butterfly

در ادامه مطلب.

Amir al-Muminin, peace be upon him, said:
The sin that displeases you is better in the view of Allah than the virtue which makes you proud.

و درود خدا بر او فرمود:
گناهي كه تو را بهتر از كار نيكي است كه تو را به خودپسندي وا دارد.

The worth of a man is according to his courage, his truthfulness is according to his balance of temper, his valour is according to his self-respect and his chasteness is according to his sense of shame.

ارزش مرد به اندازه ي همت اوست، و راستگويي او به ميزان جوانمرديش ، و شجاعت او به قدري ننگي است كه احساس مي كند ، و پاكدامني او به اندازه ي غيرت اوست .

Victory is by determination; determinations is by the turning over of thoughts, and thoughts are formed by guarding secrets.

پيروزي در دورانديشي ، و دورانديشي در بكارگيري صحيح انديشه و انديشه صحيح به رازداري است.

Fear the attack of a noble person when he is hungry and that of an ignoble person when he is satiated.

از يورش بزرگوار به هنگام گرسنگي ، و از تهاجم انسان پست به هنگام سيري ، بپرهيز

For describing you, I'll say you're the caller to call the mystic call of love. You make me think and love. Cry and to be lover and not cry. To be lover and not love. To be lover and forget. I swear by God that's not my heart words. It's just the devil of disappointment makes me forget you. Over there, really nearer than devil, a kind makes me remember you and loving you, I have one God and a world of hope. I keep my head up and pride that I'm lover and didn't forger you. I have a heart and feeling of going on. I'll take you to highest possibility of love to make you cut red apples of life from its green trees of kindness.

در وصف تو خواهم گفت موذنی هستی در فریاد زدن ندای عرفانی عشق. مرا به تفکر وا می داری و به دوست داشتن. به گریستن و به اینکه می شود عاشق بود و گریه نکرد. عاشق بود و دوست نداشت. عاشق بود و از یاد برد. به خدا قسم حرف دلم این نیست. این تنها شیطان نا امیدی است که مرا به از یاد بردن تو فرا می خواند. آنطرف تر، خیلی نزدیکتر از شیطان، مهربانی نام تو را بیادم می آورد و دوست داشتن را. یک خدا دارم و یک دنیا امید. سرم را بالا می گیرم و به اینکه عاشقم و ترا را از یاد نبرده ام فخر می فروشم. یک دل دارم و تنها حس ادامه یافتن. تو را به بالاترین امکان عشق می رسانم تا از درختان سبز مهربانی اش سیب های سرخ زندگی بچینی.

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I lose you again in circle of love and take refuge from my God, the only sentry to keep you in this circle. I'm sure I've taken a good sentry. Some times I feel pain in my eyes and can't beer any more tears. What should I do? If the challenging of love lasts years, if it has problems, if it needs power to encounter hardships, I've got to tolerate and stay. Should encounter and have patience and go on the challenge. I use power of love as the protector for my uncontrollable heart and also, I want him to protect you and increase your power for the hardships come to you. If you forget even to open the window of your black bricks room, go to that notes written last summer. Maybe a word of hope was written. I gave my heart's sigh to fall breeze. Each black bricks of your room are incarnation of that sigh, one by one.

دگرباره تو را در ساحت مقدس عشق از کف می دهم و به خدای خود که تنها نگهبان تو برای حضورت در این ساحت است، پناه می برم. اطمینان دارم نگهبان خوبی برگزیده ام. گهگداری چشمانم می سوزد و طاقت اشکهای بیشتر را ندارد. چه کنم. توانم بسیار کم است. مبارزه عشق اگر سالها به طول انجامد، اگر پیچ و خم فراوان دارد، اگر قدرت برابری با ناملایمات می خواهد، باید بود و تحمل کرد. باید کشید و صبور بود و مبارزه کرد. یاد خدا را نگهبان دل افسار گسیخته ام می کنم و هم، از او می خواهم تو را پاس بدارد و اگر ناملایمات دست آزار بر تو بلند کرد، توانایی ات را افزون کند. حتی اگر یادت رفت پنجره اتاق آجر مشکی ات را باز کنی، سری به جزوه های نوشته شده تابستانهای گذشته بزن. شاید واژه امیدی نگاشته شده باشد. من آه دلم را بدست نسیم پاییزی داده ام. دانه به دانه آجرهای مشکی اتاقت، تجسم آن آه اند.

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In new location of my life, it's taken even a long time, I miss my nature, my house, my mother, my father, my tyrant neighbors, my silent streets, my fields waiting for spring and you. Even though I think about them and you, but I'm not satisfied yet. If I talk to you hundred postures, I won't be that last lover. What should I do?! I get up at six everyday. I tell you out my grievances. Everybody's running away. Oh! I've lost the bus. Thank God! The minibus for Nobonyad has arrived. Oh, there's only five minutes to the time of my appearance at work. I pull the switch of computer case. I lean the circling chair. And another day began. I take a print from my work. Sir! Do my colors have composition?!

در فضای جدید زندگی من که حتی مدتها نیز می گذرد، طبیعت من، خانه من، مادر من، پدر من، همسایه های مردم آزار من، کوچه های خلوت من، مزارع به انتظار بهار من و تو جایشان خالی است. هرچند گهگداری به آنها و به تو فکر می کنم. ولی باز راضی نمی شوم. اگر صد رکعت هم با تو حرف بزنم، باز آن معشوق زندگی گذشته من نمی شوی. چه باید بکنم؟! هر صبح ساعت شش بیدار می شوم. کمی با تو درد دل می کنم و راه می افتم. هر کسی به یک سمتی می رود. وای! اتوبوس را از دست دادم. خدا را شکر! مینی بوس نوبنیاد رسید. ای وای پنج دقیقه مانده به ساعت حضور من در اداره. سوئیچ کیس کامپیوتر را می زنم. به صندلی گردان تکیه می دهم و روزی دیگر آغاز می شود. یک پرینت از کارم می گیرم. آقای رئیس! رنگهای من کمپوزیسیون دارند؟!

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I swear by the quiet silence of your paper house, I know your dreams are as beautiful as my fancies believable. You've got the mystic believe of love from my silence. I've got the final point of belief from your silence. Maybe it's not possible to feel that the words we say about the paper world we've made are hearable. But we can start to paint the gray branches of the paper trees green. I know painting, you know painting too. So why don't you start? When I was a child, I didn't have any water color. I used to go to little garden near stream and cut all the color flowers and paint. If we search the paper garden near paper house for a short time, there have to be flowers to paint our believes the red color of love.

به سکوت آرام خانه کاغذی ات قسم که می دانم رویاهای تو به زیبایی خیالات من باورکردنی است. تو از سکوت من به باور عرفانی عشق رسیده ای. من از سکوت تو به نقطه نهایی ایمان رسیده ام. شاید نتوان درک کرد که گفته های ما از آن دنیای کاغذی که ساخته ایم، شنیدنی است. ولی می شود دست به کار شد و رنگ سبز به شاخه های خاکستری درختهای کاغذی کشید. من که نقاشی کردن می دانم. تو هم که نقاشی کردن می دانی. پس چرا دست به کار نمی شوی؟ وقتی بچه بودم، برایم آبرنگ نمی خریدند. می رفتم سراغ باغچه کنار رودخانه هر چه گلهای رنگی بود می چیدم و نقاشی می کردم. اگر کمی در باغ کاغذی کنار خانه کاغذی مان جستجو کنیم حتماً گلهای کاغذی دارد که رنگ قرمز عشق به باورهایمان بکشیم.

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When you look at me, moonlight jumps out of the dark clouds and bright the dusty window of this house. When you look at me, night gets the day and the morning of being together arrives. At this side of this house, somebody always waiting is me and the frames empty of affection on the wall. That side of city, everybody staring the clouds catching the moonlight. It's not true if I say moonlight won't die with its red face when you're not here. But believe it when you're here, the little tiny hole of hope to horizon won't catch the dark disappointment of night.

نگاهم که می کنی، مهتاب سراسیمه از پشت ابرکان تاریک شب خیز بر می دارد و پنجره خاکی این خانه را روشن می کند. نگاهم که می کنی، شب به صبح می رسد و پگاه روشن با هم بودن سر می رسد. اینسوی خانه همیشه به انتظار، من هستم و قابهای خالی از عاطفه بر دیوار. آنسوی شهر، همه چشم توختگان به ابرکهای در برگرفته مهتاب. حقیقت ندارد اگر بگویم صبح نمی شود، صورت تب دار مهتاب، وقتی تو نیستی. اما این را باور کن که وقتی تو هستی، نقطه کوچک رو به افق امید من، به سیاهی نا امیدی شب نمی رسد.

Without Love -- dayz are

"Sadday,

moanday,

tearsday,

wasteday,

thirstday,

frightday,

shatterday... so be in Luv everyday

بدون عشق روزا اینجوری میشن :

روز غم

روز زاری

روز اشک

روز از دست رفتن

روز تشنگی

روز ترس

روز شکستن

پس سعی کن هر روز عاشق باشی....

Love is the triumph of imagination over intelligence

عشق پیروزی تخیل بر عقل است

یار دل آزار من وفا نشناسد

وه که عجب نعمتی است ، یار وفادار

Succored... I promise

Oh, what is a blessing faithful friend

بی گناهی کم گناهی نیست در دیوان عشق

یوسف از دامان پاک خود به زندان رفته است

Innocence sin is less love in the supreme court

Josef from the lap of his pure to prison

answer the phone by left ear

براي صحبت با موبايل از گوش چپ استفاده كنيد.

do not drink coffee twice a day

روزانه بيش از دو فنجان قهوه ننوشيد.

do not take pills with cool water

قرص و داروها را با آب خيلي سرد تناول نكنيد.

do not have huge meals after 5pm

بعد از ساعت 5:00 از خوردن غذاي چرب خوداري كنيد.

reduce the amount of tea you consume

مصرف چاي روزانه را كم كنيد

reduce the amount of oily food you consume

از مقدار غذاي چرب و اشباع شده با روغن در وعده هاي غذايي كم كنيد

drink more water in the morning, less at night

در صبح آب بيشتر و در شب آب كمتر بنوشيد.

keep your distance from hand phone chargers

از گوشي موبايل در زمان شارژ شدن دوري كنيد.

do not use headphones/earphone for long period of time

از سمعكهاي تلفن ثابت و موبايل براي مدت طولاني استفاده نكنيد.

best sleeping time is from 10pm at night to 6am in the morning

بهترين زمان خواب از ساعت 10:00 شب تا ساعت 6:00 صبح است

do not lie down immediately after taking medicine before sleeping

بعد ازخوردن دارو فورا" به خواب نرويد.

when battery is down to the last grid/bar, do not answer the phone as the radiation is 1000 times

زمانيكه باتري موبايل ضعيف است با جايي تماس نگيريد و تماس كسي را جواب ندهيد چون در اين حالت امواجي كه گوشي منتشر مي كند 1000 برابر است.

forward this to those whom you care about

لطفا" به هركسي كه نگران سلامتي او هستيد بفرستيد

وصیت نامه فریدون فروغی

تنها وصیت او این بود:

« بگویید بر گورم بنویسند:
زندگی را دوست داشت
ولی آن را نشناخت
مهربان بود
ولی مهر نورزید
طبیعت را دوست داشت
ولی از آن لذت نبرد
در آبگیر قلبش جنب و جوشی بود
ولی کسی بدان راه نیافت
در زندگی احساس تنهایی می نمود
ولی هرگز دل به کسی نداد
و خلاصه بنویسید:
زنده بودن را برای زندگی دوست داشت
نه زندگی را برای زنده بودن »

Fereidoun Foroughi's testament

His only testament was this:

« Please write on my tomb:
He liked the life
But didn't know it
He was kind
But didn't treat kindly
He liked nature
But didn't enjoy it
There was a motion in his heart's lake
But no one could come in
He felt lovely in his life
But never fell in love
And finally write:
He liked existing for life
Not life for existing »
 

Winner & Loser

لحظه به لحظه زندگی

You have to live moment to moment, you Have to live each moment as if it is the Last moment. So don’t waste it in Quarreling, in nagging or in fighting. Perhaps you will not find the next Moment even for an apology.   از لحظه به لحظه زندگی کردن گريزي نيست. بايد هر لحظه را چنان زندگی كني كه گوي واپسين لحظه است. پس وقت را در جدل،گلايه و نزاع تلف نكن. شايد لحظه بعد حتي براي پوزش طلبي در دست تو نباشد.

Did You Know…?

1. The most common name in the world is Mohammed.
2. The name of all the continents ends with the same letter that they start with.
3. The strongest muscle in the body is the tongue.
4. There are two credit cards for every person in the United States.
5. TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard.
6. Women blink nearly twice as much as men!
7. You can't kill yourself by holding your breath.
8. It is impossible to lick your elbow.
9. People say "Bless you" when you sneeze because when you sneeze, your heart stops for a millisecond.
10. It is physically impossible for pigs to look up into the sky.

آيا ميدانستيد...؟

1- محمد رايجترين نام دنياست.
2- نام تمام قاره ها به همان حرفي ختم ميشود که با آن شروع ميشوند.
3- زبان قويترين عضله در تمام بدن است.
4- به ازاي هر نفر در ايالات متحده، دو کارت اعتباري وجود دارد.
5- کلمه "TYPEWRITER" بلندترين کلمه معناداري است که ميتوان با استفاده از کليدهاي يک رديف صفحه کليد درست کرد.
6- زنها دو برابر مردها پلک ميزنند.
7- کسي نميتواند با نگه داشتن نفسش خودکشي کند.
8- هيچکس نميتواند آرنج خودش را ليس بزند.
9- دليل اينکه مردم به کسي که عطسه ميکند ميگويند "عافيت باشد" اين است که در زمان عطسه کردن قلب به مدت يک ميلي-ثانيه از حرکت باز مي ايستد.
10- خوکها، به علت حالت جسماني که دارند، نميتوانند به آسمان نگاه کنند.

چگونه جوان بمانيم،

1- اعداد بدرد نخور را به دور بريز. اين شامل سن، وزن و قد ميشه. اجازه بده پزشکان براي اونها نگران باشند، براي همين به اونها پول ميدي ديگه.

1.Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height.

Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay them.

2- فقط با دوستان خوش اخلاق معاشرت کن، غرغروها و بداخلاقها نابودت ميکنند (ضمناً اگر جزو اون غرغروها يا بداخلاقها هستي اين رو به خاطر بسپار).

2. Keep only cheerful friends.

The grouches pull you down. (keep this In mind if you are one of those grouches;)

3- . شروع به يادگرفتن کن. کامپيوتر، هنر، باغباني... هرچيزي که دوست داري، هرکاري که اجازه نده مغزت بيکار بمونه. "مغز بيکار کارگاه شيطانه"، و نام شيطان اينه: آلزايمر!

3. Keep learning:

Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening,

whatever. Never let the brain get idle.

"An idle mind is the devil's workshop."

And the devil's name is Alzheimer's!

4- . از چيزهاي کوچک و ساده لذت ببر.

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5 -

- به جاهاي نادرست نرو

برو به خريد، حتي مسافرت به يه شهر ويا يک کشور ديگه اما نه به جائي که پراز گناه و خطاست وهميشه يادخدا باش

5…Don't take guilt trips.

Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county, to a foreign country, but NOT to where the guilt is &َ Always Remember God

6. . بيشتر مواقع طولاني بخند. آنقدر بخند که احتياج به نفس تازه داشته باشي. و اگر دوستي داري که تورو ميخندونه بيشتر وقت خودت را با او بگذرون..

.

6. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.

And if you have a friend who makes you laugh, spend lots and Lots of time with HIM /HER .

7- اشک و غصه هم پيش مياد؛ يه کم گريه زاري کن، يه کم غصه بخور و تحمل کن و بعد حرکت کن.. تنها کسي که تمام عمر با تو خواهد بود، خودت هستي.

تا زنده اي زندگي کن.

7. The tears happen:

Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person who is with us our entire life, is ourself.. LIVE while you are alive..

8- دور وبرت رو پر کن از هرچيزي که دوست داري، فاميل، هدايا و يادگاريها، موسيقي، گل و گياه، سرگرميها، هرچيزي که خودت دوستش داري.

خونه تو پناهگاه توست.

8.Surround yourself with what you love:

Whether it's family, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever.

Your home is your refuge.

9. . قدر سلامتي خودتو بدون: :

اگر خوبه، نگهش دار و مواظب باش،

اگر استوار نيست، بهترش کن،

اگر هم بدتر ازاوني است که خودت بتوني کاري بکني، خوب کمک بگير.

9.Cherish your health:

If it is good, preserve it..

If it is unstable, improve it.

If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

10 - در هر موقعيتي عشق خودت رو به کساني که دوستشون داري بيان کن و بگو.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity

Teachers Prayer

I want to teach my students how
To live this life on earth

To face its struggles and its strife
And improve their worth

Not just the lesson in a book
Or how the rivers flow

But how to choose the proper path
Wherever they may go

To understand eternal truth
And know the right from wrong

And gather all the beauty of
A flower and a song

For if I help the world to grow
In widsom and in grace

Then I shall feel that I have won
And I have filled my place

And so I ask your guidance, God
That I may do my part

For character and confidence
And happiness of heart

دوست داشتن در مقابل استفاده كردن

زمانيكه مردي در حال پوليش كردن اتوموبيل جديدش بود كودك 4 ساله اش تكه سنگي را بداشت و بر روي بدنه اتومبيل خطوطي را انداخت.

While a man was polishing his new car, his 4 yr old son picked up a stone and scratched lines on the side of the car.

مرد آنچنان عصباني شد كه دست پسرش را در دست گرفت و چند بار محكم پشت دست او زد بدون انكه به دليل خشم متوجه شده باشد كه با آچار پسرش را تنبيه نموده

بهترین لحظات زندگی از نگاه چارلی چاپلین

بزرگترین جمله انگلیسی که تنها با استفاده از یک کلمه Buffalo ایجاد شده جمله زیر است : (لطفاً بوفالو نخوانید، تلفظ صحیح بافلو است) Buffalo buffalo, Buffalo bufallo buffalo, buffalo Buffalo buffalo این جمله از نظر گرامری صحیح است و در سال 1972 توسط William J. Rapaport مورد استفاده قرار گرفت. کلمه buffalo دارای سه معنی متفاوت است: 1. شهر بوفالو (کلمات آبی رنگ) 2. حیوان بوفالو (جمع این کلمه نیز همان buffalo است و es جمع نمی گیرد(کلمات قرمز رنگ) 3. فعل buffalo به معنای حمله کردن و هجوم بردن (که بی قاعده بوده و شکل pp آن نیز به همین صورت است) کلمات سبز رنگ) (در جمله فوق Buffalo buffalo (جاهایی که بوفالو باB بزرگ نوشته شده و کلمه بوفالوی بعدی به معنای "بوفالوهای شهر بوفالو" است. حالا اگر عبارت بین کاماها را درنظر نگیریم معنی جمله این خواهد بود: Buffalo buffalo , ............ , buffalo Buffalo buffalo "{برخی از}بوفالوهای شهر بوفالو به {برخی دیگر از} بوفالوهای شهر بوفالو حمله کردند." اون عبارت داخل کاماها (نقطه چین شده در بالا) هم میگه که دسته اول بوفالوهای جمله فوق ، قبلاً مورد هجوم بوفالوهای دیگری از شهر بوفالو قرار گرفته اند. به این ترتیب معنی جمله فوق این است که: برخی از} بوفالوهای شهر بوفالو ، {که قبلاً} بوفالوهای شهر بوفالو به آنها حمله کرده بودند، به {برخی} بوفالوهای شهر بوفالو حمله کرده اند.}
 

 WHEN YOU ARE LONELY

The silence of God means that

He is ready to bring into my life

a greater revelation of Hilself

than I have ever known

...

It is often in the darkest

valleys of life that we find the

greatst of lifes comfort

وقتی که تنها هستید

سکوت خدا به این معناست که

می خواهد حضوری ژرف تر از وجودش

را در زندگی ام نمایان کند ؛حضوری که

تاکنون مشابه اش را ندیده بودم.

...

اغلب اوقات

در تاریک ترین دره های زندگی

بیشترین آرامش ها را می یابیم

 تنها منبع علم و دانش تجربه است.

The only source of knowledge is experivce

نشانه ی راستین هوش , خلاقیت است نه معلومات.

The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination

 ارزش آدمی در آن چیزی است که می بخشد نه در توان او برای به چنگ آوردن

The value of a man should be seen in the what he gives and not in what he is able to receive

اگر مردم فقط به خاطر ترس از مجازات و به امید پاداش افرادی درستکار هستند می بایست بسایر متاسف باشیم.

If people are good only because they fear punishiment and hope for

reward,then we are a sorry lot in deed

 حماقت,انجام دادن کارهایی یکسان و تکراری به دفعات و انتظار نتایج متفارت داشتن است.

Insanity:doing the same thing over and over again and expcting

different vesults

حقایقی زیبا و آموزنده در مورد زندگی

حتما ترجمه اش كنين خيلي جالبه

India

این مطلب با توجه به READING صفحه ی 19 کتاب کمبریج گذاشته شده است.

please clike in the on the continue link for read about India 

 Australia

این مطلب با توجه به READING صفحه ی 19 کتاب کمبریج گذاشته شده است.

please clike in the on the continue link for read about Australia 

 math

. To see this article please click on the continue link

This famous tale is short but very SNAPPY !

We bring you the Charles Perrault version – and he doesn’t mince his words. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED ! You may have heard this story before with a happy twist at the end. In this one that doesn’t happen. There’s NO HAPPY ENDING !!!. The Brothers Grimm were more kind to Little Red Riding Hood. (Compare versions if you are interested).

The moral of the tale should ring through today “DON’T TALK TO STRANGERS !!” This is Red Riding Hood’s fatal mistake when she meets the wolf on the way to Grandma’s.

Read by Natasha. Duration 7 minutes 10.
Original Pictures for Storynory bySophie Green.

Once upon a time there lived in a certain village a little country girl, the prettiest creature who was ever seen. Her mother was excessively fond of her; and her grandmother doted on her still more. This good woman had a little red riding hood made for her. It suited the girl so extremely well that everybody called her Little Red Riding Hood.

One day her mother, having made some cakes, said to her, “Go, my dear, and see how your grandmother is doing, for I hear she has been very ill. Take her a cake, and this little pot of butter.”

Little Red Riding Hood set out immediately to go to her grandmother, who lived in another village.

As she was going through the wood, she met with a wolf, who had a very great mind to eat her up, but he dared not, because of some woodcutters working nearby in the forest. He asked her where she was going. The poor child, who did not know that it was dangerous to stay and talk to a wolf, said to him, “I am going to see my grandmother and carry her a cake and a little pot of butter from my mother.”

“Does she live far off?” said the wolf

“Oh I say,” answered Little Red Riding Hood; “it is beyond that mill you see there, at the first house in the village.”

“Well,” said the wolf, “and I’ll go and see her too. I’ll go this way and go you that, and we shall see who will be there first.”

The wolf ran as fast as he could, taking the shortest path, and the little girl took a roundabout way, entertaining herself by gathering nuts, running after butterflies, and gathering bouquets of little flowers. It was not long before the wolf arrived at the old woman’s house. He knocked at the door: tap, tap.

“Who’s there?”

“Your grandchild, Little Red Riding Hood,” replied the wolf, counterfeiting her voice; “who has brought you a cake and a little pot of butter sent you by mother.”

The good grandmother, who was in bed, because she was somewhat ill, cried out, “Pull the string, and the latch will go up.”

The wolf pulled the string n, and the door opened, and then he immediately fell upon the good woman and ate her up in a moment, for it been more than three days since he had eaten. He then shut the door and got into the grandmother’s bed, expecting Little Red Riding Hood, who came some time afterwards and knocked at the door: tap, tap.

“Who’s there?”

Little Red Riding Hood, hearing the big voice of the wolf, was at first afraid; but believing her grandmother had a cold and was hoarse, answered, “It is your grandchild Little Red Riding Hood, who has brought you a cake and a little pot of butter mother sends you.”

The wolf cried out to her, softening his voice as much as he could, “Pull the string, and the latch will go up.”

Little Red Riding Hood pulled the string, and the door opened.

The wolf, seeing her come in, said to her, hiding himself under the bedclothes, “Put the cake and the little pot of butter upon the stool, and come sit on the bed with me.”

Little Red Riding Hood sat on the bed. She was greatly amazed to see how her grandmother looked in her nightclothes, and said to her, “Grandmother, what big arms you have!”

“All the better to hug you with, my dear.”

“Grandmother, what big legs you have!”

“All the better to run with, my child.”

“Grandmother, what big ears you have!”

“All the better to hear with, my child.”

“Grandmother, what big eyes you have!”

“All the better to see with, my child.”

“Grandmother, what big teeth you have got!”

“All the better to eat you up with.”

And, saying these words, this wicked wolf fell upon Little Red Riding Hood, and ate her all up.

—-

Children who enjoy getting an education in music may have life-long interests in the subject they should pursue.

Dear Kidz,

These are wonderful Little Red Riding Hood illustrations

fairytale for our recording on Storynory. A Special thanks to Sophie Green who designed the picture’s. I hope they help bring the Story to life as you’re listening.

The pictures will be used as the backdrop for Little Red Riding, Digital Storytelling to come

So look out and Keep Listening!

Bye for now

N*

Read PRC ( post recording review) Fairytale Times

Many people love the Christmas Carol Good King Wenceslas and sing it every year without quite figuring out the story that it tells.

This Musical Christmas Double brings you the story and the song together so that you can compare the two.

Listen out for the beautiful rendition of the carol sung at the end of the story by Gabriella Burnel with Jamie McCredie on the guitar.

And the story is told by our very own Natasha. You can read Natasha’s reflections on this special Christmas story in her Post Recording Review.

The adaptation of the tale for Storynory is by Bertie.

A bit of history….

King Wenceslas (or Wenceslaus) was the Duke of Bohemia in the years 921-935. He is now patron Saint of the Czech Republic and is statue stands Wenceslaus Square in Prague. His feast day is September 28.

The chronicler Cosmas of Prague, writing in about the year 1119, says

Rising every night from his noble bed, with bare feet and only one chamberlain, he went around to God’s churches and gave alms generously to widows, orphans, those in prison and afflicted by every difficulty, so much so that he was considered, not a prince, but the father of all the wretched.

The episode in our story involving the pagan woman is a bit fanciful, by the way, and not history – although it was a time of conflict between Christians and pagans. The Duke’s mother, Drahomíra, was the daughter of a pagan tribal chief of Havolans and was baptised at the time of her marriage.

Audio hosted by SoundCloud.

On Christmas day as was his custom, on this special day every year, Duke Wenceslas visited each of the servants and soldiers in his castle, and pressed a gold coin into his or her hand.

The Duke walked through the cold stone passageways in the lower depths of his castle. As he stepped kitchen through the door, a fierce heat struck his face, and the smell of roast meat filled his nostrils. Two servants were turning swans on a giant spit over the fire. Elsewhere men and women, young and old, were busy with fetching, rolling, shouting, stuffing, stirring, scouring, scraping, and all the other tasks of the kitchen. Those who saw him enter stopped their work and bowed deeply. His page called out:

“Line up, line up for the Duke.”

And the kitchen staff scuffled around arranging themselves in order of rank, from the head cook to the young scullery maid who was just eleven years old.

Each of the servants received gold coin from the hand of their ruler with the words: “May the Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour who was born on this day, bless you and watch over you.”

After the kitchen, the Duke proceeded to the guard house, and then to laundry, and then to maids of the bed chambers, and then to the stables. Last of all, he visited the dungeons. The jailers received his blessings and gold, and the prisoners received just his blessings.

He spoke last to an old woman prisoner:

“May the Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour who was born on this day, bless you and watch over you.”

He looked into the woman’s eyes and saw that they were piercing blue. She must have been quite a beauty in her youth. He felt sorry that her life and folly had brought her to this dark prison cell on Christmas Day.

“What is her crime?” he asked the Jailer.

“My Lord, she is a priestess of the old school. She performed pagan rites and lead the people in the worship of false gods.

At this Duke Wenceslas said sadly:

“Tis a pity. Had she been guilty of a lesser crime…. had she been guilty of even murder, I would have set her free to go home and to die in her bed among her family.” And then he turned to the old woman:

“Do you not see now how the Christian religion teaches mercy and kindness? This Christmas Day I have pressed gold into the hands of the lowliest servant in my castle. Are you not impressed by my good works in the name of Jesus Christ? Do you not renounce the devil and your gods and come to the true Savior?. Only say the words “I do” and you shall be rid of your chains this Christmas Day.”

And the priestess lifted her gray head and fixed the Duke with her blue eyes:

“The scummiest jailer in your castle is a lord in comparison to peasants outside. You have no idea what it means to live in a hovel, to freeze in depths of winter, to have rags for clothes and a few sticks for a fire. Throw coins to your grovelling servants if it makes you feel good before you stuff yourself with rich food. But don’t talk to me of your false charity.”

As it was Christmas Day, the Duke did not order the woman to be whipped. He just shook his head at her insolence and her missed chance of freedom.

But as he climbed the winding stone stair back to the lighter world of his busy castle, her words were turning in his heart. And when he saw his servants going about their work, briskly, but smiling, he thought “Yes, you are the lucky few.”

He no longer felt satisfied with his Christmas routine. He ordered his servant to bring him his fur-lined cloak, boots, gloves and hat. Another servant strapped a sword to his side. The head stable boy brought his horse out into the courtyard and placed a small ladder against its side. Snow was already flecking the Duke’s beard as he stood and waited for all to be ready. And then he clambered onto his mount and rode through the gates of the castle followed by just a page on a gray mare.

“Boy,” he called back to the page,”Were you born in a village?”

“Oh no sire. I was born in the castle,” replied the boy.

“Do you have any relatives in a village?”

“Oh yes sire. My grandmother lives in a village not far from here.”

“Well take me there.” said the Duke.

And when they arrived in village, they found the boy’s grandmother at the drinking well, known as the fount of St. Agnes. She was using a long pole – a branch broken off a birch tree – and ramming it down into the well to break the ice.

“Here, give the good lady some gold,” said the duke. Which the page gladly did. At this, the other peasants of the village, who until now had been plodding through the snow on their business, came rushing over from all sides to beg the Duke for money.

“Back Back!” cried the page boy. The Duke took a handful of coins and scattered them on the ground. The peasants dived on them like a flock of birds on some crumbs of bread.

The Duke returned to the castle to resume his Christmas worship and festivities, but instead of feeling better for his generosity, he somehow felt troubled by it. As he celebrated the last Christmas of the millennium, the image of the priestess in the dungeon was always in his mind.

The next day – the feast day of St. Stephen – there was boxing and jousting in the tiltyard. Music, dancing and merrymaking continued throughout the afternoon and evening. But the Duke’s heart was still not fully in the celebrations. He stood up from his place in the banqueting hall, and went up onto the ramparts of the castle to take in the cold fresh air. It was a clear moonlit night. He looked out towards the village that he had visited the day before. He saw a peasant wandering across the fields, bending down every now and then to picked up sticks for the fire.

“Page, Page!” he called out – for his attendant was never far away – bring me food from from the table, the best bits, and bring wine, and fetch some logs for the fire. I intend to go out and give these things to that man – hurry hurry now. I shall wait for you by the gates of the castle.”

The Duke took the winding stairs down to the courtyard. Servants brought him his fur-lined clothes and boots – “No No,” he said. “I shall go without them”. And instead he took off his shoes and stood on the snow covered cobble stones. His feet were entwined in woolen strips – but that was their only covering.

The stable boy stood by with the Duke’s horse.

“Follow me,” the Duke said to the paige, “We are going on foot.” And seeing that that his master was not wearing a coat or hat, the poor page felt that disrespectful as he put on his own clothes – but the master did not seem to take notice.

The Duke and the boy, walked out through the gates of the castle, their arms filled with gifts. The servants shook their heads, convinced that not only had their Duke gone mad, but that he would catch his death of cold.

The peasant was heading for the village, and the Duke and the boy hurried after him. The Duke’s almost bare feet sank deep into the snow, but he did not seem to notice the cold. He strode on, propelled by some sort of super-human strength. The poor page boy felt the chill coming up through the soles of his boot and through his whole body. The wind cut into his face and he rubbed his nose to stave off frostbite.

“Sire, Sire,” he called out. “My strength is failing me.”

At first the Duke did not hear him. Only when the boy called out: “I cannot go on.” did he halt his progress across the snow. He turned round and saw the boy had fallen to his knees.

Duke Wenceslaus looked back to the castle. Although the night had grown darker, he could clearly see his footsteps all the way back. They were luminous like the moon.

“Good boy,” he said. “Stand up and place your feet in my footsteps.

And page, who was used to obeying his Duke’s every command, gathered his strength and rose to his feet.

“Here, here,” said the Duke. “This is my step. Place your foot on top of it.”

And the boy, seeing the pale blue glowing footsteps, placed his foot on the spot where the Duke’s foot and sunk into the snow. Then he lifted his other foot and placed it in the footstep behind. Instead of cold, he felt warmth and energy rising through his body. The Duke carried on ahead, and the boy, followed behind, now feeling as as full of life and energy as if he was striding across a meadow full of lambs one day in spring.

The Duke and the page caught up with the man just before he reached his village. They gave him their gifts, for which he thanked and blessed them. And on his return to the castle, the Duke set the pagan priestess free from the gaol.

Good King Wenceslas looked out
On the feast of Stephen
When the snow lay round about
Deep and crisp and even
Brightly shone the moon that night
Though the frost was cruel
When a poor man came in sight
Gath’ring winter fuel

“Hither, page, and stand by me
If thou know’st it, telling
Yonder peasant, who is he?
Where and what his dwelling?”
“Sire, he lives a good league hence
Underneath the mountain
Right against the forest fence
By Saint Agnes’ fountain.”

“Bring me flesh and bring me wine
Bring me pine logs hither
Thou and I will see him dine
When we bear him thither.”
Page and monarch forth they went
Forth they went together
Through the rude wind’s wild lament
And the bitter weather

“Sire, the night is darker now
And the wind blows stronger
Fails my heart, I know not how,
I can go no longer.”
“Mark my footsteps, my good page
Tread thou in them boldly
Thou shalt find the winter’s rage
Freeze thy blood less coldly.”

In his master’s steps he trod
Where the snow lay dinted
Heat was in the very sod
Which the Saint had printed
Therefore, Christian men, be sure
Wealth or rank possessing
Ye who now will bless the poor
Shall yourselves find blessing.

Santa came down to the pond, he scooped up Colin and took him over to another pond where he could be all alone.

At first Colin is happy with his present, but then he starts to have second thoughts….

Read by Natasha. Story by Bertie.

Original Pictures for Storynory by Sophie Green.

It was getting round to that time of year, and all the little tadpoles who live in the pond were very, very, very excited. “Yippeee ! they were saying “We’re going to have lots and lots and lots of green slime for lunch – and presents, and games, and wrapping paper.”

“Oh hark the little tadpoles,’ said Colin from beneath a stone. “No they’re going to have wrapping paper in a pond ! That’s really intelligent. It’s not as if paper is going to get at all soggy in the water.”

Prince Bertie the Frog was sitting on a stone watching all the tadpoles swimming in somersaults and circles, and he was starting to feel quite Christmassy. At this time of year, he always remembers the lovely princess Beatrice, how, when he was still a prince, they used to walk hand in hand over the frosty lawns and round the palace ponds , and she would ask him,

“Bertie darling, dearest, do you think that fish get cold in winter? I”m quite sure that I saw that big ugly carp shiver. Poor thing. No wonder his face looks so grumpy. Can’t we get the water heated for the pond life?”

And Bertie would say,

“My precious petal. You are truly the sweetest princess in the whole wide world. But don’t worry yourself on account of the frogs and fishes. They aren’t like humans. They don’t mind the cold at all.”

But now that poor Prince Bertie has been turned into a frog, he knows differently. “Brrr.” he said. “If only I could have a nice hot bath.’

Colin overheard Bertie saying this and said: “Ah ! At long last a voice of reason ! Bertie, you and I are the only sensible creatures in this pond. Doesn’t all this merry Christmas stuff drive you crazy? It’s the coldest, darkest, most boring time of the year, and everyone keeps telling you to be happy. ! UUUUGH ! “

“Well actually, I’m afraid I can’t agree with you there,” said Bertie. “Christmas is cold in this part of the world, but it is merry! “

“No it’s not,’ said Colin. “It’s a pain.’

“Yes it is Merry.” said Bertie. “It’s a time of a goodwill to all creatures on earth.”

“Rubbish! “ said Colin.

Just then, Tim, who is a tiny Tadpole, swam up to Colin’s left nostril and said

“Oh Mr. Carp. What do you want for Christmas?”

“That’s easy.” said Colin glumly. “I want to be alone.”

Now, as Bertie always says, you should never wish for something unless you truly want it in your heart – for you never know, your wish might come true, and they you will be sorry. And it so happened that the Christmas fairy was swimming past when Colin asked to be alone, and she heard this wish, and reported it back to Santa. And on Christmas night, when santa came down to the pond with a sack full of fresh green slime for all the pondlife, he scooped up the sleeping Colin into a bucket of water, and took him over to another pond at the other end of the garden. A pond where nobody lived except a gold statue of a cherub. And the cherub didn’t really live at all. He just spouted water out of his mouth.

“Yo ho-ho” said Santa. “There you are carp. Santa always delivers. This Christmas you shall be all alone !”

And in the morning, Colin opened his sleepy eyes and said to himself. “Oh no. It’s the worst day of the year. Those tadpoles will soon be singing christmas carols. I think I’ll just hide under a stone until it’s all over.”

But after a while, he couldn’t help noticing that the pond was strangely quiet. He swam around a bit, and found that it was wonderfully free of stilly tadpoles, quacking ducks, stuck-up swans, and deluded frogs who think that they are princes.

“This is fabulous! “ said Colin. “Just listen to that peace and quiet. Santa must have heard my wish and given me my own pond for christmas ! That’s because I’ve been such a good carp all year round. Thank you Santa ! I’m truly grateful. The only problem is….it’s just perfect. What am going to grump about ? Oh never mind that. I’m…. I’m…. I’m happy!”

And he even did a little dance in the water, because nobody was looking, and he really was happy to be alone for once.

In the Royal Palace, all the children who live there were very excited about all the presents waiting to be opened under the Christmas tree. But the wicked queen was in a furious mood, because she simply hates Christmas, even more than Colin does.

She went into the kitchen where the cook and her helpers were all working hard making lunch. And the Queen screeched.

“Not turkey ! I hate turkey ! It’s the stupidest bird that was ever eaten!”

“Oh madam, “ said the cook. “I ordered the turkey weeks ago. There’s nothing else for lunch.”

“Well let everyone else stuff themselves silly with turkey and roast potatoes. A queen has to mind her figure. I want something healthy. I want, I want….. er fish. In fact, I want poached carp with a little sprig of parsley.”

And with those words, the Wicked Queen swept out of the kitchen and went up stairs to shout at the children.

Princess Beatrice loved Christmas day more than any other day in the whole year. She was just coming back from church when she decided to take a little walk around the ponds and remember her long lost Prince Bertie. Her happiness was tinged with a sadness as she thought about her handsome prince whom she hadn’t seen for quite a while, but she was sure that he would return one day from a brave quest and they would be married and live happily ever after.

At the edge of the garden, she stopped at the pond where Colin was enjoying his solitude. Even though he was happy, his face still looked grumpy. It was just made that way.

“Poor fish.,” said Beatrice. “He’s all on his own on Christmas Day. I”m sure he’s the same one I’ve seen many times before on the other side of the garden, in that slimy pond where they funny looking frog lives. I know. I’ll go and get a net and a bucket, and I’ll take him back to the other pond so he can have some company. That will be a lovely Christmas present for him.”

Colin heard this and he said, “Oh no. Your Royal Highness. That’s not what I want at all….” But Beatrice couldn’t understand what Colin was saying, because he’s just a fish, and besides, he was speaking under water.

Instead, she turned around and hurried back to the palace to look for a bucket and a net.

At the same time, the cook was wondering where she was going to find a carp to poach for the Wicked Queen’s lunch. As it was Christmas day, all the shops were shut – even the special shops that work by Royal Appointment. Then she remembered that she had seen a fat carp swimming around one of the ponds in the garden, and she went out to look for him.

In his pond, Colin was feeling his usual grumpy self again. “Oh well,” he said to himself. “Soon that air-headed princess will be fishing me out of here and taking me back Bertie’s pond. That’s what I hate about Christmas. If people laid off doing good deeds and minded their own business, we would all be a lot happier.”

Then he heard a voice – but it wasn’t princess Beatrice’s – it was the cook, and she was saying”

“There he is. He’s an ugly brute, but he’ll look a lot better when he’s on a plate with a spring of parsley in his mouth. I’ll tell the kitchen boy to come down here with a net and fish him out.”

“What’s this? Said Colin. “On a plate with a spring of parsley in my mouth? Oh No ! Christmas truly is the worst day of the year – and it looks like it’s going to be my last day ever ! “

He started to swim around in a panic, looking for somewhere to hide, but the pond was not like the one where Bertie lived. There was no slime, no muddy bottom, not big rocks. It was just full of pure, clean water. In fact, it was the worst place in the entire world for a fish to hide in.

Soon Colin felt himself being lifted up through the air. He was wriggling and fighting and gasping for breath, but he just got his fins tangled in the net. And then Plop ! he was dropped, not even into a bucket, but a plastic shopping bag full of water.

“The indignity of it,” said Colin. “Carried to my own funeral in a shopping bag. Merry Christmas !”

It was very dark inside the bag, and he couldn’t see where he was going. Then the motion stopped. They had arrived. He got ready to whack the cook around the face with his tail.

“At least they will say that Colin the Carp went down fighting,” he said himself.

The bag turned upside down, and all the water and Colin with it went slopping out

“That’s it !” thought Colin. “Straight into the cooking pot !”

Splash !

And all his scales tingled with lovely cold water.

“Ooh Look,” said a squeaky little voice. “There’s Colin. He’s come out of hiding.”

And all the little tadpoles were swimming around him singing,

“We wish you a merry Christmas, We Wish you a merry Christmas.

And Princess Beatrice said

“Merry Christmas Pond Life”

The cook didn’t make poached carp for the Wicked Queen’s lunch, because when she went back to the pond, Colin had mysteriously disappeared. But it didn’t matter, because the Queen decided to skip Christmas all together, and she went up to her room to read up on wicked spells.

And as for Colin, for the first time in his long, grumpy life, he has a very, very, very, merry Christmas because he was so glad to be alive and with his friends.

I WON’T!” SAID MARY

They found a great deal to do that morning and Mary was late in
returning to the house and was also in such a hurry to get back to her
work that she quite forgot Colin until the last moment.

“Tell Colin that I can’t come and see him yet,” she said to Martha.
“I’m very busy in the garden.”

Martha looked rather frightened.

“Eh! Miss Mary,” she said, “it may put him all out of humor when I tell
him that.”

But Mary was not as afraid of him as other people were and she was not
a self-sacrificing person.

“I can’t stay,” she answered. “Dickon’s waiting for me;” and she ran
away.

The afternoon was even lovelier and busier than the morning had been.
Already nearly all the weeds were cleared out of the garden and most of
the roses and trees had been pruned or dug about. Dickon had brought a
spade of his own and he had taught Mary to use all her tools, so that
by this time it was plain that though the lovely wild place was not
likely to become a “gardener’s garden” it would be a wilderness of
growing things before the springtime was over.

“There’ll be apple blossoms an’ cherry blossoms overhead,” Dickon said,
working away with all his might. “An’ there’ll be peach an’ plum trees
in bloom against th’ walls, an’ th’ grass’ll be a carpet o’ flowers.”

The little fox and the rook were as happy and busy as they were, and
the robin and his mate flew backward and forward like tiny streaks of
lightning. Sometimes the rook flapped his black wings and soared away
over the tree-tops in the park. Each time he came back and perched
near Dickon and cawed several times as if he were relating his
adventures, and Dickon talked to him just as he had talked to the
robin. Once when Dickon was so busy that he did not answer him at
first, Soot flew on to his shoulders and gently tweaked his ear with
his large beak. When Mary wanted to rest a little Dickon sat down with
her under a tree and once he took his pipe out of his pocket and played
the soft strange little notes and two squirrels appeared on the wall
and looked and listened.

“Tha’s a good bit stronger than tha’ was,” Dickon said, looking at her
as she was digging. “Tha’s beginning to look different, for sure.”

Mary was glowing with exercise and good spirits.

“I’m getting fatter and fatter every day,” she said quite exultantly.
“Mrs. Medlock will have to get me some bigger dresses. Martha says my
hair is growing thicker. It isn’t so flat and stringy.”

The sun was beginning to set and sending deep gold-colored rays
slanting under the trees when they parted.

“It’ll be fine tomorrow,” said Dickon. “I’ll be at work by sunrise.”

“So will I,” said Mary.

She ran back to the house as quickly as her feet would carry her. She
wanted to tell Colin about Dickon’s fox cub and the rook and about what
the springtime had been doing. She felt sure he would like to hear.
So it was not very pleasant when she opened the door of her room, to
see Martha standing waiting for her with a doleful face.

“What is the matter?” she asked. “What did Colin say when you told him
I couldn’t come?”

“Eh!” said Martha, “I wish tha’d gone. He was nigh goin’ into one o’
his tantrums. There’s been a nice to do all afternoon to keep him
quiet. He would watch the clock all th’ time.”

Mary’s lips pinched themselves together. She was no more used to
considering other people than Colin was and she saw no reason why an
ill-tempered boy should interfere with the thing she liked best. She
knew nothing about the pitifulness of people who had been ill and
nervous and who did not know that they could control their tempers and
need not make other people ill and nervous, too. When she had had a
headache in India she had done her best to see that everybody else also
had a headache or something quite as bad. And she felt she was quite
right; but of course now she felt that Colin was quite wrong.

He was not on his sofa when she went into his room. He was lying flat
on his back in bed and he did not turn his head toward her as she came
in. This was a bad beginning and Mary marched up to him with her stiff
manner.

“Why didn’t you get up?” she said.

“I did get up this morning when I thought you were coming,” he
answered, without looking at her. “I made them put me back in bed this
afternoon. My back ached and my head ached and I was tired. Why
didn’t you come?” “I was working in the garden with Dickon,” said Mary.

“I won’t let that boy come here if you go and stay with him instead of
coming to talk to me,” he said.

Mary flew into a fine passion. She could fly into a passion without
making a noise. She just grew sour and obstinate and did not care what
happened.

“If you send Dickon away, I’ll never come into this room again!” she
retorted.

“You’ll have to if I want you,” said Colin.

“I won’t!” said Mary.

“I’ll make you,” said Colin. “They shall drag you in.”

“Shall they, Mr. Rajah!” said Mary fiercely. “They may drag me in but
they can’t make me talk when they get me here. I’ll sit and clench my
teeth and never tell you one thing. I won’t even look at you. I’ll
stare at the floor!”

They were a nice agreeable pair as they glared at each other. If they
had been two little street boys they would have sprung at each other
and had a rough-and-tumble fight. As it was, they did the next thing
to it.

“You are a selfish thing!” cried Colin.

“What are you?” said Mary. “Selfish people always say that. Any one
is selfish who doesn’t do what they want. You’re more selfish than I
am. You’re the most selfish boy I ever saw.”

“I’m not!” snapped Colin. “I’m not as selfish as your fine Dickon is!
He keeps you playing in the dirt when he knows I am all by myself.
He’s selfish, if you like!”

Mary’s eyes flashed fire.

“He’s nicer than any other boy that ever lived!” she said. “He’s–he’s
like an angel!” It might sound rather silly to say that but she did not
care.

“A nice angel!” Colin sneered ferociously. “He’s a common cottage boy
off the moor!”

“He’s better than a common Rajah!” retorted Mary. “He’s a thousand
times better!”

Because she was the stronger of the two she was beginning to get the
better of him. The truth was that he had never had a fight with any
one like himself in his life and, upon the whole, it was rather good
for him, though neither he nor Mary knew anything about that. He
turned his head on his pillow and shut his eyes and a big tear was
squeezed out and ran down his cheek. He was beginning to feel pathetic
and sorry for himself–not for any one else.

“I’m not as selfish as you, because I’m always ill, and I’m sure there
is a lump coming on my back,” he said. “And I am going to die besides.”

“You’re not!” contradicted Mary unsympathetically.

He opened his eyes quite wide with indignation. He had never heard
such a thing said before. He was at once furious and slightly pleased,
if a person could be both at one time.

“I’m not?” he cried. “I am! You know I am! Everybody says so.”

“I don’t believe it!” said Mary sourly. “You just say that to make
people sorry. I believe you’re proud of it. I don’t believe it! If
you were a nice boy it might be true–but you’re too nasty!”

In spite of his invalid back Colin sat up in bed in quite a healthy
rage.

“Get out of the room!” he shouted and he caught hold of his pillow and
threw it at her. He was not strong enough to throw it far and it only
fell at her feet, but Mary’s face looked as pinched as a nutcracker.

“I’m going,” she said. “And I won’t come back!” She walked to the door
and when she reached it she turned round and spoke again.

“I was going to tell you all sorts of nice things,” she said. “Dickon
brought his fox and his rook and I was going to tell you all about
them. Now I won’t tell you a single thing!”

She marched out of the door and closed it behind her, and there to her
great astonishment she found the trained nurse standing as if she had
been listening and, more amazing still–she was laughing. She was a
big handsome young woman who ought not to have been a trained nurse at
all, as she could not bear invalids and she was always making excuses
to leave Colin to Martha or any one else who would take her place.
Mary had never liked her, and she simply stood and gazed up at her as
she stood giggling into her handkerchief..

“What are you laughing at?” she asked her.

“At you two young ones,” said the nurse. “It’s the best thing that
could happen to the sickly pampered thing to have some one to stand up
to him that’s as spoiled as himself;” and she laughed into her
handkerchief again. “If he’d had a young vixen of a sister to fight
with it would have been the saving of him.”

“Is he going to die?”

“I don’t know and I don’t care,” said the nurse. “Hysterics and temper
are half what ails him.”

“What are hysterics?” asked Mary.

“You’ll find out if you work him into a tantrum after this–but at any
rate you’ve given him something to have hysterics about, and I’m glad
of it.”

Mary went back to her room not feeling at all as she had felt when she
had come in from the garden. She was cross and disappointed but not at
all sorry for Colin. She had looked forward to telling him a great
many things and she had meant to try to make up her mind whether it
would be safe to trust him with the great secret. She had been
beginning to think it would be, but now she had changed her mind
entirely. She would never tell him and he could stay in his room and
never get any fresh air and die if he liked! It would serve him right!
She felt so sour and unrelenting that for a few minutes she almost
forgot about Dickon and the green veil creeping over the world and the
soft wind blowing down from the moor.

Martha was waiting for her and the trouble in her face had been
temporarily replaced by interest and curiosity. There was a wooden box
on the table and its cover had been removed and revealed that it was
full of neat packages.

“Mr. Craven sent it to you,” said Martha. “It looks as if it had
picture-books in it.”

Mary remembered what he had asked her the day she had gone to his room.
“Do you want anything–dolls–toys–books?” She opened the package
wondering if he had sent a doll, and also wondering what she should do
with it if he had. But he had not sent one. There were several
beautiful books such as Colin had, and two of them were about gardens
and were full of pictures. There were two or three games and there was
a beautiful little writing-case with a gold monogram on it and a gold
pen and inkstand.

Everything was so nice that her pleasure began to crowd her anger out
of her mind. She had not expected him to remember her at all and her
hard little heart grew quite warm.

“I can write better than I can print,” she said, “and the first thing I
shall write with that pen will be a letter to tell him I am much
obliged.”

If she had been friends with Colin she would have run to show him her
presents at once, and they would have looked at the pictures and read
some of the gardening books and perhaps tried playing the games, and he
would have enjoyed himself so much he would never once have thought he
was going to die or have put his hand on his spine to see if there was
a lump coming. He had a way of doing that which she could not bear.
It gave her an uncomfortable frightened feeling because he always
looked so frightened himself. He said that if he felt even quite a
little lump some day he should know his hunch had begun to grow.
Something he had heard Mrs. Medlock whispering to the nurse had given
him the idea and he had thought over it in secret until it was quite
firmly fixed in his mind. Mrs. Medlock had said his father’s back had
begun to show its crookedness in that way when he was a child. He had
never told any one but Mary that most of his “tantrums” as they called
them grew out of his hysterical hidden fear. Mary had been sorry for
him when he had told her.

“He always began to think about it when he was cross or tired,” she
said to herself. “And he has been cross today. Perhaps–perhaps he
has been thinking about it all afternoon.”

She stood still, looking down at the carpet and thinking.

“I said I would never go back again–” she hesitated, knitting her
brows–”but perhaps, just perhaps, I will go and see–if he wants
me–in the morning. Perhaps he’ll try to throw his pillow at me again,
but–I think–I’ll go.”

Katie and the remote for life

It was saturday morning, and Katie got up late. She finished her breakfast and suddenly remembered that “The Amazing Journey” was on television She did not normally watch a lot of TV – she preferred to see 360 Degree animations on her mum’s crystal ball – but this programme was a favorite. It was a Japanese animation about a boy and girl who were making a journey through amazing valleys and mountains. On the way they met all sorts of magical creatures, witches and demons. Cute animals, including a kung-fu rabbit and a souped-up squirrel, helped them fight off dangers. It was very fast, very colorful, way-out, exciting, and funny.

She ran upstairs and hunted around for the remote-control TV zapper. Eventually she found it down the side of the sofa. She pressed the red On button – but oh no ! – the programme was almost over.

“Never mind,” thought Katie, “It’s one of those smart TVs that you can rewind.” It was just like a DVD. You pressed the reverse button on the remote and watched all the characters run backwards very fast. Once you found the place you wanted, you could press “play” and sit back and watch. It was like magic. But unlike most other things in the house, it wasn’t actually magic. It was technology.

After the programme was over, she held the zapper in her hand and thought, “This little magic wand is very clever, as far as it goes. … If only I could use it in real life… but hold on, perhaps I can.”

On Monday, Katie and her mum got in the car and headed off for school. Half way there, Katie’s mum remembered that she had promised to take Isis that day. She turned round and headed back to Isis’s house. Then they got stuck in a traffic jam. In short, Katie and Isis were both 15 minutes late for school. Registration was over when they got there, and the children were getting up and leaving for their first lesson.

Miss Vile said: “Katie, Isis, why are you both late?” Katie began to tell the story, but somehow, as she spoke, it all sounded like a made-up excuse. She could see that Miss Vile did not believe her. It was so unfair, because it was true. All the other pupils had already left for their first lesson and now they would be both late for that one as well, and get into trouble twice over.

“Thank you,” said Miss Vile, when Katie had finished explaining. “You will both report for lunch-time detention.”

“But Miss Vile,” said Isis, “It wasn’t even my fault.”

“Enough! Don’t answer back. And Katie, what is that you are holding in your pocket?”

But Katie did not reply. Suddenly Miss Vile started to talk very fast and very strangely. Her body made rapid jerky movements, a bit like a robot gone wrong. She started to move backwards to her desk, still talking gibberish. Isis’s eyes were popping out with amazement and Katie was sniggering.

All the rest of the form started to come backwards into the class and sit down at their desks. katie and Isis were the only ones acting normally. It was as if they were not part of this strange happening, just watching it like on TV.

“Quick, sit down at your desk,” said Katie. And Isis, who only knew that Katie’s magic powers must have something to do with this, sat down..

Then Miss Vile and everyone froze and they looked like those dummies you see in shop windows. Isis shivered. It was rather spooky. But a moment later they started behaving just like normal. Miss Vile took the register and Katie and Isis were signed in – just as if they had arrived on time.

Katie smirked from ear to ear, and Isis had to try ever so hard just so as not to giggle. “sshhh” whispered Katie, and Isis kept her lips absolutely sealed. It was not until break time that she was able to catch her friend alone in the corner of the playground and say:

“Wow Katie, what you did this morning was amazing… is there any point in asking what exactly what happened?” And Katie pulled out her magic gadget and said:

“I did it with this. It’s my remote for life. I can reverse or pause people – just like TV. But the only thing I really can’t do is fast-forward. That’s against the witch’s code.”

Isis knew that if there was one thing in the entire world that she wanted it was that remote.

“Oh please, Katie, can I try?” she begged.

“I’m sorry,” said Katie, “but I’m not supposed to let a non-witch use it. You see, it doesn’t just reverse people, it reverse’s time too. You have to be really careful about that sort of thing.”

“But can I just see?”

“Well… I suppose so. It’s just an ordinary TV remote you know. I made a few little improvements with some spells I learned last night.”

Isis took the plastic remote in her hand. It was true – it looked like nothing particularly special. She held it out and pointed it at some boys who were playing football.

“No, Isis, look don’t… give it back! “ pleaded Katie. But Isis laughed and said “Just one little try.” Her finger pressed pause, and the boys all froze. It looked like they had just decided to play statues or something. Isis ran towards them and kicked the ball into goal. then she turned round and pressed play. A boy called Ivan shouted GOAAAAAALLL!

Now Katie started to chase her friend. But Isis thought it was all the funniest joke ever and fled across the playground. In doing so she bumped smack into Mr. Phillpot…

“Hey lass, look where you are going!”

“Sorry Sir,”

She ran into the school and skidded down the corridor SMACK right into Mrs. Hepworth the head teacher. Now, everyone knew that it was against the rules to run inside the building – let alone to go bumping into teachers.

“Isis…..DETENTION ON FRIDAY!” said Mrs. Hepworth, more flustered than she had been for a long time.

“Sorry Miss…. er, hang on a moment… I just want to show you something… and she took out the remote and pointed it at the headteacher.

“Isis – what’s that about?” stuttered Mrs. Hepworth. Isis’s fingers fumbled on the buttons… for a moment she fast forwarded Mrs Hepworth and saw her snarl rather scarily “Give that to me young madam!” but then she fingered the right button and reversed the head teacher back down the corridor. It was a chance to run the whole scene again, only differently. Next, Isis pressed play and calmly walked passed her. Katie saw all this happen and was powerless to do anything about it.

“How dare you do that !” she almost screamed when she caught up with her in the class room. “Give that back to me.” She lurched for her remote, but Isis pulled her hand away.

“What’s all this – are you two fighting?” said a stern voice. It was Miss Vile, standing in the door. If they were caught fighting, they would have to go to the timeout room while the office called their parents.

“No Miss,” said Katie. It’s, er, just a game.”

“Well it had better be,” said Miss Vile and walked on down the corridor. They had been lucky. It was not like Miss Vile to let people get away with just a ticking off.

“Na -Na -Na-Na-Na! “ sung naughty Isis and in an instant Miss Vile was back at the door. That surely meant detention – or worse. But ZAP! Isis paused her.

“Oh Isis!” said Katie. “Will you please stop doing that? You’re not a witch. You’re not supposed to. It could all go horribly wrong.”

“In will return it in just a moment,” said Isis as she made MIss Vile walk backwards out of the room. Only then, she handed over the remote to her friend and said, “Sorry Katie, I just So wanted to have a try. I can see it could be a bit dangerous!”

“A BIT!” said Katie. “You’re an amateur. You don’t know what you’re doing. You haven’t studied the rules of relativity. Anything could happen.”

“Well I did say sorry.”

“Humph,” said Katie. She didn’t actually want to fall out with her friend over a silly prank. After all, what had happened had been quite funny.

“Look,” said Katie. “I’m putting it back in the inside pocket of my blazer, and it’s staying there. Not I, not you, not anyone is ever going to use it at school again. It’s too dangerous. Right, now are we friends?”

“Friends,” said Isis. “Truly, I’m sorry. “

And of course Katie really did mean to leave the remote in her pocket. There were several occasions when it was really tempting to take it out and use it – like when Trish accidentally-on-purpose bumped into her when she was carrying a tray at lunch time. Katie slipped over, landed on the ground, and pink blancmange splattered all over her shirt. It would have been tempting to play that one back and trip Trish over. But she didn’t. And then, in the afternoon, they had Katie’s least favorite lesson of all – PE. It was like a kind of aerobics class where the teacher played the most naff music and everyone had to jump up and down like they had ants in their pants. Quite frankly, it was just exhausting, and Katie would have loved to fast-forward the teacher so that the class could stand still and watch just her jump up and down at super-speed. But she didn’t.

After PE, it was always a rush to get changed in time for the next lesson. Katie hurried along to Geography, but Isis took her time. In fact, she was 15 minutes late for class. Luckily, Mr. Hobsborn especially liked Isis and didn’t put her in detention. He accepted her feeble excuse that she was late because she had to talk to the Art Teacher about something secret.. . Who would believe a tall tale like that thought Katie?

But as it turned out, Isis’s story was true. It was finally the best time of the day of all – going home time. Isis said:

“Katie. I need your remote. It’s for something really important. I promise.”

“Not on your nellie!” exclaimed Katie. “No Way!”

“But Katie, listen… look don’t worry .. I’ll explain, it’s a chance to do some good in this big bad world.”

And Isis told her what had happened. After PE, she had heard somebody crying in the next-door changing room. She had thought it was a child and so she went in to find out what it was about. But it wasn’t a child. It was Miss Gupta the super-nice Art Teacher. Isis, who was brilliant at getting people to open up, got the whole story. Class 4E had run riot in the art room. Jossinda had started a play paint fight with Josh. Soon everyone was throwing paint and water and some of the tables had been over turned. The headteacher and two deputies had rushed in and restored order. But now Mrs. Hepworth was furious with Miss Gupta She said she had no control over children, and that she had had her last chance, and would have to leave the school.

Katie and Isis both loved Miss Gupta. She was an amazing art teacher who often gave up her lunch time and breaks to help pupils and sort out their problems.

Isis felt that she could talk to Miss Gupta like she was a friend. This is what she said.

“Please don’t cry. You know my friend Katie? Sometimes some strange stuff happens when she’s around. But you’re our favourite teacher and we’re going to help you. So get ready for something VERY weird to happen – You WILL have another chance, and this time – put the whole class in detention as soon as Jossinda so much as flicks a bit of paint.”

When Katie had heard the story she felt ever so sorry for Miss Gupta, but she was firm:

“No Isis. You’re asking me to wind back the whole school’s afternoon by an hour and a half. That’s a massive thing to do. It’s just not on.”

“Oh please!” said Isis. “We don’t want Miss Gupta to get the sack do we! Look I’ll do it. I’ll take the responsibility.”

“No you won’t.” said Katie. “If anyone is going to do a major piece of magic like that, it had better be a witch.”

“Great ! So you will do it,” said Isis brightly

“Well maybe…” Katie glanced at her watch. “I do feel sorry for Miss Gupta…”

“FAB!” said Isis. “Let’s hurry.”

To do such a big piece of magic, Katie had to stand back from the school. The two girls ran out into the playground. A few boys were staying late after school to kick a football around. Most of the other kids were pouring out of the front of the school.

Katie firmly held the Zappa and pointed it at the building.

“I’ll be summoning up all my magical energy,” she said. “So you watch the school clock and tell me when it gets back to five to two. “

She pressed the reverse button and concentrated super hard. The hands of the clock were going backwards. The boys played football in reverse and then backed into the school. It took at least a couple of minutes to wind back the whole afternoon. Katie muttered her spell, making sure that the only people who would see that time was gong backwards were were herself, Isis, and Miss. Gupta. Everyone else would not have a clue. It would be like they were going through the afternoon for the first time.

“Now!” said Isis. And Katie stopped reversing at exactly at five to two. She pressed pause, and the two girls walked calmly passed all the frozen teachers and children to their lesson. Isis stuck her tongue out at the headteacher as she went past her. And then for a moment she got a fright when thought she saw her move… but it was just her imagination.

They went to their lesson. The nasty PE lesson. And Katie and Isis and all the other children had to jump up and down like lunatics again. it was SO exhausting. Katie thought her legs would drop off. But at the end of PE, things were looking good. Isis listened out for the sound of crying in the next changing room, and didn’t hear it.

“Brilliant,” she said. “She’s done it.”

And the gossip in the corridor confirmed that the whole of 4E were in detention for playing up Miss Gupta. Samantha said :

“Good for Miss Gupta. She’s come out fighting at last.”

Then they had to sit through the really boring geography lesson again. In fact, it was even more boring the second time around, but at least Katie now knew that the river Nile flows into the sea in Egypt, because she had heard it before. For the first time ever, she got all the answers right in a geography test.

It was the end of the school day for the second time. Katie and Isis were both totally tiered out.

“That was the most boring geography lesson EVER!” said Isis. “But it was worth it if we saved Miss Gupta.

They dragged themselves over to the art room. There they found a happy looking art teacher tidying up. She saw the two exhausted girls standing in the door.

“Thank you,” she said, “I really own you one.”

“That’s okay,” said Katie. “Just don’t ever tell anyone anything about it. Not even your boyfriend! “

“I promise,” said Miss Gupta.

As they headed for the school gate, Isis said:

“That was worth it. But doing the school afternoon twice was torture. It was worse than double detention.”

“I know,” said Katie. “Messing around with time is way too tiering – even for a witch like me.”

O little town of Bethlehem,
How still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by.
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting Light;
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee to-night.

O morning stars, together
Proclaim the holy birth!
And praises sing to God the King,
And peace to men on earth.
For Christ is born of Mary
And gathered all above,
While mortals sleep the Angels keep
Their watch of wondering love.

How silently, how silently,
The wondrous gift is given;
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of His Heaven.
No ear may hear His coming,
But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive Him still,
The dear Christ enters in.

O holy Child of Bethlehem,
Descend to us, we pray!
Cast out our sin and enter in,
Be born in us to-day.
We hear the Christmas angels,
The great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us,
Our Lord Emmanuel!

Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988)

The Iran-Iraq War permanently altered the course of Iraqi history. It strained Iraqi political and social life, and led to severe economic dislocations. Viewed from a historical perspective, the outbreak of hostilities in 1980 was, in part, just another phase of the ancient Persian-Arab conflict that had been fueled by twentieth-century border disputes. Many observers, however, believe that Saddam Hussein's decision to invade Iran was a personal miscalculation based on ambition and a sense of vulnerability. Saddam Hussein, despite having made significant strides in forging an Iraqi nation-state, feared that Iran's new revolutionary leadership would threaten Iraq's delicate SunniShia balance and would exploit Iraq's geostrategic vulnerabilities--Iraq's minimal access to the Persian Gulf, for example. In this respect, Saddam Hussein's decision to invade Iran has historical precedent; the ancient rulers of Mesopotamia, fearing internal strife and foreign conquest, also engaged in frequent battles with the peoples of the highlands.

The Iran-Iraq War was multifaceted and included religious schisms, border disputes, and political differences. Conflicts contributing to the outbreak of hostilities ranged from centuries-old Sunni-versus-Shia and Arab-versus-Persian religious and ethnic disputes, to a personal animosity between Saddam Hussein and Ayatollah Khomeini. Above all, Iraq launched the war in an effort to consolidate its rising power in the Arab world and to replace Iran as the dominant Persian Gulf state. Phebe Marr, a noted analyst of Iraqi affairs, stated that "the war was more immediately the result of poor political judgement and miscalculation on the part of Saddam Hussein," and "the decision to invade, taken at a moment of Iranian weakness, was Saddam's".

Iraq claimed territories inhabited by Arabs (the Southwestern oil-producing province of Iran called Khouzestan), as well as Iraq's right over Shatt el-Arab (Arvandroud). Iraq and Iran had engaged in border clashes for many years and had revived the dormant Shatt al Arab waterway dispute in 1979. Iraq claimed the 200-kilometer channel up to the Iranian shore as its territory, while Iran insisted that the thalweg--a line running down the middle of the waterway--negotiated last in 1975, was the official border. The Iraqis, especially the Baath leadership, regarded the 1975 treaty as merely a truce, not a definitive settlement.

The Iraqis also perceived revolutionary Iran's Islamic agenda as threatening to their pan-Arabism. Khomeini, bitter over his expulsion from Iraq in 1977 after fifteen years in An Najaf, vowed to avenge Shia victims of Baathist repression. Baghdad became more confident, however, as it watched the once invincible Imperial Iranian Army disintegrate, as most of its highest ranking officers were executed. In Khuzestan (Arabistan to the Iraqis), Iraqi intelligence officers incited riots over labor disputes, and in the Kurdish region, a new rebellion caused the Khomeini government severe troubles.

As the Baathists planned their military campaign, they had every reason to be confident. Not only did the Iranians lack cohesive leadership, but the Iranian armed forces, according to Iraqi intelligence estimates, also lacked spare parts for their American-made equipment. Baghdad, on the other hand, possessed fully equipped and trained forces. Morale was running high. Against Iran's armed forces, including the Pasdaran (Revolutionary Guard) troops, led by religious mullahs with little or no military experience, the Iraqis could muster twelve complete mechanized divisions, equipped with the latest Soviet materiel. With the Iraqi military buildup in the late 1970s, Saddam Hussein had assembled an army of 190,000 men, augmented by 2,200 tanks and 450 aircraft.

In addition, the area across the Shatt al Arab posed no major obstacles, particularly for an army equipped with Soviet river-crossing equipment. Iraqi commanders correctly assumed that crossing sites on the Khardeh and Karun rivers were lightly defended against their mechanized armor divisions; moreover, Iraqi intelligence sources reported that Iranian forces in Khuzestan, which had formerly included two divisions distributed among Ahvaz, Dezful, and Abadan, now consisted of only a number of ill-equipped battalion-sized formations. Tehran was further disadvantaged because the area was controlled by the Regional 1st Corps headquartered at Bakhtaran (formerly Kermanshah), whereas operational control was directed from the capital. In the year following the shah's overthrow, only a handful of company-sized tank units had been operative, and the rest of the armored equipment had been poorly maintained.

For Iraqi planners, the only uncertainty was the fighting ability of the Iranian air force, equipped with some of the most sophisticated American-made aircraft. Despite the execution of key air force commanders and pilots, the Iranian air force had displayed its might during local riots and demonstrations. The air force was also active in the wake of the failed United States attempt to rescue American hostages in April 1980. This show of force had impressed Iraqi decision makers to such an extent that they decided to launch a massive preemptive air strike on Iranian air bases in an effort similar to the one that Israel employed during the June 1967 Arab-Israeli War.

Iraqi Offensives, 1980-82

Despite the Iraqi government's concern, the eruption of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran did not immediately destroy the Iraqi-Iranian rapprochement that had prevailed since the 1975 Algiers Agreement. As a sign of Iraq's desire to maintain good relations with the new government in Tehran, President Bakr sent a personal message to Khomeini offering "his best wishes for the friendly Iranian people on the occasion of the establishment of the Islamic Republic." In addition, as late as the end of August 1979, Iraqi authorities extended an invitation to Mehdi Bazargan, the first president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, to visit Iraq with the aim of improving bilateral relations. The fall of the moderate Bazargan government in late 1979, however, and the rise of Islamic militants preaching an expansionist foreign policy soured Iraqi-Iranian relations.

The principal events that touched off the rapid deterioration in relations occurred during the spring of 1980. In April the Iranian-supported Ad Dawah attempted to assassinate Iraqi foreign minister Tariq Aziz. Shortly after the failed grenade attack on Tariq Aziz, Ad Dawah was suspected of attempting to assassinate another Iraqi leader, Minister of Culture and Information Latif Nayyif Jasim. In response, the Iraqis immediately rounded up members and supporters of Ad Dawah and deported to Iran thousands of Shias of Iranian origin. In the summer of 1980, Saddam Hussein ordered the executions of presumed Ad Dawah leader Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad Baqr as Sadr and his sister.

In September 1980, border skirmishes erupted in the central sector near Qasr-e Shirin, with an exchange of artillery fire by both sides. A few weeks later, Saddam Hussein officially abrogated the 1975 treaty between Iraq and Iran and announced that the Shatt al Arab was returning to Iraqi sovereignty. Iran rejected this action and hostilities escalated as the two sides exchanged bombing raids deep into each other's territory, beginning what was to be a protracted and extremely costly war.

Baghdad originally planned a quick victory over Tehran. Saddam expected the invasion of the in the Arabic-speaking, oil-rich area of Khuzistan to result in an Arab uprising against Khomeini's fundamentalist Islamic regime. This revolt did not materialize, however, and the Arab minority remained loyal to Tehran.

On September 22, 1980, formations of Iraqi MiG-23s and MiG21s attacked Iran's air bases at Mehrabad and Doshen-Tappen (both near Tehran), as well as Tabriz, Bakhtaran, Ahvaz, Dezful, Urmia (sometimes cited as Urumiyeh), Hamadan, Sanandaj, and Abadan. Their aim was to destroy the Iranian air force on the ground--a lesson learned from the Arab-Israeli June 1967 War. They succeeded in destroying runways and fuel and ammunition depots, but much of Iran's aircraft inventory was left intact. Iranian defenses were caught by surprise, but the Iraqi raids failed because Iranian jets were protected in specially strengthened hangars and because bombs designed to destroy runways did not totally incapacitate Iran's very large airfields. Within hours, Iranian F-4 Phantoms took off from the same bases, successfully attacked strategically important targets close to major Iraqi cities, and returned home with very few losses.

Simultaneously, six Iraqi army divisions entered Iran on three fronts in an initially successful surprise attack, where they drove as far as eight kilometers inland and occupied 1,000 square kilometers of Iranian territory.

As a diversionary move on the northern front, an Iraqi mechanized mountain infantry division overwhelmed the border garrison at Qasr-e Shirin, a border town in Bakhtaran (formerly known as Kermanshahan) Province, and occupied territory thirty kilometers eastward to the base of the Zagros Mountains. This area was strategically significant because the main Baghdad-Tehran highway traversed it.

On the central front, Iraqi forces captured Mehran, on the western plain of the Zagros Mountains in Ilam Province, and pushed eastward to the mountain base. Mehran occupied an important position on the major north-south road, close to the border on the Iranian side.

The main thrust of the attack was in the south, where five armored and mechanized divisions invaded Khuzestan on two axes, one crossing over the Shatt al Arab near Basra, which led to the siege and eventual occupation of Khorramshahr, and the second heading for Susangerd, which had Ahvaz, the major military base in Khuzestan, as its objective. Iraqi armored units easily crossed the Shatt al Arab waterway and entered the Iranian province of Khuzestan. Dehloran and several other towns were targeted and were rapidly occupied to prevent reinforcement from Bakhtaran and from Tehran. By mid-October, a full division advanced through Khuzestan headed for Khorramshahr and Abadan and the strategic oil fields nearby. Other divisions headed toward Ahvaz, the provincial capital and site of an air base. Supported by heavy artillery fire, the troops made a rapid and significant advance--almost eighty kilometers in the first few days. In the battle for Dezful in Khuzestan, where a major air base is located, the local Iranian army commander requested air support in order to avoid a defeat. President Bani Sadr, therefore, authorized the release from jail of many pilots, some of whom were suspected of still being loyal to the shah. With the increased use of the Iranian air force, the Iraqi progress was somewhat curtailed.

The last major Iraqi territorial gain took place in early November 1980. On November 3, Iraqi forces reached Abadan but were repulsed by a Pasdaran unit. Even though they surrounded Abadan on three sides and occupied a portion of the city, the Iraqis could not overcome the stiff resistance; sections of the city still under Iranian control were resupplied by boat at night. On November 10, Iraq captured Khorramshahr after a bloody house-to-house fight. The price of this victory was high for both sides, approximately 6,000 casualties for Iraq and even more for Iran.

Iraq's blitz-like assaults against scattered and demoralized Iranian forces led many observers to think that Baghdad would win the war within a matter of weeks. Indeed, Iraqi troops did capture the Shatt al Arab and did seize a forty-eight-kilometer- wide strip of Iranian territory.

Iran may have prevented a quick Iraqi victory by a rapid mobilization of volunteers and deployment of loyal Pasdaran forces to the front. Besides enlisting the Iranian pilots, the new revolutionary regime also recalled veterans of the old imperial army, although many experienced officers, most of whom had been trained in the United States, had been purged. Furthermore, the Pasdaran and Basij (what Khomeini called the "Army of Twenty Million" or People's Militia) recruited at least 100,000 volunteers. Approximately 200,000 soldiers were sent to the front by the end of November 1980. They were ideologically committed troops (some members even carried their own shrouds to the front in the expectation of martyrdom) that fought bravely despite inadequate armor support. For example, on November 7 commando units played a significant role, with the navy and air force, in an assault on Iraqi oil export terminals at Mina al Bakr and Al Faw. Iran hoped to diminish Iraq's financial resources by reducing its oil revenues. Iran also attacked the northern pipeline in the early days of the war and persuaded Syria to close the Iraqi pipeline that crossed its territory.

Iran's resistance at the outset of the Iraqi invasion was unexpectedly strong, but it was neither well organized nor equally successful on all fronts. Iraq easily advanced in the northern and central sections and crushed the Pasdaran's scattered resistance there. Iraqi troops, however, faced untiring resistance in Khuzestan. President Saddam Hussein of Iraq may have thought that the approximately 3 million Arabs of Khuzestan would join the Iraqis against Tehran. Instead, many allied with Iran's regular and irregular armed forces and fought in the battles at Dezful, Khorramshahr, and Abadan. Soon after capturing Khorramshahr, the Iraqi troops lost their initiative and began to dig in along their line of advance.

Tehran rejected a settlement offer and held the line against the militarily superior Iraqi force. It refused to accept defeat, and slowly began a series of counteroffensives in January 1981. Both the volunteers and the regular armed forces were eager to fight, the latter seeing an opportunity to regain prestige lost because of their association with the shah's regime.

Iran's first major counterattack failed, however, for political and military reasons. President Bani Sadr was engaged in a power struggle with key religious figures and eager to gain political support among the armed forces by direct involvement in military operations. Lacking military expertise, he initiated a premature attack by three regular armored regiments without the assistance of the Pasdaran units. He also failed to take into account that the ground near Susangerd, muddied by the preceding rainy season, would make resupply difficult. As a result of his tactical decision making, the Iranian forces were surrounded on three sides. In a long exchange of fire, many Iranian armored vehicles were destroyed or had to be abandoned because they were either stuck in the mud or needed minor repairs. Fortunately for Iran, however, the Iraqi forces failed to follow up with another attack.

Iran stopped Iraqi forces on the Karun River and, with limited military stocks, unveiled its "human wave" assaults, which used thousands of Basij (Popular Mobilization Army or People's Army) volunteers. After Bani Sadr was ousted as president and commander in chief, Iran gained its first major victory, when, as a result of Khomeini's initiative, the army and Pasdaran suppressed their rivalry and cooperated to force Baghdad to lift its long siege of Abadan in September 1981. Iranian forces also defeated Iraq in the Qasr-e Shirin area in December 1981 and January 1982. The Iraqi armed forces were hampered by their unwillingness to sustain a high casualty rate and therefore refused to initiate a new offensive.

Despite Iraqi success in causing major damage to exposed Iranian ammunition and fuel dumps in the early days of the war, the Iranian air force prevailed initially in the air war. One reason was that Iranian airplanes could carry two or three times more bombs or rockets than their Iraqi counterparts. Moreover, Iranian pilots demonstrated considerable expertise. For example, the Iranian air force attacked Baghdad and key Iraqi air bases as early as the first few weeks of the war, seeking to destroy supply and support systems. The attack on Iraq's oil field complex and air base at Al Walid, the base for T-22 and Il-28 bombers, was a well-coordinated assault. The targets were more than 800 kilometers from Iran's closest air base at Urumiyeh, so the F-4s had to refuel in midair for the mission. Iran's air force relied on F-4s and F-5s for assaults and a few F-14s for reconnaissance. Although Iran used its Maverick missiles effectively against ground targets, lack of airplane spare parts forced Iran to substitute helicopters for close air support. Helicopters served not only as gunships and troop carriers but also as emergency supply transports. In the mountainous area near Mehran, helicopters proved advantageous in finding and destroying targets and maneuvering against antiaircraft guns or man-portable missiles. During Operation Karbala Five and Operation Karbala Six, the Iranians reportedly engaged in large-scale helicopter-borne operations on the southern and central fronts, respectively. Chinooks and smaller Bell helicopters, such as the Bell 214A, were escorted by Sea Cobra choppers.

In confronting the Iraqi air defense, Iran soon discovered that a low-flying group of two, three, or four F-4s could hit targets almost anywhere in Iraq. Iranian pilots overcame Iraqi SA-2 and SA-3 antiaircraft missiles, using American tactics developed in Vietnam; they were less successful against Iraqi SA-6s. Iran's Western-made air defense system seemed more effective than Iraq's Soviet-made counterpart. Nevertheless, Iran experienced difficulty in operating and maintaining Hawk, Rapier, and Tigercat missiles and instead used antiaircraft guns and man-portable missiles.

Iraqi Retreats, 1982-84

The Iranian high command passed from regular military leaders to clergy in mid-1982.

In March 1982, Tehran launched its Operation Undeniable Victory, which marked a major turning point, as Iran penetrated Iraq's "impenetrable" lines, split Iraq's forces, and forced the Iraqis to retreat. Its forces broke the Iraqi line near Susangerd, separating Iraqi units in northern and southern Khuzestan. Within a week, they succeeded in destroying a large part of three Iraqi divisions. This operation, another combined effort of the army, Pasdaran, and Basij, was a turning point in the war because the strategic initiative shifted from Iraq to Iran.

In May 1982, Iranian units finally regained Khorramshahr, but with high casualties. After this victory, the Iranians maintained the pressure on the remaining Iraqi forces, and President Saddam Hussein announced that the Iraqi units would withdraw from Iranian territory. Saddam ordered a withdrawal to the international borders, believing Iran would agree to end the war. Iran did not accept this withdrawal as the end of the conflict, and continued the war into Iraq. In late June 1982, Baghdad stated its willingness to negotiate a settlement of the war and to withdraw its forces from Iran. Iran refused.

In July 1982 Iran launched Operation Ramadan on Iraqi territory, near Basra. Although Basra was within range of Iranian artillery, the clergy used "human-wave" attacks by the Pasdaran and Basij against the city's defenses, apparently waiting for a coup to topple Saddam Hussein. Tehran used Pasdaran forces and Basij volunteers in one of the biggest land battles since 1945. Ranging in age from only nine to more than fifty, these eager but relatively untrained soldiers swept over minefields and fortifications to clear safe paths for the tanks. All such assaults faced Iraqi artillery fire and received heavy casualties. The Iranians sustained an immmense number of casualties, but they enabled Iran to recover some territory before the Iraqis could repulse the bulk of the invading forces.

By the end of 1982, Iraq had been resupplied with new Soviet materiel, and the ground war entered a new phase. Iraq used newly acquired T-55 tanks and T-62 tanks, BM-21 Stalin Organ rocket launchers, and Mi-24 helicopter gunships to prepare a Soviet-type three-line defense, replete with obstacles, minefields, and fortified positions. The Combat Engineer Corps proved efficient in constructing bridges across water obstacles, in laying minefields, and in preparing new defense lines and fortifications.

Throughout 1983 both sides demonstrated their ability to absorb and to inflict severe losses. Iraq, in particular, proved adroit at constructing defensive strong points and flooding lowland areas to stymie the Iranian thrusts, hampering the advance of mechanized units. Both sides also experienced difficulties in effectively utilizing their armor. Rather than maneuver their armor, they tended to dig in tanks and use them as artillery pieces. Furthermore, both sides failed to master tank gunsights and fire controls, making themselves vulnerable to antitank weapons.

In 1983 Iran launched three major, but unsuccessful, humanwave offensives, with huge losses, along the frontier. On February 6, Tehran, using 200,000 "last reserve" Pasdaran troops, attacked along a 40-kilometer stretch near Al Amarah, about 200 kilometers southeast of Baghdad. Backed by air, armor, and artillery support, Iran's six-division thrust was strong enough to break through. In response, Baghdad used massive air attacks, with more than 200 sorties, many flown by attack helicopters. More than 6,000 Iranians were killed that day, while achieving only minute gains. In April 1983, the Mandali-Baghdad northcentral sector witnessed fierce fighting, as repeated Iranian attacks were stopped by Iraqi mechanized and infantry divisions. Casualties were very high, and by the end of 1983, an estimated 120,000 Iranians and 60,000 Iraqis had been killed. Despite these losses, in 1983 Iran held a distinct advantage in the attempt to wage and eventually to win the war of attrition.

Beginning in 1984, Baghdad's military goal changed from controlling Iranian territory to denying Tehran any major gain inside Iraq. Furthermore, Iraq tried to force Iran to the negotiating table by various means. First, President Saddam Hussein sought to increase the war's manpower and economic cost to Iran. For this purpose, Iraq purchased new weapons, mainly from the Soviet Union and France. Iraq also completed the construction of what came to be known as "killing zones" (which consisted primarily of artificially flooded areas near Basra) to stop Iranian units. In addition, according to Jane's Defence Weekly and other sources, Baghdad used chemical weapons against Iranian troop concentrations and launched attacks on many economic centers. Despite Iraqi determination to halt further Iranian progress, Iranian units in March 1984 captured parts of the Majnun Islands, whose oil fields had economic as well as strategic value.

Second, Iraq turned to diplomatic and political means. In April 1984, Saddam Hussein proposed to meet Khomeini personally in a neutral location to discuss peace negotiations. But Tehran rejected this offer and restated its refusal to negotiate with President Hussein.

Third, Iraq sought to involve the superpowers as a means of ending the war. The Iraqis believed this objective could be achieved by attacking Iranian shipping. Initially, Baghdad used borrowed French Super Etendard aircraft armed with Exocets. In 1984 Iraq returned these airplanes to France and purchased approximately thirty Mirage F-1 fighters equipped with Exocet missiles. Iraq launched a new series of attacks on shipping on February 1, 1984.

The War of Attrition, 1984-87

By 1984 it was reported that some 300,000 Iranian soldiers and 250,000 Iraqi troops had been killed, or wounded. Most foreign military analysts felt that neither Iraq nor Iran used its modern equipment efficiently. Frequently, sophisticated materiel was left unused, when a massive modern assault could have won the battle for either side. Tanks and armored vehicles were dug in and used as artillery pieces, instead of being maneuvered to lead or to support an assault. William O. Staudenmaeir, a seasoned military analyst, reported that "the land-computing sights on the Iraqi tanks [were] seldom used. This lower[ed] the accuracy of the T-62 tanks to World War II standards." In addition, both sides frequently abandoned heavy equipment in the battle zone because they lacked the skilled technical personnel needed to carry out minor repairs.

Analysts also assert that the two states' armies showed little coordination and that some units in the field have been left to fight largely on their own. In this protracted war of attrition, soldiers and officers alike failed to display initiative or professional expertise in combat. Difficult decisions, which should have had immediate attention, were referred by section commanders to the capitals for action. Except for the predictable bursts on important anniversaries, by the mid-1980s the war was stalemated.

In early 1984, Iran had begun Operation Dawn V, which was meant to split the Iraqi 3rd Army Corps and 4th Army Corps near Basra. In early 1984, an estimated 500,000 Pasdaran and Basij forces, using shallow boats or on foot, moved to within a few kilometers of the strategic Basra-Baghdad waterway. Between February 29 and March 1, in one of the largest battles of the war, the two armies clashed and inflicted more than 25,000 fatalities on each other. Without armored and air support of their own, the Iranians faced Iraqi tanks, mortars, and helicopter gunships. Within a few weeks, Tehran opened another front in the shallow lakes of the Hawizah Marshes, just east of Al Qurnah, in Iraq, near the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Iraqi forces, using Soviet- and French-made helicopter gunships, inflicted heavy casualties on the five Iranian brigades (15,000 men) in this Battle of Majnun.

Lacking the equipment to open secure passages through Iraqi minefields, and having too few tanks, the Iranian command again resorted to the human-wave tactic. In March 1984, an East European journalist claimed that he "saw tens of thousands of children, roped together in groups of about twenty to prevent the faint-hearted from deserting, make such an attack." The Iranians made little, if any, progress despite these sacrifices. Perhaps as a result of this performance, Tehran, for the first time, used a regular army unit, the 92nd Armored Division, at the Battle of the Marshes a few weeks later.

Within a four-week period between February and March 1984, the Iraqis reportedly killed 40,000 Iranians and lost 9,000 of their own men, but even this was deemed an unacceptable ratio, and in February the Iraqi command ordered the use of chemical weapons. Despite repeated Iraqi denials, between May 1981 and March 1984, Iran charged Iraq with forty uses of chemical weapons. The year 1984 closed with part of the Majnun Islands and a few pockets of Iraqi territory in Iranian hands. Casualties notwithstanding, Tehran had maintained its military posture, while Baghdad was reevaluating its overall strategy.

The major development in 1985 was the increased targeting of population centers and industrial facilities by both combatants. In May Iraq began aircraft attacks, long-range artillery attacks, and surface-to-surface missile attacks on Tehran and on other major Iranian cities. Between August and November, Iraq raided Khark Island forty-four times in a futile attempt to destroy its installations. Iran responded with its own air raids and missile attacks on Baghdad and other Iraqi towns. In addition, Tehran systematized its periodic stop-and-search operations, which were conducted to verify the cargo contents of ships in the Persian Gulf and to seize war materiel destined for Iraq.

The Iraqi Air Force's first real strategic bombing campaign, the so-called war of the cities, aimed at breaking civilian morale and disrupting military targets. Iraq's two efforts early in 1985, from 14 March to 7 April and 25 May to 15 June, were reportedly very effective. Opposition from the Iranian Air Force was negligible to nonexistent, as the Iraqis hit air bases and military and industrial targets all over Iran (in Tabriz, Urmia, Rasht, Bakhteran, Hamadan, Tehran, Isfahan, Dezful, Ahvaz, Kharg, Bushehr, and Shiraz). Even Iraq's lumbering old Tu-16 bombers were getting through, presumably with MiG-25 and Mirage F-1 escorts, as the Iraqis hit targets as far away as Kashan, more than 360 miles from their own bases. Iran's official Kayhan daily confirmed this, reporting that Tehran was being bombed by "Tupolevs (Tu-16 Badger and Tu-22 Blinder bombers) flying at very high altitudes." The brunt of Iraq's bombing offensive, borne by nearly 600 smaller Iraqi combat planes, has fallen on Tehran in an effort to crush Iranian morale. the Iraqis boasted of 180-plane raids on the Iranian capital. Antiwar feeling in Tehran was at an all-time high, as the Iraqis hit the city an average of twice a day and, on two occasions, six times. Among the areas hit were the Bagh-e Saba Revolutionary Guard Barracks, Tehran's main power station, the Military Staff College, the Military Academy, the main army barracks, and the Abbas Abbad Army Base. Southern Tehran's locomotive works and the heavy industrial area near Javadieh were also hit, and even the three military airfields that were supposed to protect the city-Mehrabad, Jey, and Qual'eh Murgeh-were repeatedly attacked with impunity.

Iraq's air force and 'Scud' stikes at Iranian cities pushed the Islamic Republic to look for a comparable response. Iran began the Iran-Iraq War with no SSM capability but managed to import SS-1 'Scud Bs' (R-17Es) in 1985 from Libya and in 1986 from Syria. The Revolutionary Guard Corps, which took charge of the weapons, used them against Iraq between 1985 and 1988. Iran used 'Scud Bs' from Syria, Libya and possibly North Korea against major cities, including Baghdad and Basra. During this first war of the cities, Iran's strategic depth prevented Iraq's missiles from reaching major targets such as Tehran. By 1988, however, Iraq had developed its extended range 'Scud', the al-Hussein, and took Iran by surprise with its strikes on key urban conurbations. In the spring of 1988, Iraq launched up to 200 SSMs against Tehran, Qom and Isfahan. Although only 2000 people were killed in these attacks, they caused panic in the populace and hundreds of thousands fled the cities.

During the war, Iranian leaders frequently exaggerated their capabilities in the missile field. Although their 'Scud Bs' could hit Baghdad, these weapons lacked the accuracy or destructive power to do significant damage. In addition, Iran was unable to match Iraq's quantity of missiles. Iraq fired 361 'Scud Bs' at Iran from 1982 to 1988 and about 160 al-Hussein's at Tehran in early 1988. In contrast, Iran fired 117 'Scuds' throughout the war, including perhaps 60 fired at Baghdad.

The only major ground offensive, involving an estimated 60,000 Iranian troops, occurred in March 1985, near Basra; once again, the assault proved inconclusive except for heavy casualties. In 1986, however, Iraq suffered a major loss in the southern region. On February 9, Iran launched a successful surprise amphibious assault across the Shatt al Arab and captured the abandoned Iraqi oil port of Al Faw. The occupation of Al Faw, a logistical feat, involved 30,000 regular Iranian soldiers who rapidly entrenched themselves. Saddam Hussein vowed to eliminate the bridgehead "at all costs," and in April 1988 the Iraqis succeeded in regaining the Al Faw peninsula.

Late, in March 1986, the UN secretary general, Javier Perez de Cuellar, formally accused Iraq of using chemical weapons against Iran. Citing the report of four chemical warfare experts whom the UN had sent to Iran in February and March 1986, the secretary general called on Baghdad to end its violation of the 1925 Geneva Protocol on the use of chemical weapons. The UN report concluded that "Iraqi forces have used chemical warfare against Iranian forces"; the weapons used included both mustard gas and nerve gas. The report further stated that "the use of chemical weapons appear[ed] to be more extensive [in 1981] than in 1984." Iraq attempted to deny using chemicals, but the evidence, in the form of many badly burned casualties flown to European hospitals for treatment, was overwhelming. According to a British representative at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva in July 1986, "Iraqi chemical warfare was responsible for about 10,000 casualties." In March 1988, Iraq was again charged with a major use of chemical warfare while retaking Halabjah, a Kurdish town in northeastern Iraq, near the Iranian border.

Unable in 1986, however, to dislodge the Iranians from Al Faw, the Iraqis went on the offensive; they captured the city of Mehran in May, only to lose it in July 1986. The rest of 1986 witnessed small hit-and-run attacks by both sides, while the Iranians massed almost 500,000 troops for another promised "final offensive," which did not occur. But the Iraqis, perhaps for the first time since the outbreak of hostilities, began a concerted air-strike campaign in July. Heavy attacks on Khark Island forced Iran to rely on makeshift installations farther south in the Gulf at Sirri Island and Larak Island. Thereupon, Iraqi jets, refueling in midair or using a Saudi military base, hit Sirri and Larak. The two belligerents also attacked 111 neutral ships in the Gulf in 1986.

Meanwhile, to help defend itself, Iraq had built impressive fortifications along the 1,200-kilometer war front. Iraq devoted particular attention to the southern city of Basra, where concrete-roofed bunkers, tank- and artillery-firing positions, minefields, and stretches of barbed wire, all shielded by an artificially flooded lake 30 kilometers long and 1,800 meters wide, were constructed. Most visitors to the area acknowledged Iraq's effective use of combat engineering to erect these barriers.

By late 1986, rumors of a final Iranian offensive against Basra proliferated. On 08 January 1987, Operation Karbala Five began, with Iranian units pushing westward between Fish Lake and the Shatt al Arab. This annual "final offensive" captured the town of Duayji and inflicted 20,000 casualties on Iraq, but at the cost of 65,000 Iranian casualties. In this intensive operation, Baghdad also lost forty-five airplanes. Attempting to capture Basra, Tehran launched several attacks, some of them well-disguised diversion assaults such as Operation Karbala Six and Operation Karbala Seven. Iran finally aborted Operation Karbala Five on 26 February 1987. Although the Iranian push came close to breaking Iraq's last line of defense east of Basra, Tehran was unable to score the decisive breakthrough required to win outright victory, or even to secure relative gains over Iraq.

In late May 1987, just when the war seemed to have reached a complete stalemate on the southern front, reports from Iran indicated that the conflict was intensifying on Iraq's northern front. This assault, Operation Karbala Ten, was a joint effort by Iranian units and Iraqi Kurdish rebels. They surrounded the garrison at Mawat, endangering Iraq's oil fields near Kirkuk and the northern oil pipeline to Turkey.

Believing it could win the war merely by holding the line and inflicting unacceptable losses on the attacking Iranians, Iraq initially adopted a static defensive strategy. This was successful in repelling successive Iranian offensives until 1986 and 1987, when the Al-Faw peninsula was lost and Iranian troops reached the gates of Al-Basrah. Embarrassed by the loss of the peninsula and concerned by the threat to his second largest city, Saddam ordered a change in strategy. From a defensive posture, in which the only offensive operations were counterattacks to relieve forces under pressure or to exploit failed Iranian assaults, the Iraqis adopted an offensive strategy. More decision-making authority was delegated to senior military commanders. The change also indicated a maturing of Iraqi military capabilities and an improvement in the armed forces' effectiveness. The success of this new strategy, plus the attendant change in doctrine and procedures, virtually eliminated Iranian military capabilities.

As the war continued, Iran was increasingly short of spare parts for damaged airplanes and had lost a large number of airplanes in combat. As a result, by late 1987 Iran had become less able to mount an effective defense against the resupplied Iraqi air force, let alone stage aerial counterattacks.

Coordinates: 32°N 53°E / 32°N 53°E / 32; 53

Islamic Republic of Iran جمهوری اسلامی ایران Jomhuri-ye Eslāmi-ye Irān
Flag Emblem
Motto: استقلال. آزادی. جمهوری اسلامی Independence, Freedom, Islamic Republic
Anthem: جمهوری اسلامی ایران National Anthem of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Capital (and largest city)		Tehran 35°41′N 51°25′E / 35.683°N 51.417°E / 35.683; 51.417
Official languages		Persian
Spoken languages		Persian, Azerbaijani, Kurdish, Lori, Gilaki, Mazandarani, Balochi, Arabic, Turkmen[1]
Demonym		Iranian
Government		Unitary state, Islamic republic
-	Supreme Leader	Ali Khamenei
-	President	Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
-	First Vice President	Mohammad-Reza Rahimi
-	Speaker of the Parliament	Ali Larijani
-	Chief Justice	Sadeq Larijani
Legislature		Islamic Consultative Assembly
Unification[2]
-	Median Empire	625 BCE
-	Achaemenid Empire	550 BCE
-	Safavid Empire	1501[3]
-	Islamic Republic	24 October 1979
-	Current constitution
Area
-	Total	1,648,195 km2 (18th) 636,372 sq mi
-	Water (%)	0.7
Population
-	2012 census	75,149,669[4] (17th)
-	Density	48/km2 (162rd) 124/sq mi
GDP (PPP)		2011 estimate
-	Total	$990.219 billion[5]
-	Per capita	$13,053[5]
GDP (nominal)		2011 estimate
-	Total	$482.445 billion[5]
-	Per capita	$6,359[5]
Gini (2008)		38[6] (medium)
HDI (2011)		0.707[7] (high) (88th)
Currency		Rial (﷼) (IRR)
Time zone		IRST (UTC+3:30)
-	Summer (DST)	IRDT (UTC+4:30)
Drives on the		right
Calling code		98
ISO 3166 code		IR
Internet TLD		.ir, ایران.
1.	Bookrags.com
2.	Iranchamber.com
3.	Statistical Center of Iran. "جمعيت و متوسط رشد سالانه" (in Persian). http://www.sci.org.ir/content/userfiles/_sci/sci/SEL/f02/2.1.html. Retrieved 13 February 2009.[dead link][dead link]
4.	CIA Factbook

This article contains Persian text, written from right to left with some letters joined. Without proper rendering support, you may see unjoined letters written left-to-right, instead of right-to-left or other symbols instead of Persian script.

Iran (ⁱ/ɪˈrɑːn/^[8] or /aɪˈræn/;^[9] Persian: ایران‎ [ʔiˈɾɒn] ( listen)), officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (Persian: جمهوری اسلامی ایران‎, Jomhuri-ye Eslāmi-ye Irān), is a country in Western Asia.^[10][11][12] The name "Iran", which in Persian means "Land of the Aryans", has been in native use since the Sassanian era. It came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia (pron.: /ˈpɜrʒə/ or /ˈpɜrʃə/).^[9][13] Both "Persia" and "Iran" are used interchangeably in cultural contexts; however, "Iran" is the name used officially in political contexts.^[14][15]

The 18th-largest country in the world in terms of area at 1,648,195 km² (636,372 sq mi), Iran has a population of around 75 million.^[10][16] It is a country of particular geopolitical significance owing to its location in three spheres of Asia (West, Central, and South). Iran is bordered on the north by Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. As Iran is a littoral state of the Caspian Sea, which is an inland sea, Kazakhstan and Russia are also Iran's direct neighbors to the north. Iran is bordered on the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan, on the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by Iraq and on the northwest by Turkey. Tehran is the capital, the country's largest city and the political, cultural, commercial and industrial center of the nation. Iran is a regional power,^[17][18] and holds an important position in international energy security and world economy as a result of its large reserves of petroleum and natural gas. Iran has the second largest proven natural gas reserves in the world and the fourth largest proven petroleum reserves.^[19]

Iran is home to one of the world's oldest civilizations.^[20] The first dynasty in Iran formed during the Elamite kingdom in 2800 BC. The Iranian Medes unified Iran into an empire in 625 BC.^[2] They were succeeded by the Iranian Achaemenid Empire, the Hellenic Seleucid Empire and two subsequent Iranian empires, the Parthians and the Sassanids, before the Muslim conquest in 651 AD. Iranian post-Islamic dynasties and empires expanded the Persian language and culture throughout the Iranian plateau. Early Iranian dynasties which re-asserted Iranian independence included the Tahirids, Saffarids, Samanids and Buyids.

The blossoming of Persian literature, philosophy, medicine, astronomy, mathematics and art became major elements of Muslim civilization. Iranian identity continued despite foreign rule in the ensuing centuries^[21] and Persian culture was adopted also by the Ghaznavid,^[22] Seljuk,^[23][24] Ilkhanid^[25] and Timurid^[26] rulers. The emergence in 1501 of the Safavid dynasty,^[3] which promoted Twelver Shia Islam^[27] as the official religion of their empire, marked one of the most important turning points in Iranian and Muslim history.^[28] The Persian Constitutional Revolution established the nation's first parliament in 1906, within a constitutional monarchy. Following a coup d'état instigated by the UK and US in 1953, Iran gradually became a more autocratic country. Growing dissent with foreign influence culminated during the Iranian Revolution which led to establishment of an Islamic republic on 1 April 1979.^[16][29]

Iran is a founding member of the UN, NAM, OIC and OPEC. The political system of Iran, based on the 1979 constitution, comprises several intricately connected governing bodies. The highest state authority is the Supreme Leader. Shia Islam is the official religion and Persian is the official language.^[30]

 ساعت

در ادامه ی مطلب

 مشکلات سلامتی

به تصاوير زير خوب دقت کنيد و معني کلمات تيره را حدس بزنيد و بعد در پایین صفحه معنی آنها را ببینید.
 

	He has a sore throat. His throat hurts. He has a cough.		She hurt her back. She has a backache. Her back is sore.
	He has a headache. His head hurts.		She hurt her toe. Her toe hurts.
	She has cramps.		He hurt his finger. He has a hurt finger. His finger hurts.
	He has a bad cold. His nose is stuffy. He has a runnynose.		He has astomachache. His stomach hurts.
	He has a fever. His temperature is up. His fever is up.		He has a bad cut. His arm is cut.

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