THE KING OF PERSIA.--He is called King of Kings. What a name for a man!
It is the title of God alone. The king sits on a marble throne, and his
garments sparkle with jewels of dazzling brightness. The walls of his
state-chamber are covered with looking-glasses. One side of the room
opens into a court adorned with flowers and fountains. Great part of his
time is spent in amusements, such as hunting and shooting, writing
verses, and hearing stories. He keeps a man called a story-teller, and he
will never hear the same story repeated twice. It gives the man a great
deal of trouble to find new stories every day. The king keeps jesters,
who make jokes; and he has mimics, who play antics to make him laugh. He
dines at eight in the evening from dishes of pure gold. No one is allowed
to dine with him; but two of his little boys wait upon him, and his
physician stands by to advise him not to eat too much.

Do you think he is happy in all his grandeur? Judge for yourself.

All his golden dishes come up covered and sealed. Why? For fear of
poison. There is a chief officer in the kitchen who watches the cook, to
see that he puts no poison into the food: and he seals up the dishes
before they are taken to the king, in order that the servants may not put
in poison as they are carrying them along. In what fear this great king
lives! He cannot trust his own servants.

TEHERAN.--This is the royal city. It is built in a barren plain, and is
exceedingly hot, as the hills around keep off the air. It is a mean
city, for it is chiefly built of mud huts.

The king's palace is called the "Ark," and is a very strong as well as
grand place.[5]