On the day Zab mounted the horse in that city and rode from one side to the other, the mouths of Giyan’s people fell open in astonishment; for until that day they had not seen a creature whose upper part resembled a human yet had four long limbs and could run swiftly—in truth, they imagined Zab, mounted on the horse, to be joined to the animal.
As Mazun related to Rud, in the city of Giyan there lived a number of wood-carvers who, with stone chisels, incised various figures on wood—especially the forms of animals—and the sight of Zab so amazed them that several resolved to depict that animal with their stone tools; thus, for the first time in the world, a creature (on wood) came into being whose upper torso resembled a human and whose lower half resembled a horse!¹
When Zab returned from the city of Giyan, news arrived from the south of the lake that the black-haired people, called “Tur,” had become somewhat tame; they came, took an earthen vessel filled with fire, and apparently intended nothing but to take fire away.
Rud sent word that they should be treated in such a way that they would not be frightened; for, she said, I think their condition is like that of forest animals—they fear us—but if one behaves gently with them, they become tame.
From information that later reached Rud it became clear that the Turs were so primitive that when they took fire they could not place branches of firewood upon it to keep it from going out quickly; they would sit beside the fire until it turned to ash, then rise, set off, and seek fire again.
Following Rud’s advice, the people south of the lake placed firewood upon the fire before the Turs’ eyes, so as to teach the black-haired, black-eyed men and women how to keep it alive; they also, in front of them, set a duck upon the fire so they would understand how food should be cooked.
After the Turs obtained fire and learned the custom of cooking food over it, their relations with the southern inhabitants improved. Yet some time passed before the people of the south became familiar with their language and could understand what they said. They also noticed that the Turs always disappeared before the rainy season; during the entire time of rain no one saw them, and after the rains ceased they reappeared.
The Iranians living south of the lake understood that the reason the Turs vanished before the rainy season was that they had no houses and could not remain indoors when rain fell and the weather turned cold; they were forced to depart before the rains and cold, and reach a place where the air was warm. In this respect their way of life resembled that of certain animals which migrate to warmer places before the onset of cold and return after winter passes.
Another year went by; the rainy season came and ended. We have said that after the rainy season the lake’s water rose, but since the houses of Sialk’s people were on the hills, they had no fear of the rising water.
After the rainy season, the animals that had migrated returned; the whole land was covered with flowers, and millions of birds sang upon the branches of the trees.
Rud, Zab, and the other inhabitants of Sialk, because they always lived in a land like paradise, did not realize how beautiful and soul-stirring the nature around them was.
One day after the rainy season, when Rud awoke, she observed that the sun shone brightly. At first she thought clouds veiled the sky; but the rainy season had ended and the air was warm, and the Iran-ban realized that what had dimmed the sun was not cloud, but something else.
The people of Sialk—who after every unexpected event would turn to the Iran-ban—came to Rud and asked why, on that day, the sun did not shine as on other days.
Rud said, I think what has caused the sun’s dimness is smoke. But the people could not see the source of the smoke, and thought there must be some fire whose smoke had so darkened the air and hindered the sun’s rays.
That day, until sunset, the smoke darkened the sky; when the people of Sialk went to sleep, they hoped that the next day the gloom would lift and the sun would shine as before. But the next day everyone realized that the murk was greater than the day before, and, moreover, from the air there came an unfamiliar odor such as had never reached their noses.
Rud could not say whence that smell arose; she understood only one thing—that the smoke darkening the sky was coming from the north.
The Iran-ban ordered her husband and several young men to reach the summit of the highest nearby mountain and discover whence the smoke arose.
Zab and the young men of Sialk—always ready for such tasks—set out with provisions and reached the summit of the tallest neighboring mountain; but they did not see the source of the smoke. They could only observe that from the north the smoke was thicker and denser; whatever it was, it was there.
The Iran-ban, remembering that once in the past the forest had caught fire, said perhaps the forest has burned again; yet the smell of the air showed that this smoke did not come from a forest fire, for the smoke of a burning forest had a distinctive scent, well known to the people of Sialk.
As the day wore on the air grew darker; and after half the day had passed, suddenly the earth began to tremble. Until that day the people of Sialk had never experienced an earthquake; all ran out of their houses and gathered at the Iran-ban’s dwelling to ask why the ground was shaking.
The Iran-ban herself, who had rushed out in alarm, could not explain why the earth—firm beneath everyone’s feet until that day—was now quivering.
Birds, crying in terror, sped through the air toward the south; all the forest animals, seized with fear, fled as well, making for the south.
Footnote:
1- The creature whose upper half resembled a human and whose lower half resembled a horse—called “centaur” by Europeans—first came into being in Iran; and the sight of the first man mounted on a horse caused such astonishment that they imagined the creature’s upper half to be human and its lower half an animal. — Georges Dumézil, French Iranologist(Read more in Wikipedia)
Mythical Creature Edward Worth LIbrary