History of the Parsis : including their manners, customs, religion and present position : with coloured and other illustrations : in two volumes

CHAP, III] PARST MOTHERS. 129

day they take their meals together, and the afternoon is passed in the same manner as the forenoon. Later in the afternoon the ladies, if provided with carriages, go out to visit their lady friends or for a drive.

The range of conversation among Parsi ladies of the old school, with very rare exceptions, was somewhat limited. It seldom rose above the ordinary tittle-tattle and gossip of women, and was confined chiefly to their dresses and the latest fashions and forthcoming betrothals and marriages. The most momentous questions of current war or politics stirred them but gently, and their criticism seldom went beyond the limits of innocent wonder. All this is happily changing, as Parsi ladies are now taking the lead in female education.

The highest ambition and the most earnest wish of a Parsi girl is to obtain a good husband. When that object has been attained her position is assured and her happiness may be considered complete. As a woman she is generally loving, cheerful, and fond of children. She is always to be seen with them grouped around her. In short, the mother is the soul of the family and the centre of all its happiness; without her the house would be a desert and life a burden. It is a feature of her mental progress, which is worth noticing, that the careful education of her children is a subject of great solicitude to her, for, while a few years ago the father was the sole superintendent of

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