Pars Today

This section is followed by the story of the Monster and the Businessman.

Just like the previous programs we first take a brief look at the precious collection of The One Thousand and One Nights stories. We hope you’ll enjoy the program.

In the previous programs we talked about different themes in the stories of the one thousand and one nights and we said that the most important of those themes is the issue of wonder. We also said that though the circumstances change during the course of time in these stories, the characteristics are stable and unchanging. People in the stories of the one thousand and one nights remain the one they were from the beginning to the end of the story. What is important and is the common point in all such stories is the good taste and wonderfulness behind the stories.

Researchers believe that the stories of the one thousand and one nights follow a kind of Islamic art. They opine that the stories of this precious collection are the manifestation of a divine fact in the human society.

Here we wrap up our discussion on the collection of the one thousand and one nights stories and continue the program with another episode of the story of the monster and the businessman. Keep us company until the end of the program.

We said that once upon a time there was an experienced businessman who went on a trip to a faraway land. After a long time of traveling, he became tired and took shelter beneath the shade of a tree. He also took out some bread and dates to have his lunch. As he was eating the dates, he threw the dates’ seeds on the ground around himself. However a horrible monster appeared above his head, blaming the businessman for throwing the seeds on his chest and his child’s chest. And the worst thing was that the monster took out his sword to behead the businessman. The poor businessman who had nothing to say surrendered but he said that he had several sons and had to divide his properties among them before his death. Therefore he asked the monster to let him go back home and accomplish the task and then comes back to the monster. The monster agreed and the businessman came home, told his sons the entire story, divided his properties among his sons, and went back to the monster after a year. The businessman sat beneath the tree like the previous time and started weeping for his destiny. After a while three old men with their own stories arrived and asked the businessman the reason why he was crying. The businessman told all of them the reason for his sadness and it was decided that if each of the old men tell a wonderful story to the monster that he likes, the monster refuses to behead the businessman. The first old man told his story and the monster liked it. The second man also started telling his story. He said that he was on a business trip with his two brothers. While on a ship, he got married with a nice girl. However his brother were jealous about him. And now the rest of the story.

The second old man said that one night his brothers hatched a plot to kill him and take his properties. So they tied their brother’s feet and hands and threw him in the sea.

The old man continued:

“However as my wife was a fairy, she appeared above my head, took me to an island near there. She then told me: I am a fairy who believes in God. As I loved you so much I transformed into a human body and got married with you. Now that your brothers have done such a thing with you, I will punish them.”

The old man said that he asked his wife not to kill his brothers and she agreed.

The fairy then lifted his husband and took him to his house. The old man then continued the story:

“I dug out three thousand dinars I had buried in my garden and went to my store. At night when I went home I saw two dogs. As they saw me, they started weeping. Yes, they were my brothers and I didn’t know what had happened to them. Then my wife came in and said: these are your brother and they stay like a dog for ten years.”

The second old man then told the monster that the two dogs he was carrying were actually his brothers. The monster then said that he really liked the old man’s story and now it was the third old man’s turn to tell his story.
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