volume 2 - Robert Bedrosian's Armenian History Workshop

194 Strolling Players at Sukhnah.
to go through all the camel-lines, for the smell of the
beasts was sickening and overpowering. Most of them
had been there for a few days and had drunk of the
sulphur-impregnated water of Sukhnah with results
that are better imagined than described. On our way
back Muhammad met the shekh of the camels and he
took us to his tent and gave us some very good coffee.
A little before sunset a party of strolling players arrived ;
they came from Aleppo and were on their way to Der
az-Zur and Baghdad. They were warmly welcomed by
the camel-men and they agreed to give a performance
that evening near the baths. The company consisted of
four actors with their male assistants and a very old
woman and a girl. A few acts were performed in which
the great Arab warrior Antar was personified, and these
were followed by a mimic battle which was quite
interesting. The protagonists were well " got up," and
several of their weapons were really old ; the duel was
greatly appreciated by the audience who roared with
delight and insisted on the conqueror killing his enemy
several times. Then came a series of acrobatic feats
well performed, and from this point onward the standard
and character of the entertainment deteriorated. There
was a great deal of buffoonery, very clever of its sort,
and I much regretted that I could not follow the topical
allusions. Money was collected on behalf of the actors
all the time, and everyone who was seen to be enjoying
himself was promptly asked for piastres. Towards
midnight the whole company, including the old woman
and the girl, appeared together, the men wearing nothing
but turbans and the woman and girl nothing but a sort
of yashmak tied behind their heads. They were greeted
with shouts of delight on the part of the camel-men,
and the bathers, male and female, who were lying about
in extremely scanty attire, crowded round to see the
fun. The acting and the dancing were grossly indecent,
and any adequate description of the scenes represented
is unprintable. This entertainment went on for many
hours and was only brought to an end by the paraffm
lamps in the lanterns going out. The walk back to our