When the king’s wife arrived, the vizier’s wife received her with utmost respect and with the hospitality due to such a visitor. For her part, as soon as the king’s wife saw the greengrocer’s daughter, she was delighted with the young woman, and gave her consent for the betrothal.
The following day, the king’s son passed by the vegetable-seller’s daughter at her window. After the greeting and chatting and teasing, he announced:
“I am betrothed!”
“So am I!” she answered.
“Truly?” he asked.
“Yes, indeed!” she said.
“Congratulations, then!” he said.
“Congratulations to you too,” she responded.
This came as a surprise to the king’s son, so he went on to say:
“I’ll be married before you!”
“No you won’t!” insisted the girl. “I will be the first to get married.”
Then the day came for the formal visit by the king and his wife to present the engagement gift to their son’s intended bride. The vegetable-seller’s daughter was made ready for the occasion. The hairdresser came to arrange her hair and the dressmaker to fit her clothes. She was a beautiful girl to begin with, but on that day her loveliness shone like the moon when it is full. The king and his wife gave her the betrothal gift and returned to their palace. The girl also went home, changed her clothes and sat at her window. The king’s son was eager to see her that day. After exchanging the usual banter, he declared:
“Today was my formal engagement.”
“Today was my engagement too,” said the girl.
“Show me your engagement gift,” he challenged.
The girl reached behind the window curtain and brought it out. The young man looked at it and was confused. He kept picking it up and putting it down and thought he was losing his sanity. This was the very jewel he himself had bought. She asked:
“Don’t you like it?”
“On the contrary, I like it very much,” said the youth, “God grant you happiness and good fortune.”
“May God grant you the same,” said the girl.
The king’s son returned to the palace in silence. He was very troubled. He began to imagine that the vegetable-seller’s daughter was haunting him; she was constantly on his mind and he seemed to see her everywhere. He went to his mother with a request that would prove to him that there was no connection between the vizier’s daughter, to whom he was betrothed, and the daughter of the grocer next door.
“Mother,” he said, “I would like to go for a drive in the carriage with my bride-to-be.”
“Let me talk it over with her family,” said his mother.
So the king’s wife went to the vizier’s wife and together they set the time and the place for the encounter. Then, as soon as the king’s wife left her, the wife of the vizier rushed to the vegetable-seller’s daughter, begging her to accompany the king’s son on the outing they had planned. The girl agreed and the prince was ready and waiting for her.
When the young woman entered the carriage she was muffled from head to toe; you could see no part of her. She wore a long coat and a black veil hid her face. In addition, she was wrapped in a black cloak and had a head scarf tightly pinned on one side. The king’s son tried to find something that would reveal the girl’s identity, but it was impossible. So he started a conversation in order to hear her voice. He said some polite words to her and she responded in kind. The young man was astonished. With his own ears he was hearing the voice of the vegetable-seller’s daughter coming from the vizier’s daughter’s mouth.
“She sounds exactly like the vegetable-seller’s daughter,” he said to himself. “She is as tall as the vegetable-seller’s daughter and as slim. And now it appears she has the same voice! And yet she is the daughter of the vizier. My head is spinning.”
During the ride, before he brought her back to the vizier’s house, the king’s son presented the girl with a beautiful ring.
Once the ride was over, the vegetable-seller’s daughter sped home unobserved, changed her clothes and sat at her window as usual. The king’s son passed by and said:
“Good evening, O Vegetable-Seller’s Daughter.”
“Good evening, Prim Princeling, future son-in-law of my father.” she replied.
“The sons of sultans do not marry greengrocers’ daughters!” he reminded her.
And she repeated:
“He who keeps company with tramps becomes their equal.”
The king’s son continued:
“Today I took my bride on an outing!”
“Today I went out with my groom,” she countered.
“I gave my intended a ring,” said the youth.
“And my intended gave me a ring,” said the girl.
“Let me see it,” he said.
The girl went to fetch the ring. The king’s son turned it over and over in his hands then gave it back to her without comment. He could not believe his eyes. This was the very same ring he himself had chosen and bought.
“Don’t you like it?” asked the girl.
“On the contrary!” said the youth. “May God grant you happiness and good fortune!”
“God grant you the same!” said the girl.
The king’s son returned to the palace thoroughly frustrated. He told his mother that he wanted to get married immediately; he could not wait any longer. So the king’s wife went to the wife of the vizier bringing with her the gift of gold that is offered to a bride. Then together they arranged every detail to ensure that the wedding would be a success: from the date of the celebration to the clothes and jewelry to be worn.
That evening the king’s son passed by the vegetable-seller’s daughter’s window and, when they had said their “Good evenings” and teased each other a little, he boasted:
“I have given the bridal gold to my intended.”
“My groom has given me my bridal gold too,” said the girl.
“Let me see!” said the youth.
She brought out her bridal gold. He examined it then gave it back to her without a word. He could not believe his eyes.
“Is anything wrong?” she asked.
“Not at all,” he answered. “God grant you happiness and good fortune!”
“God grant you the same,” she said.
The day of the wedding came.
The vegetable-seller’s daughter prepared a bridal dais in her own room before going to the vizier’s house. There they dressed her and combed her and decorated her hands and feet with henna dye. They seated her on a dais in their reception room and the Sheikh came to write the marriage contract binding the vizier’s daughter to the king’s son.
To prepare for the wedding night, the vizier’s wife had given the vegetable-seller’s daughter her instructions:
“At the close of the celebrations the king’s son will go out to thank his parents and his guests and well-wishers. As soon as he leaves, pull out the sack that you will find under the bed in the bridal chamber and place it on top of the bedding. Then turn out the light and go home. There is nothing more I want of you.”
“As you wish,” said the girl. After all, the vizier’s wife had kept her promise and made her and her family rich, so now she had to do her part.
The vizier’s wife packed her daughter into a sack and hid her under the bridal bed, telling the child that she should wait until the vegetable-seller’s daughter gave the signal for her to take her place on the bed. Meanwhile, the vegetable-seller’s daughter went home and sat on her own dais where the king’s son could see her.
When they exchanged greetings and challenges as before, the king’s son proclaimed:
“Today is my wedding day!”
“It is my wedding day too,” said the girl.
“God grant happiness to you both!” said the king’s son.
And the girl said:
“May God grant you also and your bride happiness and joy.”
That evening, the grocer’s daughter in her
wedding dress was taken from the vizier’s house to the king’s palace accompanied by the sound of pipes and drums. The festivities continued and did not stop until the bride retired to the wedding chamber. At last the king’s son entered the room. This was the moment to lift the veil that covers the bride’s face.
“Glory to her Creator!” he said to himself, “Her beauty rivals a shining star!”
He wanted to talk to her but her loveliness overwhelmed him and he was unable to utter a word. He gestured and pointed to her breasts and face and hands. In time he was able to question her. The vizier’s daughter, meanwhile, was hidden under the bed.
“Love of my heart, tell me what is this?” he asked, pointing to her face.
She responded:
“A songbird by the water
To be seen but not sought after.”
“And this, what is it?” he asked pointing to her breast.
Her answer was:
“An artist’s work a sculpted shape
At this a duped youth may only gape.”
“And this and this?” he asked pointing to her henna-patterned hands and feet.
She said:
“Calligraphy and inscription
They open the door for love and affection.”
At this point, the king’s son excused himself saying that it was his duty to go and thank his family and his guests and friends.
Quickly, the vegetable-seller’s daughter pulled out from under the bed the vizier’s daughter who was dressed in a wedding gown and jewelry like hers. She placed the girl where she herself had been, blew out the candles and went back to her own home as had been agreed.
When the king’s son returned, the bridal chamber was in darkness. He asked:
“Why are the candles out? I am the king’s son, a prince! I want the lamps to shine throughout the night until the sun brings morning’s light.”
There was no reply; the prince guessed that his bride was shy and preferred to stay in the dark. He sat next to her and resumed the play of question and answer as before. He began to ask:
“What is this and this?”
But the child was panicked; she shrieked:
“You should be ashamed! Take away your hands! Don’t you know what this is and this? These are my breasts! May God pass judgment on you and on my mother who arranged this marriage!”
The king’s son could not believe his ears. He lit the candles and took a look at his bride. He thought his eyes had tricked him; he rubbed them and looked again. What he saw now was very different from what he had seen before. This was a child, as flat as a pane of glass – no bosom, no bottom.
He ran into the garden and fetched a large basket and a rope; he pushed the child into the basket and hung it from the ceiling with the rope. Leaving her there, he hastened to the grocer’s house.
The vizier’s wife meanwhile had begun to grow anxious about her child. “Gone are the wine jug’s fumes; reason now resumes,” she quoted to herself. She climbed up to the bridal chamber and knocked on the door whispering her daughter’s name, wanting to be reassured that all was well. In a low voice she asked through the closed door,
“Is everything all right, my darling?”
From inside the child shouted:
“O Mother, he has hung me, I have been hung!”
Her mother understood her to say: “He has hugged me! I have been hugged!”
“What an impatient bridegroom,” she thought and she asked:
“Do you need anything, my darling?”
“Mother, He has hung me! I have been hung!” repeated the girl.
Every time the mother asked her, the child gave the same answer. One hour passed and then another. Now her mother became worried. She called the servants to break down the door and so she discovered the true condition of her daughter. The rope was cut, the basket lowered, and the child finally rescued.
The people at the palace heard the news. The king and his wife went looking for their son, the bridegroom. The young man, however, had gone to the greengrocer’s house and saw through the window the vegetable-seller’s daughter seated on her bridal dais.
“Good evening, O Vegetable-Seller’s Daughter,” he said.
“Good evening, Prim Princeling, future son-in-law of my father!” said the girl.
“Yes, by God, yes!” he exclaimed, “I long to be your father’s son-in-law! Will you let me see your face?”
She lifted the veil off her face. Praise the Lord! Was there any woman in the whole world sweeter or more beautiful!
“Love of my heart,” said the young man, “What have you been doing to me? Will you marry me now?”
“No,” she replied, “I will not marry you until you come with a deputation of petitioners, many and numerous petitioners, to beg and plead with my parents to accept you as my husband.”
The next morning the people came, a numerous delegation, to beg and plead with the vegetable seller and his wife to accept the sultan’s son as their daughter’s husband.
And when the parents were persuaded and agreed…
Hands were shaken
Vows were taken
Judge and lawyer
Wrote the paper
For all to see:
The son of the king and the vegetable-seller’s daughter
Bound in marriage, as husband and wife for ever after.
A COW CALLED JOUKHA
ONCE THERE WAS A YOUNG MAN who lived with his mother. He was longing to get married so his mother found a young girl for him. Her name was Baaqa and they were betrothed. After the wedding the young man brought Baaqa home to live with him in his mother’s house.
The family owned a cow named Joukha and it became Baaqa’s chore every day to milk the cow and take care of her. Then one day, as Baaqa bent down to clear the manure from under the cow, she farted. Horrified by the shame of it, she appealed to the cow:
“God protect you, O Joukha! Will you protect me and promise not to tell?”
The cow was moving her head from side to side to shake off the flies but Baaqa thought the gesture meant that the cow was refusing her and saying, “No!” She ran into the house and came out carrying her wedding gifts which she placed on the ground in front of the cow and begged:
“Please, Joukha! Protect me as God may protect you! Don’t tell my husband!”
But Joukha continued to shake her head.
The poor woman returned to the house and brought out her jewelry and put it in front of the cow pleading with her:
“God save you, Joukha! Save me and do not tell my husband!”
And the cow went on shaking her head.
Now Baaqa panicked. She ran to her husband’s mother:
“Dear Mother-in-Law,” she said, “as I was cleaning under the cow I farted. And Joukha heard me! I have begged and pleaded with her not to tell but she won’t listen to me. I offered her my wedding gifts and my jewelry but she has sworn that she will tell my husband!”
“Oh, the disgrace of it!” screamed the woman.
“Oh, the humiliation!” cried the bride.
The mother-in-law was as scared as the bride:
“What shall we say to him?” she asked. “How can we tell him before Joukha speaks and gives me away? What are we to do?”
That was how the young man found his wife and his mother when he came home in the evening.
“Is everything alright, God willing? What is the story? What is the matter with you both?”
His mother answered:
“Dear son,” she said, “your wife, Baaqa, is a good woman. She is reasonable. She is loving…”
“Tell me what has happened to her!” he asked. “What is wrong?”
“Nothing, nothing at all,” answered his mother.
All the while Baaqa was sobbing and covering her face with both hands.
The young man insisted that he must know what had happened in his absence. So his mother said:
“All right, I’ll tell you. But take a seat and try to stay calm
.”
The young man sat down and his mother told him how his wife was clearing under the cow, how she passed that ill-omened fart and how Joukha refused to protect Baaqa though she pleaded and begged. Then she added:
“You ought to be ashamed, Joukha! After all these years! After all the hay we fed you!”
The young man jumped to his feet in dismay. He could not believe his ears. He addressed the two women saying:
“I shall leave this house, by God! I shall leave the town! I want to see if there is anyone on earth as foolish as the two of you. If I find such a person I’ll come right back. Otherwise I will not return.”
And off he went.
He walked and walked until he reached the neighboring town. There he saw a woman coming out of her house with an empty sieve in her hands. She stood for a while holding the sieve in front of her then hurried back into the house. After watching her do this twice and three times more, he went up to her and asked:
“O Aunt, what are you doing with your sieve?”
“Dear Son,” she said, “my wheat is getting moldy. The flour is mildewed. All the provisions in my house are rotting because the sun never shines in. So with this sieve I carry a little sunshine inside each day.”
The young man asked her:
“How much will you pay me if I let the sun shine into your house all day long?”
“I’ll give you a hundred liras,” she said.
So the man broke into the wall that faced east and broke into the wall that faced west. He built two windows for the woman. Now the sun shone through both openings and filled the house with light and warmth. It dried the wheat and dried the flour and all the provisions in the house! The woman was amazed by the young man’s intelligence. She thanked him and paid him the one-hundred liras in cash and coin saying:
“God keep you and grant you a long life!”
The man pocketed the money, took his leave and moved on to another town.
As he walked on his way he came to a streaming wellspring. There he saw a man scooping out water with a tin bucket and emptying it some distance away. The man returned and lowered his bucket again and repeated what he had done before. The water meanwhile was gushing on without a stop. So the young man asked:
“Uncle, what are you trying to do with that bucket?”
Pearls on a Branch Page 9