| Show HOME LIFE is PERSIA f JfT Wife and Concubines in Superabundance Supera-bundance and Divorces Consequently Conse-quently Numerous marriages Made at Ten Every householder in Teheran has i his courtyard and tank of water no matter j mat-ter how poor he is ExMinister Benjamin Benja-min tells a New York Sun reporter I Frequently there are three or four courtyards I yards and there Is one called the andaroon I into which no man ever enters except the master and his eunuchs I is reserved for his wives concubines A wealthy Persian can have four wives and several l concubines These women drive out in carriages and visit one another and are watched with the greatest care The wives of poorer men go about on foot but all alike are covered with a dark blue mantle which falls to the feet concealing conceal-ing the form Over the face is a white veil with apetures for the eyes The rooms have large windows set in richly decorated sashes and opening on I the courtyards and frequently these windows win-dows are studded with colored glass giving giv-ing a cathedral effect t the highceilinged rooms All the rooms have Uirt floors but they are hardly noticed for they are covered with matting and ich rugs lone l-one part of the room there is a mattress covered with rugs and on this the Persian Per-sian sits during the day and sleeps at night Some of the rooms have tanks in their centre giving them an air of luxury I often wonder why water is not used more in this way in other countries I does not create dampness as the climate ill Persia is very dry There is a separate room for the bath and its appointments are often luxurious Christians are obliged t have separate baths from the Mahometans What are the daily habits of Persians Per-sians 1 siansEvery Every one from the king down rises at G oclock in the morning Then they partake of a cup of tea and some bread Tea is a very important article of diet in Persia and the tea is nearly always busy No milk is used but they sweeten the tea almost to the consistency of syrup Tea over the merchant goes to his shop in the bazaar This bazaar consists of a hundred narrow streets roofed over with brick arches which are pierced here and there to admit light and air The mer chant sits in a booth in front of his store and awaits custom He charges a much higher price than he expects to get after the usual oriental style At noon he makes a substantial breakfast in the bazaar ba-zaar and then as the middle of the day Is very hot he takes a nap About 4 oclock he goes home and takes a ride returns re-turns to dinner and then at about 7 oclock enters his andaroon When once there he is inaccessible except on the most urgent business I is a suflicient excuse for not receiving a caller to say that a man is in his andaroon He takes another hearty meal there at 8 oclock and soon afterward retires to bed rDo the wives all occupy one room That depends on the wealth of the man They generally have separate rooms and by law he is compelled to spend a certain amount of time with each wife Of course she can sometimes be ribed to sacrifice her rights in favor of another wife A Persian is rarely seen walking with his wives except on thereat the-reat holiday of the new year called no rooz I is then the custom of every Persian to go about with his wives and the gardens of the rich are on that day thrown open to the public How do the unmarried women live There are no unmarried women except cept dissolute women Every girl is betrothed before she is 10 years of age A love match is something almost out of the question Marriages are arranged by third persons although sometimes the young man may see the bride before the wedding but this is rare He first sees her face after the ceremony and if he doesnt like her he can reject her Girls go unveiled until about 10 years of age They receive no education except in needlework and embroidery They know noting except of what is going on immediately im-mediately around them but Mrs Benjamin Benja-min who has had unusually favorable opportunities of meeting them says they are clever and piquant Like the Persian men they are generally handsome I have been able t observe this for myself when veils fell off in the street and by seeing the peasant women who wear no veils My wife tells me that their figures are very good The children are hand some with warm brown skins and dark hair Are the Persians attached to their I wives wivesNo divorces are exceedingly common com-mon I is very easy to b divorced I is only necessary to write out a paper stating the reason and the thing i done or to say t the woman three successive times I divorce you but the husband luSt have a pretext for his action how ever flimsy A man sometime divorces I aU four wives and begins over again The women have rarely any difficulty in I securing new husbands I is no disgrace to be divorced There is an extraordinary law about marriage outside of the ordinary ceremony which permits a man and a woman to marry far any specified length of time from five minutes up t sixty and year The couple go before a priest state the time settled on and the man then pays an agreed sum of money to the woman I he leaves her at the end of he fixed time she cannot marry again for a year and any child born is the legitimate legiti-mate offspring of the man and he cares for it Many women of rank prefer this kind of marriage making the term fifty or sixty years long as by doing so they secure their jointure beforehand and the husband cannot divorce them until the time is expired There are some highly educated and intelligent women in Persia but they are very rare In taking ver evidence the testimony of one man equals that of two women |
