One day Bahar is bathing at the hammam when she sees the chief fortuneteller’s wife
walk in, “proud as a camel.” Imagining herself “wrapped in…riches of a fortune
teller,” Bahar decides her weaving days are over and that her fortunetelling
will rescue her family from poverty. Soon she is tasked with finding the king’s
cat, and the mayor demands she find where the 40 thieves hid the king’s crown.
If she doesn’t, she will be punished. Soon Bahar “misse[s] the peace and safety
of weaving her rugs,” yet in humorous and improbable ways she is able to solve
each task—but not without attracting the king’s attention as well as that of
the jealous fortuneteller and his wife. With the help of happenstance and an “old
Iranian proverb” she passes the last test and cements her lucky status.
Kheiriyeh’s smudgy, stylized depictions of Bahar capture her happiness while
weaving and her determination to be a great fortuneteller. Her color
palette—reddish-orange, blue, and mustard-yellow—blends well together, adding
richness to the setting. The noses of the chief fortuneteller and his wife are
caricatured to the point of distraction, but the device does aid in their
characterization.