PERSIAN FISHING 51 



grappling hooks, have been adopted or adapted. In modem 

 Arabic itself these words are not used for a fish-hook : balugh, 

 a foreign term, prevails, 



(B) In Persian, Arabic, and Turkish ^ the expression to fish, 

 literally translated, equals to hunt fish, and generally describes 

 a man who makes his living by netting, and selhng fish. 



(C) There is no word for fishing-rod in Wollaston's great 

 English-Persian Dictionary. 



(D) Proverbs are usually the offspring and embodiment of 

 the life and occupations of a nation. In both ancient and 

 modern Persian there is, as far as I know, but one proverb — 

 and that rather contemptful — allusive to fish or fishing. It 

 runs, " Thou shall not make a fish thine enemy," which probably 

 signifies that no foe, however unlikely to injure, can be despised. 



(E) In the experiences related to me by the Rev. Dr. St. Clair 

 Tisdall, and by the late Sir Frank Lascelles, Netting ousts 

 AngUng. 



The former : 2 " 'Though I have hved in Persia for many 

 years and have travelled through it from Sea to Sea, from the 

 Persian Gulf to the Caspian, I have never seen a fish-hook in 

 a Persian's hands. In the districts I know best, the Net is the 

 only weapon." 



The second, when our Minister at Teheran, on his first 

 holiday went a-fishing. Having caught on a likely stream 

 before supper three or four half-pound trout (I think), he 

 anticipated next day pleasant sport. With the very early 

 morning came not Remorse, but the local Sheikh to do his 

 reverence and to make the customary present. " As I have 

 heard that His Great Excellency worked hard for a few fish 

 last night, my tribesmen have netted the river for the length 

 of a parasang, and I bring you plenty of fish." Tableau ! 

 Hasty flight of Sir Frank to another river, with like results ! 



Reasons both of date and data prevent my including the 



1 Modern Turkish contains ^(according to Dr. Tisdall) two genuine old 

 Turkish words for fish-hook, (i) Oltah, {2) ZSngah. This is of great interest, 

 for it goes far to show that the Turks, even before leaving Central Asia, were 

 familiar with Angling. 



* To him, a high authority on Persia, not only from the many years spent 

 there but also from his great linguistic accomplishments, I am greatly in debt 

 for much of the foregoing. 



