Speak Bird, Speak Again Part 27

These tales take for their theme the relations.h.i.+p between the individual and society, where family bonds and obligations do not necessarily dictate the standard of conduct. In this group the fabric of society in operation is shown, with the values of helping those in distress and of neighborliness present or a.s.sumed in all of them. The women in "Im Awwad" go to the spring to wash their clothes in groups, both for protection and because people like to be together. In "The Merchant's Daughter," the neighbor not only comes to the girl's rescue, but he also a.s.sumes the father's role in marrying her off. Pomegranate Seeds is helped by the shopkeepers, who, out of a sense of social (and moral) obligation to help the helpless, take her in for the night; and when their shops are turned upside down, the shopkeepers' neighbors in turn a.s.sist them by collecting money. In "The Woodcutter," the standards of honesty and fair dealing are broken only at the risk of severe and justified punishment. And in the last tale of this group, the fisherman's in-laws help him in a difficult situation, and his neighbor at the beginning of the tale cooks for him, taking pity on him because he is alone and has n.o.body.

Yet in spite of the social harmony that is presumed to reign, the collectivity does break down. These tales show how disorder can arise when individuals attract negative forces simply by virtue of possessing things or qualities that the rest of society covets. Indeed, envy is considered an active force, its instrument the evil eye; and although the eye is not explicitly mentioned in any of the tales, its power is nevertheless present, symbolized in the first three tales by the actions of the destructive ghouls. As demonstrated in "Im Awwad," it is not easy to protect oneself from these forces, which are "supernatural" not in the sense of being beyond nature but rather in being beyond human control. Although presented in terms of ghoul and jinn imagery, the behavior of these forces resembles that of human beings - as seen in the modesty of the fisherman's jinn wife, which prevents her from returning home after having visited a man's house for fear of parental retribution; or in the greed of the ghouleh in "The Merchant's Daughter," who has ama.s.sed a large h.o.a.rd of treasure but does not use it to benefit her family.

Three broad categories of possessions - which accurately reflect the concerns of the society - attract these negative forces: children, wealth, and s.e.xuality. In "Im Awwad," the simple fact of having a male child is the source of envy, for aside from their economic value to the family, sons are also its source of power in the society. Boy children are envied for their own sake, and parents frequently take precautions to protect them from the evil eye. The woodcutter's sudden acquisition of wealth is envied by his neighbors, whose greed resembles that of the ghouleh in "The Merchant's Daughter." And in "The Fisherman," the extreme beauty of the wife sets her apart from other women, thus drawing the power of envy to her, and her s.e.xuality turns her into an object that the king wishes to possess. In "The Merchant's Daughter," the forces of evil converge upon a single girl living by herself without a male protector. Men would a.s.sume that someone in her position is easily available, and they would be eager to take advantage of her if they could. Pomegranate Seeds is made to suffer because she is a special creature. She is so special that her mother had a pair of golden slippers made for her, and she is envied for her beauty and her faithfulness. Her encounter with the schoolmaster/sheikh at the beginning of the tale carries clear s.e.xual overtones, and her flight from one place to another may be seen as an attempt to escape the bad reputation that keeps following her. She must struggle for many years to regain her reputation and her honor in the face of strong public pressure, represented by the people who curse her children and urge the king to marry another woman at any cost.

GROUP IV.

ENVIRONMENT.

The Little She-Goat T

TELLER: Testify that Allah is One!

AUDIENCE: There is no G.o.d but G.o.d.

Once there was a she-goat who had three kids. She used to say to them, "You stay here. I'm going to bring you some gra.s.s." Every day she went grazing until she was full, then she came home with gra.s.s for them and said: "O my kids! O my kids!

Open the door for me!

The gra.s.s is on my horns And the milk is in my teats."

They would then open the door for her.

One day the hyena saw her as she was leaving and discovered where her kids were. "By Allah," he said to himself, "I'm going to eat them." Now, the she-goat, before going out, would caution her kids, "If anyone should come and say, 'Let me in,' be careful not to open the door." Because the mother's tail had been chopped off, she said to the kids, "If someone should come and say to you, 'Open for me, I'm your mother,' check first if the tail is chopped off or not. If not, then it can't be me. Don't open the door!"

The hyena went to the cave where the kids were and called out: "O my kids! O my kids!

Open the door for me!

The gra.s.s is on my horns And the milk is in my teats."

"Turn around," they bleated, "and let us see your tail."

Turning around, he displayed his tail, and lo! it was not chopped off.

"Go away!" they said. "You're not our mother."

What was he to do? He wanted to trick them so he could eat them. To the ant he then went and said, "Chop off my tail so I can eat the kids of the little she-goat."

"No," answered the ant, "I won't chop off your tail unless you go to the thres.h.i.+ng floor and bring me a measure of wheat."

So to the thres.h.i.+ng floor he went and said, "O thres.h.i.+ng floor, give me a measure of wheat so I can give it to the ant, and the ant will then chop off my tail so I can eat the kids of the little she-goat."

"I won't give it to you," replied the thres.h.i.+ng floor, "unless you bring a team of oxen to tread the wheat on me."

The hyena then went to the oxen and said, "Yoked team, come tread the wheat on the thres.h.i.+ng floor, and the thres.h.i.+ng floor will give me a measure of wheat, and the measure of wheat I'll give to the ant, and the ant will then chop off my tail so I can eat the kids of the little she-goat."

"We won't go treading," replied the oxen, "unless you tell the spring to give us water to drink."

Going to the pool by the spring, the hyena said, "O pool, let the team of oxen come and drink so that they will tread the wheat on the thres.h.i.+ng floor, and the thres.h.i.+ng floor will give me a measure of wheat, and the measure of wheat I'll give to the ant, and the ant will then chop off my tail so I can eat the kids of the little she-goat."

"Let the team come and drink," said the pool.

So the team of oxen went and drank at the spring, then they trod the wheat on the thres.h.i.+ng floor, and the thres.h.i.+ng floor gave a measure of wheat to the ant, and the ant chopped off the hyena's tail.

Back he went to the kids of the little she-goat and called out: "O my kids! O my kids!

Open the door for me!

The gra.s.s is on my horns And the milk is in my teats."

"Show us your tail," they bleated again.

He showed it to them, and, seeing that it was chopped off, they opened the door for him. In he came and gobbled them all up.

When the little she-goat came home, she discovered the hyena had eaten all her kids. To the blacksmith she then went and said, "Make me iron horns, and make them so sharp I can stab the hyena and get my kids back from his stomach."

The blacksmith made her a pair of iron horns as sharp as knives. The little she-goat put them on, rushed to the house of the hyena, and stomped on the roof.

"Who's pounding on my roof?" roared the hyena. "You've shattered my jars of oil."

"I'm the little she-goat of the twisted horns," announced the goat. "Come on out and let's fight!"

The hyena came out. Piercing him this way and that with her horns, the little she-goat ripped open his stomach and pulled her kids free.

This is my tale, I've told it, and in your hands I leave it.

The Old Woman and Her Cat

Once there was an old woman who had a cat. One day she brought some milk home, and the cat came and lapped it up. Feeling angry, she cut off his tail.

"Meow! Meow!" he cried. "Give me back my tail."

"Give me back my milk," demanded the old woman.

"And how am I going to bring back the milk for you?" he asked.

"Go bring it from that ewe over there," she answered.

Going to the ewe, the cat said, "Ewe, give me some milk, and the milk is for the old woman, and the old woman will then sew my tail back on."

"Bring me a branch from that tree over there," said the ewe, "and I'll give you the milk."

So to the tree he went and said, "O tree, give me a branch, and the branch is for the ewe, and the ewe will give me some milk, and the milk is for the old woman, and the old woman will then sew my tail back on."

"Go tell that plowman over there to come plow under me," replied the tree.

To the plowman then he went and said, "O plowman, come plow under the tree, and the tree will give me a branch, and the branch is for the ewe, and the ewe will give me some milk, and the milk is for the old woman, and the old woman will then sew my tail back on."

"Bring me a pair of shoes from the cobbler," said the plowman.

He went to the cobbler and said, "O cobbler, give me some shoes, and the shoes are for the plowman, and the plowman will plow under the tree, and the tree will give me a branch, and the branch is for the ewe, and the ewe will give me some milk, and the milk is for the old woman, and the old woman will then sew my tail back on."

"Bring me two loaves of bread from that bakerwoman over there," answered the cobbler.

The cat then went to the bakerwoman.

"Bakerwoman," he said, "give me two loaves of bread for the cobbler, and the cobbler will give me some shoes, and the shoes are for the plowman, and the plowman will plow under the tree, and the tree will give me a branch, and the branch is for the ewe, and the ewe will give me some milk, and the milk is for the old woman, and the old woman will then sew my tail back on."

"Bring me a bucketful of manure from that pile over there," said the bakerwoman.

So, bringing a bucket full of manure, the cat gave it to the bakerwoman, and she gave him two loaves of bread. Taking the bread, he gave it to the cobbler, and the cobbler gave him the shoes, which he gave to the plowman, who plowed under the tree. The tree then gave him a branch, which he gave to the ewe, who gave him the milk. Taking the milk with him, he went running back to the old woman.

"Meow! Meow!" he cried. "Why don't you sew my tail back on?"

The old woman took the milk and sewed the cat's tail back on, and they became friends again.

The bird of this tale has flown; are you ready for the next one?

Dunglet

Once there was a woman who had no children. Her husband was a plowman, and every day they had a hard time finding someone to take food out to him. They had a few sheep, and one day, as the wife was sweeping out their pen, she cried out, "O seeker, your wish be granted! May I become pregnant and have a boy, even if it is a piece of dung!"

It was as if Allah Himself had spoken with her tongue. When she gave birth, she delivered a pile of dung. All those present at the birth gathered up the dung and threw it outside, but lo! a piece of it rolled under the wardrobe. The woman became very, very sad.

One day, while kneading the dough, the wife called out, "O Lord, if only you had given me a son, he would have taken the food out to his father!" And behold! the piece of dung jumped out from under the wardrobe and said, "Mother, I'll take the food to my father."

The woman set to preparing the food, bringing together some yogurt and seven loaves of bread, and she gave it to Dunglet, who carried it to his father.

"Welcome!" said the father when he saw him in the distance. "Welcome, Dunglet, and the path that led Dunglet, who's bringing his father the yogurt and the seven loaves!" And behold! Dunglet answered, "Death to Dunglet and the path that brought Dunglet, who ate the yogurt and the seven loaves and has come to follow them up with his father and the yoked oxen!" He then devoured his father and the oxen.

Going back home, he found his mother kneading dough.

"Welcome!" she said. "Welcome, Dunglet, and the path that led Dunglet, who's coming to help his mother with the kneading!"

"Death to Dunglet," he answered, "and the path that brought Dunglet, who ate the yogurt and the seven loaves, finished off his father and the oxen, and has now come to follow them up with his mother and her dough!" He then devoured his mother.

The next day he went to visit his father's sister, and found her patching her roof.

"Welcome!" she said. "Welcome, Dunglet, and the path that led Dung-let, who's coming to help his aunt with the patching."

"Death to Dunglet," he answered, "and the path that brought Dunglet, who ate the yogurt and the seven loaves, finished off his father and the oxen, his mother and her dough, and has now come to follow them up with his aunt and her day!" He then devoured his aunt.

The following day he went to visit his mother's sister, and found her doing the laundry.

"Welcome!" she said. "Welcome, Dunglet, and the path that led Dunglet, who's coming to help his aunt with the was.h.i.+ng."

"Death to Dunglet," he answered, "and the path that brought Dunglet, who ate the yogurt and the seven loaves, finished off his father and the oxen, his mother and her dough, his aunt and her day, and has now come to follow them up with his second aunt and her laundry!" He then devoured his second aunt.

The next day he went to visit his grandmother, and found her spinning.

"Welcome!" she said. "Welcome, Dunglet, and the path that led Dung-let, who's coming to help his grandmother with the spinning!"

"Death to Dunglet," he answered, "and the path that brought Dunglet, who ate the yogurt and the seven loaves, finished off his father and the oxen, his mother and her dough, his aunt and her day, his second aunt and her laundry, and has now come to follow them up with his grandmother and her spinning!" He then devoured his grandmother.

On his way home he ran into a wedding procession.

"Welcome!" people said. "Welcome, Dunglet, and the path that led Dunglet, who's coming to help us celebrate the wedding!"

"Death to Dunglet," he answered, "and the path that brought Dunglet, who ate the yogurt and the seven loaves, finished off his father and the oxen, his mother and her dough, his aunt and her day, his second aunt and her laundry, his grandmother and her spinning, and has now come to follow them up with the bride and groom!" He then devoured the bride and groom.

As he was walking down the street, he met two blind men who were trying to cross it.