Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1886-01-08
AN AFTERNOON IN TEHERAN.
Is. G. ". Beniamln in Hnrper's Magazinc. /

Is. G. W. Benjamin in IIarpcrs Magazinc.1
1t is the hour of peace: a rosy light
bathcs the housc-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 crests of
the vast ridge of the Shin Iran. or Light
of Persia, which scars to "A hight of 5000
feet across the northern side of the plain.
but nine miles away. The evening glow,
before it fades into twilight, fingers last
on the snowy cone of Damavend, u 900
feet high, ever present in every view,
like the presiding genius that protects the
capital of Persia. With slow and dignifi-
ed steps the Persian gentlemen stroll
through these inviting avenues, engaged
in genial converse. Their long robes.
their massive boards, their lofty caps or
voluminous turbans, give them lofty
stateliness as they wend along, undis-
turbed by the numerous horses or
carriages, or the hideously unkempt and
filthy dervishes who claim aims on ac-
count of their sanctitied rags.
AT this hour the tea-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 natur-
Araby the Blcst and the aromatic groves
of Mocha would, like the Turks. perfel
coffee. OF course a great deal of coffee
prepared in the Turkish way, is consumed
by the Persians, but the fact remains
that they are essentially tea-drnking
race, drinking it in vast quantities, flaw
ored with lemon or tourchee, which is
the prepared juice of the lime, and sweet
ened almost to strip. The habit i.
probably the result of the commercial
intercourse which at an early period eX-
listed between Persia and China. anG
which is now well known, gave an inn
pulse to the arts of Persia, of which
evidences appear at various stages of hel
esthetic history. At Teheran the tea
houses take the place of the coflee-house,
of Constantinople. One meets them a,
every turn, of every rank, but all alike
resorts for rest, leisure and entertainment
There one may see public dancers, whC
by law are now invariably men, although
women of questionable repute contrive tC
evade the laws sometimes and exhibit il
the harems. The male dancers ar,
brought up to this vocation from boy
hood, and invariably wear long hair il
imitation of women, and shave their face,
smooth.
What interests an intelligent European
more at these tea-houses than the dance
are the recitations from the poets. TIN
songs of lIafiz may be heard there, an,
entire cantos from the great epic of Fir
dust, repeated with loud, SOnorous mod
ulation, 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 attemp
at eXpurgation, exactly as in recen
translation. The reader will recollec
that the characters in the Arabian Night
are constantly and at every opportunit,
quoting long and appropriate passage
from the poets. This may to the Euro
pean appear to be an affectation or
freak of poetic license on the part of tn
author of these tales. On the cOntrar
he was simply giving us another of thos
traits of oriental character the record o
which has given to those inimitabl
narratives immortality as the fines
picture ever given of the life of the East
which after thousands Of years, is onl
just beginning to feel the Transforming
influence of western civilization.
As one continues his ramble throug
Teheran at this hour, he sees crow