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Pearls on a Branch

Page 12

by Najla Jraissaty Khoury


  “Remember that you are my wife now and I am your husband. You have to trust me!”

  Jubayna stepped out of the dog skin. And there she stood:

  A young woman of pleasing grace

  Radiant as the sun at noon

  Who could rightly tell the moon:

  “You may set, for I can shine in your place.”

  * * *

  Her husband seized the dog skin, wanting to get rid of it, but she managed to hold on to a small piece. He handed the skin to the keeper of the bathhouse fires and told him to burn it. Jubayna meanwhile rubbed her brow with the piece she had, and it made her even more beautiful than she already was.

  Next morning, Jubayna guessed that the supernatural spirit who had menaced her must have died. She had spent a whole day and night without the dog skin, and nothing harmful had happened to her. So she felt free to tell her husband her whole story.

  Now the prince was ready to celebrate his wedding. He invited Jubayna’s people to attend. His own parents came, and his brothers also. They ridiculed him, mocking and jeering and asking to meet his dog wife. He said:

  “First you must give me your wedding gifts for the bride.”

  After every member of his family had offered him the traditional gift of bridal gold, he said:

  “Come, Jubayna!”

  The young woman entered. Her beauty shone like a candle in the dark. God’s name be upon her! What a breathtaking sight!

  Everyone was delighted. Everyone ululated with joy. The bridegroom said:

  “Mother, let the wedding feast be carried to the terrace on the roof.”

  He built a wooden ladder into which he hammered nails so that as his bride climbed up each rung her scarf would catch on a nail and slip off. Then all the people of the town would see Jubayna without her head veil and know that the prince had married not a mangy dog but a woman of astonishing beauty.

  The town crier was sent to announce:

  “For seven days and seven nights no one shall eat or drink except from the prince’s palace.”

  Jubayna’s parents came. The wedding banquet was carried to the roof. The bride was radiant and, as she climbed the ladder up to the terrace, at each rung her head veil caught on a nail and fell, while the prince stood by to hand her another in its stead.

  They went on to live together in happiness and glory

  May God sweeten the days of all who enjoy this story.

  BALDHEAD IN THE GARDEN

  There was or perhaps there was not,

  It may have happened or maybe not,

  In this story we say a lot;

  The truth hangs from the tongue of the narrator

  As a grape hangs from the vine in the arbor.

  THERE WAS A WOMAN who lived with her husband and their two children. With them also was the orphaned son of the husband’s first wife. The father loved his motherless child and favored him above the stepmother’s two sons. The orphaned boy owned a young horse, a filly that he had raised and cared for since childhood. This horse was on constant alert to warn the boy about his stepmother.

  One day the woman called all three children and told them that she had stewed two stuffed geese for Eid, the holiday. Her stepson was to have one whole goose for himself.

  “No,” said the boy, “let me have an equal share with my brothers.”

  “You are the eldest and most deserving,” said the woman. “I want you to have a whole goose; I have stuffed it with rice and spice and pistachio nuts.”

  The boy dished out a portion of the food and ran to feed his horse. The filly took one sniff at the dish and refused to eat.

  “It is poisoned,” she told him. “Your goose is stuffed with poison!”

  The boy returned to his brothers and in passing, spun the serving tray so that the poisoned goose lay before the woman’s two sons and the other goose in front of himself.

  No sooner had the two sons taken a couple of bites than they fell down dead. The woman realized what had happened and decided to rid herself of the orphan’s horse.

  Some days later, she rubbed her face with saffron water to stain it yellow and laid some toasted bread under her sheet. Then she took to her bed turning this way and that so that the crisped bread crackled with every move.

  “Oh, oh, my poor bones!” she loudly groaned. “Oh, oh, I can hear them breaking!”

  “God keep you and grant you good health, O Wife of my Father,” said the boy. “What is the matter with you? What do you need to make you feel better?”

  That day the filly had said to the youth:

  “Up till now you have been the one your stepmother tries to harm. But watch, today she is determined to harm me!”

  When the stepmother answered the boy she said:

  “The doctor told me that the only cure is for me to eat the heart of a young female horse with white markings on three of her legs.”

  “A filly with three white feet?” exclaimed the boy. “The only horse that fits that description is my own dear filly! I raised her and trained her myself; let me take one more ride on her and say goodbye.”

  “O dearest boy! Your stepmother’s darling!” said the woman. “There is no need for farewells! Keep your filly! What does it matter if I never recover?”

  “Oh no, Stepmother, you will surely recover!” said the boy. He saddled the filly, rode up and down shouting “Goodbye!” not once or twice but three times then waved to his father’s wife and galloped off.

  He continued on horseback until he came to a fork in the road. There he dismounted and pulled two hairs from the filly’s mane. He told her that he would burn one of the hairs to summon her if ever he was in trouble.

  “Now go!” He said, “May safety be your companion!”

  The filly trotted off in one direction and the youth took the other. Continuing on foot he arrived at an imposing castle, standing by itself, far from any sign of human life. He could smell meat being grilled and it made him hungry. He went closer to take a look. He saw a ghoul cutting up lamb’s meat, groping to count the pieces: “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7!” Just then, the ghoul had a sneezing fit. So the boy crept up quietly and stole a piece of the meat, then hid out of the way to eat it. The ghoul counted his meat again: “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6…” When he felt for the seventh piece and found it missing, he was furious. Sniffing right and left he growled:

  “I smell a human smell! If there is anyone present here, let him answer now, or I will eat him for my dinner. If he answers, I will not touch him.”

  Hearing this, the young man came out of his hiding place and jumped in front of the ghoul and said:

  “I am here, Father!”

  “Are you really my son?” asked the ghoul.

  “Of course I am!” said the boy.

  So the ghoul said:

  “If you truly are a child of mine, you will be strong like me. As a test, I shall piss on you. If I carve a hole in your middle, I will devour you. But if your stomach remains untouched, I’ll know you are my son.”

  The ghoul had been blinded by his sister and he could not see a thing. So the boy held a stone slab across his middle and lay down on his back. As the ghoul stood over him, the boy said:

  “Go on, Father! Let fly!”

  The boy had to hold the slab with both his hands. The ghoul’s flow was so powerful it pierced the stone! Throwing the slab aside, the boy stood up and leaned forward so the ghoul could feel his stomach.

  “Yes, you are indeed my son,” said the ghoul. And he enveloped the youth in his cloak.

  Now it was the ghoul’s daily task to drive his flock, his sheep and his goats, out to pasture, going wherever there was grass. But the herd had grazed till the ground was bare.

  “Let me help you, Father,” said the boy, “I’ll pasture your flock for you.”

  “Just keep out of my sister’s way,” warned the ghoul. “She’s the one who blinded me.”

  The boy set out with the ghoul’s sheep and goats and found that the pasture nearby was dry and barren
. Towards the sister’s place, however, a spread of green grass covered the ground. So the boy led the flock to crop in that direction, while he sat under a tree singing to himself a shepherd’s song. Suddenly, he saw dust rising in the distance and the ghoul’s sister with a mass of tangled hair approaching as fast as her legs could carry her, roaring at the top of her voice. He quickly climbed up the tree and stood on the highest branch. The ghoul’s sister stopped below and called up to him:

  “Come, my love, my own brother’s son! Climb down, dear nephew!”

  “Why don’t you climb up to me?” asked the boy.

  “How do you expect me to clamber up the tree?” she asked.

  “Let me get hold of your hair and pull you up,” said the boy.

  So he caught hold of the sister’s hair but he wrapped it tightly round one of the branches.

  “Give me the medicine, Aunt, to cure my father,” he said.

  “What medicine and what cure are you talking about?” asked the ghoul’s sister.

  “O Aunt,” said the boy, “you were the one who blinded your brother and now you must give me the medicine to cure him. Let me have it or else I’ll leave you in this tree hanging by your hair.”

  The ghoul’s sister told him where to find a jar of ointment. He rubbed it on the eyes of one of the sheep. The sheep went blind, unable to see. So the boy rushed back to the ghoul’s sister:

  “O Aunt,” he cried. “First you blinded your brother and now you have blinded his sheep. Give me the right medicine or I will leave you hanging here so the wild dogs can come and tear you to pieces.”

  She told him where the medicine was. He rubbed it on the sheep’s eyes and the sheep regained its sight. Then he cut off the ghoul’s sister’s head and returned to the ghoul with the healing ointment and the flock of sheep and goats.

  “Father,” he said, “I have come to cure your blindness and give you back your sight.”

  “What are you saying, son,” said the ghoul. “I am no match for my sister. I have never been able to face her myself so how could you?”

  “I have killed her,” said the boy, “and here is her head. I have brought you the medicine that will cure you.”

  He placed the sister’s head on the ghoul’s knee and rubbed first one eye and then the other with the ointment. The ghoul stood up and opened his eyes.

  “Dear boy!” he said, “Let me look at you. I can see you now and see my home and the sheep and the goats! Ask me for anything you desire and you shall have it.”

  The ghoul gave the boy the keys to his castle. But first he cautioned him that there were two keys he must never use; they unlocked two rooms he must never enter.

  For a time, the orphan boy lived in the ghoul’s castle happy and contented. Then, one day, he could not resist the urge to open the forbidden rooms. He opened the door to the first room and found that it contained a stream of liquid silver. When he dipped his hands into the stream, all ten fingers turned to silver. He opened the second room and saw a stream of liquid gold. He leaned down to take a better look and a lock of his hair brushed against the stream so all his hair turned to gold! The boy quickly locked up the two rooms and covered his hands and hair so the ghoul would not guess what had happened. But the ghoul had seen him and knew that he had disobeyed his orders. So the youth was forced to confess.

  “I went against your wishes, Father,” he said, “I went into the forbidden rooms.”

  “This means you cannot stay here any longer,” said the ghoul, “You must continue on your travels and fend for yourself from now on.”

  Before bidding the ghoul farewell, the boy slaughtered one of the sheep, took out the stomach, cleaned it and turned it into a leather cap. He wore the cap to hide his gold hair but it made him look like a bald man. Then, taking leave of the ghoul, he went on his way.

  He walked and walked until he arrived at a king’s palace where preparations were being made for some important event. This king had three daughters for whom he wanted to find suitable husbands. It was the custom in that city for suitors to pass below the window of a marriageable girl so that she could throw an apple to the one she chose to be her husband.

  At the palace, the orphaned youth asked if there was any work he could do. They gave him a job as gardener and a nickname; they called him “Baldhead-in-the-Garden.” So the boy began to work in the palace grounds. He cared for the plants during the day and at sunset he took off his leather cap and rested. Now it happened that one night the king’s youngest daughter was looking out of her window and saw the youth’s golden hair gleaming in the moonlight. In that moment, she decided that when she threw her apple, it would be to this young man.

  On the day of the big celebration, the king’s three daughters stood at their window while, one by one, the young men of the kingdom walked past below. Each girl made her choice and the youngest daughter tossed her apple to Baldhead-in-the-Garden. Her father was not pleased.

  “You are creating an embarrassment for me!” he said to her, “How can I accept someone like this Baldhead-in-the-Garden as my son-in-law?”

  “If I don’t marry him, I will not marry at all,” she declared.

  “Go, then! Go live like him and share his poverty,” retorted her father.

  “I will gladly share his life, whatever it may be,” she said.

  The three sisters were married, the weddings were celebrated and the youngest daughter departed with Baldhead-in-the-Garden.

  “I saw you from my window,” she said, “I saw your golden hair. I don’t believe that you are a gardener!”

  “Baldhead-in-the-Garden is what I am!” he replied.

  She gave him fine clothing but he refused to wear it. At night he slept on the doorstep of the house. “My time has not come yet,” he explained.

  Then one day the king fell ill. He summoned the husbands of his two older daughters and asked them to bring him lion’s milk for a cure. The youngest daughter heard this and ran to tell her husband.

  The youth set light to one of his filly’s hairs. In an instant she stood before him. He put on the fine clothing, mounted the horse and rode away to distant parts where he found the lion’s milk. On the way home he met his two brothers-in-law setting out on their quest. They didn’t recognize him, and as they chatted by the roadside, they told him where they were going and for what purpose.

  “I have some lion’s milk with me,” said the youth, “but it is costly.”

  “We will gladly pay whatever you ask for and more,” they cried, “Just name your price.”

  He told them that what he wanted was for the two of them to hand over their rings. He pocketed the two rings and gave the men the lion’s milk. Then he returned to his wife.

  Time passed. War broke out between the king and a neighboring kingdom. The king marched out to battle at the head of his army with his two sons-in-law at his side. He did not ask for any help from the husband of his youngest daughter. The army was on the point of defeat; it began to retreat. In a panic, Baldhead-in-the-Garden’s wife begged her husband to save the king her father.

  So Baldhead set light to the second hair from his filly’s mane, and as soon as the horse appeared, he rode out in his fine suit, swinging his sword and killing the king’s enemies. He fought so bravely that the king was able to declare victory. During the battle, Baldhead-in-the-Garden was wounded and the king offered him his royal sash to tie his arm.

  The battle was over and the youth returned to his wife. He was exhausted and threw himself on his bed just as he was while his wife sat beside him. He showed her the bandage on his arm that was her father’s sash and the two rings that had belonged to her brothers-in-law. While the young woman was still caring for her tired husband and making him comfortable, the king burst into the house rebuking her in anger:

  “Every able-bodied man in the kingdom came to fight alongside us,” he said. “Everyone, that is, except for this lazy Baldhead, your husband. It was a brave stranger, an unknown hero, who saved us in the end!”
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  The girl stood up to face her father and the king saw his own sash in her hand and the seal rings of his two sons-in-law. He kissed his daughter and her husband. Gazing at Baldhead-in-the-Garden with admiration and respect, the king begged to be forgiven for the past.

  The young couple celebrated their wedding anew

  They enjoyed peace and prosperity their whole life through

  Until the time came for them to pay Death his due.

  KING SOLOMON AND THE QUEEN OF BIRDS

  It may or may not be so,

  For it happened long ago.

  In the days before men used coins and minted gold,

  When goods were bartered, not bought and sold,

  King Solomon, peace be upon his soul,

  Ruled with justice and clemency, we have been told…

  EVERY FRIDAY, THE KING OPENED wide his palace gates and received all those who wished to see him. The people came: this one to report his news, that one to explain his views; one man to seek counsel, another to complain; some praising and thankful, others ready to blame….

  In those days King Solomon conversed with all living creatures and addressed the animals in their own tongue.

  One morning, a chiffchaff bird saw her reflection in the water of a lake and she said to herself:

  “How beautiful I am! It is true I am very, very small. But I wear a golden collar round my neck and my robe is olive green and walnut brown. Delicate and straight is my beak and my posture most refined. Surely I am entitled to be queen of all the birds.”

  So on one of those Fridays when the palace gates were opened, the little bird entered along with the other visitors.King Solomon, peace be upon him, received her and she approached and said:

  “O Messenger of God, behold: I am very, very small but I wear a golden collar around my neck and my robe is olive green and walnut brown. My beak is delicate and straight and my posture most refined. Surely I am entitled to be the queen of birds! Crown me, O King Solomon, make me queen of all the birds!”

 

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