The Sorcerer's Apprentice

An Anthology of Magical Tales

Natalie Frank, Jack Zipes, Jack Zipes

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781400885633
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Literary Collections
• Index: Literature

A diverse new anthology that traces the meaning and magic of the sorcerer's apprentice tale throughout history "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" might conjure up images of Mickey Mouse from the Disney film Fantasia, or of Harry Potter. As this anthology reveals, however, "sorcerer's apprentice" tales—in which a young person rebels against, or complies with, an authority who holds the keys to magical powers—have been told through the centuries, in many languages and cultures, from classical times to today. This unique and beautifully illustrated book brings together more than fifty sorcerer's apprentice stories by a plethora of writers, including Ovid, Sir Walter Scott, and the Brothers Grimm. From Goethe's "The Pupil in Magic" to A. K. Ramanujan's "The Guru and His Disciple, " this expansive collection presents variations of a classic passed down through countries and eras.Readers enter worlds where household objects are brought to life and shape-shifting occurs from human to animal and back again. We meet two types of apprentice: "The Humiliated Apprentice, " a foolish bumbler who wields magic ineffectively and promotes obedience to authority; and "The Rebellious Apprentice" who, through ambition and transformative skills, promotes empowerment and self-awareness. In an extensive introduction, esteemed fairy-tale scholar Jack Zipes discusses the significance and meaning of the apprentice stories, the contradictions in popular retellings, and the importance of magic as a tool of resistance against figures who abuse their authority. Twenty specially commissioned black-and-white illustrations by noted artist Natalie Frank bring the stories to visual life. The Sorcerer's Apprentice enlightens and entertains readers with enduring, spellbinding tales of sorcery that have been with us through the ages.

PART I

The
Humiliated
Apprentice
Tales

Early Tales

EUCRATES AND PANCRATES (CA. 170 CE)^*

Lucian of Samosata

“I will tell you,” [Eucrates said,] “another incident derived from my own experience, not from hearsay. Perhaps even you, Tychiades, when you have heard it, may be convinced of the truth of the story.

“When I was living in Egypt during my youth (my father had sent me traveling for the purpose of completing my education), I took it into my head to sail up to Koptos and go from there to the statue of Memnon in order to hear it sound that marvelous salutation to the rising sun. Well, what I heard from it was not a meaningless voice, as in the general experience of common people; Memnon himself actually opened his mouth and delivered an oracle to me in seven verses, and if it were not too much of a digression, I would have repeated the very verses for you. But on the voyage up the river, a man from Memphis chanced to be sailing with us. He was one of the scribes of the temple, wonderfully learned, familiar with all the culture of the Egyptians. He was said to have lived underground for twenty-three years in their sanctuaries, learning magic from Isis.”

“You mean Pancrates,” said Arignotus, “my own teacher, a holy man, clean shaven, in white linen, always deep in thought, speaking imperfect Greek, tall, flat-nosed, with protruding lips and thinnish legs.”

“That self-same Pancrates, and at first I did not know who he was, but when I saw him working all sorts of wonders whenever we anchored the boat, particularly riding on crocodiles and swimming in company with the beasts, while they fawned and wagged their tails, I recognized that he was a holy man, and by degrees, through my friendly behavior, I became his companion and associate, so that he shared all his secret knowledge with me.

“At last he persuaded me to leave all my servants behind in Memphis and to go with him quite alone, for we should not lack people to wait upon us; and thereafter we got on in that way. But whenever we came to a stopping place, the man would take either the bar of the door or the broom or even the pestle, put clothes upon it, say a certain spell over it, and make it walk, appearing to everyone else to be a man. It would go off and draw water and buy provisions and prepare meals and in every way deftly serve and wait upon us. Then, when he was through with its services, he would again make the broom a broom or the pestle a pestle by saying another spell over it.

“Though I was very keen to learn this from him, I could not do so, for he was jealous, although most ready to oblige in everything else. But one day I secretly overheard the spell—it was just three syllables—by taking my stand in a dark place. He went off to the square after telling the pestle what it had to do, and on the next day, while he was transacting some business in the square, I took the pestle, dressed it up in the same way, said the syllables over it, and told it to carry water. When it had filled and brought in the jar, I said, ‘Stop! Don’t carry any more water. Be a pestle again!’

“But it would not obey me now; it kept straight on carrying until it filled the house with water for us by pouring it in! At my wit’s end over the thing, for I feared that Pancrates might come back and be angry, as was indeed the case, I took an axe and cut the pestle in two; but each part took a jar and began to carry water, with the result that instead of one servant I had now two.

“Meanwhile Pancrates appeared on the scene, and comprehending what had happened, turned them into wood again, just as they were before the spell, and then for his own part left me to my own devices without warning, taking himself off out of sight somewhere.”

“Then you still know how to turn the pestle into a man?” said Deinomachus.

“Yes,” said he. “Only halfway, however, for I cannot bring it back to its original form if it once becomes a water carrier, but we shall be obliged to let the house be flooded with the water that is poured in!”

“Will you never stop telling such buncombe, old men as you are?” said Tychiades. “If you will not, at least for the sake of these lads put your amazing and fearful tales off to some other time, so that they may not be filled up with terrors and strange figments before we realize it. You ought to be easy with them and not accustom them to hear things like this that will abide with them and annoy them their lives long and will make them afraid of every sound by filling them with all sorts of superstition.”

THE STORY OF THE BRAHMIN PADMANABA AND THE YOUNG HASSAN (1707)^*

François Pétis de la Croix

Some time ago there was a shopkeeper by the name of Fyquaï in the city of Damas. He had a sixteen-year-old son whom he called Hassan, and who could pass for a prodigy. This young boy, who had the face of the moon, was as tall as a cypress tree, cheerful, and pleasant. Whenever he sang, his sweet voice charmed everyone, and he played the lute so well that he was capable of resuscitating a dead person. His talents were very useful for his father, who did good business by selling his fiquàa, a mixed drink of barley water and raisin, while his son provided his customers with so much pleasure. The drink, which did not cost more than a manghir, was sold for an aqta in the shop at his home. Fyquaï vainly sought to increase the sales of the drink, but when customers entered his shop, they came more to see his son than to drink, and there was quite a crowd. People even called the house Tcheschémy Aby Hhayat, that is, the fountain of youth, because the old people took so much pleasure in going there.

One day, when the young Hassan was singing and playing the lute to the great enjoyment of everyone in the shop, the famous Brahmin Padmanaba entered to refresh himself. He soon developed a certain admiration for Hassan, and after talking with the boy for a while, he was charmed by his conversation. Not only did Padmanaba return to the shop the next day, but he even dropped what he was doing to go there every day, and unlike the others in attendance who only gave an aqta, he gave a sequin to hear Hassan sing and play.

All this had been going on for a long time when Hassan told his father once: “There’s a man who seems to be an important person, and he comes here every day. He takes so much pleasure in talking to me that he constantly calls out and asks me some questions. And when he leaves, he gives me a sequin.”

“Oh, oh,” the father responded, “there’s something mysterious about all this! The intentions of this important person are perhaps not very good. Often these philosophers, despite their serious look, are very vicious. Tomorrow, when you see him, tell him that I wish to make his acquaintance. Ask him to mount the stairs to my room. I want to examine him. I have experience. I’ll get to the bottom of all this when I talk to him, and I’ll know whether he is as wise as he appears to be.”

The next day Hassan did what his father had instructed him to do, and he told Padmanaba to mount the stairs to his father’s room, where a magnificent meal had been prepared for him. The shopkeeper paid all the honors imaginable to the Brahmin, who received this attention with great politeness and displayed such wisdom in his conversation that it was clear he was a very virtuous man. After the meal young Hassan’s father asked him what country he was from and where he was lodging. As soon as Fyquaï learned that he was a stranger, he said to him: “If you would like to live with us, I can offer you lodging in my house.”

“I accept the offer that you’ve made,” Padmanaba responded, “because it is like a paradise in this world to be able to lodge with good friends.”

So the Brahmin moved into the shopkeeper’s house. His presence in the home was considerable, and he eventually developed a very strong friendship with Hassan. So, one day he said to him: “Oh, my son I must open my heart to you. I find you to contain the very spirit of the secret sciences. It is true that your character is a bit too cheerful, but I am persuaded that you will change, and you will eventually have all the seriousness, or rather all the melancholy necessary to become one of those sages whose mysteries I should like you to learn in an initiation. I intend to make your fortune, and if you want to accompany me outside of the city, I’ll let you see from today onward the treasures that I claim you deserve to possess.”

“My lord,” Hassan responded, “you know that I depend on my father. I cannot go with you without his permission.”

So the Brahmin went and spoke with his father, who was already convinced of the philosopher’s wisdom and gave him permission to take his son to wherever he pleased.

Now Padmanaba left the city of Damas with Hassan. They walked toward a rundown cottage, and when they arrived, they found a well filled with water to the rim.

“Take good note of this well,” the Brahmin said. “T...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• List of Figures
• Preface
• Notes and Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Part I. The Humiliated Apprentice Tales
• Part II. The Rebellious Apprentice Tales
• Part III. Krabat Tales
• Biographies of Authors, Editors, Collectors, and Translators
• Filmography
• Bibliography
• Selected and Chronological List of Sorcerer’s Apprentice Tales
• Index