Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - VI. Tangiers
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108 DAYS IN THE SUN
eunuch who was opening the door for an English
woman to pass out. This woman told me that all the
women inside sat in a beautiful apartment in semi-
darkness stitching little objects intended for sale.
Pasha’s favorite wife, who distinguished herself from
the others by doing nothing, had kissed the English
lady’s hand as she left and begged her for a franc for
coffee.
These creatures so’low in the social scale that each
one of them is entitled only to a small fraction of the
favor of the great Mussulman are of course considered
objects unworthy of his glances at any moment at
which he himself does not voluntarily come to visit
them. Therefore they are not permitted to show
themselves in the streets except when clad in a very
plain white bag, their faces completely veiled; they
may not enter the main street, but are required to
keep to the small narrow alleys and, wherever there
are large congregations of men, to make a wide de-
tour around such groups. They remind you of per-
ambulating flour-bags clinging as close to the walls as
possible, and the constant repetition of veiled women
and nothing but veiled women has the effect of an
enigma, finally leading one into fabulous imaginings,
not imaginings of wondrous beauties, but visions of
old women of such unusual ugliness that they do not
dare appear in the streets except with their faces
covered.
However much these women may be crushed, they
yet have something of the innate fearlessness of their
sex. If you meet them in remote spots with no
Mohammedan anywhere around, they will push aside
their veils and smile at you, revealing features that are
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