DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12664#0277
262
INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL, i
I did not know how many monks were in it. or
what was the sanctity of their lives, but I wished
that some of them had slept with more troubled
consciences, for we made almost noise enough
to wake the dead ; and it was not until we had dis-
charged two volleys of firearms that we succeeded
in rousing any of the slumbering inmates. On one
side were two or three little slits or portholes, and
a monk, with a long white beard, and a lighted
taper in his hand, cautiously thrust out his head at
one of them, and demanded our business. This
was soon told ; we were strangers and Christians,
and wanted admission ; and had a letter from the
Greek patriarch at Cairo. The head disappeared
from the loophole, and soon after I saw its owner
slowly open the little door, and let down a rope
for the patriarch's letter. He read it by the feeble
glimmer of his lamp, and then again appeared at
the window, and bade us welcome. The rope
was again let down ; I tied it around my arms ;
and after dangling in the air for a brief space,
swinging to and fro against the walls, found my-
self clasped in the arms of a burly, long-bearded
monk, who hauled me in, kissed me on both
cheeks, our long beards rubbing together in friend-
ly union, and untwisting the rope, set me upon
my feet, and passed me over to his associates.
By this time nearly all the monks had assem-
bled ; and all pressed forward to welcome me.
They shook my hand, took me in their arms, and
kissed my face; and if I had been their dearest
friend just escaped from the jaws of death, they
INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL, i
I did not know how many monks were in it. or
what was the sanctity of their lives, but I wished
that some of them had slept with more troubled
consciences, for we made almost noise enough
to wake the dead ; and it was not until we had dis-
charged two volleys of firearms that we succeeded
in rousing any of the slumbering inmates. On one
side were two or three little slits or portholes, and
a monk, with a long white beard, and a lighted
taper in his hand, cautiously thrust out his head at
one of them, and demanded our business. This
was soon told ; we were strangers and Christians,
and wanted admission ; and had a letter from the
Greek patriarch at Cairo. The head disappeared
from the loophole, and soon after I saw its owner
slowly open the little door, and let down a rope
for the patriarch's letter. He read it by the feeble
glimmer of his lamp, and then again appeared at
the window, and bade us welcome. The rope
was again let down ; I tied it around my arms ;
and after dangling in the air for a brief space,
swinging to and fro against the walls, found my-
self clasped in the arms of a burly, long-bearded
monk, who hauled me in, kissed me on both
cheeks, our long beards rubbing together in friend-
ly union, and untwisting the rope, set me upon
my feet, and passed me over to his associates.
By this time nearly all the monks had assem-
bled ; and all pressed forward to welcome me.
They shook my hand, took me in their arms, and
kissed my face; and if I had been their dearest
friend just escaped from the jaws of death, they