Week 4: Famous Last Words

Wow, I can't believe it has been a month already. It's interesting counting through the weeks in these "Famous Last Words" posts. This week, like so many others, has been very busy! I've been stressing trying to get all my studying done for my Principles of Physiology test on Tuesday, and complete my Organic and Physics two labs.

I had an interesting lab involving circuits this week in my Physics lab. It was curious to see how much of an impact that a tiny little metal resistor could have on the current that would flow through our circuit. In Organic Chem lab we purified the ethanol from a yeast and sugar mixture that we set up the second week of our lab. It was cool to get a small glimpse into how ethanol was created and distilled!

Mythology and Folklore, as always, kept me busy with reading and writing lots of fables and tales. I chose to read Tutinameh, or Tales of a Parrot. this week. This story tells about a parrot who distracts a woman from leaving to visit her extramarital lover each night by telling her a different story. Most of the tale is about the individual stories that the parrot tells, but the ending is surprising when the woman's husband returns.

(Amazon Parrot. Wikimedia Commons)

My best writing this week was probably done in my storytelling post. I concocted a tale based on The Nobleman who Concealed a Snake in His Sleeve. This story tells the tale of a nobleman who, one day while hunting, happens across the frightened snake. The snake convinces the nobleman to hide him from another man trying to kill the snake. However, after he helps the snake, the snake calls him a fool for trusting him and says that he will kill the man. The nobleman distracts the snakes and crushes his head with a rock. In my tale however, it's a tiger that the man hides in his house, and let's just say it's not quite as easy to crush a tiger as it is a snake.

Essay for Week 4: Tricksters and Fools of Tutinameh, or Tales of a Parrot.

Throughout mythological and folkloric writings, many examples of tricksters and fools can be found. The Persian story series The Tooti Nameh or Tales of a Parrot, by Ziya'al-Din Nakhshabi (1801) is no exception to this trend. Both in the overarching tale, and the individual stories told by the parrot, fools and tricksters appear.

The Nobleman who Concealed a Snake in His Sleeve In this story told by the parrot, a snake tricks a nobleman into hiding him from an enemy. This trickster approaches the nobleman and, seemingly frightened, begs the nobleman to hide him from his potential killer. After the nobleman agrees to hide the snake in his sleeve, and once the snake's enemy passes, the snake tells the nobleman he is going to kill him! Some may call the nobleman a fool, and the snake certainly seems to think so, going so far as to call him a "blockhead", but in the end, the nobleman manages to distract the snake and kill it with a rock.

(Source: Flickr)

Of the Merchant and the Barber In this tale, the barber makes a major fool of himself. It begins with a wealthy merchant, who having no children of his own, decides to distribute his amassed wealth among the orphans and the poor. That night, the merchant has a vision in his dream telling him he shall be rewarded for his generosity. The vision tells him that he will appear to the merchant as a brahmin the next day, and that the merchant is to strike him on the head at which he will turn to gold. When this happens, the barber witnesses it and foolishly believes that striking any brahmin on the head will turn him to gold. This of course, causes much trouble for the barber.

We not only see tricksters and fools in the stories told by the parrot, but also in the overarching tale itself. Night after night, each time Khojisteh wishes to leave to her lover, the parrot tricks her into staying by telling her stories. Throughout the story he acts as if he only wants to help Khojisteh, but as soon Miemun returns, the parrot immediately tells him what has happened, upon which Miemun kills Khojisteh. The parrot is truely the ultimate trickster in Tales of a Parrot.

Storytelling for Week 4: The Man Who Hid a Tiger

Once upon a time, in a small house amongst the mountains, there lived a man. This man kept to himself mostly, tending to his plants and and livestock, only visiting the nearby town on rare occasion for flour, sweets, and other such things that he could not make himself. However, to call this man a hermit, as did many of the children in the nearby town, would be inaccurate. Indeed, he was self reliant, and it was a fact that he mistrusted the governments of men and their ever encroaching townships and cities, but the man appreciated company as much as any other man, and was not unknown to chat with the store clerk in town.

One day, while the man was working in his garden, he heard a series of footsteps behind him. When the man turned around, he was shocked to see not a person behind him, but a tiger who seemed just as frightened as the man.

"Please!" said the tiger to the man. "You must help me. There are men following me; they are trying to kill me! Will you please hide me in your house until they pass?"

"Now wait a minute," said the man to the tiger. "Why are these men pursuing you? Surely you must have offended them in some way."

"They have accused me of murder, but it is a lie!" replied the tiger. "For years I have lived in peace in the forest, but now these men desire to expand their home into my own, and as such have devised a way to get rid of me forever!"

"Very well." said the man. "You can stay in my home until these men pass. It seems the sins of man in the name of expansion have no end."

In short time, the men that the tiger spoke of appeared at the home of the man. The man approached them and asked "Can I help you all find anything? I don't get a lot of visitors around here."

"We're looking for a tiger who killed one of our friends." replied one of the men shortly. "Have you seen it?"

"No, I don't believe I have, but you might try at the next house down the road." replied the man.

Frustrated and annoyed, the men left without another word.

 (Tiger. Wikimedia Commons)

The man returned to the tiger and said: "The men who were hunting you have left, but you are welcome to stay for tea and a snack."

"I really must be going," said the tiger. "But I believe I will take a snack for the road."

Before the man could reply, the tiger leapt up and devoured him whole.

"Only a fool would trust the word of a tiger over his fellow man."

Author's Note: This story is based on The Nobleman who Concealed a Snake in His Sleeve from the The Tooti Nameh or Tales of a Parrot, by Ziya'al-Din Nakhshabi (1801). Web source. This story tells the tale of a nobleman who, one day while hunting, happens across a frightened snake. The snake convinces the nobleman to hide him from another man trying to kill the snake. However, after he helps the snake, the snake calls him a fool for trusting him and says that he will kill the man. The nobleman distracts the snake and crushes his head with a rock.

Week 4 Reading Diary: Tales of a Parrot

Here are some of my favorite passages from Tutinameh, or Tales of a Parrot.

Miemun and Khojisteh This introduction tells the story of a prince, Ahmed Sultaun, who prays and prays to the gods to bring him a son. Eventually. the creator of heaven and earth brings a son to him, who the prince names Miemun. Miemun one day finds a extremely overpriced parrot in the market, but decides to buy it after it speaks to him with wisom and seeming foretelling of the future. On this parrots advice, Miemun buys all the spikenard (a plant) in the city. Three days later a caravan from Cabul comes and buys this spikenard at five times the cost! Talk about a smart bird!

The Story of the Parrot of Ferukh Beg After witnessing Miemun's wife, Khojisteh, kill the other bird for speaking out against her plan to leave for another prince (talk about crazy), the parrot wisely decides instead to distract her with a story instead. The parrot tells the story of a similar situation, in which a wife cheats on her out of town husband while the parrot is left to witness. When the husband returns, he blames the parrot for not telling him and then plucks all his feathers out and throws him outside. Eventually, the parrot regrows his feathers and returns to convince the husband to take his wife back.

The Fowler, the Parrot, and her Young Ones The parrot tells another story in this section, this time about a parrot who is captured with her young. The parrot in this story tells her captured children to play dead so that the Fowler will release them. When the plan works, the Fowler is angered. To calm him, the parrot tells him she is a physician and worth a great sum on money. This prompts the Fowler to sell the parrot to the sick king. After making progress on his illness, the parrot asks the king to set her free so that she can cure him once and for all, but once she is released, she leaves and never returns.

Of a King and His Sons, and of a Frog and a Snake  In this passage, the parrot tells the story of a young prince who has to flee his home city after his father passes away, for his eldest brother had the intention of killing him. On his way out of the city, this prince saves a frog from the mouth of a snake. However, the prince feels guilty for stealing a meal from the snake, and instead feeds him a piece of his own flesh. Both the frog and snake feel they owe the prince, and take the form of men and join him as servants. The three men take employ in the service of a king in a nearby city, until the eventually part ways.

The Nobleman who Concealed a Snake in His Sleeve This story tells the tale of a nobleman who, one day while hunting, happens across the frightened snake. The snake convinces the nobleman to hide him from another man trying to kill the snake. However, after he helps the snake, the snake calls him a fool for trusting him and says that he will kill the man. The nobleman distracts the snakes and crushes his head with a rock.

A King Falls in Love and the End of Khojisteh In this section, the parrot tells Khojisteh one last story, telling of a king who took a princess of a nearby kingdom by force. This king did not know that his new wife had a son from a previous marriage, and when she sneaks him into the city, he instead suspects this man to be her lover. He sentences her son to death, but a sympathetic executioner saves his life. Eventually, Miemun returns and the parrot tells him all of what has happened. Miemun kills Khojisteh on the spot.