TEHRAN (IBNA) -- Based on an ancient Iranian tale, the juvenile fiction ‘The Dog and the Horse’ ‎‎(1877) by French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher Voltaire has been ‎rendered into Persian and is available in Iranian bookstores. ‎
The book has been translated into Persian by veteran Iranian translator, author and researcher Gholam-Reza Emami. Iranian artist Mohammad Zamanian has illustrated ‘The Dog and the Horse’ in an engaging style and Gooya Publishing has released the juvenile fiction in 24 pages.
The story of “Horse and Dog” is centered on Zand, a wise man who, after separation from his wife, decides to live alone in a hut in the middle of nature, observe nature and the wisdom flowing inside it.
He spends a happy and peaceful time until one day when he spots the eunuch of the queen wandering in the forest. He is looking for the queen’s dog and asking everyone in his path about the animal.
Zand gives him information about the physical features of the dog, but at the same time says he has not seen the dog. Is it possible for someone to give very detailed information about something, but has never seen it? Do you think Voltaire might be lying?
Voltaire with the real name François-Marie Arouet was Known for his wit, and his criticism of Christianity—especially the Roman Catholic Church—and of slavery. Voltaire was an advocate of freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and separation of church and state.
Voltaire was a versatile and prolific writer, producing works in almost every literary form, including plays, poems, novels, essays, histories, and scientific expositions. He wrote more than 20,000 letters and 2,000 books and pamphlets.
He was one of the first authors to become renowned and commercially successful internationally. He was an outspoken advocate of civil liberties and was at constant risk from the strict censorship laws of the Catholic French monarchy. His polemics witheringly satirized intolerance, religious dogma, and the French institutions of his day.