SOCIAL LIFE IN PERSIA
Kerman--House-hunting and building--White ants--Housekeeping
in Kerman--Servant question--Truth v. falsehood--Abdul
Fateh--Bagi--Recreations--Some exciting rides--Persian
etiquette--Dinner at the governor's.
"Society is no comfort to one not sociable."
Shakespeare.
The social life of Europeans in Persia differs very much according to
the town lived in. In some parts much life and gaiety are to be found,
and in others this element is conspicuous by its absence. In Teheran,
where we have our Legation, of course social life is at its height. At
Isphahan, too, there is quite a large European community. When we were
there in 1900 and 1903 there must have been at least fifty Europeans,
and very happily and sociably all lived together. From Isphahan we
went to Kerman, where for some five or six months we were the only
foreigners, but in spite of having none of our own countrymen to call
upon or visit, we were very happy. After a time a British consul was
appointed, and we felt quite gay, and I at once started a European
"at home" day, and every Wednesday our consul was a most regular
visitor. He was always very homesick, and liked anything that helped
to remind him of dear Old England.
On one occasion we actually mustered four Englishmen to dinner,
as two travellers happened to be passing through at the same time,
one of whom was Mr. Savage Landor, who entertained us with most
harrowing accounts of his time amongst the Thibetans. Just before
we left two English ladies arrived, so the social life at Kerman
began to grow, and to-day it boasts of quite a number of Europeans,
consisting of consuls of various nations, as well as missionaries,
bank and telegraph employees.
When we arrived at Kerman we found great difficulty in choosing and
leasing a house. Many were only too anxious to show us their houses,
and to assure us that all their property belonged to us, to do what we
liked with; but when it came to making definite arrangements it was
quite a different matter. So long as it was only "talk" the various
would-be landlords were willing to promise everything and anything,
but it was quite another question when suggestions were made as to
the desirability of committing those promises to paper. At last we
settled on a house outside the town, which possessed a nice large
garden, but the house itself only consisted of about two rooms,
and these were in a very tumble-down and filthy condition.
The landlord (a Parsee) promised to build according to our plans,
and to spend the whole of the first three years' rent in making
improvements and additions to the house. The consequence of this
delightful arrangement was that during the greater part of our time
in Kerman building operations were going on, and only just as we were
leaving was the work completed and the house made inhabitable. But
in the end a very fairly comfortable house was built, and has been
occupied ever since, I believe, by our C.M.S. missionaries.
Our garden was very large, but only half of it had been cultivated;
the further end we had hoped to have made into a tennis court,
but unfortunately we had to leave before it was possible to do
so. All the bricks used for building were made from the earth of
the garden. The process is simplicity itself. Water is mixed with
the earth till it becomes a thick mud, then it is stamped into the
required shape by means of a wooden block, and then left in the sun
to dry. Sometimes straw is mixed with the mud, when it is necessary
to have very strong bricks.
Directly we moved into our house I found to my horror that it was
infested with white ants. This was my first experience of these
wretched little creatures, and I hope it may be my last. They are
disturbers of one's peace of mind, for once they are settled in a
house it is impossible to get rid of them, and the only thing to
hope for is that by continually waging war against them you may keep
them slightly in subjection. I remember so well the day I first made
the acquaintance of these noxious things. I had with much difficulty
succeeded in finishing our drawing-room, and considering all things
I may be forgiven if I confess to having felt a certain amount of
pride as I looked at the result of my labours. Certainly it was
not too luxurious; but it was comfortable and "homey." Alas! my
pride soon had a fall. After a day or two my husband had need of
some book, and upon taking it from the shelf found it eaten half
through! I then began to hunt about, and found the room was swarming
with these abominations, under the carpets, behind the pictures,
cosily ensconced in books--everywhere they were having a right royal
time. From that moment almost to the day we left, I never ceased to
hunt and destroy these ubiquitous ants. We were having two new rooms
built, and I said to my husband, "One comfort is that the ants cannot
be in the new rooms;" but, alas, my hopes were vain! The builders had
used an old piece of wood for a beam on which the ceiling rested,
and this was infested with white ants, and so in a very short time
they had that room, too, to revel in. I tried all manner of things
to get rid of them, but found the most successful remedy was pouring
petroleum down the holes from which they came. This drove them away
from that hole, but they only burrowed a little further, seeking
for a new outlet. Nothing could or can destroy them. As long as the
queen ant remains they can never be exterminated. An English engineer
who came to Kerman told me that, when he was living in India, he was
building a house, and before he laid the foundations he offered large
rewards for all queen ants found in the grounds near, for, said he,
"This is the only way to ensure freedom from these pests." He also told
me that one night he left his evening shoes out in his room, and in
the morning the leather was eaten half away. I can quite believe this
now, after having seen for myself their tremendous digestive powers.
One of our missionaries had to leave Kerman quite suddenly while we
were there. Before leaving he packed all his most valued books into
tin-lined cases and had them soldered down, thinking they would be safe
against the intrusions of white ants. Shortly after his departure we
suspected these wretches of being at work amongst the books, and so
came to the conclusion we had better open and see. There, sure enough,
they were, and busily they had been engaged too, for like "Mother
Hubbard who went to the cupboard," when we went to the box we found
it bare! if not quite, almost so; for, with the exception of a few
stout leather covers, all trace of Mr. Blackett's valuable library
was gone! Such are the literary instincts of white ants. But indeed
nothing comes amiss to their tastes--books, boots, pictures, carpets,
clothes, papers--all vanish under the business-like efforts of these
horrible creatures. What with white ants and bad servants to contend
and combat with, housekeeping in Kerman was enough to turn one's hair
grey! The struggle was unequal, and I generally got the worst of it.
To begin with, the servants we had brought with us from Isphahan
refused to stay in such an out-of-the-world spot as Kerman, so
no sooner had we begun to unpack than first one and then another
declared his intention of going, until we were left stranded. Then
began the joys of servant-hunting. In some parts of Persia this is
not a difficult task, but in Kerman it was practically impossible to
find a decent servant, or one that knew anything about his work.
The chief drawback to Kerman domestics is the fact that they are all
opium-smokers. The native saying in Kerman is, "That every fourth
man out of three" is an opium-smoker. Although this may be a slight
exaggeration, yet it was decidedly hard to find any one who was not
addicted to this terrible habit. Awful specimens presented themselves
as "cooks," but one look at them was enough! At last a veritable
"Uriah Heep" offered his valuable services to us; he came armed with
wonderful credentials and menu cards. These latter he claimed to
have successfully negotiated when in the employ of some Frenchman,
but I have grave doubts as to the veracity of this statement. On the
strength of these menus we thought we could not do better than engage
him; so he came, and proved himself to be a most aggravating specimen
of humanity, specially formed, I believe, to try the patience and
tempers of poor unsuspecting foreigners. Nothing ever put him out
or ruffled his sweet amiability. How I wished it would, and that he
would depart in wrath and anger at my repeated complaints against
him! But no, nothing of the kind; he came to stay, and stay he did,
till he bade us an affectionate and touching farewell on our departure
from Kerman. His money accounts were always atrociously high, but so
cleverly did he manage them that I could rarely detect him cheating,
and at last I gave it up as a hopeless task, concluding the game was
not worth the candle.
When we were alone his cooking was passable--at least it was generally
eatable; but if ever we had friends to dinner he always managed to
surpass himself with some act of stupidity or wickedness, I never
could make out which it was.
On one occasion the English consul and one or two others were dining
with us. We had safely reached the "sweet" stage, and I was just
beginning to congratulate myself that this time, at any rate, our
lovely cook was not going to disgrace himself or play any trick. Just
then a "chocolate cream" was handed round. It looked all right. The
consul took some, tasted it, and promptly laid down his fork; his
example was followed by others. I hastily called the "boy" to bring
me some, and on tasting it found to my horror that the chocolate
cream was highly flavoured with naphthalene! We had lately received
a box from home; in it was some of this useful stuff for destroying
moths; doubtless the cook thought it was a nice and specially delicate
flavouring for puddings! On another occasion I had been experimenting
on some dessert dish, which necessitated part of the ingredients
soaking for an hour or two over a slow fire. I put everything ready,
and left strict injunctions with "Uriah" that he was to touch nothing,
and so I left. Shortly after, feeling rather uneasy as to the welfare
of my concoction, I returned to the kitchen, just in time to see the
wretched man pouring my "Dream of Delight" down the sink! I confess
to having been guilty then for the first and last time of boxing a
servant's ears; but really was the provocation not great?
Another of our "treasures" was a man called Neamat 'allah. He was
a splendid "show man," but no good for work of any kind. He shone
when visitors came, as he felt the dignity of his Sahib depended in
a great measure on him.
Then there was an awful boy, Rustem. I did my best to make him into a
decent parlour-maid, but utterly failed. Although only about eighteen
years of age, he was a confirmed slave to the opium habit. His chief
forte was smashing crockery and telling lies. Of course we never
expected our servants to speak the truth, but this boy seemed the most
incorrigible of all. One day he said to me, after I had been trying to
instil into his mind some idea as to why we should speak the truth,
"Well, Khanum, what is the use of my speaking the truth, for if I
did you would not believe me, and would only say it was a lie?" This
is true, I am afraid, to a great extent, for after being deceived so
often one gets sceptical about the possibility of a native speaking the
truth, especially if he is an opium-smoker too. And yet sometimes they
look at you so innocently, with such an air of injured righteousness,
that you begin to wonder if after all they are not for once speaking
the truth; but, alas, the wonder soon passes!
Shortly before leaving Kerman we were fortunate enough to secure
the services of a real treasure in the person of an Indian. He came
to Kerman with his master, Mr. Patrick Duncan, whose object was to
sink artesian wells, but unfortunately he died before his work was
completed. His man, Abdul Fateh, was heartbroken at the death of his
master, as he had been with him for many years. He begged my husband
to engage him, and very gladly we did so, and he proved a great comfort
to us all our time in Persia, acting as "pishkhedmat" (chief servant),
not only being good and honest himself, but keeping the others up to
their work, and not allowing them to cheat us too much. Before leaving
the subject of servants I must say just a word about our woman servant;
she was such a dear little body--a Parsee. We called her Bagi, which
means a female servant. She had been with Miss Sykes for a time,
so knew a little about Feringhi ways. She was a picturesque figure,
waddling about the house in her big baggy trousers and her gaily
coloured overall reaching to her knees, while on her head she wore
the usual number of coverings, in compliance with the Zoroastrian
idea that a woman's head must be well covered! It is a great "shame"
for a Parsee woman to be seen with her head uncovered. One day Bagi
had been washing her hair, and the doctor happened to see her in
passing before she had replaced her many coverings. She came to me
in great distress to know what was she to do. The Sahib had seen her
with her head uncovered!
The recreations of Kerman are confined almost entirely to horse
riding. There are many very good picnic places near by, and an
excellent stretch of desert for a canter or gallop, but not so good
as the desert outside Yezd. When we first went to Kerman I was told
that I must on no account ride through the bazaars, as no Englishwoman
had ever been seen in them. I might ride outside the town and view the
bazaars from a safe distance, but this did not fall in with my ideas at
all, and as soon as we were fairly settled down in our house I asked
my husband to take me to see the bazaars. So one afternoon we started
off to try the experiment, taking with us two servants, one to walk
in front and one behind, my husband and I riding our horses. I will
not say that as we entered the dark, dreary-looking archways leading
to the bazaars my heart did not beat a little faster than usual,
as I thought of all the horrible things which had been told me as
to what might happen when first an Englishwoman was seen in the open
bazaar. After a few minutes, however, I saw there was nothing to fear,
for beyond a good stare and a few curses from some of the people,
nothing happened. I had, of course, taken the precaution of wearing
a thick veil. My second ride through these same bazaars was much more
exciting. It was during the time of the Passion Play in the month of
Mohurram, referred to in another chapter. As we were riding quietly
along we suddenly came across the whole company of excited, maddened
creatures returning to their homes after the play was over. The crowd
was headed by about a hundred men, whose garments were streaming with
blood, their heads and faces covered with gashes of all sorts and
sizes. In their hands they held and waved frantically their swords
or daggers.
Our servants were fearfully alarmed, and hurriedly turned our
horses' heads into a narrow passage, and hoped the crowd would
not notice us. But unfortunately they did, and with a wild cry of
"Feringhi! Feringhi!" they immediately formed up just in front of the
opening to our passage and began their wild dance for our benefit. It
was rather a gruesome sight in the dimly-lighted bazaars to see
a hundred or more naked swords flashing, blood on everything and
everybody, men yelling, shouting, cursing, and dancing. We were not
sorry when in a few minutes they took it into their heads to move on,
thinking, no doubt, that they had paid great honour to the Feringhis
by this exhibition for their special benefit. After this experience
I felt there certainly was no longer any need for fear, and since
then we have all ridden and walked quite freely in and through the
bazaars. Only once was I spat upon in Persia, and that was in Yezd.
Persians have often been called the Frenchmen of the East.
They certainly are a most courteous and polite people, outwardly at
all events, and are masters in the art of paying compliments to one
another. But to a novice it is no light matter to know just the right
amount of flattery to deal out, as it is almost as bad a mistake
to give any one a great deal too much flattery as not to give him
enough. The art lies in knowing just what is due to each person,
according to the rank of life he occupies. When you wish to visit
any one it is not polite to send word to say, "I am coming." You must
couch your message in much more flowery language, such as, "I want to
honour myself by coming to see your nobleness." The answer will be
"Bis'millah--Please bring your tashrif (dignity)." There is great
etiquette, too, over the kalian-smoking and tea-drinking, each one
deprecatingly suggesting that his neighbour should partake first and
the other declining the honour with a sweeping bow; but every one knows
who is entitled to the first whiff of the kalian or the first cup of
tea, and no one would dare to think of defrauding him of his right.
It seems such a pity that Persians of high class are gradually falling
into European ways, for they do not suit these Frenchmen of the East
half so well as their own manners and customs.
While we were in Kerman the governor was one who had lived in Europe
a good deal, and liked everything done a la Feringhi; he much enjoyed
English afternoon teas, home-made cakes, &c. Soon after our arrival
there an invitation came from the governor for dinner the following
week. On the evening appointed a carriage came for us and drove us
to the "Arg," as the house of the governor is called. We found a
splendid dinner waiting for us, served in French style, about twenty
courses of excellently cooked dishes. After dinner we were amused
by Persian musicians and singers. We were entertained by the nephew
of the governor, who apologised for the absence of his uncle, who,
he said, was suffering from a bad attack of fever which prevented his
presiding at the table. We heard afterwards that the real reason of
his non-appearance was not fever, but a fear of being laughed at. He
knew how things ought to be done according to European fashion, and
was afraid that he had not all the necessaries to carry out a dinner
successfully, and so preferred not to show himself. However, when he
saw how splendidly the first dinner-party went off he decided to give
another, so in about a week's time we received a second invitation to
dinner. This time the governor himself took the head of the table,
and did the honours of it well, too. He certainly had nothing to be
ashamed of, for everything was served in perfect French style. From
the soup to the dessert, with all the intermediary courses, everything
was dished up in perfect taste and on good china. The glass and table
decorations would not have disgraced a European table.
The Governor of Yezd, on the other hand, preferred to hold more to his
own traditions, and I have much enjoyed a meal there with his family,
served and eaten in true Persian style.