Part 2 (2/2)
At present even the New Testament Greek is above the average man's comprehension.
The Greeks, as of yore, have much of the heroic in their character, and their ballads are full of the n.o.ble deeds, both of men and of women, in their defence against their oppressors.
Their usual method of vindicating their rights and protecting themselves consisted in forming bands of _Armatolae_, or _Kleptae_, and occupying strongholds in the mountains, from which they would sweep down unexpectedly and avenge themselves, or carry away some wealthy Pacha as captive until he was ransomed.
These bands were looked up to by the people as heroes and deliverers--the Jephthas and Gideons of their captivity.
But unfortunately their exploits were not resorted to for the cause of freedom and justice alone, and have often degenerated into sheer acts of brigandage. A series of them were recently enacted in Macedonia, and on one occasion an Englishman was surprised, surrounded, and carried to the mountains. A messenger was sent down with a demand for his ransom, and with a threat that unless this was produced within a stated time, or if pursuit was made, his life would be forfeited. The sum fixed upon was the captives' weight in gold, and as he unfortunately happened to be a heavy man, the amount represented 12,000. The ransom was duly paid, but the money afterwards recovered from the Turkish Government.
As an instance of the strange mixture of superst.i.tion and depravity among some of these brigand bands, it is related that on one occasion a band plundered a church, and then, seizing the priest, the _Kleptae_ put a sword to his throat until he absolved them from the offence.
Acts of brigandage are not, however, limited to Greeks, though they are the chief offenders, but are shared with Albanians and Turks. Nor have Macedonia and Greece had the monopoly, but Smyrna and the hill-country near Constantinople have given scope for their activities. Their spies and agents in these towns supplied them with information, and the villagers and shepherds about their districts being in full sympathy, kept them in supplies and ammunition.
From the bandit it is pleasant to turn to the agricultural and pastoral life of the Greeks in Turkey, and describe the a.s.sistance that boys and girls give to their parents.
When the wheat or barley has been harvested, the sheaves are spread on the thres.h.i.+ng-floor, which has previously been carefully prepared with clay and stones beaten down into a smooth surface. A broad wooden sledge is then provided, with sharp flint-stones firmly embedded into the under portion. One or two horses are attached to the sledge and a boy or girl, seated on a stool on the sledge, seizes the reins, and whip in hand, drives the horses at full gallop round and round the thres.h.i.+ng-floor.
The sharp flints, acting as knives, soon cut up the long stalks into straw, and separate the grain. Then a windy day is selected, and with long wooden forks the straw is tossed up into the air, the wind carrying the chaff and straw to a short distance, and leaving the heavier grain at the winnower's feet. The winnowed grain is then shovelled up into a heap, and there it must remain until the tax-gatherer has come and removed one-tenth on behalf of the Government. The harvest-festival follows, when, attired in their best clothes and with flowers on their heads and sheaves of golden grain in their hands, the harvesters proceed to the towns, and dance and sing before the doors of their patrons.
One of their favourite dances is the old cla.s.sical _syrto_, or long-drawn dance, performed on the village green. The youths and maidens don their picturesque gala costumes, and prepare for the dance, while the elderly men group themselves round the coffee-house, smoking their pipes and sipping coffee, and the matrons, with little ones, sit under the trees and gossip. A musician, with fiddle, pipe, or viol, sits on a barrel, while each youth produces his coloured handkerchief, and, holding it by one corner, presents the other to the girl at his side.
She in her turn presents her own to the dancer next to her; a long line or circle is formed, and the dance is proceeded with, the youths and maidens responding to each other in the words of a song.
The dress of the girls differs very much according to the locality where they reside. That of the villages near Constantinople consists of a loose, bright-coloured bodice, worn over a blouse open at the neck, and a coloured kerchief twisted round the head, from under the folds of which the hair hangs down the back in rich plaited tresses. The trousers are loose, baggy, and voluminous, and are fastened with a cord round the waist.
[Ill.u.s.tration: A SHEKERDJIS' SHOP.]
Over the bodice a bright zouave is worn, richly embroidered in gold or silver, and strings of gold or silver coins hang round the head, or as a necklace round the throat, while on the wrists are heavy bracelets.
In other places it is described as consisting of ”a skirt woven in stripes of silk and woollen, reaching to the ankles, with a tight-fitting bodice of the same, a cloth jacket braided or embroidered round the borders in gold thread and lined with fur, and in some districts a bright-coloured ap.r.o.n ornamented with needlework” (L.
Garnett, ”Women in Turkey”).
The same writer reports that in the islands a favourite amus.e.m.e.nt on these occasions is for the girls to suspend a rope across a narrow street from the wall of their own house to that of a neighbour, and every youth who wishes to pa.s.s by must pay toll in the form of a small coin, and give one of the girls a swing, while he sings the following verse:
”O swing the clove-carnation red, The gold and silver s.h.i.+ning: And swing the girl with golden hair, For love of her I'm pining.”
To which the maiden replies:
”O say what youth is swinging me, What do you call him, girls?
For I a fez will broider him, With fairest, whitest pearls.”
The Vlachs that inhabit Macedonia follow princ.i.p.ally pastoral and agricultural pursuits. They spend the winter in their mountain villages, but during the summer they lead a nomadic life in quest of pastures, and move about, gipsy-like, in caravans.
The care of their father's flock is committed to the charge of the daughters, whose beauty has often been extolled in many an amorous folklore song. Their duties are to milk the sheep and goats, churn the milk into b.u.t.ter, or convert it into cheese, bleach and spin the wool, and weave garments for the use of the family. A loom occupies the corner of every dwelling, and every spare moment is given to twisting thread with a spindle.
There is considerable dislike among the Greeks to let their daughters go out to service, but this feeling is not shared by the inhabitants of the Greek islands. On the contrary, they supply the main stock of domestic servants, and recognized agents sail to and from the islands to find them occupation and attend to their interests. These Greek servants are generally very ignorant, can seldom write, and depend on the agent or some kind friend both for reading and writing their letters. They do not draw their pay monthly or quarterly, but prefer to allow it to acc.u.mulate with their masters, and withdraw it in a lump sum. After having stayed for some years in service, the girls are greatly in demand with their countrymen, and return to their islands and marry, but only to go back to service when their lazy husbands have expended their savings. Many of them return in the capacity of wet-nurses, a vocation greatly in demand in the East, where children are seldom brought up on the bottle. They are highly paid, and, moreover, receive presents on such important occasions as the child's cutting its first tooth and the like.
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