1882.] Hajji Baba in England. 603 



running curiosity to see what,, in particular positions, particular people 

 -will think and do. 



The work sets out with the nomination of Hajji Baba, as appointed 

 and peculiar officer of the Persian shah, to select and take up in the 

 provinces of his master's empire, a collection of presents which are to 

 accompany an embassy to the king of England. These gifts are to 

 consist (as becomes the honour of the shah and the purpose of the 

 embassy) of the choicest specimens of art and splendour that Persia can 

 afford, and especially of such matters as are likely to be acceptable to the 

 illustrious monarch for whose use they are designed. Horses are 

 among the gifts ; and even a mare ; that " the blessing of a race of 

 horses may be perpetuated to those (the English) who now only possess 

 jades/' and that, " instead of grovelling, as hitherto, in the mud, they 

 may be carried on high with their heads in the fifth heaven." Full 

 dress suits are also constructed " for the queen of the Franks, similar to 

 those worn by the banou of the royal Persian harem," with " collyrium 

 for the eyes, khennah for staining the hands and feet, jewels for the 

 nose and jewels for the ears, pins for the shirt, a zone for the waist, and 

 rings for fingers as well as toes." Pearls travel to deck the person 

 of the king of England, and " turquoises to protect him from the evil 

 eye." Slaves of all descriptions, including, particularly, " a woman of 

 Ethiopia, who had acquired the peculiar habit of living almost without 

 sleep .; and when she did sleep, it was with her eyes open ; so that at 

 night, at the door of the shah of England's chamber, she would keep 

 watch better than the fiercest lion ; she was also warranted not to 

 snore ; a quality in a watching slave highly esteemed in Persia/' And, 

 besides this lady, " a pehlivan, or prize-fighter, a negro, whose teeth 

 were filed into saws, of a temper as ferocious as his aspect, who could 

 throw any man of his weight to the ground, carry a jackass, devour a 

 sheep whole, eat fire, and make a fountain of his inside, so as to act as a 

 spout/' To these wonders are added to crown the whole an eunuch 

 dwarf, the most horrible of all Persia in aspect, " who was the most 

 vindictive, spiteful, and inexorable, of his species, as watchful as a 

 lynx, and as wary as a jackal:'' and with whom the guardianship of the 

 king of England's harem would be complete j for, when- his features 

 were set in motion, and at the same time he exerted his voice, it was 

 positive that " no woman be she demon or angel could, even for one 

 moment, dare to oppose him." 



These presents, according to Persian etiquette, previous to their 

 transmission to Frangistan, are submitted to the inspection of the 

 English ambassador resident at the court of the Shah ; and immense 

 surprise is created when that officer suggests that " the slaves will none 

 of them be acceptable." The refusal of the pehlivan whose praises the 

 Persian minister sums up in one sentence " Why, he is an animal to 

 keep in a stable !" seems quite incomprehensible ; but the objection to 

 the eunuch dwarf, and the statement that the King of England does 

 .not lock up his wife and moreover that he has but one, creates a burst 

 of merriment and incredulity through the court, " La illdhah illallah !" 

 cries the vizier: astonished even into forgetfulness of the place in which 

 he stands " only one wife? Suppose he gets tired of her, what then?" 

 The delight, however, expressed at the gift ,pf the horses, somewhat 

 covers these disappointments. The English ambassador is luckily t( no 

 great judge; and, therefore, the animals which a Persian would most 



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