Education—Schools—Punishments—Love of poetry—Colleges—Education of women—Religion—March to Bushire—Extremes of cold and heat—Good luck—Go home to England—Leave viâ India—The “Boys”—Lisbon—Algiers—Port Said and Suez—Jeddah—Donkeys—Coral reef—Sea-slugs—Aden—Madagascar oranges—“Grimes”—Kurrachee—Drives—Visit to the alligators at Muggerpir—Disgusting scene—A legatee—Black-wood furniture—A lost bargain—Persian Gulf—Bushire—Leave for Shiraz.
As to education in Persia, reading, writing, and the rudiments of arithmetic are general among the merchant and bazaar class; and each small village has its school, which is generally held in the mosque. The usual sum paid for instruction to the “moallim,” or schoolmaster, is from sixpence to a shilling a month. The letters are taught, and then the reading in Arabic of the Koran. Of course the boys do not understand what they read, and as they all read at once in chorus, the noise is deafening. The discipline is severe, and a boy who is idle, or whose parents are backward with the monthly stipend, has a rough time of it. The bastinado on a miniature scale is always ready in the corner, and a rope and pulley is kept, in which a troublesome boy’s hand and foot may be placed, that he may be hoisted on high, a terror to evil-doers. This, however, is not a painful punishment; it is a sort of substitute for the standing on the form as practised with us. No attempt is made to teach anything more than the three R’s; particular attention is devoted to calligraphy, for a good writer is sure of his living, if merely as a clerk.
Those who aspire higher, to the post of mirza or secretary, generally obtain a knowledge of phrase, trope, and compliment from the writings of the poets; and the intricacies of detail on these matters are endless—in fact, they are a science.
The tales of “Saadi,” and a smattering of Arabic, form the climax of what is learnt at school.
At many village schools a few only of the boys learn to write, all to read. This power of reading they soon lose, but a villager has little occasion for it, and the repeating from memory of a few prayers, and passages from the Koran, with some verses of poetry, is generally all that remains to the villager of his education.
The quoting of poetry in Persia is universal; it is in every man’s mouth from highest to lowest, and is introduced into the most unpoetical conversations. The servants would often pass their evenings listening to the declamation of the poet Firdūsi as intoned by my cook; and certain hackneyed quotations are ever on the lips of even the most ignorant.
A few boys, after leaving school, proceed to college (“medresseh”). These are intended for the priesthood, the law, or medicine.
There seem to be no regular courses.
The student studies Arabic sedulously, and reads a good deal in a desultory sort of way, much time being devoted to poetry and commentaries on the Koran, while he fills up the rest of his time in literally “sitting at the feet of the local Gamaliels,” regularly presenting himself at the receptions of the heads of law and religion; he is seen at their “medjlisses,” or assemblies; ever ready with a quotation, or a smooth affirmative, or a sigh of astonishment at the erudition of his patron; the student swells the throng of his numerous hangers-on, accompanying him on visits, and to the mosques; ever ready to write a letter, run with a message, give an order to a servant; in fact, to do everything that is not exactly menial.