Dr. Taraneh Javanbakht 's 14 plays in her book entitled "Marathon with the power of tomorrow" were registered by the Ministry of Culture and the National Library of Iran in 2009 and 2012. Her plays in Persian in pdf format are available on this web site.
Dr. Taraneh Javanbakht's play entitled "Keyumars in Chehel Sotoun"*
By
Dr. Taraneh Javanbakht
This
play is a part of the book entitled “Marathon to the Power of
Tomorrow” written by Dr. Taraneh Javanbakht and registered by the
Iranian Ministry of Culture and the National Library of Iran in 2012.
She wrote its original version in Persian, in which she has mixed the myth and the history of Iran and used
the abjad numerals.
Characters:
Keyumars
Mashya
Mashyana
Roya
Siamak
Shah
Abbas 1
Shah
Abbas's minister (vizir)
Mohammad Mirza
Emam Gholi Mirza
Executioner
Servants
Soldiers
Pedestrians
Visitors of
hall and museum
Act 1
A
summer afternoon.
Scene: Range
of Alborz**, the image of the mountain is on the scene wall.
Scene 1
(Keyumars)
(The scene light turns off.
Somebody's voice singing a poem is heard.)
Voice:
As
a new village headman he became with no pain
made a place in a mountain like a fane
(The scene light turns on. Keyumars enters the scene putting on a leopard skin cloth. Standing on
the mountain range, he watches the panorama. Then, he walks and
touches the mountain image on the scene wall.)
Keyumars: When I was alone and
the solitude was my mate, I got the name of the first human, I
travelled the mountain to mountain, but finally my solitude finished.
The millenniums passed. He came and wrote about me. He whose name
became a star on the front of the history and everyone read his
poems.
(Keyumars walkes and looks at
the sky. Again he looks at Alborz.)
Keyumars: The millenniums
became me and us, this mountain took the famous in his heart and I
still stayed on the apex of history. Somebody called me human, the
other one gave me the name of Keyumars, but no one forgot what I did
and said.
(Keyumars goes out of the
scene.)
Scene 2
(Keyumars, Mashya
and Mashyana)
(Keyumars
having two rheums
in hand is standing on the range of Alborz. He walks on the scene and
arrives to a fountain in the midst of the scene. He spatters water on
his face with his left hand and washes his face. Then, he sits on the
ground. He digs the ground and puts two rheums in the soil. Then, he
spatters it on their roots for stabilizing them in the soil. He
stands up and goes to the left of the scene.)
Keyumars:
My
fortune and throne on the mountain back
I have
put on the leopard skin with the pack
(the
scene light is off and only a part of it, the place of the rheums
planted in the soil, is lighted. Mashya and Mashyana with the cloths
of leopard skin are standing up. The light of scene is reduced and
the red light is seen at the above of the mountain. Mashya points at
the sky.)
Mashya:
Little by little the sun is setting.
Mahsyana:
Mashya! We have to go in order not be late. The children are waiting
us.
Mashyana:
Did you tell them I like that they do not forget us the years after
our death?
Mashya:
No. I did not tell.
Mashya:
Did you forget?
Mashyana:
I did not forget, but how do you want them not to forget us after the
years?
Mashya:
If we build something to show us and register our names, they can
remember us and not forget us.
Mashyana:
What for example?
(Mashya
touches his face and walks on the scene. Then, he goes toward
Mashyana and smiles.)
Mashya: I
don't know... (Pause) … After us, our children will learn what to
build to show us, to themselves with in order not to forget us.
Mashyana:
We should tell them to think of remembering us in the mind of the
next generations.
Mashya:
Of course. … (Pause) … Do you think that the memory of this
mountain will be more in our children's minds or in ours?
Mashyana:
Of cours in ours.
Mashya:
You are right. This mountain under our auspices will stay in our
children's minds... (Pause) … Let's go.
(Mashya
and Mashyana go out of the scene. The light is off and on again. Keyumars standing at the left of the scene, begins to walk and
arrives at the middle of the scene.)
Keyumars:
Many people interested to me, but nobody except one did not write
about me. I have not ... (pause) seen her, yet.
(Keyumars
sighs and looks at the sky.)
Keyumars:
She is the dream of my life. I know that I will see her a day. A day
on this land beside this high mountain (he points at Alborz) that I
love.
(Keyumars
goes to the fountain and stand by it.)
Keyumars: I
will understand the secrets of life, what is calling me from the
heart of history, all my existence and love.)
(Keyumars
goes out of the scene.)
Act 2
Chehel
Sotoun of Ispahan. An evening of automn.
Scene:
The
external facade of Chehel Sotoun. The image of Chehel Sotoun
surrounding by the high trees is seen on the wall of the scene. The
stairs arrive to the principal entrance of Chehel Sotoun in the
middle of the scene before the wall of the building.
Scene
1
(Keyumars,
Roya and pedestrians)
(Keyumars
and Roya are standing by the building of Chehel Sotoun and are
looking to its columns and walls. Two pedestrians walk beside them and
enter Chehel Sotoun. Keyumars goes far from Roya, watching her, he
smiles to her. Roya turns head to him and approaches him.)
Roya: Keyumars, what are you thinking about?
Keyumars: I
am thinking that finally, we have come here. Did you think that we
would come here?
Roya: No.
Keyumars:
But you wrote about that. Do you remember that?
Roya:
Yes. I remember.
(Keyumars
and Roya approach to Chehel Sotoun and stand by the stais at its
entrance.)
Keyumars:
Although I have come several times here, I did not think that you
would write about that ... (Pause) … We sould go to Tehran a day.
Roya:
Tehran? But you were born here.
Keyumars:
Yes. But I promised to myself that when I would see you, I would go
with you to the north of Tehran on the range of Alborz. Let’s enter
to see the
plaster walls and paintings
of the building.
(Roya and Keyumars walk on the stairs and enter Chehel Sotoun.)
Scene
2
(Keyumars,
Roya and visitors of hall)
Scene:
The internal panorama of Chehel Sotoun. A hall full of the colored
plaster walls and paintings.
Keyumars
and Roya stand by the paintings of the hall and watch at them.
Roya:
These paintings are very beautiful. What a finesse and precision used for
constructing them.
Keyumars:
These paintings have been painted by Reza Kashani known as Reza Abbasi.
(Keyumars points at a painting with his hand) This is Shah
Abbas 1 and his handmaiden.
(Roya
watches the painting attentively.)
Roya:
What is his handmaiden proposing him to eat?
Keyumars:
The elixir of youngness.
Roya:
The elixir of Youngness?
Keyumars:
Yes. I mean the green tea. Since the Safavid dynasty, drinking the
tea became popular.
(Two
visitors of the hall pass by Keyumars and Roya. Roya approaches to
another painting and points at it.)
Roya:
Reza Abbasi also painted the feast of the court.
(Keyumars
approached to Roya and watches the painting.)
Keyumars:
Here, he painted again the tea-drinking.
(Roya
points at another painting.)
Roya:
This one is perhaps on the King’s chase.)
Keyumars:
Yes. Shah
Abbas 1 adored chasing the doe.
Roya:
I would like to see the tools of that era.
Keyumars:
There is a museum in Chehel Sotoun representing the things of the
Safavid era. Let’s see that museum.
(Keyumars
and Roya leave the scene.)
Scene
3
(Keyumars,
Roya and visitors of museum)
Scene:
A museum of the objects of the Safavid era. The clay plates and jugs
with various designs and colors are in the glass cases.
(Keyumars
and Roya pass by the glass case of the museum and watch attentively
the objects in them. Some visitors sometimes pass by them and go
toward other case Roya points at one of jugs the in the case)
Roya: It
is not obvious that this object is found from which Safavid era.
Keyumars: It
is only known that it is from the Safavid’s dynasty, but not know
from which king’s era.
(Keyumars
and Roya go toward another case in which there is a cloth.)
Keyumars:
Most of the cloths of the Safavid era have been in red, putting on
the western cloths was not appreciated and even in the court, they
put on the Persian cloths.
Roya: You
know the interesting things of that era.
Keyumars: In
Shah Abbas I’s era, the color of cloths that people put on,
determined their social position. For example, the great people put
on the yellow trousers, the ordinary people put on the white ones …
(Pause)
… I liked to see the court of that era. Ther have been many things
not mentioned in the books of history, the things that existed and
have still remained.
(Keyumars
and Roya visit the other cases of the Safavid era cloths, go to the
left door of the scene and leave the museum.)
Act
3
King
Abbas I’s court. A summer day.
Scene:
A big hall with the furniture and a big luster hang in the middle of
it. The red velvet curtains have covered the windows of hall. A long
stair with two furnitures on it is in the right wide of the scene. A
small table with a plate full of fruits on it is between the
furnitures.
Scene
1
(King
Abbas I and his minister)
(King
Abbas I has sat on a furniture on the stair and his visir is standing beside him. They are eating the fruits and talking. Two
servants of the court are standing at the entrance of the hall.)
Abbas
I: We should avenge the Qizilbash for killing my brother, Hamzeh
Mirza.
(The
king’s minister confirms moving his head.)
Abbas
I: My brother is not alive. Prepare his wife to marry me.
His
minister: The command is the king’s command.
(Abbas I
points at one of the servants. The servant leaved the scene and comes
back with a painting in his hand. Abbas I gestures to the servant and
he goes up the stair, gives the painting to the king and goes down
the stair. Then, he approached to the entrance of the hall and stand
by the other servant.)
Abbas I
(pointing at the painting): How beautiful is this woman. Even when
she was Hamzeh Mirza’s wife, I loved her.
His
minister: Reza Abbasi has painted her well.
Abbas I:
His art has proved that he deserves to get a position in the court.
(The
king’s minister confirms with the head.)
Abbas I:
I assign him as the chief of the royal artists.
His
minister: When he will be assigned to this position?
Abbas I:
Today. Ask the writing of my command. Then, I will stamp it.
His
minister: The command is the king’s command.
(The king
Abbas I and his minister go down the stair and leave the scene.)
Scene
2
(Abbas
I, his minister, Keyumars, Mohammad Mirza, Emam Gholi Mirza and
soldiers)
(Abbas I
and his minister have sat on the furnitures at the top of the stair.
The king gestures to one of the soldiers. He leaved the scene and
come back with Keyumars. Keyumars has put on a cloth like the one of the
Safavid era. When he arrived to the stair, he stops.)
Abbas I:
Comme here Keyumars.
(Keyumars
goes up the stair, bending in front of the king, he stands up again
looking at the floor.)
Abbas I:
Do you know that Chehel Sotoun has onlt twenty columns, but because
of their reflection in the water and its numerous columns, I have
called it “Fourty Columns”?
Keyumars:
Yes. I know.
Abbas I:
I order you to find out the mystery of Chehel Sotoun.
Keyumars:
The mystery of Chehel Sotoun?
(King
Abbas I gestures to his minister.)
His
minister: The mystery of Chehel Sotoun is written on it with the
numbers corresponding to Abjad numerals. We thought that the numbers
that the king has ordered would be written, but some of these numbers
are different from them.
Keyumars:
What difference?
King’s
minister: The numbers 55 and 731 have been written in the bottom of
the first row of the first column and last row of the last column of
Cheleh Sotoun.
Abbas I
(to Keyumars): Find the mystery of the additional numbers of the columns
and tell us why they have written these additional numbers on the
first and last columns of Chehel Sotoun.
Keyumars:
What would happen if I can’t?
King’s
minister (angry): If you can’t find it out, you would lose your
head.
Keyumars: I
would try to find out the mystery of Chehel Sotoun.
(Keyumars
bents and goes toward the stair in order to go down.)
King:
Stay here Keyumars. I want you to be the witness of the punishment of my sons.
(Keyumars
stays beside the king’s visir. The king Abbas I gestures with
eyebrows to a soldier. The soldier leaved the scene. Then, he comes
back to the scene with Mohammad Mirza and Emam Gholi Mirza. The
Soldier stays beside the door of the hall entrance. Mohammad Mirza
and Emam Gholi Mirza stands beside the stair.)
King: Why
did you betray me?
Mohammad
Mirza (with frown): Which betrayal?
(The king
Abbas I gestures to two soldiers. They stand beside Mohammad Mirza
abd Emam Gholi Mirza, with lances in hands. The soldiers take the
apexes of the lances toward them.)
Abbas I:
You wanted to replace me.
Emam
Gholi Mirza: They have conspired against us and lied to the king.
(The
king’s minister smiles.)
Abbas I:
Make them blind.
(Mohammad
Mirza wants to go up the stair, but the soldier prevents him with his
lance.)
Mohammad
Mirza: The king has power if he has justice. (angry) Making blind your sons is not the justice.
(The king
points at the soldiers. They take Mohammad Mirza and Emam Gholi Mirza
as they are protesting, out of the scene. The king’s visir
points at Keyumars.)
King’s visir (smiling to Keyumars): If you don’t find out the mystery of
Chehel Sotoun, you would have a destiny worse than that of the king’s
sons.
Abbas I:
I order you to find out in my court the mystery of Chehel Sotoun.
Begin your work tomorrow. You can go out.
(Keyumars
goes down the stair and leaves the scene with a soldier.)
Scene
3
(Abbas
I, his minister, soldiers and Keyumars)
(In the
left part of the scene, there are a wooden rectangular table and a
chair beside it. In the right side of the scene, the king Abbas I and
his minister have sat on the furniture on the stair. The minister
goes down the stair and gestures to a soldier who is in front of the
entrance of the hall. The soldier enters the hall with a long scroll
in hand. The king’s minister takes it and goes up the stair. Then,
he sits down beside the king on the furniture and opens it.)
Abbas I:
I ordered the army generals to plan the attack to Georgia.
(The king
Abbas I points at a line written on the scroll.)
Abbas I:
My soldiers should advance to Tbilissi and kill all the Georgian
soldiers. We should win the war. We should occupy
Georgia.
(The
king’s visir confirms with the head. Abbas I looks at him and
then looks at the scroll.)
Abbas I:
We should
also occupy
Armenia and Azerbaijan. Our approach is to occupy Georgia.
What do you think about the occupation of Georgia?
(The
king’s visir touches his beard and thinks. Then, he looks at the
king.)
His visir: I agree that the soldiers advance to Tbilissi. We should
avoid the Caucasus Mountains, because the Georgians know this region
very well, but our soldiers are not familiar with.
Abbas I:
Exactly. We have to pass by the castles around the city in order to
conquer Tbilissi. Minister! What do you think?
His visir: Do you agree that we use the big slings?
(The king
Abbas I confirms with the head.)
Abbas I:
Our soldiers should make a rain of fire on the Georgians’ heads and
kill them in their castles.
(The king
Abbas I gestures to a soldier and he stands in front of the stair.)
Abbas I
(to soldier): Tell Keyumars to enter.
(The
soldier leaved the scene and comes back with Keyumars. The soldier
stands beside the other soldier in front of the hall entrance. Keyumars
comes in front of the stair and as he puts his arms in front of
his chest, bends his head.)
Abbas I:
Begin to work today and report us the result in three days.
Keyumars:
The command is the king’s command.
(Keyumars
goes to the left side of the scene.)
Abbas I
(to his minister): Let’s go to see the army generals.
His
minister: Let’s go.
(The king
Abbas I and his minister leave the scene. The light in the right side
of the scene, where the king and his minister were previously, is
off. The light in the left side of the scene, where Keyumars is
standing, is on. Keyumars sits down on the chair by the wooden table and
takes a pencil and a paper out the pocket of his cloth. He puts the
paper on the table. Then, he puts his forefinger on the upper part of
the paper and begins to read the writing on the paper. The intensity
of the light of the scene above Keyumars decreases and that of the right
side of the scene is on again. Instead of the king and his minister,
the Persian and Georgian soldiers, putting on the cloths of the flags
of Iran and Georgia, enter the scene. As Keyumars relates the numbers to
Abjad numerals, the soldiers stand against each other.)
Keyumars:
The number 55 in the bottom of the first row of the first column of
Chehel Sotoun. From which numbers it is composed?
(Keyumars is
thinking. Then, he writes on the first paper. A Persian soldier, says
the number 55, stands in the right side of the scene.)
Keyumars: 50
+ 5 gives 55.
(Keyumars
writes the result on the first paper. Simultaneously, two Georgian
soldiers saying the numbers 50 and 5 stand in front of the Persian
soldier in the left side of the scene.)
Keyumars: 40
+ 10 + 5 gives 55.
(Keyumars
writes the result on the first paper. Simultaneously, a Persian
soldier, saying the number 40, stands in the Persian army in the
right side of the scene and a Georgian soldier, saying the number 10,
goes to the left side of the scene and stands in front of the Persian
soldier.)
Keyumars: 20
+ 30 + 5 gives 55.
(Keyumars
writes the result on the first paper. Simultaneously, two Georgian
soldiers, saying the numbers 20 and 30, go to the left side of the
scene into the Georgian army.)
Keyumars:
Now, I will decompose the number 5 in the number 55. 1 + 4 gives 5.
(Keyumars
writes the result on the first paper. Simultaneously, two Persian
soldiers, saying the numbers 1 and 4, go to the right side of the
scene into the Persian army.)
Keyumars: 2
+ 3 gives 5.
(Keyumars
writes the result on the first paper. Simultaneously, two Georgian
soldiers, saying the numbers 2 and 3, go to the left side of the
scene into the Georgian army.)
Keyumars:
Decomposing the number 5 in 55 will follow as 50 + 1 + 4 gives 55 or
50 + 2 +3 gives 55.
(Keyumars
writes the result on the first paper.)
Keyumars: 40
+ 10 + 1 + 4 gives 55 or 40 + 10 + 2 + 3 gives 55 or 20 + 30 + 1 + 4
gives 55 or 20 + 30 + 2 + 3 gives 55.
(Keyumars
writes the results on the first paper. Then, he touches his chin and
thinks.)
Keyumars: To
which Abjad numerals are related these numbers?
(Keyumars
takes another paper out of his pocket and puts it beside the first
paper on the table. The, he attentively looks at the second paper.)
Keyumars: To
which letters the numbers 50 and 5 in the Abjad numerals correspond?
(Keyumars
moves his forefinger on the written Abjad numeral.)
Keyumars: I
found it.
(Keyumars
writes the results on the paper. The Georgian soldiers who had
pronounced the numbers 50 and 5 leave the scene saying the numbers N
and H.)
Keyumars:
So, the number 55 gives N and H, meaning NA (no). But it does not
mean that on the column of an important building the word “no” is written.
(Keyumars
writes the results on the paper and thinks again. The Persian and
Georgian soldiers leave the scene saying these sentences.)
Soldiers:
40 is equal to M. 10 is equal to Y. 20 is equal to K. 30 is equal to
L.
Keyumars:
40, 10 and 5 are equal to M, Y and H. That gives MYH. This does not
have any sense.
(Keyumars
writes the results on the paper. He puts his left elbow on the table
and touches his forehead with his left hand.)
Keyumars:
The numbers 20, 30 and 5 are equal to K, L and H. This gives KALEH
(the head).
(Keyumars
writes the results on the paper and raises his eyebrows.)
Keyumars:
What does it mean that the word “the head” is written on the
column of Chehel Sotoun? No. That is not this. I should continue.
(Keyumars
looks at the first paper.)
Keyumars
(sighing): If the others do not give any result, what would I have to
do? Will the king order the soldiers to kill me?
(Keyumars
stands up anxiously and begins to walk.)
Keyumars:
No. I should continue and find out the answer of this riddle.
(Keyumars
goes toward the table, sits down on the chair and looks at the
papers. The Persian and Georgian soldiers leave the scene saying
these sentences. Simultaneously, Keyumars writes the results on the
paper.)
Soldiers:
1 is equal to A. 4 is equal to D. 2 is equal to B. 3 is equal to J.
(Keyumars
writes the result on the paper. Then, he moves his forefinger on the
second paper.)
Keyumars:
50, 1 and 4 are equal to N, A and D, that gives NAD. This has no
sense.
(Keyumars
writes the result on the paper. He thinks. Then, he moves again his
forefinger on the paper.)
Keyumars:
50, 2 and 3 are equal to N, B and J, that gives NBJ. This has no
sense, too.
(Keyumars
writes the result on the paper. Then, he moves again his forefinger
on the paper.)
Keyumars:
40, 10, 1 and 4 are equal to M, Y, A and D. This gives MYAD (it
comes).
(Keyumars
writes the result on the paper.)
Keyumars:
40, 10, 2 and 3 are equal to M, Y, B and J. This gives MYBJ…
(Pause) … This has no sense.
(Keyumars
writes the result on the paper.)
Keyumars:
20, 30, 1 and 4 are equal to K, L, A and D. This gives KLAD…
(Pause) … This has no sense.
(Keyumars
writes the result on the paper.)
Keyumars:
20, 30, 2 and 3 are equal to K, L, B and J. This gives KLBJ…
(Pause) … This has no sense.
(Keyumars
writes the result on the paper. He moves his head and look in front
of himself. Then, he thinks.)
Keyumars
(sighing): I should analyze the number 731 for the last column of
Chehel Sotoun. Then, I should see what the replacement and mixing up
the letters would result. (He touches his forehead.) I am so tired. I
will continue tomorrow.
(Keyumars
takes the papers and pencil from the table and stands up. He pushes
the chair and leaves the scene.)
Scene
4
(Keyumars)
The light
in the scene is on. In the hall, the king and the minister have not
sat on the furniture. Keyumars has sat down on the chair by the table in
the left side of the scene. He has put the same two papers of the day
before on the table. He has a pencil in the hand and is calculating
the numbers equal to the Abjad numerals in order to find the words
that correspond to the number 731. The intensity of the light in the
left side of the scene decreases. In the right side of the scene,
there is the chess page. The king Abbas I, his minister and the
Persian soldiers, the king of Georgia, his minister and the Georgian
soldiers are standing up in the cases of the chess page in front of
each other.)
Keyumars:
700 + 30 + 1 gives 731 or 100 + 600 + 30 + 1 gives 731 or 200 + 500 +
30 + 1 gives 731 or 300 + 400 + 30 + 1 gives 731.
(Keyumars
writes the results on the first paper. Simultaneously, two kings,
their ministers and the Persian and the Georgian soldiers move on the
chess page. Keyumars moves his forefinger on the second paper and
searched for the Abjad numerals corresponding to the numbers.)
Persian
soldiers: 700, 30 and 1 give Z, L and A that gives ZLA. This word has
no sense.
(The
Persian soldiers leave the scene. Simultaneously, Keyumars writes the
result on the first paper. Then, he moves his forefinger on the
second paper.)
Georgian
soldiers: 100, 600, 30 and 1 give GH, KH, L and A that gives GHKHLA.
This has no sense.
(The
Georgian soldiers leave the scene. Simultaneously, Keyumars writes the
result on the first paper. Then, he moves his forefinger on the
second paper.)
The
Georgian king’s minister: 200, 500, 30 and 1 give R, C, L and A
that give RCLA. This has no sense.
(The
Georgian king’s minister leaves the scene. Simultaneously, Keyumars
writes the result on the first paper. Then, he moves his forefinger
on the second paper.)
Abbas I’s
minister: 300, 400, 30 and 1 give SH, T, L and A that give SHTLA.
This also has no sense.
(Abbas
I’s minister leaves the scene. Simultaneously, Keyumars writes the
result on the first paper.)
Keyumars: I
should decompose from 100 to 700 to smaller numbers.
(Keyumars
sighs.)
Keyumars: I
hope that the work will not last long time, unless I would work on
the other numbers the days and nights during ten years. The king has
given me only three days.
(Keyumars
stands up and throws angrily the papers on the floor.)
Keyumars:
Damn to my destiny. What was this wish that I had? It was better not
to wish to see the Safavid era.
(Keyumars
sits down again on the chair.)
Keyumars: I
should control my emotions, unless I would not get any result…
(Pause)… What should I do now?
(Keyumars is
thinking.)
Keyumars:
Now, I should change the positions of the letters that I have
written. Maybe it would give the result. The words that I got
yesterday from the number 55… (Pause)…
(Keyumars
moves his forefinger on the first paper.)
Georgian
king: NA, MYH, KALEH, NAD, NBJ, MYAD, MYBJ, KLAD, KLBJ.
(The
Georgian
king leaves the scene.)
Keyumars:
The
words that I got today from the number 731… (Pause)…
(Keyumars
moves his forefinger on the first paper.)
Abbas
I: ZLA, GHKHLA,
RCLA, SHTLA.
(Abbas
I leaves the scene.)
Keyumars:
What would I get changing the positions of the letters of these
words?
(Keyumars
writes on the first paper.)
Keyumars:
The significant words for the number 55 are KALEH (the head), DAN
(like BEDAN: know), JONB (beside), MYAD (it comes), OMID (the hope),
YADAM (my memory), JIBAM (my pocket), DALAK
(the trick).
(Keyumars
writes again on the first paper.)
Keyumars:
The significant words for the number 731 are KHALEGH (God), TALESH
(province of Persia),
TALASH (the effort).
…
(Pause)…
Keyumars:
Which words represent the mystery of Chehel Sotoun?
(Keyumars
is thinking.)
Keyumars:
Perhaps it is the words: KALEH (the head) and KHALEGH (God).
(Keyumars
touches his head.)
Keyumars: Does it mean that God has created me and I will lose my head for the
mystery of Chehel Sotoun? Or for example, the words “the hope”
and “God” that mean if I do not have hope on God, I would lose my
head, or maybe that would be the words “the hope” and “the
effort” that mean be hopeful and do effort.
(Keyumars
touches his chin and thinks. Then, he stands up and begins to walk in
the hall.)
Keyumars:
The two first ones do not correspond to the human effort. That means
whatever happens; the human beings can do nothing. But the last one
represents the one’s effort. Which one of them is the mystery of
Chehel Sotoun?
(Keyumars
stops walking.)
Keyumars: I
am not sure that that is the third one. I will wait until the last
moment to see which one is the correct answer to say to the King.
(Keyumars
approaches the table, takes the papers and the pencil and leavec the
scene.)
Scene
5
(Abbas
I, his minister, soldiers, Keyumars and the executioner)
(Abbas I
and his minister have sat on the furniture on the stairs. Two
soldiers are at the entrance of the hall. The king points at one of
the soldiers. The soldier leaves the scene and comes back with Keyumars.
The soldier stands by the other one at the entrance of the hall. Keyumars stands in front of the stairs and bends his head looking the
floor.)
Abbas I: Keyumars, did you find out the mystery of Chehel Sotoun?
Keyumars:
Yes. I found out.
(The
king’s minister frowns
sadly.)
His
minister (murmurs): How did he find it out?
Abbas I
(to Keyumars): Tell its mystery.
Keyumars:
The mystery of Chehel Sotoun is that one should be hopeful to
survive.
Abbas I:
Which word is for the number 55?
(Keyumars
does not reply.)
Abbas I:
Which word is for the number 731?
(Keyumars
still does not reply.)
Abbas I
(crying): Executioner!
(The
executioner enters the scene, stands in front of the stairs and bends
the head to the king. Abbas I gestures to him. The executioner goes
toward Keyumars and takes his shoulder firmly.
Keyumars
(protesting): I know the answer. (Murmuring) If I do not make effort,
I will lose my head.
Abbas I’
minister (with mockery): So, why you cannot tell it? (To the king):
My life for you, he is lying. He does not know the answer.
(Abbas I
moves his hand up to his minister to make him be silent. His minister
bends his head looking at the floor sadly)
Abbas I
(to Keyumars): Keyumars, say the answer.
Keyumars:
The mystery words are “the hope” and “the effort”. The Abjad
numerals equal to the number 55 give the word “the hope”. The
word that corresponds to the number 731 is “the effort”.
Abbas I:
Bravo! Bravo Keyumars! You have survived!
(Abbas I
gestures to the executioner. The executioner leaves the scene. His
minister bites his lips angrily and murmurs.)
His
minister (with a low voice): Keyumars, be damned!
Abbas I
(to soldiers): Bring a robe of honor for Keyumars.
(One of
the soldiers leavec the hall and comes back with a yellow box. Abbas
I's minister continues to damn Keyumars and murmur angrily.)
His
minister (to Keyumars with a low voice): Your mother be mourning for you, do you
want to take a place in the court? I will audit you.
Abbas I
(to his minister): Vizir! Put the robe of honor on Keyumars.
(The
king's minister goes down the stair. The soldier opens the box and
takes out a golden robe.)
Keyumars (to
Abbas I): If the king permits, this robe (he points at his robe) is
enough to me.
His
minister (to the king): What a shameful man he is! This shifty man has
not clarified how he has found the secret of Chehel Sotoun and he
refuses the king's robe of honor.
(Abbas I
gestures with his hand to his minister and he makes him be silent.
Then, he gows down the stair and stands in front of Keyumars.)
Abbas I
(to Keyumars): You did not say how you found the secret of Chehel
Sotoun and why you do not want the robe of honor.
His
minister (hurriedly to the king): The
comeuppance of refusing the king's robe of honor is the death.
Abbas
I (grumbling): Vizir!
(His
minister hushes. The king gestures to Qmrs.)
Keyumars: I
found out from the abjad numerals of the summation of the numbers 55
and 731 that the hope and the effort are the words equivalent to these
numbers.
(The king
points at the robe of honor in the soldier's hand. Keyumars looks at the
robe and looks again at the king.)
Keyumars:
The kingdom of the world began with me and my children, Jamshid and
Fereydoun, governed on the earth.
Abbas I's
minister (with mockery): He says the abrupt words.
Abbas I
(angrily to his minister): Vizir!
(His
minister hushes.)
Abbas I
(to Keyumars): So, because you consider yourself as a king, you think
that you do not need the robe of honor.
Keyumars:
That is it.
(The king
points at a soldier. He comes toward Keyumars.)
Abbas I
(to Keyumars): Know that if you did not find the mystery of Chehel
Sotoun, I would not forgive your affrontery, but because you found
out its secret correctly, I forgive your guilt.
(Keyumars
shakes his head and leaves the scene with the soldier.)
Act 4
Twenty-two
years after the events of the second act. A spring morning.
Scene:
Like
the scene in the first scene.
Scene 1
(Keyumars,
Roya, Siamak and pedestrians)
(Keyumars
and Roya have stood beside their son, Siamak, on the range of Alborz.
Roya points at Alborz.)
Roya
(to Keyumars): You told that you would come with me here, to Darband.
Finally, as I wished, you came with me here.
Keyumars:
We have come several times here. Each time that we came to Isfahan,
we came to Chehel Sotoun. Do you remember that twenty-two years ago
we came here, to Darband?
Roya:
Yes. I remember.
Siamak:
But it is longtime that you have not come here with me.
Keyumars (to Siamak): My son! Since four years ago that you went to Germany to
study the electrical engineering, each time that you came back to
Iran, I told you: Siamak, let's go to Darband. You replied: Another
time.
(Siamak
laughs. Keyumars puts his hand on Siamak's soulder and laughs with him
and Roya. Then, he removes his hand from his shoulder, he looks at
Roya and then at Siamak.)
Keyumars (to Siamak): Your eyes say that you have found the girl that you
love.
(Siamak
smiles.)
Keyumars (to Siamak): Don't you tell us when we will have a grandchild?
Siamak:
I have not married yet to make you have a grandchild.
Roya
(to Siamak): Have you found her?
Siamak:
Not yet.
Keyumars (to Siamak): Hurry my son. I and you mother are going to be fifty-two
years old. Think of your and our future.
Siamak:
I'll think of it.
(Two
pedestrians enter the scene and pass by them. Keyumars poinnts at one of
them who is smoking.)
Keyumars (to Roya): The smokers don't know their stint. They come to the
mountain to breathe the clean air, but smoke and enter the dirt smoke
to their lungs.
Siamak:
What a lucky man I am that my parents don't smoke, neither myself.
Roya:
Some children are distressed of their parents' smoking, but their
parents do not pay attention to them at all.
Siamak
(to Keyumars): You did not talk about Abbas I's era. You promissed me to
tell it when I will come back to Iran.
Keyumars:
(to Siamak): What do you want to know: the assassination of his elder
son or making blind his other son?
Siamak
(avidly): About everything that concerns that era. About how they put
on the robes and talked.
Keyumars (smiling): And how they fell in love.
(Keyumars
looks at Roya.)
Siamak:
And how they fell in love.
(Keyumars
shakes his head.)
Keyumars (to Siamak): I'll tell you.
(Keyumars,
Roya and Siamak walk along the scene.)
Keyumars:
In that era that the people lived simlper than today and did not have
our facilities …
(Keyumars,
Roya and Siamak leave the scene as Keyumars talks about Abbas I's era to
Siamak.)
Scene 2
(Keyumars)
(Keyumars
has stood by himself on the ramge of Alborz. He walks on and goes to
the middle of the scene. He stands against the spectators. A voice is
heard.)
Voice:
As a new man he stayed in the people's
hearts
made
a place in a mountain with many arts
His
descent had an acclivity during the years
He
had rooted in the ground of our ancestors
(Keyumars
is still standing on the scene. The light turns off.)
* Keyumars is a mythical character in Shahnameh (in Persian: "The Book of Kings"), the famous poem book written by Ferdowsi.
** Alborz
is a mountain in Iran.
