The secret of laughter

the long version

"This collection of stories, drawn from the rich treasury of Persian folk and fairytales, tells of love and longing, fate and human ingenuity, loss and grace. Some have sources in Persian classical literature, but the majority have been handed down orally through the generations, their provenance lost deep in the midsts of the past. Told by professional storytellers in bazaars and gatherings, they have been popularised the world over by the great poets Rumi and Firdowsi. A magic saucepan rescues the fortunes of a poverty-stricken widow's son, a wise lion awakens the luck of a lazy ne'er-do-well and a sorcerer imparts the secret of laughter to a young stable boy - who cures the king's melancholy and marries his daughter. These narratives offer cultural, psychological and social insights into the attitudes, morals and values of Iranian society."--Jacket.