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The Barefaced Man and the Pasha's
Brother
Once upon a time there was a widow
who had two sons. The older of the two was a pasha in Baghdad.
When the younger son grew up, people said to him, "Aren't
you lucky to have a brother who is Pasha in Baghdad?" The
youth replied that he had no brother. "Oh yes you do,"
they persisted. "Your mother just hasn't told you about
him because she is afraid that you will leave her too."
The next morning he asked his mother, "Mother, do I have
a brother?" "Yes you do, my son," she  replied, "but the people who have
told you about him do not have your best interests at heart."
Every day after that the youth asked his mother, "Mother,
please let me go and see my brother," until she could do
nothing but reply, "All right, my son. But swear to me that
you will come home immediately if you meet a barefaced man on
the road."
The youth set off on his way. After travelling
for three days he did indeed meet a barefaced man on the road
and so he went back home. A few days later he set off again and
had travelled for six days when he again met a barefaced man,
but this time he did not return home. The barefaced man asked
him where he was going. The youth mentioned carelessly that he
was off to see his brother who was Pasha in Baghdad. The barefaced
man then said, "I too am on my way to Baghdad. Let us go
together."
They travelled together and had walked
a long way when the youth became thirsty. The barefaced man led
him to a well which had neither a pail nor a rope and said to
him," I'll tie you to my belt and lower you into the well
so that you can drink." And so he did. When the youth had
had enough to drink, he shouted, "I'm finished. Pull me
up." But the barefaced man shouted back, "I will pull
you out of the well only if you promise that from now on you
will be the barefaced man and I can be the Pasha's brother."
The youth had no choice but to give his promise. The barefaced
man pulled him out of the well and they continued on their way
to the palace of the Pasha who received the brother with great
joy.
The next morning, the barefaced man said
to the Pasha, "Are you bored? I can offer you some entertainment,
for I have a barefaced man with me who is very brave. He will
slay anything, no matter what it is." The barefaced man
wanted to get rid of the brother because he was afraid that he
would tell the Pasha the truth. The Pasha replied, "A Kulshedra
comes from time to time. Perhaps he could slay it for me."
When the youth heard this, all he said was, "Give me two
cudgels and have a bonfire laid." The Pasha had everything
prepared for him right away and the youth set out. The Kulshedra,
attracted by the fire, approached the youth and prepared to devour
him. But the youth dealt it a blow on the head with the cudgel
and slew it. In no time, the news had spread that the youth had
slain the Kulshedra, and the Pasha awarded him a medal for he
was fond of the boy. The barefaced man was most upset because
he was still afraid that the youth would tell the Pasha which
of them was the real brother.
The barefaced man asked the Pasha again,
"Have you any other wishes?" "Yes," replied
the Pasha, "I am engaged to the daughter of the Shah of
Persia, but whenever I send my soldiers there, they are all killed.
Send the youth there." So the youth set out with ninety
seven soldiers.
On his way, he happened upon a fellow
sitting on the bank of a river who was drinking all the water
in the river and then spitting it out again. The youth stopped
with his soldiers and watched the young man, for he had never
seen anyone swallow so much water before. Finally he asked the
fellow, "What are you doing?" "There's nothing
else I can do," the other replied. I just sit here all day
and play with the water." "Would you like to come with
me?" "Yes, I would," the fellow said, and he set
out with the youth. They continued on their way and came upon
a another young man who was playing with some hares. He would
let them go and then catch them again. The youth asked the fellow
what he was doing and he replied, "There's nothing else
I can do but catch hares." "Would you like to come
with me?" "Yes, indeed," he replied and they all
set off again.
After a while they sat down to rest under
an oak tree. In the tree was a nest of baby eagles and a snake
was crawling up the tree to devour them. When the youth saw what
was happening, he jumped up and slew the snake. The moment the
mother eagle arrived, it set upon the youth and tried to gouge
his eyes out, but the baby eagles cried out, "No, no, he
saved us from the snake!" The eagle said to the youth, "You
saved my children from the snake. What can I do for you?"
But the youth replied that there was nothing he wanted, so the
eagle plucked a feather out of its wing and said, "Take
this feather and if you ever need me, burn it and I will come
to your aid right away." The youth took the feather and
put it in his pocket, and the whole group set out again.
On their way, they came across an ant
hill. They went around it, taking care not to step on it so as
not to destroy it. The queen of the ants asked, "Why did
you not step on the ant hill?" "I didn't want to do
you any harm," replied the youth, and the queen of the ants
declared, "You have done us a great service, and as thanks
I will give you one of my wings. If you are ever in danger, burn
it and I will come to your aid with all my army."
And so they arrived at the palace of
the Shah of Persia and the youth said to him, "I have come
to fetch the Pasha's bride." The Shah retorted, "If
you can eat three hundred plates of food, you can have the bride."
The fellow who had drunk all the water in the river said that
he was willing to try. The Shah sent for three hundred plates
of food, and the fellow ate everything up, more than the Pasha's
whole army could have eaten. There was not a crumb left over.
The Shah became worried and declared, "Whoever wins the
flag in a race with my swiftest horses can have the bride."
The young man who had been catching hares exclaimed, "Don't
worry, I'll win the flag for you." When the horses arrived
at the racetrack, the young man said to the riders, "I'll
give you a head start and then I'll set out after you."
So they let the horses gallop away. The hare catcher set out
last, caught up with the horses, passed them and won the flag.
When the youth showed the Shah that he had won the flag, the
Shah was even more worried, but still he would not give up the
bride.
Next the Shah declared, "I have
a barn full of wheat, barley and millet all mixed up together.
You must sort it out for me in three days, otherwise I won't
give you the Pasha's bride. This time the youth despaired for
he knew it was impossible to sort out that much grain in three
days. Then he remembered the ant's wing and threw it into the
fire. Immediately the queen of the ants arrived and asked him
what he wanted. He told her about the barn full of grain and
she summoned all her ants. In three hours they had finished the
task. The youth sent a message to the Shah, saying, "The
grain has been sorted into three piles. Now you must give us
the maiden." The Shah wondered how the youth could have
done the chore in three hours. He went out to the barn and saw,
to his utter amazement, that the grain had indeed been sorted
into three piles.
The Shah then declared, "I have
one more request. I want you to bring me a bottle of water from
the mountains whose peaks touch. At the foot of the mountains
is a cave and in the cave is the water you must bring me. It
is a remedy to bring the dead back to life."
The youth remembered the eagle's feather
and burnt it. The eagle appeared and asked the youth what he
desired. The youth told the eagle about the water he must bring
from the mountains. At once the eagle flew off and in no time
it brought back the water and gave it to the youth who presented
it to the Shah. In the palace, the bride took a flask of the
water. She was then given to the youth and together they made
their way home.
They were singing and making merry when
they arrived at the Pasha's palace. The barefaced man heard their
laughter and went out to meet them. When he saw that the youth
had returned safe and sound, he was furious. In his anger, he
drew his sword and chopped the youth in two. When the Pasha found
out that the barefaced man had slain the youth of whom he was
fond, he was so despondent that he could neither eat nor sleep.
Though he did not punish the barefaced man because he believed
him to be his brother, he refused to see him anymore.
Meanwhile, the bride had sprinkled the
magic water over the youth and brought him back to life without
the Pasha's knowledge. The next morning, the youth went to the
Pasha's palace and declared, "I want to see the Pasha. I
must talk to him." But the servants did not recognize him
and told him that the Pasha was in mourning and would not see
anyone. But the youth insisted, and so they finally called the
Pasha, "There is a youth here who wishes to speak to Your
Lordship," they said. "Let him in," replied the
Pasha. When the youth arrived in the Pasha's chamber he began
by asking, "If a man has made a promise and has then been
cut into two, he can't come back to life, can he?" "No,"
replied the Pasha, "he can't come back to life." "And
if a man is cut into two and then does come back to life, is
he still bound to keep his promise?" "No," said
the Pasha, "no one is bound by a promise after his death."
"Fine," said the youth, "now I can tell you what
I couldn't tell you before, for I have died and come back to
life. Now I can tell you that it is I who am your brother. The
other is a barefaced man whom I promised that I would never say
anything as long as I lived." Then he recounted everything
that had happened to him on his journey.
The Pasha was overjoyed and embraced
his brother, and a great feast was held. Then the Pasha ordered
the oven to be stoked up and the barefaced man to be thrown into
it. And so it was done.
[Source: Urban Jarnik, Príspevky
ku poznání nárecí albánských
uverejnuje Jan Urban Jarník. Pojednání
král. ceské spolecnosti nauk. Rada VI, díl
12. Abhandlungen der Königlich-Böhmischen Gesellschaft
der Wissenschaften zu Prag, 12 (Prague, Tiskem Dra. Edvarda Grégra,
1883), reprinted in Folklor shqiptar 1, Proza popullore (Tirana
1963). Translated from the Albanian by Robert Elsie.]
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