„ათას ერთი ღამე“ და ქართული ზღაპრები (სამი ზღაპარი)
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Date
2023
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ივანე ჯავახიშვილის სახელობის თბილისის სახელმწიფო უნივერსიტეტის გამომცემლობა
Abstract
Three tales from the "One Thousand and One Nights" tales show similarities with
Georgian tales. Among them are the tales: "The Story of Harun al-Rashid and Ibn al-
Karib" ("One Thousand and One Nights", vol. IV, 1977, 197-199) and "The Story About
the Cunning of Women" ("One Thousand and One Nights", vol. V, 1977, 62–64).
Arabic folk tale such as "The Story of Harun Al-Rashid and Ibn Al-Karib" is similar
to Georgian folk tales such as: "Two Slaps" and "The Wise Ruler and the Poor Man".
They are based on a narrative of international distribution and are mentioned in story
search engines with the number 1610. The following similarities-differences can be
observed between Arabic and Georgian folk tales:
1. In the Arabic tale, Caliph Harun al-Rashid, his eunuch servant, and a man called
Ibn al-Karib, who is shortly called caliph are summoned to entertain with stories, when he
cannot sleep at night and they converse.
In Georgian folk tales such as "Two Slaps" and "The Wise Ruler and the Poor Man",
the characters are one poor man who came to the ruler to ask for mercy, the ruler's courtier
and the ruler himself – the place of action is the royal gate in both given cases.
2. In the Arabic tale, the caliph's servant Masruri, will not let a famous teller of
funny stories named Ibn Al-Karib, to the caliph's residence until he agrees to give twothirds
of the caliph’s blessings to him and the storyteller is left with only one-third of the
asset. The caliph imposed the condition on Ibn al-Karib and promised that if he couldn’t
make him laugh, the caliph would hit him with a sack three times. There are heavy stones
in the bag, Ibn al-Kharibi does not know this and agrees.
In the Georgian folk tale "Two Slaps", a poor man visits the king on his own
initiative to ask for help, just like in the folk tale "The Wise Ruler and the Poor Man". In
both cases, the ruler's greedy doorman allows the poor man to visit the ruler on the
condition that he divides his blessings in half.
3. In the Arabic tale, Ibn al-Karib cannot make the caliph laugh and, according to
the agreement, the caliph hits him with a sack full of heavy stones once. Afterwards, Ibn
al-Karib tells the caliph that the other two strokes fit Masrur. The Caliph laughs a lot at
this, he hits the Masruri with a sack, and then he gives him thousands of dinars to the
storyteller. In Georgian folk tales, the hitting with a bag full of stones is not found, however it is
replaced by slapping – When the wretched man who came out from the ruler, whom the
ruler slapped two times at his own request, slaps the greedy doorman, and a fight breaks
out (There is no fight in the Arabic folk tale). At the sound of a fight, the ruler will come
out and the peasant will explain the reason for the fight– I split your blessing in half, with
a doorman. The ruler liked the peasant's cleverness and gave him a great gift, but the
doorman remained dry. This is what happens in the folk tale of the "Two slaps", and in the
folk tale of "The Wise Ruler and the Poor Man", The ruler dismissed the greedy courtier
and appointed a poor man in his place, and he always showered him with mercy. This
kind of ending of the folk tale is different from the Arabic folk tale.
The folk tale "One Thousand and One Nights" "The story of the grace and benefit of
a good deed" is similar to the Georgian folk tales "Hand-cut Mother" and "Brother Nartia
and sister Kato". The Arabic fairy tale is dedicated to the description of the power of
Allah, and in the Georgian fairy tales – the power of good, the victory of good over evil.
Both the above-mentioned Arabic fairy tale and the Georgian one The tales describe
the adventures of an innocent young woman who cut off her hands for her good, these
tales are also based on the story of international distribution, the number of which in the
story search engine is 706. The following similarities and differences are noted between
them:
The "One Thousand and One Nights" tale tells about the adventure of a merciful
woman, who asks a hungry beggar with two dice despite the ruler's prohibition of mercy,
and because of this, her hands are cut off.
In the Georgian fairy tales "Hand-cut Mother" and "Brother Nartia and sister Kato"
the reason for cutting off the hands of a woman is different, her own brother, misled by the
woman's brother's wife, cuts off the woman's hands. In the Arabic fairy tale, as well as in
these Georgian fairy tales, the king's son or the king marries a beautiful woman with her
hands cut off – in Arabic by the efforts of her mother, in Georgian – by love.
1. In the Arabic folk tale, the king's other envious wives hate the handless woman,
they accuse her of adultery, and the king banishes her to the desert with her son, while in
the above-mentioned Georgian folk tale, the woman is always hated by her brother's wife,
first she loses her hands, and then her husband and family, and with her efforts, he sends
the woman out of her husband's house. A family with a child in the absence of the
husband.
2. While drinking water on the road, a child hanging on the neck of a hairless
woman fell into the water in both Arabic and Georgian folk tales. In an Arabic tale, two
passing men helped a woman, she prayed to Allah, and the child came out of the water
unharmed, and the woman was given better hands than she had before. In Georgian folk
tales, only water will heal a woman's hands. Arabic folk tale revolves around the power of
Allah Georgian folk tale –tales story about the power of nature, and water, as well as the
victory of goodness, truth, and restoration of law.
In the finale of the Arabic tale, the two benevolent men say to the woman, we are two
abars given as a mercy to you, praise the Lord, who has returned your hands and son. The
woman also praised Allah. This is the end of the Arab folk tale, as for the Georgian folk
tale the woman's adventure continues until the punishment of the real culprit – the
daughter-in-law, and ends with the remarriage of the woman and her husband.
The Arabic folk tale, "The Story of Women's Cunning" ("One Thousand and One
Nights", Vol. V, 1981, 151-160) is about women's intelligence and resourcefulness. The
Georgian folk tale "The Story of Husband and Wife" is similar to it. The story of the fairy tale about the handywoman is mentioned in the catalogues of stories under the number
1730. A number of similarities and differences can be observed between these two tales:
1. The character of the Arab folk tale is about a woman who is unfaithful to her
husband and falls in love with a handsome man who ends up in prison. The woman
appeals to the officials to release her beloved man. There are five: Vali, Qadi, Wazir,
King, and Carpenter. The woman's husband has been in a distant country for a long time.
In the Georgian folk tale, the wife does not betray her husband – her husband serves
the ruler and sends his earnings to his wife at the beginning of every month. Once for
three months, the woman did not receive any earnings from her husband so she went to
the village master (it is not written who is the village master) and archiel. There are only
three of them here – The Georgian reality is different from the Arab one.
2. In both the Arabic and Georgian tales, the officials visit the woman and visit her
home one after the other. In the Georgian fairy tale, money is also given to a woman to
prepare a delicious dinner.
3. In an Arabic folk tale, a woman orders a carpenter to make a five-story closet and
locks her "guest" in this closet, In a Georgian tale a woman buys three closets and places
her “guests” in them one by one.
4. A woman gets a knock on the door by her neighbour’s boy who knows
everything and then they have dinner together. In an Arabic tale, a woman lies to Vali
about her lover's release document and goes to another city with her loved one.
5. In the Arabic folk tale "captives" spend four days in the closet and at the end,
they are brought out by the women’s neighbours, In Georgian, a woman hires three
workers the next day and gives three wardrobes to the chief ruler.
6. In the Arabic fairy tale, nothing is said about the punishment of "criminals", in
the Georgian folk tale, all three "culprits" are punished, and The woman's husband is
promoted.
Such are the comparative analysis results of three Arab and Georgian folk tales.
Description
ეძღვნება აკადემიკოს ზაზა ალექსიძის ხსოვნას (1935 – 2023)/
Dedicated to Memory of Academician Zaza Aleksidze (1935 – 2023)
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Citation
აღმოსავლეთმცოდნეობა, №12, თბილისი, 2023, გვ.: 55-67/ Oriental Studies, №12, Tbilisi, 2023, pp.: 55-67