Rud the Second, like all girls and boys in early childhood, played games, and one of her games was to gather the wool that fell from garments, roll it into a lump, and sometimes spread the thickened wool out flat. The little girl, seeing that her grandfather (Rud’s father) kneaded […]

That year, the rainy season was even shorter than the year before, and afterward the land grew somewhat green; but soon the sun’s heat withered the greenery. People still relied on wheat for nourishment, cooking it in pots and eating it. Then they realized that wheat, too, was becoming scarce, […]

Rud still did not know what adverse effects that event would bring upon the lives of the people of Sialk and the inhabitants of other Iranian towns, including the people of Giyan. The first harmful consequence of the lake’s desiccation was that the people of Sialk were plagued by insects—especially […]

The earth kept trembling, the birds and the forest animals fled, and the lake churned as great, towering waves crashed against the hills. The Iran-ban shouted for everyone to reach the hilltops and lift their children upward. When the people of Sialk gathered atop the hill, they were so terrified […]

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 […]