People of Africa | Page 4

have little to do and little to think about all the day while their
husbands are away, and they are often very dull. But the town-people
love their children very much, and Egyptian children are taught always
to love, honour, and obey their father and mother. An Egyptian man
may have four wives, but generally he has only one.
Until a few years ago, all Egyptians who had enough money used to
buy slaves to do their work. Slaves could be bought or sold, or married
or given away, as if they were things instead of people. Masters could
illtreat or even kill their slaves and not be punished, because it was only
as if they had broken their water-jar in a temper, and that was no one
else's business. Often slaves were happy if they had good masters, but it

is a bad custom to take away a person's freedom and treat him as if he
had no soul. During the last few years many Europeans have been
helping the Egyptians to improve their country, and one of the changes
has been to do away gradually with slavery. No one is now allowed to
buy a slave, and anyone born in slavery can become free if he wishes to
do so. Instead of slaves, people now have servants who receive wages
for their work. These are free to leave their master if he does not treat
them well. Although slavery is dying out of Egypt, there are other parts
of North Africa where the old bad customs still exist, though the great
European nations try to prevent the public markets for slaves being
held. People are happiest in countries where there are no slaves and
everyone is free to do the work for which he is best fitted.
In Egyptian households where there is more than one wife there is often
quarrelling. The wives of one man all live in one "hareem," and cannot
help being jealous if they see their husband likes one better than
another. Then there is quarrelling and ill-will among them. As the
children grow up there is a further cause for jealousy, because the
mothers of boys are more important than those who have only
girl-children. Children cannot respect their mothers if they often see
them quarrelling and jealous. Again, there is always a possibility that a
husband may divorce his wife. He is not likely to do so if she has a
boy-baby, but until she has, her position as a wife is not very secure.
These bad marriage customs lead to much unhappiness, and prevent the
women of Egypt from doing so much good as the women of some other
lands are able to do. We must not, of course, think that all Egyptian
homes are unhappy; probably many poor women are quite glad when
their husband brings another wife to help with the work. But where
servants do the work, there are only the pleasures of the home to be
shared, and then jealousy will be likely to come.
4. The Big Towns
If we went for a walk in the narrow streets of an Egyptian city or big
town, we should see on either side open shops, each with its owner
ready to sell his goods. Many of the people of the towns have shops or
trades. They sell jewellery, furniture, cloth, and everything that is

wanted in the house for cooking. In the streets there are some men
carrying drinking-water for sale, because it is hot walking about and
people get thirsty. Others will be selling sweet-stuff made of sugar,
which everyone likes. Others wait about ready to write letters for
people who cannot write for themselves, and there are always many
beggars. Great steamers from other countries--England, France, India,
Japan--bring merchandise to Alexandria and Port Said, the seaports of
Egypt, and so people from these countries have shops and offices in
those towns. Then the goods are taken by boats or trains to the capital,
Cairo, where the Sultan lives, and to other large towns. In all these
towns there are hundreds of people, so that a man can only know those
who live near him or work with him. Most of them are unknown to one
another and are like strangers, although they all live in one town and
can all speak Arabic.
5. Life in the Villages
The country-people of Egypt are very poor, and have to work very hard
all the year round in their fields. Their houses are built of bricks dried
in the sun, plastered together with mud, and the roof is made of plaited
palm leaf. Inside there is only one room, which has a big oven made of
mud with a flat top on which the father and mother sleep. The work in