The Somerset reporter., 1885-05-06
Marriage in Persia

dr1Dses " ~edding-I spca. of a wedding
+ Ia the MIDDLE ranks of llie-tAeTe "a been
considerable hustle u tBe house of he
i BRIDES father. The hou has been literal
i ly swept and gdrli.bed. Carpes have
I been bpfrs we'd, ard Gums hat at other
E lines g." MI al smp5y, -rs now lur-
nth O e.. l. - raieu = j. flowers. The
+ poor aic standing III d cfo"I Al the outer
j door, rnre oi being pielti Dily rsgAled.
+ HE outer cDUr has been got ready for the
men. Vases Of flowers are p.acrd IN rows
at all the open Windows and 10 every re-
/ cess: thirty u forty pounds of tobacco
j has ben prepared by pounding and moist
/ eniBg Tor smoking; the courtyard i fresh
/ ~ "atercd. If Il is 4 calm day-and
/ Spring aud Summer deys 10 Persia are al.
i Why's Tree from 8ibd--rDee leaves are
/ sprinked Oh the surface Of the water Of
4 the rdi-ed tanh IN the centre pf the court
| yards, 80 a. TO form the word Btsn.iilqh
the pi9us welcome OF the Mussuii44n
Smi a. preparations. but on a larger scale,
have been made In the daderun, that hand
somer aud larger cou tyafd which contains
the woman's quarter. From this court
! yard the Degresses may be seen busiy en-
gagged in the kitchen preparing the bre4k
fast for perhaps hundred guests; and the
visitor will stop all day Only leaving Ia -
cort the bride to the home OF her new hus-
band, whittier she will 20 after DARK.
Lirga samovars, Russian urns, which are
III Use in Every Per-ian house, are Kissing
Ike alh =. SttaiB rug me-, reaGy TO furnish
tea for the guests On their arrival not oor
idea of tea, but pale infusion sweelened
to the Consistency of syrup. from he cen
tire OF each cup OF which viii project a T.
tie island Of supel fIous sugar. The
"sherbei-dar, too, Is preparing IN his own
special den immense quantities Of ices and
sherbets; and these ices will be served
from china bowls, and each ice will be the
size and shape Of fair sized sugar loaf
As for the sherbets delicately Scented aud
sweetned ifuit-syrups dissolved IN water,
and with Jumps Of ice floating Ia the cleYr
and various cOiored hGids). they viii be
supplied IN gallons. Orange, sheroet, lem
on, poDegraDaie, rose water, cherry.
ounce and an endless further variety Of
the,e refreshing drinks will be offered to
the thirsty guests And now come thu mu-
sicians in two bands, the MUS ulmans and
the Jews, the latter a regged and motley
crew, out more skilful than their better
clad rivals. They carry with them their
strange old-word instruments, aud soon
establish themselves in corner OF either
courtyard. They, too, partake of tea, au1
then prepare to strike up Noticeable
among the Mussulman musicians is the d.
hol player and his instrument. 1t is
species Of oi- drum, only used at wed.
dings; and, once heard the awful resopant
roar it makes can never be forgotten.
All is ready. The master of the house,
dressed in his best gives last anxious
glance at the preparations, and has an ex-
cited discussion with his wife or wives.
He waves his hand to the musicians aud
hurries to A seat near the door, to be ready
TO welcome his guests. The music strikes
up merry tune Git Is really an air. haroar-
ic, but iuspritiuE) the tremendous din Of
the dohol is heard at intervals. Tnen IN
loud scaeam rises the voice OF the princi-
pal solo singer, who commences one of the
sad love songs # Persia In "a high falsetto
voice. His face reddeus with his exer-
tions, which lasts through a dozen verses
His eyes nearly start from his herd, the
muscles OF his neck stand out like ROPES
but he keeps correct time on the big tam
BOURNE, which be plays with Cuusumm4ie
skill The rest Of the mdsiciaud watch
his every movement, auc join in ire chorus
of "Ah, Leila, Leila, you have made ru4st
lneat of my heart" The music is the sig.
nal to the invited guests. They now com
mtnce to arrive in crowds. The music aud
singing proceed, and 90 on Increasingly till
the bride leaves for her husbands home
the guests pour in the host receives them
with transports OF pleasure, all the extrav-
agant compliments OF Eastern politeness
pass between them: May your wedding
be iortunatei' ~ uu are indeed Welcomes
this Is a uever-lo-b- for gotten honor To me-
your slaYe! In they pour, the men in
their best; the women, closely yelled, pass
on uunotced by the lneu iuto the dHderuR,
where they uuvetl and appear to their &c
lighted hostesses III their finest clothes and
all their jewelry, aud, we are sorry to add,
N most cases with their faces carefully
painted. As the dresses worhe among Per
sian ladies' Tor indoor use only reach 10 t
knee and ale very much boUfe, their we.r-
ers look like opera dancers. The ladies
Get aud legs are bare rule Il gauze
skirt of gay color. aud tiny zouaye j ok
ct deliberately embroidered with gold lace
on velvet or satin, are wOrne: while the
head is dee GRATED with large kerchief OF
silh or gauZc, elab0rateiy embroidered with
gold thread. From beneath this kerchitf
ihe hair falls in inuumeratie plaitS behind,
sometimes reaching almost To the GROUND.
The colorS of their clothes are of the
rightest-piuk>, greens, yeliow>, scArlrt>.
crimsons. blues. The quantity of solid
je"elry Worn in houor Of the bride is pre-
digious.
Every one takes tea, every one crunche,
the sweets OF various kinds which are pied
On china dishes in huge trays in the centre
of the rooms. Several huudredweish hit OF
confectionery, not food, but "-Seets, are
thus consumed. Conversation goes on,
pipes are smoked by both men and women.
Messages pass between the two courtyaldS
But the men remain in their quarters and
the women in theirs. The mus iciaus aud
bui'oons are allowed, however, in the wo-
mans court on these occasions; they are
supposed II be mere professional persons,
and on this account are tolerated Al noon
heavy br aktaSt is served II there be
200 guess, there is meat for them aud for
SAY, a hundred servants and hangers on e.;
while what remains, stili larger portion
is given 10 the poor.
Iuti> or butlDuns now bring their per-
forming monkeys or bears, often miser-
able and ha,f->tatved lion cowed ny much
beating. they dance they sing songs, in
decent enough in them>, Ives, but tolerated
in The East on such occasinns. More tea.
more ices, more sherbet>, moir sweets
Pipes without number pass from hand to
hand, but no strong drink that l. never
seen nor TASTED, save by the mus clans and
hahoouS, who, as the day waneS, ate freely
supplied. The bride meanwhile goes 10
the BATH whittier she is accomplished by
man| of the ladies, the friends and near
relatives Of The family. Dinner is served
on tie same lavish scale as the breakfast.
Fowls by the hundred, boiled to rags, un-
der piles of yariouS-coiored ri &c; lambs
roasted whole, or boiled tn fragments;
mutton in sayory stews; game and yruison
hot on the spit; kebahs and pliaws Of end
less variety; soups, sweets, fruits in pro-
fussun; all this is served witt the lavish
ness of true Oriental hospitality.
And now there is hum of suspense. 1t
is night, and the whole place is lighted up
by lamps, candles in shades and lanterns.
A uolse OF u distant crowd is heard; aims
in money are freely distributed among the
crowd of beggars and poor at he door;
horses are brought for the bride and hsr
friends. The procession OF the bride
groom is approaching, and it must be Ut
drrslnnA that another nrand narfx has