The caravan animals belonged, in common, to
both, and were driven by themselves, and by a grandson fifteen years
old, and some servants. When we had reached the house, the old man
did not attend to the animals much, but took his ease and gave his
orders. It was easy to see that he was the head of the family.
The first impression of the Arab character is that it is cold and
reserved; I never saw either husband and wife, or father and
daughter, exchange a friendly word; they said nothing more than was
positively necessary. They show far more feeling towards children.
They allow them to shout and make as much noise as they like, no one
vexes or contradicts them, and every misconduct is overlooked. But
as soon as a child is grown up, it becomes his duty to put up with
the infirmities of his parents, which he does with respect and
patience.
To my great astonishment, I heard the children call their mothers
mama or nana, their fathers baba, and their grandmothers ete or eti.
The women lie lazily about during the whole day, and only in the
evening exert themselves to make bread.
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