When I would have taken my leave of the prince to return home, he
proposed to me that I should remain a little while longer and hear
some Persian music. Two minstrels presently appeared, one of whom
had a kind of mandolin with five strings; the other was a singer.
The musician preluded very well, played European as well as Persian
melodies, and handled his instrument with great facility; the singer
executed roulades, and, unfortunately, his voice was neither
cultivated nor pure; but he seldom gave false notes, and they both
kept good time. The Persian music and songs had considerable range
of notes and variations in the melody; I had not heard anything like
them for a long time.
I reached home safely before sunset, and did not feel very much
fatigued, either by the ride of thirty-six miles, the terrible heat,
or the wandering about on foot. Only two days afterwards, I set out
on my road to the ruins of the city of Babylon. The district in
which these ruins lie is called Isak-Arabia, and is the seat of the
ancient Babylonia and Chaldea.
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