|  Return
of Shahrzad
Part 4
By Eric J. Jerpe
December 15, 2003
The Iranian
When the healthy young couple overtook
the frail old man, they deliberately kept to a slow pace so he
could keep up with them. Romeen and Roxana were surprised, however,
at Porzand's enthusiasm. Quite eager to get to the top, he
never stopped to rest as they moved upward and onward along the
extensive and winding pathway of stone steps. Several times Romeen
and Roxana would pause, drink a little bottled water and look down
at the grandeur below, viewing the rough road weaving its way through
the desert valley nestled amidst barren mountains. Then they would
resume the climb and catch up with Porzand, who always kept moving
at whatever pace he could maintain.
At last the top came into view and the step way
became a straight incline. The forward scene looked as though an
entire village had
been hacked into the side of the mountain. An entire network
of dwellings were visible, but no other people could be seen.
They finally reached the top of the step way, entering
onto a level-ground niche that was somewhat shaded by vegetation
and the mountainside.
To their left was an open space about six meters square; upon
its floor lay an ornate carpet covered with intricate abstract
white
designs set in a green background, a Persian rug large enough
to comfortably seat three people and just touching the tiled-wall
portion of the mountainside. To their right was a brace of ponderous,
soundly shut metal doors, apparently the entrance to a house
of
worship. Situated in the center and extending further to the
right behind the house of worship, lush vegetation exuded its fragrance.
From somewhere above, moisture continually seeped into the greenery,
albeit only in small droplets.
"This is the Temple of the Sacred Spring," announced
Porzand.
He stepped over to the closed double doors and removed
an elaborate key from his sack. As he unlocked the double doors,
Romeen demurred.
"Good magi, we are curious to see what lies beyond
that door; but it is our understanding that this is a temple
only Zoroastrians
may enter. Just as a Zoroastrian would never be so profane
as to
visit the sacred shrines of Mecca, so too a Moslem must be
respectful of the holy places of the ancient prophet of Iran."
"
Once again you display Spento-Mainyu," said the magi. "Do
not fear, you are both very welcome here. This is a special day,
and your presence is needed."
The old man began pulling at the door handles, exerting
what strength he had to open the double doors. The young couple
assisted him
in opening the doors wide and setting down buttresses at their
bases to keep them in place. Peering inside, the trio viewed
a temple sacristy discernible due to the merest sunlight let in
by
a window to the left. Porzand entered the sacristy; Romeen and
Roxana followed.
Walking around the interior, they looked over their
surroundings, observing a main room with most of the wall being
cliffside and
a smaller room with man-made walls. The window, a barricade of
horizontal-and-vertical dark-metal bars spouting ornately-fashioned
spikes at the top, opened to view some of the moist mountain-wall
greenery. In the center of the main room was a bright-metal object
about one-and-a-half meters in height; it consisted of ten or
so rounded trays, circularly arranged and supported by crossed
vertical
appendages, bolstering a larger, near-perfectly-circular tray
in the center atop which was perched a considerable basin. In the
smaller room were dining utensils and, on the walls in glass-covered
cases, a sizable number of precious books.
Porzand prepared beverage from a samovar. He got
Romeen and Roxana to sit down on a bench in the smaller room and
presented them cups
of tea. As they sat and sipped, he expounded upon the legend
of Shahrzad's return.
"
Upon the death of Shahrzad's husband, King Shahrizar,
zealous iconoclasts came to power. In the name of piety, they
strove to destroy all artwork that was not abstract. In a series
of rampages,
they obliterated paintings and sculptures of human form; great
quantities of classic artwork was irretrievably lost. In their
eyes, Shahrzad, as the kingdom's foremost patron of the
arts, epitomized all that was offensive to God. They vowed to
tear her limb from limb. As she was no longer under royal protection,
a howling mob of bloodthirsty fanatics forced her to flee to
this
place, the mountain of the drop-by-drop spring. The would-be
assassins followed, and would have brutally murdered her had there
not been
a miraculous intervention. She vanished into the sacred spring,
leaving only her clothes behind. Throughout the generations,
her spirit has reappeared in all her angelic beauty. She has pledged
to all those granted the gift of her ethereal revelation that
she
will return to the material dimension if enough Spento-Mainyu
exists in the land of Zoroaster's birth to enable her to cross
over
from the spiritual plane. She will save Iran in this day and
age as she saved Iran in the days of the Sassinids. Persia will
become
a land of freedom and a beacon to all the world. The land of
Zoroaster shall brighten the skies with the Eternal Truth of Asha,
the path
of good thoughts and good words and good deeds."
While Romeen seemed unimpressed, Roxana was definitely
enthralled. "This is Iran's time of direst need," she ventured.
"If
ever we did need a messiah, it is now."
Romeen looked at his wife and said, "Just because
you want to believe in something, that won't make it true." He
turned to Porzand and said, "Okay, let's see the proof."
"As you will," said the magi. "The calculation adds
up to this being the day."
When the couple had finished their tea, Porzand
collected their cups, washed them as well as the samovar and put
the utensils away.
He then brought out a copy of the Holy Gathas, the Zoroastrian
Book of Chants, along with a large, rectangular box of matches. "Our custom," said the magi, "is to light the temple
flame and pray to the Eternal Being."
"Many religions have customs of that nature," said
Roxana. "There is nothing superstitious in that."
The old man led the young couple over to the basin
in the center of the main room. There he offered the matches to
Romeen and said,
"Here, man of science, light the flame and pray for truth being
what you
want it to be."
Romeen took out a match and held it to the box.
Looking down into the basin, he saw that it contained thickly-spread
flammable resin.
Then he hesitated, not out of religious scruples, but out of
fear of violating theocratic law and being subject to its punishment.
For the first time he wondered if Porzand could actually be an
undercover agent of the theocratic police. He turned to Roxana
and said, "We should not have come here."
"
There is no harm in what we are doing," she said. "If
you don't light the flame, then I will.". >>> Part
5 >>> Index
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