great Sheyk had called to us, and we should inevitably have some disaster
if we disobeyed. So we stopped and Omar said, 'come and see the Sheyk,
ma'am.' I walked off and presently found about thirty people, including
all my own men, sitting on the ground round St. Simon Stylites--without
the column. A hideous old man like Polyphemus, utterly naked, with the
skin of a rhinoceros all cracked with the weather, sat there, and had sat
day and night, summer and winter, motionless for twenty years. He never
prays, he never washes, he does not keep Ramadan, and yet he is a saint.
Of course I expected a good hearty curse from such a man, but he was
delighted with my visit, asked me to sit down, ordered his servant to
bring me sugar-cane, asked my name and tried to repeat it over and over
again, and was quite talkative and full of jokes and compliments, and
took no notice of anyone else. Omar and my crew smiled and nodded, and
all congratulated me heartily. Such a distinction proves my own
excellence (as the Sheyk knows all people's thoughts), and is sure to be
followed by good fortune. Finally Omar proposed to say the Fathah in
which all joined except the Sheykh, who looked rather bored by the
interruption, and desired us not to go so soon, unless I were in a hurry.
A party of Bedaween came up on camels with presents for the holy man, but
he took no notice of them, and went on questioning Omar about me, and
answering my questions. What struck me was the total absence of any
sanctimonious air about the old fellow, he was quite worldly and jocose;
I suppose he knew that his position was secure, and thought his dirt and
nakedness proved his holiness enough. Omar then recited the Fathah
again, and we rose and gave the servants a few foddahs--the saint takes
no notice of this part of the proceeding--but he asked me to send him
twice my hand full of rice for his dinner, an honour so great that there
was a murmur of congratulation through the whole assembly. I asked Omar
how a man could be a saint who neglected all the duties of a Muslim, and
I found that he fully believed that Sheykh Seleem could be in two places