Week 4: The Heroic Archer (Storytelling)

I had heard of this man before. Muhammad Tirandaz. He came to the palace for a little while, but I had never crossed paths with him before. Now, here I was standing in a room with this legend, about to go to battle.

He seemed smaller than I would have expected, although I suppose it takes more skill than strength to kill two lions with one arrow. I can’t even understand how that would be a possible thing to, but everyone who has met him swears it to be true.  I continue to study him as he comes out of the throne room.

He was the first man the king summoned when news of the impending attack arrived at the palace. Muhammad walked towards me and the two other men who were standing nearby.

“The king instructed me to ride out to meet the approaching army. You and you,” He pointed to me and the man to my left, “help me with my horse.” He strode past us then, he seemed so confident, but his voice and hand shook ever so slightly. Even a man who killed two lions with one arrow had the right to fear riding up to an army.

I rushed ahead of the other man he had pointed to. “Of course, sir,” I said. “The stable is this way. I led through the palace into the courtyard. I took a sharp left and the stables were up ahead. One of the other men had run up to join me.

I wrestled with the saddle and centered it on the horses back, and then the other man began attaching all of the leather strips of the reigns and such. We finished and stood back, expecting Muhammad to climb onto the horse. Instead, he looked suspiciously at the saddled horse. He circled it twice, before coming to a stop beside us again.

“So I should just… jump up?” He asked slowly, continuing to eye the horse.

“Yes, sir…” I said, trying to hide my bewilderment. “You have ridden before, sir?”

“Of course! What sort of soldier would I be if I hadn’t ridden?” With that, he went up to the horse cautiously and painfully pulled himself up inch by inch. Finally, he was positioned into the saddle but looked very unsteady. “Could you… um… could you tie my feet together underneath the horse?”

The other man and I looked at each other and then turned back to Muhammad, “Yes, sir.” I said and began walking towards him, the other man close behind me. I believed the stories about Muhammad. Therefore, I’m sure he is just doing something unusual but ingenious. I was just not smart enough to understand. However, if anyone else had ever asked me to do this, I would have said they couldn’t ride.

We did as Muhammad asked and tied his feet under the horse. As soon as we finished, the horse started galloping, probably feeling very uncomfortable. Muhammad swayed as he left, but I just knew that he would save us and defeat the army.

I turned to the man who I had worked with, he didn’t look so sure. “If he’s the hero we’re all going to die.” I disputed him, but he quickly walked away. I sat by the gate for the rest of the afternoon, waiting for news from the field.

Only a little time had passed when the word came, Muhammad had scared off the enemy, and our army had chased them down and defeated them. I was right. Muhammad was a heroic warrior. 

"Archer 1" Clip Art by David Longbine Source: Clker

Author's Note: The story I retold was Muhammad Tirandaz, The Archer. In this story a man, Muhammad, who accidentally kills two mice. He is praised by his friends and they tell him he should become an archer.When he leaves, he decides to say that he killed two lions. He also decides to quit his job and become an archer. He goes and gets a fancy bow and arrow and has it engraved that he killed two lions with one arrow. He goes out alone to hunt. One of the kings men finds him, and believing the man, invites him to be apart of the kings army. Muhammad agrees and spends his days leisurely about the palace until and army comes to threaten the kingdom. He is sent out in the front. His inadequacy leads at riding and fighting leads to series of events that ends up scaring the opposing army so much that they flee.

 I made the Point of view character be someone watching Muhammad do all these things and believing they were real and intentional.

Bibliography:Persian Tales, translated by D.L.R. Lorimer and E.O. Lorimer and illustrated by Hilda Roberts (1919).

Week 4: Persian Tales Reading Diary

For the Persian Tales Unit, click here. ( Story source: Persian Tales, translated by D.L.R. Lorimer and E.O. Lorimer and illustrated by Hilda Roberts (1919)) All illustrations are from the book.

For Reading A: In the first half of the reading, my favorite two stories were Nim Tanak (Half Boy) and the Praying Baker.  However, I really have enjoyed all the readings so far. The story topics are so unique and diverse from one another that it has  been fun to go through them. I think so far, this is my favorite unit.

Nim Tanak was a great story because it was a classic underdog story. When the two strong sons couldn't save the sister, Nim Tanak, who was only half of a person did. I also liked that in the end, Nim Tanak was made the heir of the king for his deeds, in front of his brothers. I was a little confused why the div (demon) was so unfrightened of his brothers and their armies because they were eating or drinking slowly, but he was terrified of Nim Tanak because he was drinking and eating everything. Maybe it was a Persian cultural thing, but I was confused by that.

The other story that I really liked was the Praying Baker. I thought the king was a jerk in this whole story, but I liked the baker’s response to obstacles and I thought the ending was great. I couldn't believe the king set the baker up for failure and planned on actually killing him if he couldn't find the ring that the king stole back from him. I could understand the king wanting to test him, but I thought that was way too extreme. I also didn't understand if the king dropped his ring in the water purposefully or not. In the description, it seemed like it slipped off on accident, but then the king said that if the baker found it, he wouldn't be killed. I loved that the baker bought the fish as a ‘last meal’ since he thought he would be killed the next day, but it turned out that was what ended up saving him.

For Reading B: I really loved this unit. I had two favorite stories in the second half of the reading. My favorites were Shah Abbas and the Poor Mother, and The Apparition of Prophet Khizr, I also really liked the Story of the Baker and the Grateful Fish, but I won't be talking about that one in this post. This has definitely been my favorite unit. All the stories were interesting and some were really surprising as well. I think part of the reason these three were my favorites, was that at the end of each, the wrongdoers received what they deserved.

 I liked the Shah Abbas, for a few reasons. One was that the king was actually very kind and tried to help his people as much as he could. I also liked that he went back to the family after, and didn't just figure he had helped and he would be done with them. Also that he took the family to the palace to be cared for when the mother's ears were cut off was very nice of him. He also punished both the baker, and the law enforcer who ordered the woman's ears cut off. However, my favorite thing was that he gave the woman and her children all of the money and property owned by the two who wronged her in the end. 

I also liked the Apparition of the Prophet Khizr, because the men who supported the torture and slow death of the poor man were fired and the one who wanted to show mercy was the only one kept. But my favorite part of this story was that the poor man used the money he received from the king to pay off his debts and to make sure his wife would have a good life after his death. This was a noble and selfless thing to do. He could have continued as he had, and just gotten more in debt, or he could have used the money to buy extravagant things for himself. But instead he wanted his wife to have a good life. I also like that he went to the king on his own. It showed that he knew what he had done and was willing to accept whatever punishment the king saw fit. That was also seen in the fact that he never argued with the kings advisers who wanted his slow death. I also liked that the Prophet did appear to vouch for the man and let him keep his life. The king’s reaction to the prophet was also funny, when he said he should have grabbed his sleeve to keep him from escaping.