NATIVE WISDOM

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 3, Issue 650, 30 September 1933, Page 6

NATIVE WISDOM

WOMAN DESIRES THROUGK EYES. MAN THROUGH HEART. He was 'a tall, broad-^shouldered, handsome craa.ture, possessin-g- the four allotted wives of his fai-th and the reputation -of hehrt-breaker among th'e women of the bazaar. In his loose, camel-hiair burnou's and gold-braided turban, his henna-s-tain-ed beard and beaked nose under a pair of hawk-like blue eyes made him appear a figure of imperturable dignity. Yet on entering his shop, I could s-ee he wias labouring under the stress of a great emotion, writes Kathleen Glover, the woman explorer, on her return recently from an expedition in the lEast. He was Mfoussa Ali, a carpet-seller, and possessed a rug which I was anxious to purch'ase. Daily we s-at among the silken wonders of Arabic craftsmen, sipping rose and mint tea and discussing topics of the town and bazaar; but no carpet had been chosen, no priees mentioned, for sucb is the time-honoured method. Suddenly savage, terrifying- shrieks reached us — that brain-piercing screaming which only native wom.cn can achieve when they desire to annoy and distract their menfolk. Rising from the ocean of reds and hlues spread around him, Moussa Ali bowed low and left me, his right hand gripping the gold-ornamented handle of his dia.gger. The sound of repeated blows disturbed the stillness — as by' magic the screaming ceased. Reentering the room the hushand re- - sumed his original seat among the billowirig carpets. "Your method is evidently most effective, Moussa Ali," I murmured. "Mladame, camels'and women must be taught young," he replied. "But with four wives, one should not disturb your peace of mind," I tanswered. "Allah, the dispenser of justice, gave man four wives and only one heart; of four women there is always the preferred one. That dog-faced child of a noiseless mother is the preferred one, as cunning as a jackal, as irritating as.a camel flea; so Allah made women." "But have you not! a proverb that says the three most beautiful things on earth are the neigh of a horse, the sight of a swift-running camel, and the arms of a woman?" "True, O diaughter of the earth, but does not woman come last?" "But without women wh-ere would men be?" I queried. "Corn-headed one, without the camel where would the flea be? Far from the haunts of man, and man none th-e less happy? Woman is a flower in the urban of man's soul and a thorn in his hope of paradise." Moussa Ali turned over in his hands the cobalt blue praying rug- 1 had set my heart on. "Beautiful and soft as a virgin's lips," he crooned; "only 300 rupees." I slowly shook my h'ead. "Daughter of the wise, take it for 200." I did. "May your feet never grow weary," he ealled lafter me; "your shadow cover the mountains, for Allah has showered on you wisdom." As I made my way through' the yat caters and hashish smokers I pondered over the wisdom of his words. Three months later I was still pondering. The reds of my praying rug had mysteriously faded; the golds no longer reminded one of autumn leiaves; through the cobalt blue appeared green blotches. As I sat looking at the wreck I wondered what he had m-eant when he sajd: "Woman desires through her cyes and willingly pays, man through his heart and grumbles at the price."