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]

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]

Georgia[]

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.[9]

Caucasus Region[]

In a Caucasian variant collected by Adolf Dirr, Der rote Fisch ("The Red Fish"), 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.[10]

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.[11]

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).[12]

Folklore scholars Anna Angelopoulou and Aigle Brouskou state that the character of the grateful fish appears twice as the grateful dead in Greek variants.[13]

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.[14]

The narrative exists in the Bulgarian Folktale Catalogue under the banner *507C*, "Благодарна риба" ("The Grateful Fish"),[15] related to the international type ATU 507, "The Monster's Bride".[16]

Asia[]

Middle East[]

Turkey[]

According to scholar K. S. Shakryl, Turkish variants of type 507C contain the fish in human form as the helper.[17]

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.[18] 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,[19] and the one with the dead man's spirit as helper is titled TTV 63, Der dankbare Tote ("The Grateful Dead Man").[20]

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.[21]

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 beatiful 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.[22]

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.[23]

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.[24]

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.[25]

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.[26]

East Asia[]

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.[27]

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).[28]

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.[29] She also recognized that the biblical Book of Tobias contained a rewritten heroic fairy tale (AaTh 505).[30]

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.[31]

Russian scholarship has also noted the resemblance of the tale to The Grateful Dead subtype 507C.[32]

The helpful fish[]

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.[33] He listed 21 variants of this category, found in Middle Eastern and North African sources.[34]

Richard McGillivray Dawkins suggested that the character of "the grateful fish" derived from Indian Buddhist literature. He claimed that in the book Monkey a character catches a fish (a carp) as cure for a sick person, but releases it, and the fish reappears as a "Dragon King" to help the hero.[35]

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.[36]

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[]

  1. ^ Macler, Frédéric. Contes arméniens. Paris: Ernest Leroux Editeurs. 1905. pp. 8 and 149 (footnote nr. 1).
  2. ^ Seklemian, A. G. The Golden Maiden and Other Folk Tales and Fairy Stories Told in Armenia. Cleveland and New York: The Helman-Taylor Company. 1898. p. xvi.
  3. ^ A. F. C. "Bibliographical Notes: Books. Collection de Contes et Chansons Populaires by Frédéric Macler" [review]. In: The Journal of American Folklore 20, no. 76 (1907): 87. Accessed May 20, 2021. doi:10.2307/534734.
  4. ^ Seklemian, A. G. The Golden Maiden and Other Folk Tales and Fairy Stories Told in Armenia. Cleveland and New York: The Helman-Taylor Company. 1898. pp. 159-164.
  5. ^ Macler, Frédéric. Contes arméniens. Paris: Ernest Leroux Editeurs. 1905. pp. 149–155.
  6. ^ Eberhard, Wolfram; Boratav, Pertev Nailî. Typen türkischer Volksmärchen. Wiesbaden: Steiner, 1953. p. 71.
  7. ^ Hayrapetyan, Tamar. "ՀԱՅ ԺՈՂՈՎՐԴԱԿԱՆ ՀԵՔԻԱԹՆԵՐԻ ԹՈՒՄԱՆՅԱՆԱԿԱՆ ՄՇԱԿՄԱՆ ՄԻՋԱԶԳԱՅԻՆ ԶՈՒԳԱՀԵՌՆԵՐԸ" [INTERNATIONAL PARALLELS OF TOUMANIAN’S TRANSLATIONS OF ARMENIAN FOLKTALES]. In: ՈՍԿԵ ԴԻՎԱՆ – Հեքիաթագիտական հանդես [Voske Divan – Journal of fairy-tale studies]. 6, 2019, p. 72.
  8. ^ Հայկական ժողովրդական հեքիաթներ [Armenian national fairy tales]. Vol. 2. խմբագիր՝ Հովսեփ Օրբելի [Editor: Hovsel Orbeli]. Երեւան: ԳԱ հրատարակչություն, 1959 [Yerevan, NAS Publishing House]. pp. 39-49. [1]
  9. ^ Wardrop, Marjory Scott. Georgian folk tales. London: D. Nutt. 1894. pp. 42-49.
  10. ^ Dirr, Adolf. Kaukasische Maerchen. Jena: Eugen Diederich, 1922. pp. 93-96.
  11. ^ Dawkins, Richard McGillivray. Modern Greek folktales. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1953. p. 207.
  12. ^ Merakles, Michales G. Studien zum griechischen Märchen. Eingeleitet, übers, und bearb. von Walter Puchner. (Raabser Märchen-Reihe, Bd. 9. Wien: Österr. Museum für Volkskunde, 1992. pp. 172-173. ISBN 3-900359-52-0.
  13. ^ Angelopoulou, Anna; Brouskou, Aígle. ΚΑΤΑΛΟΓΟΣ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΩΝ ΠΑΡΑΜΥΘΙΩΝ. Vol. 4: ΕΠΕΞΕΡΓΑΣΙΑ ΤΥΠΩΝ ΚΑΙ ΠΑΡΑΛΛΑΓΩΝ AT 500-559. Athens: ΚΕΝΤΡΟ ΝΕΟΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΩΝ ΕΡΕΥΝΩΝ Ε.I.E., 2004. p. 97. ISBN 960-7138-35-Χ Parameter error in {{ISBN}}: Invalid ISBN..
  14. ^ Krohn, Kaarle. Übersicht über einige Resultate der Märchenforschung. Suomalainen tiedeakatemia, Academia scientiarum fennica, 1931. pp. 92ff.
  15. ^ Даскалова-Перковска, Лиляна et al. "Български фолклорни приказки: каталог". Университетско издателство "Св. Климент Охридски", 1994. p. 182. ISBN 9789540701561.
  16. ^ Gergana Börger. “Hochzeitsbrauchtum Und Liebessymbolik in Bulgarischen Und Deutschen Zaubermärchen”. In: Zeitschrift Für Balkanologie 52, no. 1 (2016): 57-58. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.13173/zeitbalk.52.1.0045.
  17. ^ Абхазские народные сказки [Abkhaz Folk Tales]. Пер. с абхазского. Составитель и автор примечаний К. С. Шакрыл. М., Главная редакция восточной литературы издательства «Наука», 1974. p. 446.
  18. ^ Angelopoulou, Anna; Brouskou, Aígle. ΚΑΤΑΛΟΓΟΣ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΩΝ ΠΑΡΑΜΥΘΙΩΝ. Vol. 4: ΕΠΕΞΕΡΓΑΣΙΑ ΤΥΠΩΝ ΚΑΙ ΠΑΡΑΛΛΑΓΩΝ AT 500-559. Athens: ΚΕΝΤΡΟ ΝΕΟΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΩΝ ΕΡΕΥΝΩΝ Ε.I.E., 2004. p. 97. ISBN 960-7138-35-Χ Parameter error in {{ISBN}}: Invalid ISBN..
  19. ^ Eberhard, Wolfram; Boratav, Pertev Nailî. Typen türkischer Volksmärchen. Wiesbaden: Steiner, 1953. pp. 70-71, 421.
  20. ^ Eberhard, Wolfram; Boratav, Pertev Nailî. Typen türkischer Volksmärchen. Wiesbaden: Steiner, 1953. pp. 71-72, 421.
  21. ^ Курдские сказки [Kurdish Fairy Tales]. Составитель [Compilation]: Е. Дружинина. Мoskva: Государственное издательство художественной литературы, 1959. pp. 39-45.
  22. ^ "Узбекские народные сказки". Составители: М. Афзалов, Х. Расулов. Tashkent: Госиздат УзССР, 1951. pp. 72-77.
  23. ^ Afzalov, Mansur. "Узбекские народные сказки" [Uzbek Folk Tales]. Tom 1. Tashkent: 1972. Tale nr. 59.
  24. ^ "Узбекские народные сказки" [Uzbek Folk Tales]. Tom 2. Tashkent: 1972. Tale nr. 13.
  25. ^ Marzolph, Ulrich. Typologie des persischen Volksmärchens. Beirut: Orient-Inst. der Deutschen Morgenländischen Ges.; Wiesbaden: Steiner [in Komm.], 1984. pp. 104-105 (entries nr. 1, 2, 5).
  26. ^ Mahbubeh Khorasani. "Critical Stylistics and Iranian Folk Tales (Ideology Hidden in Tale)". In: JOURNAL OF STYLISTIC OF PERSIAN POEM AND PROSE (BAHAR-E-ADAB) 12, no.46 (2020): 55. magiran.com/p2071012 (In Persian)
  27. ^ Elswit, Sharon. The East Asian story finder: a guide to 468 tales from China, Japan and Korea, listing subjects and sources. McFarland, 2009. pp. 37. ISBN 978-0-7864-3945-4.
  28. ^ Jacobs, Naomi S. S.. "“What About the Dog?” Tobit’s Mysterious Canine Revisited" In: Canonicity, Setting, Wisdom in the Deuterocanonicals. Edited by Géza G. Xeravits, József Zsengellér and Xavér Szabó. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2014. pp. 239 (footnote nr. 119), 240-241. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110367232.221
  29. ^ Jason, Heda. "Types of Jewish-Oriental Oral Tales". In: Fabula 7, no. Jahresband (1965): 150. https://doi.org/10.1515/fabl.1965.7.1.115
  30. ^ Jason, Heda. "Study of Israelite and Jewish Oral and Folk Literature: Problems and Issues". In: Asian Folklore Studies 49, no. 1 (1990): 88. Accessed May 18, 2021. doi:10.2307/1177950.
  31. ^ Taylor, Archer. "A Theory of Indo-European Märchen". In: The Journal of American Folklore 44, no. 171 (1931): 58-59. Accessed August 11, 2021. doi:10.2307/535522.
  32. ^ "Армянские сказки". Moskva, Leningrad: ACADEMIA, 1933. p. 358.
  33. ^ El-Shamy, Hasan M. Folktales of Egypt. University of Chicago Press. 1980. p. 246. ISBN 0-226-20625-4.
  34. ^ El-Shamy, Hasan (2004). Types of the Folktale in the Arab World: A Demographically Oriented Tale-Type Index. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. pp. 254-255. ISBN 9780253344472.
  35. ^ Dawkins, Richard McGillivray. Modern Greek folktales. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1953. p. 208.
  36. ^ Angelopoulou, Anna; Brouskou, Aígle. ΚΑΤΑΛΟΓΟΣ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΩΝ ΠΑΡΑΜΥΘΙΩΝ. Vol. 4: ΕΠΕΞΕΡΓΑΣΙΑ ΤΥΠΩΝ ΚΑΙ ΠΑΡΑΛΛΑΓΩΝ AT 500-559. Athens: ΚΕΝΤΡΟ ΝΕΟΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΩΝ ΕΡΕΥΝΩΝ Ε.I.E., 2004. p. 98. ISBN 960-7138-35-Χ Parameter error in {{ISBN}}: Invalid ISBN..

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