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The Golden-Headed Fish

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The Golden-Headed Fish (Le poisson à tête d'or) is an Armenian fairy tale. It was first collected by ethnologue and clergyman Karekin Servantsians (Garegin Sruandzteants'; Bishop Sirwantzdiants) in Hamov-Hotov (1884) with the title ԱԼԹՈՒՆ ԲԱՇ ԲԱԼԸՂ ("Alt'un Bash Balygh").[1][2][3] It was later translated to English by A. G. Seklemian,[4] and also in French by scholar Frédéric Macler (fr).[5] Andrew Lang included it in The Olive Fairy Book.

Synopsis

A king was going blind. A traveller said that if a golden-headed fish, found in the Great Sea, was brought to him within a hundred days, he would prepare an ointment from its blood to save the king's sight, but he had to leave in a hundred days. The prince took men and fished for it. He finally caught it, too late to bring it back. He intended to bring it back to show his father what he had done, and decided not to, because the doctors would try to make the ointment and so kill the fish uselessly.

The king refused to believe he had tried, and ordered his execution. Servants warned the queen who gave her son common clothing and gold and sent him off to a distant island with a warning to take no man in his service who wanted to be paid every month. At the island, he bought a house and rejected many servants, who wanted to be paid by the month, and finally took on an Arab who wished to be paid every year.

On this island, a monster left half of it a wasteland, and whoever went to fight it fell asleep. The Arab asked the governor what he would give for killing it, and the governor offered half the land and his daughter; the Arab asked instead that he share in whatever he gained. The governor agreed. The Arab killed the monster and told the prince to take the credit. The governor gave him a ship at his request, and secretly filled it with jewels.

They sailed to a far country. The Arab urged the prince to ask the king for his daughter. The king warned the prince that she had been married one hundred and ninety times, and all the bridegrooms had not lived out twelve hours, but the Arab urged him to marry her anyway. They were married, but at night, he saw men digging a grave for him. Then a small black snake wiggled into the bridal chamber, but the Arab saw it and killed it. After that, the princess lived happily with her new husband.

One day, he was summoned home with the news his father was dead. He ruled there. One day, the Arab told him he had been summoned home and must leave him. The new king wished to reward him, because he had saved his life, but the Arab refused all, because he was the Golden-Headed Fish.

Variants

Europe

Eberhard and Boratav reported at least one variant from the Kalmyks collected by Gustaf John Ramstedt.[6]

Caucasus Region

Armenia

According to Armenian scholarship, 22 variants of the tale of a talking fish have been recorded, with two alternate opening episodes: either the hero is the son of a fisherman, or a king's son, he releases the fish that could save the king.[7]

In another Armenian variant, titled Ոսկե ձուկը (Voske dzuky; English: "Golden-Fish"), the prince is schooled for years and learns his father is going blind. A foreign doctor explains that the only cure is the blood of the golden fish. The prince sets to capture him. Once he fishes the animal, he spares its life and returns it to the sea. The king is furious and banishes his son. The prince, now a beggar, meets a mysterious Arab in his travels and they both agree to journey together. After a series of adventures, including an episode of pretending to divide the prince's newly-married wife,[a] the Arab reveals himself to be the very Golden Fish the prince spared once.[8]

Azerbaijan

In an Azeri tale titled "Золотой подсвечник" ("The Golden Candlestick"), a shah is going blind and the only cure indicated by his new doctor is the blood from a speckled fish that lives in the White Sea. The shah's son mounts an expedition with fishermen and goes to the White Sea to find the fish. They catch the speckled fish and the prince is ready to strike it down, but the fish, with human voice, begs to be spared. The prince releases it back into the water and threatens his crew into silence. They return to the kingdom empty-handed. Later, an informant alerts the shah about the prince's deed and the shah, feeling betrayed by his own son, banishes him from the kingdom. The prince wanders to the White Sea and meets a companion. They become friends and agree to divide every earning equally between them. heu reach a kingdom where a princess lives who lost her voice. The king allows anyone who claims to be able to cure her, but kills those that fail. The prince and his companion promise to cure her. The companion enters the princess's room and tells a story to the princess's golden candlestick: a carpenter, a weaver and a doctor enter the forest; the carpenter carves a woman out of wood; the weaver dresses the wooden image and the doctor vivifies it - to whom does she belong? The companion asks the candlestick, but the princess answers for it. Her father rewards the companion with her hand in marriage, but he declines and lets the prince marry her. The companion leads the prince and the princess to the White Sea and reveals he was the speckled fish, son of the ruler of all the fishes. He cuts his finger and drops some of his blood in a cup to give to the prince's father as remedy, turns into a fish and returns to the sea.[9]

Georgia

Georgian scholarship registers variants of the fish as the helper as the Georgian type 507, "Grateful Dead". In these tales, the hero releases "a blue fish" that helps him to discover the princess's deadly secret and purifies her.[10]

In a Georgian variant, Gulambara and Sulambara, the only cure for the king's blindness is "a fish red as blood", which can only be found in a distant sea. A fisherman captures the fish and brings it to the king. One day, the prince sees the fish in a basin and, feeling great remorse at its killing, decides to release the fish back to the water. The king learns of this and banishes his son. Wandering about, the boy reaches a stream, when he sees another boy of the same age and they decide to be brothers. When they reach a city, the mysterious boy warns the prince to stay indoors while he earns their living. He leaves their house one day and, walking around town, sees a tower and a row of spiked heads. The prince asks what is the meaning of such a sight, and he learns that the heads are from suitors who have failed to answer the princess's riddle: "Who are Gulambara and Sulambara?". The prince knows Gulambara and Sulambara are names of flowers, but he is given a chance to answer correctly. After a series of adventures, he answers the princess's riddle and marries her. When the prince and the princess come across the stream, the mysterious boy appears and suggests they divide the maiden equally. The mysterious boy binds her to a tree and threatens to strike her with a sword, but - lo and behold! - a "green stream" flows from the maiden's mouth, and the boy explains that "she was venomous" and "it would have killed the prince". He then reveals he is the crimson fish, and gives the prince a handkerchief with the cure for the prince's father.[11]

In the tale "Сын рыбака" ("The Fisherman's Son"), a fisherman sets his son to help him catch fish. One day, the son catches quite a netful of fish, and beats every last one of hem, but he sees a small red fish still alive and lets it be. The red fish thanks the boy for sparing his life and gives him one of his bones to summon the fish in case he needs any help. The son tells his fisherman father of the event, and the man beats and banishes his son. The boy asks his mother for a bit of food and leaves home. On the way, he meets another person and shares his food with him. They become companions and reach another kingdom. The princess of this kingdom has become mute for some reason and her father will marry her to whomever can reverse her condition. The mysterious companions tells two riddle-like tales to her and she responds. The king gives the pair his daughter and the boys leave. When they pass by a bridge, the fisherman's son notices the absence of his friend - who was, after all, the same red fish.[12] The compiler related this tale to the Grateful Dead cycle (types ATU 507C and 508).[13]

In another Georgian variant, ლურჯი თევზი (romanization: "Lurji Tevzi") translated as "Синяя рыба" and "Der blaue Fische" ("Blue Fish"), a king is losing his sight, his only remedy is a blue fish that must be caught and brushed against his eyes at dawn. The king's son, named Levan, offers to get this fish. He does, but, seeing the sorry state of the fish, trapped in a jar, decides to release it. When the king demands the fish be brought to him, the son flees the kingdom and meets a youth named Ramaz on the road. They visit a woman in another kingdom and she tells them of the princess's riddle. The pair goes to the royal court and are asked "Who are Sulambara and Gulambar?". Advised by the old woman, the duo travels afar to discover their answer and bring it to the princess. At the end of the tale, they divide their earning between them, and the pal becomes a blue fish.[14][15][16] The Russian-language compiler also related it to the cycle of The Grateful Dead.[17]

Tsakhur people

In a tale from the Tsakhur people collected by Adolf Dirr [de], Der rote Fisch ("The Red Fish"),[18] a king has gone blind and the only cure is to catch a red fish in the White Sea, kill it and rub its blood on the king's eyes. The prince goes with a crew of fishermen to catch it, succeeding only on the third day. The prince captures the fish, but releases the animal, and makes the crew promise not to tell the king. However, a servant returns to the palace and reveals to the king, who expels his son from the kingdom. On his journeys, he meets a man and they travel to another kingdom, whose princess has become mute since she was seven years old. The prince's companion tells a story and asks a question, and the princess answers it, breaking her state. The princess is married to the prince. On the wedding night, a serpent crawls into the bedchambers and the mysterious companion kills it. The mysterious companion also disenchants the princess by making her vomit snakes, gives the prince the cure for his father and explains he was the red fish.[19]

Mingrelian people

A similar tale, titled Der schöne Fisch (Mingrelian: Skwami čḫomi; English: "The Beautiful Fish"), was collected by ethnologist Robert Bleichsteiner from the Mingrelians.[20]

Abkhazian people

In a tale from the Abkhazians, published by linguist Khukhut S. Bgazhba with the title "Царевич и золотая рыбка" ("The Prince and the Golden Fish"), a prince oversees his father's fishermen. One day, they capture a beautiful golden fish. Touched by its beauty, the prince decides to release it back to the sea. His father, the king, learns of this and banishes him from the kingdom. The prince meets a youth and they become friends. They reach a kingdom whose princess has married 300 times, and all of her suitors have mysteriously died. The prince decides to marry her, despite his friend's objections. During the night, while the couple is asleep, some snakes crawl out of the princess's mouth to kill the prince, but the companion wields his sabre and decapitates the snakes. The prince awakens, sees his friend in a battle stance, and misreads his intentions. The threee leave the kingdom and stop by the place where the prince met his companion. The friend and the prince decide to divide the princess between themselves, and the bodies of the snakes come out of her mouth. The friend explains he saved his life in the princess's chamber, just as the prince has saved his once before, for he was the golden fish.[21][22]

Greece

Richard MacGillivray Dawkins located Greek variants in Vourla, in Pontos and in Cyprus where the protagonist releases a fish that he caught as remedy for a sick person, and later the fish repays his kindness by becoming the protagonist's companion.[23]

Professor Michael Merakles noted that in Greek variants of type 507C, "The Serpent Maiden", the hero is a fisherman's son who flees from home for releasing a fish, and meets a strange companion on the way (an incarnation of the fish). They go to another kingdom and try their luck to make the princess regain her voice by telling her a story-within-a-story about which suitor shall have for wife the princess they rescued (a tale type that Merakles proposed to add to the international catalogue as AaTh *852A).[24]

Folklore scholars Anna Angelopoulou and Aigle Brouskou state that the character of the grateful fish appears twice as the grateful dead in Greek variants.[25]

Author Lucy Mary Jane Garnett reported a Greek-language tale titled Story of the Golden Fish, wherein the titular golden fish returns as human to help the hero.[26]

Bulgaria

In his Übersicht über einige Resultate der Märchenforschung, folklorist Kaarle Krohn reported at least one Bulgarian variant of this narrative: the prince releases back into the ocean a "beautiful fish" (the only cure for his father's illness); he is expelled from the kingdom and meets a companion on the way; both liberate a princess from a serpent; the companion reveals he is the fish.[27]

The narrative exists in the Bulgarian Folktale Catalogue under the banner *507C*, "Благодарна риба" ("The Grateful Fish"),[28] related to the international type ATU 507, "The Monster's Bride".[29]

Romania

In a Romanian tale translated into French as L’empereur des poissons ("The King of the Fishes"), a fisherman catches a fish with shining scales. His son sees the fish, which says he is the king of fishes and begs to be released into the water. The boy does. The next day, his father beats and scolds the boy. He leaves home and meets a dwarf-sized man who becomes his companion. With the help of the dwarf, the boy seizes the fortune of a dead boyard. Later, the boy and the dwarf work together to discover the secret of the princess, whose previous 99 suitors died in mysterious circumstances. The dwarf threatens the princess with a sword, making her vomit a snake and three snake eggs. Having helped the boy, the dwarf vanishes, for he was the same fish the boy released once.[30]

Serbia

A Serbian variant was collected as early as 1863, with the title Ein Goldfisch ("A Goldfish"). In this tale (summary provided by Vatroslav Jagić), the youngest of three sons catches a goldfish, but releases it. HIs father expels him from home and he meets a friend on the way. They reach a kingdom, disenchant a princess from the snakes that appear at night in her bedchambers to kill her suitors, and the friend reveals he was the goldfish.[31]

Asia

Middle East

Turkey

According to scholar K. S. Shakryl, Turkish variants of type 507C contain the fish in human form as the helper.[32]

In addition, the Turkish Folktale Catalogue, by Wolfram Eberhard and Pertev Naili Boratav, attests both the "Grateful Fish" and "The Grateful Dead" as different, but related, tale types.[33] In their catalogue, titled Typen Türkischer Volksmärchen ("TTV"), the cycle with the fish as the helper is named TTV 62, Der Dank des Fisches ("The Grateful Fish"), with 12 variants,[34] and the one with the dead man's spirit as helper is titled TTV 63, Der dankbare Tote ("The Grateful Dead Man").[35]

In a Turkish variant collected from teller Şücrü Darıcı, in Çorum Province, in 1964, and archived in the Uysal–Walker Archive of Turkish Oral Narrative with the title ‘What God May Neglect, the Fish Will Not Forget’, a padishah is going blind, and the royal doctors recommend fish a black fish, a trout, and the oil of its flesh be pressed against his eyes. The fishermen catch the fish, but the padish's son, seeing the fish's suffering, decides to release it back to the sea. The padishah is informed of this, considers it an act of treachery and orders his son to be hanged. His mother concurs with her husband, but gives her son some bread for food and some advice: her son will meet three men on the road; if one of them divides the bread equaly between them, her son shall befriend him. It happens as such and the padishah's son befriends a Black Arab. They plant a tree to mark their friendship. They travel to another kingdom and open a law office. He begins writing petitions for the common man on his typewriter and draws the attention of the ruler of the city. The ruler orders him to stop his activities, but the boy and the Black Arab disobey him. The ruler seeks counsel with his viziers, who advise the ruler to marry the boy to his daughter, since she has married a few times and all her suitors dies some days after the wedding. The boy marries the ruler's daughter and, on the fourth and fifth night after the wedding, the Black Arab kills two serpents that crawled out of the wife's womb. After killing the snakes and a son is born to him, the boy and the Black Arab receive gifts from the ruler and depart back to the padishah's realm. They stop by the tree they planted, the Black Arab expels more snakes from the girl's mouth, and reveals he was the black fish.[36]

Kurdish people

In a tale from the Kurdish people, Мирза-Мамуд ("Mirza-Mahmud"), Mirza-Mahmud is a youth who shares his food with the fishes of the sea. He decides to leave home and know the world. He meets another boy on the way, named Ahmed Kahn, and both swear an oath towards each other, becoming blood brothers. One day, they reach a kingdom whose princess, Porsor-khanum, has lost the ability to speak. Her father, the king, promises her to anyone who can make her speak again. Mirza-Mahmud conspires with his companion to make the princess speak, by telling her a story-within-a-story, and asking her a riddle at the end of the narration. After the third story, Porsor-khanum regains her speech and departs with both youths. Midway in their journey, Ahmed Khan suggests they divide everything between them, including the princess. Ahmed Khan and Mirza Mahmud hit the princess and a snake comes out of her mouth. Ahmed Khan kills the serpent and reveals he is the son of the padishah of the sea, with whom Mirza Mahmud shared his food.[37]

In another Kurdish tale, "Сын рыбака" ("Son of the Fisherman"), collected in 1972 from informant Morofe Mahmud, a native from Armenia, a fisherman and his son catch a unique and beautiful fish. While his father goes to call some buyers, the fish pleads for his life and the boy releases it. The fisherman returns and, seeing the fish is missing, chastises his son. Later that day, the boy asks his mother to bake him three cakes, and she advices him to befriend only a stranger who divides equally the cake with him. The boy leaves home and meets two people on the road, who get he better portion of the cakes. The boy befriends another boy and they reach another kingdom, whose king's daughter is mute. The boy's companion goes to the king to announce he and his friend will make the princess speak, while many before them have failed and were killed. The boy, the companion and the princess spend three nights together, with the companion telling a story-within-a-story each night to get the princess to react. After three nights, the princess's voice is restored and she is given to both boys. They return to the road with the princess and the companion suggests they divide their gains, including the princess. The companion poises to strike the princess, and snakes come out of her - the source of her predicament. At last, the trio return to the fisherman's house, where the companion reveals he was the same fish and returns to the sea.[38]

Israel

According to scholar Heda Jason [de], some Israeli variants of The Grateful Dead story (AaTh 506) replace the dead person for the fish, who assumes human form and helps the hero that released him back into the sea.[39]

Central Asia

Kyrgyzstan

In a Kyrgyz tale translated into Hungarian with the title Az aranyhal ("The Golden Fish"), in a kingdom ruled by a khan named Bekjan, a fisherman catches a netful of fishes, a golden fish with them, and decides to show the khan. His son, Ismail, sees the golden fish and releases it back into the sea, putting a stone in its place. The khan sees the stone and admonishes the fisherman. The fisherman and his wife feel they will be hanged by the khan and tell their son to flee from the kingdom. Ismail's mother gives the boy some bread and some pieces of advice. The first advice is that, if Ismail shares his bread with a stranger and the stranger asks for the small share for himself, he is a good friend. The second advice is that Ismail is see if he can trust the stranger: he is to say he will relieve himself and leave the path; if the stranger is still there waiting for him, the stranger can be trusted. Ismail makes the test with a boy named Israjil and they become friends. They reach a city and beat some brigands. The king of the city summons them to his presence and announces he will pay them handsomely if they defeat a dragon who demanded the king's daughter, princess Gulamam, as sacrifice. They kill the dragon and Ismail maries Gulamam. They leave the kingdom with a large retinue and stop to rest by a water source. They pitch a tent for Ismail and the princess. At night, seven black pigeons (the souls of the dragon) perch near the tent and one of them plans to poison the princess with its beak; if one reveals the birds' plan will become stone. Israjil overhears the birds' language and touchs the princess's face to remove the poison. Ismail wakes up to the strange scene before him and threatens his companion. Israjil reveals his intentions and becomes stone. Ismail restores him to life with the blood of a white pigeon. Lastly, Ismail and Israjil return to his kingdom and oust Bekjan Khan and enthrone Ismail as khan. Israjil and Ismail go near a lake and Israjil tells his companion they will divide everything, including the princess Gulamam. Israjil prepares to strike her, when a dark cloud comes out of her breast. Israjil explains he cured the princess of evil influences and reveals he was the golden fish.[40]

Uzbekistan

In an Uzbek tale translated into Russian language with the title "Золотая рыба" ("The Golden Fish"), an old fisherman lives near the beach. He fishes while his son plays an instrument and sings beautiful songs near the shore. One day, the boy's father catches a golden coloured fish and goes to tell the khan, expecting a fine reward for it. The boy, however, seeing the poor animal, releases him back into the ocean. When his father returns with the khan, they both scold the boy, tie his arms and legs, and place him a boat adrift in the ocean. The waves drive the boat to an island, where a mysterious boy appears and unties the fisherman's son. They become friends and explore the island. They see an old man, who tells them that their princess has spent the better part of her life in a speechless state. The duo takes their chances to heal the princess. The mysterious boy tells a silly riddle to the princess, who does not respond. He then threatens the princess with his sword, and a white snake comes out of her mouth, which the boy kills. The princess thanks him and gives him her ring. The mysterious boy returns to the fisherman's son, gives him the ring and reveals he is the golden fish he rescued. The fish-boy goes back to the sea, while the fisherman's son goes to the king to take the credit for the deed. The boy takes the princess and goes to the beach. He call out to the fish helper to give him a means of transportation to the other side of the ocean, and the fish summons a giant fish to help them get across.[41]

In another Uzbek tale titled "Сахибджан и Ахмадджан" ("Sahibjan and Ahmadjan"), an old couple prays for a son, and thus one is born. They raise the boy, who helps his father in his fishing activity. One day, the boy is fishing with the net and captures a small fish. He decides to release the fish back into the ocean. A neighbour scolds the boy, who decides to leave home, with his parents' blessing. On the way, he meets another boy, named Ahmadjan, and they become friends. They find work in the building of a madrassa, and learn that a padishah wants to marry his daughter, but after her suitors pass through three trials. The boys decide to try their luck and beat the trials. However, Ahmadjan overhears the conversation of three ravens about the grim fate that shall befall the princess and her suitor, and decides to thwart them, even at the cost of his own life. He saves his companion and the princess, and becomes petrified (tale type ATU 516, "Faithful John"). A mysterious old man restores him, and the trio leave the kingdom. During the journey, Ahmadjan purges the princess of dragon's venom and reveals he was the small fish caught in the net.[42]

In another Uzbek tale with the title "Побратимы" ("Blood Brothers"), the shah orders the fisherman to catch fish. At night, the vizir's son, Kasym, catches a fish with golden head and silver-scaled body, but releases him back into the sea. The shah learns of this and orders the boys execution. He is spared and exiled to the desert, where he meets another boy named Kalandar. Kalandar says he is the fish and wants to repay Kasym's kindness. Both companions go to another kingdom, whose princess was kidnapped by a dark div. They save the princess. On the journey back, as Kasym and the princess are sleeping, Kalandar sees a parrot come and spray poison on the princess's face, and tells Kalandar that if he tells anyone, he will turn to stone. Kalandar thwarts the parrot's plan and turns to stone. Kasym and the princess restore Kalandar to life. When they reach a river, Kalandar says his goodbyes and becomes a fish again.[43]

Iran

Professor Ulrich Marzolph, in his Catalogue of Persian Folktales, listed three variants where the fish appears as the helper, all grouped under type 507C, Der dankbare Tote ("The grateful dead person"). In one from Esfahan and one from Husestan, the animal is a laughing fish, while the tale from Balučestān contains a red-coloured fish.[44]

In another Persian variant, "میرماهی و ابراهیم طبیب" ("Mirmahi and Ibrahim Tabib"), the king is dying, and the only cure for him is the blood of a legendary fish named Mirmahi, found in a distant land. The king's son, Ibrahim, travels afar and finds the fish, but decides to release it. He returns home to an angered king, who orders for his son's execution. The king's trusted guard, however, spares the prince's life and presents the king false proof of the youth's execution. The prince exiles himself and meets a dervish on the way. After some adventures, the dervish gives him a kerchief soaked with Mirmahi's blood to give to the king, for the dervish is Mirmahi, the very fish he spared once. The prince goes home, gives the kerchief to cure his father.[45]

Pakistan

In a Pakistani tale titled "Царевич Нигал и рыба" ("Prince Nigal and the Fish"), a fisherman catches a large fish to gift the king, but prince Nigal buys the fish by 4 rupees and releases it in the sea. The king, his father, learns of this ad exiles his son. On the road, Nigal is approached by a "Baluchi" youth on a white horse and they become friends. They reach another kingdom and find work as king's guards. One night, Nigal covers the first shift and sees a white-bearded man leaving the castle. The mysterious man explains he is the king's "fate", and that the king's fate is to die by a black snake's venom that same night. Nigal enters the king's chambers to kill the black snake before it kills the king. He succeeds, but a drop of venom squirts on the queen's face. The queen wakes up and sees Nigal close to her face. Feeling that Nigal did something to her, she orders his execution. Nigal's companion, the Baluchi, tries to stave off the execution by telling the king some moral tales: in the first, an eagle saves a monarch from drinking from a cup laced with snake venom, and is killed for its efforts; in the second, a parrot brings its master, the king, fruits from the tree of life and tells him to plant them, but a snake bites into the fruits and drips them with venom, and the king thinks that the parrot tried to kill him. The Baluchi tells the king to look under the bed: he finds the dead snakes. The king marries his daughter to Nigal, who leaves the kingdom with his wife and his companion. After they reach a point in road, the Baluchi says it is time to divide their earnings, meaning the princess. When the Baluchi is poised to strike the girl, black snakes come out of her mouth. The Baluchi then reveals he was the fish that Prince Nigal bought back from the fisherman.[46]

East Asia

China

Chinese folklorist and scholar Ting Nai-tung [zh] established a second typological classification of Chinese folktales (the first was by Wolfram Eberhard in the 1930s). In his new system, he located one variant of type 507C, "The Serpent Maiden", published in 1957, wherein the hero's helper is a fish in human form who liberates the princess.[47]

Uyghur people

In an Uyghur tale, The Golden Carp, a stepson returns a golden carp to the water. In a fury, his stepfather promises to kill the boy, but his mother warns him to run away. In his wanderings, he meets another boy and they become companions. The pair reaches another kingdom and eats without paying. Their sentences are commuted to finding a kidnapped princess. The boy and his companion find the princess and kill their captors, then the companion reveals he was the golden carp.[48][49]

Africa

Hasan El-Shamy collected an Egyptian tale in 1969 and published it in 1980 with the title The Grateful Fish. In this tale, Hasan, the son of a poor fisherman, catches a peculiar small fish and returns it to the water. His father scolds his son and expels him from home. On the road, the boy meets a dervish, who will help him marry the princess. At the end of the tale, the dervish reveals he was the fish.[50]

Analysis

Tale type

According to German folklorist Hans-Jörg Uther, the biblical story of the Book of Tobit resembles the Armenian tale quite closely. The story features a helper of supernatural origin (an angel in disguise), a hero (boy) on a quest for a remedy for his father, a maiden whose suitors/bridegrooms have died in mysterious circumstances in her bedchamber, and the exorcising of the evil spirits that possessed her. Accordingly, these plots can be classified in the Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index as tale types ATU 505, "The Grateful Dead"; ATU 551, "The Water of Life", and ATU 507, "The Monster's Bride", "The Poisoned Maiden" or "The Dangerous Bride" (the killer monster in the nuptial chamber).[51]

Scholar Heda Jason attested the presence of variants in the Jewish Oriental tale corpus. She also classified the tale as type AaTh 506: a king's son (the hero) catches a fish, who later becomes his helper in getting a princess for wife.[52] She also recognized that the biblical Book of Tobias contained a rewritten heroic fairy tale (AaTh 505).[53]

Swedish folklorist Sven Liljeblad [sv] in his work about the tale type, tabulated two forms of the narrative: a type dubbed Asmodeus, wherein a dragon or serpent attacks the couple on the wedding night, and another named The Snake Maiden, wherein the snakes come out of the maiden's mouth. He also noted that in the former type the grateful fish introduction "occasionally" happened.[54]

Russian scholarship has also noted the resemblance of the tale to The Grateful Dead subtype 507C.[55]

The helpful fish

In his study on the "Grateful Dead" cycle of stories, American folklorist Gordon Hall Gerould related the presence of the fish in the Serbian tale to The Thankful Beasts motif, but otherwise the Serbian story "[had] all the characteristics of the [Grateful Dead] type".[56]

Scholar Hasan El-Shamy considered an independent type he named 505A§, "Grateful for Being Spared: Animal (Bird, Fish) in Human Form as Helper", since, according to him, a grateful animal (fish or bird) "usually" appears as the hero's helper in Arab and Muslim cultures.[57] He listed 21 variants of this category, found in Middle Eastern and North African sources.[58]

Likewise, scholar Sven Liljeblad indexed the tales with the helpful fish instead of the dead person as Tobiasgeschichte (Typ-E) ("The Tale of Tobias - Type E").[59]

Parallels

China

Richard McGillivray Dawkins suggested that the character of "the grateful fish" derived from Indian Buddhist literature. He claimed that in the book Monkey (a retelling of Chinese epic Journey to the West) a character named Kuangji catches a fish (a carp) as cure for a sick person, but releases it, and the fish reappears as a River Dragon King to help the hero. The Dragon King later reveals he was the carp.[60][61] In another translation, the character, Guangrui, stays at the Ten Thousand Flowers Inn with his mother, who falls ill. Guangrui buys a golden carp to cook it for her, but he sees the fish "blinking vigorously" - a supernatural trait - and returns it to the sea.[62]

A similar Buddhist account tells of Guanyin, the bodhisattva associated with compassion, who assumes the disguise of Miao Shan, buys a fish from fishermen and releases it, since the fish was the disguise of one of the sons of the Naga king. In gratitude, his father sends his daughter, Longnu, with a jewel or pearl to give to Guanyin.[63] Sinologist Wilt L. Idema provided another version of this tale: instead of Guanyin, she sends her attendant Shancai to buy the fish (a carp), since the animal is indeed the third son of the Dragon King of the Eastern Ocean.[64][65]

As reported by French missionary Henri Doré [fr], in Chinese folklore the carp (li-yu) is the animal disguise of a marine deity (the Dragon King) or of a member of his court.[66]

Korea

According to Korean scholarship, the carp is the animal disguise of a Dragon King (Yongwang) or a male relative. After he is saved, the Dragon King gives a handsome reward to the human character.[67] Similar stories are attested in the Tale of Geotaji and the Tale of Jakgegeon.

Mesopotamia

Angelopoulou and Brouskou, on the other hand, suggest that the character of the grateful fish harks back to even older times, to the Apkallu of Mesopotamian myth and to a being named Oannes (Uanna), as described by later writer Berossus.[68]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ This motif is commonly found in the series of folktales known as The Grateful Dead, a tale classified in the Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index as type ATU 505, "The Grateful Dead", and correlates.

References

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External links

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