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Behzad was the most beautiful young woman in the land, and as such she had her choice of suitors. Being as intelligent as she was attractive she turned her nose up at all of the handsome young men and instead chose for her husband a wealthy traveling merchant. She took her wedding vows at the tender age of fourteen and began her life of wealth and extravagance.
Although her husband was almost twice her age, his pocket book more than made up for his potbelly and balding head. He was well respected by the community. In business dealings Behzad’s husband was shrewd and crafty. His skills in bargaining were admired and feared by his competitors. His only weakness was Behzad herself. With a smile or pout Behzad could move her husband to the most outrageous of decisions.
As she time passed Behzad’s inexplicable hold over her husband increased until he was unable to deny her any request. In his eyes Behzad could do no wrong and was worthy of any extravagance.
Behzad’s birthdays became legend and her husbands lavish gifts were known far and wide. Each year he would outdo himself with gold, jewels, the best cloths and exotic perfumes from far away lands. On her twentieth birthday Behzad’s husband surprised her with a cart so full of gifts that it took five strong men to pull it through the town and set it at her feet.
Belatedly, as Behzad inspected the expensive, exotic gifts, her husband came to the realization that he may have gone to far. What would he do next year? What could he possibly give her that would be greater that this mountain of treasure?
The next day as the town woke, with much talk of the party the night before, Behzad’s husband locked himself in his small windowless work chamber to think. He knew that he must begin immediately as it could take months of travel and bargaining to find the appropriate gift for his lovely young wife. In his travels he had seen many exquisite items of gold, silver and jewel, but none would be good enough. He resolved to search the world until he found the perfect prize to bestow upon his love.
As he made ready his traveling things Behzad came to him.
“Dearest”, she sighed, “I am bored”.
“But, my darling, what of all your wonderful gifts, surely you can’t have grown tired of all the beautiful things I have brought you, so soon!” he exclaimed.
“Oh husband, it’s all the same, and I broke the clasp on one of my new bracelets. I don’t think you love me at all.”
“Don’t say such a thing! You know I would do anything to make you happy. Did you look at the exquisite silks I found for you, fit for a Queen. I know! I will have the seamstress create a wonderful new outfit for you! Would you like that?
“I have so many cloths. I want something different!” Behzad pouted, stamping her foot. “Get me something else!”
“Yes, of course, by precious flower. I will go immediately and when I return I will have the most amazing gift you have ever seen!”
“But it has to be really special.” She purred. “Something no one else possesses.”
“As you say, my love,” her husband said not daring to look her in the eyes. “Something so special the Sultan himself will envy you.”
“Because you love me, isn’t that right, husband?”
“More than life itself,”
She turned on her heal and left him alone again it the small work room. How could he have promised her such a thing? Something no one else possesses… something so special the Sultan would envy her? Behzad’s husband rung his hands together, there was nothing left to do but begin the search and hope that a year was long enough to find such a treasure.
Later that afternoon Behzad’s husband was finally ready to leave. His camel was packed with supplies and he had a small entourage of assistants to help with the goods he would trade or sell as he traveled from town to town. The rumors of his skill at trade were not exaggerated. People said that he could trade a tin cup for a sack of diamonds and before the end of the year he could have done just that. To be one of his assistants was a great honor and each of the men hung on his every word hoping to learn his secrets.
“I am leaving now,” he called from the entrance way to Behzad’s bedroom.
“Yes, fine,” she spat, obviously annoyed at being interrupted.
“I will not return for many months….”
“I am well aware of that,” she yawned.
“Well, goodbye then….”
“Goodbye… and don’t forget your promise.”
“Yes my darling, of course I won’t.”
Behzad had not even turned to look at him. In his mind Behzad’s husband screamed. She hates me! My only love, hates me! Oh, what shall I do? Tears blurred his vision as he stumbled away. I must find her the gift. If only I can find it she will love me once more! He found his way outside and called to his assistants, hiding his wet face.
“Come we leave immediately!”
For the next three months Behzad’s husband traveled from town to town and village to village searching for the perfect gift to give his young bride. He searched all the markets, delved into the darkest of back alleys and traded with the most unsavory of characters but none of it had brought him any closer to that inexplicable something. It didn’t help that he could not even explain what it was… only that it was special, and beautiful and magical and, of course, one of a kind.
He had heard tell of a new marketplace but it was further to the east than he had ever ventured before, beyond the safe comfort of that which he knew and through the unforgiving desert. He knew the dangers of the trip, roving bands of thieves and murderers just waiting to prey on a merchant like himself, but he had no choice. The journey alone would take a month leaving him four months travel from home. Not to mention that fact that his assistants would surely desert him once they learned of his destination. But, once again, he had no choice.
He agonized over the decision but once it was made he felt a calm pass over himself. He was resigned to this journey and so instead of waiting for the inevitable, he gave his assistants the duty of taking most of his acquisitions and returning home. He would go on alone.
Behzad’s husband took a single camel and a small satchel of his best trade wares and stuck out into the desert. He walked as the camel had to carry enough water for his trip and therefore could not carry him as well.
As the days passed he saw fewer and fewer travelers, and inevitably they were going in the opposite direction. Each and every one warned him of the dangers ahead and bade him not to go on. But he would not be deterred. The days turned to weeks, his camel died and he butchered it for meat and then a month had passed with no sign of the village. On the day he drank his last mouthful of water, Behzad’s husband knew he was going to die. Either the other merchants had lied and there was no village or he had simply missed it amongst the huge drifting dunes of never ending sand. It did not really matter. The end result was the same.
He would not lie down and give up though, it was not his nature. He pushed on for three more days, parched and burned. His lips drying and cracking and his tongue become hard as his saliva dried up.
As the sun dropped low on the third day, he crawled over the top of a giant dune. He had decided he could go no further but did not want to die at the bottom. At the top he let out a long low sigh. He called out to God not for himself but for Behzad. “Please god, give her the gift which she most desires as I can not.” His eyes closed.
When he awoke the sun was pounding down up him. He put one burned arm up to shield his eyes, only to realize that it was not the sun that shone upon him but a radiant golden face. The most wonderful face he had ever seen, handsome chiseled features, framed exquisitely by shoulder length blonde hair. The deep-set eyes were bright green like gleaming gems. The full male lips parted to display perfect white teeth. But wait! The man had not just one face. He could make out another face on the left side of its head, hidden by the long hair and shadows but definitely a face…. and another on the right… My God!” he cried.
The four faced God looked down on him. “What a selfless prayer….” The God said, his voice sounded like music. “Why do you pray for this Behzad and not for yourself?”
“Because I love her, God…. I am not important, I live only for her!” he croaked.
“I like you… you are a good man…”
“Thank you O’ beautiful One…” he groveled.
“I shall save you… and more I shall grant your request.” The God decided. The Four Faced God waved his hand. “Drink!” he commanded as a fountain of water sprang from the sands in front of the dying man. Behzad’s husband drank greedily from the cool fresh water until his thirst was slaked.
“Walk with me now, that I may answer your prayer…” the God instructed, leading him further into the desert. The sun was, by now, sinking past the horizon and night was coming quickly. In the distance Behzad’s husband thought saw something rising from the sand, but it was too far away to be sure. As they slowly came closer he realized it was a pillar of stone jutting up out of the desert and when they finally arrived he stood unbelieving.
“This was my place….” said the Four Faced God, but he need not have said it. The stone in front of them was carved with the exact face that Behzad’s husband gazed upon. The face of the God himself, but below the beautiful carving someone had desecrated the stone with a strange warning in three languages. ‘POISON’
Only upon reading the warning did he realize that he was standing at the site of an ancient well. The slight depression in the ground in front of the carved pillar was the only evidence that a well had ever existed here but the warning made it plain.
“It’s a well…” he stammered.
“It was once; will you make it so again?”
“But, I mean… is the water safe?” he whispered fearful of the God’s wrath.
“These are the lies of my enemies.” The God assured him. “Will you restore my well?”
“Yes, my savior, as you wish.”
“Thank you, loyal one. First you shall rest, then eat and drink. Once you are restored you will begin.” With that the God was gone, leaving in his place a small banquet of meats and fruits. Another stream of water erupted out of the sand nearby the spring seemingly rising upwards to be drunk and the disappearing back whence it had come.
Behzad’s husband sat down to his feast and once his belly was full and his thirst quenched he set up his small tent and sleeping roll. For the first time in many weeks he slept soundly, with a smile upon his face.
He slept long into the day and when he rose the sun was high overhead. He stared at the pillar and realized that its beauty was beyond anything he had seen before. How evil to desecrate such a magnificent monument with such lies. Behzad’s husband shook his head and tried to decide how to begin to repair the damage.
He would have to first dig out the base for surely the well did not simply spring from the sand as it had when he was in the presence of the God. Against the side of the obelisk he found a small wooden shovel. Silently thanking the God he set to work.
Digging into the sand he found that at the pillar went down another 3 feet depicting the rest of the Four Faced God. The God was sitting cross-legged with his arms outstretched. His delicate almost feminine hands jutted out from the stone and were cupped in such a manner that somehow the water of the well must fill them and thus the God himself would give this gift to those who used his well.
As he continued clearing sand to find the base of the monument he realized there was more to the structure than he could have imaged. Ten in feet in front of the column he found steps that led down into the sand. Behzad’s husband cleared twenty steps and still there was more.
He lay in his small tent that night exhausted but exhilarated. What an amazing place! What would it look like when he had restored it to its original glory? He had not seen or heard the God but when it had become to dark to do anymore work, he had found his tiny campsite aglow with a bright cheery fire and another banquet of meat and fruit to eat. The water once again flowed miraculously from the sand as it had the night before and he had drunk greedily at the cool fresh spring. He closed his eyes and sleep came easily.
For the next two months each day was much the same. He awoke fully rested with a smile upon his face and worked tirelessly throughout the day. Not seeming to notice the burning sun and relentless heat of the desert. In the evening he would drink from the spring and eat the feast supplied by the God, then sleep a dreamless sleep until he awoke to begin again.
He found the bottom of the steps, one hundred in all, but that was only the beginning. Digging back from the steps he found that the monument itself was tiered and built from giant blocks of limestone. Amazing pictographs were carved on every surface depicting the Ancient Tale of the Four Face God. On one twelve foot length that stood taller than his head was a series of images of the God battling the sun itself and holding the moon in his upturned hand. Another smaller scene showed the God bringing water from the sands of the desert and saving the all of the people of the world.
Finally the work was finished and the entire Shrine (for he realized now that surely it was a Shrine!) of the Four Faced God, had been freed from the sand. Behzad’s husband longed to stay and examine it, to learn everything it had to teach him of the God, but he had been gone too long. Behzad must be sick with worry and he needed to return to her and most importantly bring her the gift that the God had promised.
Although her husband was almost twice her age, his pocket book more than made up for his potbelly and balding head. He was well respected by the community. In business dealings Behzad’s husband was shrewd and crafty. His skills in bargaining were admired and feared by his competitors. His only weakness was Behzad herself. With a smile or pout Behzad could move her husband to the most outrageous of decisions.
As she time passed Behzad’s inexplicable hold over her husband increased until he was unable to deny her any request. In his eyes Behzad could do no wrong and was worthy of any extravagance.
Behzad’s birthdays became legend and her husbands lavish gifts were known far and wide. Each year he would outdo himself with gold, jewels, the best cloths and exotic perfumes from far away lands. On her twentieth birthday Behzad’s husband surprised her with a cart so full of gifts that it took five strong men to pull it through the town and set it at her feet.
Belatedly, as Behzad inspected the expensive, exotic gifts, her husband came to the realization that he may have gone to far. What would he do next year? What could he possibly give her that would be greater that this mountain of treasure?
The next day as the town woke, with much talk of the party the night before, Behzad’s husband locked himself in his small windowless work chamber to think. He knew that he must begin immediately as it could take months of travel and bargaining to find the appropriate gift for his lovely young wife. In his travels he had seen many exquisite items of gold, silver and jewel, but none would be good enough. He resolved to search the world until he found the perfect prize to bestow upon his love.
As he made ready his traveling things Behzad came to him.
“Dearest”, she sighed, “I am bored”.
“But, my darling, what of all your wonderful gifts, surely you can’t have grown tired of all the beautiful things I have brought you, so soon!” he exclaimed.
“Oh husband, it’s all the same, and I broke the clasp on one of my new bracelets. I don’t think you love me at all.”
“Don’t say such a thing! You know I would do anything to make you happy. Did you look at the exquisite silks I found for you, fit for a Queen. I know! I will have the seamstress create a wonderful new outfit for you! Would you like that?
“I have so many cloths. I want something different!” Behzad pouted, stamping her foot. “Get me something else!”
“Yes, of course, by precious flower. I will go immediately and when I return I will have the most amazing gift you have ever seen!”
“But it has to be really special.” She purred. “Something no one else possesses.”
“As you say, my love,” her husband said not daring to look her in the eyes. “Something so special the Sultan himself will envy you.”
“Because you love me, isn’t that right, husband?”
“More than life itself,”
She turned on her heal and left him alone again it the small work room. How could he have promised her such a thing? Something no one else possesses… something so special the Sultan would envy her? Behzad’s husband rung his hands together, there was nothing left to do but begin the search and hope that a year was long enough to find such a treasure.
Later that afternoon Behzad’s husband was finally ready to leave. His camel was packed with supplies and he had a small entourage of assistants to help with the goods he would trade or sell as he traveled from town to town. The rumors of his skill at trade were not exaggerated. People said that he could trade a tin cup for a sack of diamonds and before the end of the year he could have done just that. To be one of his assistants was a great honor and each of the men hung on his every word hoping to learn his secrets.
“I am leaving now,” he called from the entrance way to Behzad’s bedroom.
“Yes, fine,” she spat, obviously annoyed at being interrupted.
“I will not return for many months….”
“I am well aware of that,” she yawned.
“Well, goodbye then….”
“Goodbye… and don’t forget your promise.”
“Yes my darling, of course I won’t.”
Behzad had not even turned to look at him. In his mind Behzad’s husband screamed. She hates me! My only love, hates me! Oh, what shall I do? Tears blurred his vision as he stumbled away. I must find her the gift. If only I can find it she will love me once more! He found his way outside and called to his assistants, hiding his wet face.
“Come we leave immediately!”
For the next three months Behzad’s husband traveled from town to town and village to village searching for the perfect gift to give his young bride. He searched all the markets, delved into the darkest of back alleys and traded with the most unsavory of characters but none of it had brought him any closer to that inexplicable something. It didn’t help that he could not even explain what it was… only that it was special, and beautiful and magical and, of course, one of a kind.
He had heard tell of a new marketplace but it was further to the east than he had ever ventured before, beyond the safe comfort of that which he knew and through the unforgiving desert. He knew the dangers of the trip, roving bands of thieves and murderers just waiting to prey on a merchant like himself, but he had no choice. The journey alone would take a month leaving him four months travel from home. Not to mention that fact that his assistants would surely desert him once they learned of his destination. But, once again, he had no choice.
He agonized over the decision but once it was made he felt a calm pass over himself. He was resigned to this journey and so instead of waiting for the inevitable, he gave his assistants the duty of taking most of his acquisitions and returning home. He would go on alone.
Behzad’s husband took a single camel and a small satchel of his best trade wares and stuck out into the desert. He walked as the camel had to carry enough water for his trip and therefore could not carry him as well.
As the days passed he saw fewer and fewer travelers, and inevitably they were going in the opposite direction. Each and every one warned him of the dangers ahead and bade him not to go on. But he would not be deterred. The days turned to weeks, his camel died and he butchered it for meat and then a month had passed with no sign of the village. On the day he drank his last mouthful of water, Behzad’s husband knew he was going to die. Either the other merchants had lied and there was no village or he had simply missed it amongst the huge drifting dunes of never ending sand. It did not really matter. The end result was the same.
He would not lie down and give up though, it was not his nature. He pushed on for three more days, parched and burned. His lips drying and cracking and his tongue become hard as his saliva dried up.
As the sun dropped low on the third day, he crawled over the top of a giant dune. He had decided he could go no further but did not want to die at the bottom. At the top he let out a long low sigh. He called out to God not for himself but for Behzad. “Please god, give her the gift which she most desires as I can not.” His eyes closed.
When he awoke the sun was pounding down up him. He put one burned arm up to shield his eyes, only to realize that it was not the sun that shone upon him but a radiant golden face. The most wonderful face he had ever seen, handsome chiseled features, framed exquisitely by shoulder length blonde hair. The deep-set eyes were bright green like gleaming gems. The full male lips parted to display perfect white teeth. But wait! The man had not just one face. He could make out another face on the left side of its head, hidden by the long hair and shadows but definitely a face…. and another on the right… My God!” he cried.
The four faced God looked down on him. “What a selfless prayer….” The God said, his voice sounded like music. “Why do you pray for this Behzad and not for yourself?”
“Because I love her, God…. I am not important, I live only for her!” he croaked.
“I like you… you are a good man…”
“Thank you O’ beautiful One…” he groveled.
“I shall save you… and more I shall grant your request.” The God decided. The Four Faced God waved his hand. “Drink!” he commanded as a fountain of water sprang from the sands in front of the dying man. Behzad’s husband drank greedily from the cool fresh water until his thirst was slaked.
“Walk with me now, that I may answer your prayer…” the God instructed, leading him further into the desert. The sun was, by now, sinking past the horizon and night was coming quickly. In the distance Behzad’s husband thought saw something rising from the sand, but it was too far away to be sure. As they slowly came closer he realized it was a pillar of stone jutting up out of the desert and when they finally arrived he stood unbelieving.
“This was my place….” said the Four Faced God, but he need not have said it. The stone in front of them was carved with the exact face that Behzad’s husband gazed upon. The face of the God himself, but below the beautiful carving someone had desecrated the stone with a strange warning in three languages. ‘POISON’
Only upon reading the warning did he realize that he was standing at the site of an ancient well. The slight depression in the ground in front of the carved pillar was the only evidence that a well had ever existed here but the warning made it plain.
“It’s a well…” he stammered.
“It was once; will you make it so again?”
“But, I mean… is the water safe?” he whispered fearful of the God’s wrath.
“These are the lies of my enemies.” The God assured him. “Will you restore my well?”
“Yes, my savior, as you wish.”
“Thank you, loyal one. First you shall rest, then eat and drink. Once you are restored you will begin.” With that the God was gone, leaving in his place a small banquet of meats and fruits. Another stream of water erupted out of the sand nearby the spring seemingly rising upwards to be drunk and the disappearing back whence it had come.
Behzad’s husband sat down to his feast and once his belly was full and his thirst quenched he set up his small tent and sleeping roll. For the first time in many weeks he slept soundly, with a smile upon his face.
He slept long into the day and when he rose the sun was high overhead. He stared at the pillar and realized that its beauty was beyond anything he had seen before. How evil to desecrate such a magnificent monument with such lies. Behzad’s husband shook his head and tried to decide how to begin to repair the damage.
He would have to first dig out the base for surely the well did not simply spring from the sand as it had when he was in the presence of the God. Against the side of the obelisk he found a small wooden shovel. Silently thanking the God he set to work.
Digging into the sand he found that at the pillar went down another 3 feet depicting the rest of the Four Faced God. The God was sitting cross-legged with his arms outstretched. His delicate almost feminine hands jutted out from the stone and were cupped in such a manner that somehow the water of the well must fill them and thus the God himself would give this gift to those who used his well.
As he continued clearing sand to find the base of the monument he realized there was more to the structure than he could have imaged. Ten in feet in front of the column he found steps that led down into the sand. Behzad’s husband cleared twenty steps and still there was more.
He lay in his small tent that night exhausted but exhilarated. What an amazing place! What would it look like when he had restored it to its original glory? He had not seen or heard the God but when it had become to dark to do anymore work, he had found his tiny campsite aglow with a bright cheery fire and another banquet of meat and fruit to eat. The water once again flowed miraculously from the sand as it had the night before and he had drunk greedily at the cool fresh spring. He closed his eyes and sleep came easily.
For the next two months each day was much the same. He awoke fully rested with a smile upon his face and worked tirelessly throughout the day. Not seeming to notice the burning sun and relentless heat of the desert. In the evening he would drink from the spring and eat the feast supplied by the God, then sleep a dreamless sleep until he awoke to begin again.
He found the bottom of the steps, one hundred in all, but that was only the beginning. Digging back from the steps he found that the monument itself was tiered and built from giant blocks of limestone. Amazing pictographs were carved on every surface depicting the Ancient Tale of the Four Face God. On one twelve foot length that stood taller than his head was a series of images of the God battling the sun itself and holding the moon in his upturned hand. Another smaller scene showed the God bringing water from the sands of the desert and saving the all of the people of the world.
Finally the work was finished and the entire Shrine (for he realized now that surely it was a Shrine!) of the Four Faced God, had been freed from the sand. Behzad’s husband longed to stay and examine it, to learn everything it had to teach him of the God, but he had been gone too long. Behzad must be sick with worry and he needed to return to her and most importantly bring her the gift that the God had promised.
- to be continued-
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