Reading Diary B: Turkish Fairy Tales

Here are my favorite stories from the second half of the Turkish Fairy Tale unit:

The Imp of the Well: This was probably my favorite story of the unit because of how comical it was. The unpleasant, nagging wife is the biggest fiend in this tale, so much so that the mere idea of her being behind a nearby door is enough to scare away the other villain, the imp. She gets what she deserves for being so overbearing and rude to her husband in the beginning of the story, being left down a well without a second thought (this may sound harsh, but trust me, everyone is better off). The hardworking woodcutter is able to find a much more suitable bride and even protects another woman from unwanted intrusion by the imp that helped him (by scaring him off with a suggestion of his ex-wife being near).

The wife scares away husband and imp
Forty-four Turkish Fairy Tales by Ignacz Kunos and illustrated byWilly Pogany (1913)

The Soothesayer: This story reminded me a little bit of a story from the Indian Fairy Tales unit called Harisarman. Both of the main characters are men pretending to be something they're not and a confession from a thief allows them to continue the charade without losing their lives. However, Harisarman was a greedy, jealous man and I wasn't happy he succeeded in fooling everyone. The soothesayer was pressured into pretending to be something he wasn't because his wife was petty and jealous of the treatment a real soothesayer's wife received in the local bath house. He was originally a hardworking man at his own craft and was only trying to please his ungrateful wife.

The Wizard and his Pupil: I feel bad for the wizard in this story because he didn't bring the trouble he receives upon himself. He was the one who was approached by the boy and his mother to take the lad as his apprentice. He taught the boy everything he knew. Then, the ungrateful apprentice abandons the wizard to seek his own fortune. I don't think the wizard should have tried to kill the boy, but he certainly didn't deserve to die either. In the end, the boy gets magic, money, and lives happily with his mom, but the wizard who made it all possible died after being betrayed by him. That doesn't seem like a fair outcome to me at all.

Kunterbunt: This story was so weird! At first it made no sense whatsoever, and I seriously questioned the literary significance of the tale. However, making one simple fact known not only makes sense of the plot but proves how brilliant of a story it actually is: it was all a dream! Real dreams can be very strange at times and make little or no sense once you wake up and recall what happened. Knowing this piece of information, I realized that the whole confusing first scenes really do read just like a retelling of a strange dream someone had. I like stories that keep you guessing and reading so you can find out what in the world is going on until you come across the one missing piece to the puzzle that makes everything clear, so I really enjoyed this tale.