Page:From Constantinople to the home of Omar Khayyam.djvu/216

 110 TEHERAN AND A NEWER PERSIA

spatches which he read through heavy eye-glasses, for he was very near-sighted. His body was very thick-set, inclining to obesity ; his face was round and full ; and his head was sur- mounted by the usual heavy lambskin cap. His expression wore a passive air that rather conveyed the idea of superciliousness ; in fact, I was told that his whole demeanor had changed after he became king, for, while Crown Prince, he had been inclined to be very easy and gracious in his behavior. It must be admitted that there seemed to be little in his bearing that was truly regal or likely to win enthusiasm from his subjects or to inspire admiration in those with whom he came in contact ; and though this estimate may be unjust, later events appear to have borne it out. The interview had little of interest beyond the fact that we had been in the royal presence of him who sat on a throne once occupied by mighty kings who, in the days of Persia's glory, had come into clash with Greece and Rome.

After the presentation we withdrew to see the place where the body of the Shah's father, Muzaffar ad-Din, was lying in state. It was on one side of the circular enclosure where the ta'ziah, or religious plays, were performed. The catafalque rested on a sort of dais at the head of a broad flight of steps that was strewn with Persian rugs. Heavy hangings and tapestries formed the rich background, and a large picture of the dead monarch hung over his casket. A priestly band of Mullahs were chanting selections from the Kuran, and their voices echoed solemnly back from the silent walls of the enclosure that formed the court where death now held sway. Verily, Muzaffar ad-Din * rested with his fathers,' where

Can touch him further.'
 * Malice domestic, foreign levy, nothing

of securing an accurate transcript of manders, look like the familiar repre-

all the inscriptions, and if successful sentations of dragons in Mongol art

I shall publish the results at a later and might thus contribute further evi-

date. — As a possible fifth point I dence in favor of the Moghul origin of

may add that the two bizarre figures the throne, in the steps, which Curzon calls sala-

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