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diff --git a/old/62628-0.txt b/old/62628-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index fbcd13b..0000000 --- a/old/62628-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,3186 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Children of Persia, by Mrs. Napier Malcolm - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Children of Persia - -Author: Mrs. Napier Malcolm - -Release Date: July 12, 2020 [EBook #62628] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHILDREN OF PERSIA *** - - - - -Produced by D A Alexander, David E. Brown, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - -CHILDREN OF PERSIA - - - - -_Uniform with this Volume_ - - - CHILDREN OF INDIA - By JANET HARVEY KELMAN - - CHILDREN OF CHINA - By C. CAMPBELL BROWN - - CHILDREN OF AFRICA - By JAMES B. BAIRD - - CHILDREN OF ARABIA - By JOHN CAMERON YOUNG - - CHILDREN OF JAMAICA - By ISABEL C. MACLEAN - - CHILDREN OF JAPAN - By JANET HARVEY KELMAN - - CHILDREN OF EGYPT - By L. CROWTHER - - CHILDREN OF CEYLON - By THOMAS MOSCROP - -[Illustration: PERSIAN SHEPHERD BOY] - - - - - CHILDREN OF PERSIA - - BY - - MRS NAPIER MALCOLM - - - WITH EIGHT COLOURED ILLUSTRATIONS - - [Illustration] - - - FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY - NEW YORK CHICAGO TORONTO - - - - -MY DEAR BOYS AND GIRLS, - -This is a book about Persia, intended to be read by children; and, on -this account, much has had to be left out. Do not think, when you have -read this book, that you know how bad Muhammadanism is, for a great -deal of its sin and cruelty is too terrible to tell to young folks. But -I hope enough has been said to show you that Persian children do need -to be rescued from Muhammadanism and brought to the Lord Jesus Christ -to be His children. He needs them and they need Him. So for His sake -and theirs we must do all we can to win the Persians for Christ. - - I am, - Your sincere friend, - U. MALCOLM. - - BROUGHTON, MANCHESTER, 1911. - - - - -CONTENTS - - - PAGE - - I. MUHAMMAD 7 - - II. PERSIA 11 - - III. PERSIAN BABIES 18 - - IV. PERSIAN CLOTHES 24 - - V. PERSIAN GAMES AND TOYS 31 - - VI. PERSIAN SWEETS 36 - - VII. PERSIAN PRAYERS 41 - - VIII. FASTING AND PILGRIMAGES 47 - - IX. SAVĀBS 52 - - X. MUHAMMADAN CHARMS AND SUPERSTITIONS 58 - - XI. PERSIAN SCHOOLS 62 - - XII. CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS 69 - - XIII. WORK 74 - - XIV. CHILD WIVES 79 - - XV. SICK CHILDREN 84 - - XVI. CONCLUSION 92 - - - - -ILLUSTRATIONS - - - PAGE - - PERSIAN SHEPHERD BOY _Frontispiece_ - - A STREET OF SHOPS 15 - - A BABY IN HAMMOCK 20 - - LADIES’ OUT-DOOR AND IN-DOOR COSTUMES 25 - - PERSIANS AT PRAYER 43 - - READING THE QURAN TO THE SICK 58 - - A PERSIAN SCHOOL 64 - - A MISSION HOSPITAL 90 - - - - -CHILDREN OF PERSIA - - - - -CHAPTER I - -MUHAMMAD - - -Before we look at the Persian children of to-day, let us go back nearly -thirteen and a half centuries to the year of our Lord 570, and take a -look at two adjoining countries in Europe and two adjoining countries -in Asia. - -In Western Scotland, St Columb is teaching the people Christianity, and -is writing out copy after copy of the Bible, until tradition tells that -he copied it out three hundred times. - -In England the heathen Saxons are conquering the Midlands and crushing -out the Christianity of the Britons. - -In Persia there is a Christian Church, but most of the people are -Zoroastrians, that is, they belong to the Parsee religion. They worship -God and believe in a prophet called Zoroaster, who lived long before -the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, and so knew nothing about Him. He -seems to have taught his people much that was very good, but their -religion has become full of superstitions. - -Lastly, we must go to Arabia, where a Muhammadan legend describes a -curious scene. - -A number of Arab women are riding into the town of Mecca. Their animals -are weary and very thin and weak, for it is a year of famine. Last -of all comes a woman with a crying baby, riding on the thinnest and -most miserable looking donkey of all the company. They are nurses from -the healthiest part of Arabia, come to find children to take home and -nurse, each hoping to get the child of a wealthy man, who will pay her -well, and give her handsome presents. - -They are not long kept waiting. The babies are brought out, and -questioning and bargaining begin. One baby is not popular--the -whisper goes round that it is an orphan--there is no father to give -presents--the grandfather who is looking for a nurse will surely not -do much for it. And so one after another all the women refuse the -baby, and the old man begins to despair of success. All the women have -found nurslings except one, the woman who rode in last. She, too, has -refused the orphan, but now, seeing no hope of a better bargain, rather -than have taken her journey for nothing, she tells the old man she has -changed her mind, and carries the baby home. And the story runs that -the thin weak donkey that could hardly drag itself along as it entered -Mecca, ran along so nimbly on the way home that the rest could scarcely -keep up with it. - -The orphan baby was Muhammad, the founder of the religion called -after him Muhammadanism. Some of the details of this story (told by -a Muhammadan writer) are probably quite untrue. Little Muhammad’s -grandfather was known to be very rich and in a very high position, and -if the baby was refused it was probably because he was a sickly child, -and would be difficult to rear. However, in due course he grew bigger, -and came home to his mother, and after her death lived with his old -grandfather, who thought all the world of him. - -Mecca was an interesting town to live in, for once a year pilgrims from -all parts of Arabia came to the great idol temple, and little Muhammad -would see all there was to be seen, for his grandfather kept the keys -and superintended everything. - -When his grandfather died he went to live with his uncle, who used -to take him on business journeys, going through the wide deserts to -distant towns with long strings of camels loaded with goods to sell. -So the boy grew up a good man of business and saw much of foreign -countries and something of foreign religions, Christianity, Judaism, -and Parsiism, and he grew discontented with his own country and his own -religion. - -All the great peoples round worshipped one God. Surely Arabia would -be a better and greater country if it did the same. All the great -religions had a prophet and a book. The Christians had Jesus Christ -and the Gospel, the Jews had Moses and the Law, even the Parsees had -Zoroaster and his book the Zend Avesta. Surely what the Arabs needed -was a prophet and a book. - -Muhammad was not the only person who thought this. There was a group -of people, several of whom were relations of him or of his wife, who -shared this view. Some of them thought that Moses and the Law would be -best for Arabia; but many of them saw that Jesus Christ and the Gospel -were what they needed, and most of these in the end became Christians. -If Muhammad had joined them, the history of the world from then to now -might have been very different. But Muhammad had set his heart on an -Arabian prophet and an Arabian book, and the more he thought of it the -more sure he felt that this was the real way to unity and greatness for -Arabia. - -He himself belonged to the family which took the lead in religious -matters in Arabia, he had always been made much of, and told he would -be a great man; he used to have fits which seemed to him and to others -to mark him out as something out of the common; so it is not surprising -that he at last came to believe that he was to be the new Arabian -prophet who seemed to him to be so badly wanted. His fits began to take -the form of visions, and he believed that the words of the longed for -book were being revealed to him. - -But it was a long time before he came forward publicly, and when he did -he was a good deal laughed at, and only a few became his followers. -Then he got an invitation to the town of Medina, where he had a number -of cousins. The people of Medina were very jealous of Mecca, and all, -whether they believed in him or not, joined in giving Muhammad a great -welcome. - -It was in Medina that Muhammad really founded his religion, and there -he became a very great man. But sad to say, as his religion developed -all its bad points came out, and Muhammad became a very cruel tyrant -and very self-indulgent, excusing himself by saying that God allowed -him, because he was a prophet, to do things which were sinful when -other people did them. - -The people who joined Muhammad’s religion were called Muhammadans or -Muslims, and they went everywhere making as many converts as they -could, by fair means or foul. They had learnt that there was one God, -but they knew nothing of the Bible; they only knew the Quran, the book -which Muhammad was revealing, and they knew nothing of the example of -Jesus Christ: their only example was Muhammad, who was a murderer. - -You may wonder what all this has to do with Persian children. One of -the first countries conquered by the Muhammadans was Persia--and the -Persian children to-day are themselves Muhammadans. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -PERSIA - - -There is a story that when the Muhammadans took Persia and killed the -Parsee king Yazdigird, their _Khalif_ ‘Omar asked Yazdigird’s son where -he would like to live. He said he would like to settle in Persia out -of reach of any cultivated spot. ‘Omar accordingly sent him off with -an escort of soldiers to find a suitable place. After three years he -returned and said he could not find any place such as he had asked for. -‘Omar saw that he was doing all this with some purpose, and asked him -what it was. Yazdigird’s son answered that he wanted to show ‘Omar how -prosperous and well cultivated the land had become in the hands of -the Parsees, and begged him to see to it that it remained so under the -Muhammadans. - -But it did not, and to-day a great deal of Persia has relapsed into -desert. - -In our country all is green, and stones have to be put up to show where -one village ends and the next begins. In most parts of Persia you may -look over the plain and see the villages quite distinct--each a little -green blot on a vast sheet of sand or dry earth. - -The very fruitfulness of the ground makes it less green than it would -otherwise have to be to support the population, for when three crops -can be got off the same piece of land in one year, only a third of -the amount of land that you would expect to be needed to support the -village is under cultivation. - -The villages vary very much. Some count their population by hundreds, -while one village, marked on the map, contains just two families, seven -persons in all, including two children. Their nearest neighbours live -six miles off, over the sand. - -How bare the world must appear to those two little children. Children -here who live in the country can hardly imagine any boundary to the -wonderful green tangle that they can see on every side of them. And -children who live in towns look out every day upon wonderful human -works, which, although they are not as marvellous as God’s country, yet -puzzle them very much as to how they were ever made. With a Persian -child it is quite different. In many places the children do not know -what wild growth is, and if you talk of continuous country, hundred -miles after hundred miles of field and wood and meadow, they think you -are telling an impossible fairy tale. While as for the little town -children, the buildings which they see all round them made of sun-dried -bricks and earth, the barrels and the thousand and one household -utensils formed of exactly the same material, or perhaps of clay very -roughly baked in a primitive kiln, seem to them hardly more artificial -and man-made than the corn in the walled gardens outside the city, -which they see watered twice a week. - -They have a very different life from you and me. - -Little Ahmad was a sturdy, jolly little lad of four when I knew him, -and, though he ought to have known better, he used to call after me (if -his parents were out of hearing) the rhyme so familiar to Europeans in -Persia-- - - _Ferangi, - Chi rang-i, - Palang-i,_ - -which, translated into English, means-- - - European, - What colour art thou? - Thou art a leopard. - -He lived in a really beautiful house, built of sun-dried bricks and -clay, and whitened inside with a smooth coat of plaster of Paris. - -The rooms were large and very nicely furnished with beautiful Persian -carpets, and a mattress and pillows of gay designs, and Ahmad, little -rascal though he was, would never have dreamed of treading on those -carpets with his shoes on; all shoes were left at the door. One small -table for the tea-urn completed the furniture. And upstairs? Upstairs -was the roof, such a lovely large flat roof, Ahmad loved it, and he -often terrified his mother by the way he leaned over the low wall to -look down at the street, for the house had no window looking to the -road. All the windows looked into the garden, which might be said to -be in the middle of the house, for the rooms were built round it. The -windows, too, were all doors; some of the rooms had as many as five -double doors all in a row, and when they were all open the room was -very airy and bright. - -There was no grass, and no gravel path for Ahmad to play on, but there -was a nice wide brick-paved walk all round the garden, which gave him -plenty of room. In the centre were the beds, which were watered by -turning a stream in and flooding them once a week. There were watering -cans, but they were only used for watering the path and roof, and even -the rooms, to keep them cool, not for the flower beds. There was a -large tank, too, in the garden with gold fish in it, where Ahmad loved -to cool his feet on a hot day, and the days can be hot in Persia. - -When it was dinner-time in Ahmad’s home a cloth was spread on the -floor, and he sat on his heels beside it, and had a loaf of bread for a -plate. It was flat and round, and about as thick as a plate, so it did -very well. But he had no spoon or fork. - -One of the things he liked best was rice, and when his mother put a few -handfuls on his bread he would eat it quickly and tidily with one hand, -without spilling any, which is not as easy as it sounds. - -[Illustration: A STREET OF SHOPS] - -Sometimes Ahmad went out for a walk in the town with his father, or -with his mother and a servant, and he passed along streets that had -not any names, and by houses that had not any names or numbers. There -was no pavement except sometimes a narrow strip in the middle of the -road for the mules and donkeys. There were no gardens in front of the -houses, there were no windows facing the road, all he saw was a sandy -road with a high mud wall on each side, and a heavy wooden door here -and there, the front door of a house. - -Sometimes they came to a “_bāzār_” or street of shops. Here the -street was covered over with a mud roof so that goods and sellers and -purchasers might keep cool in hot weather and dry in wet weather. He -did not need to go into the shops, for the counters were all along the -street and there were no windows. - -When the summer was getting very hot, it was decided that Ahmad and all -his family should go for a summer holiday to a village in the hills. - -What a packing up there was! They packed the carpets, they packed the -beds, they packed the kettles and saucepans. Then a number of mules -were brought to the door and such a shouting and bustle began as the -loads were roped together, two and two, and slung across the big padded -pack-saddles. One mule carried two great covered panniers and these -were filled with cushions, and Ahmad’s great-grandmother got into one, -and his mother got into the other to balance her, and they pulled the -curtains well over the front, so that no one might see them. Ahmad -himself sat in front of a servant who held him safe, and some of the -bedding made a nice broad soft seat for them on the mule’s back. At -last all the mules were ready with their loads and off they set through -the streets, and soon they found themselves outside the town, going -mile after mile across the bare desert plain. This went on for fifteen -miles and then they reached a large village at the foot of the hills. -They had been riding five hours and were tired and hungry, so they -dismounted at the _caravansarai_ or inn. One of the servants took a -carpet off one of the loads and got a cloth and some food wrapped up -in a large handkerchief out of the saddlebags and spread a meal on the -ground, while another got the tea-urn and charcoal, boiled the water -and made the tea. After a few hours’ rest on the roof, the shouting and -loading began again and off they went, up the hill, which was terribly -steep in some places. Now they saw scattered and stunted plants growing -here and there, and finally, after another seven hours, they reached -their summer holiday quarters in a little hill village. - -How Ahmad enjoyed the hills and fields and trees, the flowers and birds -and butterflies. A little brook ran down the valley and on either side -were cornfields and orchards and gardens, as many as the brook could -provide water for. And at night Ahmad would hear the shouting, as ‘Ali -Muhammad declared that Husain had had his fair share of water and now -it was his turn to have it for his orchard. For water is very precious -in Persia, and must be made the greatest possible use of, day and night -alike. - -But the little children who live in the village are not so fortunate -as little Ahmad. They work all the summer at gardening, shepherding, -and other work; but in winter they have to stay in, and they live -upstairs and their sheep and goats downstairs. But the stairs are -outside and sometimes it is too cold for them even to go down to feed -the animals. If they can they make a little fire of sticks in the -oven, which is only a deep, round hole in the floor, and when the -flame has died down they sit round with their legs hanging into the -oven and cover over the opening to keep it warm as long as possible. -One very severe winter there was a report current in the town that in -this village the water was all frozen and that the animals were dying -because there was not enough fuel to melt the ice and give them water. -The poor children must have had a very hard time that winter. - -Even in the town Ahmad is one of the fortunate children. Little Soghra -had a very different home. She lived with her grandmother in a single -small room. The floor was mud, covered in one place by a small ragged -piece of coarse matting. On this the grandmother lay, for she was old -and ill. The bedclothes were filthy and torn. One side of the room was -filled with a pile of pomegranate skins, which are used for making dye, -and there were several fowls wandering about. There was no furniture, -nothing but a few old pots and cups and a waterbottle. And yet Soghra -was a cheery little girl, and she and her grandmother were very fond of -each other. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -PERSIAN BABIES - - -A Persian baby--what a funny little mortal! It looks for all the world -like a little mummy, rolled up in handkerchiefs and shawls till only -its little face peeps out, and tied up with a long strip of braid -exactly like a parcel tied up with string. Hasn’t it got any arms and -legs? Oh, yes, safely put away inside all those wrappings and put away -carefully too--straightened out and rolled up so thoroughly that it -will stand up stiff and straight against the wall though it is only a -week old. - -How surprised and shocked the Persian mothers are to see the English -babies kicking and throwing their arms about. “O Khanum, aren’t you -afraid its limbs will grow crooked? Why don’t you bind them straight? -Aren’t you afraid its legs will get broken if you leave them loose like -that?” - -So at its very start on life’s journey the poor little Persian baby is -checked and prevented from growing up properly; for how can its little -legs grow strong without kicking? It is no wonder that Persian babies -as a rule learn to walk much later than English babies. - -But perhaps the Persians are not quite so foolish as they seem when -they roll their babies up in these stiff little bundles. Very likely -the little arms and legs _would_ be broken or bent if they were left -loose, for many of the Persian mothers are very young--much too young -to know how to look after babies. They often treat them like dolls and -would very likely break them just as English girls break their dolls. - -Even the grown-up mothers are often very careless. One woman I knew -laid her baby, not quite a year old, on a chair, and left it there. Of -course it fell off--it was sure to; and yet she did this over and over -again, and a few days later dropped it into a stream of water. She was -very much surprised that it began to have fits at this time, and she -said she could think of nothing to account for them. - -A new missionary, who did not know the ways of Persians, went one day -to see another woman and found her in bed, that is, lying on a mattress -on the floor under a large quilt. Her friends invited the missionary to -sit on the quilt beside her, for they do not use chairs in most Persian -houses. After she had sat for some time she enquired for the baby. They -pointed to a little lump in the quilt, and there, close beside her, -entirely covered up and invisible, was the baby, and it gave the poor -missionary a terrible shock to see how near she had been to sitting -down upon it. After that, she always asked to see the baby before she -sat down. - -A baby less than a week old was brought one day to the Julfa hospital -with its face badly torn by a cat. A few days later the doctor went -into the ward and found the mother smoking and gossiping with the other -women, but the baby was nowhere to be seen. “Where is the baby?” “It -is all right,” said the mother; “I put it _under the bed_.” And sure -enough, a little way off, under a bed (this time an English bed) lay -the poor little bundle, its arms bound to its sides, only its little -face exposed, or rather half-exposed, for the torn half was covered -with a dressing, while close at hand there prowled in search of food a -large half-wild cat, which frequented the hospital and had slipped in -at an open door.[A] - -When they get a little older the babies are laid in broad comfortable -leather hammocks slung between rings let into the walls of the room. -Most Persian rooms have these rings in the walls. These hammocks save -the Persian mothers a great deal of trouble, for a single push will set -the hammock swinging for a long time and keep the baby quiet or send it -to sleep. - -No baby may be left alone in a room till it is forty days old. - -From the very first the baby is given _kaif_ every-day, that is, -something to make it sleep; this _kaif_ is almost invariably opium. -After the first week most babies are also given tea every day, without -milk but with a great deal of sugar in it, or better still sugar-candy. -This is considered specially good for babies, but it takes a long time -to dissolve. Both opium and tea are very bad for the baby’s digestion, -so we are not surprised to find that nearly all Persians suffer from -indigestion. - -[Illustration: A BABY IN HAMMOCK] - -There is one Persian custom connected with babies that boys and girls -of other lands would probably like to introduce into their own -country. The newly-arrived baby is weighed and its weight in sweets is -handed round to the people in the house, and it is supposed to bring -bad luck to the baby if anyone refuses its sweets. Plenty of people -always drop in when they hear that a new baby has arrived. - -Another Persian rule for babies would not please your mothers at all. -After the first bath no baby must be washed all over till it is a -year old. One Persian lady, who was better educated than most, and -had been reading about European ideas on health and cleanliness, told -the missionaries that she was bringing up her little boy just like a -European baby. She said she gave him a bath every day and generally let -him kick instead of tying his legs up to make them straight. She was -delighted and triumphant when, instead of getting crooked, his legs -grew so strong that he walked at about half the usual age. But when -he was nearly a year old his body became covered with sores and the -missionary doctor told the mother to wash them not with ordinary water -in the bath, but with a lotion. “I should never think of washing them -in the bath,” she said. “His body must not be washed till he is a year -old.” “But I thought,” said the doctor, “that you gave him a bath every -day.” “Oh dear no,” she replied; “I don’t wash his _body_. It is his -_legs_ that I wash every day.” - -When a Persian baby learns to talk it begins just like any other baby, -so that the Persians declared with great glee that the English babies -were talking Persian when they said “Baba” and “Dada.” But instead of -“Daddy” and “Mummy” Persian babies call their father and mother _Bābā_ -and _Nana_. - -When the baby is shown to anyone the mother generally remarks that it -is an ugly little thing, and similarly the visitors are expected to -say how ugly and dark it is, though there is no need to say it with -any great conviction. It is possible to say “How ugly you are” just -as affectionately as “You little darling.” But such uncomplimentary -remarks are used to avert bad luck and to guard against any suspicion -of the evil eye. If the visitor makes any complimentary remark she must -add “_Māshā’ allāh_” (_i.e._“May God avert it”), or the parents will be -seriously alarmed, and Baby’s admirer may be held responsible for any -calamity which befalls him for weeks afterwards. - -Bibi Fati was the mother of four dear little children, Rubabeh, Hasan, -Riza, and Sakineh, and very dearly she loved them. One day they were -all gathered together for dinner when in walked a poor old beggar woman -in search of a meal. She was very anxious to please the mother, and -looking round at the children said: “What a nice little family you -have; you are like a hen surrounded by her chickens.” - -Poor Bibi Fati did not feel at all comfortable at such a complimentary -speech and quickly gave the old woman some food and sent her about her -business. - -For a day or two all went well. Then one after another Rubabeh, -Hasan, Riza, and even little Sakineh sickened and died, probably of -some infectious disease, and the poor mother was left childless and -heartbroken. Nothing would convince her and her neighbours that the -old beggar woman had not caused the catastrophe by her admiration. - -Baby girls do not get such a good welcome as baby boys. When little -Ferangīz Khānum was born, her father was staying at a garden a few -miles away, and no one troubled to send him word. “I would have sent a -message if it had been a boy,” said the mother, “but it is not worth -while for a girl. It will do when he comes home next week.” - -Persian fathers and mothers are often very fond of their little girls, -but there is no doubt that they very much prefer boys. The father and -mother, but especially the mother, are often known by the name of their -son, so much so that sometimes the neighbours know them by no other -name than “the father of Hasan,” the “mother of ‘Ali.” - -Perhaps one reason for preferring boys is that the girls marry so -young, just as they might begin to be of some use to their mothers; and -the father has to pay a sum of money to his daughter’s husband on her -marriage. A son, on the other hand, does not generally marry till he is -grown up, and then he almost invariably brings his little wife home and -continues to live with his parents. - -A greater reason is that the Persians are Muhammadans, as you have -already heard, and in a Muhammadan country the men are allowed to treat -the girls and women very badly, and parents who care at all for their -girls must always feel great anxiety as to their future. - -We shall never get the Persians to treat their girls and women much -better till we teach them the religion of our loving Saviour, Who cares -for us all equally and wants us to be equally kind to one another. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -PERSIAN CLOTHES - - -Persian boys and girls are white, almost as white as ourselves, though -they generally have black hair and dark eyes. The chief difference in -appearance between Tommy Jones and ‘Ali Muhammad is that Tommy wears -trousers while ‘Ali Muhammad appears to wear a skirt. Tommy’s sister on -the other hand wears a skirt, and ‘Ali Muhammad’s sister wears trousers. - -The fact is that if ‘Ali Muhammad is a poor boy, his trousers are short -and so very wide as to be practically a divided skirt. Indeed they -catch like a skirt in running, so that if he wants to go fast he pulls -one trouser-leg up out of the way. If he wears a coat at all, it is a -long cotton one, or more probably two long cotton ones, reaching nearly -to his knees and adding to the skirt-like appearance. - -The sons of well-to-do men often wear frock coats with the skirts -pleated all round almost like a kilt, so that in spite of their longer -and narrower trousers they still have a look of wearing skirts. - -[Illustration: LADIES’ OUT-DOOR AND IN-DOOR COSTUMES] - -‘Ali Muhammad’s girdle too, which binds his coats to him and prevents -their blowing about in the wind, is more suggestive of a sash than -a belt. I once saw a little boy putting on his girdle on New Year’s -Day. It was a long folded scarf or _shāl_ and he put one end round -his waist while his brother took the other to the far end of the long -room and drew it tight. Then my little friend turned round and round, -so winding his _shāl_ round him, gradually moving up the room as the -length grew less, and he finished by tucking in the end. But whether -they wear long trousers or short ones, wide trousers or narrow ones, -the boys all fasten them by drawing them up with a string round the -hips--braces are not the fashion. - -As we have found that, in spite of appearances, ‘Ali Muhammad after all -wears trousers, we may perhaps find that his sister, Rubabeh, wears a -skirt, and so indeed she does, but it is so short as not to be very -noticeable indoors, while out of doors it is completely hidden by the -big baggy over-trousers, gathered in at the ankles and footed, which -she wears when she goes in the street. An English missionary once -suggested to a young woman that a skirt reaching to the knees would -look better, but she said she was not an old woman yet. The old women -generally wear quiet colours and long skirts, reaching down to the -knee, but young women and girls like something more dressy. They like a -nice bright-patterned skirt about a foot long, but wide enough to reach -half across the room. This they draw up with a string over the white -cotton trousers, and the short shirt hangs loose outside. The shirt is -generally white but may be coloured, and a short coloured jacket is -worn over it, varying from plain coarse cotton to velvet embroidered -with gold and pearls. - -The indoor _chādar_, or “prayer-_chādar_,” is often of pretty print or -muslin, and when Rubabeh puts on her clean white trousers, shirt and -headkerchief, with a bright frill of skirt round the waist and a pretty -jacket and _chādar_, she makes a very bright and effective picture. -But when she goes out she must put on dark over-trousers which cover -everything up to the waist, and over her head, in place of the pretty -prayer _chādar_, she must throw a large black _chādar_ which hangs over -everything, while a long strip of white cotton hangs down in front of -her face with drawn thread work in front of the eyes, so that she may -be able to see without being seen. - -So, unlike our streets, the Persian ones get their colour from the men -and boys, while the women and girls supply the darker, duller element. -Bright blue is the commonest colour for the men’s coats, and green is -not uncommon, while, at the New Year, pink, yellow, lilac and other -colours make the streets very gay indeed. - -The children are dressed just like their fathers and mothers, and -are little imitation men and women. The little tots look so funny -sometimes; tiny boys toddling about in long trousers, frockcoats, and -grown-up hats, and wee girls, who cannot yet speak distinctly, in the -long trousers, short skirts and _chādars_ of the women. - -It seems to suggest that no great distinction is made between children -and grown-ups, and really there is not as much difference as we find -at home. The children are taught to take life very seriously and are -treated as little men and women before their time, and so they have no -time to grow up into proper men and women, and the result is that we -find the children too grown-up and the grown-ups too childish. - -You will find, roughly speaking, if you look at animals that the higher -the animal, the longer its childhood lasts, because it has more growing -up to do. Caterpillars and tadpoles look after themselves from the time -of coming out of the egg, mice grow up in a few weeks, horses in a few -years, and man takes longer to grow up than any animal. - -Now Muhammad, the false prophet whom the Persians believe in and obey, -had no such high standard to set before them, no such high ideal for -them to grow up to, as our Lord Jesus Christ set before His followers -and enables them to grow up to; and so his religion provides only a -short time for growing up, and stunts instead of assisting the growth -both of individual Muhammadans and of Muhammadan nations. - -But we must get back to our Persian children and their clothes. Their -day-clothes we have seen; what about their night-clothes? They have -none. They just take off their outer garments and lie down in the rest, -and in the morning they just get up and put on their outer garments -again. Sometimes they do not put off anything. - -“We are so tired,” said some ladies one New Year’s morning. “With all -our new clothes on we could not lie down, we should have crushed them, -so we sat up all night.” - -You wonder why they were so foolish as to put them on on New Year’s -Eve in that case, instead of on the morning of the New Year itself. The -reason is simple. A Persian only puts on new clothes after a bath, and -a bath in Persia is not a mere matter of half an hour; it takes half a -day, and sometimes a whole one. Some of the richer people have baths in -their own houses, but most people go to the public baths. - -All Persian women and girls love a day at the bath, and will not -shorten it if they can possibly help it. It is something like a Turkish -bath, and there they meet their friends and sit about in steamy rooms, -talking, laughing, gossiping. No wonder they look forward to it, for a -Persian girl has a much more secluded and restricted life than girls -in Europe and her intercourse with her friends is much less free. One -girl of fifteen told me that except for her weekly visit to the bath -she had only left her house once in a period of six months, and in her -own house she received very few visitors, the calls of her English -missionary friends being great events for the whole household. - -At the bath they wash their hair, dye it with henna, and plait it up -in a dozen or more long plaits which hang down their backs under the -headkerchief and _chādar_, not to be undone again probably until the -next visit to the bath. The henna is a reddish dye and though it does -not show on black hair it turns fair or grey hair a carroty red. The -newcomer to Persia wonders to see so much red hair, till he finds that -this is the explanation. But the boys and girls nearly all have black -hair. - -Boys have their heads shaved, though sometimes a handful of hair is -left over each ear, or a lock in the middle of the scalp. This shaving -is probably the reason why Persian boys always keep on their caps or -hats indoors and only take them off to sleep. Instead of taking off -their caps, Persian boys, and girls too, take off their shoes when -they come into a room, and this, together with the absence of chairs -and tables explains how Persian carpets last a hundred years. They are -actually more valuable after several years wear than when they were new. - -Besides the hair, the fingernails, palms of the hands and soles of the -feet must, by Muhammadan rules, be dyed with henna. The richer bathers -have all these things done by the bath attendant, but the poorer ones -do it all themselves, and the very poor often omit the henna, except on -special occasions. - -Just as no Persian likes to put on clean clothes without going to the -bath, so he will not go to the bath without putting on clean clothes. - -“Khanum, give me a new shirt,” begged one old woman, displaying a -ragged one she had on. “For want of one I have not been able to go to -the bath since this was new.” - -But where there’s a will there’s a way, and some people who are too -poor to have a change of clothes go to the bath, take off their clothes -and wash them, and then wait in the bath till they are dry. - -There is a large tank in which the people wash and a ceremonial washing -requires a dip right under the water. The usual idea of changing the -water is to take out canfuls to water the tiles round, and then fill -up the tank again with clean water, so simply adding a little clean -water to the dirty. - -During a cholera epidemic the Governor of a Persian town ordered that -the bath water should be changed at least once a month. One cannot -help wondering whether the monthly change was carried out as described -above, and I am sure you would prefer the little village baths where -there is often so small a tank that no one can get into it, and they -ladle out the water and wash in basins. - -The common use of the one tank, with the only partial changing of the -water, and the general carelessness of infection, make the bath one of -the greatest means of spreading disease. - -The Muhammadan religion provides strict rules as to clothes and baths -and washing. In the washings before prayers it even decides which -hand and which side of the face shall be washed first. And all this -the parents teach the children as carefully as, generally much more -carefully than, such matters as truthfulness, honesty and kindness. - -Here again we see Muhammad giving his people what we may call “nursery -rules,” treating them as children, while our Master expects us to grow -up so that we can arrange these matters for ourselves. - -As children we must live under detailed rules, but always with the -object before us of growing up right. The very fact that the detailed -rules of Muhammadanism are binding through life shows that the -Muhammadan is not expected to grow up as we understand growing up. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -PERSIAN GAMES AND TOYS - - -It is curious to go thousands of miles to Persia--to cross vast sandy -deserts--and at last to find little skirted boys in the mudwalled -streets playing tipcat just like their counterparts in our own cities. -Hop-scotch and duck-stone too are favourite games, and kites are very -popular. The kites are large and square and fly very well, and the -boys often fly them from the roofs, sending “messages” up the string -just as our boys do. There is a regular game of “wolf” too, played -almost exactly as it is in many parts of the world by English-speaking -children. I am sorry to say that pitch and toss and gambling with cards -are very common. - -There is nothing like cricket and football, but in Yezd there is a -kind of “rounders” which is played for a fortnight only at the New -Year--the Persian New Year, that is, in March. Any evening during that -fortnight if you go out into the desert just outside the town walls -you will see a crowd of men and boys, some playing, some watching. And -any day during that fortnight if you visit the women, some small boy -will proudly show his _chaftar_ or rounders stick. For a week or two -afterwards an occasional _chaftar_ may be seen but after that it is a -puzzle where they disappear to, not one is to be seen till the next New -Year. - -The little girls in Persia, as everywhere else, depend largely on -dolls. The dolls are home made--rag-dolls without much shape, with -the features worked in fine cross-stitch, and dressed of course, as -Persians. Good European dolls are great treasures, even to the women, -and I knew one rich lady who had eight very nice ones all for herself. - -In Shiraz they make wooden horses for the children and little models -of the _kajavehs_ or covered panniers in which women and children -often travel. In Yezd, where the workers in clay are cleverer than the -carpenters, little model _kuzehs_ or waterpots are commoner and clay -money-boxes and nightingales. Roughly moulded and gaily painted clay -animals and men too, are made in quantities--but only at the “Festival -of the Sacrifice” when a camel is sacrificed. At the time of this -festival there are stalls and shops in the bazaars full of clay toys -and toy drums, but they cannot be got at any other time of year, and -as clay animals are quickly broken they are only to be seen for a very -short time. Among the toys may sometimes be seen a figure evidently -copied from an Italian statuette of the Virgin and Child--copied by -Muhammadans without any idea of what it represents. But when all is -said the games and toys are very few in Persia, as compared with those -you are accustomed to. Perhaps they are not so much needed there. The -grown-ups are so childish that it is no great hardship to a child to -practice grown-up ways instead of playing games of its own. There is so -much in ordinary grown-up life that is really a very good substitute -for a game--the elaborate greetings to be gone through with each -person in turn according to their importance, the tea served in tiny -cups no bigger than a child’s teaset, the sweet-eating, the pressing of -roseheads into the visitor’s hand, or the more elaborate arrangement -of stiff sticks closely covered with roses, the presentation of tiny -unripe first-fruits, of melon seeds or nuts ornamented with fluffy -bits of silk, of oranges inlaid with velvet, all these would seem a -very attractive game to a child. Perhaps they really prefer to join in -the games their elders play in earnest rather than play their own in -jest. The conversation too is seldom over their heads, but generally -interests them as much as their parents. The entertainments of the -elders are of a kind to suit the children too. What child does not -enjoy the Fifth of November with its Guy Fawkes, its fireworks, and its -bonfires? and the Persians, too, have their firework day, when they -burn not Guy Fawkes, but ‘Omar, the Muhammadan leader who conquered -Persia. They do not burn him, because he conquered Persia, but because -he was _Khalif_ or head of the Muhammadans, and the Persians say that -‘Ali, Muhammad’s son-in-law, ought to have been _Khalif_ and that ‘Omar -was a usurper. There are torchlight processions, in which ‘Omar’s -effigy is carried, bonfires illuminations, and fireworks in plenty. - -All the year round fireworks and illuminations are very popular, so -much so that the main work of the Government Arsenals seems to be the -manufacture of fireworks. Another very popular form of entertainment is -the _ruzehkhānī]_, or religious reading. It is considered a very pious -act for a man to have a _ruzehkhānī_ in his house in the two months of -Muharram, and his friends come in crowds and greatly prefer it to an -ordinary party. Muharram is the time of mourning for Husain and Hasan, -Muhammad’s grandsons. - -The courtyard is crowded with people sitting on the ground, and as the -professional reader recites the story of the death of Husain and Hasan -the people sway their bodies to and fro to the rhythm and gradually -work up their excitement. Then they all begin to beat on their bare -chests with the open hand and raise a wail that gradually grows in -strength, till the wailing and the sound of the blows can be heard -several streets off and the tears stream down their cheeks. It is very -exciting, and grown-ups and children alike enjoy it thoroughly. - -But _the_ day of the year is the day of the death of Husain when the -_nakhl_ is carried and the great passion play of the death of Husain -and Hasan is played. - -This is a general holiday and all through the early part of the day, -the villagers come trooping in to the towns. The streets are now full -and processions pass along them carrying the _nakhls_ from the squares -outside the smaller mosques. In some towns, too, they carry _alams_, -or long poles with a series of handkerchiefs tied to them. When the -processions from two different quarters of the town meet there is -generally a struggle, often ending in a free fight; so both _alams_ and -_nakhls_ are now forbidden in some towns. - -I only once met a procession myself, and then it most politely halted -to allow me to pass comfortably. - -The smaller processions being over, everyone crowds to the large -squares to see the carrying of the great _nakhls_ of the big mosques. - -The _nakhls_ are wooden frameworks carried on poles and hung on one -side with looking-glasses, on the other with daggers. Those in the -large squares are of immense weight. They are said on this day to be -carried across the square by Fatimeh, Muhammad’s daughter, but it is a -work of great merit to help her, so as many as can possibly get within -reach of the poles join in the work, and the _nakhl_ moves across the -square. But the afternoon is the best part when the great play of the -death of Husain and Hasan is acted. Then, indeed, there is wailing and -beating of breasts. “I enjoy it more than anything in the year,” one -lady told me. - -One year there was a little boy dangerously ill with inflammation of -the lungs when the great day came round. It was considered quite out of -the question for any of the family to stay away from the play to nurse -him, and being a boy he was not likely to obey the woman servant who -was being left in charge of the house. “He would have been all over -the roof trying to get a glimpse of the play,” his mother said, “and -probably would have fallen off, so we had to take him.” So they took a -mattress for him, and he lay and listened to the play from a gallery, -and of course got up to watch the exciting parts. It very nearly killed -him, but they seemed to feel they had taken the only reasonable course, -and he eventually recovered. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -PERSIAN SWEETS - - -In a Persian town there is a curious arrangement of the shops. All the -shops where one kind of article is sold are generally grouped together -in one street or _bāzār_. To buy shoes we go to the shoe bazaar, for -cooking pots to the copper bazaar. - -The copper or brass bazaar is almost always worth a visit in a Persian -town. It is a long roofed-in street with a continuous row of small -shops on either side. The “shop” consists of a lock-up room with a -small mud platform in front of it, raised a foot or two above the -street. On this platform are two or three stumps on which the pots are -placed for hammering, for after being heated over a charcoal brazier -they are hammered and beaten into the required shape, thickness and -pattern. On nearly every platform is a man, sometimes two or three men -and boys, hammering each on his copper pot and the noise produced by a -hundred or more men hammering vigorously on copper vessels, which give -different notes according to size, shape and thickness, is deafening, -but not wholly disagreeable.[B] - -But there is another bazaar well worth a visit in Yezd at any rate. The -shops here have counters rising in tiers, so as to display the very -tempting goods to advantage. The goods themselves are chiefly laid -out on huge round copper trays, about a yard across and very heavy, -made in the bazaar we have just left, but whitened over, as all copper -vessels are. - -Surely we are in Fairyland at last. Shop after shop shows tier upon -tier of the most delicious sweets in the most tempting profusion. -Here is _pashmak_, looking like cotton wool and tasting something -like butter creams. There are two or three kinds of almond toffee, or -_sōn_--some with green pistachio nuts in it. Huge fondants, or _lōz_, -in diamond-shaped cakes, nearly as large as the ordinary penny fancy -cakes in England, alternate with similar cakes of green _pari-tā’ūs_ -(peacock’s feathers), and brown _bāghalavā_, richer and stickier than -either. - -Those white _nuqls_ are delicious burnt almonds, which seem to melt -away in your mouth, the long ones have strips of cocoa-nut instead of -almonds, and the little round ones burnt peas. Here are little flat -round cakes of _gaz_, a kind of nougat only made in Isfahan, but sent -to all the towns in Persia. One variety of _gaz_ contains little sticks -of a gum which is supposed to cure rheumatism, a very pleasant remedy. - -There is a great bowl a foot across, and over an inch thick made wholly -of sugar candy, which has taken the shape of the basin in which it -crystallised, and in the middle of which three long sticks of sugar -candy stand up high above the top. Such a bowl a kind Persian friend -sent to a missionary’s little boy, when he was a few days old, to -provide him with “sugar-candy water,” which is considered particularly -good for young babies. These are only a few of the sweets, there are -too many to mention all. Some kinds are only made in the fast month -of Ramazān, and others only at the New Year. The sweets are delicious -but they are as a rule very simple and very sweet. So the Persians do -not hand them round in little paper bags, nor even in pretty little -boxes; they pile them on plates and dishes, as we do cakes; and, as you -have seen, many of them are as large as cakes. When you go to visit a -Persian, you have not tea and cakes, but tea and sweets. For a quiet -call on quiet people, two or three plates of sweets are enough, but at -a regular sweet-eating at a big house, one or two great trays will be -set on the ground before the guests, each with five dishes of sweets on -it, each dish holding about a pound and a half to two pounds of sweets. -The Persian women are often very pressing with their sweets, even to -the point of putting them into their visitors’ mouths, and in their -hospitality they sometimes over-estimate the size of the mouth. Often -too, the guests are made to carry home what is left, or a part of it, -tied up in a handkerchief. This is so common that where the European -is shy of pressing the custom, the Persian ladies will sometimes carry -home the remains of European dishes out of courtesy, to show that they -have appreciated them. This custom probably exists and has existed in -many Eastern countries, and may very likely be the reason why Joseph -gave Benjamin five times as much as his other brothers. Benjamin was -probably intended to take what was over away with him. - -I was visiting some Persian women one day, and they asked for my -handkerchief to wrap up the remainder of the sweets in. I apologised -for being unable to take them as I had not a clean handkerchief, on -which they all eagerly assured me that it did not matter in the least, -they would be quite content with the one I had. The Persian _dastmāl_ -or handkerchief serves every purpose except the one we connect it -with. Your Persian servant, always carries a large coloured one in his -pocket. He dusts the rooms with it, puts his purchases from the _bāzār_ -into it, polishes your boots with it before you enter a Persian house, -and carries home sweets or nuts in it. - -At the New Year, there are twenty-one days set apart for holiday -making and visiting, and in every house tea and sweets and sherbet are -ready for all comers. In those twenty-one days people are expected -to visit all their friends, and even with strict moderation the most -sweet-loving schoolboy of your acquaintance would probably be glad of a -rest by the end of the three weeks. - -All this sounds delightful, doesn’t it? But unfortunately it is more -for the grown-ups than for the children. The children like sweets well -enough and get a good many, but they have not the same opportunities as -the grown-ups. - -But sweets have their serious uses among the Persians. We have seen -that rheumatism may be cured with nougat, and we find that sweets -in general are very strengthening. It is not at all uncommon, after -a small operation or the extraction of a tooth, to see the friends -pressing sugar or sweets into the patient’s mouth, to restore her -strength after the shock, and in the same way after a fright a few -sweets make you feel much better. - -Bread and sweets are not an uncommon dinner, and a child who was -ordered by the doctor to take plenty of milk because it was good -strengthening food, was given three-quarters of a pound of sweets for -her dinner instead. “So much more strengthening than milk,” the mother -said. - -Persian sweets are very soft and in the dry climate quickly get hard -and lose their first freshness, and to offer a Persian stale sweets is -like offering you stale cakes. They are at their best only on the day -they are made, and the servant sent to buy sweets will sit down with -his tray of plates at the shop-door and wait till the new sweets are -ready, when they can be put quite fresh and new on the plates on which -they are to be served. In Yezd, where the best sweets are made, our -servants seemed to regard the moving of sweets to a fresh plate much -as we should the removal of a pie to a fresh pie-dish, and many sorts -are certainly the worse for being shifted after they have got cold. All -better-class Persians make their own sweets at home and consider “shop -sweets” very inferior. - -The fame of Persian sherbet has spread far, and nearly every visitor to -Persia looks forward to a treat when he tastes it. But it by no means -comes up to expectation. It is often made fresh in the presence of the -guests, so the recipe is no secret. A sugar loaf is put in a basin, -by preference a pot pourri bowl, and cold water is poured over it, -and it is allowed to melt with an occasional stir. A little rosewater -is then added to flavour it, and it is handed round in glasses, -with ice if possible. At meals, however, the bowl is placed on the -tablecloth,--there is no table,--and a large carved wooden spoon is -passed to each in turn from which to drink it. - -Sometimes lime or orange juice is offered as an alternative flavour to -rosewater, which makes it much more palatable to Europeans. But insipid -as the ordinary sherbet is, it seems the most delicious compound -imaginable when it is taken, well-iced, after a long walk with the -thermometer at 100° in the shade. Perhaps that is why it has been so -much praised. - -Another favourite beverage is _sekunjibin_, which is like raspberry -vinegar with mint instead of raspberry. - -Sherbet and good things to eat figure largely in Muhammad’s description -of the joys of Heaven. His ideals were ideals that did not need much -growing up to. He expected his followers to have childish ideas and -childish desires even in heaven. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -PERSIAN PRAYERS - - -Persian boys and girls need not say their prayers till they are -seven years old. Sometimes they begin sooner, but that is considered -unnecessarily good. They are not to be beaten for not saying them till -they are ten, and I have not seen many children under ten years old -saying their prayers. We cannot remember learning to pray, for as soon -as we could understand anything about God, we were taught to ask Him -to take care of us, to ask Him to forgive us when we were naughty, and -to help us to be good, to thank Him for His kindness and His gifts. -It is so simple that a child of three or four can come to God in this -way, we need not wait till we are seven to bring simple petitions to -our Heavenly Father. But little Ghulām Husain’s prayers are far from -simple. He has first to learn to wash his face, hands and arms, and -feet and legs. “That does not need much teaching,” you say. “He can -surely wash himself at that age.” But there is a right and a wrong way -of washing in Persia before prayers. There is a right and a wrong side -of your face to wash first, there is a right and a wrong hand and a -right and a wrong foot to wash first. If a Persian is very religious -and careful there is even a right and a wrong side of his arm and leg -to wash first, but few Persian children are as careful as that. No soap -is wanted, just plain water, or, if there is no water, sand. So our our -little Ghulām Husain learns his washings, and now he is ready to learn -the prayers themselves, which are all in Arabic so that he does not -understand them. - -[Illustration: PERSIANS AT PRAYER] - -He is shown the direction of Mecca to which he must always turn when -saying them, and he is taught when to stand, when to kneel, when to bow -himself till his forehead touches the ground, and when to make various -gestures. And when he has learnt all this he is ready to begin saying -his prayers regularly, and he is told that if he says them correctly, -and with the right movements, they will be pleasing to God, and count -as good works. He must say them three times a day, and he cannot -choose his time. When the prayer-call sounds from the mosque roofs, -and is taken up by people on the house roofs, he must leave what he is -doing, and wash and say his prayers--the same prayers every time. First -in the early dawn, before sunrise, he hears the call, and he must get -out of bed for washing and prayers. In the summer it may be as early -as four o’clock, in winter not till six or seven. Then, again, when -the sun-dial on the mosque marks noon, the call is heard, and again at -sunset, and each time the prayers must be said within half an hour. -Half an hour’s grace is allowed, so if Persians have visitors when the -prayer-call sounds, they are able to go in turns to say their prayers, -so as not to leave the visitor alone. - -Some Persians are very particular about their prayers, but many are -not so particular and will leave them unsaid if there is any excuse; -and, as in other religions, there are people who neglect their prayers -altogether. - -There are many who are very regular in their prayers and very -particular as to the direction towards which they face, and their -positions and gestures at various parts of the prayers, but who are -not in the least really reverent over them. Medical missionaries -especially cannot always choose the time of their visits, and sometimes -cannot avoid prayer-time. Then, instead of going to a quiet room, the -Muhammadans often say their prayers in the room where the missionary -is being entertained, and the conversation is never hushed for them; -indeed, they will often themselves join in the conversation even while -they are supposed to be praying. - -One day a party of women from a Mullā’s house were visiting a -missionary, when the evening prayer-call sounded. - -“We shall hardly have time to get home in half an hour,” the Mullā’s -wife said. “May I say my prayers here?” The missionary readily gave her -consent, but only the one lady availed herself of the permission, and, -having asked in which direction Mecca lay, placed her prayer-stone in -front of her and knelt down to say her prayers. - -The rest went on talking loudly round her, calling out and stretching -across just in front of her in a way that must have attracted her -attention. When the missionary asked them to be quiet they assured her -that their friend did not mind, and she herself turned from her prayers -to beg them not to stop for her. But the missionary insisted on quiet -until the prayers were over, explaining that it was not a question of -respect to the lady, but of reverence to God, and, in the conversation -which naturally followed, she was able to tell them some of the Bible -teaching on prayer. - -The prayer-stone is a small slab of about an inch and a half across, -made of the earth of Kerbela where Husain, the grandson of Muhammad was -killed. The Kerbela earth is said to be scented with “the blood of the -martyrs,” and is much used for prayer-stones and rosaries. - -A Muhammadan places his prayer-stone on the ground before him when he -says his prayers. If anyone passes in front of a Muhammadan as he is -saying his prayers it is supposed to greatly reduce their value. But -if he puts the prayer-stone in front of him it acts as a church wall -and cuts him off from the outside world, and nothing passing on the far -side of the stone can affect his prayers. If he has no prayer-stone he -sometimes draws a line on the earth instead, and this is said to be -just as effectual. At certain points in the prayers the forehead must -touch the ground, and when a prayer-stone is used the forehead touches -the prayer-stone, and perhaps the holiness of the earth touched is -supposed to increase the value of the prayers. - -After the regular Arabic prayers have been said any further prayers -may be added in Persian, but the people seem generally to content -themselves with the set prayers and to be shy of adding any of their -own wording, and in any case the Arabic prayers are considered the more -important. - -Although the Persians use their prayers like charms, repeating forms -which convey to them no meaning, yet they have great faith in the -efficacy of prayers as charms. One Sunday a Persian woman brought her -little girl to the doctor’s house, covered with smallpox and very ill. -Finding that it was service time she thought the prayers might do the -child good, so she put off asking for medicine till later, and, hiding -the child under her _chādar_, she sat down among the other women and -children through the whole service. - -I have never known Persians refuse Christian prayers over their sick -friends, and generally they join in with a heartfelt _Amen_ to prayers -which they have been able to understand. At one house where they were -afraid of the medicine they entreated the missionary doctor to come -daily to pray over the patient. The patient was one of five cases of -typhoid fever in the house. The others were being treated by a Persian -doctor, but this woman had very serious complications and seemed so -unlikely to recover that he suggested their calling in a Christian -doctor for her. For many days she lay quite unconscious, but every day -the missionary walked a mile and a half to pray beside her, and every -day the same entreaty was repeated, “You will come again to-morrow, -won’t you?” And the prayers were answered, for at last signs of -improvement appeared, and the poor woman was restored to health and -strength again. - -God has given us a wonderful privilege in allowing us to come freely -to Him as our Father, and lay all our joys and sorrows, troubles and -perplexities before Him. - - “Oh! What peace we often forfeit, - Oh! What needless pain we bear, - All because we do not carry - Everything to God in prayer!” - -And, if that is true of us, how much more true it is of the Muhammadans -who do not know God as their Father, who do not know that God is love, -who do not know that they may carry everything to God in prayer. When -we think of the want of peace, the needless pain, the sin, the sorrow, -the wretchedness in Muhammadan lands, and yet see the people so ready -to pray, surely it is our plain and urgent duty to teach them _how_ to -pray, as our Lord has taught us, and to teach them _to Whom_ they must -pray--not to an unknowable, unloving Allah, but to a tender, pitying -Father, Who so loved them that He gave His only begotten Son to die for -their salvation. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -FASTING AND PILGRIMAGES - - -One month in every year Muhammadans have to fast. - -Persian boys begin to fast at twelve years old, but the girls have to -begin at nine. Sometimes they begin sooner if they want to store up -merit early. But even little four-year-old Ibrahim, who is considered -too young to join in the fast, shares it to a certain degree. For no -one is going to cook anything for him or make him his usual cup of tea -when they may not share it. He gets a bit of dry bread and a drink of -water when he wants it, but little more all through the day. - -“It makes me hungry to see him eating,” his mother said. - -The name of the fast-month is Ramazān, and through Ramazān it is often -difficult to get eggs, because the sweetmakers buy them up to make -sweets. It is a great month for sweets, and there are several kinds -that are only made in Ramazān; and, so far from having “self-denial -boxes,” as many Christians do in Lent, the more devout Muhammadan -servants ask for an advance of wages to buy better food in Ramazān. - -This all seems strange in a fast-month, but a Muhammadan fast only -lasts from dawn to dark. At night people may eat what they like, and -they take full advantage of the permission and have nightly feasts, -ending up with a great feast on the last night. - -Boys and girls are not late for supper in Ramazān. They gather round -the tablecloth as the time draws near, ready to start directly the -signal is given that it is dark. In towns there is generally a gun -fired, and at the sound of the gun the meal is begun in every house. - -One day such a party was waiting round the supper, listening for the -gun, and they got hungrier and hungrier, but they heard no gun and -waited on. At last they realised that the wind had carried the sound -away from them, and they had fasted far longer than they need have -done. This was bad enough, but another family fared worse, for they -overslept themselves in the morning, and woke to find they had missed -their breakfast and must eat nothing till night. - -People might differ as to when it was dark, so a test has been -appointed--as long as you can distinguish a black thread from a white -one it is light, and you must fast. - -It does not sound a very difficult fast, and in winter, when the days -are short, it is not so bad, but on a long summer day it is very hard. -No food, no drink, and a blazing sun all day. It takes a plucky boy or -girl to get through it without complaining. It is no wonder that in -Ramazān “bed-time” is forgotten and all the children sit up half the -night and sleep half the day--the longer they can sleep in the day the -better, poor little things. Towards evening tempers are apt not to be -very good, but everyone enjoys the night. - -No one wants to work in Ramazān; they do not want to get more hungry -than they need; and, of course, the schools are all closed. - -The dispensaries and hospitals are nearly empty, for the taking of -medicine, or the use of drops for the eyes or ears, would be a breaking -of the fast, and there was a great discussion once as to whether having -a tooth out would have the same effect. It seems curious to have to -tell the people to take their medicine twice a night instead of twice a -day. - -After Ramazān the dispensaries are full of patients who have made -themselves ill by fasting all day and overeating themselves at night. - -Besides the younger children there are a good many other people who get -off the fast. Opium-eaters need not fast; travellers need not fast on a -journey; sick people can get a dispensation from a mulla. A great many -people take advantage of this, and make a small ailment an excuse for -not fasting, but they are supposed to make it up at some other time of -year. - -If anyone forgets and thoughtlessly breaks his fast no great harm is -done, but he must fast an extra day in the year to make up for it. Some -people “forget” every day, but such people do not usually make it up at -any other time. - -Just before Ramazān a good many people are fasting, having put off -to the last minute the making-up of the fast days for the previous -Ramazān. - -People who want to be very good sometimes fast on Saints’ Days too, and -one old lady always fasted on the day when Muhammadan tradition says -that our Lord Jesus Christ was born. - -Another way in which Muhammadans think they can gain merit is by making -a pilgrimage to some holy place. - -Pilgrimages may be made to any place where a Muhammadan saint is -buried, but there are four special places to which the Persians -go--Qum, Meshed, Kerbela, and Mecca. Mecca is considered far the -greatest place of pilgrimage, because it is the place where Muhammad -was born. A pilgrimage to Qum gives the pilgrim no commonly used -title, but if he goes to Meshed he becomes _Meshedi_; if to Kerbela, -_Kerbelāī_; and, if to Mecca, _Hājī_; and a _Hājī_ always uses his -title. In accosting a working-class stranger it is polite to call him -_Meshedi_, and more polite to call him _Kerbelāī_, but _Hājī_ is too -important a title to be used in this way. Quite little boys and girls -are sometimes _Hājīs_--they have been taken to Mecca by their parents. - -But the people who most frequently go are the business men and the old -people. The business men manage to make a business journey, which will -include Mecca, and the old people, old women especially, are often -sent as a polite way of getting rid of them when they are cranky and -ill-tempered. If they die on the way, they are supposed to go straight -to Heaven. A good many do die on the road, which is a very rough one. -It reminds one of the man who said of his enemies that he should -like to convert them and send them to Heaven before they had time to -backslide. - -One day in a _caravansarai_, or native inn, I met a young woman who -told me a friend who was going on a pilgrimage had passed through her -village and had persuaded her to come too. She was going to walk all -the way and trust to charity for food, as many pilgrims do, for it is -considered a greater work of merit to give to a pilgrim than to an -ordinary beggar. The journey would take several months. - -I asked her a few questions. - -Yes, she said, she had a husband and children. - -“And are they with you?” - -“No, they are in my village.” - -“Are the children grown-up then?” - -“Oh no, they are quite little.” - -“Then who is going to take care of them while you are away?” - -“I do not know. There was no time to make arrangements. I had not even -time to tell my husband I was going. He was at work. My friends tell me -it will be a very great work of merit if I go. What do you think?” - -We had a long talk, and I believe she went back the same evening to her -home. If so, she would get back within twenty-four hours of having left -it. - -The Muhammadans themselves generally allow that they are no more -agreeable or kind or truthful or good after their pilgrimages--at least -those who do not go say so freely. They even have a proverb: “If your -friend has been to Mecca, trust him not. If he has been there twice, -avoid him. But if he has made the pilgrimage the third time, flee from -him as you would from Satan.” - -Even dead people make pilgrimages, generally to Qum, or, if they are -very important people, to Kerbela. I have not been to Kerbela, but I -have been to Qum, and we met quite a number of corpses going to the -burying-ground outside the big mosque. Sometimes the relations bring -them, but often they cannot afford the journey and pay a muleteer to -take them, and to pay the fees, which are very large. Sometimes the -muleteers bury the bodies elsewhere and pocket the fees. - -Qum itself is considered such a holy city that they do not allow dogs -inside it. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -SAVĀBS - - -There is a little Persian book, which many of the little boys learn to -read, called “Sad Hikāyat” or “A Hundred Stories.” Some of the stories -are very like Æsop’s Fables, and they are all supposed to teach the -children something. One story tells them that at the end of the world -God will take a great pair of scales, and as each person comes up for -judgment God will put his good deeds in one scale and his evil deeds in -the other. If the good deeds weigh heaviest he will go to Heaven, if -his evil deeds weigh the balance down he will go to Hell. - -These good deeds are called _savābs_, and every Persian, whether -child or grown-up, hopes to get to Heaven by doing enough _savābs_ to -outweigh his sins. - -So a little Persian boy or girl is not taught to try to always do -right or to always try to please and serve God, but only to do enough -right to outweigh the wrong he does, and if he feels he has done wrong -instead of confessing his sin to God and asking His forgiveness he -simply tries to balance it by a good deed. - -And what a Persian boy or girl is taught of what is right and wrong is -very different from all you have learnt. First there is a definite list -of sins, which they can learn by heart, and nothing outside of this -list is considered a “sin,” though other things which are not right may -be called “errors,” which is a much less strong word. - -As to good deeds there is more difference of opinion. One of the -“Hundred Stories” deals with this point. - -A man was travelling in the desert and came to a well. He dismounted, -drove a stable-pin into the ground, and tied his horse to it while -he ate his meal. When he resumed his journey he left the pin in the -ground that other travellers coming there might tie their horses to it. -Presently a man on foot came along, and, not seeing the pin, knocked -his foot against it and hurt himself. He pulled up the pin and threw it -into the well lest any one else should hurt himself in the same way. A -discussion arose as to which of the two had done a _savāb_, the man who -drove the nail in or the man who took it out, and finally a learned and -holy man was consulted. After much thought he gave it as his opinion -that both had done _savābs_. - -Every little act of kindness is a _savāb_, and this encourages good -nature and kindliness. - -The children are taught to look out for chances of doing a kind action -and so balancing their wrong-doing. But at the same time they are -taught to think that if they do a certain number of kind deeds it -will not matter if they do wrong at other times. Little Rajab ‘Ali, -the muleteer’s boy, would run to fasten up the trailing head-rope of -another man’s mule, he would lend a helping hand to some stranger whose -donkey had fallen under its load, and between whiles he would treat -his own mules and donkeys most cruelly. He thought his cruelty did not -matter, because he had been kind as well. - -A dishonest lad will try to wipe out his dishonesty by being regular -with his prayers or by an extra day’s fast. A man who has cheated -someone of ten _krāns_ will give a _krān_ to a beggar and consider -his account settled. One man tried to atone for the most outrageous -extortion and injustice by spending _part_ of his ill-earned gains on -good roads for the villagers and a free school, while all the time -he made no pretence of giving up his evil ways. Those he had injured -complained that now he would escape the punishment of God. - -The Persians seem unable to realise the possibility of any other motive -for good works. When the missionaries first went to Yezd and opened a -medical mission, the people said, “What terribly wicked people they -must be to have to do so much good.” - -One curious result of this idea of winning Heaven and securing better -places there by good works is that it almost destroys gratitude. The -beggar feels that he has helped you one step up in Heaven by accepting -your alms; then surely he has done you more good than you have done -him, and why should he be grateful to you? - -The patients who are treated free at the dispensary have the same -feeling; the doctor improved their bodily state, but they have improved -his spiritual position. - -It is considered a special work of merit to do anything for a _Seyid_, -that is, a descendant of Muhammad, so everyone tries to be kind to -_Seyids_, and they are so spoilt and are made so much of that they are -generally unbearably selfish, and think themselves the most important -people in the world. - -Often in the dispensary the doctor is exhorted to do his utmost or to -break through some rule because the patient is a _Seyid_, and they are -incredulous and rather shocked when they are told that an ordinary -patient’s pain is just as great as a _Seyid’s_, and that all must be -taken in their turn. - -Another result of this doctrine of works of merit, or _savābs_, as they -call them, is that even when a Muhammadan seems straight and honest -and altogether a good fellow you cannot entirely trust him, because he -has so many good works to his credit that he feels a few sins do not -matter, they are more than paid for beforehand. - -A Persian’s idea of what is a _savāb_ is sometimes curious. Prayers, -fasting, pilgrimages, and the reading of the Quran are, of course, all -considered works of merit. - -Marrying your father’s brother’s daughter is a _savāb_, though there -is no particular merit in marrying your father’s sister’s daughter or -your mother’s brother’s daughter. - -Some Persian women inquired one day what each of three missionaries -living together ate for breakfast, and hearing that two had eggs, while -the third had not, they nodded at each other, as much as to say, “I -told you so,” and remarked, “It is a _savāb_. She wants to get a higher -place in Heaven.” - -Giving money to beggars is always considered a _savāb_, but it is -considered a greater _savāb_ on Thursday than on any other day. Friday -is the Muhammadan holy day, and they call Thursday “the Eve of Friday,” -and on Thursday the beggars all call out as you pass, “It is the Eve of -Friday; give me a copper.” - -The grown-up beggars generally, but not always, sit by the roadside -begging, but the children run alongside of you and are often very -persistent. There are nearly always beggars at the gate of any town, -asking those who are starting on a journey to give them an alms, and so -secure safety on their journey. If Jericho was anything like a Persian -town it was most natural that our Lord should find one blind beggar as -He went into the town (St Luke 18, v. 35), and one or two more as He -came out by another gate (St Matt. 20, v. 30), and that they should -address Him in almost exactly the same language. - -Begging is often a very paying occupation, for so many people feel that -they have sins to make up for, that the cry, “Give me a copper. It will -be a _savāb_,” is a difficult one to refuse, especially if the copper -is only worth a farthing. - -So well does begging pay that on more than one occasion the mothers -and wives of well-to-do tradesmen have been detected in old _chādars_ -begging in the streets and at houses. The difficulty of recognising a -woman who is completely covered up with a black _chādar_ makes disguise -easy. - -During the massacre of the Babis, a dissenting sect of Muhammadans, -in 1903, it was considered a _savāb_ to kill a Babi, but some of the -kindlier people thought it also a _savāb_ to save a life, even if it -was a Babi’s. One man is said to have been seen with a prisoner, in -great perplexity, saying, “I am quite sure of Hell for my sins, unless -I can do a big _savāb_; if this man is a Babi, my chance of salvation -is to kill him, but I am not sure whether he is, and if I kill a true -believer I shall be worse off than ever.” - -But there are _savābs_ of a very different sort. - -There was an old woman friendless and ill, and a Persian man found her -in the street, too ill to get home to the one wretched room where she -lived all alone. He did not know her, but he decided to undertake the -_savāb_. He sent across the town for a medical missionary, knowing the -Christians had the reputation of never refusing to help the sick poor. -He stayed there till the doctor arrived, and said that if she would -visit the old woman and provide the medicines he would send for them, -and would provide the food and nursing, and this he did until the old -woman died a few days later. - -The adoption of a destitute child is not an uncommon _savāb_, and these -children are often treated very well and given a good start in life. - -A kind action, as we have seen, is always considered a _savāb_, whether -it is helping a fallen mule to get up, giving a copper to a beggar, or -tending a friendless stranger in sickness and death. We may almost say -that this is the one redeeming point of a Persian’s religion. Generally -speaking, Persians are not improved by their religious ideas, for the -stronger their religious ideas are the worse their lives are, and what -one most admires in Persian character is least in accordance with their -religious beliefs. - - - - -CHAPTER X - -MUHAMMADAN CHARMS AND SUPERSTITIONS - - -Muhammad did not write down his teaching, for he could not write, but -his followers learnt it by heart, and wrote it down, and after his -death it was collected into one book called the Quran. It was arranged -in a haphazard way, and probably the early chapters were really spoken -last, and the later ones first. However, the Muhammadans believe it to -be, as it now stands, the Word of God, and they treat it with great -respect. When they pick the book up or lay it down they put it first to -the forehead and then to the lips, and they hold it in both hands. Many -Christians might learn from them to treat God’s Word more reverently. -They consider it a work of merit to read the Quran or listen to it, and -they read it over their sick folk in hopes of curing them. But perhaps -the commonest and most popular edition is a two-inch hexagonal one -which is almost illegible. This is sewn up in two little round or -hexagonal cases, each containing half, and is worn on the arms to keep -off evil of every kind. The cases may be plain leather or cloth, or -they may be more elaborate and ornamental, or silver cases may be used -with texts from the Quran engraved upon them. - -[Illustration: READING THE QURAN TO THE SICK] - -Smaller and cheaper charms are made of texts from the Quran enclosed in -the same way. - -These charms, and also beads made from the blue clay of the holy city -of Qum, are used for animals as well as people, especially young mules. -I once had a charm given me for a kitten. - -Children often wear a very large number of charms sewn on to the cap or -hung on a chain round the neck, as they are supposed to be much more -susceptible than grown-up people to evil influences. One quaint-looking -charm is a little cloth camel, Abraham’s camel, sewn on the cap. - -What the Persians fear more than anything for their children is the -evil eye, and it is especially to protect them from this that they -cover them with charms. They say there are certain people who have an -“evil eye.” No one seems to know many such people, but most people say -they know at least one. These people injure everything that pleases -them, and that they admire. If they admire a baby it will get ill -and very likely die; if they admire a mule it will probably go lame; -if they admire a tree it will wither; if they admire a cup it will -break. There does not seem to be necessarily any wish to do harm, the -mere taking pleasure in the thing causes the disaster. Persons with -the evil eye are quite impossible to distinguish, so the Persians are -afraid of all strangers lest they should have it. This is why you must -not admire a baby, and Persian mothers cover up their young babies -completely in the street for fear a casual passer-by should admire them -and should prove to have the evil eye. - -The men carry iron in their pockets as a protection, and a magnet -is considered specially powerful in this way. A more common form of -iron to carry is an iron chain, which is useful for driving mules and -donkeys and beating off savage dogs. - -The women sometimes wear charms to make their husbands love them. One -poor thing gave me hers--two large beads: they had not proved of much -use, for her husband beat her and treated her very badly. - -Another charm is a tiny bag of the scented earth of Kerbela, where -Muhammad’s grandson Husain was killed, and if rubbed on the eyelids it -is said to cause the eyes to shine brightly. - -The beads of the Muhammadan rosaries are often made of this Kerbela -earth. Every Muhammadan has his rosary--many of them have quite a -collection, for pilgrims to Kerbela bring back rosaries for all their -friends. - -These rosaries are never used for counting prayers, but occasionally -for counting the attributes of God or invocations. But the main use is -a very different one. They are the Persian’s ordinary means of trying -to find out God’s will. They are used both in serious and in frivolous -matters; no Persian will settle anything without “taking the beads.” -He takes the beads before making a business appointment, but he takes -them again to see whether he shall keep it or not. He takes the beads -to see what doctor he is to send for, and again to see if he shall -follow his instructions. He takes the beads to see if it is a good day -to buy a new coat, and again to see if it is a good day to put it on. -You often see a pious Muhammadan fingering the beads under her _chādar_ -before she answers your questions. - -The rosaries are made of a large number of small beads all alike, and -three only, which are different and are called “_Sheikhs_,” placed in -different parts of the string. To take the beads a Muhammadan turns -towards Mecca and says an Arabic collect. Then he divides the beads -without looking, and tells them off two by two, saying over and over, -as he does so, “_Subhānu’llāh_” (God is glorious) “_Alhamdu’li’llāh_” -(Praise be to God), “_Va’llāh_” (and He is the God), passing two beads -for each word until he comes to a _Sheikh_, when he stops. If there -are two beads for the last word, the answer is much more emphatic than -if there is only an odd one. If the last word is “_Subhānu’llāh_” the -answer is favourable, “_Alhamdu’li’llāh_” is doubtful and “_Va’llāh_” -is unfavourable. If the answer is doubtful a Persian generally follows -his own inclinations. - -If the answer is not what the questioner likes, the beads may be taken -again in the mosque, and the answer in the mosque take precedence of -that in the house. If, however, the answer is still the same, there -is a third method. For a small fee a mulla will do the same sort of -thing with the Quran, and the text selected overrules the two previous -answers. - -A Persian lady sent for an English missionary to extract an aching -tooth. The missionary found her in great pain, but she said she could -not have the tooth out as the beads were against it, but she had sent -to the mosque and was hoping for a favourable answer from there. -However, all methods gave an unfavourable answer, so she put off the -extraction to another day. - -“It would be much better for me to have it out,” she said, “but it is -not God’s Will.” - -The Wise Men from the East looked for God’s guidance among the -stars, and there God sent them a message. And here and there where a -Muhammadan earnestly seeks God’s guidance, because he is trying to -really live as God’s servant, who shall say that he does not receive it -where he has been taught to look for it. - -But taken as a system, how trivial, how childish, how irreverent it all -is. They use God’s name, but they take His name in vain. They profess -to seek God’s will, and profess to receive an answer from Him, and -often try the next moment to set it aside and force or coax an opposite -answer out of Him. - -The Muhammadans think that through their beads they can _use_ God for -settling the every-day matters of this world in a lucky way, while they -are disobeying Him in the greater matter of godly living. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -PERSIAN SCHOOLS - - -A great many things are topsy-turvy in Persia, but perhaps reading is -as topsy-turvy as anything. It is not only that the lines, and indeed -the whole book, begin at the wrong end, but the lessons begin at the -wrong end too. - -An English boy learns to read his own language first, and does not -always go on to a foreign language. A Persian boy learns to read a -foreign language first, and does not always go on to his own language. - -When a little Persian boy goes to school he is given a big Arabic book, -with a great many long words in it, and he is not taught how the words -are spelt, but is told what they are, and made to repeat them from -memory, pointing to each word in the book as he says it, and gradually -he gets some idea of which word is which. - -The boys sit on the floor round the room, all reading at the top of -their voices at the same time in different parts of the book. They read -in a monotonous sing-song voice, swaying their bodies in time to the -sound. - -The master sits and listens through the din to one and another -correcting mistakes here and there, and calling up any boy who seems -perfect in his lesson to learn the next bit, and then return to his -seat and read it over and over till he knows it too. - -The book is the Quran, which the Muhammadans think was dictated by God -to Muhammad through the Archangel Gabriel. It would not be surprising -if the Persians, being Muhammadans, wished all their boys to learn what -they believe to be God’s Word; but the book is written in Arabic, which -Persian boys do not understand, and even the letters are not quite the -same as in Persian; so when the little pupil reaches the end of the -book he can read the Quran with the proper intonation, but he can read -nothing else, and he cannot understand the Quran. - -The Muhammadans, however, think that reading the Quran, quite apart -from understanding it, is a very good action, so the little Persian -boys work away at it, and they do not think it hard lines because they -know all the men, and big boys began in the same way, so it seems the -natural thing to do. And perhaps it is a little consolation to know -that when they reach certain points they will be given sweets. One -little boy, who was asked how far he had got in the Quran, said that he -had just got to his first sweets. - -Having finished the Quran our little Persian boy goes on to Persian -books. These, too, he studies in much the same way as he did the Quran, -but it is more useful, because now he understands what he reads. After -plodding through the Quran it is a pleasant change for little Ghulām -Husain to turn to the War between the Cats and Mice, the Hundred -Fables, or Stories of Husain and Hasan (Muhammad’s two grandsons). -Later on he reads the poems of Hāfiz and Sa’adi, and other great -Persian poets, for there is a great deal of beautiful poetry in Persian. - -There is no convenient desk or table for Ghulām Husain to write on. -He sits on the floor and holds the paper in his hand or on his knee. -His pen is a bit of fine cane, cut like a quill, but with a slanting -end. As he holds it the handle points directly to the right and it is -the horizontal lines which he must make broad, while the up and down -strokes must both be fine. - -[Illustration: A PERSIAN SCHOOL] - -Ghulām Husain never spills his ink. Each boy has his own inkpot, which -contains a tangled piece of silk soaked in ink. It dries up between the -lessons, so when Ghulām Husain wants to write he moistens it with water -so that the silk is thoroughly wet, but there is no water lying in the -inkpot. In among this wet silk he dips his pen. - -If you look into Ghulām Husain’s pen-box you will find pens cut to -various breadths for large or small writing, a penknife, and a little -slab to rest the pen-point on for the final cut; an inkpot, and a tiny -brass ladle for adding water. - -Many an English boy finds it tiresome to have to dot his i’s, but -little Ghulām Husain has to dot almost every letter, some above the -line and some below, some with one dot, some with two, and some with -three. These dots are not round, but square, and the height of the -letters is measured by the size of the dots. This letter must be one -dot high, that letter two dots high, another three, and yet another -five dots high. The size of the dot itself depends on the breadth of -the pen. - -As he learns to write better he will run his letters into curious -combinations, and group his dots picturesquely in parts of the word to -which they do not belong, or leave them out altogether, until at last, -when he can write a really beautiful hand, the schoolmaster himself -will not be able to read the letter without careful study, and may even -have to guess at the meaning of particularly well-written passages. - -One great beauty of a Persian letter is the way each line runs up at -the end, making a pile of words, syllables, and even single letters, -something in this style:-- - - rew - s sc - Persian - way the - “MY DEAR CHILDREN,--This is the - ers. - lett - write - en they - up the ends of their lines wh - f - k o - thin - ey can - words th - They also use all the longest - eir - at th - so th - arly all - els or ne - and leave out all their vow - ops.” - no st - they use - ecially as - read, esp - letters are very hard to - -The Persians do not apparently think much of their own system of -education, for they are always laughing at their schoolmasters. - -They have a story of a _chārvādār_, or muleteer, one of whose mules -strayed one day into a school. It was quickly driven out, and the -muleteer claimed damages from the schoolmaster to the extent of half -the value of the mule. The schoolmaster indignantly asked on what he -based his claim. The muleteer turned to the crowd which had gathered to -listen to the argument. “My beast,” said he, “went into his school a -mule and it has come out a donkey.” You see a donkey counts half a mule -in caravan travelling, just as a child counts half a person in train -travelling. - -The punishments are as topsy-turvy as the lessons. When a boy is caned -he lies on his back and holds out his feet instead of his hands. -Sometimes his feet are held in a kind of stocks while he is caned -across the soles. They call it “eating sticks” or “eating wood”--the -words are the same. - -Some missionaries were picnicking one day in an orchard in a hill -village, and the village children gathered round to watch the -foreigners’ strange ways. “Do you often come and eat plums here?” one -of the ladies asked; and she was greatly bewildered by the curious -tastes of Persian boys, when the owner of the orchard answered for -them, that the boys who came into his orchard ate not the plums but the -wood. - -This beating on the soles of the feet is a common punishment for every -one, from the slave and the schoolboy to the criminal and the political -offender. With schoolboys it is of course not very severe, but in more -serious cases it may be very severe indeed, even resulting in death. -The culprit in these cases is ordered not so many blows but so many -sticks, _i.e._ he is to be beaten till so many sticks have been broken. -A hundred sticks is not an uncommon punishment. If the culprit is rich -enough he may bribe the _farrāshes_ to strike the stocks when possible -and so break the sticks quickly, and not over his feet; but a poor man -has to take his punishment. - -There is no compulsory education in Persia and very little free -education. There was one man who tried to atone for sins, which he -made no pretence of giving up, by founding a large free school in one -Persian town, but it is not a common form of benevolence. So it is only -those who can spare a little money who send their boys to school, and a -great many never get beyond a very early stage of reading and writing. - -As for the girls very few parents care to waste their money over their -girls’ education. A certain number are taught to read the Quran, a -less number go on to reading such books as they have studied, but very -few can read at sight, and writing is even rarer. Still in the matter -of the education of girls Persia is in advance of other Muhammadan -countries. - -In these days of general education it is difficult for us to realise in -this country how hard it is for the missionaries to teach the gospel -truths to the Persians. There is so much to be taught and there are so -many to be taught, and when it has to be done orally to people whose -intelligence and memory have never been developed by study of any kind, -whose minds and brains have never grown up properly, and who forget so -easily, it means an amount of work that would take up all the time and -strength of far more missionaries than are now in the field. - -Many of the converts cannot come regularly for oral teaching, and they -are liable at any time to move out of the missionaries’ reach, so the -missionaries try to teach all the converts and their children to read -their Bibles at any rate, so that they can get teaching direct from -God’s Word themselves. - -Besides the Persian schools there are now several Christian schools in -Persia, but we will talk about those in the next chapter. Since they -were started there has been an attempt in some of the big towns to -introduce an improved system of teaching, and Persian reading-books -are now printed with _ba-bi-bu_, _pa-pi-pu_, etc. etc.; but this is -the exceptional method of teaching, and not the rule in Persia, and I -doubt if any orthodox schoolmaster would care to teach Persian before -he taught the Arabic Quran. - -The Parsees have a very good school in Yezd, largely supported by the -Parsees in Bombay, but this is only for Parsee boys. - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS - - -There are two branches of mission-work in Persia that bring the -missionaries into close touch with Persian children: one is the -hospital, the other is the school. You will hear about the medical work -presently; in this chapter we will look at the school work. - -There are Europeans in Persia, wanting English-speaking servants and -employés; there are rich Persians wanting secretaries who can write -French and English; there are business firms trading with England -and India who want English-speaking clerks and correspondents; so -naturally many Persians want their sons to learn English; and who -should teach it better than the Englishman? - -But this is not all they want. As they get to know the Christians they -see that there is something in English ways and English character that -the Persian lacks. And they bring their boys to the missionary, and -ask him not merely to teach them English, not merely to teach them -book-learning of any sort, but to teach them to be good boys. - -They do not so often ask for a girls’ school, for they do not think a -girl needs any book education as a rule, and only a few of the Persian -women can even read. Yet in some of the Mission-stations girls’ schools -have been started with great success, and year by year the demand for -them is growing. - -English is less taught in these schools, but some of the girls learn -it, especially those most closely connected with the mission. The -girls, of course, have to give a good deal of time to sewing and -embroidery, which are more necessary for them than foreign languages. - -But in all the Mission-stations sooner or later, generally sooner, a -boys’ school is started, and these schools vary very much according to -the needs of the different towns. - -In one school Armenians and Muhammadans work side by side, in another -we find Muhammadans and Parsees, while a third contains all three. - -In one school only English is taught, in another advanced Persian and -Arabic are added. In yet another, everything is taught from the Persian -alphabet onwards. - -One missionary works alone in his own house, another has a full staff -of Armenian and Persian teachers and monitors, and a well-built -convenient school. - -But whatever the race of the boys, whatever the subjects taught, -whatever the organisation, there are difficulties to be faced. - -It is difficult to get teachers; sometimes none can be got on the spot, -and they have to be fetched from some other town, perhaps several -weeks’ journey away. Sometimes the missionary has to be the only -teacher till he can train some of his own boys to be first monitors and -then masters in the school. - -Then there is the school itself. Sometimes the small beginnings of a -school are started in the missionary’s own dining-room; sometimes he is -able to spare a room entirely for school purposes. In one case this was -supplemented by a rough tent or shed made of matting in the compound. -But as the school grows, separate buildings have to be found or built. - -Books are another difficulty. All books for teaching English have to -be got from abroad, and many are not suitable. Readers which are very -suitable for the size of boy who reads them in England or India, are -not suitable for the young men who often use them in Persia. If you -give an educated young man, well read in the finest Persian poetry, the -childish stories and rhymes in many of the readers, he thinks English -books are very, very foolish, and his opinion of English intelligence -in both literary and religious matters falls very low. - -All these things need money. The boys generally pay a very small fee -and buy their own books, but the fees do not go far towards paying for -the schools and the teachers’ salaries, and the getting together of the -necessary money is another difficulty. - -The pupils themselves present three great difficulties. In our country -boys under fourteen generally go to different schools from boys -over fourteen, and those who wish to continue their education after -seventeen or eighteen leave school and go to college, or attend special -lectures. But in Persia the missionary is asked to take them all -together in one school, even middle-aged men wishing to become pupils. -But it is quite impossible to make a satisfactory school of boys and -men together. It is sometimes possible, especially in the larger -schools, to arrange separately for the men, but generally an age limit -has to be set. - -The second difficulty arises from the number of boys who want to learn -English and who are never likely to have any use for it. They have an -idea that it is so new and uncommon that any one who knows it is bound -to get work at a good salary, and so they want to waste their time over -it when they ought to be learning the subjects they will really need -for their work. It takes some time and trouble to sort these boys out -from those who are really likely to need English. The third difficulty -is not peculiar to Persia, though it presents some peculiarities there. -It is the problem of managing the boys. - -Boys in England, I am sorry to say, sometimes tell lies, but in Persia -it would be more correct to say that they sometimes tell the truth. - -Then again the boys are of different ranks; some of them come with -their servants, and a certain amount of tact has to be used to get -them to accept the ordinary rules of discipline. But in a school where -everybody comes to learn most of these difficulties can be overcome. - -Persian boys want knowing, like all boys, but when one tries to do -one’s best for them one finds them thoroughly lovable and possessed of -a large number of exceedingly good points. - -Lastly, the _Mullās_, or Muhammadan clergy, see in the schools the -greatest danger to their religion, and they oppose them strongly. They -know that such close contact with Christians must open the boys’ eyes -to some extent to the contrast between Muhammadanism and Christianity, -and they know Muhammadanism cannot stand such a comparison. - -Many Muhammadans, who believe that Muhammadanism is a true religion -given to them by God through Muhammad, still see that Christianity is -the better religion, and Muhammadans have told me that God had given us -a better religion than He had given them. - -So the _Mullās_ try to persuade or frighten the fathers into not -sending their boys to the Mission-school, they try to frighten the boys -out of going, and they try to get the governors to close the schools. -But it is God’s work, and He does not allow them to stop it for long. - -The boys themselves show the greatest interest in whatever they are -told about the Bible, and naturally in one way or another Bible reading -is always a prominent feature of every class of Mission-school. - -Sometimes there is a regular lesson on the Bible as one of the school -subjects, but in other places there are no Bible lessons, but only -prayers and Bible-reading, with very simple explanations. But however -this may be, the gospel story of Christ Jesus, which is known by name -to every Muhammadan, but by more than name to very, very few, is always -of absorbing interest, and is not likely to be forgotten. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -WORK - - -“To the house of ‘Ali Akbar the pea-roaster,” I said to my servant. - -“There are two ‘Ali Akbars pea-roasters,” he replied, “one is alive, -and one dead; which do you want?” - -It proved to be the widow who had sent for me, and we were soon great -friends. - -“And do you go to school?” I asked Husain, a merry little boy of eight. - -“No, I am an apprentice-baker,” he said with an evident sense of -importance; he felt he was a wage-earner--a halfpenny a day, I think -was the amount, but where a labourer often only earns fivepence a day, -even a halfpenny a day counts for something in the family. - -Seven years old seems to be a very common age for apprenticing boys -in Persia. A boy of that age can make himself useful and gradually -learn his trade, and if his master and his fellow-apprentices are kind -he may be very happy, like my little baker. He probably fetched and -carried, brought sticks for heating the oven, laid out the long thin -flat loaves in rows as they were handed to him from the oven, and later -carried them in a tray on his head, or hanging over his shoulder, to -some of the customers. - -Probably our Lord Jesus Christ Himself started work in the carpenter’s -shop at Nazareth as soon as He could be of any use. He would fetch and -carry tools, sort out the nails, help to clear away the shavings, and -later He would learn to hammer nails, to saw and plane, just as the -little Persian apprentices do to-day, and He would thoroughly enjoy -helping Joseph in the workshop and Mary in the house. - -There was a little “apprentice-carpenter” who looked such a baby he can -hardly have been as old as seven. He used to run back to the shop for -tools or nails, and hold the hammer, and he even succeeded in pulling -some nails out of a packing-case. But his master was not always kind to -him, and sometimes beat him, and he did not seem as happy as the baker -boy. - -Servants will often bring their little boys to the house to help them -in their work, and gradually fit themselves for service. When they -begin to be really useful the master generally gives them a small wage. -A servant who has no boy of his own will often bring a nephew or a -cousin. - -In every trade you find them, little boys whose business it is to -lighten their elders’ work a little in any way they can, for the -Persians are not over fond of hard work. - -You find them too in the houses of poor people, who cannot afford to -keep a regular servant, but pay a few coppers or a meal to a little boy -to come in and make himself useful, sweeping the floor and watering -it in hot weather, preparing the _qaliān_, or hookah, running errands, -chopping firewood, and a hundred other things. It is a system that -works very well when it is worked with kindness and consideration, but -it is a terrible system when it is abused. - -In the Persian carpet trade we see this. In the villages the whole -family works at one carpet, and as the children grow old enough they -are taught and made to join in the work. There need be no cruelty in -this, and often the little things are only too proud and happy to do as -their elders do, and join in the family task. But unhappily even in the -family there are many cases of cruel overwork and ill-treatment. - -But for the horrors of child labour in the carpet trade we must turn to -the factories of Kirman. - -These factories are filled with children from four years old upward, -underfed, overworked, living a loveless, joyless, hopeless life. The -factories are built without windows lest the children’s attention -should be distracted, and the bad air, want of food, and the constantly -keeping in one position produce rickets and deformity in nearly all. Of -thirty-eight children examined in one factory thirty-six were deformed. - -One of the Governors of Kirman forbade the employment of children -under twelve in the factories, but the order did not last beyond his -governorship. The same Governor gave the order still in force, which -forbids the employment of children before dawn or after sunset, thus -reducing their working hours to an average of twelve hours a day. A -recent Governor added to this an order limiting the Friday work to -about two and a half hours, “from sunrise to full sunshine,” so now the -children share in part the general Friday holiday of Muhammadanism. - -One of our medical missionaries was called to attend the wife of the -owner of one of these factories, and consented to do so on condition -he made windows in his factory to allow the children air and light. -He objected at first, saying that it would prevent their working, but -finally consented, and admitted afterwards that the children did more -work with the windows than they had done without them. - -The factory owners are glad to get the children, for they say children -work better than grown-up people at carpet-making, and of course they -expect less wages. But how can the parents allow their children to live -this cruel life? You will find the answer in the Persian saying that -“of every three persons in Kirman, four smoke opium.” - -The man who takes opium regularly becomes a wreck; first his digestion -is ruined, then his heart gets weak and he get bronchitis and other -chest troubles, and he become unreliable physically and morally; he is -untruthful and deceitful, and when he is once well under the power of -the habit, he goes almost mad if he cannot get his opium at the usual -time, and would sell his soul for it, and does sell his children. Over -and over again comes the terrible story, the father and mother smoke -opium; the little deformed child toils through the long days to earn -the money that buys it. - -In the villages the children begin almost as soon as they can run about -to take out the sheep and goats, not in green fields, for there are -none, but among the scattered plants on the mountain-side or under the -village trees. - -Only the boys are allowed to take the flocks out on the hills at any -distance from the village, and on mountains where there are thought to -be wolves, even the boys are forbidden to go without a man. - -But in and around the villages boys and girls alike turn out. -Often they carry a long pole, generally more than twice as long as -themselves. This pole serves at times as a fence to keep the flock -from wandering into crops as they pass them on their way, or as they -graze on the stubble of the neighbouring crops which have been already -gathered in. The stubble itself is not much, but there are more weeds -there because the ground has been watered. But neither on the hills nor -in the fields can they find much pasture in the heat of summer, so the -little shepherds and shepherdesses take their flocks under the trees -and beat the leaves down with their poles for the animals to eat. When -the lower leaves are finished they climb, boys and girls alike, into -the trees, often to considerable heights, and beat the higher branches. -The leaves that are not eaten are dried and kept for the winter as we -keep hay. It is an awkward thing for a child to climb trees encumbered -with a long pole, and in the districts where they do this there are -often accidents. One little boy of eight or nine was brought to the -Yezd hospital with a bad compound fracture of his skull through falling -out of a tree while tending the sheep. He got nearly well, and then his -mother took him home, so I do not know whether he fully recovered or -not. - -Among the richer classes the children sometimes undertake nominal work -at a very early age, but not actual work. One boy of about sixteen in -our school held a position in the Persian army corresponding to that of -Colonel, and there was said to be a Field-Marshal of twelve in the army. - -Merchants consider it good training for their sons to do a little -business on their own account, and some of our schoolboys imported -goods from Bombay or elsewhere while they were still at school, and -disposed of them at a profit. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -CHILD WIVES - - -The Persian girls stay at home longer than the little apprentices, but -not so long as the richer schoolboys. - -The usual age for a Muhammadan girl to marry is thirteen or fourteen, -but in many places they marry as early as eight or nine. - -This perhaps explains why the girl is given no voice in the choice of a -husband, and all is left to the parents. - -It perhaps partly explains too why Muhammadans are allowed to beat -their wives, though they will tell you, as a proof of their prophet’s -kindness to women, that he forbade them to do it with a chain. A little -girl who has not had time to grow up and learn to behave herself, will -often no doubt be difficult to control. - -The young wife of a shoemaker one day lost her temper because her -husband said he could not afford to buy her something she wanted. She -proceeded to break all the ornaments in the house and to tear her best -_chādar_ to rags. Her husband, who was a Christian, went to the English -missionary to ask whether it would be allowable under the circumstances -to beat her. - -Another girl refused to cook her husband any food when he came home -from his work, and would not even speak to him. She admitted that -he was very kind to her, and that she liked him better than her own -brothers, but still continued to sulk in this way. Her own relations -said a good beating was what she wanted, but her husband had scruples -about wife-beating, and would not do anything. But not many Persian -husbands are so forbearing. - -Another necessary result of these early marriages is the custom of -living with the husband’s parents. A girl of even fourteen is not -fit to be given sole charge of a house. So the bridegroom takes his -bride home to his father’s house, and puts her under the charge of her -mother-in-law. When, however, the mother-in-law becomes a widow, she -has to take a secondary place, if her daughter-in-law is at all of an -age to manage her own affairs. Then the old lady often prefers to leave -her son’s house, and to go and live with a married daughter, and the -men are generally very good in taking in their mothers-in-law. - -Poor little girl wives! They are taken away from home before they are -grown up, and although they are now married women they cannot help -behaving as children. There was one young wife of a Government official -who received her visitors with the utmost dignity and propriety, and -then could not resist the temptation to pinch the old black woman who -was handing the tea and make her jump. - -And they hardly know what to do with their babies. They love to nurse -them and play with them, but they get very tired of them and are often -glad to hand them over to the grandmother. I went to condole with one -girl on the death of her dear little baby, and she said, “It was just -as well it died before the winter. It would have been such cold work -getting up in the night to look after it.” - -Even when the children grow older their mothers, grown-up children -themselves, do not know how to manage them. What do you think of -mothers who lose their tempers with their children, and fly at them -and bite them? And they are not ashamed of it, and their neighbours do -not seem surprised or horrified. One woman bit her little boy’s hand, -till it bled badly. He was about seven, and had cried to have his best -coat on when he went to see the missionary. Another woman bit the cheek -of a poor little consumptive girl of eight or nine, so that there was -a great bruise, and the skin was broken. She told a neighbour, with a -laugh, that she had got angry with the child because she was tiresome -about taking her medicine, which was very nasty. - -There is no command in the Quran that girls should be married so -young, but the mothers declare that it was the command of Muhammad, -and certainly he himself set the example by marrying a girl of nine. -So when a mother thinks her girl is getting old enough to marry she -begins to look out for a suitable husband, and talks things over with -the mother or sister of any man she thinks likely. The man’s mother is -allowed to see the girl, but not the man himself, so you see even the -men cannot choose their own wives. Then the money matters are arranged. -It is settled how much the girl’s father will give her, and how much -her husband will settle on her, and there is often a great deal of -haggling over this. - -If a girl has a cousin who is the son of her father’s brother, he is -considered the most appropriate husband for her, and it is considered -an act of merit for him to marry her. - -If a girl has a large dowry she can generally get a good husband as -husbands go out there. If she is poor she has more difficulty, but a -capable, industrious girl may do fairly well. But a penniless girl with -nothing to recommend her fares badly indeed. When her mother fails to -get any husband who is at all desirable instead of letting her girl -remain single, she marries her to a madman or a drunkard or a deformed -man, or someone utterly undesirable. - -The engagement is celebrated by a formal sweet-eating to which the -friends on both sides are invited. - -The bride and her family prepare her trousseau, and she also has to -make a complete suit of clothes for the bridegroom. In one town now it -is customary for every well-to-do bride to have one European dress in -her trousseau, and for her father to give her a table and chairs. - -The wedding itself is a great affair, lasting a week, if the bride’s -father can afford it, but only a day or part of a day in the case of -poor people. The little bride in her finest clothes, of which she is -very proud, looks very disconsolate and cries a great deal. No doubt -the tears are sometimes genuine enough, for the child is leaving her -home and going to people she knows little of, but even if she feels -inclined to laugh and smile she must not do anything so improper. - -After the wedding she must not leave her husband’s house for a year, -but she may receive visitors. - -As we have seen the marriage and wedding are arranged by the women, -but generally the bridegroom has more say in the matter than one young -man I knew. He had been engaged for some time, and on going home -from work one evening found his wedding prepared without his having -been consulted, and had to be married then and there. He was fond of -children, and quickly won the heart of his little wife, who cried when -he had to go back to his work. - -We do sometimes find happy family parties in Persia, the husbands -treating their wives with consideration, and the wives being very fond -of their husbands. One old lady told me, with tears in her eyes, how -good her husband always was to her, and how he always got up and made -a cup of tea for her in the morning if she was not well. But this is -the exception and not the rule. There does not generally seem to be any -great affection between husband and wife. The husband expects implicit -obedience from his wife, and is prepared to enforce it. On the other -hand she has certain privileges. She generally has the best courtyard -in the house, to which no men are admitted but near relations, and the -smaller courtyard is given up to her husband to receive his guests in. - -Except in the highest classes Persian women go about a good deal, but -always have to wear a veil in the street or draw the _chādar_ over -their faces. - -The man is absolute master in his own house, and unless his wife has -powerful relations he may do what he likes to her and her children, and -no one will take any notice. - -I knew one woman whose husband treated her like a slave. He forced her -not only to do all the work of the house, but the work of the stable -too, for he was well enough off to keep a horse. He killed one child -in her arms, and twice stole another away from her, sending it once -to a town a week’s journey off, and once to another part of the town. -Finally he divorced her, without giving any reason, and left her ill -and destitute. And she had at no time any redress. - -Certainly Muhammadanism does not tend to make good husbands, nor -perhaps good wives either. The Persians are many of them kindly people, -however, and treat their wives better than Muhammad taught them to -do. Otherwise the lot of women in Persia would be harder than it is. -One great evil they are spared, for the widows are not despised and -ill-treated as the Hindu widows are, but are allowed to marry again, -and generally do so if they are of a suitable age. - -Still the condition of girls in Persia is not a happy one, and I think -that all of you who have Christian mothers, and know what the love of -such a mother can be, will have something to pray about, when you think -of mothers and their children in Persia. - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -SICK CHILDREN - - -Measles, scarlet fever, whooping cough, mumps, chickenpox, Persian -children have them all. Typhoid fever, diphtheria, rheumatic fever are -all common. But almost the commonest illness of all is smallpox. - -A woman brought a child into the dispensary waiting-room one day -covered with a smallpox rash. The doctor, new to the country, ordered -her out, condemning her reckless disregard for infection. “Is there -anyone who has not had smallpox?” she asked, looking round at the -thirty or forty other people in the room. As she expected, all had had -it, and she came in. - -It is considered a children’s illness, because people hardly ever grow -up without having had it. In fact, their parents take care they shall -not, for they are so afraid they will take it badly at an awkward time -that they choose a convenient time, and either put the child with a -person who has smallpox mildly, or, oftener, inoculate him with it, -just as we inoculate our babies with vaccine. - -My cook asked me one day, with tears, to go and see his baby; they -had given it smallpox to get it over, and it had taken it badly. I am -glad to say it recovered. He had not thought it necessary to make any -difference in his cooking for us, while he was spending his nights with -a baby with smallpox. Another missionary’s cook brought his little boy -with smallpox to the kitchen because it was more cheerful for him than -being at home; he could lie and watch his father cooking. - -So the Persians do not take much trouble to prevent their children from -getting ill. How do they care for them when they are ill? - -First of all they start doctoring them themselves, except in smallpox, -when they say it is dangerous to give any medicine. For other illnesses -they give plenty of medicine, not in little teaspoonfuls, but in nice -big bowlfuls, and the nastier it is the more good they think it will -do. On the whole Persian children are exceedingly good about taking -their medicine, but whether they are or not they have to take it. One -way of giving it to naughty children is to pour it through their noses -from a little tin cup with a long narrow spout. - -If the child gets no better the doctor is consulted; very often two -or three doctors are called in, and sometimes the parents follow the -doctor’s advice, but very often they do not. It depends partly on the -beads, and a good deal on how much they have paid. If they pay much -they generally make the patient take all the medicine for fear their -money should be wasted. If the doctor seems unable to cure the patient -a reader is called in, sometimes a man, sometimes a woman, who reads -the Quran over the patient in the hope that it may effect a cure where -medical treatment has failed. - -In the case of a long, tiresome illness, or when they despair of -recovery, it is not uncommon for the patient’s friends to hasten the -end by giving a dose of poison. - -One girl, who had very little the matter with her, but was always -making a fuss over her ailments, gave her family a great deal of -trouble with her fancies. They found her recovery was likely to be -slow, and although she was going on well they one day told the doctor -that “they had _given her sherbet_ and she had died.” - -I myself was several times asked to give poison in the form of -medicine, and I think they were rather surprised when I told them how -Christians regard such a thing. - -When the medical missionary starts work he may be puzzled by the very -common request that he will give the second medicine first. It appears -that the people think, with how much truth I cannot say, that their -doctors give first a medicine to make the patient worse and then one to -make him better. - -Perhaps that was what the devoted old grandmother was thinking of, who -had brought her poor little granddaughter in from a village many miles -away, very, very ill with rheumatic fever. She called in the English -doctor, and got her medicine from the dispensary, but when the doctor -called next day, she said she had not given the child any, because she -remembered she had never asked if it would do her good and so she was -afraid to try it. - -It must surely have been in the minds of the friends of one patient who -came to the missionary, and said their friend was worse every time she -took her medicine, and they wanted some more, it was doing her so much -good. - -When you are very ill, Mother keeps you very quiet and does not let you -see visitors, but when a little Persian is very ill all the neighbours -crowd in to see him, and the more ill he is the more people come in. -And they do not tread on tiptoe and talk in a whisper, they all talk -quite loud out and smoke _qaliāns_ and drink tea, and make noise enough -to give anyone in good health a headache, much more a sick child. - -One day I was called in to see a child who was dangerously ill. -Instead of showing me into her room, the mother, together with a -variety of aunts, sisters, and other relations, escorted me to their -receiving-room. I asked for the sick child, and was told I should -see her after tea, which meant at least half an hour’s delay. As -the account they had given of her sounded very bad, I said I could -not wait, that it was not our custom to think of tea-drinking and -entertainment when our patients were perhaps dying. With great -difficulty I managed to persuade them to take me to the poor little -girl, whom they had left alone while they all came to have tea and -sweets with me. She was, as they had said, very ill, her recovery was -very doubtful, yet as soon as we left the room, and had sent for the -medicine, they were all eager to entertain me, and I do not think -anyone would have stayed with the child if I had not insisted, and they -were all as gay and lively as if they had had no one dangerously ill in -the next room. - -The Persians are very hospitable and like to put their best before -a visitor, and they consider it very necessary to provide something -nice for the doctor. Some Persian doctors send word beforehand what -refreshments they would like got ready. - -Sometimes this deters the very poor from calling in even the mission -doctor, who, they know, would treat them free. They cannot even provide -tea and sugar. It was a great relief to more than one poor person, when -it was discovered that the mission ladies were fond of boiled turnips, -for a plate of turnips was within the reach of the poorest, costing -only about a halfpenny. The news spread, and several sick people were -able at once to have a doctor. - -But it is in surgery that one sees the Persian doctor at his worst. - -Here comes little Husain with his head plastered up with mud; on -removing the mud we find a broken skull and a large wound in a foul -condition. Next comes little Sakīneh with both hands burnt; the burns -are smeared with sticky white of egg covered over with leaves; it will -take days of proper dressing to get the wounds clean. But she is not so -badly off as Rubābeh, whose burn has been dressed with camphorated oil, -and is so inflamed that she screams and cries the whole time. - -A more fortunate child was the little girl who was scalded nearly all -over, but not deeply, and who looked like a little nigger with the -_ink_ they had put on. She got well very quickly. It is like Indian -ink, and seems to be the best of the remedies the Persians use for -burns. - -With broken bones the Persian doctors are not very successful either. -Little Hasan, aged four, fell and broke both arms. The Persian doctor -as usual tied them up with splints that were too small to be any real -use, but he tried to make up for that by tying the bandages very tight, -and poor little Hasan had both arms partly destroyed. How proud he was -when, after some weeks at the C.M.S. hospital, he was able to carry an -English doll clasped to his heart with the two poor bandaged stumps. - -There was some truth in what one doctor said, that more than half the -cases that came into the hospital had come there in consequence of the -Persian doctors’ treatment. The remedy is generally worse than the -disease. - -There are exceptions, and I have met Persian doctors, who not only had -real knowledge of medical treatment, but had some of the true doctor’s -spirit of pity and self-sacrifice. Especially I would mention the -brave Persian doctor who stayed at his post in Shiraz in the cholera -epidemic of 1904, and fought that terrible disease instead of yielding -to the panic that had seized his fellow countrymen. - -It is evident, however, that there is a great and crying need for -dispensaries and hospitals in Persia. So in the north the American -Presbyterians, and in the south the Church Missionary Society, have -founded them in a number of towns. - -As a rule a dispensary is started first, to which out-patients can come -to get medicines and have their hurts attended to. Later a hospital is -opened. Generally the first hospital is a very poor affair, but as the -work grows money is collected, and nice, clean, convenient hospitals -are built and furnished. Armenian and Persian boys and girls are -trained as nurses and assistants, the boys for the men’s hospital, the -girls for the women’s and children’s. - -Here Hasan and ‘Ali, Fātimeh and Rubābeh, and a great many other little -Persian children are made as comfortable as their illness allows, and -are kept clean and happy in comfortable beds, and well fed and cared -for. - -[Illustration: A MISSION HOSPITAL] - -Morning and evening they hear prayers read, and soon they too venture -to join in the “Our Father.” And every day someone reads and explains -in the ward something about the Lord Jesus Christ, and His love and His -teaching, and they learn that He knows and loves each little Akbar or -Sakīneh and wants them for His own, and they learn to love Him because -He first loved them. They learn hymns too, and love to sing them, -the same hymns that you know so well, “Whiter than snow,” “Simply -trusting,” “Here we suffer grief and pain,” and many others. - -The last recalls the story of little Bāgum, the child-wife, who was -deliberately and cruelly burnt by her husband, and was brought to the -mission hospital. There was no hope of recovery, but all was done that -was possible to relieve her pain and brighten her last days. - -She had heard something of the Gospel story from a missionary who had -paid a visit to her native village, and she had been so interested that -she had asked two Persian children to teach her more. When she was -brought to the hospital even the terrible pain she was suffering did -not make her forget the wonderful story, and she begged to be told more -and more. And resting in the love of Christ and trusting wholly in Him -and His salvation, she loved to sing of the joy to which He was going -to take her and kept begging for “Here we suffer grief and pain,” and -repeating over and over the refrain, “Shādī, Shādī,” (joy, joy), until -even the Muhammadan women would sit beside her and sing the hymn that -comforted her so much. - -In a small village in another part of Persia lived a little lame girl. -She could not walk at all, and her leg was drawn up so that she could -not straighten it, and she suffered very much. She was a good deal -of trouble to her parents, and they got tired of taking care of her, -and neglected her a good deal, till at last her father heard of the -mission hospital in the neighbouring town, seventeen miles off, and -took her there to see if the _Ferangis_ (Europeans) could cure her. -She was taken in, washed, and dressed in clean clothes and put to -bed. At first she used to scream when her leg was touched, but it was -operated on, and gradually, very gradually, the pain grew less, and the -leg grew straighter. But still, as the months went on, the recovery -was very slow, and when the weather grew so hot that the hospital had -to be closed and her father took her home, though free from pain while -she lay still in bed, the pain was so great when she tried to stand -that she could not walk a step. But as she lay alone on her bed at home -she thought over all she had heard at the hospital, and one day a new -thought struck her. Surely the _Khānums_ had told her that the Lord -Jesus Christ, Who used to cure people so wonderfully, was alive still -and could hear when anyone spoke to Him. Why had she never asked Him -to make her leg well? And then and there, in her ignorance and simple -faith, she asked Him, Who in the old Gospel days had made the lame -to walk, to make her walk, and, confident in His love and power, she -“arose and walked.” - -When the hospital was reopened she came back again still lame, still in -pain, but able to walk about with a stick. And she loved more than ever -to hear of Him who had not only done so much for the sick Jews of old -times, but had done so much too for her. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - -CONCLUSION - - -A Persian was one day talking to an English missionary and asked why -our King did not annex Persia. - -“It is not right,” said the missionary, “to take what belongs to -someone else, and Persia belongs to your Shah.” - -“Still your King is surely bound to do as the Bible tells him, and the -Bible tells him to annex it.” - -“Where does the Bible say that?” - -“Does it not say that if you see your neighbour’s ox or ass fallen into -a pit you are to pull it out? And Persia is an ass fallen into a pit, -and your King should pull her out.” - -Yes, Persia has indeed fallen into a pit, and we must pull her out, -but the pit is not simply one of political difficulty, it is the pit -of Muhammadanism, Persia’s most real difficulty, and we must annex -Persia for the King of Kings. As long as the Persians are Muhammadans -lying and dishonesty will be the rule, cruelty and injustice will go -hand in hand, the poor will be oppressed, the girls and women will be -treated as inferior creatures, the children will be liable to overwork -and cruelty, and religious persecution will continue. And the Persians -are finding out that they are in the pit and they are struggling to get -out, they are crying to us for help. Are we going to help them? - -Thousands of Muhammadans in Persia are dissatisfied with their -religion, and are looking for something better. Many are trying a -dissenting form of Muhammadanism, called Bābīism, but many are looking -to Christianity for help. - -At first they distrusted the Christians, and Christian work was -constantly hindered or stopped. Now they have learnt to know and trust -the Christians, and the work is not greatly interfered with. Indeed -everywhere the Persians are asking for teachers and doctors, for -schools and hospitals, and for Christian teaching. - -If we do not help them in their search after the Way, the Truth, and -the Light, Muhammad’s mistake, which has caused so much misery, may be -repeated, and Christianity rejected in favour of some new religion made -to suit the needs of the moment, but not the needs of eternity. We must -all put our shoulder to the wheel to prevent that. - -The Persians are well worth an effort. Numbers of Babis went to their -death in 1903 rather than deny their prophet, and even children have -stood persecution for Christ. “I have a foolish husband,” said one -little girl. “He says he will beat Jesus Christ out of me, but he can -only beat my body, and Jesus Christ is in my heart, so he cannot beat -Him out.” - -And the Persians are naturally a religious people, and if their -religious energy could be turned from dead works, formal prayers, -fastings, pilgrimages, divining,--turned to the service of the true and -living God, what a splendid people they might be again, what a force -for God in Asia, and in the world. For the wave of true religious life -would act again on us and help us on. God grant we may yet see the -Persian, stunted as he is by Muhammadanism, grow up to a perfect man to -the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. And what is _our_ -part in this great work? It is threefold. - -1. _Prayer._ Persia wants our prayers. God wants our prayers for -Persia. We none of us know all the power and possibilities of prayer, -and most of us are surprised when we get direct and obvious answers -to our prayers. It takes us a long time to find out that God answers -all our prayers, but He does. And there are many in Persia who need -our prayers: the missionaries; the converts, often standing alone in a -Muhammadan house or even in a village or in a quarter of the town, with -no Christian friend to encourage them; the inquirers, perplexed as to -the truth, or struggling with their fears of confessing the Saviour in -Whom they have learnt to believe; the untouched Muhammadans, oppressing -or oppressed; the schools, the hospitals and dispensaries, and the -services held week by week in the name of Jesus Christ. - -2. _Giving._ We may help to send out missionaries and to keep up the -schools and hospitals, either by giving some of our money, or our time -and work. Have you only five loaves and two small fishes? Our Lord can -use them to feed five thousand men besides women and children. - -3. _Personal service._ We cannot all be missionaries in the foreign -field. No, but those who cannot give themselves for foreign service can -do “garrison duty” at home. People often try to dissuade missionaries -from going abroad, telling them they are wanted at home. But they ought -not to be wanted at home; every Christian who cannot go abroad ought to -be doing his share of the work at home, so that those who can go abroad -may be spared. - -And you who read this book, if you want to help forward God’s kingdom -in heathen and Muhammadan lands, set to work now at once to fit -yourselves to work as Christian teachers, that you may be ready to -take your place in the ranks here or there as the great Captain -places you. Get to know your Bibles well, studying them if possible -with commentaries or aids. Do not let shyness stand in the way of -your undertaking direct Christian work if you are old enough. Do your -lessons or your work thoroughly and well, and so make yourselves more -fit to be used when the time comes. Get into good habits of healthy -living and simple food. Put away all unkind words and thoughts and -learn to live in charity with all men. Be regular in your prayers -morning and evening, and if possible get a regular time for midday -prayer, even if it is only two minutes, but speak to God too all -through the day--get into the habit of turning to Him at all times. For -whether we work here at home or far away in foreign lands we can only -do God’s work by keeping in close touch with Him. - - - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[A] For the credit of the hospital authorities it must be stated that -they were making every effort to destroy the cat, but had hitherto -failed owing to its wildness and cunning. - -[B] This description is taken from the Shiraz copper bazaar. - - - - -TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES: - - - Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_. - - Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. - - Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized. - - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Children of Persia, by Mrs. Napier Malcolm - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHILDREN OF PERSIA *** - -***** This file should be named 62628-0.txt or 62628-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/2/6/2/62628/ - -Produced by D A Alexander, David E. 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