others! The Moslem Sheikhs and others profess to cure the
evil eye, and prevent its evil effects by writing mystic talismanic
words on papers, which are to be worn. Others write the words on an egg,
and then strike the forehead of the evil eyed with the egg."

Whenever a new house is built, the workmen hang up an egg shell or a
piece of alum, or an old root, or a donkey's skull, in the front door,
to keep off the evil eye. Moslem women leave their children ragged and
dirty to keep people from admiring them, and thus smiting them with the
evil eye. They think that blue eyes are especially dangerous.

They think that the name of God or Allah is a charm against evil, and
when they repeat it, they have no idea of reverence for that Holy Name.

Here is a terrible imprecation against a woman who smites with the Evil
Eye:

May her hand be thrust in her mouth,
And her eyes be burned in the fire!
The blessings of Mighty God,
Preserve you from her ire!

Nideh sings

Upon you the name of Allah,
Around you Allah's eye!
May the Evil Eye be blinded,
And never harm my boy!

It is ten o'clock at night, and Katrina, Laia, Wered, and Handumeh say
it is time to go. Handumeh insists that we come to her wedding
to-morrow. Amin will go with them to drive away the dogs, and see that
no wolves, hyenas, or leopards attack them by the way.

PART VII.

The boys of Abeih are early risers. What a merry laugh they have! What
new song is that they are singing now?

There has been a shower in the night and Yusef and Khalil are singing
about the rain. We say in English "_it_ rains" but the Arabs tell us
what "it" refers to. They say "The world rains," "The world snows," "The
world is coming down," "The world thunders and lightens." So you will be
able to tell your teacher, when he asks you to parse "it rains," that
"_it_" is a pronoun referring to "world." Hear them sing:

Rain, O world, all day and night,
We will wash our clothing white.
Rain, O world, your waters shed,
On my dear grandmother's head.

The sun shines out now, and Khalil says the "world has got well" again,
so he sings:

Shines the sun with brightest beam
On the roof of Im Seleem;
Now the bear will dance a reel,
On the roof of Im Khaleel.

The roofs of the houses are low and flat, and on the hill-sides you can
walk from the street above upon the roof of the houses below. I once
lived in a hou