Page 164 - Neglected Arabia Vol 2

14 NEGLECTED ARAM A
curriculum. The younger children hear and re-tell Bible stories, others
who are more advanced read the Cjosj>els for themselves, and the older
girls read hooks such as Bunyan’s "Pilgrim’s Progress, and 1 he Holy
W ar." 11 is a wonderful iipunri unity in lit* able m prtwnt lilts 1 iiH'i*
migc In llie Miinr group uf girl* fnMil day hi <Illy.
This year mil lie art courhCH Imve been introduced and it in aMollInlllug
to sec what the Arabs, who arc supposed to be most mi-artistic, can du.
< if course some of the results are equally appalling in the other direction.
’1 he girls have worked out a project on the animals and birds of Iraq and
have made books illustrating them with cutouts. The older girls, for one
of their projects, have worked out designs beginning with the crayon
drawing of a flower and finishing with an original design definitely ap­
plied and worked out in embroidery.

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U.NK UK I'll K 111 III.K CLASSES
In English the girls begin by learning a very simple vocabulary of ■
everyday words. Later- on they learn the simple stories and Red Riding
Hood, the Three Bears, and Chicken Little are as real characters to them
as they are to any school child at home. When they advance further they
read from English primers and elementary readers. Once a week the
lesson is to tell a story in English lie fore the class. Some time ago the v
following story was told as having actually hapi>ened in Baghdad, not
in the days of Haroun al-Raschid, but in 1929:
"One day a coolie woman knocked at the door of one of the wealthy
merchants’ homes of Baghdad and asked for permission to leave a 7
very
large basket of oranges. Permission was granted, the basket was put m
the cellar, and the woman left. In the afternoon the daughter of the hou*c
happened to go down to where the basket was and when she saw it moving i
went out and called to her father to shoot at it. This he did and imm^
diately blood was seen to trickle down the sides of the basket. The tner*
chant opened the basket, removed the oranges, and there at the bottom wi» Vi
curled the lifeless body of a robber. The police were immediately sum. ^ 1