The Soothsayer

Published: Jan. 18, 2015, 2 a.m.

The Soothsayer is a tale from Persia (now Iran) about a poor and somewhat innocent laborer who finds a golden opportunity to advance himself, largely through taking advantage of chance occurrences.  As with The Bremen Town Musicians, his conquest of his adversaries hinges upon the latter overhearing and misunderstanding him. Other popular folktales that depend upon overheard and misunderstood snatches of conversation include The Brave Little Tailor and Rumplestiltskin. And notice that forty seems to be a popular number of thieves in Middle Eastern stories.

We come to you from Miami, where we've just presented programs at the Miami Lakes Library, thanks to a generous grant from Target. We've also been trying to keep ourselves entertained during our time in Florida, with such desperate measures as manatee watching, going to Universal Studios to catch the new Harry Potter attraction Diagon Alley, and trying out a wild new water sport called flyboarding.

Happy Listening,
Dennis (Narrator, Ahmed, Guard, King, Thief Ringleader) and Kimberly (Narrator, Raha, Wealthy Woman, Royal Soothsayer, King's Attendant, Servant Thief, Second Thief)