Far Off by Favell Lee Mortimer
page 45 of 243 (18%)
page 45 of 243 (18%)
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their arms. This is a sight which reminds us of the good Shepherd: for it
is written of Jesus, "He gathered the lambs in his arms." The sweetest of all flowers grows abundantly in Persia--I mean the rose. The air is filled with its fragrance. The people pluck the rose leaves and dry them in the sun, as we dry hay. How pleasant it must be for children in the spring to play among the heaps of rose-leaves. Once a traveller went to breakfast with a Persian Prince, and he found the company seated upon a heap of rose-leaves, with a carpet spread over it. Afterwards the rose-leaves were sent to the distillers, to be made into rose-water. Persian cats are beautiful creatures, with fur as soft as silk. The best melons in the world grow in Persia. The three chief materials for making clothes are all to be found there in abundance. I mean wool, cotton, and silk. You have heard already of the Persian sheep; so you see there is wool. Cotton trees also abound. Women and children may be been picking the nuts which contain the little pieces of cotton. There are mulberry-trees also to feed the numerous silk worms. POOR PEOPLE.--The villages where the poor live are miserable places. The houses are of mud, not placed in rows, but straggling, with dirty narrow paths winding between them. In summer the poor people sleep on the roofs; for the roofs are flat, and covered with earth, with low walls on every side to prevent the sleepers falling off. Here the Persians spread their carpets to lie upon at night. |
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