I always felt
for those who wore it. The shopkeeper, upon looking at me from head to
foot, said 'A baruni indeed! and for whom do you want it, and who is to
pay for it?'

'For myself, to be sure,' answered I.

'And what does such a poor devil as you want with such a coat? Mirzas
and Khans only wear them, and I am sure you are no such personage.'

I was about to answer in great wrath, when a _dalal_ or broker went by,
loaded with all sorts of second-hand clothes, which he was hawking about
for sale, and to him I immediately made application, in spite of the
reiterated calls of the shopkeeper, who now too late repented of having
driven me off in so hasty a manner. We retreated to a corner in the
gateway of the adjacent mosque, and there the dalal, putting his load
down, spread his merchandise before me. I was struck by a fine shot silk
vest, trimmed in front with gold lace and gold buttons, of which I asked
the price. The dalal extolled its beauty and my taste; swore that it had
belonged to one of the king's favourite Georgians, who had only worn
it twice, and having made me try it on, walked around and around me,
exclaiming all the while, '_Mashallah, Mashallah!_' Praise be to God! I
was so pleased with this, that I must needs have a shawl for my waist to
match, and he produced an old Cashmerian shawl full of holes and darns,
which he assured me had belonged to one of the ladies in the king's
harem, and which, he said, he would let me have at a reasonable price.
My vanity made me prefer this commodity to a new _Kerman_ shawl, which
I might have had for what I was about to pay for the old worn-out
Cashmere, and adjusting it so as to hide the defects, I wound it about
my waist, which only wanted a dagger stuck into it, to make my dress
complete. With this the dalal also supplied me, and when I was thus
equipped I could not resist expressing my satisfaction to the broker,
who was not backward in assuring me, that there was not a handsomer nor
better-dressed man in Tehran.

When we came to settle our accounts, the business wore a more serious
aspect. The dalal began by assuring me of his honesty, that he was not
like other dalals, who asked a hundred and then took fifty, and that
when he said a thing, I might depend upon its veracity. He then asked
me five tomauns for the coat, fifteen for the shawl, and four for the
dagger, making altogether twenty-four tomauns.

Upon hearing this, my delight subsided, for I had barely