A Narratological Analysis of the Twelve Versions of " The Tale of Solomon and the Man Who Was to Escape from Azrael"

Story telling is a very old tradition in all communities that has survived through the modifications brought up by the narrators of each period and time. As such، throughout history، different versions of the same story appear، and each of them، following the changes made by the story tellers، might be similar or different with the previous versions. A study of the structures of the various versions of the same story، not only helps us discover the original form، but also says many things about the interrelation between the story tellers، and the interaction between cultures. In this article، twelve versions of “The Tale of Solomon and the Man Who Was to Escape from Azrael” from Mathnavi of Mowlavi، are compared based on a structural approach. The findings prove that Mowlavi is totally aware of the forms of his stories as well as the internal and external structures of the narratives. Therefore، one has no choice but to consider Mowlavi a skillful and talented story teller.