how to use it. Their heads are made of wood. They are not like you. When you speak, we no longer remember that you are a girl; we think we are listening to a sheikh. To live in the world knowledge and wisdom are necessary. Our wives and daughters have neither wisdom nor knowledge. Give them wisdom, and we will give them liberty."
Satisfied on this point, I continued to see them, and I never had reason to regret it. I think that I gave them some new ideas on the capabilities and capacities of women, which may in time be turned to account.
Yassîn Agha, one of our most frequent guests, invited me to visit his family. I went with my brother. We were first received in a large vaulted room by the Agha and his sons and a few Moslem gentlemen, then the eldest son was desired to conduct me to the harem, that part of the house especially occupied by women. He led me across a court, and up an open stairway, into a large, handsome room paved with marble, where a group of women waited to welcome me. He introduced me to his grandmother, an aged looking woman, almost blind, and to his own mother, and then he left me. They wore jackets and full trowsers made of common print. They led me into an inner apartment, where a younger wife of the Agha, gayly decked with embroidery, jewelry, and flowers, was seated with a number of children, slaves, and servants. The latter seemed to occupy almost the same position in the establishment as their mistresses, but some of them were very dirty, untidy, and ragged. In an open brazier in the middle of this room a charcoal fire was burning, and a little child sick with fever was on a mattress in the corner. The air was dry and hot, and I found it difficult to breathe, especially when they all crowded round me. My dress was examined with curiosity, and if I had not gently but firmly resisted, I think I should have been disrobed, so eager were they to see how my clothes were made and fastened. They patted me, stroked my hair, and called me all sorts of pet names.
