Pearls on a Branch

by Najla Jraissaty Khoury

  One day when her mother was out, Pomegranate-Seed-on-a-Platter decided to get the ladder and climb to the roof herself. She discovered the room up there and she saw the water and the mirrors; she could smell the sweet perfumes. As she lowered herself into the water, the demon made his appearance. He bathed her and sat with her and entertained her. Then he clothed the tips of her ten fingers with gold. She felt that something in her had changed. And she was happy.

  When she went down into the house again she put everything back in its place. And, to hide her golden fingertips, she put on a pair of gloves. Her father came home and they all sat down to eat. Her mother noticed the gloves and asked:

  “Why are you wearing gloves at the supper table?”

  The girl said nothing and when her mother repeated the question a second and a third time she did not answer.

  The mother became suspicious. She could hardly wait for the moment her husband left the house. Next morning when he went to his work she hurried up to the roof and stepped into the water taking pleasure in her bath. When the Afreet had bathed her and sat and talked with her and clothed her ten fingers with gold, she asked:

  “O Palace Beautiful! O Fancy Friend!

  Is there anyone like me in the land?”

  The answer came:

  “Yes, in all honesty,

  And she lives in this city.”

  She asked:

  “Is that possible? Who can it be?”

  The demon said:

  “It is your own dear daughter

  Pomegranate-Seed-on-a-Platter.

  I bathed her, sat with her and entertained her.

  I clothed her ten fingers with gold!”

  The woman was stunned. She rushed down to her daughter and demanded to know why she had gone up to the bathhouse on the roof. The girl said:

  “I wanted to see with my own eyes what my ears had heard.”

  The woman realized that she was at risk. She made no comment in answer to her daughter’s words. She was saying to herself that her daughter had not only discovered her secret but had also become her rival. She called a driver who had a cart and horse and said:

  “I’ll pay you a handsome sum if you do as I tell you and do it on the quiet.”

  He said:

  “What is it you want of me?”

  She explained:

  “Take Pomegranate-Seed-on-a-Platter somewhere far and kill her. Then bring back her blood for me to drink.”

  The man set out to do as he was told. He drove with the girl until he came to the edge of a dense wood. He asked her to stay there and wait for him. But as he stepped away he looked back and seeing how she stood and waited, trusting him completely, he felt pity for her. “I cannot commit murder,” he was saying to himself. “God will look after her.” In that moment a gazelle leapt out of the thicket and the driver killed it. He poured its blood into a glass jar that he gave to the girl’s mother, saying her daughter was dead and here was her blood.

  The father kept asking where his daughter was and his wife kept answering that she was with the neighbors or had gone here or gone there.

  As for Pomegranate-Seed-on-a-Platter, she waited and waited for the driver and eventually realized that he was not returning. So she started to walk in the direction of the city. She made her way through woods and thorns and tangled brambles until the blood was all but flowing from her feet. While she was wandering in this way, Ali Baba and his forty thieves caught sight of her. They began by arguing and quarreling about who among them should marry her. Then they saw the blood dripping from her feet and asked her to tell them her story. When she had finished her account of all that had happened they said: “You shall be a sister to us!”

  They took her to the cave that was their home and let her wash herself and gave her fresh clothes to wear. They offered her food and drink and she cleaned up their house. She lived there with them like a sister: cooking for them every day and waiting for them to come back in the evening from their work as highway robbers. They brought her fine and costly garments. For her part, she was content and happy to be living with the men in the cave.

  Meanwhile, her mother continued to take her bath on the roof with the Afreet. Once when she asked:

  “O Palace Beautiful! O Fancy Friend!

  Is there anyone like me in the land?”

  He said:

  “Yes, I can say it to your face,

  There is such a one in this place.”

  “Who is it?” she demanded.

  He said:

  “It is your own dear daughter

  Pomegranate-Seed-on-a-Platter!

  She is living, as if their sister,

  With forty thieves and Ali Baba the robber.”

  The woman was mad with anger. She thought and thought and came up with a diabolical solution. She persuaded an old woman to go to Ali Baba’s cave and pretend that she was an apple seller. For this she gave her a basket filled with apples. These were no ordinary apples; she had stuffed them with sharp iron nails. The old woman took the basket and waited near the cave until Ali Baba and the forty thieves went out. When Pomegranate-Seed-on-a-Platter was alone the old woman approached her:

  “May God give you good fortune, child! Can you give me a sip of water?”

  The girl bid her welcome and handed her the water jar. The old woman thanked her and offered her an apple before she left. As soon as Pomegranate-Seed-on-a-Platter bit into the apple for her first mouthful, the nails inside cut into her and she fell to the ground in a faint.

  The young men returned to the cave and were shocked to see their adopted sister stretched out motionless on the ground with no sign of life. They wept and mourned her. They said:

  “Our hearts will not permit us to bundle her into a shroud! Nor can we bear to dig a grave and bury her in the ground!”

  So they placed her in a wooden chest and loaded the chest onto the back of a camel. Ali Baba gave the camel instructions:

  “Take her, O camel, and carry her away! God’s earth is spacious. But do not lower your neck and do not bend your back, unless you are commanded with the words: ‘In the name of what is on your back!’ Only then may you kneel and rest on the ground.”

  The camel left and traveled with his load until he was in the sultan’s country. The sultan observed the camel crossing his territory with a wooden chest on its back. He wondered why a camel was wandering alone without a rider and he was curious about the contents of the chest. He approached the camel and shouted:

  “Down, Camel!”

  The camel stopped. It lifted its head high and did not move. This puzzled the sultan. He ordered the camel again:

  “Bend your head, Camel!”

  But the camel continued to stand without moving. Finally the sultan said:

  “In the name of what is on your back, kneel, O Camel!”

  The camel lowered itself gently and the sultan was able to reach for the wooden chest and open it.

  Inside he found lying full length a young woman beautiful as the rising sun: her skin silken, her complexion pearls. He lifted her up and carried her to his palace. He laid her on his own bed and sat by her and wept and wept and wept until he had no tears left. He wept and wept until his mother came and remonstrated:

  “My dear Son, this is not right! Let me wash her so that we may bury her.”

  So the sultan’s mother began to wash the girl. While she was wiping her face she felt a nail protruding from her lip and pulled it out. In that instant the girl opened her eyes, looked around her and asked where she was. She also said that she was hungry.

  The sultan’s mother quickly went to call her son and bring him the happy news that the girl he had rescued from the chest on the camel’s back was alive and well. Hardly believing his ears, the sultan ran to see her for himself. He was delighted when he saw her. He asked her her name and she told him that it was Pomegranate-Seed-on-a-Platter and went on to narrate her whole history. He loved her and asked her to marry him; she loved him and agreed to be his
wife. So the feasts and celebrations began. Pomegranate-Seed-in-a-Platter invited Ali Baba and his forty thieves, for the sultan had pardoned them. All the people in the city were told to attend, and that for seven days no one was to eat or drink except as the sultan’s guest.

  When Pomegranate-Seed-on-a-Platter’s mother heard that the sultan was holding a feast to celebrate his wedding she had no idea who the bride was. She began to get ready for the festivities and climbed up to the bathhouse on the roof. She went into the water and splashed perfumes on herself. The Afreet bathed her and sat with her and entertained her then clothed her ten fingers with gold. She asked:

  “O Palace Beautiful! O Fancy Friend!

  Is there anyone like me in the land?”

  The demon answered:

  “Yes there is, in all honesty

  There is such a one in this city.”

  “Who can it be?” She asked.

  He said:

  “It is your own dear daughter

  Pomegranate-Seed-on-a-Platter

  Tinkling with golden jewels upon her

  She’s now the Sultan’s wife, our ruler.”

  The woman was enraged; she was so furious that she was unable to breathe; hatred choked her and she burst and died.

  But the young couple lived happily together

  Until death took one and then the other.

  WHO ATE THE WHEAT?

  Climbing up the wall

  Climbing down the wall

  Your belt is tight, your waist is neat

  If you want to know who stole the wheat

  Listen to the story of Hee-Haw’s Pond:

  THERE ONCE WAS A FARM where a rooster, a goose, a dove and a duck were living together. With them there also lived a donkey.

  One day the birds and the donkey decided to plant some wheat. Each of the birds carried a grain of wheat in his beak and dropped it to the ground. One grain at a time, the rooster, the goose, the dove and the duck sowed their whole field. Next, the birds shuttled back and forth, sprinkling water on their seeds. As each grain was moistened, it swelled and pushed out a small sprout. Back and forth, the birds took turns, coming every morning to water their wheat and tend it. Soon green shoots appeared above the ground. Then, day by day, they grew tall and ripened.

  One night the donkey was feeling hungry. There before him stretched the new wheat. It made his mouth water. He took a bite. Then he took another and another until he had eaten it all.

  The next morning it was the dove’s turn to do the daily work. When she saw that the field was bare she quickly flew back to her friends, the other birds, and questioned them:

  “Which one of you ate the wheat?”

  The birds began to quarrel and accuse one another until the rooster suggested:

  “Let us each fly across the pond. And may whoever ate the wheat fall into the water because of the weight in his belly.”

  Standing at the edge of the pond, the rooster crowed:

  “Cock a doodle doo!

  I am Rooster, listen all of you,

  Only grapes I eat, as raisins too.

  So let me sink in the water deep

  If I am the one who ate the wheat.”

  Then the rooster took off and flew to the other side of the pond.

  Next came the dove and said:

  “Coo! Coo!

  I am Dove, gentle and quiet,

  Nuts and chickpeas are my diet.

  So let me sink in the water deep

  If I am the one who ate the wheat.”

  And the dove took off and flew to the other side of the pond.

  The goose came next and said:

  “Honk! Honk!

  I am Goose who flies up high

  My food is rice both boiled and dry.

  So let me sink in the water deep

  If I am the one who ate the wheat.”

  Then the goose took off and flew to the other side of the pond.

  Next the duck said:

  “Quack! Quack!

  I am Duck with fat and wagging tail

  I eat grains out of the farmyard pail.

  So let me sink in the water deep

  If I am the one who ate the wheat.”

  And the duck took off and flew to the other side of the pond.

  It was the donkey’s turn but he was gone.

  The rooster gave a shout:

  “Come, Donkey, come and prove your innocence as we did.”

  “I’m coming,” said the donkey, “first I want to kick up my heels a couple of times.”

  He kicked up his heels and kicked and kicked but did not come.

  The dove said to him:

  “Come, Donkey, come and prove your innocence as we did.”

  “I’m coming,” said the donkey, “first I want to bray a couple of times.”

  He brayed and brayed and brayed but he did not come.

  The goose yelled:

  “Come, Donkey, come and prove your innocence as we did.”

  “I’m coming,” said the donkey, “first I want to flick my tail once or twice.”

  He flicked his tail and flicked and flicked but he did not come.

  The duck called out:

  “Come, Donkey, come and prove your innocence as we did.”

  “I’ll come,” said the donkey, “after I run up and down this open ground.”

  He ran and ran and ran, but still he did not come.

  Then the birds, the rooster, the goose, the dove, and the duck – all shouted together:

  “Where are you, Donkey? Come!”

  This time the donkey came and stood by the pond. He said:

  “Hee! Haw!

  I am Donkey, stand aside let me pass,

  My only meal is fresh, green grass.

  So let me sink in the water deep

  If I am the one who ate the wheat.”

  Then he leaped up and fell into the middle of the pond.

  “Serves you right!” the birds all cried.

  And from that day the pond has been known as Hee-Haw’s Pond.

  THE VEGETABLE-SELLER’S DAUGHTER

  Peace be upon the soul of the Prophet,

  And Jesus and Moses, Peace upon them.

  If any here be burdened by sin, let them ask God’s forgiveness!

  THERE WAS A KING – though none is sovereign but God – and this king had a son, his only child. He taught the boy to read and write and raised him in the manner of kings.

  In a modest house next to the king’s palace lived a vegetable seller and his daughter. One day as the king’s son was walking out from the palace he took a long look at a beautiful young woman sitting at her window. He knew she was the grocer’s daughter and that she sat there every day because he saw her every time he passed by the grocer’s house. The king’s son greeted her:

  “Good morning, O Vegetable-Seller’s Daughter.”

  “Good morning Prim Princeling,” she responded, “future son-in-law of my father!”

  The young man was shocked by the way she addressed him. The girl’s boldness had startled him. In a mocking and haughty voice he said:

  “Is a son of the sultan to marry a grocer’s daughter?”

  “They say: ‘He who keeps company with tramps becomes their equal,’” she retorted.

  The young man went on his way, upset and disturbed. How dare she address him in that tone! How dare she say such things! He was, after all, the king’s son. Was he, a prince, to be her father’s son-in-law? Nevertheless, all through the day, the greengrocer’s daughter chased every other thought out of his mind. Her image was in his eyes, her voice in his ears, and her words in his head. The king’s son was mightily annoyed.

  When he returned to the palace that evening, he passed by the greengrocer’s house and saw the girl again. He said:

  “Good evening, O Vegetable-Seller’s Daughter!”

  She smiled and answered:

  “Good evening, Prim Princeling, future son-in-law of my father!”

  The young man laughed at her:<
br />
  “Would a sultan’s son ever marry a greengrocer’s daughter?”

  She said:

  “He who keeps company with tramps becomes their equal.”

  He returned to his own room and went to bed. He fell asleep thinking about the girl and he woke up thinking about her. And so it continued day after day, month after month until he could barely contain himself. She was present in his life every second of every day.

  Finally, he decided to outwit her and put an end to this madness. He went to his mother and said:

  “Dear Mother, the time has come for me to get married; find me a bride!”

  The king said:

  “We must do this in a proper manner and according to protocol. Let us first go to the vizier.”

  So he asked the vizier:

  “Do you have a daughter? We are looking for a bride for my son.”

  “Yes,” said the vizier, “but I have to consult her mother first.”

  The vizier went to his wife and told her:

  “The king wishes to betroth our daughter to his son. What do you say?”

  “Tell him, ‘Yes!’” said his wife.

  “How can I say ‘Yes,’” said the vizier, “when she is not yet fully grown?”

  “But it’s the king’s son we’re talking about,” said his wife. “He cannot be refused! Leave this business to me.”

  So the vizier’s answer to the king was: “Yes! We are honored. You are welcome to our daughter!”

  Meanwhile the vizier’s wife ran to the vegetable-seller’s daughter and said:

  “You’re our neighbor and we are in trouble. We need you to do us a small favor.”

  She asked the girl to come to the vizier’s house the next day, at the same time that the king’s wife was expected, so that the royal party would assume that she was the intended bride.

  “I promise you,” said the vizier’s wife, “that all the gifts they bring for my daughter will be yours. I will give you everything we receive.”

  “Does that include the jewelry?” asked the girl.

  “Including the jewelry!” said the vizier’s wife. And the girl agreed.