'Through Persia on a side-saddle' [‎299] (342/360)

TEHRAN REVISITED
299
His son had ordered an enormous sarcophagus of
marble to be made at Yezd for the remains of the deceased
monarch, and the great block of marble was dragged along
laboriously to the capital by a numerous company of men.
As these latter were paid by the day, and not by the job,
their rate of progression was exceedingly slow, and his
Majesty was not laid to rest until the middle of the
following April
Just before Christmas I made an expedition to the
bazaars to buy various presents, Dr. Rosen, of the German
Legation, being kind enough to act as guide to our party
on this occasion. He took us first to a small booth in
which an old Jew sat like a spider among carpets and
silks, and displayed to us his treasures of coins, signets,
and cylinders, many of the seals being exactly like those
which my brother had obtained at the old city of Camade.
Their owner would not come to terms on any account, and
at the least hint of a haggle he packed his wares up
promptly, being such a rich man that perhaps he asked
exorbitant prices in order to keep his treasures in his own
possession 1
Persians of the lower class use the bazaars as clubs
and general meeting-places. Here all the news of the
town is circulated, and every event of importance is well
discussed, no servant caring for a situation which is at any
distance from his favourite haunt. A Persian coming to
London would look upon Regent Street and Piccadilly as
our bazaars, although after a time the radical difference in
the way the business is done in the East and the West
would dawn upon him.
At Tehran there was plenty of life in the long, dimly
lighted, vaulted passages, which gave occasional peeps of