'Through Persia on a side-saddle' [‎144] (175/360)

144 THROUGH PERSIA ON A SIDE-SADDLE
that it was a wonder that he did not lay his hand
upon it!
Late that evening the nomad men sat in a crowd outside
their encampment, and kept us all awake by celebrating
Moharram (the month in which Hussein and his family
were martyred on the plain of Kerbelah) with a religious
song, to the accompaniment of beats on the ground, when
they came to the frequent chorus of " Hussein! Hassan!
Hussein !" The tune was weird and melancholy, with the
monotony inseparable from Oriental music, and all joined
in it with much fervour, thudding vehemently at the end
of each verse. Directly it was over one of their number
turned the whole thing into ridicule, and the crowd roared
with laughter at the parody on the sufferings of the martyrs,
whose fate they had just been lamenting with religious
zeal. This episode reminded us of the Miracle Plays in
the Middle Ages, when the spectators would weep one
moment as the mysteries of their Faith were presented to
them, and at the next would break into peals of merriment
as the Devil, playing the part of a buffoon, was brought
upon the stage.
On leaving this camp we had the first rain that we
had experienced for months, coming down in a heavy
deluge, soaking us all to the skin, and making our horses
look but sorry objects. We were passing through a rich
upland, gleaming with long stretches of ripe corn and
barley, and with plenty of water and willows. This district
was one of the breeding grounds for the horses which
supply Iverman, and we had some trouble in crossing a
valley where many mares were feeding, as ' Nawab An honorific title; an official acting as a provincial deputy ruler in South Asia; or a significant Muslim landowner in nineteenth century India. ,' loose
as usual, joined them with head and tail erect. My
brother turned back to assist in his capture, which was not