Reading Diary A: Persian Tales

Persian Tales

I've noticed that every story begins with there is only god in the beginning and that the sparrow never got home in the end.  I'm curious about the significance of this.

Yellow Crowned Sparrow, Source: Wikipedia

The Wolf and the Goat

Here is a story about clever defeating might.  Though the wolf may be more fearsome, the clever goat won the day.  There is also the moral about cheating those from who you seek services.  The goat paid the knife-grinder well while the wolf cheated the dentist.  In return he lost the advantage of his sharp teeth.

The City of Nothing-in-the-World

Susku and Mushu

The Boy Who Became a Bulbul

This story is really strange.  I guess there is the familiar theme of the evil stepmother but I have no idea why the father and son would make sure a horrible bargain. What’s more—that the father would cheat and kill his own son to save himself.  Why doesn’t the son seek vengeance on his father?

The Wolf-Aunt

I feel like there is a parallel to this cultural phenomenon in western culture.  Although the mother-in-law is more often the target of this Wolf-Aunt phenomenon, it is still the in-laws that conflict with the mother.

I really like this story, not because I like gruesome, man-eating she-wolves, but because of its exaggerations of human behavior. When the sister offers her brother the choice of head or feet first and the brother still defers to the sister’s preference, I’m reminded of many brother sister relationships in adult life.  He just passively accepts that his older sister is going to eat him. 

Nim Tanak, or Half-Boy

I enjoyed the rhyming in this story and the fantastical depictions of the brothers and the Div. I’m not sure what the connection is between being half a man and being voracious.  Maybe because he is overcompensating for his father disowning him? I think that the slow drinking and eating indicate caution in the other brothers.

Muhammad Tirandaz, The Archer

The Praying Baker

Although it seems like the King is testing the Baker's convictions, it seems he is actually testing god's favor of the Baker.  The King also uses the threat of beheading rather frequently arbitrarily.  Is this a commentary of the nature of Kings. Perhaps the outcome of the story is a commentary of god’s opinion on kings and bakers.

The Sad Tale of the Mouse's Tail

Story source: Persian Tales, translated by D.L.R. Lorimer and E.O. Lorimer and illustrated by Hilda Roberts (1919).