The donkey, the bull, the merchant and his wife
The donkey, the bull, the merchant and his wife is a fairy tale at the beginning of the Arabian Nights . It is in Claudia Otts translation as The Donkey, the Bull, the Merchant and His Wife , with Max Henning as How the donkey and the ox fared with the farmer , with Gustav Weil in the entrance .
content
A merchant hears how the ox envies the donkey's easier life. He advises him to pretend sick, and he does. So the merchant ensures that the donkey has to plow for the ox. The donkey tells the ox that if it continues like this it will be slaughtered. When the businessman hears this, he has to laugh. His wife desperately wants to know why he was laughing. But he cannot reveal his knowledge of animal languages without dying. So as he makes his will, he hears the rooster say to the dog that all he has to do is beat his wife. He does, there she is calm.
classification
The vizier tells the fable to his daughter Schahrasad in The Deceived Ifrit , in a vain attempt to talk her out of her plan. Hereafter she tells stories to the king every night, starting with The Merchant and the Djinni .
literature
- Claudia Ott (Ed.): A thousand and one nights. How it all started Based on the oldest Arabic manuscript in the edition by Muhsin Mahdi, first translated into German and appended by Claudia Ott. Title of the original Arabic edition: The Thousand And One Nights (Alf Layla wa-Layla). dtv, Munich 2017, ISBN 978-3-423-14611-1 , pp. 21-27 (first CH Beck, Munich 2006).
Individual evidence