Reading notes: Persian Tales Part A

The Wolf and the Goat

there was a goat with 4 sons; alil, balil, black eyes, and ginger stick
the goat left to get grass and said that she would be back so dont let anyone in, and if they said it was their mother tell them to stick their hand in the door to see if it was red
the wolf heard this and dyed its hand red with henna, and stole 3 of the children
black eyes was not stolen and told his mother what happened when she got back
they go to the goats house and pour ashes in the chimney, and the goat challenges the wolf to a fight
the goat got a gift so that her horns could be sharpened for battle, and the wolf only got a gift of air
the wolf gave the gift of air to the dentist so he pulled his teeth and replaced them with cotton
the wolf and goat drank water in the river before the fight, and jumped the stream
the wolf was too swollen with water to jump so he fell in, and the sheep killed him
the sparrow never got home

The City of Nothing In The World

in the town of hich a hich, a girl scraped her knee and needed ointment but couldn't find any
her aunt gave her two eggs to take to the bazaar in exchange for ointment
she lost her eggs and reached in her pocket for them but she found a jinnu, so she used that for a minaret and found one of her eggs had turned into a chicken
in exchange for her chicken some peasants gave her rice which she put on her chicken's back, so she rubbed a walnut seed on it
the walnut seed sprouted into a walnut tree on the chicken's back
she planted watermelons and they grew, and when she was cutting she lost her knife
she went to eat and saw a hair in the bowl after she finished, so she pulled on it and out came seven camels, and her knife was at the end of the seventh
the sparrow never got home

Susku and Mushu

mushu is a mouse, susku is a beetle
susku left one day to get married, and mushu offered to marry her
she asked what she would sleep on, and she said no to everything but his arms
she asked what he would beat her with, and she said no to everything but his tail
susku left to wash off and fell in a river. she yelled to the farmer to tell mushu to bring a ladder of gold to fish her out. he made a ladder out of carrots and they got married
one day mushu told susku to make him ash, and while she was making it, the wind got her and lifted her in to the pot of broth and she drowned
mushu began to put ashes on his head so the crow asked what happened and shed his feathers, the tree shed its leaves, the water turned muddy, the corn wilted, and the farmer died
the daughter saw the farmer and threw curds on herself, and the mother cut off her thumbs and threw them on the griddle
the sparrow never made it home

The Boy Who Became a Bulbul

there was a family with a father, daughter, son, and stepmother
one day the son and father went to collect thornbushes for firewood, and the stepmother said whoever collects more should cut off the others head and they agreed
the son collected more
the son ran off for a drink and the father stole from his pile while he was at the stream
they weighed and the father won, so he cut his son's head off and gave it to the stepmother to boil
the daughter told her teacher, and she said one the soup was gone to collect her brother's bones and wash with rose water, then bury them in the corner of the garden, planting a reed over them and putting rose water on it every friday
on the seventh Thursday a bulbul bird perched on the reed and begin to sing
he sang the song for the sister, stepmother, spinster, and sugar stick maker, and when they asked to sing it again, he told them to close their eyes and he flew away
the sparrow never made it home

The Wolf-Aunt

there was an old man who gathered thornbushes for fuel
he had a wife and seven daughters who spun, and he went to the bazaar to sell the thornbushes, and they were very poor
one day he came back late and there was a woman who knew him and she told him to come in to catch up, and she was his sister
he tells her he is very poor and she tells him shes rich and to come live with him with his family
they wanted to repay her so brought her a liver dish, and when one of the children walked in, she saw her aunt was a wolf eating a man
the mother gets her children and leaves since her husband didn't believe she was a wolf
the husband tells the aunt that they think shes a wolf, and she threatens to eat him later that night
she ate him and the sparrow never made it home

Nim Tanak

there was a king with no children that wandered alone in the desert one day
he met a dirwish which he told that he had four wives, and the dirwish gave him four apples to give to his wives
all of the wives ate their apple except for the fourth who ate half
they all had children except for the fourth, who had a half son
the half son could never enter his father's presence, and had to play with the servant's children instead of his siblings
a div fell in love with the kings daughter and carried her off into the forest
the king sent an army to get her back and were defeated, as the first son was hung
the king sent another army led by his second son, and he was hung too
the half son went and the div knew that he would be defeated
the half son killed the div instantly, so he brought his sister home and became the heir to the throne

Muhammad Tirandaz, The Archer

Muhammad the shawl weaver saw two mice one day and killed them on accident, so he was told to be an archer
he bought a bow and arrows for himself and set out into the forest
the king's horsemen saw him and was impressed at his stature, so he asked him who he was
he explained who he was so the horsemen told him that they would take him to the king
he did nothing until a war broke out, in which he was summoned to fight in
they gave him a horse that he had no clue how to ride, so they tied his feet to the horse
Muhammad lost control of the horse and tried to grab on to a tree, but ripped the tree out of the ground
the other army saw this and fled in terror, and Muhammad was appointed commander in chief
the sparrow never got home

The Praying Baker

A king set out one night and came across a baker's shop with a man praying, and wanted to see if he was sinceere
if he wasn't sincere the king would put him to death
he gave the baker a ring in exchange for bread, and went home and told the wazir to try and get it from him
the king said if he brought back the ring there would be a reward, and if not he would cut off his head
they went to test the weights to get people out of the shops so they could get the ring
the king went to get it back and the baker told him it was lost, so if he didn't have the money in ten days he would cut off his head
the wife found a ring inside a fish to give to the king, and the king gave him a robe of honor
the sparrow never made it home

The Sad Tale of the Mouse's Tail

Mushu the Mouse

Source: bearpile

Lorimer, David and Emily, Persian Tales. Un-textbook

Mythology and Folklore