‘Vol. V, No. 8.] Some Persian Folk-lore Stories. 289 
[NV.S.] 
‘seen anything, with the exception of the various roads 
‘‘ which cut and intersect each other. Thus I was sO 
‘* fortunate as Pietro della Valle,! who said that he had there 
“seen a great chamber, somewhat raised in the form of a 
‘‘ resembled it; but I do not on that account reject *the 
‘evidence of that celebrated traveller; for I believe that 
‘‘ there are many extraordinary discoveries to be made under 
‘* these mountains, and that there must be very much more 
‘* than what I saw. 
‘The people of the country believe it so, and they assure 
‘‘ one that this passage continues for more than six leagues, 
‘ that it leads to the subterranean tombs at the burial hill, 
‘‘ which is two leagues distant, to chambers full of treasure, 
‘“and even that is not the end. They appear to be quite 
‘convinced of the existence of these treasures, and to be 
““ greatly fascinated by them; but they add at the same time, 
that all these subterranean passages are a labyrinth, that 
many who have ventured into them have perished, and that 
‘* there is no way of attaining to the treasure. The eadman 
‘“‘of Mirkaskoun, which is a village situated about half a 
sé 
ee 
ce 
within himself: ‘Why kill myself, which means being 
fe irrevocably lost? Would it not be preferable to try my luck 
3 this House of Idols?’ (The Persians thus ! 
temples where there are statues or carvi ‘ Kveryon 
: treasures. If I am more lucky than the others who have 
# attempted to penetrate them in the past, I will pay the 
, wing, and I shall be rich for ever: and if I remain in them 
“like the others, I can but die, and that I am already 
1 I have looked up this reference, and, after careful consideration 
Pi & some t confused account, have come to the conclusion that 
letro della Valle undoubtedly refers to the fire temple standing at the 
foot of the tombs of the Naqsh-i-Rustam,-and to which his description 
1s fully applicable.—C. M. G. 
