Chapter I: Front Matter

"The smiling Garden of Persian Literature": a Garden which I
would describe, in the Eastern style, as a happy spot, where
lavish Nature with profusion strews the most fragrant and
blooming flowers, where the most delicious fruits abound, which
is ever vocal with the plaintive melancholy of the nightingale,
who, during day and night, "tunes her love-laboured song": ...
where the voice of Wisdom is often heard uttering her moral
sentence, or delivering the dictates of experience.--SIR W. OUSELEY.

FLOWERS FROM A PERSIAN GARDEN,

AND

OTHER PAPERS.

BY W. A. CLOUSTON,

AUTHOR OF 'POPULAR TALES AND FICTIONS' AND 'BOOK OF NOODLES'; EDITOR OF 'A GROUP OF EASTERN ROMANCES AND STORIES,' 'BOOK OF SINDIBAD,' 'BAKHTYAR NAMA,' 'ARABIAN POETRY FOR ENGLISH READERS,' ETC.

LONDON: DAVID NUTT, 270, 271, STRAND. MDCCCXC.

TO E. SIDNEY HARTLAND, ESQ.,

FELLOW OF THE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES; MEMBER OF THE COUNCIL OF THE FOLK-LORE SOCIETY, ETC.

MY DEAR HARTLAND,

Though you are burdened with the duties of a profession far outside of which lie those studies that have largely occupied my attention for many years past, yet your own able contributions to the same, or cognate, subjects of investigation evince the truth of the seemingly paradoxical saying, that "the busiest man finds the greatest amount of leisure." And in dedicating this little book to you--would that it were more worthy!--as a token of gratitude for the valuable help you have often rendered me in the course of my studies, I am glad of the opportunity it affords me for placing on record (so to say) the fact that I enjoy the friendship of a man possessed of so many excellent qualities of heart as well as of intellect.

The following collection of essays, or papers, is designed to suit the tastes of a more numerous class of readers than were some of my former books, which are not likely to be of special interest to many besides students of comparative folk-lore--amongst whom your own degree is high. The book, in fact, is intended mainly for those who are rather vaguely termed "general readers"; albeit I venture to think that even the folk-lore student may find in it somewhat to "make a note of," as the great Captain Cuttle was wont to say--in season and out of season.

Leaving the contents to speak for themselves, I shall only say farther that my object has been to bring together, in a handy volume, a series of essays which might prove acceptable to many readers, whether of grave or lively temperament. What are called "instructive" books--meaning thereby "morally" instructive--are generally as dull reading as is proverbially a book containing nothing but jests--good, bad, and indifferent. We can't (and we shouldn't) be always in the "serious" mood, nor can we be for ever on the grin; and it seems to me that a mental dietary, by turns, of what is wise and of what is witty should be most wholesome. But, of the two, I confess I prefer to take the former, even as one ought to take solid food, in great moderation; and, after all, it is surely better to laugh than to mope or weep, in spite of what has been said of "the loud laugh that speaks the vacant mind." Most of us, in this work-a-day world, find no small benefit from allowing our minds to lie fallow at certain times, as farmers do with their fields. In the following pages, however, I believe wisdom and wit, the didactic and the diverting, will be found in tolerably fair proportions.

But I had forgot--I am not writing a Preface, and this is already too long for a Dedication; so believe me, with all good wishes,

Yours ever faithfully, W. A. CLOUSTON. GLASGOW, February, 1890.

CONTENTS.

FLOWERS FROM A PERSIAN GARDEN.

I Sketch of the Life of the Persian Poet Saádí--Character of his
Writings--the _Gulistán_, or Rose-Garden--Prefaces to
Books--Preface to the _Gulistán_--Eastern Poets in praise of
Springtide

II Boy's Archery Feat--Advantages of Abstinence--Núshirván on
Oppression--Boy in terror at Sea--Pride of Ancestry--Misfortunes
of Friends--Fortitude and Liberality--Prodigality--Stupid
Youth--Advantages of Education--The Fair Cup-bearer--'January and
May'--Why an Old Man did not Marry--The Dervish who became
King--Muezzin and Preacher who had bad voices--Witty Slave--Witty
Kází--Astrologer and his Faithless Wife--Objectionable Neighbour

III On Taciturnity: Parallels from Caxton's _Dictes_ and preface to
_Kalíla wa Dimna_--Difference between Devotee and Learned Man--To
get rid of Troublesome Visitors--Fable of the Nightingale and the
Ant--Aphorisms of Saádí--Conclusion

ORIENTAL WIT AND HUMOUR.

I Man a Laughing Animal--Antiquity of Popular Jests--'Night and
Day'--The Plain-featured Bride--The House of Condolence--The
Blind Man's Wife--Two Witty Persian Ladies--Woman's Counsel--The
Turkish Jester: in the Pulpit; the Cauldron; the Beggar; the
Drunken Governor; the Robber; the Hot Broth--Muslim Preachers and
Misers

II The Two Deaf Men and the Traveller--The Deaf Persian and the
Horseman--Lazy Servants--Chinese Humour: The Rich Man and the
Smiths; How to keep Plants alive; Criticising a Portrait--The
Persian Courtier and his old Friend--The Scribe--The Schoolmaster
and the Wit--The Persian and his Cat--A List of Blockheads--The
Arab and his Camel--A Witty Baghdádí--The Unlucky Slippers

III The Young Merchant of Baghdád; or, the Wiles of Woman

IV Ashaab the Covetous--The Stingy Merchant and the Hungry
Bedouin--The Sect of Samradians--The Story-teller and the
King--Royal Gifts to Poets--The Persian Poet and the
Impostor--'Stealing Poetry'--The Rich Man and the Poor Poet

V Unlucky Omens--The Old Man's Prayer--The Old Woman in the
Mosque--The Weeping Turkmans--The Ten Foolish Peasants--The
Wakeful Servant--The Three Dervishes--The Oilman's Parrot--The
Moghul and his Parrot--The Persian Shopkeeper and the Prime
Minister--Hebrew Facetiæ

TALES OF A PARROT.

I General Plan of Eastern Story-books--The _Tútí Náma_, or
Parrot-Book--The Frame-story--The Stolen Images--The Woman carved
out of Wood--The Man whose Mare was kicked by a Merchant's Horse

II The Emperor's Dream--The Golden Apparition--The Four
Treasure-seekers

III The Singing Ass: the Foolish Thieves: the Faggot-maker and the
Magic Bowl

IV The Goldsmith who lost his Life through Covetousness--The King
who died of Love for a Merchant's Daughter--The Discovery of
Music--The Seven Requisites of a Perfect Woman

V The Princess of Rome and her Son--The Seven Vazírs

VI The Tree of Life--Legend of Rájá Rasálú--Conclusion

_ADDITIONAL NOTE:_
The Magic Bowl, etc.

RABBINICAL LEGENDS, TALES, FABLES, AND APHORISMS.