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

Overview

In the Kermani tale, a man guarding a prosperous brother’s grain identifies himself as that brother’s Luck. The unsuccessful brother travels to awaken his own Luck, a tall, snoring man on a mountain. Once roused, this figure promises not to sleep again and answers questions about other people’s misfortunes. The traveler rejects opportunities for wealth and marriage on his way home, believing that good fortune must await him elsewhere; a lion then eats him.

The Bakhtiari version makes the prosperous brother’s Luck a horseherd in a black felt coat and places the sleeper in a cave. This Luck says he is still due years of sleep, though he answers the traveler’s questions. A wolf replaces the lion at the fatal conclusion. The two witnesses personify fortune without supplying a single divine name or proving that their active and sleeping figures are brothers themselves.

Personal fortune embodied as a manSleeping and active regional variants
01

Origins & earliest records

Kermani and Bakhtiari storytelling, Iran

02

Records & interpretation

Both complete tales XIX113–117 and XLIV293–296 directly read in original-edition OCR.

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

    XIX, The Brother Whose Luck Was Asleep, pp. 113–117; XLIV, The Man Who Went to Wake His Luck, pp. 293–296

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. Lorimer and E. O. Lorimer, Persian Tales (London: Macmillan, 1919)

Kermani and Bakhtiari tales. XIX113–117; XLIV293–296

Both complete narratives directly read. Variant sleeper locations, promises and animal endings retained separately. No assumed Persian divine name.

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), XIX, pp. 113–117Research access: 2026-10-05
  2. Historical translated folktaleLorimer, Persian Tales (1919), XLIV, pp. 293–296Research 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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