Speak Bird Speak Again (34 page)

"Fine,"
he answered. "Let me go and get some soap."

He
went over to Acre to bring the soap, and she sat at the edge of the
hole.

"By
Allah," she said to herself as she sat waiting, "I might as
well wash myself until he gets back." Down into the water she
went, and washed herself, but she could not climb back out. She tried
and tried, but she failed.

As it
happened, a man on a horse passed by. Hearing the pounding of his
horse's hooves, she called out to him:

"O
uncle, riding your horse

And
jingling your bell!

Say to
the mouse,

'The
Flower of the House

In the
treacherous water fell.'"

The
horseman cocked his ear to listen. "Eh!" he thought, "Who
is this talking?" Meanwhile, she was saying:

"O
uncle, riding your horse

And
jingling your bell!

Say to
the mouse,

'The
Flower of the House

In the
treacherous water fell.'"

"And
if you don't tell him," she added, "may your bottom get
stuck to your horse?

The
rider went his way, and by the time he reached Acre he had forgotten
what the cricket had said to him. When he had finished his business
in the city, he went home and tried to get down from his horse, but
he could not. Again and again he tried, without success. He called
his wife and children to help him, and they pushed and pulled, but
they failed. Then he remembered what the cricket had bid him do.
"Eh!" he exclaimed, "It seems as if Allah has heard
the call of the one who put this spell on me. I might as well go look
for the mouse. But how am I ever going to find him?"

He
went back to Acre and searched around the shops, asking their owners,
"O uncle, did the mouse come in here? O uncle, did the mouse
come in here?" The people in the marketplace looked at him in
wonder. "What's this?" they asked among themselves,
laughing. "Who is this man, riding around looking for a mouse?
What's the matter with him? Is he crazy?"

As he
was asking about, however, the mouse heard him. The rider, having
searched and searched without success, went back home and dismounted
easily. He was no longer stuck to his horse.

Now
the mouse ran about his business. He stole a piece of meat from the
butcher and a bar of soap from the grocer, and he ran back - "tzee,
tzee, tzee" - until he arrived. When he discovered his wife had
fallen in the water, he went crazy with fear for her. Putting the
things he was carrying down on the edge of the hole, he lowered his
head into the hole, but he could not reach her. He put his ear in the
hole, his paw, then all parts of his body, and still he could not
reach her. What was he going to do? He turned his back and dangled
his tail in the water. Taking hold of it, she was able to climb out.

"See
what you've done!" she started blaming him. "You went away
and left me, and I fell into the sea."

"How
could I have helped it?" he answered. "Come, make us some
kubbe and let's have lunch."

She
set to it, my little darlings, and prepared the food. They ate lunch,
washed themselves and their clothes, and hung them out on the bushes
till they were dry. Then they folded their clothes, and - "tzee,
tzee, tzee - went home to the mouse's hole.

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

Afterword

This
group of tales deals with the marriage relationship, focusing on the
newlyweds themselves and the pressures they experience regarding
their choice of mate and their sexuality. Because (despite the
emphasis on endogamy) none of the couples are cousins but rather are
strangers to each other, they must learn to establish patterns of
communication and to adapt to each other's needs and observe each
other's limits. The tales explore ways in which success may be
achieved in marriage, especially in the initial phases of the
relationship, immediately following the wedding.

"The
Old Woman Ghouleh" shows us some of the confusion a young bride
must feel in her new environment. She has had little choice in the
matter of her marriage, her role having been passive throughout the
whole process, and everyone, including her husband, is a stranger to
her. She does not know who is a friend and who is an enemy. In this
situation the bride is quite vulnerable, and the tale shows that a
marriage can get off to a bad start when she does not immediately
place her trust in her husband to protect her from the potential evil
around her. When, however, as in the case of the third bride, this
trust and the communication that automatically goes with it are
present from the beginning of the relationship, the couple can
cooperate to overcome obstacles.

In
"Lady Tatar," in contrast, the burden of communication is
thrown on the husband rather than the wife. Here the husband learns
that if he communicates with his wife by treating her as she desires,
she is more than willing to cooperate with him and share his life. At
the beginning of the tale the lack of communication leads to
frustration and multiple marriages; at the end, however, mutual
understanding and harmony prevail. This tale also focuses on the
bride, who, having been mistreated at home and then adopted by a
stranger, is shown to need a good marriage relationship.

Whereas
the first two tales in the group focus on the problems facing the
women in a marriage relationship, the second two, "Clever Hasan"
and "Soqak Boqak!" shed light on the pressures faced by the
men. "Clever Hasan" is a composite of two tales that are
rarely brought together as here. The first half, the story of Hasan
and his mother, could have been classified under Group I, "Children
and Parents," for, like Swes, Swes!" it depicts a conflict
between mother and son that centers on the mother's sexuality. The
second half is usually narrated separately as the adventure story of
a young hero who defeats the enemies of his potential father-in-law.
By juxtaposing these two disparate tales, using the figure of Clever
Hasan as a unifying device, the teller spotlights one of the major
conflicts a young man faces upon marriage: being caught between his
mother and his wife. No less important, the tale also shows a
corresponding conflict for the bride: being caught between husband
and father. The juxtaposition of the two tales, then, demonstrates
that husband and wife can achieve a harmonious relationship only
when, through cooperation and by having sufficient strength of
character to be independent, they have been able to overcome the
negative influence of their parents. In "Soqak Boqak!"
parental pressure is felt in yet another way. Anxious for their only
son to have offspring, the parents urge him to marry before he is
ready. His fears about his manhood and what his bride might look like
drive him from home, and it then becomes the task of his sexually
more mature wife to bring him back.

Of
course, the mutual suitability of the partners is essential for a
harmonious marriage relationship, and, given the dynamics of the
Palestinian social system, the question of mate choice is of utmost
importance in the lives of the newlyweds (see also afterword to Group
I, "The Quest for the Spouse"). Naturally, both bride and
groom have much to worry about when their families choose their
mates. Conversely, the family becomes anxious when the children make
their own choices. The ideal balance is achieved when the mate
selected is suitable to both parties. In this light, the last three
tales in the group reveal an interesting pattern. In "Soqak
Boqak!" the son discovers that the mate chosen by his family is
the one he would have chosen for himself, and in "Clever Hasan"
the father realizes that his daughter's choice of husband is the one
he would have made for her. A perfect compromise between individual
desire and family requirements is struck in "Cricket,"
which explores the very dynamics of mate choice. Although the tale
does not outwardly conform to the norms of the culture (young maidens
simply do not go out looking for husbands, nor would their mothers
allow them to), it nevertheless does present the criteria essential
for the ideal mate. The daughter's anxiety about finding a husband is
moderated by her mother's concern that he

be a
proper match for her physically, economically, and socially. Thus the
daughter chooses the ideal mate, but only on the advice and approval
of the mother. Under these conditions, husband and wife solve the
problems they encounter in daily life through a combination of mutual
affection, cooperation, and proper behavior based on each mate
fulfilling her or his culturally prescribed role.

HUSBANDS
AND WIVES

24.

TELLER:
Testify that God is One!

AUDIENCE:
There is no god but God.

There
was once in times past an old woman who lived in a hut all by
herself. She had no one at all. One day when the weather was
beautiful she said, "Ah, yes! By Allah, today it's sunny and
beautiful, and I'm going to take the air by the seashore. But let me
first knead this dough."

When
she had finished kneading the dough, having added the yeast, she put
on her best clothes, saying, "By Allah, I just have to go take
the air by the seashore." Arriving at the seashore, she sat down
to rest, and lo! there was a boat, and it was already filling with
people.

"Hey,
uncle!" she said to the man, the owner of the boat. "Where
in Allah's safekeeping might you be going?"

"By
Allah, we're heading for Beirut."

"All
right, brother. Take me with you."

"Leave
me alone, old woman," he said. "The boat's already full,
and there's no place for you."

"Fine,"
she said. "Go. But if you don't take me with you, may your boat
get stuck and sink!"

No one
paid her any attention, and they set off. But their boat had not gone
twenty meters when it started to sink. "Eh!" they
exclaimed, "It looks as if that old woman's curse has been
heard." Turning back, they called the old woman over and took
her with them.

In
Beirut, she did not know anybody or anything. It was just before
sunset.' The passengers went ashore, and she too came down and sat
awhile, leaning against a wall. What else could she have done? People
were passing by, coming and going, and it was getting very late. In a
while a man passed by. Everyone was already at home, and here was
this woman sitting against the wall.

"What
are you doing here, sister?" he asked.

"By
Allah, brother," she answered, "I'm not doing anything. I'm
a stranger in town, with no one to turn to. I kneaded my dough and
leavened it, and came out for pleasure until it rises, when I'll have
to go back."

"Fine,"
he said. "Come home with me then."

He
took her home with him. There was no one there except him and his
wife. They brought food, laughed, and played - you should have seen
them enjoying themselves. After they had finished, lo! the man
brought a bundle of sticks this big and set to it - Where's the side
that hurts most? - until he had broken them on his wife's sides.

"Why
are you doing this, grandson?" the old woman asked, approaching
in order to block his way.

"Get
back!" he said. "You don't know what her sin is. Better
stay out of the way? He kept beating his wife until he had broken the
whole bundle.

"You
poor woman!" exclaimed the old lady when the man had stopped.
"What's your sin, you sad one?"

"By
Allah," replied the wife, "I've done nothing, and it hadn't
even occurred to me. He says it's because I can't get pregnant and
have children."

"Is
that all?" asked the old woman. "This one's easy. Listen,
and let me tell you. Tomorrow, when he comes to beat you, tell him
you're pregnant."

The
next day, as usual, the husband came home, bringing with him the
needed household goods and a bundle of sticks. After dinner, he came
to beat his wife, but he had not hit her with the first stick when
she cried out, "Hold your hand! I'm pregnant!"

"Is
it true?"

"Yes,
by Allah!"

From
that day on, he stopped beating her. She was pampered, her husband
not letting her get up to do any of the housework. Whatever she
desired was brought to her side.

Every
day after that the wife came to the old woman and said, "What am
I going to do, grandmother? What if he should find out?"

"No
matter," the old woman would answer. "Sleep easy. The
burning coals of evening turn to ashes in the morning." Daily
the old woman stuffed the wife's belly with rags to make it look
bigger and said, "Just keep on telling him you're pregnant, and
leave it to me. The evening's embers are the morning's ashes."

Now,
this man happened to be the sultan, and people heard what was said:
"The sultan's wife is pregnant! The sultans wife is pregnant!"
When her time to deliver had come, the wife went to the baker and
said, "I want you to bake me a doll in the shape of a baby boy."