FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92  
93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   >>   >|  
b race was ever as great a race as we were inclined to give it credit for being. "All the same, if it hadn't been for your ancestors, we might have all been Moslems now," Owen said, stopping to admire what remained of the race which had conquered Spain and nearly conquered France. "Now they are outcasts of our civilisation--but what noble outcasts! That fellow, he is old, and without a corner, perhaps, where to lay his head, but he walks magnificently in his ragged bournous. He is poor, but he isn't a beggar; his life is sordid, but it isn't trivial; he retains his grand walk and his solemn salute; and if he has never created an art, himself is proof that he isn't without the artistic sentiment." Beclere looked at Owen in surprise, and Owen, thinking to astonish him, added: "His poverty and his filth are sublime; he is a Jew from Amsterdam painted by Rembrandt, or a Jew from Palestine described by the authors of the Pentateuch." "The Jew is a tougher fellow to deal with; he cannot be eradicated, but the Arab was very nearly passing away. If he had insisted on remaining the noble outcast which you admire, he would not have survived the Red Indian many hundreds of years. I don't contest whether to lose him would be a profit or a loss, but when civilisation comes the native race must accept it or extinction." "I suppose you're right," Owen answered, "I suppose you're right." And they stopped to look at an Arab town; some of it was in the plain below, some of it ran up the steep hillside, on the summit of which was a ruined mosque. "Why did they choose to build up such a steep hillside?" "The oasis is limited, and the plain is devoted to orchards. Look at the village! If you were to visit their town, you would not find a street in which a camel could turn round, hardly any windows, and the doors always half closed. They are still suspicious of us and anxious to avoid our inquisition. Yes, that is the characteristic of the Arab, to conceal himself; and his wife, and his business from us." "One can sympathise with the desire to avoid inquisition, and notwithstanding the genius of your race--no one is more sympathetic to you than I am--yet it is impossible not to see that your fault is red tapeism, and that is what the Arab hates. You see I understand." "I don't think I am unsympathetic, and the Arabs don't think it. Perhaps there is no man in Africa who can travel as securely as I can--even in the Soud
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92  
93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

hillside

 

inquisition

 

suppose

 
outcasts
 
fellow
 

civilisation

 
conquered
 

admire

 

street

 

windows


orchards
 

summit

 

ruined

 

stopped

 

mosque

 
limited
 

devoted

 

closed

 

choose

 
village

credit

 
understand
 

tapeism

 

impossible

 

unsympathetic

 

travel

 

securely

 
Africa
 

Perhaps

 

inclined


characteristic

 

conceal

 

anxious

 

suspicious

 

business

 

sympathetic

 

genius

 

notwithstanding

 

sympathise

 

desire


artistic

 

sentiment

 

Beclere

 

looked

 

created

 

surprise

 
thinking
 

sublime

 

France

 

Amsterdam