‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [‎211v] (429/722)

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will show that there is little difference between the office of jester at the
modern court of Persia and that which some centuries ago existed at
every court in Europe. A resemblance of trifling forms even merits
attention as it leads to conclusions on the progress of knowledge and
the condition of society ; and we may, perhaps, judge as correctly from
the character of their amusements as from their more serious occupations
of the decree of civilisation that a people has attained.
“ In the court of Persia there is always a person, who bears ^ the name
of ‘ story-teller to his majesty'; and the duties of this office require
a man of no mean acquirements. The Persians, though passionately fond
of public exhibitions, have none that merit the name of theatrical enter
tainments. But though strangers to the regular drama, the frame of their
stories are often dramatic ; and those whose occupation is to tell them,
sometimes display so extraordinary a skill and such varied powers that
we can hardly believe, while we look upon their altered countenances and
listen to their changed tones, that it is the same person who at one moment
relates in his natural voice a plain narrative, then speaks in the hoarse and
ano-ry tone of offended authority, and next subdues the passions he has
excited by the softest sounds of feminine tenderness. But the art of relat-
ino- stories is, in Persia, attended both with profit and reputation. Great
numbers attempt it, but few succeed. It requires considerable talent and
o-reat study. None can arrive at eminence in this line except men of cul
tivated taste and retentive memory. They must not only be acquainted with
the best ancient and modern stories, but be able to \aiy thern by the rela
tion of new incidents, which they have heard 01 invented, they must also
recollect the finest passages of the most popular poets, that they may aid
the impression of their narrative by appropriate quotations.. Ihe peison
whose peculiar office it is to amuse his majesty with these stories is always in
attendance. It is equally his duty to beguile the fatigue of a long march, or
to soothe the mind when it has been disturbed by the toils of public affairs;
and his tales are artfully suited to the disposition of the monarch and the
humour he is in at the moment. Sometimes he recites a fable of the Jinn ;
at others he speaks of the warlike deeds of the former sovereigns of Persia,
or recounts the love of some wandering prince. A story of .more coarse
materials is often framed; and the ear of the king is entertained with a
narrative of low and obscene adventures.
« There is no court where a more rigid attention is paid to ceremony than
at that of Persia. The looks, the words, the motion of the body, are all
regulated by the most strict observance of form. When the king is seated
in public, his sons, ministers, and courtiers stand erect with their hands
crossed, and in the exact place of their rank. They watch the looks of the
sovereign, and a glance is a mandate. If he speaks to them, you hear a
voice reply, and see their lips move; but not a motion nor gesture betrays
that there is animation in any other part of their frame. The monarch, in
speaking, often uses the third person, commencing his observation with—
‘ The king is pleased/ or ‘ The king commands/ His minister, in
addressing him, usually styles him, ‘ the object of the world’s regards.
They are as particular in their forms of speech as they are in other cere
monies ; and superiority and inferiority of ranks in all their shades are
implied by the terms used in the most common expressions.
“ On extraordinary occasions nothing can exceed the splendour of the
Persian court. It presents a scene of the greatest magnificence, regulated