Fables, Allegories and Tales (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781803699455)

This collection contains diverse fables, allegories and tales. Through the fables animals, representing people, tell relate cultural characteristics, the ways of thinking and ways of communication among the Iranians with black sense of humour. What happens when a jackass is asked to judge which of two birds sing better. What happens when two hungry wolves try to explain the meaning of democracy to a naïve sheep! How a smart crook preaches the folks in a mosque in the morning; becomes the chief of police and pockets the share of the booty given to him by the robbers; at dusk he becomes a beggar, sitting by the door of the same mosque and asks for alms, and after midnight he turns into a thief! The Mice and the Cat, savagely satirises the fat cats of the repressive regime and the folly of the sycophantic 'little people' under their thrall. The unexpected twist in the tale leaves one breathless at its ruthlessness! A henpecked man, bullied by his wife, falls in love with an attractive neighbour and disappears with her into the jungle of Tehran. An old village headman searches endlessly to find out about his soldier son during Iran-Iraq war...