The Nergz Ring

A friend of mine in Kurdistan transcribed and translated a fairy tale that his grandmother told him. He sent it to me and told me that I could edit it so that its quality in the English language would be of a readable level. This is the result!

Centuries ago in a big city situated along the Zagros Mountains, there lived a man with his lovely wife and their daughter, Chyavan (“someone who goes to the mountains”), who was their only child. The man was a very skillful jeweler. So much so that his name was spreading beyond the city limits and permeating the whole country. His products were so well crafted that it seemed he must be using some sort of magic.

The jeweler had a rather hidden and retired personality. He was seldom seen or heard from, so he was something of a mystery to the people. Little was known about him except that his skill as a jeweler was unmatched and that he loved his wife more than anything. Together they lived a very happy life with their daughter, who they cherished greatly.

One day the Jeweler decided to make a very special gift for his wife in celebration of their anniversary. A magnificent gold ring was made for her which featured two golden Nergz flowers crafted atop the golden ornate band. Wanting to give something to his daughter as well, a golden tooth was made for her. They were both extremely grateful and appreciative of their gifts.

Their lives continued happily until the jeweler’s wife became gravely ill. Having been bedridden and knowing her end was near, she gave her will to her husband and died two days later. The Jeweler was overcome with grief. He never thought he could have a life that did not include her.

The usual ceremonies needed to be put in order for her funeral though, and this led him to read her last will and testament. Very plainly it stated, “I know you and my daughter will be so lonely after I am gone, but I don’t want this to happen. For this reason I want you to take another wife. But, there are two conditions which must be met. First, you must take care of our daughter and love her endlessly. Second, the ring you made for me must perfectly fit the finger of the woman you choose to marry, or else she can’t be your wife. If you don’t honor these requests, I will never forgive you and will be eternally sad.”

The Jeweler was distraught by the death of his wife, and his love for her led him to decide he must honor his wife’s last wishes.

So, he began searching for someone to marry, travelling to many towns and cities. Unfortunately, the ring did not perfectly fit a single woman. It was as if the ring was bewitched because it was made for their anniversary, so that only the ring itself could choose who was worthy to wear it.

After three years of searching, the jeweler came home disappointed. Now, his daughter did not know about her mother’s will and one day finds the beautiful wedding band. She decided to try it on out of curiosity and found that it fit her perfectly. How strange! It was made for her mother after all.

But just then her father walks in and sees the ring perfectly wrapped around her finger and realizes that she is the only woman it has ever fit, and so the ring has chosen her. He begins to become so overwhelmed with his love for his lost wife and his duty to fulfil her will such that he becomes blind to rationality. He tells his daughter that she must marry him, her own father. If she does not then his wife will never forgive him, and that is the last thing he will accept. But she cries out that she cannot marry her own father. It’s a crime.

Hearing this, the Jeweler became very angry. He went into a rage and Chyavan was terrified. He was out of his sense. He even began to seem more monster than man in his anguished rage.

The Jeweler turned to his daughter and told her that if she would not marry him and fulfill her mother’s Will, he would have to kill her by his own hands. After being threatened so, his daughter fearfully relented and agreed to become his wife. But, she asks if she can have a little money to get something for the wedding, and her father acquiesces.

The next day, she went to the city’s bazaar, seeking out the tailor. She finds him and asks for a cloth to be made which will cover her entire body except for her hands and eyes. The cloth will be ready in two days’ time.

Over those next two days, she tried hard to stay away from her father because he was out of his mind and had become unpredictable. She had no idea what he might say or do next.

When the two days passed, she went back to the bazaar with some supplies, she picked up her cloth, donned it and left the city. She escaped to the mountains and began living alone in a cave she found. When her father realizes she is missing, nobody knows where she has gone. Her father becomes enraged and vows to get revenge by killing her because she disobeyed him and the will of her mother. If she won’t marry him, he believes killing her is the only way for his wife to rest in peace.

After a month of her new and lonely life, Chyavan ventures into the mountain forest. There she comes across a group of people. At first she is frightened, but soon realizes they are huntsmen. The leader is a man named Ahmed, the son of a Duke of a nearby city. He comes to the forest every year with his companions to hunt for game.

However, the huntsmen needed supplies and water and food since they had been out for two days and nights without killing a single thing to eat. She sees they are in need and shows herself to them, still covered in her cloth. They ask for food and so she invites them to her cave.

Ahmed, the duke’s son, asks her why she is alone in the mountains. At first she says nothing, but then Ahmed asks her to uncover her beautiful face so that he can admire it. She takes off the cloth and then, when he asks again, she tells him the whole story about her father the jeweler and how she ran away. Ahmed decides that he must take her with him to his home and keep her safe, promising to protect her from her father.

She goes to live with him and after two months together they begin to fall deeply in love. Their days started happily and their life together was ideal. After some time, she even became pregnant, and they had a son together. Having begun a family, they were happy and felt nothing could go wrong.

Years pass and they continue to live as if God had showered all of his blessings upon them. But, they did not know that there was trouble lurking. A very old man, strange, peculiar, and internally full of anger, had come to their city. A man who had searched countless villages and cities trying to find his daughter who ran away from him long ago.

The Jeweler has become a conjurer, and was wandering the city performing magic for people and saying that he will give a prize to a woman who comes and smiles at him, and that this prize will be a medal for her son that he had made. While Ahmed was away in another city, Chyavan was wandering the city and heard of the prize she could get for smiling at this man. She does not recognize her father because of his beard and cracking skin, and he doesn’t recognize her at first because of how much she has grown up. But, when she smiles at him he sees the gold tooth that he made for her years ago, and recognizes her as his daughter and decides that the time for revenge has come. He gives her the medal for her son and when she turns and leaves he follows her to her house.

That same night, at midnight, when all is quiet and everyone is asleep, he sneaks into the house. He can’t kill his daughter right there, so he decides that to get revenge he will do something else. He goes into her son’s room and slices his throat. He then goes to her room, drips the blood onto her dress, and hides the knife behind the couch.

He set up the scene so that the Duke’s family would think that she killed her son herself, and that is exactly what they believed. Their son Ahmed was still away and knew nothing of it. They would not listen to Chyavan’s protests, as there was no other explanation. In this city, which the Duke’s family held a lot of power in, the result of murder was a shameful and serious punishment. They had one of Chyavan’s breasts cut off and made her carry the corpse of her expired child on her back through the main street of the city, in front of the eyes of everyone, as she was sent into exile.

Chyavan returned again to the mountains wearing the same cloth she wore to escape her father and carrying her dead child upon her back.

Before reaching the cave, she sits down exhausted underneath a tree to rest. She soon falls asleep and dreams that her mother comes down to relay a prophecy that could cure her unpleasant situation. Her mother tells Chyavan that she feels her husband has betrayed her with how he has acted and will be punished for his sins. She tells her daughter that she will see two pigeons in a tree. One black, one white. One will fall to the ground as the other flies away. If God wants her child alive again, the white pigeon will fall and its blood must be fed to the head of her dead child. If the black one falls though, her son will remain dead as this is what God wants.

Suddenly, she awakens from her sleep and above her in a tree sees two pigeons. One black, one white. After a short time, the black one flies away and the white one falls to the ground. Remembering the dream, she takes the white bird and feeds its blood to her dead son and he comes back to life.

Happiness returned to Chyavan and they built a cottage there in the mountain forest. After ten years of living there, on the same date when she first met her husband Ahmed and his fellow huntsmen, she remembers that he and his fellow huntsmen must be returning soon.

Just as she expected, her husband and his men returned to the woods. She prepares lots of food for a big dinner and tells her son, now twelve years old, to go and invite the men for dinner. Of course they accept, because they are hungry and tired and far from home.

She welcomes them and sets out a proper meal but never identifies herself. While they are eating, she tells her son to take the ring that her father had made for her mother and set it in one of Ahmed’s shoes.

As the men prepare to leave and put on their shoes, Ahmed feels something hard inside of his and checks it. He can’t believe what he finds! Seeing the ring, he becomes shocked and unable to utter a single word. Finally he cries out, wanting to know where his wife is. She comes out and uncovers her face, and Ahmed recognizes her. They both begin to cry and she tells him everything about what happened, how she was innocent and the brutal reaction of his family toward her after their son was murdered. Ahmed asks for forgiveness from his wife and son for what happened and what his family did. Chyavan will forgive her husband on one condition. Her father must be found and revenged.

Ahmed agrees, saying that if he cannot fulfill her wish then she has the right to give him any punishment but that if he can do it, she has to forgive him.

After a long process of searching cities and villages, the old magician jeweler is found. Ahmed and his men capture him and declare that his punishment for his crimes will be to have his legs tied to two oxen, one per leg. One ox won’t be allowed to eat for seven days and the other won’t be allowed to drink for seven days. On the seventh day when the man has one leg tied to each ox, they will be set free to run toward a pile of food for the first and a large barrel of cold water for the second.

The punishment is carried out, and the jeweler’s body becomes severed. After what he caused to happen to his daughter, the result was deserved. Chyavan was no able to live safely and securely, restarting her life with her husband and son, with happier days ahead.