Either divorce me or I’ll strangle your child right here by the lamp.’ No matter what I did, do you think I was a match for her? For two weeks she didn’t look at me. She insisted so much that I sold everything I had, collected the money and gave it to her. She took my two-year-old son and disappeared to where the Arabs play the flute. It’s been five years and I don’t know what happened to her.”

“May she be protected from the evil of the Arabs.”

“Yes, amidst those naked ignorant Arabs, the desert, the burning sun! It’s as if she’d turned into water and had been soaked up by the earth. She didn’t send me even a note. They’re right when they say the woman is made of only one rib.”

Mirza Yadollah said, “It’s men’s fault, they raise them that way and don’t let them become worldly and experienced.”

Shahbaz was wrapped up in his own words. “What’s funny is that that woman was basically silly and simple minded. I don’t know what happened that suddenly she turned into a firebrand. Sometimes, when she was on her own, she would cry. I wished her tears were for her first husband…”

“You mean you were her second husband?” asked Mirza Yadollah.

“Of course,” replied Shahbaz. “Now what was I saying? I forgot what I was saying.”

“You mentioned her first husband.”

“Yes, at first I thought she was crying for her first husband. In any case, no matter how nicely I tried to explain and make her understand, it was as if I was talking to a wall. It was as if death were out to get her. I don’t know what she did with my son. Will I ever look into his eyes again? A son whom God gave me after so many prayers and offerings.”

Mirza Yadollah said, “Everyone you look at has some misfortune. The heart of the matter is that people should be human, should be educated. As long as they behave like mules, we’ll ride them. There was a time when I used to preach from the pulpit that whoever made a pilgrimage to the holy shrines would be forgiven and would have a place in heaven.”

Shahbaz said, “You aren’t a preacher, are you?”

“That was twelve years ago. You see I’m not dressed like a preacher. Now I’m a jack of all trades and master of none.”

“How? I don’t understand.”

Mirza Yadollah moistened his lips with his tongue and said dejectedly, “A woman ruined my life also.”

Shahbaz said, “Oh, these women!”

“No, this has nothing to do with women. This misfortune is my own fault. If you were in Tehran, probably you’ve heard the name of my father. I wasn’t found under a cabbage leaf. My father was so holy that even angels obeyed him. Everyone was always extolling his virtues. When he went up to the pulpit, there wasn’t even room to drop a needle. All the bigwigs were nervous around him. I’m not trying to show off. He’s dead, God bless him. Whatever he was, it was his reputation.