آمیزش اسطوره، حماسه و فرهنگ عوام در روایتی نقّالی از داستان «رستم و اکوان دیو»

The story of “Rostam and the Demon King” is one of the independent and at the same time very short narratives of the Shahnameh that has not` been widely known among the general public. One of the areas where this narrative seems to have been popular for a long time is the Siyakh Darengoun region of Fars province, which has not been recorded or studied in any source so far. The author’s goal is to conduct a comparative study of this narrative with the narrative of Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh. The author has tried to first record this Narrative using a field method and then conduct a comparative study of it with Ferdowsi’s narrative. The research findings show that the folk narrative is more detailed and has more diverse events compared to the Shahnameh narrative. Some of these differences, such as the way the narrative begins, the wolf’s departure to Zabol, and Rostam’s passage through Haft Khan, are the result of the blending of the story of the Demon King with other narratives of the Shahnameh. Another part of the differences between the two narratives, such as the presence of Soroush Gheibi, the boars, and the Divan in the folk narrative, is the result of the narrators' efforts to localize and also to make the narrative attractive to the audience; some of the differences, such as the introduction of Afrasiab as the king of the Divan, the going of the demon to Afrasiab's seven-story palace, and the presence of a fairy by the water, are the result of the combination of the narrative narrative with mythological elements. However, this narrative has fundamental differences from the Shahnameh narrative in various aspects, such as characterization, the main lines of the narrative, and the atmosphere that governs the story; but overall, it has similarities with the Shahnameh narrative in some of the narrative events, the reason and manner of the battles, and the names of the hero and antihero.
Keywords: Afrasiab, Aku, Akvan Divan, Narrative narrative, Siyakh Darengun, Shahnameh.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Introduction
One of the areas where the narrative of “Rostam and the Demon King” has found its way and seems to have undergone changes over time is the village of Baba Ivor in the Siyakh Darengun region of Fars province. One of the traditions that has been prevalent in this village for a long time and has disappeared with the death of the great narrators and storytellers was the tradition of storytelling and storytelling in this village, which in the evenings gathers the people of the village, from old to young and children, around the narrators and storytellers. The storytelling narrative of Baba Ivor village is a mixture of epic, myth and beliefs of the people of the region. Although the main context of the Shahnameh story has been preserved, in many parts there are also changes that have completely changed the course of the story. The main question of the research is what are the differences and similarities between the Shahnameh narrative and the storytelling narrative?
Materials and Metods
The author first recorded this narration using field methods and translated it into standard Persian, and then, with the help of library resources, conducted a comparative study of the Naqhali narration and Ferdowsi's narration.
Discussion & Result

The name and nature of the demon

In the Shahnameh narrative, the name of the demon is Ekvan and in the Naghali narrative, it is “Eko”. A study of the Avesta and Pahlavi texts shows that Ekomaneh is the first demon that Ahriman creates to fight Ahura Mazda and Amshaspand. In the Naghali narrative, the second part of the demon’s name is omitted and it seems that the older form of the demon’s name is used in comparison with the Shahnameh.
In the Naghali narrative, “Eko” has four forms: snake, old man, stag and wind. The most important form of Eco that prevents him from being trapped by the shepherd and Rostam is wind. The descriptions of “Eko” in the Naghali narrative are very similar to “Fei Lain”, the god of wind in Chinese mythology.

The beginning of the story

In this part of the story, there are several differences between the two narratives: 1- In the Shahnameh, the narrative is related to the reign of Key-Khosrow; in the Naghali narrative, although the king is not named, but considering some evidence such as Rostam's displeasure with the king for not giving him the potion to save Sohrab, the time of the narrative is the time of Kay-Khosrow. 2- In Ferdowsi's narrative, Kay-Khosrow, along with heroes such as Goodarz, Rostam, Giv, etc., are feasting since morning when the shepherd of Kay-Khosrow's flocks comes to him to complain and tells him about a male horse that gallops among the horses and kills them. In the Naghali narrative, the king's spies and agents report that the king's herd is dwindling, and the king, suspecting that the shepherd is stealing from the herd, summons him to the court. 3- In the Shahnameh narrative, Key-Khosrow learns the true nature of the grave by intuition; but in the Naghali narrative, the king confirms the shepherd's claim after hearing the shepherd's explanation. 4- In the Shahnameh narrative, the demon Akwan attacks the herd in the form of a grave; in the Naghali narrative, he is the leader of the court, appearing in four different forms: a snake, a stag, an old man, and the wind.

The selection of a hero to fight the demon

In this section, many differences can be seen between the two narratives: 1- This part of the story in the Shahnameh narrative is very short, and Rostam is commissioned by Key-Khosrow without any introduction or promise: In the Naghali narrative, the initial part of the story is transformed into the style of other Shahnameh narratives, such as the story of Bijan and Manijeh, in which the king asks Davut to solve a problem. 2- In the Naghali narrative, parts such as the Grand Vizier's proposal to invite Rostam to fight the demon's hordes, the wolf's departure to Zabol, and the Grand Vizier's letter being delivered to Rostam have been added to the story.

The first battle of the hero with the demon

In this section of the story, the following differences can be seen between the two narratives: 1- In the folk narrative, Rostam reaches a plain after seven days, which is the abode of magicians and fairies, and the king's flock also grazes in that plain. On the seventh day, Rostam encounters "Ako"; he frees the stolen sheep from her clutches but cannot capture the demon. In the Shahnameh narrative, Rostam searches for the demon for three days and finally finds the demon in the form of a grave on the fourth day. 2- In the oral narrative, Rostam sees a beautiful fairy by the spring who emerges from the water on a horse.

Rostam's Second Battle with the Demon

In the Shahnameh narration, Rostam realizes after the first battle that he is fighting with the demon's Akwan. The second time Rostam tries to hunt the demon with an arrow; but the demon disappears again. This section does not exist in the oral narration.

Pahlevan's Third Battle with the Demon

In this section, the following points are worth mentioning: 1- In the Shahnameh narration, the demon, due to his inverted nature, throws Rostam into the sea. This part of the story in the Naghali narration does not differ much from the Shahnameh narration.2- In the Shahnameh narration, Rostam does not find Rakhsh after coming out of the sea; he follows Rakhsh and finds her in Afrasiab's herd. In the Naghali narration, there is no mention of Rakhsh getting lost and Rostam's clash with Afrasiab's army.3- In the Naghali narration, "Akwan" is clearly related to Afrasiab.
 
Conclusions
 A comparative study of the Naghali narrative of "Akou" with the story of "Rostam and the Devil's Ekoan" in the Shahnameh shows: 1- It seems that the Naghali narrative has been common among the people of the Siyakh Darengun region for a long time and has undergone changes over time. 2- The two narratives are similar in parts such as the names of the hero and the anti-hero, the reason for Rostam's departure to the Devil's Battle, some of the locations of the events, and parts of the battles. 3- Three points are worth mentioning about the characters of the Naghali narrative: a)- The Naghali narrative is narrated with a minimum of characters. b)- Most of the characters in the Naghali narrative play different roles compared to their counterparts in the Shahnameh. c)- In the Naghali narrative, the hero of the story is the son of the king, whose name is also unknown; but in the Shahnameh narrative, Bijan is the son of Giv. d)- In the Naghali narrative, the mythological character of Afrasiab is more prominent. 4- In the folk tale, the hero goes through seven stages of killing the four-eyed guard dogs, demons, the witch woman, the seven-headed dragon, the two-legged, the boars, and the demon's retinue. 5- All the important events in the Naqhali tale occur in seven days and seven nights/seven days, and the only number that appears in the Naqali tale is seven. 6- The time of the story in the Naqali tale is the time of Keikavus, and in the Shahnameh tale, it is the time of Key-Khosrow.