The Washington herald., 1921-08-14

~ com. to rs for pushing and rushing
about Nazimpur on this the eve Of the
Feast or IlehtS, when, by sitting here At
the streamside, we may see an that is te
be seen and hear all that is worth hearing,
True, We may see the crowds anear
and hear the gable Of many tongues. I
agree to that Well, AIlsh be praised
have gone past III. age n making myself
common to the crowds Of Nsziupur. What
says Jeludin,
Crows go in aocks;
Singly 60 both lion and fox.
With the morrow's light all this noise
Of rejoicing viii be as the dawn and wind
Of thousand years ago. And then, bene-
factor, you win be thinking Of how much
You may buy that Shiraz rug for from
the fat stall woman in the bazaar and
of where you may find more shimner-of-
gold altar, and /, Zal Yuksyeb, will be
all the better for not having mingled with
the many, as they viii respect me the more
for keeping from them, and so when 1
20 to the bazaar with you they will say:
Hued! We must Be careful with that
one; Zal Yukayeb is his porter. and IL
We Try 10 cheat him, zal Yukayeb will make
MS seem like fools, and the bargain win %
against u.s.
No, l am moi q Persian, nor an Armen-
ian, nor a Georgian, nor Circa ssian.
Know you where the Anu turns to flow
toward the north star. and % falls asleep
in the Sea Of Aral? Yes, that is where
you leave the Anu for Kivas. after you
have been to Bokhara for hand made rugs of
wool from the fst-tsiled sheep Benefactor.
my home is up there near the Anu. How
did | come to be in Nazimpur? That Is
what ] would teH my benefactor while ".
wait for the festival to begin
1t rs in our traditions that when the
Great Ghingtz was on his way from the
sack of the whole world he passed over the
Ann where it turned toward the north
star. and left some men and women OF
Oman there, with orders to found q city,
a. wins his habit No city came of it,
but our people so dropped into the middle
Of strange land, kept together. We might
have waved great but that our growth made
lealousies, and 80 we were weakened down
every little while. till now few are left. A
few are many after 50 many centuries Yes,
many
Whatever else We did, benefactor. we
kept to our faith. Always we had WITH
MS at least one old man who had gone to
Mecca. hathed in the well Zem-Zem. seen
the blue pigeons make the circuit Of the
black stone. And if We could not all 70,
We could send one or two, or three for
us. and so lay up some merit And We
could pray and keep the feasts and the
fasts and read the Koran, and
You. benefsctor, will understand? Yes!
So thought.
am very strong now. and some say
fat. too. need girth and strength to Be
a porter. as you wei know. But when
Was yet a young man where the ANU turn,
north was emily strong, net thick. A,l
was quick-of eye, grip, foot, ear. slreu
in all ways quick
So it was that when ] came in one even
ing from cutting3rwitsows from which the
old men and wornen-were to weave a FISH
weir l saw at once that Zuelika was not
IN the village I was just coming into
manhood then
But Wher. is sher' asked Of my
mother, as cast my vithes down on 70
the pile about which the weir weavers were
at work.
Ssh. is set apart for the journey to
Mecca" my mother replied; her father has
sold til-his wool, his sheep, his land He
vii Be- our pilgrim this year, and a. be
is old. 1t is not well that be should
80 alone"
Nay, ancient one teased Zuelfka's
father later as he sat mouthins his seethed
KID at tbr door Of his tent; but let me
SEQ her before you 90. Surely the time
for setting her apart has not begun yet
After tonight ! will not come, but will
wait patiently until you return before claim
tIg her according as ve have promised
DO not seek to come anear me, o
Zal" she called to me from inside the
tent Already I am set apart, When
the moon WAKES old we shall 20
But I began to scold.
III you will but watch when the sky
turns to ashes of roses she called, II
shall send you rose petals down the Rope
Of Pearls / can do NO more now
Then was my heart glad, benefactor, for
the Rope of Pearls WIS q tiny stream that
came into the Anu where our village is,
and it was our custom, from old times,
that although q woman must be coy and
not raise her eyes to man until he spoke
frst, she could, if she saw the man she
wanted at the vaterside, send him new
rose-p petals BY the current, and il he loved
her in return, be would pick them ont and
dry them and burn them, and put the ashes
in an amulet for a love- charm, and as long
as they two loved, be could tell it BY how
strong his heart would beat when he
pressed the charm over it.
At -time-the time Of the single
roses By the Anu River-rose- petals float
ing on the stream lightly at evening are
common sight When the home wind blows
down from Lake Aral, a maid may safely
risk casting petals on the water. As the
sunset color turns to ashes Of roses and the