Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1890-01-02
A PERSIAN GIRL.
In Babyhood Her Hair, Hands and Feet
Are Dyed With Henna.

When She Is Twelve Years Old She DonS
mantle and Thereafter None but Members
Of Her Family Are Allowed to See Her
Face.
Her eyes are black as sloes OF
course they are black, for blue eyes
are considered unluclSy in Persia. Her
skin Is a rich, warm. delicate brown
that overlays the round, plump
features. tinged with a tint OF rose
where the dimples are or should be,
the silky hair is as dark as the plume
OF the raven that crowns the head OF
the little girl baby, who was born but
yesterday in that quaint dwelling at
the foot OF Mount Elborz.
She is Persian and in Persia will
she live, for it is only with the special
permission OF the Shah that Persian
woman can live out OF her native land.
She is but day old, but an amulet
has been already hung on her neck
containing tiny scrap of paper on
which is inscribed a passage from the
Koran, intended to ward off mischief
from djinus or evil spirits. For tho
same reason If any OF the neighbors
look in to see the little stranger and
express admiration of her beauty the
nurse requests them to spit in the
baby's face lest the influence of,the evil
eye should Turk in what might be the
praise OF envy or jealousy. A tiny
white cap Of open embroidery also
covers the infants hair and her limbs
are.swathed tightly IN wadding bands.
When FaUhimeh is five or six months
old her hair is dyed with henna. The
first application turns it to a bright
orange red, the second wash turns the
hair to a rich blue-black. The finger
and toe nails, the soles OF her feet and
the palms of her hands are also dyed
yellow with henna. This is not done
entirely for beauty, as Europeans often
imagine, but rather to tougher the
skin. This is especially necessary with
the soles, as most women in Persia go
barefooted in the house.
When little Fathimeh is old enou gh
to toddle about she has present OF red
slippers, embroidered with tinsel, but
rarely wears them at play, for they are
an encumbrance. When she is two
or three years old, however. she begins
to wear a mantel-an article of dress
that she will wear until her death,
whenever she steps out Of the house,
whether TO sport in the garden or play
or walk in the street. This awkward
dress she wears attached to her head
and it reaches TO her feet While she
is child it is worn loose and flies be-
hind when she runs; but when she
reaches the age OF eleven or twelve the
martel Is drawn over her face. except
ing the eyes, which are protected from
the gaze OF any but her own family by
tiny lattice work exquisitely embroid-
cred OF white silk.
While still a child little Fathimeh
sits in the gate aud sometimes plays
with the boys OF the neighborhood, and
thus, perhaps, forms a passing ac-
quaintance with her future husband. .
II her parents were peasants she would
accompany them to the fields and aid
in picking the fruit and cleaning the
harvest But as her parents are we'll
TODD city folk OF some means, she is
soon taught that her destiny is to be a
life almost as secluded as that OF a
nunnery.
If Fathimeh's father has several
wives, which it is greatly to be feared
is the case. then she also has her half
brothers and sisters as playmates, and
a merry time they have of it.
Going TO the public bath is one OF
Fathimeh's greatest diversions from
the earliest childhood. At least once a
week her mother takes her there.
they make an afternoon OF it. FAITH
meh has her fingers freshly dyed with
henna, and her hair. which has grow n
very long, is plated into innumerable
small braids, which are expected TO
last without recombing until her next
visit TO the bath. These DAYS at the
bath are an education to the little girl
now rapidly approaching womanhood.
With the exception OF few lessons
with the needle or on the guitar or in the
making OF preserves, the little maiden
has had no other education except what
she gains from hearing older people OF
her own sex converse And thus, when
she is at the bath and hears the women
talking while embroidering or smoking
after the additions are over, she learns
much from their conversation of life in
the outside world of Persia, and she
will need all the information she can
acquire; for II she ever learns to read
| Ut WTlbc, WulCu ID HOJ likely, IL must
be after she is married. That mar
riage is her inevitable destiny she
learns as soon as she can talk. There
are no old maids in that country. When
she is eleven or twelve years old the
question OF finding her husband is
earnestly discussed. The matter is
settled between the parents of the
bride and the groom, the most difficult
point TO arrange being the amount oil
the dowry to be paid with the bride.
IL this is the first marriage of the pros
pective husband then he also is young,
not over sixteen or seventeen. The
marriage is accompanied with great
pomp and the festivities last several
days, after which the bride is taken TO
her new home at the head of a long
procession, crowding the narrow
streets, marching to the sound OF horns,
pipes and kettledrums. And there we
leave the little bride, hoping she will
have at least her share OF welded
bliss. S. G. BENJAMIN.