Page:Ossendowski - The Fire of Desert Folk.djvu/357

Rh almost never rend the peace and calm of the villages set among the palms.

Hearts which have gone through the trials of great pain and trouble, souls which have struggled with the monstrosities and criminal demands of modern life would find their rest here, listening to the soothing, consoling whispers of the leafy palms, to the murmur of running waters and to the song of liquid-throated birds. Amidst all these the low-voiced Berbers, with their strange and primitive morals, not only contribute their element of calm to the picture for the eye but also remind the visitor that life is ever the beautiful gift of Allah and so fleeting that it is a sin to sacrifice the blessed moments of existence to such vitiating currents as jealousy and hate.

From our days in Figig we carry memories of calm and buoyant men, well reconciled to Fate and satisfied with her ministrations; of peaceful ksurs, whose internecine strifes have been ended for all time; of the accord set up between the menacing, sterile desert and the fertile, lush oasis, where every man is looked upon as a desired guest, if he but bring with him a pure heart, free from jealousy, and a mind calm and amicable.

It was hard to leave this Figig. When we crossed the line to Beni Unif in Algeria and entered our railway carriage from which we saw the faces of our friends for the last time, our eyes involuntarily turned away to hide their emotion to the brightly colored mountains and the sea of palms, where the welcome silence reigned and in it that calm of spirit and heart which is now so largely lost by men in the life of the world today, as well as a