The reflection of the afternoon sun on “Lajvar” creates a charming scene on the pool. There are many seats calling the tired passengers to refresh in the shadows of the willow and lift their spirits.

Villagers narrate a story about the high and hard side of the mountain that implies its meekness. Those who pass it, see the trace of a man wearing a long white cloak sticking to the side of the mountain on the highest point. This is the carving of a man named “Lajvar”, who the mountain got its name from.

A little further, there are two almost big hills separated from each other named Wheat and Chaff. You can feel the softness of one and the roughness of the other, like those of wheat and chaff from far. On the foot of the hills there are one hundred small and big stone statues look grazing like herd of goats, sheep and cattle.

Shazand -Lajvar Mountain - Photographer : Hossein Alborzi

“Lajvar” Myth

The old men of the village have heard from their fathers and they, also from their ancestors that “Lajvar” was a man who lived on the foot of the mountain, and the mountain didn’t have a name before him.

In a hot, damp summer day Mr. “Lajvar” was sitting on his farm and had stopped working. He had piled up the ears of wheat. They were threshed, the wheat and the Chaff. It was terribly hot. Sun had faced west mountains a bit. “Lajvar’s”face was sweaty and dusty. He drank a bowl of water greedily and poured a bowl of water on his face. He was not in the mood. The leaves of the trees didn’t move even an inch. He looked into far and wished for a favorable wind so that he can see the result of his one-year effort sooner, but not even a caressing breeze. The damp hot heavy weather had made him helpless. He leaned against a pile of alfalfa. He gazed at the horizon far away. The dog howled and thousands of sparrows and starlings that were pecking grains from the farm flew away and darkened the sky. “Lajvar” was out of breath. He missed something. At last he raised his hand to the sky and moaned: “Good, if the favorable wind blows and I can separate the wheat and the chaff, I’ll sacrifice a life for you.” He whispered to God for an hour and then he fell down. He started dreaming as he was leaning. He couldn’t get if he was dreaming or he was awake. It seemed to him that the horizon was turning dark. He startled with the sound of a thunder. It seemed his lifeless body was alive again. He screamed with happiness. He was lucky and his payers were answered. He was thrilled to bits. The right of the horizon where always came the sign of storms and showers was now covered with scattered clouds. A strong wind started blowing and moved dust in the air.  “Lajvar” had got what he wanted. He started work quickly and made his household and the workers work. By the evening they had separated wheat and chaff of the first huge pile. The fresh shining wheat, separated from chaff, was ready to be loaded and sent to the storehouse on his order.

The chaff was also piled on the farm. Happily he was preparing to meet his vow. He thought with himself now that he hadn’t mentioned what to sacrifice or how, he could trick not to lose too much. He was a bit in doubt. He hesitated for a moment and then he got an insect from the collar of his cloak and said: “it is a life and it is to be sacrificed.” He murmured something as he was crushing the insect and said: “I don’t know when we can get rid of all these lice.” He cleaned his fingers with his clothes and let out a boisterous laugh like a conqueror and roared as if he was metamorphosed. He felt gay and light. All of a sudden a whirlwind and a storm appeared in the far horizon, passing “Shah kooh” mountain, in Shazand, and neared “Lajvar”. He was scared. He was thinking if the storm reached him with all that rage, it would destroy all his product and wealth that was on that wide field. He started working quickly and moved whatever he could to a shelter. Storm was blowing angrily passing the field and finally reached the unfaithful man. Suddenly “Lajvar” noticed the whirlwind in his cloak and he was up in the air like an umbrella and whirling like chaff. He could cling to nowhere. The storm and whirlwind throw him here and there. It seemed anywhere he neared, shouted and rejected him. He was cursed. Nothing and nowhere would accept him. Mountains and valleys rejected him and provided pretexts. Finally, a mountain, named after him later, accepted a treaty and put “Lajvar” with an eternal regret, on itself.

Shazand -Lajvar Mountain - Photographer : Hossein Alborzi

Every passenger passing this mountain sees the figure of “Lajvar” on the handle of his spade, stretching out a hand for help. His long white cloak is pinned to the mountain to make us see this warning example.

The treaty that made the mountain accept this unexpected guest, was to grow up as long as a grain of hey and widen as big as a grain of wheat every year, hoping to become taller and bigger that the other mountains of the region. But this treaty didn’t come true and nobody remembers that the mountain has ever grown up.

Every then and now, a big rock gets off the mountain and rolls down roaring to the bottom of the valley and smashes into small stones as big as wheat and chaff.  It seems the mountain is also deceived because the mountain whished to grow yearly but it was not done. The mountain sadly and bare observes the green meadow of “Gito”

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