Page:Ossendowski - The Fire of Desert Folk.djvu/67

Rh pretty French girls. They, of course, laughed at us and treated us as they might have treated apes who had spoken to them of love. Contempt showed itself in their every word, in spite of the reputations we had won for ourselves and the medals we wore. We realized all too well that it was the contempt and the feeling of disgust of the blood of the white race for the blood of the colored man and we understood that nothing could be done against this. We forgot our days with the French girls, but there was another feeling, something even more serious than our love for Ivonne and Suzanne, which we could not put aside. It was the revelation to us of the humiliating position of the Arab women and of the barbaric form of marriage among our people, which is unworthy of civilized man. We made up our minds that we should have wives, not slaves, free women equal to us men, just as it was there in France and the other countries of Europe.

"After the War Yusuf decided to marry, a step which accorded thoroughly with the wishes of his parents. A wife had already been chosen for him among the daughters of a neighbor, the merchant, Ben Assudi. When my friend asked the parents of his future wife to be allowed to see her unveiled and to be permitted to come to an understanding with her, he received a sharp refusal, on the ground that his wish was in direct contravention of custom and the law. After long deliberation, Yusuf finally agreed to carry through the marriage according to the Islamic procedure. Perhaps he had succeeded in catching a glimpse of the girl when she was going for water and, seeing her beauty, objected no more. I was at the