DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.15174#0026
10
PERSIAN SLAVES.
CHAP. XII.
line of camels, as it winds its crooked course through
the frightful waste. The simile of a ship in the
ocean and a camel in the desert may be hackneyed,
but it is just. The objects animate impart a strong
interest to inanimate nature.
In the middle of our march through the desert,
we met seven unfortunate Persians, who had been
captured by the Toorkmuns, and were now on their
road to Bokhara, where they would be sold. Five
of them were chained together, and trod their way
through the deep sand. There was a general shout
of compassion, as the caravan passed these miserable
beings; and the sympathy did not fail to affect the
poor creatures themselves. They cried, and gave a
longing look, as the last camel of the caravan passed
to their dear native country. The camel on which
I rode happened to be in the rear, and I stayed to
hear their tale of woe. They had been seized by
the Toorkmuns at Ghaeen, near Meshid, a few weeks
before, when the culture of their fields had led them
beyond the threshold of their homes. They were
weary and thirsty, and I gave them all I could — a
single melon ; a civility, little as it was, which was
received with gratitude. What a frightful notion
must these unfortunate beings have entertained of
the country which they were entering, after their
travels in such a desert I The Toorkmuns evince but
little compassion for their Persian slaves; and what
other treatment is to be expected from men who
pass their lives in selling human beings? They give
them but a scanty supply of food and water, that
they may waste their strength, and prevent their
PERSIAN SLAVES.
CHAP. XII.
line of camels, as it winds its crooked course through
the frightful waste. The simile of a ship in the
ocean and a camel in the desert may be hackneyed,
but it is just. The objects animate impart a strong
interest to inanimate nature.
In the middle of our march through the desert,
we met seven unfortunate Persians, who had been
captured by the Toorkmuns, and were now on their
road to Bokhara, where they would be sold. Five
of them were chained together, and trod their way
through the deep sand. There was a general shout
of compassion, as the caravan passed these miserable
beings; and the sympathy did not fail to affect the
poor creatures themselves. They cried, and gave a
longing look, as the last camel of the caravan passed
to their dear native country. The camel on which
I rode happened to be in the rear, and I stayed to
hear their tale of woe. They had been seized by
the Toorkmuns at Ghaeen, near Meshid, a few weeks
before, when the culture of their fields had led them
beyond the threshold of their homes. They were
weary and thirsty, and I gave them all I could — a
single melon ; a civility, little as it was, which was
received with gratitude. What a frightful notion
must these unfortunate beings have entertained of
the country which they were entering, after their
travels in such a desert I The Toorkmuns evince but
little compassion for their Persian slaves; and what
other treatment is to be expected from men who
pass their lives in selling human beings? They give
them but a scanty supply of food and water, that
they may waste their strength, and prevent their