Speak Bird Speak Again (17 page)

SIBLINGS

6.

TELLER:
Allah has spoken and His word is a blessing!

AUDIENCE:
Blessings abound, Allah willing!

Once
upon a time there was a man who was married to two women. One of them
was his first cousin and the other was a stranger, and neither of
them could get pregnant.

"I'm
going to visit the sheikh," he said to himself one day, "and
maybe for the sake of Allah he'll give me some medicine to make these
women conceive." He went to the sheikh and said, "I want
you to give me a medicine that'll make my wives get pregnant."

"Go
to such and such a mountain," the sheikh advised, "and
there you'll find a ghoul. Say to him, 'I want two pomegranates to
feed my wives so they can get pregnant,' and see what he says to
you."

The
man went forth, and came upon the ghoul, He approached him
immediately, shaved his beard, trimmed his eyebrows, and said, "Peace
to you!"

"And
to you, peace!" replied the ghoul. "Had not your salaam
come before your request, I would've munched your bones so loud my
brother who lives on the next mountain would've heard it. What do you
want?"

The
man told him what he wanted, and the ghoul said, "Go to the next
mountain over there, and you'll find my elder brother. Ask him, and
he'll tell you what to do."

The
man went to the next mountain over and found the ghoul. He did with
him as he had done with his brother. Then he said, "Peace to
you!"

"And
to you, peace? replied the ghoul. "Had not your salaam come
before your request, I would've munched your bones so loud my sister
who lives on the next mountain would've heard it. What can I do for
you?" The man told him what he wanted, and the ghoul said, "Go
to my sister on the next mountain over there, and she'll tell you
what to do."

The
man did as he was told, and found the ghouleh grinding wheat, her
breasts thrown over her shoulders. He came forward and sucked on her
fight breast, then on her left. After he did this, he put a handful
of her flour in his mouth.

"You've
sucked at my fight breast," declared the ghouleh, "and now
you're dearer to me than my son Ismain. You've sucked at my left
breast, and now you're dearer than my son Nassar. And now that you've
eaten my flour, you're dearer than my own children. What can I do for
you?"

"I
want two pomegranates to feed my wives so they can have children,"
he answered.

"Go
to that orchard over there," she said. "You'll find a ghoul
sleeping, using one ear for a mattress and the other for a blanket.
Pick two pomegranates and run away as fast as you can."

Having
done as he was told, the man took the two pomegranates and started on
his way home.

As he
was traveling, he became hungry. "I'm going to eat part of my

cousin's
pomegranate," he thought to himself. "She's my cousin and
won't get angry if I offer her only half a pomegranate."

When
he reached home, he gave his other wife the whole pomegranate and his
cousin the hale They became pregnant at the same time. The stranger
gave birth to twin boys, and he called one Hasan and the other Husen.
His cousin gave birth to half a human being, and they called him
Half-a-Halfling.

The
boys grew up. One day they told their father they wanted to go
hunting. Hasan and Husen said they each wanted a mare and a gun, and
the father consented and granted them their wish. Half-a-Halfling
said he wanted a lame and mangy she-goat and a wooden poker. He got
what he had asked for, and the boys all set out together to hunt.
Hasan and Husen fired their shotguns, but they did not hit anything.
Half-a-Halfling, meanwhile, would lie in wait on the ground until the
deer came near, then he would hit and break their legs.

"Give
us the deer you've hunted," said Hasan and Husen, "so we
can take them home and say we killed them."

"All
fight," he replied, "but on one condition only. I'll heat
my brand, and brand each of you on the backside."

They
agreed, and he branded both of them. They took the deer and gave them
to their mother, who cooked them and threw away the bones at the
doorstep of Half-a-Halfling's mother. She started to cry. When
Half-a-Halting saw her crying, he asked, "Why are you crying?"

"Look!"
she answered. "Your brothers Hasan and Husen were able to hunt
deer, but not you."

"What!"
he cried. "Do you think they killed the deer? You'd better go
and see my brand on their behinds." His mother went, and she
could see the brand.

The
following day they went hunting again. The sun set while they were
still away from town. They came to another town and found no one
there except a ghouleh chasing a rooster.

"Welcome
to my nephews!" she said when she saw them. Tying their horses
and the she-goat in front of the house, she invited them in, and made
dinner and fed them.

"What
do your horses eat?" she asked.

"They
eat hulled barley and pure milk," they answered. She brought
feed for the horses. Then she asked Half-a-Halfling, "What does
your she-goat eat?"

"Bran
left over from sifting," he answered, "and water left over
from kneading."

She
put food in front of the she-goat and laid out bedding for the
brothers to sleep on. Hasan and Husen went to sleep on the floor, but
Half-a-Halfling said, "I can't sleep on the floor." Seeing
a reed basket hanging from the ceiling, he said, "I'll sleep in
this basket. But first you must give me a waterskin and a handful of
lava beans for munching." He pierced the waterskin and hung it
above his head and let it drip on him, as he sat in the basket
munching the fava beans.

In a
while the ghouleh, thinking they were asleep, started jumping around
and singing, "O my teeth get sharper and sharper, for Hasan and
Husen his brother!" Now, Half-a-Halfling was awake, and he heard
her.

"How
am I going to sleep?" he said. "And how am I going to
sleep, when my belly has no food in it to keep?"

"What
do you want to eat?" asked the ghouleh, and he answered, "I
want a stuffed rooster so I can eat it and go to sleep."

She
prepared the rooster for him, and he ate it and climbed back into the
basket. Again the ghouleh started prancing around, singing, "O
my teeth get sharper and sharper, for Hasan and Husen his brother!"

Half-a-Halfling
jumped up and said, "How am I going to sleep? And how am I going
to sleep, when my belly has no food in it to keep?"

"What
do you want to eat?" she asked, and he answered, "I want a
lamb, stuffed and roasted to a turn."

By the
time she finished preparing the lamb, the sun had risen.

"We
want water so we can wash," the boys said. When she had gone out
to fetch the water, Half-a-Halfling said to his brothers, "You'd
better get up! This woman is a ghouleh." They got up, mounted
their animals, and ran away. When she came back and found them gone,
she called out, "O milk, thicken! thicken! and tie up their
joints so they can't move." The horses came immediately to a
stop and would not budge. They got down and mounted behind their
brother on the lame she-goat, and he prodded the animal with the
poker, calling out, "O flint, spark and spark! O bran, fly and
fly!" The she-goat flew with them and brought them home, while
the ghouleh caught up with the horses and gobbled them up.

The
father was very pleased with Half-a-Halfling, who was able to save
his brothers. from the clutches of the ghouleh.

"And
what would you say," the boy asked, "if I were to bring the
ghouleh herself right here?"

"We'd
confess you're cleverer than both your brothers if you could do
that," replied the parents.

Half-a-Halfling
went and bought a donkey, and loaded it with a huge box filled with
halvah. "Here's the halvah! Here's the halvah? he cried out when
he reached the ghouleh's house. She came out and asked how much it
was. He answered, you might say, "A piaster for a quarter of a
kilo."

She
ate one quarter, then two and three, but she was still hungry.

"What
do you say to getting into the box," he suggested, "and
eating as much as you want. We'll figure out what you owe me later."
She agreed and got into the box. He closed the lid on her, securing
it with a rope, and started moving. She was too busy eating to
notice. When he approached their town, he called out, "Light the
fire and let the flames rise! I've brought the ghouleh herself. And
let him who loves the Prophet bring a load of wood and a burning
coal!"

"What're
you saying?" asked the ghouleh.

"I
was saying," he answered, "spread the silk and put the silk
away! I've brought you the princess, daughter of the prince."

When
the fire was big enough, they threw the box in it and rid themselves
of the ghouleh and her evil.

The
bird has flown, and a good evening to all!

7.

TELLER:
Testify that God is One!

AUDIENCE:
There is no god but He!

There
was once a man who was married to a certain woman. The wife died,
leaving behind a son and a daughter. The man said, "This cow is
for the boy and the girl."

One
day the man married again. His wife became pregnant, gave birth, and
had a boy. She became pregnant again, gave birth, and had a girl. She
fed her children only the best food, and the others nothing but bran.

The
orphans used to roam with their cow in the countryside every day.
When they were well out of town, they would say to her, "Open, O
our cow!" The cow would open the space between her horns, meat
and rice would come out of it, and the children would eat their fill.
When they were fed bran at home, they would boil with anger.

When
the children played together in the evening, the woman noticed that
her children were sallow, while the orphans were like red apples. She
said to her son, "Tomorrow you'll go out to the countryside with
them and find out what they eat!" He said, "All right."

The
next day he went roving with them. Early in the morning the children
fed their pieces of bread to the cow. And what? Were they going to
suffer from hunger all day? "Listen!" they said to their
brother. "Do you promise not to tell our mother and father?"

"No.
I won't say anything," he answered.

"Good,"
they said. "Open, O our cow! We want to eat."

The
cow opened between her horns, the three of them ate till they were
full, and then the cow dosed her horns again.

"Hanh!"
snapped the mother when they came home. "What did you eat out
there?"

"What
did we eat?" he answered. "We ate the dry bread you gave
us." He refused to tell. Not believing him, the woman then said
to her daughter, "You go out with them in the morning, and
whatever you see them eat, you must tell me."

The
following morning, the girl went roaming the countryside with the
orphans. "Do you promise not to tell?" they asked her, and
she replied, "No, I won't tell." They said, "Open, I
our cow! We want to eat." The cow opened between her horns, and
what rice and meat there was! They ate until they had their fill; but
the girl was putting one bite in her mouth and hiding the next in the
front of her dress. When she came home, she said, "Mother, see!
Here's what they eat! Their cow does such and such."

The
woman brought some straw and boiled it until the water turned yellow,
yellow. Then she bathed in this water, laid out her bed, and put her
head down and went to sleep.

"What's
the matter with your mother, children?" asked the father when he
came home. The children said she was ill.

"Don't
talk to me!" she said. "I'm not well."

"Woman,
what's the problem? I'll take you to the doctor, just tell me what
you need!"

"I
was told no prescription would cure me, except that you slaughter for
me the orphans' cow."

"O
no, woman!" he said. "The children are having such a good
time with her," and so on and so forth.

"Nothing
else is possible," she answered. "I won't get well until
you slaughter the orphans' cow for me."

So he
caught the cow and slaughtered her, and they ate her, while the
orphans wept and lamented.

Angry,
they ran away, the sister with her brother. They walked and walked
until a shepherd met them. The girl was the older, and the boy the
younger.

"Sister,
I'm thirsty," said the boy. "I want to drink."