1903

Turkish Bath and Meeting a True Sultan

Vilde arrived in Constantinople, the capital of Turkey, by train in May 1903. He had passed through dangerous and rebellious Serbia and Bulgaria. Vilde as a journalist was interested in the political situation of Europe and he could not help being thrilled by his trips in seething and fermenting places. The eight days in the capital of Turkey impressed him unforgettably. He stayed at a friend’s in the German embassy and could enjoy the privileges of a luxury tourist, being taken around by the embassy’s experienced guides. Vilde’s colourful travelogue from this variegated town reveals him as a true European gentleman, wearing a light summer suit and yellow shoes (that had to be frequently cleaned and polished) in all this dirt and dust. The suit and shoes, however, did not prevent him from taking an interest in everything genuine and original: homes and the mode of life of the poorer people, cuisine, taditional food and habits. In his humorous way, he described his adventure of riding a donkey, his terrible experience in a Turkish bath, the first kebab in his life and the unforgettable spectacle in the sultan’s place of worship.

It goes without saying that Vilde was thinking about the differences between the East and the West, be it the religion, fine arts, food and drink (the latter was always interesting for him on his travels). He liked the oriental mutton-and-rice dish very much but could not enjoy belly-dancers – “the Oriental belly-dance does not move our aesthetic feelings, sometimes it seems rather ugly and senseless even”. He admitted, though, that “if these people from the Orient were sitting in the grand opera of Paris they would evidently think that the westerners knew so little about music”. Pleasures of a Turkish bath – one of the main attractions for tourists – were described with special spice and humour. Vilde, like most of the visitors to Constantinople at that time, was amazed by the multitude of stray dogs in the streets. It seemed to be a state of tailless, earless, bitten and scraggy animals that seemed to live according to laws of their own that nobody disturbed. “Constantinople would be disease-ridden if there were no dogs. Dogs in the capital of Turkey function like the public sanitary police”.

Generally Constantinople made a good impression on Vilde – it was attractive to him due to its manysided colourfulness.