'Through Persia on a side-saddle' [‎173] (206/360)

ARABABAD AND SAGOTCH
173
As a mother, the Persian lady has no great influence
in the upbringing of her children, as she hands them over
to the charge of servants at an early age. The boys are
treated like men from infancy, trained to copy their
fathers in every way, checked if they run and romp, as
such things are undignified, and made to sit up to the
Persian dinner, which never finishes before midnight.
The custom of never allowing a child to exert himself
probably accounts for the fact that the physique of the
upper classes leaves much to be desired, while the
peasants usually are remarkably fine, well-built men.
All travellers in Persia are struck by the way in which
Persian gentlemen depend on their servants, asking their
opinion on all points, and apparently being guided a good
deal by their advice; but this is not to be wondered at
when it is remembered that as soon as a boy is old enough
to leave his mother he is practically brought up by two or
three servants, on whom he leans more or less through
life; the patriarchal system being in vogue in Persia, the
domestics are a part of the family and seldom change
their situations.
Moreover, it is on his retainers that a Persian gentleman
depends for a great part of his amusement; these latter, on
their daily visit to the bazaars, collecting all the gossip of
the town, which they retail to their masters, thus helping
to while away the idle hours.
No Persian of any standing ever sends his sons to school,
but engages a tutor to come to the house daily to teach
them to read the Koran, Sadi and Hafiz, and to instruct
them in writing, their education commencing at the age of
five, the girls occasionally being included in these lessons
up to eight years of age, and usually the sons of the