Page:Ossendowski - The Fire of Desert Folk.djvu/66

50 chamber and there proclaim to the bride awaiting him:

"'I am your husband, Oh maiden!' to which she will answer:

"&#39;Insh Allah!'  Then he will raise the haik and the mendil covering her face and will fill his eyes with her beauty or his heart with bitterness over the deception. After that he will fling her upon the marriage couch to show that he is her master and she his slave. The banquet will then begin, and the feasting will continue for several, days. By the time it is finished he will have learned what role he is to play in the household—master, son or servant. If he finds he has been shamelessly deceived, he can secure a divorce; but he will have to spend a great deal for this and will, in any case, lose the dowry. And this is the reason why divorces are rare, sir."

"And you, Mahomet, are you married?" asked Zofiette.

"No, Madame, I am poor and very easily frightened." Following this, he laughed softly but suddenly turned sad and silent. I noted the very indicative change and some days later, when we had become more intimate with our guide, I began to probe lightly into his matrimonial ideas, as I felt sure there was a mystery lurking near. He did not reveal anything in a direct way but unconsciously allowed me to look for a moment into his soul. It was in a café, after we had already spent several days together, that Mahomet began this tale.

"In the army I had a friend, Yusuf ben Ali. We fought together and together we spent considerable time in hospital, after we had both been wounded. Then we were sent to a French town for a three-months convalescence period, and there we fell in love with two very