Zal- The White Haired

Zal- The White Haired

The Persian king Saum had been praying for a son. A heir who was perfect at everything, make smart decisions and be perfect in every way. His prayers were finally answered. He had received a handsome son who was perfect in almost every way but his only flaw was that he had white hair.

     The king had felt disappointed and had felt as if his most sacred dream had been twisted into a horrible nightmare. He was afraid if the people in his country will see him as a worthy heir and not make fun of him. He feared that his son would be the laughing-stock of the kingdom. If the heir is mocked the people will not listen to him, so therefore he would not be able to make wise decisions.

     The king's ministers had said,"White hair is also a symbol of wisdom not only old age." He gave his ministers an empty smile and deep down he hated his own son. The king had made a decision. He changed into the clothes of a small merchant and took the child with him. He covered the hair of the child to avoid the recognition of the child. He traveled by the sea and went to an inhabited island. He left the child alone on the island to die. Then, he soon returned to his kingdom. He told everyone in his kingdom that the child has gone missing. Saum kept wondering if he had made the biggest mistake of his life. A great ancient bird, the phoenix, had seen this abandoned child. The bird stayed in the island and took care of the child as if it were her own.






        Eleven years later the king had not gotten a second heir. The king soon realized the stupidity of his mistake and went to the island in search of his son. The sight Saum saw was amazing, a phoenix was raising his son. Saum had explained himself and the bird agreed to give the buy to the king. The boy was reluctant at first but he went with his father. Saum named his son Zal which means 'white haired' in Persian. Zal was soon educated and taught how to use a sword. He grew to be a amazing king and the people really liked him. His father Saum had one request to Zal before he died,"Zal, please let your son chose his own horse and please name your son Raustam." 
-By Varun Dass

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