Constantinople, Chapter 12: riassunto

Cosa succede

1. The narrator crosses from Tophane to Scutari and passes busy streets, shops, carts, a funeral procession, and cemeteries.
2. Arriving early at the lodge, he waits at a café and observes a courtyard resident whom devotees treat as holy.
3. Inside, the dervishes repeat a litany, sway together, and build toward prolonged howling while leaving the tambourines unused.
4. Two Capuchins laugh, prompting the narrator to compare their religious self-denial with the dervishes’ bodily devotion.
5. The imam pierces a boy’s cheeks, and two other participants wound themselves with pointed instruments.
6. The imam steps on children and adults for healing; outside, the narrator sees the pierced boy with closed marks.

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Cosa notare

The narrator rejects the Capuchins’ mockery despite his own disturbing descriptions. He treats the dervishes’ suffering as a religious effort comparable to Christian self-denial.

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