Death in Tehran

You know, Shadows and Pagodas is like an attic stuffed full of dusty secrets. And one of my favourites is this sandalwood casket I bought in Portobello market. See that fabulous city gate carved on the lid? Now turn the key, open the casket and inside you’ll find a vellum scroll containing the English translation of a famous and very remarkable Persian tale. It’s written in what appears to be a dark red, almost brownish, ink. This is the tale that inspired John O’Hara’s Appointment in Samarra as well as the Baron Parzifal’s adventures in Shadows. There are all sorts of variations, including Isfahan replacing Tehran (or Samarra), and Death addressing the reader directly. Here’s a rather nice version I found recently, which I hope you enjoy:  
 

http://www.iranianhotline.com/OldTehran/Old-Tehran.htm

A rich and mighty Persian once walked in his garden with one of his servants. The servant cried that he had just encountered Death, who had threatened him. He begged his master to give him his fastest horse so that he could make haste and flee to Teheran, which he could reach that same evening. The master consented and the servant galloped off on the horse. On returning to his house the master himself met Death, and questioned him, “Why did you terrify and threaten my servant?” “I did not threaten him; I only showed surprise in still finding him here when I planned to meet him tonight in Teheran,” said Death.

In the early drafts of Shadows I reworked the story into a surreal frame narrative for the novel but later decided to take it out – now I’m wondering whether I should have kept it in after all! Mind you, there’s no reason why I couldn’t use it in the Baron and Peter’s next adventure…