Rice
will not grow well in such a dry country, but sheep find it very pleasant
and wholesome. The hills are covered over with flocks, and the shepherds
may be seen leading their sheep and carrying the very young lambs in
their arms. This is a sight which reminds us of the good Shepherd: for it
is written of Jesus, "He gathered the lambs in his arms."
The sweetest of all flowers grows abundantly in Persia--I mean the rose.
The air is filled with its fragrance. The people pluck the rose leaves
and dry them in the sun, as we dry hay. How pleasant it must be for
children in the spring to play among the heaps of rose-leaves. Once a
traveller went to breakfast with a Persian Prince, and he found the
company seated upon a heap of rose-leaves, with a carpet spread over it.
Afterwards the rose-leaves were sent to the distillers, to be made into
rose-water.
Persian cats are beautiful creatures, with fur as soft as silk.
The best melons in the world grow in Persia.
The three chief materials for making clothes are all to be found there in
abundance. I mean wool, cotton, and silk. You have heard already of the
Persian sheep; so you see there is wool. Cotton trees also abound. Women
and children may be been picking the nuts which contain the little pieces
of cotton. There are mulberry-trees also to feed the numerous silk worms.
POOR PEOPLE.--The villages where the poor live are miserable places.
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