Week 5 Story: The Merchant and His Wife

As twilight fell just like any other clear night, Khojisteh approached the parrot with despair in his eyes. He asked the parrot, "every night I come to you asking when will be my time to meet my lover, and every day I sit here with patience." The parrot admired the girl listening to his stories every night. If this was the night she was to meet her lover, then she should go. But at first, she should listen to the parrot's story about the merchant and his wife before she made her decision. So she listened...

In a city far away, there was a very rich merchant and his wife. The merchant often went away for business far away. One day, he left with no telling of when his return would be. His wife waited and waited and eventually got very lonely. She did something very unexpected and unheard of but since she was wealthy, she called upon a companion to keep her company until her husband returned. The night the companion came to the wife, the merchant returned to find them in bed together. The merchant was very offended; he loved his wife very much and only wanted to provide a good life for her. He left her for good and went to find a mistress that would keep him company for the meantime.

Author's note: The original story had the merchant leaving his wife for business and when he came back, he couldn't get into his own house. He found lodging somewhere else and called for a mistress. The mistress he got ended up being his wife. I changed the story so that the wife ended up getting a mistress of her own and instead of him being her husband, I had her husband find her with another man to make it more interesting.

The Merchant and His Wife by Ziya'al-Din Nakhshabi

The Merchant. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Reading Notes: Of the Merchant and the Barber

Khojisteh went to the parrot at twilight, draped in gold and jewels, and asked him if she could leave saying, "I want to go to my lover at midnight; now tell a short story." The parrot responded with, "There was a merchant in a city that didn't have a child. One day he thought to himself, 'Even though I have gained a lot of riches in this world, I have no child to share my wealth with once I'm dead. Maybe I should share my wealth with the poor and orphans.' He then gave away all his wealth to charity.

He had a dream that night in which someone came to him and he asked them, 'who art thou?' The someone answered with, 'I am the form of your destiny. You have given so much of your wealth to charity that you didn't leave any for yourself. Tomorrow, I will visit you again and you will hit me several times. Once I fall to the ground, I will convert into gold. Take any body part that you require and it will be replaced.'

The next day, as the merchant was getting his hair cut, the brahmin appeared. The merchant got up and started hitting him on the head. As he fell to the ground, he changed into gold. He took the gold, gave some to the barber that was cutting his hair, and told him not to tell anyone.

The barber thought that anyone who hit the brahmin, would turn him into gold. He invited several brahmins to his house and cooked them a feast. He then hit all the brahmins to the point of cracking them open so blood poured out everywhere. They did not turn to gold.

Other brahmins got together to drag the barber in front of the magistrate. The judge then asked him, 'why did you beat the brahmins?' He answered that he thought they would turn to gold because he saw it happen in his own home.

When the merchant was approached by the magistrate he asked if the barber was telling the truth. The merchant said that he went crazy and he was his servant and not his barber."

The parrot then told Khojisteh, "now go." Khojisteh wanted to, but dawn was appearing and her departure was delayed.


Of the Merchant and the Barber by Ziya'al-Din Nakhshabi.

A barber shaving his client. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Reading Notes: The Old Lion and a Cat

Late at night, Khojisteh asked the parrot, "why are you reflecting?" The parrot then responded, "you are making me sad even though I'm not receiving any care of my own. You listen to my stories all the time and one day, you husband will show up and you will not go with him and end up regretting it." Khojisteh then responded, "why was the cat full of regret after killing the mice when he is the one that should be eating them?" The parrot responded by telling him a story about a lion in the desert who was routinely disturbed by the mice who picked out the meat in between his teeth at night. He looked for a way to keep the mice from bothering him and a fox suggested that a cat could come and protect the lion while he sleeps. The cat that watched over the lion never killed any mice but only scared them away. One day, the cat wanted to have the day to do business and left her kitten to protect the lion from the mice. The kitten killed every mouse she saw and then they were all destroyed. The kitten was unaware that she wasn't suppose to kill the mice, only scare them away. The lion had no job left for the cat to do and ended up dismissing her. The parrot's story was to warn Khojisteh that she may regret the day her husband comes.

The Old Lion and the Cat by Ziya'al-Din Nakhshabi

Sleeping Lion. Source: Wikimedia Commons