Reading Notes: Persian Tales Part B

Fayiz and the Peri Wife

a man named fayiz went to the forest to play his flute and a beautiful maiden sat beside him
they fell in love and went to her house in the woods, but she would not tell him who she was
they get married on the condition that if he is faithful he will be happy, and if he isn't he will spend his life in trouble and never see her again
they had two sons and they were peri, so she told the husband to keep her secret
the husband cried out to peri as he wanted to go home, and the wife told him not to
he went home and saw his family, and his wife asked him where he gained all his wealth
he told his wife she was a peri or else she would put their sons adrift
she flew away as a pigeon and never wanted to see him again. he went back to the forest but could not find her
he went looking for her but never saw her again, and cast off his first wife and sons

The Hemp Smoker's Dream

there once was a man who smoked hemp and had his head shaved and was so handsome he went to china for the hand of the king's daughter in marriage
he met a man who joined him on his way to china, and then ran into two other men so they all went together
they told the king that if he could not have his daughter's hand in marriage then they would take all the soil from his land
they made a wager that the wazir would set 70 pots of ash on fire and if he could eat it all then he would have the kings daughter
after he ate the 70 pots they had to go from east to west to ratify the marriage agreement
the four men begin to fight over her and could not decide whos she would be

The Story of the Wolf Bride

there was a man who had a son and got his horoscope, and it said he was destined to be shredded to pieces by a wolf
he grew up and got married to his uncle's daughter, they had a seven day festival, and at the end they were left alone together
she turned into a wolf and tore him to pieces, and she didn't remember what happened as soon as she did it
they carried off his body and just called it fate

The Man Who Went to Wake His Luck

there were once two brothers, one very rich and one very poor
one of the brothers went to his brothers herd and saw a man in a black coat grazing foals, and asked him who he was, and it was his brother's luck
the poor brother asked where his luck was, and he said off in a cave sleeping
he finds his luck and he tells him to tell the gardner that there are gold coins buried and his garden will grow after he gets them
the poor brother goes around to different people that offer him to stay but he wants more luck, so he keeps moving until he sees the wolf
he tells the wolf to eat the most foolish person, so he eats the poor brother

Tortoise Bowl on the Back and the Fox

there was a tortoise named bowl on the back who was sowing a seed when a fox came by and wished him strength
the corn grew and the fox came back to reap and the tortoise told him no and the fox got mad
they agree to a race and whoever wins will get the whole share of grain
the tortoise tells its brother to meet him to trick the fox, and the fox lost
moral of the story is everyone who is greedy loses

The Shepherd Who Found a Treasure

once there were two shepherds watching their flock when one fell asleep and a green fly came out of his nose
the other noticed it was his soul that left his body, so he woke him up
the shepherd woke him up and asked to buy his dream from him in exchange for the wages he makes from the stock
he tells the dream and it says that there is hidden jewels somewhere, so he gives the wages and searches for them
he finds the jewels and never works as a shepherd again

The Merchant and the Saffron

there was a wealthy merchant named malik that had business in every city he traded in
malik went to inquire about a hundred camels, so sent his servant and they met up with malik
they threw the saffron in the mud to build a caravanserai in exchange for jewels
malik became bankrupt and wandered to the city where the saffron trader lived, and the saffron trader took him in
he goes in to the saffron merchant and is treated very kindly, and they ask him how he reached this plight
he stayed with the merchant until his luck was better. they bought him sheep but they all died, so they kept buying sheep until they could reproduce and live
they finally reproduced so his luck improved, they sent him with money to go do business and he slowly became wealthy again

Shah Abbas and the Poor Mother

one night shah abbas came across ruins and children begging their mother for food
he stops to feed them ash, then gave the mother his ring so that she could go to the baker to feed her children for life
she took the ring to the baker who accused her of stealing, so she was arrested
she had her ears cut off
the shah came across them again and she told them what happened, so he took the family to his palace to be taken care of and the mother to heal
the shah brought the baker to the palace and asked him to produce the ring, in which he pulled out one as well
he told the darogha to have proof before punishing people, and him and the baker were crucified
the shah gave his property to the mother and her children

The Apparition of the Prophet Khizr

there was once a king that wanted to see the prophet khizr, so a poor man came to him an said for a thousand tumans ill show you the prophet
he agreed that if he didn't see the prophet he would have his head cut off
he went to the kings palace after forty days and agreed that the king would kill him, so they debated on how to kill him
the prophet khizr shows up and tells the king to give him a village, and the king realizes it was khizr
three of the wazir's who suggested harm were fired

The Story of Baker and the Grateful Fish

there was a baker who threw all his bread into the river to feed fish if it was burnt
a merchant turned up wanting a servant, so the baker went to him
at the end of forty days the baker was told to get into a cows skin to see how much it would hold, so the merchant tied it up and a bird carried him off on top of a mountain
he yelled to the master to get him down but he told him to throw down jewels first
he didn't want to be eaten so he threw himself into a river and the fish recognized him, so they carried him to safety
later the merchant came back looking for help, so he disguised himself and agreed to be his servant
after forty days the same story repeated, but this time the baker told the merchant to get in first to show him what needed to be done
he tied up the merchant and the bird took him to the top of the mountain
he told the merchant who he was and that he must throw down jewels
he ordered the merchant to stay where he is or throw himself into the river
he threw himself into the river and drowned

camel caravan

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

Mythology and Folklore