The Pedlar of Swaffham is an English folktale

English folklore

English folklore is the folk tradition which has developed in England over a number of centuries. Some stories can be traced back to their roots, while the origin of others is uncertain or disputed...

 from Swaffham

Swaffham

Swaffham is a market town and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The town is situated east of King's Lynn and west of Norwich.The civil parish has an area of and in the 2001 census had a population of 6,935 in 3,130 households...

, Norfolk

Norfolk

Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...

. The following text is taken from English fairy and other folk tales, 1906, which in turn refers to the Diary of Abraham dela Pryme, 1699:

Source

The Pedlar of Swaffham

Tradition says that there lived in former times
in Soffham (Swaffham), alias Sopham, in Norfolk

Norfolk

Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...

, a certain
pedlar, who dreamed that if he went to London Bridge

London Bridge

London Bridge is a bridge over the River Thames, connecting the City of London and Southwark, in central London. Situated between Cannon Street Railway Bridge and Tower Bridge, it forms the western end of the Pool of London...

,
and stood there, he should hear very joyfull newse, which he
at first sleighted, but afterwards, his dream being doubled
and trebled upon him, he resolved to try the issue of it,
and accordingly went to London, and stood on the bridge
there two or three days, looking about him, but heard
nothing that might yield him any comfort. At last it
happened that a shopkeeper there, hard by, having noted
his fruitless standing, seeing that he neither sold any wares
nor asked any almes, went to him and most earnestly
begged to know what he wanted there, or what his business
was; to which the pedlar honestly answered that he had
dreamed that if he came to London and stood there upon
the bridge he should hear good newse; at which the shop-
keeper laught heartily, asking him if he was such a fool
as to take a journey on such a silly errand, adding : "I'll
tell thee, country fellow, last night I dreamed that I was
at Sopham, in Norfolk, a place utterly unknown to me,
where methought behind a pedlar's house in a certain
orchard, and under a great oak tree, if I digged I should
find a vast treasure! Now think you," says he, "that I
am such a fool to take such a long journey upon me upon the instigation of a silly dream ? No, no, I'm wiser.
Therefore, good fellow, learn wit from me, and get you
home, and mind your business." The pedlar observing
his words, what he had say'd he dream'd, and knowing
they concentred in him, glad of such joyfull newse, went
speedily home, and digged and found a prodigious great
treasure, with which he grew exceeding rich ; and Soffham
(Church) being for the most part fallen down, he set on
workmen and rectified it most sumptuously, at his own
charges ; and to this day there is his statue therein, but
in stone, with his pack at his back and his dogg at his
heels ; and his memory is also preserved by the same form
or picture in most of the old glass windows, taverns, and
alehouses of that town unto this day.

Origins

Similar legends can be found throughout Europe and the Middle-East. The earliest version is one of the poems of the Mathanawi

Masnavi

The Masnavi, Masnavi-I Ma'navi or Mesnevi , also written Mathnawi, Ma'navi, or Mathnavi, is an extensive poem written in Persian by Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi, the celebrated Persian Sufi saint and poet. It is one of the best known and most influential works of both Sufism and Persian literature...

 titled "In Baghdad, Dreaming of Cairo: In Cairo, Dreaming of Baghdad", by 13th century Persian poet Jalal al-Din Rumi. This poem was turned into a story in the tale from The One Thousand and One Nights: The man who became rich through a dream; and spread through various countries' folklore, children's tales and literature. More recently, the story was adapted into the plot of the novel The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Paulo Coelho

Paulo Coelho is a Brazilian lyricist and novelist.-Biography:Paulo Coelho was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He attended a Jesuit school. As a teenager, Coelho wanted to become a writer. Upon telling his mother this, she responded with "My dear, your father is an engineer. He's a logical,...

.

See also

• The Alchemist (book), modern version of the folktale;
• Upsall Castle, another English version of the folktale;
• Dundonald Castle, Scottish version of the folktale;
• English folklore
  English folklore
  English folklore is the folk tradition which has developed in England over a number of centuries. Some stories can be traced back to their roots, while the origin of others is uncertain or disputed...
  
  , for a list of other English folktales.

External links

• The Pedlar of Swaffham, another version of the story that gives the name of the pedlar as John Chapman, but does not give sources.
• The Pedlar of Swaffham, an animation based on the folk tale.