DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12665#0205
THE BIRTHPLACE OF CHRIST. 189
tors, to the great scandal of the Catholics, who
hate the Greeks with a most orthodox virulence.
The Grotto of the Nativity is under the floor of
the church ; the Greeks having an entrance directly
by its side, and the Catholics by a longer and more
distant passage. I descended by the latter. My
Arnaout was close at my heels, grave and sober as
if he had never known the taste of wine, and fol-
lowing with a respect that might have satisfied the
most bigoted Christian. Indeed, it was a thing to
be noted, with what respect and reverence this
wild and lawless Mussulman regarded the holy
places, consecrated by a religion he believed false
and the worship of a people he despised. Never-
theless, Paul was scandalized at the eyes of an un-
believer being permitted to see the holy places;
and stopped at the top of the staircase, to urge
upon me the propriety of making him stay behind.
The kervash seemed to understand what he was
saying, and to intimate by his looks that it would
not be an easy matter to turn him back. I did not
think, however, that the feet of a Mussulman would
be in themselves a profanation, and the monk ma-
king no objection, I silenced Paul's.
Passing through the chapel of the Catholic con-
vent, where the monks were teaching the children
of the Arab Christians the principles of the Cath-
olic faith, I was conducted to the room of the su-
perior, where, among other relics which I now
forget, he showed me the withered hand of an in-
fant, preserved among the treasures of the convent,
VOL. II.—R
tors, to the great scandal of the Catholics, who
hate the Greeks with a most orthodox virulence.
The Grotto of the Nativity is under the floor of
the church ; the Greeks having an entrance directly
by its side, and the Catholics by a longer and more
distant passage. I descended by the latter. My
Arnaout was close at my heels, grave and sober as
if he had never known the taste of wine, and fol-
lowing with a respect that might have satisfied the
most bigoted Christian. Indeed, it was a thing to
be noted, with what respect and reverence this
wild and lawless Mussulman regarded the holy
places, consecrated by a religion he believed false
and the worship of a people he despised. Never-
theless, Paul was scandalized at the eyes of an un-
believer being permitted to see the holy places;
and stopped at the top of the staircase, to urge
upon me the propriety of making him stay behind.
The kervash seemed to understand what he was
saying, and to intimate by his looks that it would
not be an easy matter to turn him back. I did not
think, however, that the feet of a Mussulman would
be in themselves a profanation, and the monk ma-
king no objection, I silenced Paul's.
Passing through the chapel of the Catholic con-
vent, where the monks were teaching the children
of the Arab Christians the principles of the Cath-
olic faith, I was conducted to the room of the su-
perior, where, among other relics which I now
forget, he showed me the withered hand of an in-
fant, preserved among the treasures of the convent,
VOL. II.—R