How Tamerlane Found His Fortune
Michael Berman, UK
Michael Berman works as a teacher, teacher trainer, and writer. Publications include The Power of Metaphor for Crown House, The Nature of Shamanism and the Shamanic Story for Cambridge Scholars Publishing, and All God’s Creatures: Stories Old and New for Pendraig Publishing. ELT publications include a resource book for teachers on storytelling, In a Faraway Land, and On Business and for Pleasure - a self-study workbook for Business English students. E-mail: michaelberman@blueyonder.co.uk, www.Thestoryteller.org.uk
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One day Temir, whose horse was lame and had lost his son, called on a blacksmith. At that time the blacksmith was sleeping, and Temir, not wanting to disturb him, sat down by his side, waiting for him to wake up. He noticed that a fly came out of the blacksmith’s nose, crawled along the tongs across a basin to the anvil. Beyond the anvil there was a huge fissure; the fly descended into this fissure and remained there quite a long time. Then it crawled back out and, after passing the anvil, crossed the basin by the same tongs, but while crossing it fell into the water. For a long time it was struggling in the water, but eventually it somehow managed to crawl out of the basin, and went back into the nose of the blacksmith again.
“It seems I’ve been asleep for quite some time!” “Yes, and I’ve been sitting waiting all that time”. Temir replied. Amuse me. I’ve lost my son, my horse has pulled up lame and I’ve really had enough of everything today. Tell me something to take my mind off things and to cheer me up a bit”. “But what can I tell you?” The blacksmith answered. After all, nobody can ever possibly obtain what I’ve just seen in my dream, and it would just make you even more frustrated”. Temir asked him, nevertheless, to relate what he had experienced, and so the blacksmith did.
“In my dream I crossed a big river and an iron mountain and went down into a large cave, where there was treasure of gold and silver; for a long time I stood there, not having the strength to tear my eyes away from the brilliance and the splendour. But being conscious that I had to return, I climbed out of the cave. On the return journey when I was crossing the river, I fell off the bridge and almost drowned”.
It was then Temir realised that it was the soul of the blacksmith which had come out in the form of a fly. And guessing that there had to be some great treasure in the smithy, he persuaded the blacksmith to give the place up to him. Then after digging up the very same spot where the soul of the blacksmith had crawled, Temir exposed untold wealth, with which he collected an army and subjugated the whole world (Adapted from Dalgat, 2004, p.39-40).
What this traditional folktale shows is the ancient Ingush (from Ingushetia in the Caucasus) belief in the reality of dreams and how the soul for them was something material rather than an abstract spiritual concept. In fact, what it reflects is an understanding of the soul that is remarkably similar to that of the Siberian Buryats. There is even a parallel Buryat tale in which the soul takes the form of a bee when it crawls out of someone’s nose for an out-of-body experience (see Dalgat, 2004, p.40).
Pre-listening: Tell the person sitting next to you about a dream you’ve had that changed your life in some way, or about a remarkable dream that somebody you know had.
While-listening: Pause after the words “Then after digging up the very same spot where the soul of the blacksmith had crawled, Temir exposed …” and ask the learners to predict the ending.
Post-listening: Now invite the learners, while working in groups, to write a parallel story about a fly that crawls out of someone’s nose, the journey it goes on, and the discovery that journey eventually leads to for the dreamer.
Dalgat, B.K. (2004) The Aboriginal Religions of the Chechens and Ingush, Moscow: NAUKA. (Translated from the Russian by David Hunt October 2009, and kept in the British Library. The book was first published in an abridged form in 1893).
Please check the Creative Methodology for the Classroom course at Pilgrims website.
Please check the Methodology and Language for Secondary Teachers course at Pilgrims website.
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