Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1886-02-10
AMONG THE PERSIANS.
An Afternoon Walk in the
Chief City.
Our Late Minister Describes Some of the
Sights of Tcheran

.. Il. W. BenWmln latc lhllcu States
minister to Persia, describing IN after
noon in Tchcran, says, in lIorpers: 1t
is the hour of peace; Il rosy light bathcS
the house-tops, but the stately avenues
leading north and south are in shadow,
and cooled by the water thrown by the
sakkahs. The tender evening light also
rests on the snowy crcStS Of the vast ridge
Of the Shin Tram, or Light Of Persia,
which scars to a height Of 13, 600 feet
across the northern side Of the plain, but
nine miles away, The evening glow, be-
fore it fades into twilight, fingers last on
the snowy cone of Dcmaycnd, 81, 600 feet
high, ever present in every view, like the
presiding genius that protects the capital
Of Persia.
With slow and dignifcd steps the Per-
sian gentlemen stroll through these inyit-
ing avenues, engaged in genial converse.
Their long robes, their massive boards,
their lofty caps or voluminous turbans,
give them a lofty statclincss as they wcnd
along, undisturbcd by the numerous hor-
scs or carriages, or the hidcouSly unkcmpt
and filthy dervishcs who claim aims on
account of their sanctifcd rags,
At this hour the tca-houscs are in full
blast, The reader may be surprised to
learn that the national beverage of Persia
is not coffee but tea One would natu-
rally suppose that a country SO near
Araby the Blcst and the aromatic groves
of Mocha would, like the Turks, prefer
coffee. OF course a great deal Of coffee,
prepared in the Turkish way, is con-
sumcd by the Persions, but the fact re-
mains that they are essentially tea
drinking race, drinking it in vast quanti-
ties, favored with lemon or lime, and
swcctcncd almost to syrup, The habit
is probably the result OF the commercial
intercourse which at an early period exist
cd between Persia and China, and
which, as is now well known, gave an
impulse to the arts Of Persia, of which
evidences appear at various stages of her
aesthetic history. At Tcheran the tea
houses take the place of the colfcc-houscs
of Constantinople, One meets them at
every turn, of every rank, but all alike
resorts for rest, leisure, and entertainment
There one may see public dancers, who
by law are now invariably men, although
women contrivc to evadc the laws some
times and exhibit in the h0rems. The
male dancers are brought up to this voca-
tion from boyhood, and invariably wear
long hair in imitation of women, and
shave their faces smooth.
What interests an intelligent European
more at these tca-houses than the dances
are the rccitations from the poets. The
songs of IIafz may be heard there, and
entire cantos from the great epic Of Fer
doonscc, repeated with loud, sonorous
modulation, heard sometimes at quite
distance at the more inspiring passages,
and listened to with enthusiastic rapture.
Here too, one may hear the "Arabian
Nights tales given without any attempt
at cXpurgation, exactly as in recent
translation. The reader will rccollcct
that the characters in the "Arabian
Nights arc constantly and at every op-
portunty quoting long and appropriate
passages from the poets. This may to
the European appear to be an aifcctation
OR freak of poetic license on the part of
the author of these tales. On the contra
ry, he was simply giving us another of
those traits of Oriental character the
record of which has given to those ini-
mitablc narratives immortality as the fin
est picture ever given of the life of the
EiSt, Which,, Ulttl lHpNNdIllo VI ytdlH, -
only just beginning to feel the transform
ing influence of western civilization.
As one continues his ramblc through
Tehcran at this hour, he secs crowd,
amused by balloons dancing to the beat
of tnmbourncs-anim which, if they
do not get all the happiness they deserve,
at least well fulfill their mission in minis
tering to the pleasure of myriads by their
absurd antics and grimaccs. Or we see
chained lioncss put through her PAGES
or, fatigued by the part she has been
forced to play in life, and unable to es-
cape from it by suicide, is sleeping hcavi-
ly on the pavement. But one of the most
common spcctaclcS of Tchcran in the lrtc
aftcrnoon-a sight which always draws q
crowds match of trained wrcstlcrS,
or athletes exercising with clubs as both
of which the Pcrsians are very expert
although they make no great figure in
iupulpry