PERSIAN FISHING 51 
grappling hooks, have been adopted or adapted. In modern 
Arabic itself these words are not used for a jish-hook: baligh, 
a foreign term, prevails. 
(B) In Persian, Arabic, and Turkish ! the expression to jish, 
literally translated, equals to hunt fish, and generally describes 
a man who makes his living by netting, and selling 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 
Angling. 
The former: 2 “ ’Though I have lived 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, (1) Oltah, (2) Zéngah. This is of great interest, 
for it goes far to show that the Turks, even before leaving Central Asia, were 
familiar with Angling. 
2 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. 
