never be
consoled for having failed to observe the laws of hospitality. Take
possession of his house; turn him out of it; leave him to stand in the
rain or sun at his own door; plunder his store-rooms; use up his
supplies of coffee and brandy; upset and pile one upon another his
carpets, his mattresses, his cushions; break his crystal; ride his
horses, and even founder them if it seems good to you--he will not
utter a word of reproach, for you are a _monzapi_, a guest,--it is Allah
himself who has sent you, and whatever you do, you are and will ever be
welcome. All this is admirable; but if a Mussulman finds the means of
appearing as hospitable as laws and customs require, without sacrificing
an obolus, or even while gaining a large sum of money, fie upon virtue,
and long live hypocrisy! And such is the case ninety-nine times out of a
hundred. Your host overwhelms you while you sojourn beneath his roof;
but if at your departure you do not pay him twenty times the value of
what he has given you, he will wait until you have crossed his
threshold, and consequently doffed your sacred title of _monzapi_, to
throw stones at you.

"It goes without saying that I speak of the rude multitude, and not of
the simple honest hearts who love the good because they find it
pleasant, and practise it because in practising it they taste a secret
enjoyment. My old mufti of a Tcherkess is one of these. His house, like
all good houses in Eastern countries, consists of an inner division
reserved for women and children, and an outer pavilion, containing a
summer-saloon, and a winter-saloon, with one or two rooms for servants.
The winter-saloon is a pretty apartment heated by a good stove, covered
with thick carpets, and passably furnished with silken and woollen
divans arranged all round the apartment.

"As for the furniture of the summer-saloon, it consists of a leaping,
shining fountain in the centre, to which are added, when circumstances
require it, cushions and mattresses on which to sit or recline. There
are neither windows, nor doors, nor any kind of barrier, between the
exterior and the interior. My old mufti, who, at the age of ninety,
possesses numerous wives, the oldest of whom is only thirty, and
children of all ages, from the baby of six months, up to the
sexagenarian, professes the repugnance of good taste for the noise,
disorder, and uncleanness of the harem. He repairs there every day, as
he goes to his stable to see and admir