We discovered this gorgeous picture book just the other day and had to share the illustrations and this lesser-known fairy tale, The Story of Caliph Stork.
It may sound familiar as a version of the fairy tale was include in Andrew Lang's Green Fairy Book, but with such rich fodder for illustrators, and such a funny tale for storytellers to have fun with, it's surprising this isn't more well known.
The fairy tale actually has a distinct origin, written by German writer Wilhelm Hauff for his Märchen almanach auf das Jahr (Fairytale Almanac of ). (The Green Fairy Book retells story in chapters.)
Set in the nebulous 'Orient' (something the romantics were fascinated by, even though it was a fantasy) the plot could easily (today) be mistaken for something out of Nights. Source notes from one writer/storyteller, Aaron Shepard, who has won honors from the American Folklore Society, retold and published this tale (with very different, but also lovely illustrations by Alisher Dianov) tell us that despite it's German origin, that this tale is now told in the Middle East and has become part of their folklore!
Wow.
From Shepard's notes:
This tale&#;usually called &#;The Calif Stork&#; or &#;The Stork Calif&#;&#;is often classified as a folktale of Iraq; and folklorist Harold Courlander, who heard it twice from Muslim storytellers, believes it to be widely told in the Middle East. Yet its origin is The Caravan, a book of original fairy tales by nineteenth-century German writer Wilhelm Hauff. While folktales often make their way into written literature, in this case a written work has passed into folklore. My own retelling draws from both original and retold versions.
The calif in this tale is patterned after Harun al-Rashid, made popular in the pages of The Thousand and One Nights.
The plot essentially goes :
The Caliph of Baghdad comes across a mysterious powder with an incantation on the
Accueil > Stories > "Caliph Stork" and 7 other fairy tales by Wilhelm Hauff ()
Wilhelm Hauff, a rising star of the rich "Biedermeier" period of German literature in the early 19th century, was able to publish outstanding collections of fairy tales that he called Almanacs in each of his last three years before his tragic death by typhoid fever in at the age of
This is his Almanac of , featuring his celebrated story about a Caliph and his Vizier who were transformed into storks by a magician, at their request, in order to be able to understand the language of birds and animals, but then forgot the magic word that would bring them back to human form because they had started laughing – contrary to the magician&#;s instructions – when they realized what nonsense the various birds and animals were saying to each other.
These charming tales – except for the The Caravan – were translated by G. P. Quackenbos for an American edition published in New York in [1]. The frame story The Caravan was translated especially for this site [2].
An e-book, with the original text in an annex, is available for downloading below.
The original text can also be seen here.
Wilhelm Hauff ()
THE FAIRY-TALE ALMANAC OF
A FAIRY-TALE THE CARAVAN THE STORY OF CALIPH STORK THE STORY OF THE SPECTRE SHIP THE STORY OF THE HEWN-OFF HAND FATIMA&#;S DELIVERANCE THE STORY OF LITTLE MUCK THE STORY OF THE FALSE PRINCE
A FAIRY-TALE
IN a beautiful distant kingdom, of which there is a saying, that the sun on its everlasting green gardens never goes down, ruled, from the beginning of time even to the present day, Queen Phantasie. With full hands, she used to distribute for many hundred years, the abundance of her blessings among her subjects, and was beloved and respected by all who knew her. The heart of the Queen, however, was too great to allow her to stop at her own land with her charities ; she herself, in the royal attire of her everlas
Hegenbarth illustrates Hauff’s fairytale collection “The Caravan”
Hegenbarth illustrates Hauff’s fairytale collection “The Caravan”
These stories are universally known in Germany - Little Muck with his magic slippers that carry him through the air at top speed, and the Caliph who was turned into a stork by means of a magic trick. These two fairytale characters which have been transporting people of all ages into the fascinating world of the Middle East for nearly years were invented by the Romantic author Wilhelm Hauff (). His book »Fairytale Almanac of the year , for the Sons and Daughters of the Educated Classes« is a collection of oriental stories set within a frame narrative entitled »The Caravan«.
DATES 07/05/—02/04/
Module Text with Image
In order to combat their boredom, travelling salesmen tell each other six stories – as well as the story of Caliph Stork and Little Muck there are also the stories of the Ghost Ship and the Severed Hand, as well as the Rescue of Fatima and the False Prince.
Josef Hegenbarth was also fascinated by Hauff’s Caravan. In the early s the artist dealt intensively with the stories and decided to illustrate them. He explored the themes of the fairytales using two different techniques: One group of pen and two-tone brush drawings, which are now held in the Josef Hegenbarth Archive, served as the basis for the first illustrated edition of Hauff’s “Caravan”, published by Reclam-Verlag in Leipzig in The great popularity of this work, decorated with 16 full page brush drawings and small-format pen drawings, is evident from the many editions and reprints of up to 17, copies which were not only published in both East and West Germany but were also made known in Japan by Hegenbarth himself.
Josef Hegenbarth’s second illustrated version, for which he used pen-and-ink drawings, was destined to undergo an adventurous journey. At
Wilhelm Hauff (29 November
The Story of Caliph Stork
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Wilhelm Hauff
Translated by nbos
Illustrated by
1
Caliph Chasid, of Bagdad, was resting comfortably on his divan one fine afternoon. He was smoking a long pipe, and from time to time he sipped a little coffee which a slave handed to him, and after each sip he stroked his long beard with an air of enjoyment. In short, anyone could see that the Caliph was in an excellent humour.
This was, in fact, the best time of day in which to approach him, for just now he was pretty sure to be both affable and in good spirits, and for this reason the Grand Vizier Mansor always chose this hour in which to pay his daily visit.
He arrived as usual this afternoon, but, contrary to his usual custom, with an anxious face. The Caliph withdrew his pipe for a moment from his lips and asked, ‘Why do you look so anxious, Grand Vizier?’
The Grand Vizier crossed his arms on his breast and bent low before his master as he answered:
‘Oh, my Lord! whether my countenance be anxious or not I know not, but down below, in the court of the palace, is a pedlar with such beautiful things that I cannot help feeling annoyed at having so little money to spare.’
The Caliph, who had wished for some time past to give his Grand Vizier a present, ordered his black slave to bring the pedlar before him at once. The slave soon returned, followed by the pedlar, a short stout man with a swarthy face, and dressed in very ragged clothes. He carried a box containing all manner of wares—strings of pearls, rings, richly mounted pistols, goblets, and combs. The Caliph and his Vizier inspected everything, and the Caliph chose some handsome pistols for himself and Mansor, and a jewelled comb for the Vizier’s wife.
Just as the pedlar was about to close his box, the Caliph noticed a small drawer, and asked if there was anything else in it for sale. The pedl