Seven Daughters and Seven Sons is an Arabic tale about a young woman who disguises herself as a man to earn fortune and keep her family alive.
The young woman, Buran, is part of a family including seven daughters, a father, and a mother. The family is excruciatingly poor because of its lack of men. In this time period, only men could run businesses and earn money. Because of that, Buran’s father has to support all nine of them on his own while his wife took care of the house and their children.
On the other hand, Buran’s uncle, her father’s brother, has seven sons. The family is overwhelmingly rich because of the eight men and their businesses around the country.
Buran has always dreamed of being in business. She was the only one out of ALL her sisters who was interested and willing to learn from their father. Buran’s father saw her willingness and taught Buran things only men were to know. Things such as, reading, writing, and playing chess. She embraced everything she was taught and one day she hoped all of it would be at use to her family and their terrible fortune. When Buran knew that her parents were losing money, she begged of the idea to be in business and dressing up as a man. Her parents automatically denied her request even though they knew it would really help the family. Buran’s father keeps losing money and slowly his business gets taken away.
Despite all of of this, her father gets a horrendous fever on an unfaithful day. He definitely can’t support his family now that his business is gone. After a long thought her father finally agrees to let Buran find business. She is glad that her father trusts her but, she is also serious about making the money needed to support the whole family. Her mom and dad has money saved for emergencies such as this one. Buran’s parents risk giving all the saved money to Buran. She buys men’s clothing and things needed for her trip on a cavern with other men.
She travels for days untill she finally reaches the city. When Buran reaches the city, she sustains her disguise as a man. Her name as a man in the new city is Nasir. She also creates a successful business selling and trading. The city’s prince, Mahmud, visits Buran’s shop pretty often. After they mingle and get to know each other, they become best friends. Buran soon discovers her love for Mahmud but, she knows that Mahmud thinks of her as a man knowned as Nasir. But, if she tells Mahmud she is a woman, she is afraid that all her business will be gone. But, most importantly she’s afraid that the friendship between Mahmud and Buran will disappear.
Heather C.