A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

In Roads and Shortcuts, wild animals gather nightly at the Caravanserai of Kahnu, presided over by a lion as king. Roads conceals himself in a chimney and overhears their secrets, which subsequently bring him wealth and a kingdom. His former companion Shortcuts insists on repeating this success despite Roads’s warning and offer of hospitality. Instead of concealing himself, he settles in an upper room and falls asleep, expecting to hear the animals when they arrive.

The beasts first eat his horse. When the lion smells a human and calls for a search, a ghoul rises and sniffs about until she finds Shortcuts. She carries him down on her back, and the assembled wild beasts each bite him until he dies. The English text identifies her with feminine pronouns but supplies no personal name, additional anatomy, transformation or family relationship. Her brief role is that of an active supernatural hunter within this particular Kermani telling; the passage does not state that she is the fox who receives the lion’s initial order. Shortcuts is not revived, and the closing moral rejects an effortless shortcut to success.

Sniffs out a sleeping humanCarries captive on her backKermani tale-specific ghoul
01

Origins & earliest records

Kermani storytelling, Iran

02

Records & interpretation

Complete tale and its geographical footnote read in retained original-edition OCR; ghoul identity and final outcome explicit.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Persian Tales

    D. L. R. Lorimer and E. O. Lorimer, collectors/translators · 1919

    Kermani tales; XXVI, The Story of Roads and Shortcuts, pp.160–168; ghoul episode p.168

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

Primary records and illustrations

Direct primary record

D. L. R. and E. O. Lorimer, Persian Tales (1919)

Kermani tales. Kermani tales; XXVI, The Story of Roads and Shortcuts, pp.160–168; ghoul episode p.168

Complete lorimer-26.txt retained/read, including initial derwishes, animal gathering, all four secrets, marriage, reunion and final death plus Yemen note. Ghoul on p.168 explicitly female; no conflation with fox or animal species.

Inspect the digitized plate · Source collection manifest

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Historical translated folktaleLorimer, Persian Tales (1919), Kermani tales; XXVI, The Story of Roads and Shortcuts, pp.160–168; ghoul episode p.168Research access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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