Ahmed and Paribanou

Last updated
Illustration by Willy Pogany, 1915 More tales from the Arabian nights-14566176968.jpg
Illustration by Willy Pogany, 1915
Lithograph by Achille Deveria, 1833 Album lithographie de 1833 La Peri pour gage de son retour offre au ciel la larme d'un pecheur repentant. G.6301(3) (cropped).jpg
Lithograph by Achille Devéria, 1833

Ahmed and Paribanou, or The Story of Prince Ahmed and the fairy Pari Banou, [1] is one of the tales of the Arabian Nights compilation.

Contents

Summary

One of the Islamic kings of India had three sons, namely Houssain (Husayn), Ali, and Ahmed (Ahmad), and a niece named Nouronnihar (Nur al-Nahar). [2] Prince Ahmed was the youngest brother after Houssain and Ali. [3] The three brothers, each in love with Princess Nouronnihar were sent away for a year to find an object for the Sultan to win her hand. The oldest, Ali found a magic carpet of wondrous locomotive powers. [3] Houssain found an ivory tusk that had the power to find anyone as they are. Ahmed was equally blessed in the ownership of a magic apple, that had the power to heal anyone of any sickness. On return to their kingdom, their father found each of their objects equally special and proposed an archery contest to determine the winner. Ahmed overshot his arrow and lost it, leading to his eldest brother (Ali) marrying Nouronnihar. Broken hearted, Admed went on a journey to find his lost arrow where he found the fairy Paribanou (Peri Banu), whom he quickly wedded upon her request. Their post-wedding festivities lasted six months and Ahmed found himself missing his father. The Sultan found himself suspicious of his sons whereabouts when he was not in their court and sent a sorceress to investigate. After learning of Ahmeds marriage to the fairy Paribanu he tested them both by giving them impossible tasks, including a tent that cover a whole army when spread. The fairytale ends with Ahmed being proclaimed Sultan.

Analysis

Tale type

The tale is a combination of two tale types listed in the international Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index: ATU 653A: "The Rarest Thing in the World", and ATU 465: "The Man Persecuted because of His Beautiful Wife". [4]

Origins

The tale is also considered to be one of the so called "orphan stories" of the Arabian Nights compilation, because a Persian or Indian original text has not been found, unlike other tales. [5] Some scholars, including Ulrich Marzolph  [ de ] and Ruth Bottigheimer, ascribe its source to a Maronite Christian named Hanna Diyab, from whom French author Antoine Galland collected the story. [6] [7] [8]

Legacy

According to Ulrich Marzolph, tales collected later from oral tradition derive from Galland's translation of this story in The Arabian Nights. [4]

The story was adapted by German film director Lotte Reiniger as the film The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926). [9] [10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Kennedy, Philip F.; Warner, Marina, eds. (2020). "List of Stories". Scheherazade's Children. pp. 417–424. doi:10.18574/nyu/9781479837922.003.0025. ISBN   978-1-4798-3792-2.
  2. ↑ Marzolph; Van Leeuwen 2004, I, p. 81.
  3. 1 2 Walsh 1915, p. 11.
  4. 1 2 Marzolph, Ulrich (2020). "The Contending Lovers Are Challenged to Acquire the Rarest Thing in the World (ATU 653A)". 101 Middle Eastern Tales and Their Impact on Western Oral Tradition. Wayne State University Press. pp. 105–110 [108]. ISBN   978-0-8143-4775-1. Project MUSE   chapter 2668101.
  5. ↑ Marzolph, Ulrich; van Leewen, Richard. The Arabian Nights Encyclopedia. Vol. I. California: ABC-Clio. 2004. p. 81. ISBN   1-85109-640-X (e-book).
  6. ↑ Bottigheimer, Ruth, ed. (2012). Fairy Tales Framed: Early Forewords, Afterwords, and Critical Words. doi:10.1353/book14816. ISBN   978-1-4384-4222-8.
  7. ↑ Marzolph, Ulrich (2018). "The Man Who Made the Nights Immortal: The Tales of the Syrian Maronite Storyteller Ḥannā Diyāb". Marvels & Tales . 32 (1): 117–118, 122. doi:10.13110/marvelstales.32.1.0114. S2CID   165578788.
  8. ↑ Marzolph, Ulrich; Duggan, Anne E. (2018). "Ḥannā Diyāb's Tales, Part I". Marvels & Tales. 32 (1): 143–147. doi:10.13110/marvelstales.32.1.0133. S2CID   187817743.
  9. ↑ Moritz, William (2009). "Some Critical Perspectives on Lotte Reiniger". In Furniss, Maureen (ed.). Animation: Art and Industry. Indiana University Press. pp. 13–20. ISBN   978-0-86196-904-3. Project MUSE   chapter 1581792.
  10. ↑ Acadia, Lilith (2021). "'Lover of Shadows': Lotte Reiniger's Innovation, Orientalism, and Progressivism". Oxford German Studies. 50 (2): 150–168. doi:10.1080/00787191.2021.1927377. S2CID   235663272.

Sources

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.