Speak Bird Speak Again (13 page)

"Eh!"
he thought, "What kind of a pot is this?" He looked it
over. How beautiful he found it! "To whom does this belong?"
he asked. "Hey, people! Who are the owners of this pot?" He
waited, but no one said, "It's mine." Then he said, "By
Allah, I'm going to take it."

He
took it, and on his way home stopped by the butcher and had it filled
with meat. Bringing it home to his wife, he said, "Look, wife,
how beatiful is this pot I've found! By Allah, I found it so pleasing
I bought meat and filled it and brought it home."

"Yee!"
they all cheered, "How lucky we are! What a beautiful pot!"
They put it away.

Toward
evening they wanted to cook the meat. Push and pull on the pot, it
would not open! What was the woman to do? She called her husband over
and her children. Lift, drop, strike - no use. They took it to the
blacksmith, but with no result. The husband became angry. "God
damn your owners!" he cursed it. "What in the world are
you?" And he threw it as far as his arm would reach.

As
soon as he turned his back, she started rolling, and singing:

"Tunjur,
tunjur, O my mama,

In my
mouth I brought the meat.

Tunjur,
tunjur, O my mama,

In my
mouth I brought the meat."

She
kept repeating that till she reached home.

"Lift
me up!" she said to her mother. The mother lifted her up, took
the meat, washed the pot, and put it away on the shelf.

"Bring
me out of the house!" said the daughter the next day. The mother
brought her out, and she said, "Tunjur, tunjur, clink, clink"
as she was rolling until she reached a spot dose by the king's house,
where she came to a stop. In the morning, it is said, the son of the
king was on his way out, and behold! there was. the pot settled in
its place.

"Eh!
What's this? Whose pot is it?" No one answered. "By Allah,"
he said, "I'm going to take it." He took it inside and
called his wife over. "Wife," he said, "take this pot!
I brought it home for you. It's the most beautiful pot!"

The
wife took the pot. "Yee! How beautiful it is! By Allah, I'm
going to put my jewelry in it." Taking the pot with her, she
gathered all her jewelry, even that which she was wearing, and put it
in the pot. She also brought all their gold and money and stuffed
them in the pot till it was full to the brim, then she covered it and
put it away in the wardrobe.

Two or
three days went by, and it was time for the wedding of her brother.
She put on her velvet dress and brought the pot out so that she could
wear her jewelry. Push and pull, but the pot would not open. She
called to her husband, and he could not open it either. All the
people who were there tried to open it, lifting and dropping. They
took it to the blacksmith, and he tried but could not open it. The
husband felt defeated. "God damn your owners!" he cursed
it, "What use are you to us?" Taking it up, he threw it out
the window. Of course he was not all that anxious to let it go, so he
went to catch it from the side of the house. No sooner did he turn
around than she started to run:

"Tunjur,
tunjur, O my mama,

In my
mouth I brought the treasure.

Tunjur,
tunjur, O my mama,

In my
mouth I brought the treasure."

"Lift
me up!" she said to her mother when she reached home. Lifting
her up, the mother removed the lid.

"Yee!
May your reputation be blackened!" she cried out. "Wherever
did you get this? What in the world is it?" The mother was now
rich. She became very, very happy.

"It's
enough now," she said to her daughter, taking away the treasure.
"You shouldn't go out any more. People will recognize you."

"No,
no!" begged the daughter, "Let me go out just one last
time."

The
next day, my darlings, she went out, saying "Tunjur, tunjur, O
my mama." The man who found her the first time saw her again.

"Eh!
What in the world is this thing?" he exclaimed. "It must
have some magic in it, since it's always tricking people. God damn
its owners! By Allah the Great, I'm going to sit and shit in it."
He went ahead, my darlings, and shat right in it. Closing the lid on
him, she rolled along:

"Tunjur,
tunjur, O my mama

In my
mouth I brought the caca.

Tunjur,
tunjur, O my mama,

In my
mouth I brought the caca."

"Lift
me up!" she said to her mother when she reached home. The mother
lifted her up.

"You
naughty thing, you!" said the mother. "I told you not to go
out again, that people would recognize you. Don't you think it's
enough now?"

The
mother then washed the pot with soap, put perfume on it, and placed
it on the shelf.

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

2.

Once
upon a time there was a woman. She went out to gather wood, and gave
birth to a daughter. She wrapped the baby in a rag, tossed her under
a tree, and went on her way. The birds came, built a nest around the
baby, and fed her.

The
girl grew up. One day she was sitting in a tree next to a pool. How
beautiful she was! (Praise the creator of beauty, and the Creator is
more beautiful than all!) Her face was like the moon. The son of the
sultan came to the pool to water his mare, but the mare drew back,
startled. He dismounted to find out what the matter was, and he saw
the girl in the tree, lighting up the whole place with her beauty. He
took her with him, drew up a marriage contract, and married her.

When
the time for pilgrimage came, the son of the sultan decided to go on
the hajj. "Take care of my wife until I return from the hajj,"
he-said to his mother.

Now
the mother was very jealous of her daughter-in-law, and as soon as
her son departed she threw his wife out of the house. Going over to
the neighbors' house, the wife lived with them, working as a servant.
The mother dug a grave in the palace garden and buried a sheep in it.
She then dyed her hair black and put on makeup to make herself look
young and pretty. She lived in the palace, acting as if she were her
son's wife.

When
he came back from the hajj, the son was taken in by his mother's
disguise and thought her his wife. He asked her about his mother, and
she said, "Your mother died, and she is buried in the palace
garden."

After
she slept with her son, the mother became pregnant and started to
crave things. "My good man," she said to her son, "bring
me a bunch of sour grapes from our neighbor's vine!" The son
sent one of the women servants to ask for the grapes. When the
servant knocked on the neighbor's door, the wife of the sultan's son
opened it.

"O
mistress of our mistress," said the servant, "you whose
palace is next to ours, give me a bunch of sour grapes to satisfy the
craving on our side!"

"My
mother gave birth to me in the wilderness," answered the wife,
"and over me birds have built their nests. The sultan's son has
taken his mother to wife, and now wants to satisfy her craving at my
expense! Come down, O scissors, and cut out her tongue, lest she
betray my secret!" The scissors came down and cut out the
servant's tongue. She went home mumbling so badly no one could
understand what she was saying.

The
son of the sultan then sent one of his men servants to fetch the
bunch of sour grapes. The servant went, knocked on the door, and
said, "O mistress of our mistress, you whose palace is next to
ours, give me a bunch of sour grapes to satisfy the craving on our
side!"

"My
mother gave birth to me in the wilderness," answered the wife of
the sultan's son, "and over me birds have built their nests. The
sultans son has taken his mother to wife, and now wants to satisfy
her craving at my expense! Come down, O scissors, and cut out his
tongue, lest he betray my secret!" The scissors came down and
cut out his tongue.

Finally
the son of the sultan himself went and knocked on the door. "O
mistress of our mistress," he said, "you whose palace is
next to ours, give me a bunch of sour grapes to satisfy the craving
on our side!"

"My
mother gave birth to me in the wilderness, and over me birds have
built their nests. The king's son has taken his mother to wife, and
now wants to satisfy her craving at my expense! Come down, O
scissors, and cut out his tongue. But I can't find it in myself to
let it happen!" The scissors came down and hovered around him,
but did not cut out his tongue.

The
sultans son understood. He went and dug up the grave in the garden,
and behold! there was a sheep in it. When he was certain that his
wife was actually his mother, he sent for the crier. "Let him
who loves the Prophet," the call went out, "bring a bundle
of wood and a burning coal!"

The
son of the sultan then lit the fire.

Hail,
hail! Finished is our tale.

3.

Once
there was a man who was married to two women, one of whom he called
"Precious One" and the other "Worn-out One."
Precious One had two sons, and Worn-out One had only one.

They
had an animal pen from which one sheep was stolen every night.
"Sons," said the father, "every night one of you must
stay up to watch the sheep and find out who's been stealing them."

"I'm
the son of Precious One," said the eldest. "I'll keep watch
tonight." In the evening he went to keep watch by the sheep pen.
He stayed awake till ten o'clock, then he fell asleep. A ghoul came
and stole a ewe, and the boy did not know about it. When he woke up
in the morning, he counted the sheep and found one ewe missing.

"I
see that one of the sheep is missing," said the father.

"I
want to keep watch by the sheep," the second son of Precious One
said. His watch was like that of his brother, the ghoul stealing
another ewe. The next morning he said to his father, "I too
didn't see anything come into the sheep pen."

"Now
we'll make the son of Worn-out One keep watch," said the father.

"I
want three kilograms of roasted watermelon seeds," the son of
Worn-out One said to them. They brought him the seeds, and he stayed
awake until the ghoul came. The son of Worn-out One saw the ghoul as
he entered the sheep pen, and kept himself well-hidden in a comer
until the ghoul took a ewe and left. The boy followed, staying behind
him until the ghoul reached the mouth of a well with a huge rock
blocking it. When he wanted to go in, the ghoul would move the rock
aside and drop into the well. The youth heaped stones into a cairn,
and put a stake in the middle of it to identify the well. Then,
returning to the sheep pen, he fell asleep.

The
father came to check on him in the morning. "What did you see,
son?" he asked.

"I've
discovered who's been stealing our sheep," answered the boy.
"Call my brothers together, and let's go to his place. I'll show
you where it is." The brothers were called, and they all set out
with their father until they reached the mouth of the ghoul's well.

"Let's
each give a hand," said the son of Worn-out One, "and with
a little effort we can move this rock."

"What!"
exclaimed the father, "Are you crazy?"

"Just
help me turn this rock over, you and your sons," said the boy,
"and see what happens!"

When
they moved the rock, they found it covering a dark and deep well
whose bottom could not be seen. He who looked down into it became
afraid.

"Which
one of you is going to go down into this well?" the father asked
the sons of Precious One. Neither of them was willing.

"I'll
go down!" volunteered the son of Worn-out One. [When he got down
to the bottom of the well] he discovered three gifts, each of them
like the full moon. But the youngest was the most beautiful.

"Are
you human or jinn?" the girls asked.

"Human."

"And
what made you come down here?" they asked, and he told them his
story. Then he asked, "Are you human or jinn?"

"We're
human, by Allah," they replied, "and we were kidnapped from
our homes by the ghoul."

"When
does this ghoul come back?" he asked, and they said, "In a
little while."

"I
want to hide," he said, and the eldest answered, "You've
got no place but the recess in the wall."

Going
to hide into the recess, the youth found a sword above his head.

"I
want to kill the ghoul with this sword," said the boy.