Origin story of Jofreh, a town in southern Iran, next to the sea. Opens with townspeople who mingle with mermaids, fight with the sea god Bulsalmeh, and cry as drowned sailors try to come to shore, but never can cross over. Then, the familiar story intrudes: white men visit Jofreh in a boat, traders come to sell the townspeople merchandise, there are suddenly radios, bottles of alcohol, warplanes, bureaucrats, paved roads, oil tankers and guns that come to define the lives of Jofreh's inhabitants. The mermaids, the sea god, and the drowned all fade into the background as modernity, war, capitalism, imperialism and nationalism enter into the townspeople's lives and come to dominate their activities, relationships, and imaginations. We watch as what is "real" changes for Jofreh. By the end of the book, it is no longer a place of near-mythological splendor, but rather has transformed into an ugly, barren, and mean place, where the townspeople are preoccupied primarily with "building and possessing" (189). A deeply enjoyable read, and a splendid translation.