In the previous episodes we said that supernatural creatures are part of any society’s culture.

Parts of people’s ideas, beliefs, and rituals in the past were related to these creatures. We said that demons lived under the earth and chose a clandestine life there where no one had access to. We also mentioned that all bad traits were attributed to these imaginary creatures. In the Iranian oral and written literature, demons have been considered as devil’s creatures or devil’s aides. Demons are supernatural creatures which are represented as ugly, dreadful creatures. It is said demons are black, have long teeth, thick lips and some have blue eyes. Their body is blanketed with hair and is usually multi-headed, and they have tail, horn and huge ears.

Demons are sometimes described as foolish and at other times as smart creatures. One of the demons’ acts which threaten human being is that demons are usually cannibals. They also have a keen sense of smell and can smell humans well. However these cannibal demons are easily fooled by heroes.

Demons are also equipped with superhuman warfare and can transform into another creatures from one moment to another. They can transform into beautiful women, snakes, horses, lions or dragons.

Abu Taher Tartoosi, Iranian author of the sixth century AH in his piece “Darabnameh” writes, when the hero of the story Tamroosiya kills the black snake, the white snake comes to him saying: “We are fairies; the snake you killed was a demon. He used to live behind the mountains. And the dragon which sips water from this sea is a demon.”

We said that once upon a time there was a bald boy called “Kachal Mam Siyah” who lived with his poor mother. Once he hunted an exotic creature which half of it lit and the other half sang and played music. When the king heared the story of hunting such an extraordinary creature, he took the animal from Mam Siyah and promised to give him the position of his vizier in return. In order not to give his position to Mam Siyah, the vizier asked for his magic hat’s advice. The magic hat told him to ask Mam Siyah to carry out tough jobs and each time Mam Siyah succeeded in doing the jobs. The last time, the king asked Mam Siyah to fetch the princess of the neighboring land. On the way to this mission, four other men with extraordinary talents accompanied Mam Siyah in his journey until they arrived at the palace of the king of the other land. Having realized that Mam Siyah wanted to take his daughter home, the king decided to hold a big ceremony and poison Mam Siyah and his servants’ food, but he failed because Mam Siyah’s servants foiled the king’s plots. And now the rest of the story.

The king decided to set up a really hot bath for Mam Siyah and his servants and lock the door behind them. The king went to his vizier to take his advice. But you know what happened next?

The Blanket Ear heard the story and went to Mam Siyah to thwart the king’s plot.

So, Mam Siyah and his four extraordinary servants gathered together to find a solution. The Sea Drier volunteered to say that he would sip all the hot water that was decided to be poured on them in the bathroom!

And the Stone Thrower suggested that he would smash the walls of the bathroom and let all of them free.

The day came and the five men were summoned to the palace. The king invited them to the royal bath he had prepared and waited for the moment to capture them in the hot locked bathroom.

Mam Siyah and his servants entered the bathroom and the king’s soldiers poured a large amount of hot water in the bathroom! This time the Sea Drier sipped all the water at once and the Stone Thrower smashed the walls and let all get out of the locked bathroom.

The king, who was witness to what happened, decided to let his daughter go with Mam Siyah to the other land.

Mam Siyah, the princess and the other four men left for home. However Mam Siyah decided not to take the princess to the king’s palace since the king had broken his promises many times.

The king heard that Mam Siyah had gone home along with the princess. So he sent his officials to Mam Siyah to tell him to bring the girl to the palace. Mam Siyah didn’t care about the king’s message and ordered his officials to tell the king that he would not follow the his order anymore.

Do you know what happened in the end? The king and his vizier, who knew Mam Siyah would do whatever he intended, packed their baggage and fled their land and let Mam Siyah become the king. After that Mam Siyah took the princess to the palace and got married with her. Mam Siyah also took his mother to the palace and appointed her as his vizier and they all lived happily ever after.

AE/RM/ME