deep, and contains an unfailing supply of water, a great deal of which is carried in skins to supply the needs of Jerusalem. A few steps east of this well, under a ledge of rock, in which may still be seen the vats used by the fullers of antiquity,[1] is a small opening. It is the entrance to a cave which, according to peasants of the neighbouring village of Siloam, was once the dwelling-place of the Patriarch.
It is said that Ayûb was a Rûmi, a Greco-Roman descendant of Esau,[2] and that his wife’s name was Rahmeh (Mercy). She, rather than her husband, is the bright example of human patience. A few years ago an Arab woman of the Orthodox Eastern Church disagreed with her husband and went for advice to a priest, who bade her take example from Job’s wife.
P. 19. El Hakim Lokman.—The greater part of the thirty- first stira of the Koran is a record of wise sayings of Lokman. The following anecdote is related in the larger “Kamûs” (Dictionary) of El Bistani: “A certain man asked Lokman, “Did I not once see thee keeping sheep?” He answered, “Yes,” “Then how didst thou attain to this degree of great- ness?” Lokman answered, “ By speaking the truth, restoring the pledge, and refraining from talk on matters which do not concern me.”
P. 20. Danger of sleeping in the fields where yellow melons grow. —In order to prevent such accidents, in the occurrence of which they implicitly believe, the fellahin who have to watch the melon-fields are said to eat a great deal of garlic, and to strew bits of thatrank vegetable around their beds. The smell is said to be an effective protection, not only against snakes, but also the evil eye.
P. 21. Benj=Bhang, Indian hemp or hashish, figures in Eastern tales, and with effects more wonderful than those of chloroform. This story of Lokman is given in a different version in “ Tales told in Palestine,’ under the title of “ El Hakim Risto.” Various editions and translations of the fables of Lokman have at different times appeared in Europe. The most recent that I know of is by A. Cherbonneau (Paris: Hachette & Cie. 1884),
V
P. 33. The rite of circumcision.—Sarah, in a fit of furious jealousy, is said to have sworn to imbrue her hands in the blood
