THE HARMONY OF VIRTUE

OneDinshah – PerizadeD INSHAHPerizade, the shades of Iran were not so cool and sweet as thesein our city of Mazinderan. The gardens that bloom on the banksof the river of peace are carpeted with lovelier and sweeter-scentedflowers and the birds that sing upon every tree and make theday melodious with the unearthly delight of their clamorous harmonies,are of so various a plumage and hue that one is contentto satiate the eye with the softness and splendour without caringto know name and kind. Here for two thousand years we havetasted the bliss of the angels; but, I know not why, it seems tome that memories of Iran come back to my heart. The watersof the Jihun and the tents of the Tartars where the tribes of Afrasiabwander, Damascus the opulent, and our own cities, where thehouses of our parents adjoined and we leaned from the balconyand talked in soft whispers seem to me again desirable.P ERIZADEI too would not mind returning to our old haunts. It is not that Iam weary of Mazinderan, but something calls to me to have joyagain that is mortal and fleeting, but not without its poignant senseof a swiftly-snatched and perfect bliss. Yet Dinshah, two thousandyears have passed and shall we not consider before we gowhat has come to the places we loved? Other men, other tongues,other manners may now possess them, and we should come asstrangers into a world for which we are no longer fit.D INSHAHI will go and see. Wait for me, Perizade.