hair's breadth, and without appearing to move an eyelash. The bridegroom is
conducted to the house of his bride, there to sit in state, by a band of his relations
and friends, some of whom sing shrill verses from the Kurân, while others rush
madly ahead, charging, retreating, capering, dancing, yelling, and hooting,
brandishing naked weapons, and engaging in a most realistic sham fight, with
the bride's relations and friends, who rush out of her compound to meet them,
and do not suffer themselves to be routed until they have made a fine show of
resistance. This custom, doubtless, has its origin in the fact that, in primitive
states of society, a man must seek a wife at his risk and peril, for among the
Sâkai in some of the wilder parts of the country, the girl is still placed upon an
anthill, and ringed about by her relations, who do not suffer her fiancé to win her
until his head has been broken in several places. The same feeling exists in
Europe, as is witnessed by the antagonism displayed by the school-boy, and even
the older and more sensible males of a family, to their would-be brother-in-law.
It is the natural instinct of the man, to protect his women-folk from all comers,
breaking out, as natural instincts are wont to do, in a hopelessly wrong place.
As I have said, the bride had been left in the inner apartments, there to await her
call to the dais; and the preparations for the feast were in full swing, and the men
were enjoying themselves in their own way while the women cooked, when,
suddenly, a dull thud, as of some falling body, was heard within the house. The
women rushed in, and found the little bride lying on the floor, with all the pretty
garments, with which she had been bedecked, drenched in her own blood. A
small clasp knife lay by her side, and there was a ghastly gash in her throat. The
women lifted her up, and strove to staunch the bleeding, and as they fought to
stay the life that was ebbing from her, the drone of the priests, and the beat of the
drums, came to their ears from the men who were making merry without. Then
suddenly the news of what had occurred spread among the guests, and the music
died away, and was replaced by a babble of excited voices, all speaking at once.
The father of the girl rushed in, and, as she lay on the sleeping platform, still
conscious, he asked her who had done this thing.
'It is my own handiwork,' she said.
'But wherefore, child of mine,' cried her mother, 'but wherefore dost thou desire
to slay thyself?'
'I gazed upon my likeness in the mirror,' said the girl, speaking slowly and with
difficulty, 'and I beheld that I was very hideous to look upon, so that it was not