Life and light for woman . room, where we found one blind womanon the floor before a heap of small stones. There must have been severalthousand stones in the heap, and she was picking tliem up a handful at atime, and dropping them from one hand to the other, her lips moving all ZpO(?] Dervish Women 397 the time. When all the stones in the handful had thus changed hands, shelaid them carefully on a smaller heap at the side, and picked up were told that for each stone she was uttering the sentence, There isno God but God, and that this must be done until the whole pile had beencounted
Life and light for woman . room, where we found one blind womanon the floor before a heap of small stones. There must have been severalthousand stones in the heap, and she was picking tliem up a handful at atime, and dropping them from one hand to the other, her lips moving all ZpO(?] Dervish Women 397 the time. When all the stones in the handful had thus changed hands, shelaid them carefully on a smaller heap at the side, and picked up were told that for each stone she was uttering the sentence, There isno God but God, and that this must be done until the whole pile had beencounted over seven times. They had larger stones as counters, in orderthat they might know when they had counted the stones seven times. Foi*-tunately, other women joined her, dropping on their knees on the cushionsaround the pile, and joining in the prayers. Sometimes they would pauselong enough to make a remark to the next neighbor, but many of them keptsteadily on, and dropped the stones so quickly from one hand to another that. WHIRLING DERVISHES, CONSTANTINOPLE I could not see how they could utter the required prayer with each ! Theyinvited us to join them, evidently imagining that it would be a congenialoccupation to us. After sitting for three quarters of an liour watching thesewomen counting stones, and listening to a small boy (the dervishs brother)chant a hymn of praise (?) in a nasal whine, I decided that I could notafford to spend any more time, as it seemed likely this might go on untilafternoon. The small boy was invited to guide us, and so we left. Theothers remained and were rewarded, for the stones were put aside (to befinished after the guests should leave), and all joined with their teacher, anold woman, in praying aloud—one woman actually working herself up into 398 Life and Light \_September such a frenzy that she fell over, her hands tight clenched and her wholebody rigid. It took considerable effort to make her sit up and act naturalagain. I have wondered how m
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