight. Pictures, books and formal
entertainment are out of the question. It takes most of the time to earn
the sustenance of the family. The idea of spending money for pure
amusement is scarcely to be dreamed of by a sane person. Young men often
take pleasure in the possession of a silk head scarf or a black, thin
overgarment, articles of dress which are not strictly necessary, and yet
sufficiently useful luxuries. The children play merrily if they are
healthy. The old men sit about and talk in the shops and market.
Visiting in each other’s houses is almost unknown unless the persons be
near of kin. The men see each other in the market. The women see each
other at the springs and at the ovens. News goes about with
extraordinary rapidity from lip to lip. The entertainment of visitors
and guests is a matter of honor. Conversation is lively and the little
points of etiquette much regarded. Among the well-to-do the visitor is
served with preserves, fruit, lemonade and, lastly, coffee. Before the
serving of the coffee the visitors are hardly at liberty to withdraw. If
an early departure be imperative the coffee will be hurried and served
early. It is said that among the Bedawîn a full cup of coffee is a sign
of enmity. So the cups are not quite filled to the brim. The coffee-cup
(finjân) is a tiny affair, usually without handle or saucer. Sugar is
not commonly added, milk never. When sugar is used it is ordinarily
cooked with the coffee.
It is customary to make calls of courtesy upon the occasion of any gala
day or feast day of special significance. For instance, the leading men
in a village may call on the government representative, say the _mudîr_,
on the occasion of the Sultan’s birthday. Or Moslems may call upon the
church officials in honor of the great church days. The natives honor
foreigners by calls if they learn that some day of great significance to
the foreigner’s home country is at hand. It is customary to call upon a
neighbor who has returned from a journey immediately and felicitate him
and hear of his experiences. Upon entering a house for a call, if it be
among their own neighbors, little formality is indulged. The burden of
that is on the host, who should greet the comers with “_Fût_” (enter),
or “_Foḍḍel_” (welcome). Among the more pretentious visitors the
preliminaries of calls are smoothed through the medium of servants. The
passing over the threshold may be made the occasion of the expression of
much hospitality and courtesy. The seat of honor is the one farthest
from the door, but modesty dictates that one should sit down in the
humblest place, that nearest the door, until expostulation and entreaty
prevail on one to take the place of honor. The first questions are
concerning the health of the host and his family. In a Moslem’s house it
is not customary to ask concerning the man’s wife. The conversation may
be made sprightly by the keenness of the interest shown in these objects
of inquiry, or it may be disagreeably dull on account of the perfunctory
manner in which they are mentioned. A matter of business, if there be
such, is kept back until other subjects of conversation fail. The
introduction and carrying on of a conversation may be a very graceful
and interesting thing, but if either party be boorish,[169] and the
purpose be to demand some advantage, as when official business brings
together those of different religious beliefs, the meeting can be a very
strained and uncomfortable affair. Such an occasion would be the meeting
of a proud city Moslem with a Christian peasant, or even with a Moslem
peasant. But between village peasants themselves, though of different
faiths, there is more real courtesy than elsewhere. Not many of the
people like trouble and hard feeling. Most of them like the atmosphere
of good-will and at least the externals of good fellowship and generous
treatment.
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Invitations to a hospitable meal or feast are often sent out shortly
before the actual hour, if not just at the very time.[170] It is
commonly the case that a courteous host seeks to dissuade the guest from
bringing the call or visit to a close.[171] The departing guest usually
says something like “_A khâṭrak_,” “By your leave,” to which the host
answers, “_Ma‛ Salâmeh_,” “[Go] with peace.”[172] The first speaker
responds to this with “_‛Ala selmâk_,” or “_Selimt_.”
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[173]Greetings in the market-place and on the road are formal but
graceful. The common greeting of “_Salâm ‛alaykum_,”[174] “Peace be on
you,” is replied to by “‛Alaykum es-salâm,” “May the peace be on you.”
In strictness this is the salutation of Moslems, though it is commonly
used indiscriminately. Now and then one may hear of a bigoted Moslem who
would not return this salutation to a Christian, but would mumble out
“Peace be on the faithful ones,” in which class he would include, of
course, none but his coreligionists.[175] More characteristic are the
rustic salutations, “Marḥabâ,” “Welcome”; “Mîyet marḥabâ,” “A hundred
welcomes”; “Kayf ḥâlak,” “How are you?”; “Ḥumdillâh,” “Praise God”;
“Allâh yofathak,” “May God preserve you”; “Ḥumdillâh salâmeh,” “Praise
God, you are well,” or, “I see you well”; “Salâmtak,” “Your peace.” The
peasant’s early good morning salutation is “Ṣubâḥkum b’l-khayr,” to
which the response is, “Yâ ṣubâḥ el-khayr.” When the day is well on the
pleasant greeting is, “Nahârak sa‛îd,” “May your day be happy,” to which
the gracious reply is, “Nahârak umbârak,” “May your day be blessed.” The
evening salutation is, “Mesâîkum b’l-khayr,” answered by, “Yâ mesâ
el-khayr.” At night it is, “Layltak sa‛îdeh.”
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An evasive answer to one asking a question as to another’s destination
in traveling is to reply, “A(la) bâb Allâh,” “To the gate of God.”
In addressing foreigners the peasants use the term _khawâjah_ for a man
and _sitt_ for a woman. In speaking to a superior of their own race they
employ the term _sayyid_, _lord_, or _sir_, or _effendy_. Among
themselves they use the word _shaykh_ for an elderly, a learned or a
holy man. To their equals in age and station the peasant’s titles of
address are numerous. “Yâ shaykh” to such is used in expostulation or
derision. “‛Ammy,” “My uncle”; “Ḥabîby,” “My dear”; “Mu‛allim,” “Master”
or “Teacher,” or the first name of the one addressed are used in
conversation. If the talkers are uncertain of each other’s name they may
say, “Hayû, shu ismak?” “Eh, there, what’s your name?” though this is
rather contemptuous. In rough conversation the speakers may grace each
other with such address as “Yâ bârid,” literally, “Thou cold one,”
meaning foolish one; “Shu ente,” “Who are you anyway?”; “Majnûn, ente?”,
“Are you mad?”; “Ana ḥamâr?”, “Am I a donkey?” _i. e._, “Do you take me
for a donkey?” or, sarcastically, “Shâṭrak,” “You are clever.” To boys,
“Yâ ṣuby,” or “Yâ weled,” and to girls or any unmarried woman, “Yâ
bint,” are the simple forms of address. “‛Amty,” “My aunt,” is often
used to middle-aged or elderly matrons. A father will often call his
child by the relation which he himself sustains to the child, “Yâ aba,”
literally, “O father!” A maternal aunt has been heard to call her niece
or her nephew by the relationship which she holds to either, viz., “Yâ
khâlty,” meaning literally, “My maternal aunt.”
A very graceful salute is executed with the right hand touching lightly
first one’s breast, then the lips and then the forehead. The one saluted
answers by the same set of gestures. In Damascus I once saw a group of
citizens who had gathered in a tiny room for conversation executing
simultaneously a similar salute, except that they first swept the right
hand downward towards the ground in lieu of the touch on the breast.
This variation is more elegant or more humble than the former way,
according to circumstances.[176] I once saw a villager presenting a
paper to be read to one of the official class. The peasant made a
sweeping motion toward the ground with the hand holding the document.
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In meeting, the native seizes the hand of his superior and endeavors to
bring the back of the hand to his lips and forehead. The other, however,
generally succeeds in withdrawing his hand before more than a touch of
hands has been accomplished. On meeting, especially after a separation,
the custom has obtained among women friends of kissing each other first
on the right cheek and then on the left. Men salute each other in the
same way in some localities. Strangers enter into amiable conversation
with each other without the necessity of introductions.
The guest-house of the tribe makes a place of rendezvous for men, where
congenial companions may be met in a social way. Song and story are much
enjoyed by the men. Those who have a knack for story-telling, or who can
sing to their own accompaniment on the _rabâb_, a kind of fiddle, or on
the _‛ûd_, a kind of lute, are assured an appreciative audience. The
social and kindly amenities may be seen here at the guest-house after a
funeral. The nearest of kin to the deceased among the men is constrained
by his men friends to accompany them to the guest-house where, by
preparing food and supplying a stream of conversation, they try to
divert his mind from his grief. They may seek to entertain him thus for
several days. I accompanied one such group of mourners and sympathizers
to the guest-house where we sat cross-legged upon the floor. A man and
his wife who lived in the same house and kept the guest-room in order
prepared coffee. Green coffee berries were roasted in a long-handled
iron ladle over the coals in a clay brazier. The roasted berries were
put into a wooden mortar and pounded with a long wooden pestle. When
they were quite fine the odor was very pleasant. The coffee was then put
into a tin pot having a long handle and allowed to cook over the brazier
until it swelled up in the pot several times, when it was served in
handleless cups, of which there were but two in the company. They handed
me the first cup, but I passed it on, refusing to drink before the old
men had partaken. The cup that I used was washed after my predecessor
had drunk from it, but I noticed that for the others the cups were
refilled without washing. It was most delicious coffee. Some of the men
had previously refreshed themselves with cigarettes. The talk had been
general and lively and an air of comfort and good-will had filled the
place. I admired those good-hearted men and their simple and sensible
way, as with the fumes of coffee and the interest of their talk they
beguiled their friend and themselves for several hours. The female
friends of a woman in grief assemble at the house where she lives with
the object of comforting her. So with all the great events of life,
birth, marriage, death, a feast, a return from a journey, the friends,
who are usually related, distantly at any rate, gather together for the
pleasure of conversation and discussion, to drink coffee and, as they
say in the native idiom, to “drink tobacco,” for they always describe
smoking as drinking.
[Illustration: WOMEN AT THE SPRING]
[Illustration: FOUNTAIN AT NAZARETH]
Often in a conversation where there seems to be a likelihood of ill
feeling, as, for instance, in business matters, the one who is leading
the conversation will pronounce the opening salutations and addresses
all over again. So in the middle of a conversation that does not appear
to be “getting anywhere,” he may break in suddenly with “Good morning,
sir; how are you?” This repeated several times during a long talk has
the effect of a fresh start with the erasure of what has passed.
Sometimes a man who is being pressed, as he thinks, unduly, will break
out into vituperation, pass his hand over his brow in sign of weariness
and the unreason of his opponents, even weep a little with vexation.
Meanwhile all the other talkers about him observe him soberly and
silence may rest on them for some minutes before the subject is resumed.
All these things make little difference with the results of the business
in hand, however. He who has the advantage holds it unmoved, though he
may be as diplomatic as possible in forcing the conclusion. Any
exhibition of passion or impatience usually betrays the weaker side in
the discussion. Such conversations may be continued at odd times through
days.
When there are visitors at the guest-house who are to be fed, the people
take one of the huge dishes known as the _minsaf_, fill it with food,
generally rice and mutton, and several help to carry it to the
guest-chamber, supporting it in a large piece of sacking, which they
hold by the four corners.
One of the gala times to which the neighbors look forward is what might
be called a roofing-bee. When a house which is in the course of building
has been finished except the roof, the master mason in charge becomes
practically the head of an open-air festival, for besides his usual
helpers the whole neighborhood turns out to assist. The women bring
stone and mortar, the men stand in line to pass it, and amid shouting,
singing and the firing of guns the work goes on merrily to completion,
when the mason is supposed to receive as a present a new robe and the
merrymakers are feasted on rice.
Among the rich, women as well as men smoke the _nârjîleh_, which is
supplied with _tumbâk_, a Persian variety of tobacco.
A great deal of entertainment must be afforded the natives who come in
contact with foreigners, as these latter attempt, and mangle, the
language. But with imperturbable and polite deference the native
listeners betray no sense of our blunders, even declaring our gift in
acquiring the tongue remarkable. The eager learner is fortunate indeed
if the natives do not answer back in the same broken Arabic which he is
perpetrating. Such an excess of accommodation hinders advance in the
difficult idiom. A missionary friend told me of the amusing experiences
of herself and another worker in their early attempts to force their
ability at talking in Arabic. They were almost totally ignorant of the
language, but they went to a garden where there was a group of women and
boldly essayed to tell the story of the rich man and Lazarus. One of
them knowing a word for _man_, _zelameh_, said it, and was followed by
the other, who said the word for _poor_, _fakîr_, and pointed upwards.
The first then said _zelameh_ again, when the second, who also knew the
word for _rich_, _ghany_, said that and pointed downwards. That was the
extent of their exposition. Some one, hearing of it, asked our friend if
she thought any impression was made upon her hearers. She laughingly
replied that she didn’t know, but that some one had stolen her
pocket-handkerchief during the performance.
There is play for all ages. The feasts, the weddings and even the
funerals are practically occasions of play for the adults. The young men
often play a game similar to our _duck-on-the-rock_. The old men sitting
in the streets about the doorways are often seen playing a game called
_sîjeh_ or _lîwan_. In the dust or on the flat surface of a stone slab
forty-nine or twenty-five squares are marked off, as on a checker-board.
The markers or men are, perhaps, small stones. The one suggesting the
game says, “I’ll take the lîwan” (hall), which is the central square of
all, and places one of the markers in a space next to the lîwan. Then
each player in turn places a marker in a vacant square anywhere on the
diagram, the central lîwan excepted, until all but that one are filled.
The first player then, he who claimed the lîwan, moves his nearest
marker into it. The player next in turn jumps the marker which the first
player moved. The third player moves into the lîwan and is jumped by the
following player. Jumping must always be towards the lîwan and is
allowable whenever there is a marker in the lîwan, one or more empty
spaces between the jumper and the lîwan and an empty space beyond the
lîwan into which to jump. The game continues until there is but one
marker left on the board, and that in the lîwan.
The more vigorous game called _dôsh_ is played with pitching stones. The
two players try for the first turn by seeing which one can come nearest,
with a throw of his stone, to some mark. Keeping the positions in which
they land in this trial-toss, the first player (the one nearest the
mark) throws his stone at the stone of the other, trying to drive it as
many feet as possible. He continues until he fails to drive his
opponent’s stone, measuring with his feet the ground over which he has
driven it and adding up the score. The other then tries to drive his
opponent’s stone in the same fashion. The one first driving his
opponent’s stone a total distance of forty feet is the winner and is
entitled to be given a ride on the back of the defeated player.
The village men greatly enjoy motion songs, with dancing, swaying,
clapping of hands, etc. Many of these exercises are combined in the
_mil‛ab_[177] at wedding celebrations. When clapping of hands is the
prominent motion, the song may go by the designation _ṣaḥjeh_.[178] When
a sort of dance, which consists chiefly in stamping the foot forward,
characterizes the motion, the accompanying song is designated as
_dabkeh_.[179] In this latter the dancer or dancers, for there may be
one or several in line, hold handkerchiefs fluttering in the hands and
stamp forward first with one foot and then with the other in groups of
three stamps or steps with each foot, changing gracefully from one foot
to the other.
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There are strolling gipsies who go about entertaining by dancing and
thrumming on instruments. Sometimes a man with a baboon or a bear comes
to a village.
The native enjoys hunting. Gazels, partridges and wild pigeons are the
chief game, but he does not despise smaller birds.[180] He seldom has
anything like modern arms, and therefore unless hunting is his business
often misses the object of his aim. Still he enjoys the noise of his
gun.
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Quarrels are of too painful frequency among villagers. They are always
costly affairs, for the officials mulct both sides, unless the trouble
has been hushed up before soldiers are sent to investigate. There has
been considerable improvement lately in the general order and security
of the country. Even within ten or fifteen years, it is said, the roads
have become more safe, outrages much less common and villagers more
peaceable. Formerly the peasants went heavily armed and altercations
were likely to lead to bloodshed. As I am rewriting these notes there
come letters from friends in Palestine bringing news of a quarrel of
serious proportions in one of the large villages. A score or more of the
men have been put into the nearest city prison and great expense and
continued ill-will are inevitable. A marriage had been arranged to unite
young people of two different tribes. This unusual event was not allowed
to proceed without very great jealousies and some disagreement as to
minor terms among the relatives. The trouble culminated on the day of
the wedding; and for some hours a battle raged. From housetops, windows,
doors and in the alleys of the quarter of the village where the tribes
lived stones were hurled and wounds inflicted.
To take revenge is known as _akhadh ith-thâr_, or _astad ith-thâr_. The
blood-revenge is called _ith-thâr id-dam_. A family or tribe feels that
it has been humiliated when any of its members have been assailed by
outsiders. If blood has been drawn or a fatality has ensued the disgrace
must be wiped out. The accomplishment of this is expressed as _nafy
il-‛âr_.[181]
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