Page:Littell's Living Age - Volume 162.djvu/123

IN A GREEK FAMILY TO-DAY. Ill grance of orange and lemon blossom. Most visitors to Chios would have been content, and considered they knew the island well ; our work had not as yet be- gun. The mountain paths were rugged and fatiguing, yet our beasts were sure- footed, and we had now got out of the region of ruined villages and sickly remi- niscences of the great disaster. The southern villages of Chios are like round fortresses ; they have no walls properly so called, but the backs of the houses join all round and offer a circular line of fortification. The doors of these houses open into a street which encircles the town inside. There are generally four entrances to the town by archways under the houses, the iron gates of which are closed at night. Numerous narrow streets converge towards the centre like the spokes of a wheel, many of them being covered over so as to afford a means of progression on the roof from house to house. The centre of the wheel is a large square (TrAareZa) with a tower in the mid- dle dating from the days of the Genoese occupation, the lower story of which is generally the fashionable caf^, whilst the upper one is entered only by a ladder and forms the acropolis of the place in time of local disturbances, from which vantage- ground the soldiers can command nearly every house in the village. These fortress villages are generally some little distance from the sea, and are remnants of the old days when pirates haunted the coasts. Such was the village of Pyrghi which we were about to visit. It was a relief to find that our friend's house looked into the square, and not into the dingy, dark street by which we had entered. We alighted from our mules in front of the caf^, and then ascended a dark wooden staircase lo be introduced to our host and hostess. The latter was a stout, busy woman, scantily clad, without shoes or stockings ; she had on a white cotton skirt, while over this was a blue jacket, gauged behind and frilled at the edge. She had on a white headdress twisted in folds, and a streamer hanging down behind. Her name was KvpiaKvpiaKri, which, being trans- lated, means Mrs. Sunday. She had large, brown, almond-shaped eyes, she had exquisitely pencilled eyebrows, a sal- low, almost swarthy, complexion, and a profile as Grecian as ever was seen on any vase. She greeted us with effusion, apologizing, as women will, for her neglige attire, and busied herself to prepare for our reception. Mrs. Sunday was the mother .of a nu- merous offspring. The eldest daughter, aged about fifteen, and growing up the image of her mother, was named liapacKev/f (Friday). The names of the others did not excite any curiosity except that of the baby, which reposed in a cradle made of a goatskin on a framework of cane. They called it Dragon, and on inquiry I was told that it was the custom to call male babies Dragon or Iron, or some such name, until they were baptized, propheti- cally alluding to their prospective strength, and that Master Dragon was soon to become Master Palamedes. After a few minutes our host and a few friends dropped in. He was a regular islander, with his baggy trousers, his loose embroidered waistcoat, and his fez. He carried a gourd in his hand full of wine, some of which he spilt as a libation (aTTovdij just as if he were an ancient Greek who wished to propitiate Zevg ^evloq. Then we all raised the gourd to our lips in turn, saying, " We have found you well," and other compliments which flow like water in these parts. Our host ex- pressed his delight at the honor we had done him in visiting his roof, and told us that a table should be spread for us later on, after which he would have the pleas- ure of questioning us about our wander- ings. Until the rpcnre^a is laid and justice has been done to the viands it is now, as in ancient times, a breach of hospitality to question a guest. 1 was left alone now for a while, much to my relief. I wanted a few minutes of privacy to recover from the journey, and to peep around and investigate our quar- ters. I was sitting on a sort of dais, raised from the rest of the room by a step eigh- teen inches high. Around this ran the divan, and looking into the square were five narrow windows, with no glass in them, but a carved rail in front. These windows were closed by wooden shutters at night, and above each was a round hole with glass in, through which the light could penetrate when the shutters were shut. The room was panelled along the window side, a row of plates was arranged on a shelf along the wall, quite primitively cesthetic in its design ; a lot of pictures with a lamp burning before them formed the little family altar. A curiously plaited thing of corn-ears, the sacred ov'Aog, was hung near as a thank-offering to the Ma- donna for the last harvest, in her capacity as successor to Demeter. As yet we had seen no beds, and were