Folktales from the Arabian Peninsula Read online

  She wanted dearly to scream, but she shut her lips firmly and opened her door for the old man to hobble in.

  “Climb the stairs and carry me with you.”

  The poor woman was ready to faint by now. But she decided that he must want something, and she wanted to find out what it was.

  On the top landing, she saw her girls standing in a row. They all inquired, in a baffled state, about the old stranger who was comfortably astride their mother’s back. Their mother explained to them her wretched story with the old man and how he came to be there. She wasted no time telling them that it was all because of that wretched pumpkin.

  When she was finished, she dropped him on the floor. Before they all went into their living quarters, they turned to him and said, “All right, uncle, you must leave now.”

  “No. You must cook the pumpkin and feed me.”

  “So that is why you clung to our mother! You’re hungry and want to eat!” they cried. “Stay at the door, and we’ll bring you some of it.”

  The stew was stewed to perfection, and its warm, homey odor filled their home. They poured some of it in a bowl for the weak old man.

  “You have no excuse to stay here now, old man,” they said to him when the eating was done. “Please leave our house.”

  “Never. You must make a bed for me and put me to sleep,” he replied.

  “What’s that you say? The last thing we need is a strange man when we’re lone women in a house at night!” cried the mother.

  As much as she pleaded and begged with him, he would not depart. Therefore, the mattress was spread.

  “He might be very tired, the poor man. We’ll let him sleep here just the one night,” the girls said to their mother, coaxingly.

  “Get a blanket and cover me,” he croaked when they thought he would finally drift to sleep and leave them be.

  “Why would you need a blanket? The nights are hot nowadays,” the woman muttered.

  The blanket was brought to him, however. Covered from head to toe with the dingy blanket, the rigid lumpy form spoke in a muffled voice, “You must bring a cane and beat me.”

  And that, they were only too happy to do! The long rods of wood crashed down on him with such ferocity, but never a word he said. In fact, they continued to wallop his bony frame until man and floor were one.

  They didn’t realize it until a few seconds had passed. They were hitting nothing now. The man had disappeared right beneath their eyes. The mother knelt gingerly to uncover the spot of floor that they were hitting. In the place where the old man would have been lying, there was a pile of sparkling golden coins.

  “It is gold!” said one of the girls.

  “It’s a miracle!” cried the other.

  It was with thankful eyes and sudden understanding that the woman and her daughters gathered their newly found treasure.

  The little family was quite happy with their gold, for such an amount of it they rarely encountered. They thought eagerly that it would be grand if they could weigh it and see how much it was worth. Therefore, the youngest daughter was sent to their neighbor to borrow a set of copper scales they knew she had.

  Now, this particular neighbor happened to be very beady-eyed and very inquisitive about other people’s affairs. Her eyes nearly popped out when she was told by the young girl that her mother wanted to weigh something, and her feet bounced on their balls. She wanted desperately to know what her neighbor could be weighing. So she stuck a pitted date that was kneaded into sticky dough on one of the scales and gave the set to the little girl with a generous smile.

  When the set was sent back to her, she wasted no time in peeking to see if any proof had stuck to the dough she’d hidden. And sure enough, there was a single golden coin glimmering forlornly back at her. How came her poor neighbor with such riches?

  She could not bear it anymore. She set out grimly and pounded on her neighbor’s shabby door. When the usual formalities were over and done with, her feverish question sailed out of her mouth before she could control herself.

  “How did you ever manage to get your hands on that gold? One of your coins was stuck to my copper set.” She handed the coin to her. “All of us are poor in this neighborhood. Do tell me!”

  “I shall tell you. It’s a very strange story . . .”

  The curious woman listened to her intently, and after that, a steady plan had formed in her mind. When the sun arose upon the next day, she was already up and ready. She shook her lazy daughters awake from their slumber.

  “Mother, why are you waking us at such an early hour?” they asked crankily.

  “I’m going to the marketplace, and you must ask me to get you a pumpkin,” she said shortly and matter-of-factly.

  “But you know we don’t like pumpkin and can’t stand to put it into our mouths!” they protested.

  “Nevertheless, you must ask me for it!”

  She repeated herself several times before she got what she wanted, for the girls were very reluctant.

  “All right! Get us a pumpkin . . . but we won’t eat it!”

  And their mother was quite satisfied with this reply. She set off, with determination quite apparent on her face, to the marketplace where she might find one large orange pumpkin similar to that of her neighbor. Her desire was immediately spotted, for her eyes were keen and searching like those of a hawk’s. She bought it, feeling no regret at losing precious money over something her family would not eat. It would soon be repaid and more.

  She tucked the great thing under her arm while her eyes searched for some poor hobbling old man. How quickly her feet scampered when the sight of an old, dark-skinned man bent over his stick in a lonely corner met her eyes! She startled him fiercely.

  “Old man! Tell me to throw my pumpkin and pick you up!” she almost shouted.

  He blinked up at her. Never in his lifetime had a woman made such a request of him. He did not answer and only turned to swat a fly.

  “Say it!” she repeated.

  She proved to be a persistent woman, and he even more stubborn than she was. People strolling about on that dirt path crowded around, amused at the show they were making.

  “Can’t you find it in your heart to please the woman?”

  When his assent was finally murmured, the woman didn’t wait until his words were finished. She picked him up with mannish strength and hopped about until she got home.

  “Now can I go, woman?” he asked.

  “Go where? No! You must say, ‘Take me inside and carry me upstairs.’”

  After a few refusals, he was compelled to say as she asked. That was when she threw him onto her back again and bounced him all the way up the stairs. When she dumped him on the floor again, he thought she would now let him be. Perhaps she only wanted a bit of exercise.

  “Now you must say, ‘Cook the pumpkin and feed me,’” she ordered.

  “Pumpkin! I don’t like pumpkins! Anything but that!” he protested.

  But she went into her kitchen and cooked it for him anyhow. She held the smoking bowl of hot stew beneath his nose when she was done, and he shook his head adamantly.

  “Please! I don’t like it!”

  “You must eat!”

  And eat it he did, under her watchful glare. When the bowl was empty at last, he opened his mouth to say that he needed to leave but was interrupted.

  “You’re going to ask me to make a bed for you and put you to sleep, I suppose? Right away!”

  “Sleep here? In your home? O gentle God! O Allah’s Prophet!”

  “I won’t change my mind!”

  She clapped her hands for her girls to come down, and they set to work with blankets and sheets.

  “Here, you must sleep,” she told him.

  They covered him with heavy blankets. When they were sure that he was not going to protest and was still, they got some thick wooden rods and beat the life out of him, just like their neighbor had done, all the while thinking of the golden coins they would soon have.

  When f
loor and man were one, the mother knelt down and slowly uncovered the blanket, bit by bit. Instead of the glimmering coins they were expecting, they were met by crawling snakes and scorpions that were ready to poison them to death!

  THE ANNOYING DOVE

  The molukia soup in this story is made with mallow leaves (jute leaves). You can find recipes by searching the web for “molokhia.”

  The daughter of the sultan was taking her bath. She was scraping her smooth skin with a body scraper that was specially made with a flowery smell and relaxing in the warm water. She heard annoying singing coming from the window. There was a dove. The dove found a golden pin on the ground and kept singing:

  Walla Attaqeet meshkas.

  Walla Attaqeet meshkas.

  Walla Attaqeet meshkas.

  (Which means, “I found a pin.”)

  The princess got very annoyed. She wanted some quiet to enjoy her bath. But this annoying dove kept singing, even after the princess admonished her to stop.

  “That is it!” the princess said. “Hey, servant, send somebody to take the pin from that stupid bird. Then let us see if she has anything to sing about.”

  Well, they took the golden pin from her, but she kept singing:

  Walla kadow meenni.

  Walla kadow meenni.

  Walla kadow meenni.

  (Which means, “They took it from me.”)

  The princess got angry. With a red face, she ordered her servant, “Go catch this dumb animal. Let me teach her a lesson.”

  The dove surrendered very easily and seemed happy. She kept chanting, moving her eyebrows up and down and teasing the princess more and more, even though she was caged:

  Walla Massaki Shater.

  Walla Massaki Shater.

  Walla Massaki Shater.

  (Which means, “My catcher is very clever.”)

  The princess now got so furious. “I’ll teach this wordy animal a good lesson and let her be quiet forever.”

  “Hey, servant, I crave molukia soup,” the princess said with ludicrous voice. “Take this delicious bird and prepare me a good meal.”

  The servant brought a sharp knife and slaughtered the poor dove. Surprisingly, the dove kept singing:

  Walla alsakeena hadda.

  Walla alsakeena hadda.

  Walla alsakeena hadda.

  (Which means, “The knife is very sharp.”)

  They put her in hot water with herbs, onions, and carrots to make the broth, but she kept chanting:

  Walla hammami dafi.

  Walla hammami dafi.

  Walla hammami dafi.

  (Which means, “My bath is so warm.”)

  The broth was ready, so they added the molukia. The dove kept singing. The princess got more and more angry listening to her. Crunching the words from anger, the princess ordered her servant to hurry up the process and finish the soup so she could munch that noisy bird. However, the dove kept chanting:

  Walla bustani akdar.

  Walla bustani akdar.

  Walla bustani akdar.

  (Which means, “My garden is so green.”)

  After finishing preparing the tasty molukia, the servant served the noisy dove that refused to be silent to the princess. The princess chewed the first bite of that dove, thinking that would solve the problem. However, the dove kept singing loudly, describing the pearly teeth of the princess”

  Walla saffain Lolo.

  Walla saffain Lolo.

  Walla saffain Lolo.

  (Which means, “Two rows of pearls.”)

  The princess swallowed the dove, praying to Allah that she would stop singing. With a higher voice, the dove chanted, describing the princess’s throat:

  Wooooooooo.

  Walla Tobtabi Mezahlaq.

  Walla Tobtabi Mezahlaq.

  Walla Tobtabi Mezahlaq.

  (Which means, “The tile is very slippery.”)

  Finally, the dove settled in the princess’s stomach. Nevertheless, that did not keep her from singing. With a very loud voice so the princess could hear her, the sassy dove chanted:

  Walla salloni wasea’.

  Walla salloni wasea’.

  Walla salloni wasea’.

  (Which means, “I got a very spacious living room.”)

  The next day, while the princess kept hearing the voice of this annoying bird, she had to go the bathroom. All of the sudden, the dove came out of her in one piece, still singing her irritating songs, and flew off very far away. The dove looked back at the princess, moving her eyebrows up and down with a taunting look, and KEPT SINGING!

  THE SEVEN BUCKTHORN PICKERS

  Once seven girls went looking for buckthorn. They walked in the desert and looked and looked until they saw a sidra (buckthorn tree). The girls asked the sidra, “Oh, tree, do you have any buckthorns?”

  The tree said, “My sister who is behind me has some.”

  They kept walking and walking until they saw another sidra. They asked the tree, “Oh, tree, do you have any buckthorns?”

  But the tree said, “My sister who is behind me has some.”

  They kept walking and walking until they saw a third sidra. They asked that tree, “Oh, tree, do you have any buckthorns?”

  And that tree said, “Yes!”

  So they stopped by the sidra and put their baskets down. Then they looked at each other, wondering who would climb the tree full of thorns, but none of them volunteered.

  Their leader said to one of the girls, “You, with little abaya (mantle), go climb the sidra.”

  The girl with abaya said, “I fear that my abaya will be torn. Then my mom will punish me.”

  The leader said to another girl, “You, with the little serwal (long underpants), go climb the sidra.”

  The girl with serwal said, “I fear that my serwal will be torn. Then my mom will punish me.”

  The leader said to the third girl, “You, with the little shayla (head scarf), go climb the sidra.”

  The girl with shayla said, “I fear that my shayla will be torn. Then my mom will punish me.”

  The leader said to the fourth girl, “You, with the little thobe (long dress), go climb the sidra.”

  The girl with thobe said, “I fear that my thobe will be torn. Then my mom will punish me.”

  Then the leader looked at the fifth, and smallest, girl, “You, with the little jaed (a dress made of sheep leather), go climb the tree.”

  The little girl with the jaed knew that her dress could not be torn, so she climbed up the tree, started picking buckthorns, and throwing them to the girls until they told her their baskets were full. The little girl with jaed went down, took her covered-up basket, put it on her head, and went walking with the rest of the girls toward the village.

  One hundred meters before they reached the village, one of the girls said, “Let’s check who has the most buckthorns.”

  The little girl with the jaed looked at her basket and, to her shock, found it empty. The girls had not filled her basket up. She asked them to go back with her to pick buckthorns, as she could not go back to her family empty handed. The girls refused, as it was too late, and they left her and headed home.

  The little girl with the jaed was now upset, but she decided to go back to the sidra to get her buckthorns. It was late, but she could not fail her waiting family. She reached the sidra, climbed it, and started picking the buckthorns, when she saw a big hideous beast.

  He stopped under the tree and said with a roar, “Who is that on top of the sidra?”

  The girl replied respectfully, “It is I, Uncle.”

  The ghoul said, “Throw me some buckthorns.”

  So the little girl picked buckthorns and threw them into the ghoul’s wide-open mouth. Soon she felt tired. “Are you full now, Uncle?” she asked.

  The ghoul said, “One tummy is full, the other is hungry, and the third is too wide to be full.”

  So the girl kept working hard picking buckthorns and throwing them into his wide-open mouth. But she felt really tired.
“Are you full now, Uncle?” she called.

  “One tummy is full, the other is full, but the third is too wide to be full,” growled the ogre.

  The poor girl kept working hard picking buckthorns and throwing them into his wide-open mouth. Yet a third time she stopped and called down, “Are you full now, Uncle?”

  “The first tummy is full, the other tummy is full, and the third has had enough buckthorns! Climb on down now.”

  The little girl with the jaed climbed down, shaking with fear. The ghoul told her to gather wood sticks so he could light a big fire. The little girl kept collecting sticks and gathering them in a pile while the ghoul was digging a deeo hole in the ground. When he was done, he put the sticks in the hole and lit a big fire. The little girl was sure that he was building the fire to cook her.

  “Uncle, you should look down in the hole to make sure all those sticks caught fire,” she told him. And when the ghoul bent over to look down into the hole, the little girl pushed him into the fire.

  The ghoul cried out, asking the girl for help, “If you help me out, I will give you what is under the white stone.”

  She did not respond.

  “If you help me out, I will give you what is under the red stone.”

  No response.

  “If you help me out, I will give you what is under the black.”

  No response.

  The little girl heard a loud cry and then silence. When she looked into the hole, she saw that the ghoul was destroyed for good. She thanked God for giving her the strength to defeat the stupid ghoul, took her basket, and was about to go home when she remembered what the ghoul had said about the stones.

  The girl looked for the stones he had talked about. To her surprise, she found three stones lying on the ground: white, red, and black. When she lifted the white stone, she found silver jewels. Under the red stone, she found gold jewels. And under the black stone, she found pearls and precious stones. The little girl with the jaed filled her basket with all she could carry and went home.

  RELIGIOUS TALES