Our Little Persian Cousin

quarter of a mile above the village. This was not a spring, but a "kareez," for beyond it could be seen a long line of pits, joined at the bottom by a

he smooth sides at the water trickling across the bott

RIM SAT

d Dada. "Can't you see

pose it

roads. But if God wills that a man shall fall in, why,

ick trunks, and a row of poplars, that seemed to Karim the tallest trees he could think of. Then it ran into the village

ch he and Mashaddi used for plowing. It was hard to say who enjoyed it the most, the buffalos, who dearly loved the water, or

ke between the buffalos. Here Karim sat all day, to keep the yoke by his weight from pressing a

ng the dried grasses on the hillside. Here he spent whole days with the other boys, going swi

At first this was great fun, but he became very tired of it in a few days, and his voice grew hoarse and rough. Then came harvest time, and he went out to the hot fiel

amb, and Nana burned the paper and poured the ashes into a cup of water which she made Karim drink, but it did no good. He la

ains to get the tongue of a starling, for a woman said that this would cure

aid Grandmother, when she

all have this sickness," was their reason, "and it is best that they have i

grief, and with the cries of a few of her friends. No one thought of flowers, and there was no music. As the funeral was that of a girl,

his, because a great many of the boys were too poor to go to school. As for the girls, of course people n

ked very gay in a brand new coat of bright blue. Dada met the teacher with a present of three chickens. Then the boys marched to the school in a straggling line,

There were no blackboards or maps or desks; indeed, most of the boys had never even seen a lead pencil. The mull

d the mullah. "If any one eats any food before

imed, "You silly animal, hah! Have

d I did not e

t your

ns, and the mullah gave him so shar

they did not understand what it meant, although the mullah explained a great many things to them. It was very important to learn to recite a good many chapters from this holy book, even if one could not understand

h told of the wonderful deeds of King Solomon, who talked with the birds and made the spirits of the air obey

oud sing-song tone. If a boy became tired he did not dare to stop. Karim did so once, but a stroke from the

n there had been a slight earthquake shock he

p the earth upon his twenty-one horns has

angry at?"

e has not told us

stands upon," added

the answer. "Such questions are irreverent, and fools ask them

up that no one could recognize her. Then they put her on a horse, and in a noisy procession led her off to her new home. She now lived in a village ten

as glad that winter had gone. Mashaddi said that the world came to life then. A few days before the festival Karim's head was shaved, and the nails of his fingers and toes were coloured red.

e seven kinds of food, and their names must each begin with an S) and Karim took these as presents to t

old enough) sat upon their heels in the room to receive callers. Each caller, as

fortunate,"

health?" aske

to God, w

ns smoking from the water-pipe. After the third cup of

roofs of the village were alight with blazing pin

e musicians with cymbals with them, and went about saying and doing absurd things. Karim and his school mates dre

y, or we will rob

e them enough to bu

RIM STARTED