'Through Persia on a side-saddle' [‎167] (200/360)

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ARABABAD AND SAGOTCH
167
chatty and agreeable, but the girls would not say a word,
so stringent is Persian etiquette, which literally enforces
the rule that young people should be seen and not heard
in the presence of their elders and betters. Unmarried
sons or daughters are never supposed to turn their backs
to their parents, and, in company, address them with
almost servile respect. My guests all wore handsome
brocaded silk or velvet jackets, but only partly slipped
off the black silk sheets which transform every Persian
woman into a shapeless bundle, and persisted in keeping
on their embroidered cotton gloves, upon which they
sported many rings. If I had requested them to remove
their black chaddars and green silk trousers, they would
have imagined that I was inviting them to stay to dinner,
and perhaps spend the night!
Poor Baji began to pour out tea, but was promptly
checked by the negresses, who informed her that she was
najis, or unclean, and that their mistresses could partake
of nothing offered to them by her; and, somewhat to my
disgust, they took the direction of affairs upon themselves.
One even went so far as to seize and put back on the dish
a stick of chocolate which one of the girls had taken,
telling her that probably she would not like the Feringhee
sweetmeat, and must help herself to a smaller piece to try
experiments upon. The young lady, who seemed about
twenty years of age, submitted meekly, so tyrannical is
the sway of slaves in Persia.
These latter probably have a better time than they
would in their own country, Persians giving their slaves
very light work, as they say they are costly articles and
must therefore be well treated. All jewellery and money
are as a rule confided to their care, for, as they are cut