The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1886-07-01
THE PERSIANS.
Some characteristics or An
Oriental People.
A Country Of Natural Li,rs AMI Alto
gether Hopeless Proorastinltora

says Ieneran letter TO the San Francis
co Chronicle. 1t goes against his grain.
against all he hollis most sacred in this
queer world, to speak tho truth. tits
born with him, this inveterate love of
prevarication, and it is bred in tho bone
for generations and generations. l have
noticed with the interest the student of
human nature is Ii bic to feel in such
cases how astonished the Farseo is when
he has caught himself unaware telling
the truth. He then is out Of his role,
and feels so abashed and ashamed of him.
self that he looks sheepish and guilty;
much as an American might after get
ting off an awful tib. Even with such
people, however, where the noble art of
romancing is carried to such perfect on.
moments will arise when it is desirable
to know aid hear the truth. And fos
such occasions the stock of Persian ad-
juration, oaths, curses and appeals seems
almost inexhaustiblc. One of the fun
niest is "Ri,he mera Ea-dn Rcrdi"
U;tera'ly, May you put my beard in the
winding sheeO.
Procrastinaton is another besetting
sin of theirs. "FJran mikonam" is their
reply when you want Il thing done at
once, and another great phrase of theirs
is Chason (meaning "By my eyes I'll do
it,). But that means an hour, next day,
next month, or next year, according to
circumstances--never at once. To des-
patch thing and be done with it, to
hurry up" seems to be utterly impossi-
BILE to the Persian, who is lavish of moth
ing SO much us of time. You give your
servant, for instance, tchibouk to be
mcnded, and tell him you must have it
back repaired next morning. Your SER
want knows he will "get fits" if he does
hot attend to it at once, and that he will
probably get little money if he does.
The pipemaker across the street keeps
little shop, and has large and hungry
family at home to keep out of the very
slender profit OF his trade. He knows,
too, he will be paid thrice the ordinary
price if he docs the.job at oncc-enough
to keep the pot boiling for his entire
family for one day at least. Still, so in.
grained is the policy OF tardiness with
both these gentlemen that you are mighty
lucky if you get your tchibouk back in a
/, week.
The other day ! had business at the
central post Office here. I wanted to
register five letters and buy postage
stamps for eight other ones. entered
the little officc-eight feet by TENN
which the registration of letters is per-
formed. Four native gentlemen, seated
around huge table, on which stood a
clumsy scale, where extremely busy do
ing nothing; or, rather, they chatted and
took pulls by rotation from common
ghatyan. The chief came in at this
juncturc-a very handsome but foppish-
locking man-to whom was Introduced.
The chief sat down and made the fifth in
this happy gathering. told them was
in hurry and W shell to have my lett +:
registered and to buy fourteen kerauns
worth of stamps. Tacy could not under
stand how cou d be in hurry. They
were very polite and ammbe AMI tal&el
pleasantly, but it took ten minutes of my
poqucucc to induce one of the quartet to
let up on his ghatyan and tend to busi-
ness, and it took ma just forty minute:
to have my letters registered and to buy
those stamps. The latter he counted
over at least score of times, very slowly
and deliberately. before he consented tt
release his hold on them. 1t was nc
cusscdn S. on his part-it was just hi
natural love of doing things slowly. Hi
chief sat there and evidently though
his clerk Il very rash AMI susplciousl,
active young man. And for Persian
the young fellow had really been quicl
about it.
tits one of the great tr ais which ever,
foreigner has to go through with after hi
arrival here-the promiscuou, lying go
ing on all around him, AMI the exasp,r
ating slowness of peop.e. To see Per
sian write letter or sign a document i.
treat. He seizes his reed pen with al
awful deal of circumspection, and dips
slowly, hesitatingly, into the ink, the
as slowly brings it on str light line witt
his optics and examines it carefully
if the ink hasn't since disappearcl-van
ished into thin air, as it were. Havin:
convinced himself that N such piece o
magic has been performed by an unseel
power, he gets himself into shape to PEI
his first letter. Tais requires variou
painful and violent contortions of tn
body, similar to those Sammy Weller, o
Pickwickan fame, used to underg
when indicting his valentine, and the
the paper is seized, again very slowl
and unwllingly, and brought to within
six inches of his nose. Then q dab
made. The first letter is done. 1t
taken up and duly admired, whereupo
rest of five minutes is taken, when tn
same series of evolutions and mannuvre
is repeated to give birth to another letter
and so on. l Watched a professions
mira (scribc.) the other day He was
man noted for his quick work. 1t too
him eighteen minutes by the watch t
write his first line.
1t is related of Old Doc, horse of tn