GROUP TEXT ANALYSIS
Text: “Forty Fortunes”
Retold by Aaron Shepard in 1997, “Forty Fortunes” is an Iranian folktale that follows a young man in an ancient Persian society. When he poses as a Holy Diviner under the threatening suggestion of his wife, Ahmed is ordered to uncover the forty thieves of the royal treasure. Failing to accomplish such would result in harsh and brutal punishments from the King. Ultimately, Ahmed finds the bandits and is reward with riches, living “happily ever after”.
Iranian values, languages, food, clothing, geography, and political issues can be inferred in the narrative. As directly described by the author, the story is set in Isfahan. This is Iran’s old capital and we thus immediately know where the fable takes place. In the city, husbands are traditional breadwinners. Such concepts are conveyed through the character of Ahmed’s wife, Jamell, as she demands him to possess a well-paying job. Women in that era, unlike today, were clearly more respected since Jamell threatens Ahmed with her departure; the fact that she is allowed to leave him, is very important. Day to day social life for a typical Iranian would have consisted of trips to the market place–with the currency being coins of gold and silver–to socializing in either male or female public baths. Furthermore, the kingdom is ruled in a monarchy. When the wife of the King’s Royal Diviner takes the public bath all to herself, there is clear evidence that royalty holds authority and influence. Their power is likewise depicted when it comes to their large number of servants, forty treasure chests, and strict ruling—“If you succeed, I’ll make you rich. If you don’t, you’ll rot with the others in prison”.
Nonetheless, issues of opposing rebel groups are evident when the palace is robbed—“The royal treasury was robbed. Forty pairs of hands carried away forty chests of gold and jewels”. Ahmed’s dry date’s suggest that they were living in an arid climate, while his basic tools illustrate a backward civilization—“He knew no special craft or trade, but he had a shovel and a pick… ‘If you can dig a hole, you can always earn enough to stay alive’”. There is also mention of a house with stairs leading up to a flat roof with a terrace. During the 1500’s, the Middle Easterners normally slept on roofs to cool themselves, implying that that the climate was fairly hot. Similarly, the grave improperness of a small hole in the lady’s cloak conveys the conservative Islamic society that lives on today. The character’s dialogue—“By the grace of God” and “Oh great diviner”— showed that religion and unscientifically proven beliefs were major influences in society. Even though the people in the story are Islamic, they still put much of their faith into the art of sorcery. This is evident in the story through the way that people hold the diviners (fortune tellers) in such high regard, respecting them for their wisdom and seeking their advice. Clearly, they play a large and significant role in society because even the king has a diviner which he looks to for guidance! The narrative, however, also says that fortune telling is fake since all the diviners failed to uncover the thieves, with Ahmed only finding them through sheer luck and intelligence. Multiple Persian and Arabic names such as “Ahmed” and “Jamell” also establish a Middle Eastern setting and dialect. Evidently, the folktale conveyed many Iranian cultural aspects.
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