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0172 The Pulse of Asia : vol.1
アジアの鼓動 : vol.1
The Pulse of Asia : vol.1 / 172 ページ(カラー画像)

New!引用情報

doi: 10.20676/00000233
引用形式選択: Chicago | APA | Harvard | IEEE

OCR読み取り結果

of veal and lamb, and was fit for the table of the most exact-
ing epicure.

Just as the Khirghiz habits of eating are the result of an
environment which compels the people to live on animal
food, so their hospitality is the result of that same environ-
ment, which isolates them, and at the same time compels
them to travel. Habitations are so often moved that special
accommodations for wayfarers do not exist. Yet the nomad,
in his search for stray cattle, in his business of exchanging
animals, or in his rides between the shifting summer camp
and the lower valley where he cuts the winter supply of
grass, must often spend the night far from home. Every-
where the people are in the habit of receiving guests, and
the custom is to pay nothing for entertainment. In spite of
his lonely life, the Khirghiz meets the traveler with less sus-
picion than does the less cosmopolitan villager who lives
near a large city. Usually, when I arrived at an encampment,
the chief man, who had ridden out a mile or two to meet me,
jumped off his horse and gave it to an attendant. Then he
led my horse as close as possible to the kibitka which I was
to occupy. As I dismounted, he put his hand under my
shoulder to assist me. When I touched the ground he raised
his cap, a habit learned, probably, from the Russians.
Then he took my right hand softly between both of his, and
finally stroked his beard, suggesting a prayer to Allah.
Often when we met strangers on the road, they turned and
rode with us, to do us honor, and to get the news. The
isolation of the Khirghiz accounts for their eagerness in
this latter respect, and the abundant leisure of the nomadic
life accounts for the unconcern with which a man puts off