930 



PERSIA, OR IRAN. 



hands, and then raise them to the forehead. The king, however, and great officers, are saluted 

 by thrice bowing to the ground. There is much difference between the manner of hfe and 

 character of the inhabitants of the towns and the country. The latter are brave and hardy, 

 while the former are timid and effeminate. The females are generally instructed in reading, 

 embroidery, and household aflairs, of which they have the sole management. 



The Persian amusements are hunting, which they follow with great zeal, and various exhibi- 

 tions of dancing, juggling, story-telling, &c. Antelopes are hunted with hawks and grey- 

 hounds. The hawk alights upon the head, disordering the motions of the antelope, which the 

 hound is therefore able to overtake. Education is generally diffused in Persia. Children, 

 generally, can read and write ; but there is little instruction in the higher branches. The arts 

 and sciences have hardly an existence. The most general and popular literature is comprised 

 in poems and romantic tales. Ferdoosee, Hafiz, and Saadi are poets, admired in European 

 translations, and the two former are as well known to the common people as Burns to the same 

 class in Scotland. The religion is the Mahometan, but the Persians are of the sects of Ali, or 

 Sheeahs. They believe that Ali, and not Omar, was the rightful successor of Mahomet. 

 There is also some slight difference, in form, as in the manner of prostration, &c., which engen- 

 der much hatred between the Persians and Turks. Soofeeism, a sort of mystical creed, that 

 accommodates itself to all forms of religion, is gradually undermining Mahometanism in Per- 

 sia, while it leaves nothing definable in its place. There are few Armenian, Nestorian, Ja- 

 cobite, and Catholic Christians. There is a Catholic Mission, but few converts are made. 

 The Persians, however, seem more easy to be led to a better creed than the other Asiatics. 

 They willingly discuss the merits of different religions, and are thus open to conviction, and 

 may be enabled to choose the best. The Parsees or Guebres are called Fire Worshippers, 

 because they venerate fire as the emblem of the Supreme Being ; their sacred book is called 

 the Zendevesta ; it teaches, that from the Supreme Being or the Eternal One, have emanated 

 Ariman, the genius of evil, and Oromaz the genius of good. 



Polygamy, as in other Mahometan countries, is general with the wealthy ; for the poor can 

 generally support but one wife. Marriages are generally contracted by the parents, while the 

 parties are young. After funerals, the friends of the deceased mourn 40 days, during which they 

 leave viands on the grave for the angels, who are supposed to watch it. They also expostulate 

 with the dead for having died. The government of Persia is an absolute, oriental despotism, 

 with the absurd and peculiar feature, that the edicts of the monarch are unchangeable. He can- 

 not alter them himself, so that he is bound by nothing but his own edicts.* The laws are 

 founded on the precepts of the Koran. Sanguinary and barbarous punishments are common. 

 The higher classes of people are punished frequently by mutilation or loss of eyes, and the slight 



next you visit the palace ? Perhaps from your favor plen- 

 ty may flow to me, and from your patronage I may attain 

 dignity and honor. 



Withdraw not from the friendship of the honorable ; 



Abandon not the support of the elect.' 



" The heart of the Sultan's crum-eater was melted by 

 this pathetic address ; she promised her new friend should 

 accompany her on the next visit to the palace. The latter, 

 overjoyed, went down immediately from the terrace, and 

 communicated every particular to the old woman, who ad- 

 dressed her with the following counsel : 



" ' Be not deceived, my dearest friend, with the worldly 

 language you have listened to; abandon not your corner 

 of content, for the cup of the covetous is only to be filled 

 by the dust of the grave ; and the eye of cupidity and hope 

 can only be closed by the needle of mortality and the 

 thread of fate. 



It is content that makes men rich : 

 Mark this, ye avaricious, who traverse the world ; 

 He neither knows nor pays adoration to his God, 

 Who is dissatisfied with his condition and fortune.' 



But the expected feast had taken such possession of poor 

 puss's imagination, that the medicinal counsel of the old 

 woman was thrown away. 



'The good advice of all the world is like wind in a cage. 

 Or water in a sieve, when bestowed on the headstrong.' 



" To conclude, next day, accompanied by hnr com- 



panion, the half-starved cat hobbled to the Sultan s palace. 

 Before this unfortunate wretch came, as it is decreed, that 

 the covetous shall be disappointed, an extraordinary event 

 had occurred, and, owing to her evil destiny, the water of 

 disappointment was poured on the flame of her immature 

 ambition. The case was this ; a whole legion of cats had, 

 the day before, surrounded the feast, and made so much 

 noise, that they disturbed the guests, and in consequence 

 the Sultan had ordered, that some archers, armed with 

 bows, from Tartary, should, on this day, be concealed, and 

 that whatever cat advanced into the field of valor, covered 

 with the shield of audacity, should, on eating the first 

 morsel, be overtaken with their arrows. The old dame's 

 puss was not aware of this order. The moment the flavor 

 of the viands reached her, she flew, like an eagle to the 

 place of her prey. 



" Scarcely had the weight of a mouthful been placed in 

 the scale to balance her hunger, when a heart-dividing ar 

 row pierced her breast. 



A stream of blood rushed from the wound. 

 She fled, in dread of death, after having exclaimed, 

 ' Should I escape from this terrific archer, 

 1 will be satisfied with my mouse and the miserable hut 



of my old mistress. 

 My soul rejects the honey if accompanied by the sting. 

 Content, with the most frugal fare, is preferable.' ' 



* The preamble of a treaty with Great Britain styles 

 the Persian monarch the " High King, whose court is like 

 that of Solomon ; the asylum nf the world ; the sign of the 



