7. Zanbilfirosh—The Basket-Seller

The son of the Prince of Mosul lived a lavish lifestyle and was oblivious of death and afterlife. When he experienced the loss of one of his relatives, he was transformed and chose to become pious. To avoid living off his cruel father, he started to make a living by selling baskets and was, therefore, called Zanbilfirosh, i.e. basket-seller. Once, while strolling streets to sell his baskets, the daughter of the ruler of the city caught sight of him and triedto charm him. However, the pious basket-seller did not consent. The daughter accused him of assault. The guards kept chasing the basket-seller. The basket-seller threw himself down from one of the towers of the citadel and was later buried on a public road. The narrator elaborates on different versions of Zanbilfirosh across Kurdistan.