Greetings, Travellers! Today, I want to share a story from Afghanistan with you! The story of the “Poor Prince” itself was retold by Adel Mahria with a translation from Dari by Sabzikar which can be found in Kabul’s former Ministry of Information and Culture bimonthly publication on folktales Volume 2, no. 2-3, published in 1974. It has been further retold by Afghan-Canadian Alaheh Amini.
I discovered this tale while researching variants of the Polish Glass Mountain story we did a few episodes back. There are several clear links between this story and the Princess on the Glass Hill folklore type, predominately the Cinder-ash or Ash lad motifs.
This story is featured in Finnish in Satumetsä magazine! Click here.
For more stories from Afghanistan, check out the books below!
The Poor Prince, an Afghan Tale
Once there was a King with three sons. When he was nearing the end of his life, he called upon his heirs and requested that they take turns praying at his grave every night. His sons accepted, and when the King passed the next day, they buried him as was the custom.
That night, the youngest brother suggested that the eldest brother fulfill the request for the first night, but the elder brother volunteered the middle brother, who also rejected the offer. So, the youngest brother begrudgingly took the first turn.
This continued the next two nights when the elder brothers refused the vigil, and the younger brother had to sit and pray for their father’s soul.
There was a ferocious storm on the third night, and a terrifying giant appeared. It cried, “I smell the smell of a human, and wherever you may be, I will eat you.”
Image of a Funeral from the Persian, Muraqqa-e-Golshan from islamoriente
The Giant’s Hair
The youngest Prince hid behind his father’s grave and waited for the giant to approach before jumping out and grabbing the giant by the hair. They say that a giant is rendered powerless when you pull them by the hair, so it surrendered quickly and promised on the gem of Solomon that it would not harm the boy.
Similar to the imagery of the mythical bird, the Simurgh, giving Rostam three of her feathers to burn, the giant gave the Prince three of its hairs and told him to burn them. Either the giant would appear, or it would send something to aid the Prince.
The Prince took the hair and soon forgot about the giant. He had bigger problems because his brothers were lazy, idle Princes and had brought the kingdom to near ruin. Unhappy with their new rulers, the people appointed a new king, and the three brothers were dismissed from the palace.
The Suitor Games
They travelled far until they came to the Kingdom of three beautiful Princesses. The Princesses had proclaimed that they would only marry the men that could ride their horses 40 steps up to the tower, beat the drum up there and then climb down on their horse to the palace.
The two idle Princes decided to take part, but when they arrived and saw the bodies of suitors strewn about, they quickly changed their minds. They learned that the King had decreed that anyone who failed the task would be strung up and hung.
Image is by Yamna Ahmadi for the 55th Annual WCCUSD Student Art Show
The young Prince decided to try the task despite the consequences if he failed. When his brothers left to watch the competition, he burned one of the giant’s hairs, and a magnificent horse appeared with beautiful clothes on its back. The Prince threw them on and hurriedly completed the task before anyone could recognize him. He hurried home afterwards and hid the items.
Mir Wali with an Uzbek ambassador in 1840. This lithograph is taken from plate 22 of ‘Afghaunistan’ by Lietenant James Rattray.
Burnin’ Up
When his brothers came home, they told him about the strange Prince who had disappeared after completing the challenge. He simply nodded along and said he had wished to have seen it.
The next day, the Poor Prince did the same thing. He burnt a hair, and a brown horse appeared. Again, the Prince quickly rode up the stairs, beat the drum and then rode down without stopping. By the time his brothers returned home, he was wearing his old clothes again and feigned ignorance. He begged his brothers to let him come with them tomorrow, but they refused.
Third Times the Charm
So, on the third day, he burnt the third hair and rode up to the tower, except, instead of riding off afterwards, he rode up to his brothers in the crowd and told them the whole story. They were ashamed of their behaviour and apologized profusely. The young Prince had a king heart so he accepted, and together, they rode to the King’s palace to claim the Princesses as their wives. Each of them built a castle of their own and lived long happy lives.
The story ends with, “God accepted their wises. May he also accept ours.”
Tales from the Enchanted Forest 
