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CHAPTER XIII.

Of the Amusements in Persia.

WITH what profound contempt does a Moosulman look upon the qualification of being able to sing, play, or dance. He gravely twists his beard, and probably ejaculates a prayer of thanks that he was born a gentleman. This accounts for the serious and taciturn character of a Moosulman. Ignorance frequently limits his conversation within narrow bounds; and a habit of silence renders speaking a disagreeable and irksome task. A learned Moohammedan gentleman is a rare character; indeed men of rank think it beneath them to know any thing but their own consequence.

This is not, however, much the case with the Persians, who are generally affable and courteous men, possessing a variety of anecdote, and considerable information. It is the custom with them to converse upon literary subjects, and repeat a variety of verses before supper, which enables them to acquire a stock of superficial knowledge with little or no trouble. And perhaps it may be thought that their evenings are spent to more advantage, and more rationally, than if they had been taken up by a game of cards, which interests the passions without informing the mind. The extent of their memory is really astonishing, they will repeat almost any ode you may mention, and yet I believe they read less than any description of people.

Many of the great people keep sets of Georgian boys, who are instructed to sing, to play on various instruments, and perform feats of activity. The Persian songs are very sweet and pathetic;

and the music which accompanied their voices I thought to be very good. Their songs are in praise of wine and beauty, mixed with frequent complaints of the cruelty of their mistresses.

The following is a specimen of their songs:

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خانه خاکم کن
در مي
زآب مي بده غسلم

تو ناز مکن من نیاز دارم
ایمان دارم من و فادارم

"Hasten hither, O cup bearer! ere I die;
"See that my shroud be made of the leafy vine.
"Wash me in rosy wine,*

"And scatter my ashes at the door of the tavern.
"I am faithful, I am still constant;

"Turn not away from me, for I am a suppliant."

The Arabic songs are sung in parts, and much quicker than the

Persian time. There are two men at Sheeraz who are considered to be very superior players on an instrument very like a violin; I heard them, and admired them much, but could form no judgment on their performance. These men, and the dancers, drink wine in enormous quantities, and that too publickly.

Although the Persian music is so greatly superior to that of India, their dances are as much inferior, being nothing more than an exhibition of the most indecent and disgusting movements and gestures. The dances in India are admirably calculated to set off an elegant figure to the highest advantage; and, notwithstanding the warm and animated descriptions which have been given of the indelicacy and voluptuousness of Eastern dancers, I must confess that many of them appear to me wholly unobjectionable.†

* It is the custom in all Moosulman countries to wash the body before it is buried.

† People often court before they are shocked by the indecency of these dancers. I shall incur the reproach of singularity, but all the movements and attitudes of the Indian dancers strike me as being intinitely more graceful, and far less indecent than those in a German waltz.

The most beautiful women in Persia are devoted to the profession of dancing; the transparency of their shift, which is the only covering they use to conceal their persons, the exquisite symmetry of their forms, their apparent agitation, and the licentiousness of their verses, are so many incentives to a passion, which requires more philosophy than the Persians possess to restrain.

After the dancers, come another description of people, if possible of more infamous morals. They are called Lootees, a kind of buffoon; and, as I learnt, have free access to the prince and governor, whom they amuse by a variety of indecent anecdotes and stories, which they relate, or invent, of the inhabitants of Sheeraz. Both the prince and governor keep a set of these wretches, who are allowed to take the greatest liberties with the most respectable characters; and who are obliged, in their own defence, to make them presents to ensure their forbearance, and to get rid of their importunity. They perform feats of activity and sleights of hand; but their principal means of subsistence is on the contributions. they levy on strangers. They appear to be a privileged people; and, I believe, the reason why they are so often entertained in the houses of the great, arises from a dread lest they should exert the influence they are supposed to possess against them. Aga Ruza often had them; but why I could never discover.

Another amusement, among those who can afford it, is listening to a Shah Namu Khoon, a person who repeats and acts various passages of Ferdousee's epic poem called the Shah Namu. This is an amusement of a very superior kind, and one which a stranger is sure to delight in. They act the different descriptions of the poet with great spirit, particularly the account of the battle betweer Roostum, the hero of the poem, and Sohrab.

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Although I did not understand the meaning of several words, I was fully able to comprehend the purport of every verse, and as

they repeat the lines in an artificial voice, you are able to follow them with ease.

The game of back-gammon is common among the Persians, they know little of the game of chess. The priests hold persons who play, particularly if it is for money, in little estimation; and, I fancy, most conscientiously believe, that they will suffer in a future world for these acts of impiety. They have horse-races at Sheeraz, but I was not there at the proper season. From description I learnt, that the horses start at least at the distance of fifteen miles, and pursue a direct course to the post. No care is taken to level the ground; and, as it very often happens that more than twenty horses start together, there are frequent accidents. Purses of gold are given to the owners of the first, second, and third horses. They take great pains in training their horses, which they do for a much longer time than I believe is practised in Europe.

The military men are constantly playing at jureed-bazee, which is throwing a dart three cubits long at a horseman when they are at full gallop. The person at whom it is thrown either catches it. in his hand, or throwing himself under the horse's belly, allows it to fly over him. This they perform very expertly; and which is by no means easy, when we recollect that the horse is going nearly at his speed. The jureed comes with sufficient force to break an arm. They also amuse themselves with riding full speed, turning round on their saddles, and firing a small carbine they carry; or in throwing the jureed on the ground, and catching it as it rebounds. The Persians appear very bad horsemen to Europeans; one thing is evident, that they must ruin a horse's mouth in the course of a month.

CHAPTER XIV.

Dress of the Persians.

THE dress of the Persians is admirably calculated either for a cold or hot climate. Their limbs are under no restraint, and their clothes may be put on or thrown off in five minutes. The Persians are generally too poor to be fashionable, their dress, therefore, seldom varies, except in the colour of the robes. The Qajjars, however, preside over fashion; and every thing which is supposed to be neat or elegant, is called Qujuree or à la Qajjar. Their clothes may be easily described. The Zeer Jamus are very light trowsers made of silk, those worn in the hot weather sometimes of flax; the Peerahun, or shirt, comes over the trowsers, and then the Urkhaliq, which is made of a Masulipatam chintz, or fine shawls. The outside robe, or Quba, is made of various kind of cloths, some of which are very magnificent and expensive; the Kolah, or cap, is made of the skin of the sheep of Tartary, which is very fine, and beautifully black. The merchants are prohibited wearing either scarlet or crimson cloths, and also using silver or gold buttons to their robes. This may not possibly amount to a prohibition, but as it is never done, it is attended with the same effect. The wearing of silks is interdicted by the Moosulman law, but they avoid this by mixing a very little cotton with them: a large quantity of this kind of cloth (Gurmasoot) is imported into Persia from Guzerat*.

As the Mahometans object to wearing silk on account of its being an excrement, I wonder they do not also object to the wearing of pearls. But fashion will ever subdue the ordinances of religion.

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