Pearls on a Branch

by Najla Jraissaty Khoury

  Now my meals are kitchen garbage and dry bread crusts.”

  Then the king’s son heard his wife’s voice rising out of the well:

  “O Little Gazelle, my Brother dear,

  Wherever I am you follow near

  You saw their trick and know my plight

  I live in darkness like the night

  As if a whale has swallowed me

  Only my long hair now covers me

  The prince’s son sleeps on my arm

  God keep us both from every harm!”

  The king’s son rushed to the well and rescued his wife and child. When he had brought them back to the palace, the girl told him her story from beginning to end, starting with how her stepmother killed her little brother, to how his bones turned into the Green Bird, and then into the gazelle now standing by their side.

  The girl and king’s son lived long and happily together and they were never parted from the gazelle with the golden chain around his neck.

  THE SINGING TURD

  O Lord, Exalted One!

  Creator, who shaped us from top to toe!

  Hear my cries of longing, my cries of woe!

  Grant me a child to carry and call my own.

  THIS WAS THE WOMAN’S DAILY PRAYER. Day after day, she pleaded with God to bless her with a little daughter. But God did not respond to her petitions. Then, one night, worn down by despair, the woman declared that she would accept God’s blessing in whatever form it came.

  “O Lord, Exalted One!

  Who hears our every word

  Grant me a child, a little one,

  Even if she is just a turd.”

  God fulfilled her wish. She became pregnant and after nine months she gave birth to a turd. Happy to be a mother, the woman picked up her little daughter and placed her in a bowl of cut crystal, which she set on a shelf in the bathhouse. She pushed back the window shutters so the child could look outside and not feel lonesome.

  The daughter liked to sing and she had a voice that could move the world.

  One day the son of the sultan happened to pass by the window and heard her singing. Her voice entered his heart. When he returned to the palace, he told his mother that he wished her to ask for the hand of the singer in marriage.

  The sultan’s wife went to the house, taking with her a golden platter heaped with jewels. She knocked on the door and entered. She explained that she had come to ask for the hand of the singer with the beautiful voice as a wife for her son:

  “I come courting my intentions most serious.

  Rejection will cause me sorrow most grievous.”

  The mother was confused by this request and she said regretfully:

  “But I have no girls suitable for marriage.”

  The sultan’s wife persisted, guessing that the mother was hiding her daughter because of some defect in the girl.

  “I will accept your daughter as she is,” she said.

  “But I do not have any marriageable girls,” repeated the mother.

  The sultan’s wife insisted:

  “We will welcome your daughter whatever her condition. My son is determined to marry her.”

  “May God judge us and show mercy as we face this trouble that has come upon us,” said the mother. And, without another word, she accepted the tray of jewels.

  When the guest had returned to her palace, the woman went to the bathhouse to tell her daughter the news:

  “O my child, my dear one! You have to hurry and bathe because the Sultan’s son has chosen you to be his wife.”

  The daughter began to sing:

  “I have no hair to brush,

  I have no limbs to wash,

  I have no beauty to display.

  If the Sultan’s son comes courting, alas,

  What words are there for me to say?”

  Just then, as she was singing her plaintive song, a man walked by the window. He looked inside to see who possessed a voice of such beauty.

  Now this man had a strange history. Years before, he had been stricken with a mysterious disease that caused a large swelling to cover his face. The doctors were puzzled and declared it incurable. The man, for whom there was no cure, had been wandering about the streets as if to bid the world goodbye. When he heard the beautiful voice he was eager to discover who the singer was.

  So he looked through the bathhouse window, but all he saw was a turd on a shelf sitting in a crystal bowl and singing. This made him explode with laughter. She was singing and he was laughing. He continued to laugh as he went on his way. He entered his house still laughing. He laughed and laughed so hard that the swelling on his face burst and disappeared.

  The man had seven beautiful sisters living with him in his house. The sisters had refused marriage and instead had devoted themselves to constant prayer for their brother’s recovery. When they heard their brother laughing, they rushed to find out the reason why. They could see that he had been cured and they asked him how. So he told them all that he had seen and heard. The sisters were overjoyed by their brother’s healing. They wanted to listen to the singer and see her for themselves. They dressed in their outdoor clothes and stood beneath the bathhouse window. They heard the beautiful voice singing: “I have no hair to brush,

  I have no limbs to wash,

  I have no beauty to display,

  If the Sultan’s son comes courting, alas,

  What words are there for me to say?”

  When the sisters saw who the singer was, they decided that, as she had cured their brother, so too must she be helped. They prayed fervently, asking God to grant their wishes on her behalf:

  The first sister said: Let her have a fine body like mine.

  The second sister said: Let her have a full breast like mine.

  The third sister said: Let her have long hair like mine.

  The fourth sister said: Let her have clear eyes like mine.

  The fifth sister said: Let her have fair skin like mine

  The sixth sister said: Let her have my wisdom.

  The seventh sister said: Let her have my wit.

  Just then the Sultan’s wife came to visit. She asked:

  “Why do you keep your daughter hidden away? I want to see your singer with the beautiful voice!”

  Without responding the mother went to the bathhouse and knocked on the door. When she went in she could not believe her eyes. She let out a scream of joy. She saw her daughter transformed into a shapely young woman, radiant as the sun, with a beauty that could tell the moon to set so she might sit in its place. She hailed her:

  “God’s blessing upon you!

  Blessings all around you!

  My child is young and fair of form

  Like noonday’s sun she’s bright and warm!

  She can tell the moon to go away

  And in its place herself hold sway.”

  Such was the mother’s joyous ululation as her daughter stepped out. Meanwhile the sultan’s wife looked at the girl and thought:

  “This must be the most beautiful bride in the whole world!”

  As for the sultan’s son, when he saw that she was as enchanting as her voice, he fell in love all over again. So they were married. All who knew them wished them well and they lived out their lives in happiness and delight.

  May your lives be as happy, God willing! Inshallah!

  THE MOUSE THAT WANTED A HUSBAND

  To tell a tale I am most willing.

  My daughter back and forth is running

  There’s a gecko on the bathhouse ceiling

  Never mind it does not matter

  We can reach it with a ladder

  My daughter is fretful and worried

  I’ll tell her the tale of a mouse that got married.

  THIS IS THE STORY OF THE LITTLE MOUSE that wanted a husband.

  Every morning and every night the little mouse said to her mother:

  “Mother dear, I want to get married!”

  And her mother would reply:

  “Dear child,
wait a while, be patient. You are far too young for marriage.”

  So it went, day after day, until one day the little mouse told her mother:

  “Mother, I have decided! I am going to get married today!”

  So her mother said:

  “Go and sit up by the main road and look out for a passerby who pleases you. Then say: ‘Would you like to have me as your bride?’”

  The little mouse washed herself and bathed; she combed her hair and put on the most beautiful dress she owned. She sat by the side of the road and waited and waited. A camel came along and stopped in front of her. He asked:

  “O Little Mouse, O Mousekin! What are you doing here?”

  She answered:

  “I am looking for a husband.”

  The camel proudly stretched his neck and said:

  “I am the perfect bridegroom. Will you have me?”

  The little mouse said:

  “Put your gold inside my sleeve

  I’ll have to ask my mother’s leave.”

  Back to the house she ran, calling:

  “Mother, Mother!

  His eyes are large, so large

  His head is large, so large

  His hooves are large, so large

  All of him is O so very large!”

  “Why, that is the camel!” cried her mother. “What a calamity! If he should fall on you, he’d crush you to death.”

  The little mouse ran back to the road and said to the camel:

  “My mother won’t hear of it!”

  She gave him the gold, which she had knotted into the end of her wide sleeve, and the camel went on his way.

  The little mouse sat and waited and waited until a donkey came along. He stopped in front of her and asked:

  “O Little Mouse, O Mousekin! What are you doing here?”

  She said:

  “I am looking for a husband.”

  The donkey brayed loudly and said:

  “I am the ideal bridegroom. Will you have me?”

  The little mouse said:

  “Put your gold inside my sleeve

  I’ll have to ask my mother’s leave.”

  The donkey placed the gold in the end of her sleeve and the little mouse hurried home to tell her mother:

  “Mother, Mother!

  His eyes are big, so big!

  His head is big, so big

  His hooves are big, so big!

  All of him is O so very big!”

  “That is the donkey!” said her mother. “What bad luck! If he should fall on you he would crush you to death.”

  The little mouse ran back to the road and said to the donkey:

  “My mother says, ‘No!’”

  She returned the gold she had tied in her sleeve and the donkey went on his way.

  The little mouse sat by the road and waited and waited. Then a handsome mouse came along and stood before her and asked:

  “O Little Mouse, O Mousekin! What are you doing here?”

  She answered:

  “I am looking for a husband.”

  He said:

  “I’ll be your bridegroom! Will you have me?”

  She replied:

  “Put your gold inside my sleeve

  I’ll have to ask my mother’s leave.”

  Then home she ran and shouted to her mother:

  “Mother, Mother!

  His eyes are small and bright

  His head is just my height

  His paws are neat and slight

  All of him is O so very right!”

  “That is your uncle’s son, your first cousin,” said her mother. “Yes, you may marry him! You have my blessing!”

  The little mouse skipped all the way to the road and told the mouse:

  “My mother says, ‘Yes!’”

  “Then let us get married!” said the mouse.

  “No!” said the little mouse. “First we must spend some of the gold on wedding clothes.”

  So they went and bought their wedding finery.

  “Now can we get married?” asked the mouse.

  “No!” said the little mouse, “First I’d like to take a wedding bath.”

  “And after that will we marry?” he asked.

  “We’ll marry after that,” she said.

  “What would you like for the wedding feast?” he asked.

  “Two cakes of kibbeh,” she said, “that you can balance on your nose, two meat dumplings that you can carry in each ear, and a ball of cheese that you can roll in front of you when you come.”

  In a neighboring house there was a banquet and there the handsome mouse went to get what the little mouse wanted.

  The little mouse, meanwhile, went to the well to have her bath. She swam and splashed and laughed for joy but when she wanted to climb out again she found she could not do it. She tried and tried but was unable to get herself out of the well. She began to shout as loudly as she could to let the people hear her. She called out for help but no one heard. Then a man rode by on his way to the neighbor’s banquet. When he stopped at the well to water his donkey, he heard a voice calling:

  “O rider on a fine horse riding

  Your harness bells merrily jingling

  To the prince of princes go and tell

  That the fairest of the fair slipped and fell

  And now awaits him at the bottom of the well.

  Do this and don’t forget

  Or you’ll have reason for regret:

  When you try to rise and stand upright

  Your bottom to the mat will be stuck tight.”

  The man mounted his donkey and trotted off to the banquet. He ate and drank and danced and sang then sat down to rest on the straw matting that covered the floor. He forgot all that had happened before. Then when he wanted to get up again he found his bottom was stuck to the mat. His friends laughed and he remembered the well; he laughed too as he told his friends:

  “When I was on my way here I stopped at the well to water my donkey. The fairest of the fair was in the well! She was looking for the prince of princes! She called out to me:

  ‘O rider, on a fine horse riding

  Your harness bells merrily jingling

  To the prince of princes go and tell

  That the fairest of the fair slipped and fell

  And now awaits him at the bottom of the well.

  Do this and don’t forget

  Or you’ll have reason for regret:

  When you try to rise and stand upright

  Your bottom to the mat will be stuck tight.’”

  The mouse heard all this and guessed that the fairest of the fair was the little mouse and he himself was the prince of princes. Quickly he jumped and quickly he grabbed two cakes of kibbeh and balanced them on his nose, two meat dumplings and carried them in his ears, and a round of cheese to roll before him. Then he ran and ran, hopping from stone to stone and leaping from rock to rock, until he reached the well. Dropping the food on the ground, he cried:

  “O Little Mouse, O Mousekin, what do you want me to do?”

  “Save me! Rescue me!” she said. “Pull me out of the well!”

  “Shall I reach down my paw?” he asked.

  “No,” she said.

  “Shall I stretch down my leg?” he asked.

  “No,” she said.

  “Shall I bend down my ear?” he asked.

  “No!” she said.

  “Shall I let down my tail?” he asked.

  “Yes!” she said, “Yes, let down your tail.”

  The mouse let his tail hang down and the little mouse took firm hold of it; he pulled and pulled until she came up out of the well. The mouse was overjoyed and the little mouse was happy. They danced in the light of the sun. They wore their wedding clothes. They feasted on their wedding meal. They were married and had many little baby mice.

  The bird has taken flight

  God grant you a good night.

  THE DRINKING FOUNTAIN

  There was or there was not…

  No t
ale is worthy of listeners generous and honorable,

  Without first invoking God the Almighty and the Merciful…

  THERE ONCE WAS A KING who had a daughter. She was his only child and he loved her dearly and indulged her excessively. Then one night in his sleep he had a dream in which he saw himself kissing the hand of his son-in-law, his daughter’s husband. He woke up angry and was furious at his daughter. He said to his wife:

  “Have the girl taken to the palace of isolation. Do it today, don’t wait till tomorrow. Do it now!”

  The mother tried to argue with him:

  “Listen to me, dear husband! Lighten up, dear one! Have a heart!”

  But it was no use. The mother was forced to confine her daughter as the king commanded.

  So it was that the girl came to spend her days in a palace apart that had no window or terrace to the outside and with only her maidservant to keep her company. She woke up alone, took her meals by herself, and went to sleep in her lonely bed. The servant girl would look in from time to time and her mother would steal a moment to pass by and check on her and then hurry home. But otherwise the girl was left to herself. She was bored by the sameness of her life. The loneliness oppressed her: she could no longer endure the isolation or wait for it to end.

  When her mother next came to see her, the girl said:

  “Mother dear, I am tired of this dull life. It is depressing to be alone all day. This banishment is unbearable. I can’t wait for it to end.”

  Her mother put her arms around her but she said that she didn’t know what she could do to change the orders given by her husband, the king.

  “I will deal with this myself,” said the girl. “Only give me a set of my father’s clothes, one of my father’s horses, and a saddlebag filled with money!”

  “But where are you planning to go, my dearest?” her mother asked. “I fear for you.”

  “Trust me, Mother, and do not worry!” replied the girl, “God’s earth is spacious and I want to leave. I can’t stay here any longer.”

  Her mother brought the clothes and the horse and the saddlebag full of money. The girl dressed herself in her father’s clothes, mounted his horse, and tied on the saddlebag. Then she kissed her mother and her maidservant and rode off.

  She traveled without pausing until she had gone a long distance from her father’s kingdom. When she finally stopped, she found herself in wild and desolate country with no one near but God above and the green grass below. Here she reined in her horse and dismounted. She drank from a nearby stream, watered her horse, and tied it to a tree. Then she stretched out on the ground and slept.