A TALK ABOUT PERSIA AND ITS WOMEN 853 



name. When a child is about to come 

 j into the world two cradles and two little 

 I suits of clothing are in readiness. If a 

 boy make his appearance he is placed in 

 a silken bed and clad in beautifully em- 

 broidered garments ; but if a girl should 

 arrive to her falls the cotton cradle and 

 the common attire. Her nurse goes in 

 fear and trembling to break the news to 

 the father, who may, in his anger, order 

 the luckless woman to be bastinadoed 

 instead of giving her the gift that would 

 have been her due had she announced 

 the birth of a son. From the moment 

 of his entrance into the world, through- 

 out his entire life and even in the here- 

 after, the Persian man has decidedly the 

 best of everything and the woman the 

 worst. 



MOUIvDING THJ: CHARACTe:R 01^ THE) 

 YOUTH 



The man of well-to-do parents receives 

 his education from a mulla, or priest, 

 who teaches him to read and write, and 

 to recite the Koran in Arabic, probably 

 without understanding a word of the 

 Mohammedan bible. At about eight 

 years of age he is more or less separated 

 from the women, and now practically 

 lives with his father and with the latter's 

 men friends, being in the charge of serv- 

 ants who teach him to ride and to shoot. 



His dress is that of his father's in 

 miniature — the brimless astrakhan hat, 

 the European trousers, the frock coat 

 much kilted at the waist, the vest of 

 Kerman shawl, and often the elastic- 

 sided boots. He will accompany his 

 father when visiting, and soon learns the 

 elaborate code of Persian etiquette, being 

 careful to address royalties, officials, 

 church dignitaries, merchants, and so on 

 by their proper titles, and deal out to 

 each the right amount of courtly phrase. 

 He will be told to speak of himself as 

 the haudeh or slave of any superior, but 

 will be warned that it is considered sar- 

 casm if he gives to any man more com- 

 pliment than is his due. 



The "strenuous life" finds no favor in 

 Persia, the ideal of a young Persian 

 being to act as a hanger-on at court, or 

 to be included in the suite of some gov- 



WII.D SHKKP SHOT BY MR SYKES 



ernor of a province or high official, such 

 sinecures being spoken of as "doing 

 service". 



The Persian, however, is a fearless 

 rider and a keen sportsman. He loves 

 to gallop his horse at its fullest speed, 

 digging the points of his shovel-shaped 

 stirrups into its ribs to urge it to yet 

 greater efforts ; and then he will pull it 

 up suddenly with the severe Persian bit. 

 Or he will take part in a gazelle hunt, 

 making one of a large circle of horse- 

 men, who gradually hem in a small herd 

 of these shy animals, drawing closer and 

 closer until the terrified aim attempt to 

 break through the ring. Then the sports- 

 men fire at their quarry, Persians being 

 so reckless in moments of excitement 

 that sometimes the riders get shot instead 

 of the game. 



To climb the mountains after the ibex 

 and wild sheep is the hardest form of 

 sport, and hawking and partridge shoot- 

 ing are also favorite amusements. Noth- 

 ing, however, comes amiss to the gun of 

 a Persian, who will bring down a crow 

 or any small "cockyolly" bird if no better 

 game is to hand. 



The well-to-do Persian is roused be- 

 fore sunrise by the call of the muezsin 

 summoning all men to prayer. He 

 throws aside the padded quilts that form 

 his bed, hastily dons his garments, and 

 exchanges the felt skull-cap in which he 



