Kader Abdolah - The King

The child opened his eyes and stared at the shah. Taj Olsultan picked him up and laid him in her father’s arms.

The shah beamed with happiness and said, ‘ Mashallah, mashallah , he looks more and more like us.’ He kissed the child and held him up high. Then he tossed him up in the air just a bit.

‘Don’t do that, Father. Be careful,’ laughed Taj apprehensively.

‘We’re careful. Of course we’re careful,’ said the shah, and he tossed the child so high that he began to cry with fear.

‘Father, give him back and tell me: how was your journey?’

‘It was an extraordinary experience. We don’t know where to begin. Everywhere we went we were received like a true king. The heads of state in the West still think we live in the glorious Persian days of yore. We were surprised to discover that the world knows so much about our past. We kept a travel diary and there are still many details we want to add to it. Later we will give it to you for safekeeping, but do not publish our adventures until after we are dead.

‘There are some things, however, that are for your ears alone. Funny experiences. Every time we think of them we have to laugh all over again. In Moscow we were invited to a dinner with the tsar. We climbed the stairs at his side. I was walking upright and was holding onto my sword. Suddenly I felt something slip out of my hand and onto the floor. It was part of my sword, but I couldn’t quickly determine which part. Then my eyes fell on a green jewel lying on the carpet. It was the diamond from our sword. What was I to do? We couldn’t just let such a precious stone lie there. I bowed down to pick it up. The tsar turned round, but he didn’t understand what I was up to.’

The shah took the green jewel out of his jacket pocket, gave it to Taj Olsultan and said with a laugh, ‘This is something the Russians weren’t able to take from us.’

‘Father, you mustn’t dwell on that robbery.’

‘I know, but they were gifts, for you and for our wives. After all, people expect something from us.’

‘Yes, I know. But they’ll understand. I’m so curious to hear about what you did on your journey. Tell me everything.’

The shah began to laugh. ‘This is something else we can only tell you. Normally our trousers always stayed up round our waist. But while we were in a theatre in Hungary they kept slipping down. We had been invited to attend a concert one evening. When the wife of the Hungarian king took our arm to guide us to the box, our trousers began to fall down. We tried to hold them up with our elbow, but it didn’t work. That’s when we realised we had lost several kilos along the way.’

Taj Olsultan covered her mouth with her hand to keep from laughing out loud.

‘I can just imagine, Father, on such a long journey, without rest and with constant tension. Even so you seem to be bursting with health.’

‘In Berlin we visited a zoo. They had lions, tigers, snakes and elephants. We found it very impressive. Malijak enjoyed it so much he didn’t want to leave. In the past, when we were young, we ran into lions and tigers in the forests. But these days they’re nowhere to be found. We thought it would be a good idea to build such a zoo in Tehran. We’ll have one built for your son. It’s very good for him to see such creatures up close. Perhaps we can still find lions, snakes and tigers in our own country. We’ll have to bring in monkeys and elephants from India.’

‘Father, what was it like in Paris? Did you speak French with the people in the street?’

‘Of course, but the people in the street speak in a way we’re not accustomed to. I believe we speak better French than the Parisians. They speak correctly, but it’s a kind of broken French. We’ve written everything down, since the most interesting things happened in Paris. The Seine winds through the city, and avenues have been built along both banks. One evening we went for a walk there. The river, the avenues and the bridges were illuminated with extraordinary electric street lamps. It was as if we had wandered into a mysterious story. The jewels on our jacket and rings glittered magically and our shadows looked very elegant.’

When Taj Olsultan was gone the shah summoned his vizier, Mostovi Almamalek, who came immediately.

‘How was Your Majesty’s trip?’ he asked enthusiastically.

The shah thanked him for having planned his trip so well.

‘All during the journey we noticed over and over again that our vizier had gone to great lengths on our behalf. We had brought back a special memento for you, but unfortunately it was lost in the Russian harbour. The result of this long journey was all in our luggage. But now the luggage is gone, so the journey was made for nothing.’

‘I am sorry that the shah has met with this misfortune. But there is more to the journey than presents.’

‘Indeed, we did visit a great many factories, building projects, museums and agricultural exhibitions. We still aren’t fully recovered, but soon we will talk about all our experiences when the cabinet meets.’

The vizier wanted to know everything about the journey, but the shah limited himself to his visits to factories and the discussions he had conducted with businessmen and important merchants.

‘In Germany we visited Krupp, the factory where they make steel and weapons. It was most impressive. The director of the factory let us see their new cannons. We couldn’t believe our eyes! I measured the length of one of the cannons with my feet. It was twenty-one steps long. A boy of fourteen could easily crawl into the barrel of that cannon. We ordered a whole series of cannons and a batch of rifles. In Russia, Hungary, Amsterdam, Belgium and France we signed contracts with the owners of shoe factories, porcelain companies, tobacco plantations, clock makers, textile businesses and many others. The contracts stipulate that their representatives will come to Tehran later on to discuss these matters further.’

The vizier realised it made no sense to raise any objections to the contracts now, although he hinted that the shah ought to be careful.

‘I am glad the journey was an interesting experience for the shah, but it would be better for the country if the cabinet were to thoroughly examine and discuss the contracts you have signed.’

‘That is good. We have new plans ourselves, which we will talk about later on.’ The shah stood up. There was one incident that he did not want to withhold from the vizier. The vizier followed him to the door.

‘Something happened to us in Berlin that we did not find pleasant. We wanted to pass on a comment to those responsible, but we have not done so.’

‘What happened, Your Majesty?’

‘In Berlin one floor of a hotel had been reserved for us. It was very good and we were satisfied. Late in the evening, when we had gone to bed after a long day, we heard a group of riotous men. We suspected they knew we were spending the night there. They began to bray like donkeys, low like cows and bark like dogs. We wanted to open the window and urge them to be quiet, but we didn’t. We hid our head under the blankets and pillows to block out the noise. The police failed to do anything about it.’

‘I fear the men were drunk. People in Berlin drink a great deal. The police in the West have much less power than ours do. Yet Your Majesty acted properly. Every journey has its negative as well as its positive aspects. The most important thing is that the shah is healthy and that we can make use of his royal experience.’

When the vizier was gone the shah went back to his study, locked himself in and focused all his attention on his diary. He sat there until deep into the night and did not touch his evening meal. The shah wrote, leafed through his book, read and re-read what he had written.