Page:Adventures of Baron Wenceslas Wratislaw of Mitrowitz (1862).djvu/65

 built, in which the king and other chief magnates of Hungary used to live; but these have now partly fallen and been destroyed, or are partly propped up by beams, and in these latter nobody lives but Turkish soldiers. These soldiers have no more pay per diem than is absolutely necessary for fodder, food, and drink; neither have they to make arrangements and preparations for those purposes at home. If it rains in any where through the roof, they pay but little attention thereto, if there be but a place where they can put their horses and place their own beds in the dry; hence it comes that houses and palaces are not easily found in all the Turkish empire, except in the chief cities, and then they belong to the pashas and principal officials, who alone possess handsomely built and furnished houses, the common people usually living in cottages and huts. The great lords and pashas lay out large sums on gardens, baths, and fine horses, on women and clothes, and their retainers also erect a house for themselves, in order to obtain shelter and security.

As we walked in the town past a Turkish church we saw ten Turks in a circle, holding each other by the hand, and a priest standing in the midst of them. The priest and the rest turned and twisted round, crying, with a loud voice, “Allahu,” as though they were saying, “O God, hear us,” till it echoed again; and this they continued doing till they were hoarse. The Turks say that, whenever any one falls asleep during this screaming, whatever he dreams is considered as a kind of prophecy; and it is acknowledged that this is very truth, and reveals itself at its proper time.

In the town we went into a Christian church, where