Folktales from the Arabian Peninsula

by Nadia Jameel Taibah

  The sultan could not find out what was causing his son such sickness. He sent for doctors, but none of them could find a cause. So he sent for a wise old woman, and she soon discovered the problem.

  “I will bring the woman you love to your side,” she promised. And they made a plan.

  The next day, the old woman came to the house of the merchant’s wife. She knocked on the door and called, “Would you come with me, my dear? My daughter is to be married, and we need you to attend the wedding.”

  The merchant’s wife replied, “I am sorry, but I will not leave the house until my husband has returned safely from his journey.”

  But the old woman pleaded and begged and said her daughter would not consent to be married unless the merchant’s wife attended.

  So at last the merchant’s wife dressed herself; made up her eyes with kohl; painted her hands, arms, and feet; and was leaving the house to go.

  As she went down the first step of the house, she turned back to the goldfinch. “Dear little bird, good-bye.”

  But the goldfinch answered, “My lady, have you completely forgotten me?”

  “Why do you say that, dear goldfinch?”

  “Just wait a moment and I will tell you a story. Will you be patient and listen to my tale?”

  “With pleasure, dear goldfinch,” said the lady. So the bird began at once.

  THE GOLDFINCH’S FIRST TALE

  There once was a boy and girl who were cousins. They were madly in love, but their fathers were mortal enemies. The two decided to elope on a ship and be married far from their families.

  On the day the ship was to sail, the two went on board, but the girl realized that they had no provisions for the journey. So she sent her cousin onshore to buy things in the marketplace. She urged him to hurry, for the ship was due to sail soon.

  But the boy began to look at this and that in the marketplace and lost track of time. Meanwhile, the girl had sunk down on a sail on the ship and fell asleep. When she awoke, the ship had sailed, and her cousin was not on board.

  The ship’s captain found her crying. And when he had heard her story, he took her into his own cabin. And soon he decided that he would marry her himself.

  The girl had no idea how to escape this, so she pretended to go along with him. She spent much time watching how he steered the ship and managed things. And one day, when the ship moored at an island so the passengers could stroll on the shore and picnic, the girl brewed coffee for the captain and slipped opium in the cup. As soon as he was asleep, she called everyone back on board the ship. Then she went down into the stokehold, got up the steam, cranked the engine, and gave orders to the Somali crew to set off.

  When the ship’s captain woke up, he found himself alone on a desert island. Then he did repent having bothered the girl.

  “Lady,” said the goldfinch, “if you go to this wedding, you shall repent of it, just as that captain repented.”

  “You are quite right,” said the merchant’s wife. And she made an excuse to the old woman and refused to go.

  But the next day, here came the old woman again with another reason why the merchant’s wife just had to get dressed and come out with her. After many refusals, the merchant’s wife finally did dress, make up her eyes, anoint her body, and start to leave the house.

  “Dear little bird, good-bye,” she said, as she passed the goldfinch in its cage.

  “Good luck, my lady. Have you forgotten me?”

  “What do you lack, dear bird?”

  “Do you know what happened to the girl?” asked the bird.

  “No,” said the women.

  “Then wait a little and I will tell you.”

  THE BIRD’S SECOND STORY

  After the girl had taken her passengers to their destinations, she anchored her steamer in the harbor and went ashore to see the town. As she was passing through the market, she met Shachbender, the merchant prince. He invited her to his huge house and asked about her business. She told him the whole story of her cousin and the ship’s captain.

  “What has happened, has happened,” said Shachbender, the merchant prince. “Since the Fates have brought you to our city, it has doubtless been decided by them that you should become my wife.”

  The girl had to find out a way to escape this. She told Shachbender that she would marry him only if he would find 40 couples to wed at the same time. Soon he had lined up the 40 couples to be married. But the girl talked secretly to all of the brides and convinced them to run away with her to see the wide world.

  So on the day when the weddings were to take place, Shachbender and the 40 grooms and the 40 brides all came on board the girl’s ship for the wedding. She served the men coffee . . . with opium. And soon they were all snoring soundly.

  Then she had her sailors haul the sleeping men ashore. She went down in the stokehold, got up the steam, cranked the engine, and she and the 40 brides set off for adventures.

  After a few days, they came to a green island and all went ashore to drink fresh springwater and relax among the trees. But as soon as they were taking their ease, out jumped forty-one robbers and grabbed them.

  “Allah has delivered you to us!” cried the robbers. “You are ours!”

  Thinking quickly, the girl welcomed the robbers. “We desire nothing but to be agreeable to you. Do come on board our vessel and we will prepare food and drink for you all.”

  So the robbers came on board, laughed, and relaxed, and drank coffee . . . laced with opium.

  Then she had her Somali crewmen haul the robbers ashore, and she and her friends stripped the clothing from the sleeping robbers and stuck radishes on their bums to insult them. Then she and the girls all put on the robber’s clothing and returned to their ship.

  When the robbers woke up the next morning, they repented very much of having gotten involved with these ladies.

  Then the goldfinch spoke directly to the merchant’s wife. “You, too, will repent, dear lady, if you go out with this old woman.”

  “You are correct,” said the merchant’s wife. And making excuses, she went back into the house.

  Of course, on the next day, the old woman was back, begging the merchant’s wife to come with her for some important reason. All of this was of course a ruse, as she really just wanted to lead the merchant’s wife to the house of the sultan.

  Once more the merchant’s wife prepared herself, put on her jewelry, and descended the stairs. And once more she bid the goldfinch good-bye.

  “You have certainly forgotten me, dear lady,” said the goldfinch.

  “Why must you always say that? Can’t I just go to the wedding with this old woman?”

  “Do you know what happened next to the girl?”

  “No, I don’t.”

  “Well, wait a little while and I will tell you.”

  Well, the merchant’s wife was quite exasperated by the goldfinch always stopping her. But she really did want to know what happened to the girl. So she sat down to listen.

  THE GOLDFINCH’S THIRD TALE

  After the girl and her companions had dressed themselves as men, they sailed away into the wide world until they came to a great port. There they went ashore and came near the palace. As they approached the palace, they entered a huge crowd of people and asked what was going on.

  “The king has died and left no children,” they were told. “It is our custom in such a case for the queen to go up on the roof of the palace and throw the crown down onto the crowd. The man on whose head the crown falls becomes the next king.”

  Just as they heard these words, the girl felt a hard thunk strike her head. She put up her hand . . . and there was the crown . . . stuck right on top of her head!

  “God bless our king!” called all of the people, and she was hauled up to the palace and set upon the throne. She was now the new sultan of the country! And of course, because of her clothing, everyone believed that she was a man.

  She should have married the queen by rights, but the viziers tho
ught a beardless boy was not proper for the spouse of an older queen. So instead she was betrothed to be wed to the beautiful daughter of the grand vizier.

  Of course, this presented problems. On the wedding night, the sultan (our girl) just chatted and joked with the bride all night long. But after a few nights of this, she finally had to admit the truth and reveal that she was not a man, but a woman herself. By this time though, the vizier’s daughter had come to care for the sultan (our girl), and she agreed to keep the secret. Even the grand vizier agreed to keep this quiet to avoid disgrace.

  Then the girl had a plaster mold of her face made and set up in markets all around the country. Soon, sure enough, her long-lost love, her cousin, came upon one of these statues. He made such a row when he saw it that he was hauled to the palace and taken before the sultan. She did not reveal her true identity to him but had him escorted to a beautiful roof arbor to wait.

  The next day, along came Shachbender, and he spied one of the statues. He too raised a fuss at the sight and was hauled before the sultan. She had him also put into a room to wait.

  Then she went to the grand vizier’s daughter. “I might have found a suitable husband for you,” she said. “Shachbender is a very wealthy man and a good man. He was just not the right man for me.”

  “I won’t marry Shachbender, or anyone else, until you have found your own true love,” said the grand vizier’s daughter. “My life is now bound to yours.”

  Then she called the 40 maidens and told them that Shachbender had arrived in court.

  “Now you can all go back and marry the 40 grooms you left behind,” she said.

  But they swore that they would never leave her side, but they would marry the grooms if they came to this country.

  So the sultan (our maid) called Shachbender and revealed to him everything. She swore him to secrecy and then sent him back to fetch the 40 grooms. And he returned with the 40 grooms and their fathers and mothers and aunts and uncles and cousins for the wedding ceremonies.

  And when all this was arranged, she went up to the arbor on the roof and revealed herself to her long-lost cousin love. At first, he would not believe that it was she. But when she threw off her headdress and her robes, he could not believe his eyes. Then they sat in the arbor, and she told him everything that had happened since the hour of their parting.

  “And you have lost one love, but have gained two,” she said. And she told him of the grand vizier’s daughter, to whom she was married.

  So they went to the councilors and told them everything. It was decided, “Since he is your cousin, he shall be the sultan and you shall be the queen, and you shall rule together.”

  So they were married. And afterward, he also married the daughter of the grand vizier, and they all had children and grandchildren and lived happily ever after.

  When the merchant’s wife heard that the story was finished, she got up to go with the old woman, but just then the merchant himself returned. He knew at once that something was amiss and questioned the old woman until he got her to admit that she was really just trying to take his wife to the sultan’s son. So the sultan’s son did not get to meet with the merchant’s wife after all, and they say he died of love.

  When the merchant heard of how the goldfinch had saved his wife three times by his long tales, the merchant took the little bird in his hands and stroked it. “Now I know what the vendor told me, ‘Who does not buy this bird shall regret it.’ But can you explain to me why he also said, ‘Who buys this bird for one thousand dinars shall repent of it?’”

  “Oh, that I can gladly do,” said the goldfinch. “Only open your hand and you shall see at once.”

  So the merchant opened his hand . . . and the goldfinch unfolded his wings and rose into the air and disappeared.

  That happened to them, but this happened to us.

  On their roof is sheep dung, on ours, almonds and raisins.

  If we have spoken the truth, it is God’s truth; if we have lied, God forgive us.

  Go home quickly, or the dog will eat up your supper.

  And forgive us for wearying you. We in turn forgive you for being such a nuisance to us.

  ARABIC PROVERBS AND PROVERB TALES

  ARABIC PROVERBS

  The proverb has a long history of usage in the Arab world. In 1107, a collection of 3,461 Arabic proverbs was completed by Abu al-Qasim az-Zamakhshari. Even earlier, Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Maidani completed a book of 4,766 proverbs, which was based on 50 earlier books of proverbs. The Koran and the Hadith are rich sources of proverbs. And Arabic poetry and literature are sources of even more proverbs.

  Here are a few Arabic proverbs:

  Man can have nothing but what he strives for.

  —Koran, an-Naim 39

  Learning is a treasury whose keys are queries.

  —Conversations, Abu Nairn

  The remedy of time is patience.

  —Conversations, Abu Daud and at-Tirmizi

  In seeking honey, expect the sting of bees.

  —Al-Mutanabbi

  Ride the tributaries to reach the sea.

  —Al-Mutanabbi

  Repetitive visits cause boredom.

  One hand does not clap.

  A seeker of knowledge and a seeker of money never meet.

  PROVERBS FROM THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

  An eye is not above the eyebrow.

  In what way will barking dogs affect the clouds.

  Hair falling from the moustache rests on the beard.

  (Any action by your relatives affects you, and any of your actions affect your relatives.)

  An eye is tempted by what is concealed, and does not desire what is exposed openly.

  (This is quoted to young women.)

  HUNAIN’S SLIPPERS

  Here is a folktale from which a proverb springs. The story is the origin of the Arabic saying, “He returned with Hunain’s slippers.” If someone comes back without achieving their aims, this might be said.

  There once was a cobbler named Hunain. One day, a stingy Bedouin came to his shop and bargained for a pair of slippers. But the man refused to pay a proper price. He bargained all day long for these slippers and then just went off without buying them. Hunain was infuriated that the man had wasted his time like that. So he made a plan to get back at him.

  Hunain rode out on the road where he knew the Bedouin would be passing. There he dropped one of the slippers the man had been bargaining for. Then he went a bit farther down the road and dropped the second slipper.

  When the Bedouin came on the first slipper, he thought, “That’s a slipper just like the one I bargained for with Hunain. Well, one slipper is no use by itself.” So he went on his way.

  But soon he discovered the second slipper. “Here is the mate to that slipper I just saw!” So he jumped off his camel and hurried back to pick up the first slipper.

  As soon as the Bedouin was out of sight, Hunain came out from where he had been hiding and made off with the Bedouin’s camel and gear. Thus, the Bedouin returned to his tribe with nothing but the pair of Hunain’s slippers.

  A CRAB HAS DROWNED A CAMEL

  This Omani tale gives the origin of another proverb. When a small misfortune leads to something terrible, people say, “A crab has drowned a camel.”

  A man coming to Muscat leading his camel stopped to eat some dates. He lay down to sleep beneath a tree beside the sea. As he slept, the rope of his camel slipped from his hand.

  Just then a crab came up from the sea and discovered the rope. It was still scented with dates from the man’s hands, so the crab picked up the end of the rope and carried it back to the sea with it, walking sidewise down the beach as crabs do. The camel felt a slight tug on its rope, so it got up and followed where the rope led. The crab hauled the rope right into the sea. And the camel followed along. There the poor camel floundered about and was drowned.

  When the man woke up, he found his dead camel floating by the beach. He couldn’t understand why his camel would ha
ve gone into the sea. But then he saw the tracks of the crab leading from where he slept down into the water and the tracks where the rope had been dragged. Now he understood how a small thing had caused this great misfortune.

  RIDDLES

  RIDDLES FROM THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

  A blue bowl in an empty river, at night it is filled.

  Answer: The sky

  Whenever it increases, it decreases.

  Answer: The moon

  What piece of land has the sun shone on only once?

  Answer: The bottom of the Red Sea where Moses parted it.

  What eats and is never sated, but when it drinks it dies?

  Answer: Fire

  What lengthens and shortens at the same time?

  Answer: Your life

  It overpowers my father and yours. It overpowers the sultan and the king.

  Answer: Sleep

  It sticks like glue and to everything it sticks.

  Answer: A name

  Doors which are open during the day and closed at night. When you look into them, you see yourself.

  Answer: Your eyes

  We watch it, but it doesn’t watch us. We hear it, but it doesn’t hear us.

  Answer: The television

  The brother of a child’s mother is his maternal uncle. This is an important person in the child’s life. Two riddles play on this.

  Your paternal aunt is your father’s sister. Who is her son’s maternal uncle to you?

  Answer: Your father

  Mother of your brother and sister to your maternal uncle, wife of your father. Who is she to you?

  Answer: Your mother

  More Arab riddles:

  Its shadow is inside its stomach.

  Answer: The well

  It is white inside and black outside.

  Answer: A cauldron

  ARABIC WORDS

  Many of the words we use in the English language have origins in the Arabic language. Here are just a few.