Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-04-25
THE CHARM OF PERSIA.
Muleteers Speak in Verses, Horses
PLAY With Children.

From the London Standard.
PERSIA is essentially a land Of the SUM-,
said Sir Mortimer Durand, land ! notsceo
when l was in Persia that Europeans who
had lived there for tine were always
anxious to go back. There Is no need,
and little incentive, to travel fast In Per-
sia- For one thing there are no oppor-
tunities to do SO. and when one becomes
used to camping with camels and mules
one prefers that to railway luxury.
Why build a road. was the question OF
an amazed tribesman, whose soul recoIled
at the thought of a stra ght line of beaten
track. 1t was really nuisance, for
there were no stones where the feet
could hold on by" he explained.
Among the Arabs of the pla MS the rea-
son for the docility and gentleness of
their horses Is easily discovered. The ami
mails play with the children. know them.
and understand them. with the result that
there is a bond between man and beast
rarely seen elsewhere.
In Simla,'' said the lecturer, my wife
had an Arab horse which used to come
walk ng into the house. He would walk
in at a Inner party and put his head
over your shoulder for bit Of bread
quite naturally. But it may not have
been good for the carpets" On the noun
tainsides the horses are as surefooted as
goats and will leap from rock to rock
with their riders with cool assurance.
There is no need for a back to the
land movement in Persia. The people
have never left it, and the Persian peas
ant is one of the happiest IN the world.
Some OF the tribes know no other bread
than that made from acorns. They steep
the acorns in running water for q time.
and then break them up and manufac-
ture their bread with the same delibera-
ton as they murmur their poetry.
One is led to the conclusion that the
country creates poets automatically. Only
churl would refuse to be a poet In q
land where a blue sky looks down on
winter snow and oxen tread out the corn.
Even In the night the traveller has the
ch.rp Of the little owl for lullaby and
the bells Of the /, Ii for a solace.
But by a pee, .a,y which is past
comprehension Gi.-...' .A.iayyam Is almost
ignored. His poems do not find such
ready response among his modern coun-
trymen as they find in the west. Even
the late shah repudiated them and laugh
ed when his name was mentioned by Sir
Mortimer Durand.
II was asked by the Omar Society,"" he
said, Ito see If the shah would cause
Omar's grave to be set in repair, but
when l spoke to the old shah during an
audience he sat IN his chair and laughed.
Why he cried, do you mean to tell me
that there is society In England con-
nected with Omar Khayyam? The man
has been dead a thousand years! I can
tell you OF many better poets than he.
But the admirers of Omar have the salts
faction Of knowing that. though the shah
laughed at the poet, no one even laughed
at the shah.
Perhaps the most fascinating part OF
the lecture was rapid outi ne Of Per.
sian year. At the end of February the
garden is full of violets. and after the
violets pass away the water channels are
! ned with white iris, and after the iris
comes tiger lilies. and after the tiger lilies
come roses, with the roses come the
n.ghtingales, which sing while the sleeper
sleeps.
Every known flower Ray grow in Per-
sian soil, and most the European ones
do, while the early summer 10 q riot Of
color. The autumn hts are more vivid
than any in the world. except perhaps
those in America. The snow OF winter ID
delightful. What Is the charm OF Per-
star asked SIR Mortimer DuranA. '0na
finds IL in the great contrast between
everything about him and all that he hal
left behind"