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BROWN I SUTER STUDENT EDITION
WHAT'S INSIDE:
A Student-Tested, Faculty-Approved
Approach to Learning
Marketing Research
Includes Qualtrics™
Subscription!
SOP HI STICATED RE SEARC H
MA DE SIM PLE 'M
CourseMate Delivers
an Interactive eBook,
Flashcards, Quizzing,
Interactive Games, and
Engagement Tracker!
ISBN-1 3: 978-1-133-95841-3
ISBN-10: 1-133-95841-9
9 0 00 0
PART 3
9 Developing the Sampling
Plan 112
9-1 Defining the Target Population 114
9-2 Identifying the Sampling Frame 115
9-3 Selecting a Sampling Procedure 116
9-4 Determining How Big a Sample You Need 121
Vi C 0 NT EN T S
Copyright 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.
PART 4
.Analysis & Interpretation:
Multiple Variables
Simultaneously 160
13-1 CrossTabulation 162
13-2 Independent Samples t-Test for
Means 164
13-3 Paired Sample t-Test for Means 166
13-4 Pearson Product-Moment Correlation
Coefficient 167
13-5 Regression Analysis 169
CONTENTS Vii
Copyright 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.
We are indebted to the following individuals who served on our Industry Advisory Panel and provided feedback on
the contents of the book during its development. They graciously donated their expertise and time to help us deliver a
book that is relevant, accurate, and covers the most important issues. They offered terrific ideas and objective critique;
any remaining errors in the book are our own.
Andrew Kennelly
Senior Manager/Ma rket Research
Excellence Evangelist
Microsoft Corporation
Redmond, Washington
••••
•• • •••
•• •
•••••• •
• • ••••
•••••• ~- # CENGAGE
' .. Learning·
www.cengage.com/41trpress
Copyright 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.
......... . . ••••
1 Marketing Research:
From Data to Information to Action
Copyright 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.
POLL QUESTION:
Almost everyone is a consumer of marketing research.
STRONG LY DISAGREE b b b b b STRONGLY AGREE
[FAST FACT]
50% OF US MOB IL E
SUBSCR IBERS OWN
SMARTPHONES
EXHIBIT 1.1
The Need for Information: Environments AHecting Marketing
Governm ent
Entit ies
ORGANIZATION
Shareholders
4 P ART I
Copyright 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.
announced, "There's a difference at produced agricultural machinery. ~
McDonald's you'll enjoy." The agency constructed a crude mar- ~
The fast-food giant used con- ket survey by states and counties; this ~
0
sumer research to keep tabs on opin- was probably the first real instance ~
ions as the market matured. Fifteen of marketing research in the United ~
0
years after McDonald's began serv- States. 3 'il
ing the U.K. market, consumers were Today three major categories of~
describing McDonald's as inflexible firms conduct marketing research: ~
and arrogant-and managers knew (1) producers of products and services, i 1
it was time to adjust. They softened (2) advertising agencies, and (3) mar-~
their messaging strategy and began
to depict McDonald's at the center
McDonald's keting research companies. ~
~
z
g:
of U.K. family life. The company has l-2a Producers of Products
enjoyed more than five years of unbroken sales growth
and Services
and served 325 million customers in a recent quarter or
more than 3.6 million people each day. 2 Marketing research really began to grow around the
end of World War II when firms found they could no
longer sell all they could produce but instead had to
1·2 WHO DOES MARKETING gauge market needs and produce accordingly. Market-
RESEARCH? ing research was called on to estimate these needs. As
consumers began to have more choices in the mar-
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• ketplace, marketing began to assume a more domi-
Although individuals and organizations have prac- nant role. The marketing concept emerged, and along
ticed marketing research for centuries-the need for with it came a reorganization of the marketing effort.
information has always existed-the formal practice Many marketing research departments were born in
of marketing research can be traced to 1879 when these reorganizations.
advertising agency N. W. Ayer & Son collected data Most large firms (and many smaller ones, too)
on expected grain production from state officials and have one or more people assigned specifically to
publishers across the United States for a client who the marketing research activity. Organizations that
Copyright 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.
produce products or deliver services for businesses many agencies also do marketing research for their
or consumers often conduct research designed to clients to determine the market potential of a pro-
develop and market their products and services. For posed new product or the client's market share.
example, organizations as diverse as Kraft Foods, Ad agencies sometimes do research to better un-
National Public Radio, Unilever, ESPN, and South- derstand consumers and their interests and behaviors
west Airlines all have internal marketing research de- in order to serve their corporate clients. For instance,
partments. Large retailers such as Target Corporation media agency MEC conducted an extensive project
and Walmart also operate research departments to to better understand women shoppers in 542 smaller
gather information about consumer preferences, store Chinese cities, which agency executives saw as an im-
image, and so on. portant potential market for expansion in the Chinese
Many companies use marketing research to track market. The segmentation study uncovered five distinct
customer satisfaction and customer usage patterns. segments characterized by the following labels: The
For example, researchers at Silver Dollar City, a popu- Pressure Cooker (desire for personal success, family
lar theme park located near Branson, Missouri, found success, and a sense of identity as a woman); The Tra-
that visitors from over 301 miles away (outer market) ditional (family comes first at all costs); The Practical (a
took three times longer to plan their trips to Silver pragmatic approach to life); The Achiever (desire to ex-
Dollar City than did guests who lived less than 100 cel; open-minded and up to date); and The Undecided
miles away (core market). Based on these findings, the (not in touch with social and economic changes around
marketing department altered its promotions strategy her). Media usage trends differed across the segments.
and started advertising in outer markets several weeks For example, the percentage that had accessed the
before beginning those same ads in the core market. Internet was relatively high for the Achievers (58%),
This resulted in more efficient advertising purchasing, the Practicals (48%), and the Undecideds (35%) but
and the message was presented to visitors at the time dropped significantly for the Pressure Cookers (20%)
they were making plans to visit. and the Traditionals (5%). Further research focused on
women in these smaller Chinese cities found that 23%
l-2b Advertising Agencies now shop on the Web. The implications for reaching
these women are important for MEC clients.<
As you might imagine, advertising agencies often con-
duct research designed to help create and measure
the effectiveness of advertising campaigns. This may l-2c Marketing Research
involve testing alternative approaches to the wording Companies
or graphics used in an ad or investigating the effec- Many companies specialize in conducting market-
tiveness of various celebrity spokespersons. However, ing research. The United States is home to 15 of the
top 25 largest market research firms in
the world. Moreover, worldwide total
revenues for these largest firms exceed
$18.7 billion.' And don't forget that
these numbers don't reflect the research
done by organizations' own research de-
partments or by advertising agencies or
others.
Although most specialized market-
i!i ing research firms are small, a few are
~ sizable enterprises. Exhibit 1.2 shows the
~ names, home countries, and revenues of
~ the 1 0 largest marketing research firms
i!j in the world. Some firms provide syndi-
~ cated research; they collect certain in-
8 formation on a regular basis, which they
~ then sell to interested clients. The syndi-
~ cated services include organizations such
~~:;;:~ " as The Nielsen Company, which provides
6 P ART I
Copyright 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.
trade associations, and universities. Govern-
EXHIBIT 1.2 ment agencies provide much marketing in-
The Warld's10 Largest Marketing Research Firms formation in the form of published statistics.
Worldwide Research In fact, the U.S. government is one of the
Parent Revenue (U.S.$, world's largest producers of marketing facts
Rank/Organization Country in millions} through its various censuses and other publi-
1. Nielsen Holdings NV U.S. $5,353.0 cations. Trade associations often collect and
2. Kanta r U.K. 3,331.8 share data gathered from members. Much
3.1psos SA France 2,495.0 university-sponsored research of interest to
4. GfK SE Germany 1,914.0
marketers is produced by the marketing fac-
ulty or by the bureaus of business research
5. SymphonyiRI Group Inc. U.S. 764.2
found in many schools of business. Faculty
6. 1MS Hea lt h Inc. U.S. 750.0 research is often reported in marketing jour-
7. Westat Inc. U.S. 506.5 nals; research bureaus often publish mono-
8. 1NTAGE Inc. Japan 459.9 graphs on various topics of interest.
9. Arbitron Inc. U.S. 422.3
10. The NPD Grou p Inc. U.S. 265.3
Source: Developed from information in "2012 Honomichl Global Top 25 Research Report,' Marketing 1/ews 1- 3WHY STUDY
(August 31, 20 12), pp. 12 ~40. This report describes the services provided by the 25 largest globa l market
resea rch organizations.
MARKETING RESEARCH?
• •••••••••••••••••••••••••
Almost all business schools offer courses in
marketing research, and many require stu-
dents who are completing majors in market-
ing to take a marketing research course. Why?
(Maybe you're asking yourself this question
right about now!)
We think there are three important rea-
sons for learning about marketing research. First,
some students will discover that marketing research
product-movement data for grocery stores and drug- can be rewarding and fun. For these students, learn-
stores (not to mention the popular TV ratings), and ing how to be an "information detective" may lead
Arbitron, which measures U.S. radio audiences. Syndi- to a career in marketing research. These students
cated research is not custom designed for a particular usually develop an early appreciation for taking
client, but is designed and collected by the research data and converting them into information that can
company and sold to multiple clients. be used by marketing managers to make important
Other firms, though, specialize in custom-designed decisions. So, for some people at least, the study of
research. Some of these provide only a field service; marketing research will be directly relevant to their
they collect data and return the data-collection in- careers.
struments directly to the research sponsor. Some are Even if you don't go on to a career in marketing
limited-service firms, which not only collect the data research, all of us are consumers of marketing and
but also analyze them for the client. And some are public opinion research, almost on a daily basis. The
full-service research suppliers, which help the client second reason for studying marketing research is to
in the design of the research as well as in collecting learn to be a smarter consumer of research results.
and analyzing data. For example, GfK SE provides Businesspeople are often exposed to research results,
full-service customized research services for numer- usually by someone trying to convince them to do
ous Fortune 500 clients. GfK can conduct large-scale something. Suppliers use research to promote the
qualitative or quantitative studies from start to finish, virtues of their particular products and services; ad-
utilizing a range of data collection techniques. vertising agencies use research to encourage a com-
Other organizations that provide or conduct pany to promote a product in particular media ve-
marketing research include government agencies, hicles; product managers inside a firm use research
Copyright 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.
to demonstrate the likely demand for the products
they are developing to get further funding. Effective
managers, however, know the right questions to ask
to evaluate the research results they are shown.
A third key reason for studying marketing re-
Formulate Problem
search is to gain an appreciation of the process, what
it can and cannot do. As a manager, you will need to
Determine
know what to expect marketing research to be able
to deliver. The process of gathering data and gener-
ating information is full of opportunities for error to
slip into the results. Thus, no research is perfect, and
managers must take this into account when making
decisions. Managers also need to understand what
they are asking of researchers when requesting mar-
keting research. The process is detailed, time con-
suming, and requires great amounts of thought and
effort. As a result, marketing research is costly to
an organization and should not be undertaken on
trivial issues or to support decisions that have al-
ready been made.
8 PART I
Copyright 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.
or causal research is referred to as "quantita- Next comes the development of an appro-
tive research." priate sample (Chapter 9). Depending on
Sometimes the information that a firm the study, the population might be home-
needs to solve its problem already exists in makers, preschoolers, sports car drivers,
the form of secondary data, or data that Pennsylvanians, tennis players, or oth-
have already been collected for some pur- ers. The particular subset of the popu-
pose other than the question at hand lation for whom data are available is
(Chapter 4). Such data may exist in the known as a sample. There are two basic
firm's own internal information sys- types of sampling plans-those that pro-
tem as purchase or customer data, call duce a probability sample (the preferred
reports from the sales force, or or- type) and those that lead to a nonprobabil-
ders from wholesalers. If ity sample. The size of the sample de-
the firm itself doesn't pends upon how many members
have the necessary in- of the population it is neces-
formation, it may be sary to use to get reliable
available in the form answers without exceeding
of government sta- the time and money bud-
tistics, trade asso- geted for the project. Once
ciation reports, or the sample design is in
data from a com- place, data collection can
mercial research begin (Chapter 10).
supplier. Because Researchers may
such data are gather mountains of
almost always secondary or primary
less expensive data, but data are use-
and can be less unless they are an-
obtained and alyzed and interpreted
analyzed more in light of the problem
quickly, research- at hand (Chapters 11-
ers should look for 13). Most data analysis is
existing sources of data quite straightforward, involving
first before launching a frequency counts (usually, how
primary data collection many people answered a ques-
effort. The Internet has tion a particular way) or simple
greatly facilitated the dis- descriptive statistics (for example,
covery of secondary data. means and standard deviations).
If good secondary Sometimes the research calls for
data aren't available or cross-tabulation, which allows a
don't fit the situation for deeper look at the data by examin-
some reason, the researcher will collect primary data, ing differences or relationships across groups, or some
which are data collected specifically for the study other type of multivariate analysis.
(Chapters 5 and 6). There are lots of questions to be Finally, it's time to prepare the written research
answered when collecting primary data, including the report (and oral presentation) that summarizes the
following: Should the data be collected by observa- research results and conclusions, including graphical
tion or questionnaire? How should these observations representation of data (Chapter 14 ). This is a really
be made-personally or electronically? How should important step, because this is the only part of the
the questions be administered-in person, over the process that most other people will ever see. As a re-
telephone, through the mail, or online? Once there- sult, the research report must be clear and accurate,
searchers have settled on the method to be used for because no matter how well you've performed all the
the study, they must design the data collection forms previous steps in the research, the project will be no
to be used on the project (Chapters 7 and 8). more successful than the research report.
Copyright 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.
~ HE GOAL OF ANY
Before we move on, there's something important
we need to point out about the research process shown
in Exhibit 1.3. Although we've presented the stages in
a particular order, some of the steps can be carried out MARKETING RESEARCH
at about the same time-and decisions about later steps
will influence what should happen at earlier stages. It
PROJECT SHOU LD BE TO
would get confusing, but Exhibit 1.3 probably should be UNCOVER THE TRUTH
drawn with a number of feedback loops representing the
need to rethink, redraft, or revise the various elements
ABOUT THE TOPIC OF
in the process as it proceeds. For example, the problem INTEREST.J
may not be defined well enough to allow the develop-
ment of the research design. If that happens, you'll need
situations in which there can be actual or potential
to return to stage one to define the re-
harm of any kind (e.g., economic, physical, or mental)
search problem(s) more clearly. Or may-
marketing to an individual or a group. Marketing research ethics
research be the process goes smoothly all the way
are the principles, values, and standards of conduct
ethics through the design of the data collection
followed by marketing researchers.
The principles, forms-and then the pretest of the sur-
values, and standards Unfortunately, there are lots of examples of orga-
vey identifies problems with the forms,
of conduct fo llowed nizations demonstrating questionable ethics. Several
by marketing methods used, research design, or even
years ago the Coca-Cola Company wanted to increase
researchers. problem definition. The process isn't al-
sales through Burger King restaurants. Managers at
ways as straightforward as it looks.
Burger King were willing to sponsor a multimillion-
dollar promotion for Frozen Coke if a two-week mar-
1-5 MARKETING RESEARCH ket test indicated that a Frozen Coke coupon would
increase sales of value meals. When the results for
ETHICS the first week weren't so good, Coke representatives
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Ethics are the moral principles and
values that govern the way an in-
dividual or a group conducts its
activities. Ethics apply to all
10 PART I
Copyright 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.
rigged the market test by giving $9,000 in
cash to kids' clubs and other nonprofits in the Leading marketing and opinion research trade
test market city to be used to buy hundreds of associations publish detailed codes of ethics
value meals. The resulting increase in sales was for their members.
enough to convince Burger King to go forward
with the national Frozen Coke promotion ...
which ultimately failed. 6
The goal of any marketing research project
should be to uncover the truth about the topic
of interest. In the previous example, the objec-
tive should have been to learn about the effec-
tiveness of the Frozen Coke promotion, not to
produce a result that somebody wanted to see.
There's a name for research that is conducted
to support a position rather than to find the
truth about an issue: advocacy research. Re-
searchers doing this type of research may word
questions in such a way that they get the an-
swers they want. They might select a sample of
respondents known to support the position the
researcher wants. They might do any number The Voice and Values of Research
of other unethical things (like give kids money
to buy value meals). These kinds of research
practices are fraudulent and must be avoided if
marketing research is to maintain its usefulness
within the organization. what is legal. Even among those who understand this,
It isn 't just marketing researchers who could use many don't seem to consider the ethical implications
research in unethical ways. For example, consider the of their decisions. Some researchers probably just don't
use of sugging: contacting people under the guise of care; others may find it easier to ignore such consider-
marketing research when the real goal is to sell prod- ations because doing the right thing isn't always easy.
ucts or services. Several years ago, one of us was con- Marketing researchers must rec-
tacted by a local automobile dealership and invited ognize that their jobs depend on the
goodwill of the public. "Bad" research advocacy
to a special "market test " at the dealership the fol-
research
lowing weekend. Inquiries with the dealership-and that violates the trust of study partici-
Research that is
the promotions company they were working with- pants will only make it more difficult conducted to support
eventually revealed that the only "research" being and costly to recruit participants for a position rather
conducted involved how many people they could get data collection. Even researchers who than to find the truth
about an issue.
into the dealership to take a test drive ... and buy a don't care about whether their actions
car. An employee of the promotions company admit- are right or wrong ought to be con- sugging
ted that they do this because it works. cerned about such issues from a busi- Contacting people
Some researchers (and managers as well) often fail ness perspective. Good ethics is good under the guise of
to think about whether it is morally acceptable to pro- business-and virtually all marketing marketing research
when the real goal
ceed in a particular way. Many think that if an action and public opinion research associa-
is to sell products or
is legal, then it is ethical. It's not that simple, however. tions have developed codes of ethics to services.
There can be differences between what is ethical and guide the behaviors of their members.
Copyright 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.
......... . . ••••
The Research
2 Question:
Formulation of the Problem
Copyright 201 3 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.
POLL QUESTION:
Using taste tests is a foolproof method of conducting marketing research.
STRONG LY DISAGREE b b b b b STRONGLY AGREE
13
Copyright 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.
waters, juices, teas, or
basically any combina- Coke's Freestyle allows
tion a consumer could consumers to mix flavors
dream up. 5 If a con- to fit their personal tastes.
sumer likes the taste
of Classic Coke with
a splash of Minute
Maid Orange Juice, the
Freestyle can deliver.
fl-ODAYS
Now with two Edison OPPORTUNITY
Awards recognizing it
as an innovative new
IS TOMORROW'S
product, Freestyle ma- PROBLEM IF
chines can be found all
across the United States
A COMPANY
in a wide variety of res- FAILS TO TAKE
taurants.6 The Freestyle
is more of a taste op-
ADVANTAGE
portunity than a taste OF THE
problem.
OPPORTUNITY.J
2-la Problems
versus products) . Marketers must de-
Opportunities cide how to exploit these "op-
portunities," if at all.
There isn't a perfect for-
We prefer to think of prob-
mula for defining mar-
lems and opportunities as two sides of the same coin.
keting research problems, but in this chapter we'll de-
Regardless of perspective, both situations require
scribe a process that should help. When we talk about
good information about the marketing environment
"defining the problem" or "problem formulation," we
before managers make important decisions. Today's
simply mean a process of trying to identify specific ar-
opportunity is tomorrow's problem if a company fails
eas where additional information is needed about the
to take advantage of the opportunity-but its com-
marketing environment. A marketing manager might
petitors do. And a company that successfully deals
face a situation that has obvious negative ramifications
with a problem before its competitors do has created
for the organization (e.g., unexpected decreasing sales
an opportunity to move ahead in the industry. So, we
for an existing product). These situations are normally
consider any situation in which a company needs in-
thought of as "problems."
formation to be a marketing research problem.
On the other hand, the marketing manager might
face a situation with potentially positive results for
the organization (e.g., researchers have developed a
new product with certain advantages over competing
2·2 THE PROBLEM
FORMULATION PROCESS
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
How can a company avoid the trap of research-
ing the wrong problem? The best way is to delay
research until the problem is properly defined. It
takes time to fully understand what's going on in
any given situation. Well-designed and -executed re-
search can't rescue a project (and the resulting busi-
ness consequences) if a company fails to define the
problem correctly.
14 PART I
Copyright 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.
the process, especially during problem formulation,
but also at later stages.
The second reason to meet is straightforward.
You must gather as much information as possible
e Meet with client to obtain (1) management about the problem at hand. In particular, you must
statement of problem/opportunity, (2) background get a clear understanding of the problem from the cli-
information, (3) management objectives for research, ent's viewpoint, along with all relevant background
and (4) possible managerial actions to result from information. The broader context is critical, as many
research. people will become very focused on a specific task
(e.g., "I need a taste test") versus the broader is-
e Clarify the problem/opportunity sue (i.e., "We're losing market share"). Without the
by questioning managerial assumptions and gathering broader issue in mind, you can accidentally go down a
additional information from managers and/or others as very specific and possibly incorrect path!
needed. Perform exploratory research as necessary. Here are some questions that are appropriate at
this point:
e State the manager's decision
problem, inclu ding source (planned change e What is the problem or opportun ity yo u're facing
or unplanned change in environment) and type right now? Can or should th is be defined more
(discovery or strategy oriented). broad ly? On the other hand, can it be defined
more narrowly?
e Develop full range of possible
research problems that would address the
e What ca used yo u to notice the problem? Is there
any other evidence or information that you have?
manager's decision problem.
e What factors do you th ink have created th is
e Select research problem(s) that best situation? (Ask"Why?"five times to dive deeper into
address the manager's decision problem, based on an the possible ca uses.)
evaluation of likely costs and benefits of each possible
research problem.
e What is likely to happen if nothing changes in the
next 12 months?
e Prepare and submit research
e What do you hope to accomplish using
request agreement to client. Revise in market research?
consultation with cl ient.
e What actions will you take depend ing upon
you r answers?
Copyright 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
The Project Gutenberg eBook of Told in the
gardens of Araby (untranslated until now)
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United
States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away
or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License
included with this ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you
are not located in the United States, you will have to check the
laws of the country where you are located before using this
eBook.
Language: English
[Contents]
Told in the Gardens of
Araby
By
IZORA CHANDLER
and
MARY W. MONTGOMERY
NEW YORK: EATON & MAINS
CINCINNATI: JENNINGS & GRAHAM
[Contents]
Copyright, 1905, by
EATON & MAINS [3]
[Contents]
CONTENTS
Page
Prelude 5
The Emerald Roc 18
The Story of the Beautiful Girl Who Had Her Wish 44
The Story of the Beautiful One Who Did Not Have Her
Desire 62
Story of the Crying Pomegranate and the Laughing Bear 97
Story of the Bird of Affliction 130
Story of the Water-Carrier 157
Story of the Coffee-Maker’s Apprentice 168
Story of the Candy-Maker’s Apprentice 182
The Crystal Kiosk and the Diamond Ship 203
[5]
[Contents]
Told in the Gardens of Araby
PRELUDE
Time is not given in which to explain that a mild gait is preferred; for
the Arab boy at once enters into the spirit of his mistress—strikes a
resounding blow upon each snowy flank, with such immediate effect
that the unaccustomed rider slides from her insecure position and
joins in the merriment.
“Alas! the Orient has broken your spirit! It is not like this that in your
own country you would ride. Think you that I do not know?”
Hastily arranging her flowing skirts, the young girl sprang gayly
astride the high, polished saddle; leaned forward and whispered,
“Away! Babash!” During the next few moments, shadow and sunlight
became a swift kaleidoscope of gayety and color. The little animal,
divining what was expected of her, broke into a gallop of whose
madness one never would have dreamed her capable; and which
made it most comical to witness the wild attempts of her [9]poor little
foal at keeping pace, and his bewilderment when, after viewing, with
despair, her disappearance before him, his astonished gaze
discovered her hastening toward him from behind, only to leave him
again, a little farther on.
The air was sprayed with rose water; we reclined upon the cushions.
Quiet restored, the Madame descended and joined us. Coffee was
brought—though not at once; for the moments do not urge, as in the
Occident; they weave themselves, unnoted, into slow and shining
hours. Resting thus, and, later on, tasting the cream tart of whose
deliciousness the half has never been told, it was inevitable that we
should fall into the custom of the country and relate, each to the
others, tales of our native lands.
Then how should this be other than a land for reverie? Certain hours
of every day are witness to the sun’s terrible triumph. Its atmosphere
becomes of intolerable sultriness. Its climate renders the people
indolent in action, while permitting their intellects to remain keen and
their passions lively. They have, moreover, quick sense of the
ludicrous; a childish, untutored taste for practical jokes; a refinement
of cunning, and, often seemingly asleep, in reality they never lose
their sagacity. Only when in dispute are their voices and actions
unsubdued. As a rule, they are not good in conversation; any point is
made clear by the relation of some parallel tale; and always the men
are ready to loiter and to loaf.
Although the dairy life of the women is enriched with the arts of
cookery and exquisite needlework, it must become monotonous.
They are passionately fond of the open air; but their fullest
enjoyment of it consists in reclining upon rug and cushion, beneath
some fragrant shade, while their slow, indolent eyes traverse the
beauty of garden, sea, or sky, and the ear is soothed with some story
which, at the same time, stirs the sense, gives wing to imagination,
and satisfies the inaction of their present by calling up [13]visions of
far-away activities, perhaps aided by the unseen and unknown.
One, for whom character needs not to consist in eternal effort, must
find great charm in these people, with their childish love for the
passing hour and readiness to give or accept friendliness. Often the
youths are of ideal beauty. Usually the men are well built, healthful,
abstemious. Always the women are splendidly robust and
handsome. Nearly everyone is unmalicious, gentle in temper,
leisurely—nay, more—loitering. Nobody is in a hurry. He who hastes
is viewed with suspicion. Even punctuality in the payment of dues is
decried; and no shopkeeper, worthy of a booth in the bazaar, will
permit a customer to depart until after bewildering his sight with the
most gorgeous properties upon the shelves. Should an unwary
shopper ask the price of any article or permit his eye to linger upon
it, coffee is at once served and the business call becomes a visit of
ceremony.
However somber this life, the pious Moslem finds content in letting
his mind dwell upon the bliss of that life beyond. He is profoundly
submissive in the presence of death; accepts its coming with
unquestioning resignation, since his Edjel—appointed death hour—
and that of his beloved ones, was decreed by Allah and invisibly
inscribed upon the [15]brow at birth. Dying means that one is bidden,
by “the Cupbearer of the Spheres,” to partake of the joys of
Paradise. Why, then, should one regret the summons?
Devotion is natural to him. Five times each day does the dweller in
village or city obey a call to prayer—even though the muezzin who
cries may be far from holy and his intrigues furnish the point for
many a tale. According to Lady Blunt, “nothing gives so much
distinction, in this land, as regular attendance at prayers.” The name
of Allah enters into every bargain, greeting, or conflict. To the really
faithful, every living creature has some spiritual significance. The
killing of a dog may cost a man many bushels of grain—perchance,
his life. The stork and swallow are sacred. Even the unclean vulture
must not be slain. His body is the abode of some sinful soul; and, if
the bird be killed, the poor soul forever must perish.
Each tribe, in this Land of Ishmael, claims descent from some one of
the three members of Abraham’s family; and insists that social and
religious status were overthrown by Mohammed, when he subjected
them to his version of the law of the One God. To this it may be
added that there are those who believe that the enmity of Christians
against the Jews prevented the great prophet from adopting the
Christian faith.
Upon his possession of Arabia does the Sultan base his title of
Caliph. With the downfall of those [17]rulers came a relapse into the
former separate chieftaincies; so that every valley, between desert
and coast, or mountain range, now supports its wandering band. For
this reason, these people love that the stories told them should
concern that time of the Caliphs; when the country flourished as
never before or after.
Perhaps it will be well to begin these stories from the Orient with a
relation of cruel intrigue and of patient revenge, aided by potent,