Tale type

The tale is classified in the international Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index as type ATU 707, "The Three Golden Children".^[4][5][6]

German scholar Ulrich Marzolph [de], in his catalogue of Persian folktales, listed 10 variants of the tale type across Persian sources, which he indexed as Die gerechtfertigte verleumdete Frau^[7] ("The calumniated girl is vindicated").^[8]

Motifs

The Iranian-language tales vary between the quest for the usual three treasures (a magical water, a magical tree and a type of bird) and the Fairy Maiden who reveals the truth at the end of the tale.

According to the type's description in Marzolph's index, in the Persian variants the third sister promises to bear the king a boy with golden hair, although in some tales she may also give birth to a twin sister.^[15]

Iran

Tajikistan

In a Tajik tale titled "Говорящие попугаи" ("Talking Parrot"),^[20] translated into Hungarian as A beszélö pagagáj ("The Talking Parrot"), the padishah suffers for he has no child, despite having three wives, so he orders his wazir to look for a fourth wife for him. The wazir rides high and low, until he finds a shepherd's three daughters talking near the river: the elder sister boasts she can cook a cauldron of pilaf to feed the entire kingdom, the middle one that she can weave a carpet to cover the entire world and, if rolled, it would be the size of a pistachio nut, and the youngest promises to give birth to a boy and a girl with hair bright like fire, faces bright as the sun and with a beauty mark on their brow. The wazir brings the third sisters to the padishah, who takes her as his fourth wife. While he is away, the third sister gives birth to her promised children. The other three co-wives, on seeing the children's beauty, decide to get rid of the twins, and bribe an old nurse to dispose of the children. The old nurse, however, takes them to a shepherd to raise. Years later, they are sent on a quest for a magical mirror that can see the whole world and a talking parrot.^[21]

Russian linguist I. M. Oranksij [ru] collected a variant in the Parya language from kolhoznik Ašur Kamolov in 1961, in Hissar district. In his tale, a padishah with two wives goes in search of a third one. He meets three women talking: the daughter of the vizir, the daughter of the bey and the daughter of the shepherd. The daughter of the shepherd says that she will bear a boy and a girl "as have never existed in the (whole) world". They marry. After the birth of the twins, they are replaced by the other co-wives by puppies and abandoned in the steppes, but a gazelle nurses the babies. Years later, they are sent for a talking nightingale.^[22]

In a tale collected in Dushanbe and translated into Russian as "Непризнанный царевич" ("The Unidentified Prince"), a poor old man that gathers brushwood lives with a wife and son. One day, he catches a large fish and finds a golden ring inside which he sells for a large sum of money. Some time later, he finds a large box in the river, with a woman and a beautiful baby inside. The old man takes them in. The tale then flashbacks to explains that the woman in the box was one of the wives of a local king, whose other co-wives tried to get rid of by bribing some servants to kill her. The servants did spare her, but cast her and her baby in the river. Back to present time, the woman's boy grows up a fine youth and decides to find work in the royal palace. His mother also goes with him and works there serving tea. Due to her beauty, the king falls in love with her and marries - unaware she was one of his previous wives. The co-queens, threatened by the boy's presence in court, try to get rid of him by sending him after some miraculous objects: first, after the "Каменную Воду" ("Stone Water"); then, for the "Разноцветную Воду" ("the multicoloured water"), and lastly for the "Вьющееся Дерево" ("the twisting tree"). With the help of a peri, the boy flies to Mount Kof and obtains the items. At the end of the tale, the boy's mother reveals to the king the boy is his own son, and that she was slandered by the co-wives. The king orders the co-queens' execution and reinstates the fallen queen to his side.^[23]

Yaghnobi people

In an untitled tale in the Yaghnobi language published by Russian orientalists Mikhail Stepanovich Andreev [ru] and Elena Mikhailovna Peshchereva [ru], a king and his wife are childless. One day, he goes on a hunt and meets three sisters; the middle one tells the king to marry her, for she will bear a smart child to him. Their marriage is arranged, and eventually the second wife becomes pregnant. After nine months, while the king is away, the co-wife's "pinonch" assists her labour, and she gives birth to a pair of twins, a boy and a girl. The midwife is bribed to abandon the children in the desert and replace them for puppies. After the king comes back, he is told his second wife gave birth to animals, and he orders her to be left in a desert with them. As for the children, they are nursed by a she-goat and found by an old thorn-gatherer, who raises them. Years later, when the girl is of marriageable age, the king passes by the old man's house and meets the girl. The king then arranges with the vizier his marriage to the female twin, who invites her male twin to the wedding feast. However, the female twin instructs her twin to create a ruckus during the meal, dropping the king's spoon on the table and eating from his plate, so the king will feel insulted and demand an explanation for this insolence, to which he is to answer that what law allows a father to marry his daughter, for the twins are the king's children. On the appointed day, the guests are served and the male twin goes through with the plan. The king complains about the youth's behaviour, and the male twin reveals the truth to him. The king rejoices for having found his lost children, and rescues his wife from the wilderness. The queen is restored to her place, while the other co-wife is punished by being tied to three horses.^[24]

Pamir Mountains

In a tale from the Pamir Mountains titled "Три сестры" ("Three Sisters"), from the collection of Ivan Zarubin, the royal vizier overhears the three sisters' talk while they are getting water, the youngest promising to bear a golden-haired boy and a beautiful girl if she marries the king. The vizir reports his findings to the king and he marries the third sister. When the twins are born, they are replaced by two puppies, but are found by the gardener. Years later, they are sent after a dress made by the claws of a fox, a magic mirror that can see the whole world and the talking parrot. The parrot stops an accidental marriage between the king and his daughter, and the gardener tells the twins the truth of their adoption in a banquet with the monarch.^[25]

Kurdish people

In a Kurdish tale published by Kurdologist Margarita Rudenko with the title "Мирза-Мамуд и Хезаран-Больболь" ("Mirza-Mamud and Khezaran-Bolbol"), the padishah marries three sisters, the youngest promising to give birth to golden-haired twins, a boy and a girl. Her envious sisters replace the children for animals and cast them in the sea in a box. The box is rescued by a miller, who saves the twins and names them Mirza-Mamud (the boy) and Golizar (the girl). Years later, they move to a new house and the boy meets his father, the Padishah, in a deer hunt. The queen's sisters despair and send an old woman to convince Golizar and Mirza-Mamud to go on a dangerous quest for a maiden named Зардухубар (Zardukhubar). Mirza-Mamud rescues Zardukhubar and they escape from an ogress (tale type ATU 313H*, connected to The Magical Flight or The Devil's Daughter). Zardukhubar becomes Golizar's house companion. Later, the old woman tells the siblings about a magical bird named Khezaran-Bolbol. Mirza-Mamud fails the quest and is petrified. Noticing his long absence, Golizar and Zardukhubar seek him out. They meet an old hermit on the way who tells them how to safely capture the bird. Both women rescue the youth and a whole garden of petrified people. On their way back, the hermit asks them for a prayer, which the trio do and disenchant him into a handsome young man. The quartet is invited to a feast with the king, but the bird warns them their food is poisoned. As instructed by the bird, the siblings invite their father, the padishah, to their house, where the whole truth is revealed.^[26]

Kurdologists Ordîxanê Jalîl, Celîlê Celîl and Zine Jalil collected another Kurdish tale in 1976 from informant Osei Shababa. In this tale, titled "Златокудрые" ("Golden-Curls"), a padishah forbids lighting up a source of light in any house at night, but one house's residents break the prohibition. The padishah and his vizir visit the house and overhear the conversation of three spinning sisters: the eldest promises to make a grand meal for the padishah if he takes her for wife; the middle one promises to weave a unique and singular carpet and the youngest promises to bear him a boy and a girl with golden curls. The padishah marries the youngest and goes to war; a witch takes the children, replaces them for puppies and casts them in a box in the sea. The box with the children washes ashore; a deer sees the twins and nurses them. Years later, the boy, named Hussein, and the girl, named Gulizar, build a house for them and make garments made of gazelle skin. One day, the padishah hunts some gazelles and is led to the twins' house. He admires the boy's golden curls and imagines what his son could have been. Realizing the twins are their nephews, the padishah's sisters-in-law send the witch to the twins' house. The witch passes herself as a devotee on a hajj and convinces them to seek, first, after a magical tablecloth that produces food with a magical wand, and, later, for a maiden named Шарихубар (Sharikhubar). When Hussein goes for her, her powers petrify him, so his sister Gulizar is the one to rescue him and get Sharikhubar back home. At last, Sharikhubar helps them reveal the truth of their origin.^[27]

Researcher Sara Belelli collected and published a Kurdish variant in the Laki language from Kermanshah, with the title Mā(h) pīšānī ("Moon-forehead") (tale types ATU 480 and ATU 707): a girl meets by the riverbank an old ugly woman and compliments her head. When the river water becomes yellow, the old woman throws the girl in the river and she comes out with a moon and a star on her forehead. When the girl's stepsister meets the old woman, she insult her and becomes ugly. The tale then focuses on a prince, who meets Māh pīšānī and her two elder sisters: the elder promises to cook a man of rice to feed 500 people; the middle one that she can weave a carpet large enough for a thousand people, and Māh pīšānī promises to bear him a boy who can cry tears of pearl and a girl whose laughter produces flowers.^[28]