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

Overview

In the Kermani Prince and the Peri, a young wife follows a lost lime through a water-hole and discovers her husband sleeping beside the beautiful daughter of the Shah of the Peris. She cleans their room and later shades them with her kerchief. The peri arranges further meetings in the Nastaran garden, riding a white horse in white male clothing. The wife joins them in disguise. After hearing her account of these visits, the prince declares that her patience has broken the spell and begins living with her.

The Bakhtiari Peri and the King’s Son retells the episode differently. A golden orange leads the wife down a well to the couple’s chamber. Her shade-making kindness moves the peri to release the prince from the prohibition against speaking to and living with his wife. She declares him her brother, and he continues to visit her as a sister. This is a newly declared relationship in the story, not evidence that they were born siblings.

The paired account preserves the Kermani royal parentage and garden encounters separately from the Bakhtiari permission and sibling declaration. Both identify the supernatural woman as a peri but supply no wings or other nonhuman anatomy. The narratives’ praise of a neglected wife’s patience is attributed to their endings, not offered as advice about marriage.

PeriPrince’s silenceKindness and releaseDistinct regional endings
01

Origins & earliest records

Kermani and Bakhtiari storytelling, Iran; separately attributed witnesses

02

Records & interpretation

Both complete original-edition tales directly read.

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

    XI, The Prince and the Peri, pp.63–69 (Kermani); XLI, The Peri and the King’s Son, pp.284–287 (Bakhtiari)

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 (Macmillan,1919)

Kermani XI and Bakhtiari XLI. XI, The Prince and the Peri, pp.63–69 (Kermani); XLI, The Peri and the King’s Son, pp.284–287 (Bakhtiari)

Complete XI63–69 and XLI284–287 read; no wings inferred. Declared brother/sister status is a new relationship, not biological genealogy.

Inspect the digitized plate · Source collection manifest

References

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

  1. Historical translated folktalesLorimers, Persian Tales (1919), XI, The Prince and the Peri, pp.63–69 (Kermani); XLI, The Peri and the King’s Son, pp.284–287 (Bakhtiari)Research 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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