A TALK ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS WOMEN 



851 



ing the tracks made by the passage of 

 caravans during the centuries. 



It will be understood from what has 

 gone before that hotels must be bad, if 

 not non-existent, and indeed the ordinary 

 caravanserai, swarming with vermin, 

 with only openings in its walls in place 

 of doors and windows, with no furni- 

 ture of any description, and hardly any 

 food, : would appall any one unaccus- 

 tomed to Eastern travel. 



The Persian is of Aryan stock, and 

 has the same words as ourselves for 

 father, mother, brother, and daughter 

 (pidar, madar, hradar, and duklitar), and 

 the construction of his language is like 

 that of EngHsh. 



He is a handsome, well-built man, with 

 regular features and fine black eyes, his 

 complexion being no darker than that of 

 an Italian. In manner he is most courte- 

 ous ; he is quick, alert, fond of conversa- 

 tion and discussion, and has been rightly 

 called the Frenchman of the East. 



Persia has been a Mohammedan coun- 

 try from the time of its conquest by the 

 Arabs, in 641 ; but some thousands of 

 Zoroastrians, the old fire-worshipers, still 

 remain in the land, and have been much 

 persecuted. 



THE AUTOCRAT OF THE HOUSEHOLD 



In order to understand Persian domes- 

 tic life at the present day, we must carry 

 ourselves back to patriarchal times. The 

 Persian is lord and master of his house 

 much as was Abraham or Jacob. He 

 has enormous power over the persons of 

 his wives, children, and dependants, all 

 of whom he can treat much as he pleases. 



When a woman is handed over to her 

 husband with her dowry, he regards her 

 far more as a chattel than as a wife. 

 She may never show her face to any man 

 save her husband and near relatives, and, 

 owing to the extreme seclusion in which 

 she lives, it is most difficult for her to 

 get justice should she be ill-treated. 

 There are certain laws for her benefit in 

 such cases as that of divorce, but these 

 are only enforced when a man divorces 

 his wife. 



If the case be reversed and the woman 



PERSIAN MUSICIANS 



carries her slipper to the judge and de- 

 mands separation from her husband, the 

 latter is not obliged to refund the dowry 

 that he received with her. 



Brutal husbands who wish to be rid 

 of their wives and yet retain their dowry 

 sometimes ill-use them in order to force 

 them to sue for a divorce themselves. 



If a man is angered with his wife and 

 says three times, ''I divorce you !" he 

 has legally severed himself from her, 

 and, should he desire to have her back 

 again, she will be obliged to marry and 

 then be divorced by another man. 



The happiness and position of a Per- 

 sian woman usually depends upon her 

 children. Her great wish is to present 

 her lord with sons. "He that has no son 

 has no light in his eyes" is a well-known 

 saying, and a man feels that he is dis- 

 graced if he has no heir to carry on his 



