The translation of the line is, "Paradise and forgiveness be the lot of
him who gave you this water!" It is said that the Arabic music is a
powerful exponent of the wild, fierce and yet romantic nature of that
people, though it did not commend itself to Engel and other musicians at
the Paris Exposition. But, however void of beauty and expression any
national music is to us, it is certainly felt to possess these qualities
by the people to whom it belongs; and it is very likely that our music
would seem to them just as unintelligible and discordant. When the
French missionary Amiot played some of Boildieu's and Rossini's melodies
to a Chinese mandarin he said, with a polite shake of the head, "They
are sadly devoid of meaning and expression, while the Chinese music
penetrates the soul."

Both Venice and Spain show traces of Arabic influence in their national
music. In Venetian airs it is only a dim memory, manifesting itself by
the frequent repetition of single notes, whereas the Spanish melodies
are often so Moorish in construction and sentiment that it is easy to
fancy in them tones like the call of the muezzin. Thus, too, the
following Spanish song, judged by its repetitions and short intervals,
might easily be taken for an Arabic air:

[Illustration: MUSIC.]

It is to be noted that instruments of percussion are the natural
exponents of such primitive music, and that, therefore, the East has its
drum, gong and cymbals, Arabia its tambourine, Spain its castanets.

The Sclavs, being a pure race, have also a very decided national music.
Its peculiarity is smooth, lisping, sibillating sounds, analogous to the
rustling of leaves in a forest. Having no native accent in their own
language, they easily imitate that of others; and this imparts to the
Sclavonic races that admirable facility for speaking foreign languages
which distinguishes them. This characteristic of their speech is
faithfully reproduced in their music, especially in that of the southern
Sclavs. It is indicated by continuous notes of the same value, and by a
compass scarcely ever exceeding a fifth. Its negative peculiarities
harmonize exactly with the history of the Russians. The sad, doleful
monotony of their existence in the past is pathetically interpreted by
their narrow, sombre, subdued melodies. They are the voice of a people
whose ideas revolved in a narrow circle--of people who dwelt on vast
gray plains dotted with sad brown huts, and who heard