Author Shahriar Nafici published a Persian language tale obtained from his mother. In this tale, Sheep's Head, in the town of Make Believe, a childless couple wants a son, but no such luck. A man gives the woman a remedy and she gives birth to a baby with a sheep's head. The old man tries to get rid of the sheep by dropping it on the well, but it survives and lives with the couple. Years later, the baby with the sheep's head wants to marry, but his parents ask him who could marry a person with his characteristics. He eventually marries a human princess named Maleknâz, the seventh daughter of a king, who has been having dreams about a mysterious and handsome prince. On the wedding night, Sheep's Head takes off his animal disguise and reveals he is a handsome youth named Malek Mohammad, born to the "king of the angels" and cursed by his mother for refusing to marry her sister's daughter. In regards to their marriage and the breaking of the curse, he explains that princess Maleknâz must bear humiliation and mockery from her sisters until forty days have passed, then Malek Mohammad's curse will be broken and he can assume human form permanently, since his "apparent" human parents failed in keeping him inside their house for the same period of time. Maleknâz bears each day their endless mockery, with her husband's support and life lessons, but she ends up breaking his trust. Disappointed, Sheep's Head gives her instructions on how to find him: she shall wear pairs of shoes made of "pure metal" (or iron), walk with seven walking sticks, go through seven cities and learn several important lessons, then she may find him. On her way, she finds Malek Rouh, a blacksmith who claims to be Malek Mohammad's father. She finally reaches the palace of her mother-in-law in the town of demons. Malek Mohammad finds her and explains that his mother is a cannibal and a "demon". He turns her into a brooch to hide from his human-eater mother and makes her promise not to eat Maleknâz. Some time later, his mother sends her to empty a flooded area using only a sieve. Her husband helps her with a magic trick. She continues to force impossible tasks on the princess, like counting stones in the desert or emptying a basin with a thimble. One of the last tasks she forces upon the princess is to be naked, cover herself in candles and dance at the upcoming wedding of Malek Mohammad and his cousin. At the wedding, Maleknâz dances while the wax from the candles melts all over her body. A sudden gust of wind blows open the doors and snuffs out the candles to save Maleknâz. A ball of light comes in and takes the princess away from the demons and into the Town of Knowledge. Maleknâz recognizes her saviour: her father-in-law.Nafici, Shahriar. 3 Stories 1001 Secrets: Stories That Began with My Mother. Uk: AuthorHouse, 2015. Tale nr. 2 ("Sheep's Head").
