Week 5 Story Planning: "The Story of the Baker and the Grateful Fish"

• "The Story of the Baker and the Grateful Fish"
• Persian treasure-hunting story
• related to the Sinbad story "Valley of Diamonds"
• a story of a baker who would feed the fish in the river his burnt bread and spoiled dough every morning
• The fish became fond of the baker because he fed them
• While the baker worked he encountered a traveling merchant
• The merchant was looking for a servant
• offered to pay 100 tumans (a superunit of currency in Iran) a month 
• The servant would not have to work for 40 days but on the 40th day he would have to do 2 hours worth of work
• the baker agreed to serve him
• The merchant kept good on the terms
• The baker did not work for 40 days and received his payment
• on the 40th day, the merchant gathered mule and sacks and slaughtered a cow, and gathered the meat and hide of the cow
• instructed the baker to "go to a certain place"
• traveled to the foot of a mountain
• merchant lit a fire and instructed the baker to take out the cowhide
• told the baker to get into the cowhide so that he could see how much it would hold
• the baker obeyed
• the merchant tied the baker into the cowhide before the baker could escape
• a bird swooped from the sky and carried the baker to the top of the mountain
• The bird pecked at the cowhide until the baker was able to escape
• on top of the mountain were precious jewels 
• the baker called down to the merchant for help off the mountain
• The merchant said he would show him the way down if he threw down all the jewels that he could manage
• When the baker had done so the merchant laughed and told him there was no way down
• told him to look around at all the corpses on the top of the mountain
• his past servants
• the merchant loaded the jewels and left
• The baker knew that if he stayed on the top of the mountain birds of prey would eat him and if he threw himself into the river the fish would eat him
• he chose the latter
• threw himself into the river
• the fish recognized him as the baker that fed them
• came together to make a raft and carried him to safety
• went back to being a baker
• noticed the same merchant coming through town a year later, searching for a servant
• offering the same deal
• the baker disguised himself and again went to work for the merchant
• same scenario as before, mules, bags, cowhide etc.
• this time the baker asks the merchant to show him how to get into the cowhide - tricks him - and ties him in the hide
• the bird carries him away
• Baker reveals his identity to the merchant
• merchant asks for help getting down
• Baker says he will help after he throws down all the jewels that he can
• Baker tells the merchant that he escaped by throwing himself into the river
• merchant throws himself into the river, the fish do not help him and he is swept downstream and drowns
• the baker returns to town with his treasure and lives a comfortable life
• Source: Persian Tales translated by D.L.R. Lorimer and E.O. Lorimer, illustrated by Hilday Roberts (1919)
• Additional source: "Persian Fairy Tales: Stories of Ancient Iran" edited by Cyrus Safdari
• Many of the tales I found on this site contained the poor, working, pious man coming into riches
• Many of the stories also contained personified animals
• Many of these stories also contain the idea of the treasure being a reward for some good deed - in one story a poor farmer leaves a generous offering at an altar and gives to a beggar and is rewarded by a king, in the story from the Un-textbook the baker is rewarded because of his kindness to the fish
• I want to combine these elements into a new story while still keeping to the storytelling tradition of these Persian tales
• Additional source: Ancient Origins article on Ancient Persian artifacts

(Griffin Head Armlet displayed in the British Museum)

• This website shows a collection of ancient Persian artifacts that have been recovered
• these items include treasures from tombs
• intricate metalwork, vessels, coins, statues, and other precious artifacts  
• The images of these artifacts are a great resource for storytelling
• it gives me something concrete to build my descriptions from
• Additional source: Iranian folklore Wikipedia page

(Image of Persian Div or Demons binding a king from The Smithsonian's Museum of Asian Art)
• This Wikipedia page is a great overview of the rich tradition of Persian folklore
• there are sections on mythical creatures and great heroes
• this page has great resources for me to use