Sometimes he recites a story of the genii;
at others he speaks of the warlike deeds of former sovereigns, or of the
love of some wandering prince. Often the story is of coarser materials, and
the king is entertained with low and obscene adventures. In no court is
more rigid attention paid to ceremony. Looks, words, the motions of the
body, are all regulated by the strictest forms. When the king is seated in
public, his sons, ministers, and courtiers, stand erect, with their hands
crossed, and in the exact place belonging to their rank. They watch his
looks, and a glance is a command. If he speaks to them, you hear a voice
reply, and see the lips move, but not a motion or gesture betrays that
there is animation in any other part of the frame. The monarch often speaks
in the third person: "The king is pleased," "The king commands." His
ministers usually style him "The object of the world's regard." They are as
particular in forms of speech as in other ceremonies; and superiority and
inferiority of rank, in all their gradations, are implied by the terms used
in the commonest conversations.
_Sir J. Malcolm's History of Persia._
* * * * *
THE COSMOPOLITE.
Pages:
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62