Week 6 Reading: Persian Tales, Part A

 Persian Tales

These Persian Tales were all short stories that accumulated into one big story. There are many Jewish references in regard to Persian Jews. The stories came from Iranian territory which I found to be quite interesting and there were many cultural elements. I enjoyed these stories very much.

(Arash the Archer at Saadabad, Tehran)

The Wold and the Goat

Once upon a time there was nobody on earth but God. There was a goat who had four children and one day he told them to sit back while he goes to retrieve grass for them. He warned them if the wolf comes and knocks on the door, don't open the door. Ask him to slip his hand through the crack and if it's black you know it's the wolf and if it's red you know it's me. Little did they know the wolf had been listening the entire time and he had dyed his hand red with henna. 

The wolf came to the door and shoved his red hand through it and the children opened the door. He took off with three children, but Black Eyes escaped. When the mother came back to am empty house, she began calling for them. Black Eyes came out and together they went to the wolf's house. They climbed to the roof and threw earth into the ash.

The wolf admitted to stealing the children and the goat challenged him to a fight. Both the goat and the wolf gots skin and filled it with goods to make a nice present. The dentist opened the skin and only wind was inside and instead of sharpening the wolf's teeth, he pulled them all out and put cotton-wool in their place. They continued challenging each other by drinking water, jumping across streams and such. Then the goat smote him in the stomach and tore him open. The goat retrieved his children and went home. 

The City of Nothing-in-the-World

In the town of Hich a Hich, there was a girl who had fallen and scraped her skin badly and she went to her aunt for healing. The old woman said she couldn't help her but gave her two eggs to take in exchange for cooling ointment. She did what she was told and came back and told her aunt she lost the two eggs, but found jinnu in her pocket. She gave the jinnu to the market people and they made her a minaret. 

She climbed up it and looked everywhere and saw her egg had turned into a hen and the other had turned into a cock. She said she would go and get the cock first and she bargained for it. She loaded the cock's back with rice and they began on their journey. The cock began to get sore and she burn kernel of walnut and rubbed it on his back. When she awoke the next morning, a walnut tree had grown from the cock's back.

The children in the village began throwing dirt at the cock. He saw the soil was good to plant muskmelons and watermelons so he began to sow. The next morning the earth had produced huge melons. When cutting the melon, he lost his knife. Next, he saw a town full of noise and he went to a cook shop and gave them jinnu in exchange for food. Suddenly, he saw hair at the bottom of the bowl and he tried throwing it away. The hair was attached to a camel's leading rope and behind the rope were strings of seven camels. His knife was at the end of the last camel. 

Susku and Mushu

There was a mouse named Mushu and a Beatle named Susku and the Beatle was dressed in fine clothes. He said he was getting married and Mushu asked if he would ever marry him. Susku replied by asking where he would sleep on. Mushu said a basket of dates. That would be too sticky so Mushu then offered butter. That would be too greasy so Mushu replied with a sack of walnuts. That would be too wobbly so Mushu said in his own arms. Then they discussed what their quarreling would be like.

When they came to an agreement, Susku went to take a bath and on her way she fell in a stream. Susku screamed to the farmer that his sweetheart would rescue him. The farmer went to tell Mushu and and Master Mousie ran to make a ladder out of carrots. They got married after being pulled from the water. 

Then one day, they needed ashes. Susku made broth and dough and put into the pot of ashes. Mushu came home and saw Susku had fallen in. The crow went to Master Mousie and told him what had happened. The crow asked why he had not shaken his feathers. The tree said he must shake and lose his leaves. Then the waters had turned muddy and the stalks of corn had started standing on their heads. Then the farmer's daughter brought him dinner and she threw the curds on herself and ran away. The mother was confused and threw her two thumbs on the griddle to become cakes. 

The Boy who became a Bulbul

There was a man who had a son and daughter and he had taken another wife who had children. One day the father and his son where collecting thorn bushes to make a fire when he stepmother said that whoever cuts the most should cut other one's head. They agreed to this. The boy collected more than his father but he became thirsty and left to have a drink. The father stole some of his thorn bushes while he was gone. When they went in to weigh the bundles, the father had more than the son. The father cut the boy's head off.

The father brought the head home to his wife and they cooked it. The sister came home hungry and went to eat the soup which had her brother's head in it. She recognized her brother's head and ran off crying to her teacher. The teacher said she must not eat the soup and carry the brother's bones and wash them in rose water and bury them in the garden. The girl did as she was told and a bulbul peep came out of the boy and a bird perched on it singing. 

The bird began coming to all the family members singing the same song about the boy and each time the bird sent needles or sharp objects down their throats.

The Wolf Aunt

There was an old man who gathered thorn bushes for fuel. He had a wife and seven daughters and they were very poor. He would sell his thorn bushed to the bazaar everyday to make money while his wife and daughters sat spinning. Then one night the call for evening prayer came before he had finished his job and an old woman with a white veil appeared in front of him. She asked to die before him and asked about his life. He told her how he gathers thorns every day and he is very poor. She told him not to fret for she was a rich woman and asked him to come live with her. She told him to bring his wife and children so she could feed them. 

The man ran home and told his family the news and they went to live with the old woman. She always gave them plenty to eat. One day she asked the man to go to the bazaar and buy some liver she could cook,. The wife cooked it and when she brought it in to the old woman, she was afraid for she had turned into a wolf. The wife told the husband when she got home and she had brought them there to fatten them up so she could eat them. 

He refused to believe his wife. That night the wife gathered the seven daughters and carried them back to their old home and when morning came the husband couldn't find his family. He went to his new sister and told her what had happened and the old woman said nothing. As soon as night came, the woman turned into a wolf and ate the man by tearing him into pieces. He should have listened to his wife. 

Nim Tanak, or Half Body

There was a king who had no children which made him very sad, causing him to wander out alone into the dessert. He ran into a derwish who asked where he was going. The derwish gave the king four apples, one for each of his wives to eat. Three ate their whole apples and the fourth ate only half. A crow came and took the other half of the apple away. Eventually, children were born to the wives but the fourth wife had half a son which angered the king. He treated his other children with kindness, but poor Him Tanak had to play with the servant's children. 

Eventually, a Div fell in love with the king's daughter and he took the princess away to a cave to live. When the king heard the news he was very sad. The Div was then called into battle and the Div seized a lad and tied him up in a cave which made the king sad. The king then gathered a second army and the Div seized the young price and hung him by his eyelashes. Then Nim Tanak went alone on horseback to find the Div. The boy was able to trick the Div and Nam Tanak smote him with his sword and cut him in half. He begged to be cut again.

The princess told him no for it would make him come to life so he left the Div in half and set his brothers free and brought his sister home to the king. This made the king love him and he became the heir to the throne.

Muhammad Tirandaz, The Archer

There was a man named Muhammad who weaved shawls and one day while weaving he saw tow mice playing. He killed them both in one blow. His fellow apprentice was impressed and told him he should not weave but be an archer. He went home and took money from his mother and went to the bazaar to buy a bow and arrows. He then set out for the dessert. When he got tired, he stopped under a tree and went to quench his thirst at the stream where he fell asleep. 

A horseman can by and was amazed at his appearance. He waited for him to awake and when he did, he took him to the king to become part of his household. The king gave Muhammad a gift and a house appointment. Then one day, the kingdom was seized and he was ordered to go out and fight. He was brought a horse and he became scared since he didn't know how to ride. He took the reins and rode into battle.

On the way, the bridle slipped and he reached out to clutch a tree to stop himself and yelled for someone to catch his horse. The army on the other side were terrified to see him on the tree and they took to flight. The king's army was able to come in and deafest them which made the king happy. Muhammad was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the king's armies. 

The Praying Baker

There was a king who went out at sunset to put garments on a derwish when he saw a man engaged in prayer at a baker's shop. He had put a ring on his finger that was worth much money and gave it to the baker as a pledge. On his way back, he thought what a good thing he had done. The Wazir insisted he get the ring back and the king said if he succeeded, he would give him a large reward and if he didn't, he would cut off his head. The Wazir went home to tell his wife his plan. 

When morning came, he went to the baker's shop to fetch the weight of flour and once inside, he pulled open a drawer and found the ring and he slipped it under his tongue. He brought it back to the king and he put it on his finger. The king then sent his men to fetch the baker who had been disguised as a derwish. They thought the ring had been lost. The baker asked the king for ten days of grace and the king threatened to cut his head off after the time was up.

The man went home to pray. On the eighth day, the king rode to a big stream and began washing his face and told the Wazir if the ring is found, he won't slay the baker. A fish swam by and gobbled down the ring and a fisherman came and caught the fish. The poor baker's wife knew her husband was going to be put to death so for their last meal, they ate fish. She ended up bringing him the fish with the ring in its belly. When the baker went to open the fish, he found the ring and he quickly went to bring it to the king. The king turned to the Wazir and claimed it was the ring. The baker was given a robe of honor. 

The Sad Tale of the Mouse's Tail

The mouse went out to steal and he fell into a trap, tearing off his tail. The cobbler that found him went to find thread to sew his tail back on. The mouse then ran to the Jew and asked for thread. The Jew agreed in exchange for an egg and he went to the Corn Heap. The Corn Heap said she would give him thread if she could have a grain of corn.

The tinker said to bring him goat-skin to make sieve and the goat asked for grass and the farmer asked for a spade, and the blacksmith gave him a spade. The story ended but the sparrow never got home. 

Bibliography:

Title: Persian Tales

Author: David Lorimer and Emily Lorimer

Image: Arash the Archer