|  Return
of Shahrzad
Part 5
By Eric J. Jerpe
December 16, 2003
The Iranian
Romeen definitely preferred that the
wrath of theocratic law should fall upon him rather than his beloved.
He lit the match. As he put the fire to the resin, he silently
prayed to the Eternal Being that Iran may somehow break out of
its trap. The basin interior lit up immediately, the fire reaching
above the rim. For several minutes, the young couple watched the
dancing flames while Porzand recited from the Gathas.
"If some in their righteousness and loving hearts appear to thee
as truly-seeing and upright, O Lord, grant them in full all that
their hearts desire; for I believe no prayer devout for truth can
ever remain unanswered from Your side."
This seems pointless to me, thought Romeen. Yet,
I wish it had meaning.
"Go outside now," instructed Porzand. "Rest upon the
carpet, look to the sacred spring and pray for Shahrzad to
appear."
The young couple exited the temple. In the pleasant
open space, they removed their shoes and seated themselves on the
carpet facing
the open door. Minutes later, the old man came out of the temple
carrying linen material in his arms. He handed Roxana the linen
material along with a woman's comb and said, "This
you must present to Shahrzad when she appears."
Romeen and Roxana saw that the cloth material consisted
of a simple white towel and a colorful dress of ancient style.
Unsure whether
or not the old man was joking, Roxana asked as respectfully as
she could, "Are you serious?"
"She will be naked when she appears," responded Porzand. "That
is why only you are permitted to look upon her until she is fully
clothed."
"Enough!" snarled Romeen. "I don't know what kind
of deception you're planning to pull off, but I don't
believe in miracles."
"Then believe in the subliminal manifestation of Divinity," propounded
Porzand, "and let your wife's eyes vouch for the authenticity
of a supernatural homecoming."
Porzand sat down in-between Romeen and Roxana so
that all of them now faced the drop-by-drop spring. Romeen was
irritated, but he
settled upon letting the charade proceed, just wanting to get it
over with.
"Pray to the Eternal Being," instructed the magi, "whether
you call him Allah or Ahura Mazda." The old man then began
chanting in Middle Persian, an archaic antecedent language not
understood by either of the two young people.
Roxana, with the fervor of one who wanted to believe
in something but was unsure of what to believe in, prayed aloud
in modern Persian: "In
the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate, save my country."
A skeptical Romeen joined in, petitioning in a low
voice, "Eternal
Being, spare my wife the bitterness of disappointment."
Minutes passed as Porzand kept chanting ancient
verses and Roxana prayed in silence. It all seemed absurd to Romeen,
but then he
noticed an increase in the frequency and amount of water dropping
down from the spring's source high above. Hardly impressive
at first, the rate of water flow gradually went from trickle to
shower. Staring forward, they witnessed a puddle forming, reaching
a maximum size, then maintaining equilibrium with the overflow
by seeping down into hard-to-see clefts. Even to Romeen it seemed
quite remarkable.
"Look down, man! Look down!" said Porzand in an emphatic voice. "We
must both look down. Only the woman may view the advent of the
Angelic One."
Romeen followed Porzand's lead and looked down at the carpet's
designs, trying to humor the old eccentric. Roxana rose to her
feet and moved a little closer to the now fast-flowing spring.
She continued to stare forward, enthralled by the spring's
phenomenal if not miraculous transformation. The water flow generated
mist and soon acted as a visual obstruction to the mountainside
vegetation it nourished.
Discerning something inside the shower, Roxana gazed
at the torrent even more intently. Scrutinizing the strange arrival
as it slowly
coalesced into something material, Roxana was amazed to see what
appeared to be a human form; specifically, that of an unclad human
female.
This can't be, thought Roxana in dismay. Miracles just don't
happen.
When the apparition became essentially cognizant,
the water flow quickly slowed down, ceasing altogether within a
quarter of a minute.
An astounded Roxana viewed, standing before her, a totally nude
young woman whose luscious brunette tresses and flawless olive
complexion combined with her exquisite features to present the
classical Persian beauty. The ethereal nymph smiled at the modestly-attired
woman, beckoning Roxana to step forward towards her.
"Anaheita!" exclaimed Roxana, stating
the name of an ancient female deity whose worship in Persia predated
even the era of Zoroaster.
Hearing Roxana's metaphoric utterance, Romeen immediately
raised his head and looked forward to the sacred spring, catching
a glimpse of the naked woman while Porzand continued to avert gaze.
The nude Venus immediately shifted her sights and glared at the
man viewing her, thereby notifying Roxana that her husband was
now taking in the scene. Roxana moved directly in front of Romeen,
blocking his view and shouting to him, "Look down!"
Although
truly amazed, Romeen complied and looked down at the carpet.
This is some kind of hologrammic sleight-of-hand,
thought Romeen, still skeptical yet quite impressed by the trick's high-tech
effectiveness.
After some trepidation, Roxana reverently stepped
forward holding the linen in her outstretched arms. No longer an
ethereal image,
the flesh-and-blood individual reciprocated by extending her
arms to receive the gift. When Roxana was close enough to touch
her,
this seeming incarnation of the mythical Anaheita took hold of
the towel, pressed it to her body and began drying herself. Roxana
stared at what she regarded as the most beautiful woman she had
ever seen. Then, her bedazzlement took another quantum leap as
the Venus-Anaheita, now draped in the towel, spoke in a soft
and melodious voice.
"Goddess Anaheita is an imaginary being. Shahrzad
of the Thousand and One Nights is real."
Hearing the voice, Romeen could not refrain from
looking up. As he witnessed his wife standing face-to-face with
the newly-arrived
other woman, he rose to his feet. Staring in fascination, he felt
Porzand tugging at his pant leg and heard him say, "Look
down! Look down!" This caused Roxana to turn around to see
if, as she suspected, her husband was again tabooing with his eyes.
Discovering that he was, she looked at him with a definite expression
of disapproval, whereupon Romeen did an about-face, thereafter
standing on the carpet while looking away from the scene.
Seen only by Roxana's eyes, the woman of great beauty, now
adequately dried off, removed her towel and set it aside. Roxana
dutifully offered her the exotic dress along with the accompanying
undergarments. The just-showered woman drew the delicate comb out
from the amongst the linen. After neatly fixing her long hair,
she discarded the comb, then clothed herself in the majestic feminine
apparel. Bearing the regal splendor of a queen from a by-gone era,
she stood before her newly-appointed handmaiden who, with some
difficulty, managed to ask, "Are you truly...Shahrzad...of
the Thousand and One Nights?"
"Do you believe I am Shahrzad?" countered the
fantasy incarnate.
At a loss for words, Roxana managed to reply, "I want to
believe so."
For the first time, the vivacious woman actually
touched the shy woman, gently putting her hands upon Roxana's shoulders.
"I am Shahrzad as real now as when I told the
wondrous tales of the Thousand and One Nights to King Shahrizar,"
she declared.
She then hugged Roxana. The two remained locked
in silent embrace for a few moments before Shahrzad whispered, "We must
save our land from impending doom. With the help of the Wise Lord,
we will succeed."
They separated and turned away from the spring.
Facing the men, Shahrzad addressed Romeen and Porzand in a
loud and commanding
voice: "You may look now."
Romeen turned around. Porzand rose to his feet. The
two men fixed their gazes upon the ravishing Scheherazade, who
stood next to the modestly-attired Roxana.
Porzand called out pious exclamations of joy: "Blessed
be Ahura Mazda! The prophecy has been fulfilled!"
Romeen could not help but think, If only our country
could enter the Miss Universe pageant! Miss Iran would be sure
winner with this Scheherazade as contestant.
Roxana looked at Scheherazade and asked, "What
would you have us do?"
"Take me to the Fire Temple of Yazd," instructed
Scheherazade, "where the Flame of Lamentation persists well
into its Third Millennium." >>> Part
6 >>> Index
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