The burly, handsome youth set out for Sialk, and after entering the city he went into Rud’s house; before he saw the copper, he caught sight of “Rud the Second,” the Iran-ban’s young daughter. Tam was so shaken by the sight of the girl that he forgot about the copper. […]

Rud’s father—who had invented bread-baking—continued his work of smelting metal and smelted copper without yet being able to make use of it. The sole use for copper was to harden the pots. As noted, to the northwest of Sialk, beside Iran’s central lake, there was a city named “Giyan,” whose […]

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 […]