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TO ARPA-CHAI AND LENINAKAN 167
formed graceful solos, and several danced together in a ring
holding hands.
On our return to the town wc set out with Napoleon as
our guide to find a restaurant where wc could have dinner.
Round the entrance stood a group of shoeblacks. There
was a superfluity of these boys both here and in Erivan, but
they showed no signs of poverty, and were always in good
spirits and full of fun. Their ministrations were by no means
unwelcome after our pilgrimage through the muddy water
of the tunnel. The sun had long since dried our shoes.
Wc descended into a deliciously cool, clean cellar, where
wc got good food and wine, and good music. There were two
violins—a man and a woman, with her hair piled up to an
extraordinary height—a flute, and an accompanist at the
piano. First they played Armenian music with the usual
rather monotonous, jumpy dance rhythm. Then came
Russian tunes, broader, calmer strains from the great steppes,
full of the deep wistful resignation of a long-suffering people’s
soul. After these the beautiful song about Stenka Rasin,
the Ukrainian robber-chief of the Volga and leader of the
peasants, who of late especially has become a popular hero
all over Russia. And lastly a number of Kurdish, Persian,
and Turkish (Tatar) tunes. These were decidedly beautiful,
and seemed more melodious than the Armenian music, in
particular one striking Kurdish melody from the neighbour
hood of Mount Ararat. But it is said that the Kurdish and
Turkish songs are really borrowed from the Armenians.
It surprised me to hear them playing the music of their
arch-enemies. And the spontaneous applause showed that
they liked listening to it. I was assured that there was no
longer any hatred between the nations, especially since the
soviet system had been introduced. "We are all brothers
now," they said ; but I doubt whether it goes very deep. For
instance, the children are fond of acting and have quite a
talent for it ; they always play melodramatic pieces, preferably
those in which they can kili Turks !
It has become extraordinarily democratic in this country.
Sitting at a table not far from us were several young men,
one of whom was the Secretary of the People’s Commissariat,
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