The feeling of utter helplessness in a country where one is unable to
speak one word of the language is most exasperating. My youngest
brother, who is chairman of a steamship company, had occasion to go to
the Near East nine years ago on business connected with his company.
The steamer called at the Piraus for eight hours, and my brother, who
had never been in Athens, took a taxi and saw as much of "the city of
the violet crown" as was possible in the time. He could speak no
modern Greek, but when the taxi-man, on their return to the Piraus,
demanded by signs 7 pounds as his fare, my brother, hot with indignation
at such an imposition, summoned up all his memories of the Greek
Testament, and addressed the chauffeur as follows: "_o taxianthrope,
mae geyito!_" Stupefied at hearing the classic language of his
country, the taxi-man at once became more reasonable in his demands.
After this, who will dare to assert that there are no advantages in a
classical education?
All the hillsides round Chinese cities are dotted with curious stone
erections in the shape of horseshoes. These are the tombs of wealthy
Chinamen; the points of the compass they face, and the period which
must elapse before the deceased can be permanently buried, are all
determined by the family astrologers, for Chinese devils can be as
malignant to the dead as to the living, though they seem to reserve
their animosities for the more opulent of the population.
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