Once upon a time there was a rich man who was a merchant and took his goods from one place to another on his camels to sell them. Once he took his young son with him on the journey. But on the way, the caravan was attacked by thieves. The trader quickly hid his son in one of the camel bags and then tried to fight the thieves. But the thieves were stronger, took all the camels and the precious goods from him and left him tied up. While the thieves were making off, they suddenly heard a soft cry and finally found the merchant's young son. They put him on a pregnant camel mare and rode on to a cave, which they used as a hiding place for the thieves. They divided up the goods and the camels amongst themselves, but what was to happen to the child? "Take him with you and you'll finally have a son," said one of the thieves to another. So he took the boy with him.  From then on, the boy had to look after the camels every day, which is why he was called Sareban, the camel herder. Sareban was fondest of his camel mare and devotedly looked after her foals. A long time passed. Every day he led the camels into the desert, sat down under a tree and began to play the flute.  A dervish came by and asked: "Why are you playing such a sad song?"

"Oh, I miss my father, my mother and my brothers and sisters!" said Sareban.

"Why don't you go and visit them?"

"I don't know where they are!" Sareban exclaimed and told the dervish his whole story.

The dervish thought about it, then said: "I'll tell you what to do: get on the camel mare and let go of the reins, she'll take you home."

The dervish then left. But Sareban mounted his camel and let it go wherever it wanted. The camel travelled for many days and nights. Finally they came to a spring. The camel knelt down to drink. Sareban dismounted and lay down beside the well to rest for a while. When he woke up, he saw a young man watering his sheep at the well. They greeted each other and the young shepherd admired the beautiful camel mare. Suddenly he called out excitedly: "Is that our camel? Here, look, there's the brand of our clan! Did you steal it?"

Sareban replied: "But no, I didn't steal it. It's my companion and my greatest comfort since I was separated from my father."

"Tell me your story," the young shepherd asked. They sat down and Sareban told him everything that had happened since the thieves had attacked his father's caravan. When he had finished, the shepherd jumped up, took Sareban in his arms and said, "You are my lost brother," and they wept with joy. So they both returned home, Sareban in the arms of his old parents and even the camel was happy to be home again.

Märchen aus dem Iran, Fassung Djamila Jaenike nach: Mohammadreza Schams, Märchen jenseits der Gewässer, Teheran 2013. Aus dem Persischen übertragen von Banafshe Tabatabai.,englische Fassung Lysander Jaenik ©Mutabor Märchenstiftung