In the previous article we talked about myths and legends and their characteristics.

We said that one of the characteristics of these stories is the existence of wizards and witches and the practice of magic. We also said that in Iranian stories magic is considered as a negative aspect. Magicians are able to do extraordinary jobs, including transforming into other creatures.

In most of the folk stories the great job a hero does is to break the spell a magician had put on somebody or something. In one of the stories of “One Thousand and One nights” there is a witch who puts a spell on her husband so that his lower part turns into stone. The woman then breaks the spell by splashing water on her husband’s body. In another interesting story of this book we read that an island is under a spell so that every ship is reduced to a wreck. A part of the story reads:

“This mountain has a peak which is not smooth. On the top of the peak there is a dome made of bronze. This dome is founded on four bronze pillars. On the dome there is a metal horse and on the horse rides a man on whose chest is written the words of sorcery. It is believed that this statue is the reason why ships go to a wreck and the only way to get rid of this unfortunate event is the collapse of this statue.”

In the book, “Samak Ayyar” we read that a witch called “Shervaneh” wears a ring with a gem having a spell carved on it. She enchants the king’s daughter, Princess Mah Pari and prevents her marriage. Part of the story reads:

“She asked for wax and with the wax she revealed the spell. Then not everyone could break the spell…..”

In the famous story of “Chelgis” there is a girl enchanted by a witch. The hero of the story called “Jahantiq” breaks the girl’s spell after going through different stages.

Once upon a time there was a bald boy called Kachal Mam Siyah who lived with his poor mother. One day he took the weapon inherited from his father out to the desert to hunt something for eating. However he hunted an exotic creature half of which was shining and the other half sang and made music. The king heard the story of hunting such an extraordinary creature and ordered Mam Siyah to give him the animal. The king suggested that he could take the post of the vizier in return for the special hunt. The vizier, who didn’t want to lose his job, hatched a plot and asked the king to send Mam Siyah to a journey to fetch the milk of forty mares where no one has ever come back from. Mam Siyah went on the trip and did what the king had asked for. On the day Mam Siyah was to be appointed as vizier, the king’s vizier for another time asked the king to order Mam Siyah to fetch the great dragon which scared the king. This was while no one has ever come back alive from battling with the dragon.

And now the rest of the story.

Thinking on the way to defeat the gigantic horrible dragon, Mam Siyah went home to pack his baggage for a journey where no one has ever come back from. At home, he told the story to his mother and his mother tried to make Mam Siyah change his mind but on no avail. The poor mother finally went to his son and advised him:

“Dear son now that you are determined to go on such a dangerous journey, listen to me. This dragon is about a kilometer long and sleeps at the bottom of a hole. On your way you find a mountain where you have to climb. On the summit you find everything restless. Birds, reptiles, trees, bushes and sands all run toward a canyon. Avoid approaching the canyon or else you will also go straight to the mouth of the dragon. Keep away and hide somewhere until the dragon sleeps. As you feel everything is calm, go directly to the bottom of the canyon where you would find the dragon deep asleep. At that time you can kill the dragon.”

So Mam Siyah set off to kill the dragon and fetch its corpse to the king.

Mam Siyah did so and fetched the corpse of the dragon to the king. In the palace, the vizier got anxious because his plots had gone awry and he had to give up his position as a vizier. That night the king’s vizier went to his room in order to consult with his hat. The hat this time suggested Mam Siyah:

“Vizier, don’t worry! This time ask Mam Siyah to bring you the daughter of the neighboring king. No one has ever come back alive from the journey to bring the princess.”

The day after the vizier went to the king and told him that he had a strange dream. He said that he had dreamt of Mam Siyah going to bring the king the daughter of the neighboring king.

The king laughed and said that Mam Siyah could not do such a great job. However the vizier persuaded the king that Mam Siyah was an able man and he could fetch such great creatures for the king, so he could also bring the princess of the foreign land. So Mam Siyah was summoned to the palace and the king ordered him to bring to the palace the daughter of the king of the neighboring land.

AE/RM/ME