The First Dervish’s Tale

Notable Characters

  • The first dervish, the son of a king
  • The dervish’s uncle
  • The cousin
  • The cousin’s lover
  • The king’s vizier

Plot Summary

The dervish, who at this time was a prince, visited his uncle. He grew close to his cousin, and helped him with a strange task. He followed his cousin’s instructions and closed him and a woman into a tomb. After, he could not remember where that tomb had been.

When he returned to his own city, he found that his father’s vizier had plotted against him and now wanted to kill him. He was brought before the vizier, who gouged out one of the prince’s eyes in revenge for the prince having accidentally removed one of the vizier’s eyes previously.

The prince fled and returned to his uncle, who wished to know what happened to his cousin. One day, the prince managed to find the tomb and lead his uncle there. Inside, they found his cousin and the woman burned up, and his uncle struck the face of his cousin.

When the prince asked why his uncle had done that, his uncle revealed that the woman was actually his cousin’s sister, and that they had been having an incestuous relationship despite his warnings.

The vizier led an army to this city as well. The uncle was killed, and the prince fled. He disguised himself as a dervish, and came across the two other dervishes before joining the party in the ladies’ house that night.