Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1899-10-12

other thought than that we were
listening to a recitation by some wan
| dering dervish story teller of the
tragic fate of Sohrab, whom his
mighty father Rustum slew in igno-
| rance. Now the reciter spoke in the
voice Of the valiant son; now he
| Numbered in the terrific tones of the
| terrible sire, but when he fell on
sudden to neighing in the likeness of
Ruksh the immortal war horse Of the
Persian Hercules, there were two per-
sons, but only two, who burst out
| aughing-my friend and I.
| Leaping to our feet we bestrode the
! parapet of the roof and watched what
proved to be a picturesque scene Of
Persian life and character. The COM
| ing of the dervish story teller to Agha
Bahia had attracted to the caravan
serai every soul in the neighborhood
! save only the women folk. The
arched inches, crowded with the elite,
might be described as the dress circle
Of the rustic theater. There sat, in the
most conspicuous niche of all, the
| cOurtly figure Of the naib of the
| caravanserai, in whose kolah of black
| anbskin glistened the emblem of the
| Lion and the Sun. Around him were
| grouped the grOOms and postboys in
| their yellow jenkins and brimless felt
| hats. In the other inches a couple of
muleteers were lingering their money
! bags meditatively, and camel driver,
brnzed and weather beaten, was cram
ming his mouth full of stale bread in
thin sheets, using each hand in turn
by way of a ramrod. And out in the
plain a row Of peasants, fresh from the
! fields, Of a critical cast of countenance
and an economical turn Of mind, were
| leaning gracefully on their tall spades
in their long blue smocks and baggy
blue trousers. Every eye was turned
on the dervish in the center, who ad-
| dressed his thrilling story now to the
men in the inches and anon to the
| critics in the plain.
Save the blue turban on his head
and the green sash about his waist, he
was dressed all in flowing white to the
giyahs on his feet. In a voice toned
| to wiring pishkesh from an Armenian
or Greek the bearded dervish rose to
| the height Of his argument when he
| fell to reciting Rustum's anguish Of
soul at the time that terrible man came
to recognize his only son by the seal
in guise Of griffin prfcked on Sohrab's
arm. The effect on the audience of
this histriOnic display was an eloquent
commentary on Persian character in
the raw. The naib of the caravan
serai, wrought to loosen the strings OF
his purse, relented slowly of his nom
official generosity and gave the bag a
shake by way of a round Of applause
ere he shed a sympathetic tear In trib-
ute to Sohrab'S untmely death. A
| muleteer, scarce less moved, putting
his hand into his money-bag, drew out
a copper coin, turned it over slowly,
| eyed the dervish with moist eyes, then, |
restoring the coin to It's place of safety, |
thrust the bag into his pocket. The
| other muleteer followed suit. Then
sigh Of relief arose over the luminous
plain. Only the peasants remained
calm, greeting the narrative of Rus
tum's despair with derisive cries Of
"Ajab!" (wonderfuD. POndering as to
| how many signs and tears in a Persian
would go to spell a copper shahi, my
friend and I threw the dervish a
| couple of humans in silver coins. He
did not pick up the money at once. He
rather stayed to relate how Rustum,
having incurred his sons death, laid
him in the fruitful earth and "heaped
stately mound above his bones, and
planted over all far-seen pillar"
Then, STOPPING to the silver coins in
the dust, he rose again in his wrath
and fell on those Persians with the
whips of a righteous Indignation that
they should learn a lesson in gen
crosby from the unclean Feringhis,
whose fathers had been buried in the
| lowest hell. The men in the inches,
scattering like chaff in the breath Of
| the wind came back laden with sheets
of bread, which they laid at the feet
of the dervish. But the peasants MUIR
INJURED and said: do we SOW the seed
that thou shouldst reap the grain?"
And the dervish, not a whit appeased
by the offering, asked for more. BREAD
is good" he said, "but what is bread
without eggs, and what are eggs with
| OUT ted " uGll IlCSS luIuSS udN
been brought to him he opened his
mouth and said: Here, indeed, is food
for one person, but would We that a
father should eat his fill while his
son went hungry to bed? What We
have given to me give we in like meas
ure to my son, who is even now in the
caravanserai, and then he shall sing to
you in a voice so sweet and SO alluring
that the very nightingal"0 will come
and settle on his head" And the men
in the inches obeyed, after which the
son, mere STRIPPING, came out and
sang his plaintive song in a voice so
shrill and so strident that the very
birds Of the air sought refuge in flight
Then night fell slowly over the
solemn waste, and the Persians, turn
ing their backs on the sun whom their
ancestors had worshIpped, fell on their
knees in prayer and bowed their fore
heads to the dust-London Post.
CAROLINA'S LEAD IN COTTON.