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;
A QUARKEL WITH KNIVES 323
gesticulated on the balcony, shouted maledictions on
the donkey- men and orders to his servants, and
thrashed the air with one arm in the frantic manner
of all angry Greeks, whether peasant, shopkeeper, or
politician. The dispute was upon the question of
stabling donkeys, and the khan - keeper, as every
one saw, had right on his side. This " a la Fraiiga"
khan of his was not the place for donkeys, but it
was also the only khan, and not even a hut existed
elsewhere in the neighbourhood. Therefore he was
willing to receive donkeys, but insisted that they
must be paid for. Now the custom of the country
is for donkeys to be stabled free, as they require
only the poorest accommodation ; but the custom also
is for these animals and their drivers to frequent
donkey - khans, the very meanest of all houses of
rest. With this as the one khan, however, the
donkey-men fiercely resented the charge as a breach
of custom by a Greek.
The quarrel, in fact, was racial and religious rather
than private, and though a trivial thing, exhibited
well the hopeless animosities between various Ottoman
races. The three drivers were of the humblest
class, yet in dealing with a Greek were conscious
of being Moslem overlords. Had the ^/imi-keeper
been a Moslem no quarrel would have occurred
the drivers would have accepted his terms, or more
likely have never intruded in this superior khan.
In the end they were expelled without bloodshed,
but left behind them in the khan a strange unrest
and excitement, for many Moslem guests were there.
To this incident and the general ill-feeling it
created must be attributed the curious mood into
which Ighsan now fell. He was very tired. He had,
indeed, not yet got over the effects of struggling in
the snow. Thinking therefore to please and benefit
him, I offered a few piastres and told him to get
yoghouTt and |9^7q/at the cook-shop and have a good
meal. He refused the money, but seeing my surprise,
said that the cook-shop was Greek and he would