Farangis: drawings and a short summary of an excerpt from Firdausi’s Shahnameh. The story of the King Zohhak briefly retold.

In a small country every person owned a garden with fruit and vegetables of all sorts.

Nobody would eat anything from the animal kingdom that had been killed.

When old King had a deadly accident in his garden (or had he been killed?) his son, Zohhak, a spoiled greedy young man, would inherit the Kingdom.

The young king always had many friends around him.

And to his group of friends one new young man came to add up, and that one offered himself to the king as the best of all cooks.

First this mastercook would serve tasty meals made from eggs. Then something made out of small birds, then geese and ducks, delicate spicy piglets and

the young king and his group of his friends forgot that they had really started eating animals.

A big friendship developed between the king and the mastercook. As a token of their closeness the cook asked the king if he would allow him to kiss his cheeks. How much the young king loved to grant such a humble desire of his master, since the lust that this cook had for good meals seemed the greatest pleasure that life could provide to him.

Suddenly something horrific happened to the young king’s beautiful body! On each side a serpent crept half way out of his shoulders . They opened their mouths hungry for food. They tormented him cos they would reject every usual food for snakes.

The young king had all doctors and advisors come for a cure. No one could help him, except one advisor,

who recommended to kill young men, sever their brains out and prepare a meal from that for the snakes.

Now the serpents got calm, but also they now had firmly grown into the shoulders of the king.

At the same time the young king hadn’t only changed outwardly. His character became cruel and brutal, his people feared him. He involved the people in brutal wars and his live itself ended in a gruesome way.

Here is a link to the Zahhak pages of Farangis. And check out some good n fresh and healthy and hygienic vegan recipes.