Harper's New Monthly Magazine Volume 34 December 1886 to May 1887 . life, and un-able to escape from it by suicide, is sleep-ing heavily on the pavement. But oneof the most common spectacles of Tehe-ran in the late afternoon—a sight whichalways draws a crowd—is a match oftrained wrestlers, or athletes exercisingwith clubs, at both of which the Per-sians are very expert, although theymake no great figure in jugglery. The afternoon is also the time when thegentlemen of Teheran exchange gentleman in Persia never calls on alady; he does not even dare to inquire aft-er her health, or even m
Harper's New Monthly Magazine Volume 34 December 1886 to May 1887 . life, and un-able to escape from it by suicide, is sleep-ing heavily on the pavement. But oneof the most common spectacles of Tehe-ran in the late afternoon—a sight whichalways draws a crowd—is a match oftrained wrestlers, or athletes exercisingwith clubs, at both of which the Per-sians are very expert, although theymake no great figure in jugglery. The afternoon is also the time when thegentlemen of Teheran exchange gentleman in Persia never calls on alady; he does not even dare to inquire aft-er her health, or even mention her to herhusband. Notwithstanding this, the ex-change of visits is a most formidable af-fair at Teheran, affording an opportunityfor the full display of the elaborate eti-quette for which Persia has always beencelebrated. I make no apology for de-scribing with some minuteness the detailsof such a visit, as doubtless no such socialceremony is elsewhere in vogue to such adegree at the present day. All the cere-monies attending such an affair are shaded. A BUTCHER. 224 HARPERS NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. off to the finest point, and are expected toform part of the education of every Per-sian, or, in fact, to be a second nature tohim. Before making the visit, a servant issent, general!} the previous day, to an-nounce it. The rank of the servant whois sent is suited to the rank of the gentle-man who is to receive the call. If a per-son of very high rank is to call on one ofsimilar position, it is considered eminentlyproper to announce and accept the visitin an autograph note. If the caller is ofthe higher rank, he simply states that heproposes to call at such an hour; if ofequal or lower rank, he asks permission tocall. The call must be made on horsebackor in a carriage, and the number of mount-ed attendants depends upon the rank of theperson visited. Xenophon in his Anab-asis states it as a custom peculiar to thePersians that they always went abroadaccompanied by many retaine
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