1) When the schools closed, if I told my dad and mom that I wanted to go to grandma’s house to weave carpets this summer, they would quickly agree. This activity had several benefits: firstly, it reduced the noise in our house; secondly, it prevented me from going out into the alley and getting into fights with the neighborhood kids; and thirdly, with the earnings from carpet weaving, I could buy things for myself.
Grandma always had money. If someone wove a carpet for her, she liked to pay them promptly. Whenever money came into my hands, I would spend it in the blink of an eye. Dad and Mom would say that I wasn’t good at saving money.
Grandma would lay out the design, and I would follow her, filling in the empty spaces. While weaving the carpet on the frame with grandma, sometimes I would talk to her, and other times she would tell me stories from the old days. If she repeated a story I had heard several times, I would still remain silent to listen to it again.
I do not know how many times she told me the story of the “Liar and the Fabricator.” She said that in ancient times there were two friends, one of whom was a liar and the other a fabricator. Their work involved attending gatherings; initially, Mr. Liar would tell a big lie, and immediately Mr. Fabricator would step in to explain the lie. The power of fabrication and eloquence of the fabricator always made people believe Mr. Liar’s lies.
One day, the liar told his usual friend, the fabricator, “In this great business partnership we’ve had for years, my role is far more important than yours.” The fabricator, upset by his friend’s words, said, “You owe all your reputation to me. You have been lying for years, and I justify and analyze it with my special skills so that no one suspects you.”
The liar’s words hurt his friend’s feelings that day, and they fell out with each other, each going their separate ways. The next day, Mr. Liar was invited to a gathering, and as it happens, Mr. Fabricator was also invited to the same gathering.
As soon as Mr. Liar entered the session, he said, “Oh people, on my way here, I saw an amazing phenomenon. I saw a puppy flying in the sky. I both saw the puppy itself and heard the puppy’s voice coming from the sky.” The people present at the meeting first fell silent, then looked at each other, murmured, and then objected, saying, “How can such a thing be possible?! Does a puppy have wings and feathers?! Why say something that’s unbelievable?” He had no answer for the people.
In the midst of this commotion, his friend entered the assembly and saw that the color had drained from the liar’s face. He had lowered his head, and there was a lot of hubbub among the crowd. Mr. Fabricator loudly asked, “What happened? Why are you so dumbfounded?” The people told him that just minutes before his arrival, his friend told a lie that no one believed, and they recounted Mr. Liar’s lie to him.
The fabricator said, “Let everyone be silent so I can clarify this matter for you. See, there is no doubt that my friend has never lied in his life, and as today’s saying goes, there is not even a gray spot in his record. I have myself seen such a scene that he speaks of many times with my own eyes. The story was that several eagles had lifted the puppies of a dog in their beaks, and the puppies, seeing death so close, were intensely making noise. My friend must have encountered such a scene for the first time, and if he had not been flustered and had he observed more carefully, and if there had been more daylight, he would have seen that the unfortunate puppy was caught in an eagle’s beak.”
Everyone confirmed his words and apologized to his friend, Mr. Liar, because for a few moments they had doubted him. When those two old friends left the assembly, the fabricator told the liar, “I forgave you for the nonsense you said yesterday, but try not to go to a gathering alone after this. If I had arrived late, our years of reputation would have been lost.”
Mr. Liar was ashamed and apologized, saying, “I owe everything to you.”
2) There is no doubt that many officials in our country have an extraordinary talent for speech-making, but they have all owed it to the state television and radio for years. God forbid a dear official makes an important speech or an incident occurs in our country and the broadcaster arrives late with the important responsibility of informing the public; the reputation of the regime would be at risk because the websites and Telegram channels would create doubt in people’s minds. Our country’s officials are grateful, and that’s why they always allocate enough budget for this sacred and revolutionary institution.
Mohammad Mahdavifar
Isfahan Central Prison
8th of Mehr 97 [September 30, 2018]