Singer Among the Ruins

Jerash, about an hour's ride northwest of Jordan's capital, Amman, is famous for its Greco-Roman ruins that were once stadiums where gladiators battled and chariot races were held; baths, and amphitheaters. Colonnades border roads paved with stones connect the various sites. One has to wonder when seeing these ruins, the columns still standing, the ornate scrollwork in evidence: How did the Romans build these places? It's a bit like walking onto the set of Ben Hur, Spartacus, or, of course, Gladiator. At one of those amphitheaters, several boys were sitting in the shade of a column up toward the top of the theater, the row for plebeians. It was a warm spring day, and they seemed, at

first, to be a bit bored. They clearly weren't tourists but locals. Why weren't they in school? No idea. Then I would learn why they were where they were. They were lying in wait for tourists to come along. When my wife and I did, one of the boys—he was maybe twelve—went down to the stage and began to sing a verse from the Holy Quran. His voice was filled with emotion, strong and moving. He wasn't just performing. His expression and his voice indicated that he felt something in his spiritual heart. The boy attracted the attention of other tourists, who, when the boy finished singing, applauded and gave him a few dinars. And then along came a professional tour guide, followed by a pack of tourists who had come off of one of the many buses parked in the lot before the entrance to the ruins. The guide shoved the boy aside and began to lecture the tourists on the history of the amphitheater. What did it matter, watching a boy sing when he had tourists to lecture to and a schedule to keep before the next bus of tourists arrived?