Travels in Southeastern Europe

The burden of the Balkans / by M. Edith Durham.

96 THE BURDEN OF THE BALKANS. how ignorant our Moslem peasants are. They are taught nothing. It happens that they attack a Christian. I speak to them like this: '"If a man struck your fez off in the street, what would you do? " '" I would shoot him dead." ' "Why did you strike this man? He did nothing to you." ' " I struck him because he is a 'kaur'" (unbeliever). "Why do you strike a ' kaur'?" '" Because I wish to kill all ' kaurs.'" ' "Do you wish the land to be all Moslem?" '" Of course I do." 'Then I say to him: "Do you not understand that what you do is contrary to the will of God? Do you think you are more powerful than He? If every Christian were killed the land would be almost without people. Who are you, that you think you can arrange the world?" Then I give him a large handful of clay and say: "Take that and make it into a Moslem-make it into a Moslem, I say, at once!" He is astonished, and says he cannot do it. And I say to him: "The Lord created all the peoples of the world thus with clay by a miracle, and you, you cannot make of it even one Moslem, yet you would destroy the Lord's work I " Then he is ashamed. It is thus that one must speak to such men. The clay and the words -that they understand. This land is full of bad men and evil. In Egypt there is peace. It is my belief
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About this Item

Title
The burden of the Balkans / by M. Edith Durham.
Author
Durham, Mary Edith, 1863-1944.
Canvas
Page 96
Publication
London :: Nelson,
[1905]
Subject terms
Eastern question (Balkan)
Balkan Peninsula -- Description and travel.

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https://name.umdl.umich.edu/ans3900.0001.001
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"The burden of the Balkans / by M. Edith Durham." In the digital collection Travels in Southeastern Europe. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/ans3900.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed April 30, 2025.
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