Cithara

“ In earliest times they sang of the deeds of their ancestors in strains of song accompanied by the cithara; chanting of Eterpamara, Hanala, Fritigern, Vidigoia and others whose fame among them is great; such heroes as admiring antiquity scarce proclaims its own to be. Then, 44 as the story goes, Vesosis waged a war disastrous to himself against the Scythians, whom ancient tradition asserts to have been the husbands of the Amazons. Concerning these female warriors Orosius speaks in convincing language. ”

“ Kittakara replied: "Is not Kabba Rega your son? Do you begrudge him a few good guns and ammunition taken from your late enemies, the slave-hunters?"
It was in vain that I endeavoured to explain that these people were subjects of the Khedive, and had now received forgiveness: therefore, as they were engaged as irregulars they must receive their arms. Kittakara simply replied: "Do you believe in these people? Do you think that, because they have now enlisted through fear, they will ever change their natures?" ”

“ The fourteen-course cittern was also known in England as Bijuga; the seven courses in pairs were stretched over the finger-board, and the seven single strings, fastened to the grotesque head, were stretched as in the lyre à vide alongside the neck; all the strings rested on the one flat bridge near the tail-piece. Robinson gives instructions for learning to play the cittern and for reading the tablature. ”

“ It was the summer cicada which the Japanese call minminzemi and whose voice, the humble folk say, sounds like the chanting of a bonze in temple services. In Japan from spring till fall nature is full of the penetrating and often unspeakably sweet sounds of various species of cicadas or semi; this cicada however, which lying on its back and twirling around in a circle, buzzed on the hot temple-steps, filled the heart of the melancholy pilgrom with pity and sorrow. ”

“ Let us now deal with the Wahuma since they crossed the Nile and founded the kingdom of Kittara, a large tract of land bounded by the Victoria N'yanza and Kitangule Kagera or River on the south, the Nile on the east, the Little Luta-Nzige Lake 15 on the north, and the kingdoms of Utubi and Nkole on the west.
The general name Kittara is gradually becoming extinct, and is seldom applied to any but the western portions; whilst the north-eastern, in which the capital is situated, is called Unyoro, and the other, Uddu apart from Uganda, as we shall presently see. ”

“ The Chilcats have come from far. They know that the white men are here, and would take the pelts from the Ayana Indians. They know, too, that Klitonda's heart is one with the traders from beyond the mountains of the rising sun. Will the Chilcats allow this? Will they hide like jack-rabbits among the trees, and let the white men take the furs? No. They have come for revenge. They are ready to drive back the white people. Then let the chief of the Ayana beware, for he cannot escape them. The Chilcats are swift as wolves, and their fangs are long and sharp. ”

“ As the Chinese substituted jade for pearls, so did they substitute the cicada for the dung-beetle.
The cicada belongs to that class of insect which feeds on the juices of plants. It is large and broad with brightly-coloured wings. The male has on each side of the body a sort of drum which enables it to make that chirping noise called “the song of the cicada”, referred to by the ancient classical poets. When the female lays her eggs she bores a hole in a tree and deposits them in it. Wingless larvæ are hatched, and they bore their way into the ground to feed on the juices of roots. ”

“ On one occasion a native havildar with only thirty-four men attacked and put a large body of them to flight. The principal chiefs, reduced to the condition of hunted outlaws in the jungles, soon accepted the promise of their lives, and on surrendering were either settled on a grant of land or kept in confinement. The well-known leader Chitu joined Apa Sāhib, who had then escaped from Nāgpur and was in hiding in the Pachmarhi hills. Being expelled from there in February 1819 he proceeded to the fort of Asīrgarh in Nimār, but was refused admittance by Sindhia’s commandant. ”

“ There was Chitta, groveling on the stone floor of the circular room, her face hidden in her hands; there was Vitoria, her arms outstretched, struck rigid in the act of repulsing Cartaret; and there were the two men—the American white, but determined and unafraid; the Basque with a dull red spreading on his tanned cheeks—facing each other as pugilists, entering the ring, face each other at pause during the fleeting instant before they begin to circle for an opening. ”

“ The word you want is ithood."
The door pushed open and a native walked in timidly.
"Zikkara said that mister want me," the native told them. "I am Sipar. I can track anything but screamers, stilt-birds, longhorns and donovans. Those are my taboos."
"I am glad to hear that," Duncan replied. "You have no Cytha taboo, then."
"Cytha!" yipped the native. "Zikkara did not tell me Cytha!"
Duncan paid no attention. He got up from the table and went to the heavy chest that stood against one wall. He rummaged in it and came out with a pair of binoculars, a hunting knife and an extra drum of ammunition. ”

“ These excitable and impressionable people of the Hindu Kush spring to arms under little provocation when once the spirit of fighting is abroad. News of what was occurring in Chitral would rapidly reach them, and in every house and hamlet little else would be spoken of. Unless, therefore, the British officers in contact with them could steady them by their influence, there would be a great risk that, thoughtlessly, and rashly, they might rise against us as the Chitralis had done. ”

“ Mean while, Ookha having heard of her husband’s condition, said to Chitrekha, “Friend! a curse will fall upon me, if I eat, drink and sleep at my ease, whilst my husband remains in affliction.” Chitrekha replied, “Friend! be not at all anxious, no one will be able to do any harm to your husband; banish all care, for Shree Krishnù Chund and Bulram Jee will soon come to the attack, accompanied by all the descendants of Judoo; and, having exterminated the army of demons, will release and take away with them you and Unroodrù ”

“ These cisterns of Carthage certainly suffice to give one some idea of what the great city must have been in its prime. Nor are these the only traces of the efforts put forth by the inhabitants to obtain a constant supply of good water. Other cisterns, similar to those I have described, lie at a short distance [107] from the shore. They are now, however, occupied by a tribe of Bedouins, and it is dangerous to visit them without an escort. Then, again, for miles across the sandy plain between Carthage and Tunis, a crumbling line of huge blocks of masonry may be seen. ”

“ Where the Carthaginians lived in magnificent luxury, a little out of the city itself, is now the Arab town of Sidi-ban-Saïd—like a huge magnolia-bloom on the sunswept hillside. There is nothing of the life of to-day visible, save a white-robed Bedouin herding goats and camels, and, on the sea, a few felucca-rigged fisherboats making for distant Tunis by the Strait of Goletta. ”

“ Already the smell of desiccated dust was rising from the ground and the glare of the newly risen sun was dancing off the bright leaves of the hula-trees, making it appear as if the bush were filled with a million flashing mirrors.
Gavin Duncan hauled a red bandanna from his pocket and mopped his face.
"No, mister," pleaded Zikkara, the native foreman of the farm. "You cannot do it, mister. You do not hunt a Cytha." ”

“ It seemed incredible that an animal would become more formidable as the hunt progressed. But that seemed to be exactly what had happened. More spooked, perhaps, more frightened—only the Cytha did not act like a frightened beast. It was acting like an animal that was gaining savvy and determination, and that was somehow frightening.
From far off to the west, toward the forest and the river, came the laughter and the howling of a pack of screamers. Duncan leaned his rifle against the boulder and got up to pile more wood on the fire. ”

“ On seeing her in this state, Chitrekha said to her with great emotion, “Explain, my dear, to me, why you are so sad to-day, and have fallen into such a sea of affliction? You are weeping and sighing; why is your mind so disturbed? I will drive away all your griefs, and will do for you whatever you wish. You have no friend so attached as me, nor one who has a greater affection for you. I will wander over all the three worlds to accomplish what you desire. Bruhmù has granted me a boon, and subjected all to my authority. Devee will assist me ”

“ Mahārana is the term used in the Uriya country, where the caste are also known as Phāl-Barhai, or a carpenter who only works on one side of the wood. Chitāri is further an occupational term applied to Mochis and Jīngars, or leather-workers, who have adopted the occupation of wall-painting, and there is no reason to doubt that the Chitāris were originally derived from the Mochis, though they have now a somewhat higher position. In Mandla the Chitrakārs and Jīngars are separate castes, and do not eat or intermarry with one another. ”

“ In no other country is the principle, so dear to the heart of the British Government, of recognising the de facto ruler, more fully acted upon than in Chitral. There was now no attempt to turn the invader out of the country, and no one waited to call in from Gilgit the eldest son of their old ruler. The Chitralis simply recognised as their chief the man who was the last to say he intended to rule them. Sher Afzul was to be their Mehtar. ”

“ The Egyptians at times rank the Khita as a ‘great people,’ and their habitat as a ‘great country’; holding them, in fact, almost as their peers: they also speak with reverence of their gods. Like their neighbours of Kemi, the ‘Hittites’ were a literary nation: the monuments of Nile-land mention a certain Kirab-sar (or sir) , ‘writer of the books of the Chief of the Khita,’ and the determinative is papyrus or parchment. ”

“ Thresk, leaning forward in his chair, looked out through the opening. He saw the moonlit plain in a soft haze, in the middle of it the green lamp of a railway signal and beyond the distant ridge, on which straggled the ruins of old Chitipur.
"Look!" cried Ballantyne. "There's tourist India all in one: a desert, a railway and a deserted city, hovels and temples, deep sacred pools and forgotten palaces—the whole bag of tricks crumbling slowly to ruin through centuries on the top of a hill. That's what the good people come out for to see in the cold weather—Jarwhal Junction and old Chitipur." ”

“ One could not equate human ethics with the ethics of the Cytha. Might not human ethics, in certain cases, seem as weird and illogical, as infamous and ungrateful, to an alien?
He hunted for a twig and began working again to clean the rifle bore.
A crashing behind him twisted him around and he saw the Cytha. Behind the Cytha stalked a donovan.
He tossed away the twig and raised the gun.
"No," said the Cytha sharply.
The donovan tramped purposefully forward and Duncan felt the prickling of the skin along his back. It was a frightful thing. Nothing could stand before a donovan. ”

“ On the left bank especially the mountain sides are very precipitous, and up against these the Chitral River runs. On first looking down the valley it appears as if, in between the mountains, there was nothing but [213] a smooth plain running down from the right-hand side, and it is not till one is actually on it that it is discovered that the seemingly open plain is cleft by a nullah between 200 and 300 feet deep, and with absolutely perpendicular sides. The nullah is the Nisa Gol, and only one path leads across it, that of the road to Chitral, and this path the enemy had now cut away. ”

“ Of all the Rakshasa host only Surpa-nakha escaped alive. She hastened to Lanka and informed the ten-headed King Ravana of the death of his brothers, and said: “Thou canst not defeat Rama in battle. But he may be overcome by guile. He hath a beautiful spouse, whose name is Sita, and she is dearer to him than life. If thou wilt take her captive, Rama can be slain, because he is unable to exist without her.” ”

“ The short chiton seems to be the usual dress of daily life; it was especially worn when free movement was required, and was therefore the suitable garment for war or hunting, for gymnastic exercises or manual labour. The long chiton, which was afterwards regarded as especially Ionic, and certainly maintained itself longer in Ionia and in Attica than in the rest of Greece, was not, however, unknown to the Doric races. It was the usual dress for men of advanced age and good position ”

“ In parts of North Malabar, the Tiyan women wear an ornament called chittu (ring) in a hole bored in the top of the helix of each ear. The holes are bored in childhood, but the chittu is not worn until the girl forms a marital union with a man. The chittus are made on the spot at the time, in the marriage pandal erected for the occasion, the girl's uncle providing the gold. They are never removed during life, except in cases of dire distress. "To sell chittu" is equivalent to having become a pauper. ”

“ And only one can be caught in a year, because only one is sent; and whoever catches it and brings it either to the Kitzuki-no-oho-yashiro, or to the temple Sadajinja, where the gods hold their second assembly during the Kami-ari-zuki, receives one hyo [7] of rice in recompense. It costs much labour and time to catch a serpent; but whoever captures one is sure to become rich in after time.' [8]
'There are many deities enshrined at Kitzuki, are there not?' I ask.
'Yes; but the great deity of Kitzuki is Oho-kuni-nushi-no-Kami, [9] whom the people more commonly call Daikoku. ”