three of us looked at the pages together。
We saw strikingly beautiful Chinese maidens depicted in the style of our
melancholy bride gathered together in a garden playing a peculiar…looking lute。
We saw Chinese houses; morose…looking caravans heading out on long
journeys; vistas of the steppes as beautiful as old memories。 We saw gnarled
trees rendered in the Chinese style; their spring blossoms in full bloom; and
nightingales tipsy with elation perched on their branches。 We saw princes in
the Khorasan style seated in their tents holding forth on poetry; wine and love;
spectacular gardens; and handsome nobles; with magnificent falcons clutching
their forearms; hunting bolt upright astride their exquisite horses。 Then; it was
as if the Devil had passed into the pages; we could sense that the evil in the
illustrations was most often reason itself。 Had the miniaturist added an ironic
touch to the actions of the heroic prince who slew the dragon with his gigantic
lance? Had he gloated at the poverty of the unfortunate peasants expecting
fort from the sheikh in their midst? Was it more pleasurable for him to
draw the sad; empty eyes of dogs locked in coitus or to apply a devilish red to
the open mouths of the women laughing scornfully at the poor beasts? Then
we saw the miniaturist’s devils themselves: These weird creatures resembled
the jinns and giants the old masters of Herat and the artists of the Book of
Kings drew frequently; yet the sardonic talent of the miniaturist made them
more sinister; aggressive and human in form。 We laughed watching these
terrifying devils; the size of a man yet with misshapen bodies; branching horns
and feline tails。 As I turned the pages; these naked devils with bushy brows;
round faces; bulging eyes; pointed teeth; sharp nails and the dark wrinkled
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skin of old men began to beat each other and wrestle; to steal a great horse
and sacrifice it to their gods; to leap and play; to cut down trees; to spirit away
beautiful princesses in their palanquins and to capture dragons and sack
treasuries。 I mentioned that in this volume; which had seen the touch of many
different brushes; the miniaturist known as Black Pen; who’d made the devils;
also drew Kalenderi dervishes with shaved heads; ragged clothes; iron chains
and staffs; and Master Osman had me one by one repeat their similarities;
listening closely to what I said。
“Cutting open the nostrils of horses so they might breathe easier and travel
farther is a centuries…old Mongol custom;” he said later。 “Hulagu Khan’s
armies conquered all of Arabia; Persia and China with their horses。 When they
entered Baghdad; put its inhabitants to the sword; plundered it and tossed all
its books into the Tigris; as we know; the famous calligrapher; and later;