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The Home of Allel Moose
Story of an Armenian Girl (Part six)
by Serpouhi Tavoukdjian
After journeying several days, we neared a Turkish town and
stopped on the outskirts. My master spread out his good and
opened his bazaar, for in that section of the country wherever a
merchant displays his good there is a bazaar. According to
custom, when we made camp, he pitched a little tent for me,
where I could be alone and rest.
As I sat in this tent, a number of Turkish soldiers came
along and went through our company, looking for Armenian girls.
It was not the plan of the Turks to see a single one of this
hated race survive, and they well knew that the Arabs had been
burying some of these girls from starving refugees. Therefore
they systematically searched every caravan.
When these soldiers discovered me alone in my little tent,
they began to point their guns at me and to ask what business I
had to be there. Then two of them took hold of me, one holding
each arm, and they threw me to the ground with all their
might-not only once, but many times. Then they kicked me, and
struck me with their guns. It was their purpose to kill me. They
said so. I cried for help, but my Arab master could do nothing.
He just looked and shook his head sorrowfully.
Soon my face was scratched and bleeding, and my body was also
in the same condition. I was half dead with fright and suffering
when they picked me up and carried me away. Merciful
unconsciousness must have come to ease the pain for a little
while, because the next thing I remember was when they threw me
on the floor of a dark room like a stable, locked the door, and
left me there alone. They probably thought I would be dad in a
little while, for I was frail and very much wasted from the long
march and starvation.
It was midday when the soldiers found me, and about three
o'clock, as near as I can say, when they put me in prison. As
the afternoon wore on, I waited, wondering what would be my
fate, and whether or not my kind master would come and find me.
AT last, as the angel of the Lord guided Peter out of his
prison, so I think the Lord sent His angel to show me the way
out of mine.
There was a round hole-the only thing like a window-in the
wall of this room. It was four or five feet from the ground, and
about a foot in diameter. My captors evidently thought there was
no danger of my trying to escape. As the hours passed, I grew
desperate. I simply must get out and find my master. I
discovered I could move about. None of my bones were broken, in
spite of the severe beating and kicking I had endured. Then I
began to claw in the mud walls for a finger hold, then for a toe
hold. Gradually I climbed up, but it was slow work, for I was
very sick and much bruised. When I reached the hole and breathed
the blessed fresh air again, I was frantic for fear the soldier
s would come and fine me before I could get away. I wiggled
through, even though it was a tight squeeze, and thankfully
dropped to the ground outside. I listened. There was not sound.
It took me only an instant to get my breath, and then how fast I
ran!
I had no sense of direction, and did not know where the
bazaar and camp of my master had been. But as I ran, I prayed a
prayer that God would please help me to find these Arab friends.
Was it chance or a kind of providence? At any rate, I found
myself on the highway running, running. The shades of evening
were falling. Just ahead I saw a caravan. It was not moving, but
standing still. How I hoped that it might be the caravan of
Allel Moose. And it was. He had made ready to start, and was
waiting till dark, hoping that I might be able to escape my
captors and find him.
When I came and stood breathless and bleeding before him, he
greeted me like a father. His eyes filled with tears, and he
took his own white handkerchief and washed away the blood from
my poor bruised face and tenderly dressed the cuts and bruises
on my lacerated body. I begged him to hurry, to get started on
our way, that we might be sure to escape the cruel Turks. I
cried and cried at the mere thought of falling into their hands
again. He also was afraid, and we started almost immediately for
his home, traveling as rapidly as possible.
When morning came, Allel Moose took the precaution to dress
me so that I would look like an Arabian boy. He wrapped me in
his own sheepskin coat, with the wool on the outside, and bound
a silk handkerchief about my head for a turban. He could not, of
course, prepare another dress for me, but he showed me cloth he
had bought for a nice new red dress, which his wives would make
when we arrived at our destination. My feet were bare. I was so
nervous the donkey could not go fast enough for me. We traveled
now night and day without stopping to rest, and at the end of
the fourth day reached my new home at Abu Galgal, in Arabia. It
was just a little settlement of about two hundred houses.
Our caravan drew up before a long, low, rambling plaster
house, with stable and outhouses all combined under one flat
roof. Around it was a large courtyard, surrounded by a high wall
of solid masonry. This was for protection and privacy. When we
arrived, the two wives of Allel Moose came out to greet us. They
seemed very glad to see me, and at once took me in charge. First
they brought me food-bread and butter and buttermilk. How good
it tasted! I ate and ate. Then they washed me and put me to bed
to rest. I was very tired. The night was hot, so we all slept on
soft sheep's wool mattresses laid on the roof, where the breezes
blew cooler.
The next morning I took my first look through the house which
was to be my home, and I can see it today even as I saw it then.
There were holes in the outside plaster walls for windows, but
no glass covered them. There was a reception room for visitors,
a large living room, a separate room for each of the wives, and
a kitchen. The partitions were made by heavy hanging draperies.
There was a large fireplace in the living room, where wood was
burned on cool, rainy days, which sometimes come in that part of
Arabia. This was also the dining room in bad weather. But when
the sun shone, we ate in the open courtyard. There were oil
lamps for light at night, and gay woolen carpets were spread
over the mud floors, when we slept on them or when we
entertained guests.
The first day in my new home was very eventful. All the
village came to see the new daughter of Allel Moose. The
courtyard was filled with people. They look at me and felt me
and talked about me among themselves. Of course, I could not
understand what they said. But they were very kind, and smiled,
and I just smiled back at them.
Also my new dress was made by Asha and Sada, my Arab father's
two wives. I had never had a dress made like t his, for in our
Armenian home we dressed after the style of the Europeans. But
now I belonged to an Arabian family.
Arabian women dress in long, loose dresses, wearing a loose
kimonolike coat over the dress. This coat is always made of silk
if the women belong to well-to-do families. Their shoes are
high-topped boots, trimmed with bright-colored tassels. And
about the head is worn a gay silk scarf or handkerchief,
arranged turbanlike. The top of the head is always covered, but
their long hair is left free under the back of the scarf.
Expensive gold and bead ornaments are often used to decorate
the hair. Their beautiful bracelets, set with precious and
semiprecious stones, are part of their adornment. They do not
care for cheap, tawdry ornaments, for an Arab's wealth is
estimated by the jewels of his wives and daughters as well as by
his flocks and herds. Also, all Arab women have their faces
tattooed. This is a mark of distinctions and beauty to them.
My own new costume was a miniature of that which I have just
described, for Arab girls dress exactly like their mothers. It
was made of bright red silk. I was very proud of it, and when I
was dressed up, my new father was very proud of me. He smiled
and patted me and called me his "good little Arab
girl."
The Arab men wear full bloomers under a loose coat, called a
zaboon. Their heads also are covered with many soft folds of a
silken scarf to from a cap. About the waist is a wide sash, in
which they carry a pistol or knife, or sometimes both. They wear
high-topped boots. And they always carry with them a short,
thick club with a hard butt on the end for protection. Arab boys
dress just as do the men.
After a short rest at home with us, Allel Moose started on
another business trip with his caravan. He was to be away
several months. A few days after he left, I fell sick with a
terrible fever. I know now that this was the result of eating
too much after my long period of starvation. Also, I had come in
contact with lice somewhere on the long march, and these had
increased until now I was fairly alive with them. I am sure
these vermin had much to do with my sickness.
I do not know how long I was sick before the wives gave me up
to die. But one day when they thought I could not possibly live
long, they carried me out to a lonely spot on the bank of the
Euphrates River, which flowed not far from the village. There
they made a rude shelter of four upright poles and a grass roof,
and left me under it to die alone. I think they were really glad
to rid themselves of me in this way, because when they saw how
much my father thought of his Helema, as he named me, they
became very jealous.
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