Part 4 (1/2)
”It is beautifully painted,” said Hugh, when giving us an account of it afterwards. ”And inside there are pillars of marble and mother-of-pearl.”
”Those are in the niche for prayer,” his father said. ”The windows and walls of the mosque, and the roof, are ornamented with stone carved like lace-work. But I think, Hugh, that what I admire most are the horseshoe arches, and the four grand columns which look as if they had belonged to some ancient temple.”
”What did the man call that niche for prayer?” Hugh asked.
”The Mahrab. In every mosque the Mahrab looks in the direction of Mecca, where Mohammed was born; and which is therefore to the Mohammedans the most sacred of cities.”
”Do they pray towards Mecca, then, just as Daniel prayed towards Jerusalem?”
”Yes, they do. When we were looking at the Mahrab, I, like you now, thought of Daniel, and wished for the day when the knowledge of the gospel shall have spread over the earth, and when all places for prayer shall be used for the service of the only true G.o.d, and Jesus Christ whom he has sent.”
”I should like to make one little Egyptian girl a Christian,” said Lucy; ”would not you, Hugh?”
”But how could we, Lucy?”
”Oh! we could talk to her, and teach her our hymns, and tell her about our Bible pictures.”
”Only,” Hugh answered, thoughtfully, ”she would not understand what we said, and we should not understand her.”
”I forgot that. Mamma, may we learn Egyptian?”
”That would take a long time, and I think you can do something better than that. There is a mission already at Cairo, where the children are taught by persons who understand the language.”
”May we see it?”
”Yes, and you can give some of your money and time in buying and making clothes for those who are very poor. And something else you can do.”
”What is that? Can I do it?” asked Hugh, ”for I cannot hem and sew the clothes.”
”Yes, we can all do it. We can pray every day for the Egyptian children, that G.o.d will give them hearts to serve him, and to love our precious Saviour Jesus Christ, who came to save little children as well as grown-up people.”
It was a happy thought that we could all begin that very night to do something for the Egyptian children. Hugh and Lucy said so, and we all felt it.
CHAPTER VII.
HELIOPOLIS, AND OTHER SIGHTS AND SCENES.
The next morning we set off for Heliopolis.
Heliopolis, or the ”City of the Sun,” is the same which is called ”On”
in the Bible. Joseph's wife came from On, where her father was a man of wealth and importance.
The ride from Cairo to Heliopolis is delightful. We went across the edge of the desert, and on our way were struck by a solitary dome marking a tomb. This is the tomb of Saladin's brother, Malek Adhel, to whom Richard Coeur de Lion wished to marry his sister Matilda.
[Ill.u.s.tration: ARAB SITTING IN FRONT OF HIS TENT.]
Beyond this our road lay through green fields and shady avenues of acacias. The air was filled with a delicious perfume and with the humming of the wild bees. We saw Arabs, with bare legs and turbaned heads, tilling the ground, oxen treading out the corn, long strings of camels and a.s.ses bringing home provender.
It was, indeed, a living Bible picture.