The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1880-06-09
WHOLE NO. 1909.
Fleeing for Her Nose and Ears.

In the village of Gandamak there
lives n Mahometan molish or clergy
man named Said Mir, to whose
house there came from the neighbor-
ing village of Petta one Kadir, pot
ter. The reverend gentleman sup
piled the guest with dried mulber-
ries, the only food at that hour
available in the house, after which
the pair sat down on the terrace be-
low the pomegranate grove which
.overhangs the stream 10 smoke and
talk. Said the potter to the mollah,
Il have in my house daughter
who is beautiful and of n marriagea-
BILE age: if ! could suitably dispose
of her / should have room in my es-
tablishment for another wife"
Brother Potter" replied the mol
lah, Il can well feel for YOU. |
have myself daughter who IS beau
tiful and whose face is like the moon,
whose lips are like the seed of the
pomegranate, whose hair is like tam
gled snakes but what availeth all
this beauty? Wives are certainly
more useful than daughters"
And so the two old reprobates
talked the matter over, till at last it
was agreed that they should change
daughters; and in due time the
mollah married the potter's daugh-
ter and the potter married the mol
lah's daughter Now, the potter's
daughter had not been brought up
with a proper sense of propriety,
and soon after her wedding began to
make eyes at the young men of Gan
damak in manner most unbecom-
ing to the wife of clergyman. The
mollah perceived this, cut off her
nose and ears and sent her back to
her father with an intimation that
he had discovered her in an act of
.infdelity for which he had punished
her, and that he now returned her,
as he had no further use for her. The
potter, in getting his daughter back
mutilated in this horrible way, was
sorely distressed. He argued to
himself thus:
'Ifthe girl goes about the village
in that state the neighbors will never
cease to twit me about her, and |
shall be known as the father of the
noseless girl" So he killed her.
Having killed the daughter the pot
ter was stung with the pangs OF re-
morse. He thought to himself
"The mollah is a great brute and
will be avenged on him" So he
called his wife and said,
'Your father cut off my daughters
nose and ears and forced me TO kill
her. Now l must hay revenge, so
shall cut off your nose and ears
and send You back to him.
On hearing this the lady b gan to
cry and begged for . few days
grace. IS
VERY WELL" said the potter, Il
will give you till tomorrow"
1t was II o'clock at night. and
the potter had fallen into his first
deep sleep, when his wife rose noise
lessly and erept out of the cottage
into the dark cold night. She had
seen the tents of the Feringis, and
she would go to them for protection.
Well she knew that if she went to
her father he would kill her to avoid
a bloody feud with her husband; if
she went to the native officials they
would take no interest in her fate
and would return her to her hus-
band with as little compunction as
they would return q stray heifer TO
the butcher. There was nothing for
her to do but to go to Feringi. 1t
was q long and difficult strip of
country to traverse, but fear lent her
strength and speed. She sped miles
across the Ishpahan plain, she plung-
ed without hesitation into the icy
ford across the Turkab, she climbed
with painful effort and with hard
drawn breath the rugged steep above
Sarandu, she fled with stumbling
steps the winding path that led to
the British camp at Pezwan, she
crawled past the sentry, she glid-
ed into the nearest tent, the morn
was beginning to dawn and she was
safe.
! Colonel Acton wired to General
Arbuthnot at Gandamak, and Gen
eral Arbuthnot made arrangements
for the young womans safety. | do
not know what will be done with
her, but she has saved her nose and
ears for the present.-LOnd0n Times.