Persian Fairy Tales - Extra Reading Diary

Fayiz and the Peri Wife: There was a man with a flute that met a maiden. She said they would marry, and that “if he remains faithful, he will be happy all his life, but if he is unfaithful, then he will always be in trouble.” Of course Fayiz never saw her again and ended playing his flute. I didn’t like this story that much.

The Hemp-Smoker's Dream: There is a hemp smoker getting his haircut. He falls asleep and has a weird dream in which he kidnaps a princess. I thought this story was very interesting, but didn’t make much sense to me.

The Story of the Wolf-Bride: A man had a son and took him to get his fortune. The fortuneteller told the man that wolves would eat his son. He marries a girl and on their wedding day, the girl turned into a wolf and ate her husband. They don’t know how it happened, but it did. I thought this story was very short and dull. I didn’t find it to be too exciting.

The Man Who Went to Wake His Luck: This is basically about a very foolish, and unlucky person. I did like this story, but I kind of felt bad for the main character in it. I thought it had an interesting ending but overall was a very unique story.

Iranian Wedding

Tortoise Bowl-On-The-Back and the Fox: The tortoise was known as “Bowl-on-the-Back”. He raced a fox for all of the grain. He tricked the fox and won. Slow and steady wins the race. Yet another case of how tortoises are faster than other animals.

 The Shepherd Who Found a Treasure: A shepherd sees a fly come out of someone’s nose. The fly was the other shepherd’s soul. The fly made him find jewels. This story is kind of ridiculous. Why did the fly come out of someone’s nose and why was it his soul? I wasn’t a big fan of this story.

Shah Abbas and the Poor Mother: This is about a King who disguised himself as a beggar. I really liked this story because it showed a King get down on a lower social class. It was a very good story I thought. My favorite character in it was the King himself.

The Apparition of the Prophet Khizr: This is about a poor man who was in debt. I really like the character Khizr in this story. He is almost a mysterious character in this story and that is what I kind of like about him. I liked this story overall and thought it had a pretty good ending.

The Story of the Baker and the Grateful Fish: This story was about a baker who was tricked by a merchant.  The merchant left him to die, but he figured out a way to get away from the situation. He then goes back and tricks the merchant, and he then drowns in the river.