Page:From Constantinople to the home of Omar Khayyam.djvu/292

 166 THROUGH THE MOUNTAIN PASS OF AHUAN

a huntsman who had just caught a deer. At sight of the saint the animal became gifted with speech, and besought him to allow her to return to her young ones at home, who would perish for want of nourishment if she were kept a prisoner. Thereupon the saint ordered the huntsman to let her go, promising to go bail for her reappearance. The huntsman obeyed, but as the deer never returned, he complained to the saint, who then, by force of prayer, summoned back the animal to its captor, and it was kept sacred by him ever after.' ^
 * The sainted Mohammed Riza, passing through the village one day, met

A pretty captive fawn, which was brought to us as a present next evening at Damghan, may have had a like tale to tell; but we hoped that its captor gave it its liberty again in return for the bakshish which he received for that purpose.

Lonely Ahuan has but a single street, and that a simple one without a shop worthy of mention. Yet there are two struc- tures of genuine interest. One of these, the more modern, is a large brick caravansarai, situated at the western end of the street, on the north side of the thoroughfare, and popularly sup- posed to be the work of Shah Abbas the Great (1587-1629), whose name is somewhat justly associated in the minds of the people with any large caravansarai that happens to be a couple of centuries old ; ^ though a different tradition ascribes its con- struction to his next successor but one, the Safavid ruler Shah Sulaiman (1666-1694). ^ Whoever built it, the edifice has well stood the test of time, and is still used by the merchants and pilgrims that traverse this route.

The northerly structure is situated at the easterly end of the street, on its north side, and is called Ribdp-i Nushirvdn^ or
 * Fortified Station of Anushirvan the Just.' This Sasanian

1 This quotation is from Major Euan wise heard it ascribed to Shah Abbas,

Smith's narrative in Goldsmid, East- as I did. On the popularity of Shah

ern Persia, 1. 383, and is repeated in Abbas as a builder, see Horn, Ge-

substance by Curzon, Persia, 1. 290 ; schichte Irans in islamitischer Zeit,

the legend is merely alluded to by in Grundr. iran. Philol. 2. 584. Eastwick, Journal, 2. 150, who makes ' The name of Sulaiman is given

Ali the hero of the tale. by Euan Smith (op. cit. 1. 383) and

2 1 find that Eastwick (2. 151) like- is repeated by Curzon (1. 290).

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