Abstract :
The article discusses the well-known story called The Wise Carving of the Fowl, corresponding to type 1533 and motif H601 in the Aarne–Thompson classification. This tale of midrashic origin is widespread in the folk traditions of the Middle East (e.g. in Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, Iran and among the Turkish population of China). It is also found in the traditions of many European countries, such as Russia, Lithuania, Greece, Sweden, Hungary, Spain, Italy, and Germany (where it figures in the famous collection by the Grimm brothers). Its earliest literary treatment in Arabic literature is found in the Book of Animals (kitab al-hayawān) by al-Gāi (3rd/9th century), but between the 3rd/9th and the 11th/17th centuries the story was fashioned in several classical and post-classical Arabic literary works. Various versions also exist in the European literary tradition, such as in the medieval collections of exempla, the Italian novella, and German poetry. The essay focuses on the literary analysis of different versions of this tale in the Arabic sources, in the earliest exempla, and in some texts of the Italian novella.
