by Jan Andrews
He pulled on the hair. He straightened it, but only for an instant. As soon as he let one end go, the curls came back. The Genie rubbed the hair between his fingers. The Genie started frowning. The Genie rubbed the hair against his vest.
He put the hair on the ground. He stood on it. He stamped it. He brought a bucket. He filled the bucket with water. He plunged the hair in. The curls were still there. The Genie stretched the hair between his teeth.
For two whole days the Genie worked at the hair and worked at it. He ran over it with cart wheels. He crushed it between bricks. He tied one end to the clothesline and weighted the other. He roared at the hair, he spat on it. He shook it in the wind.
All the while he was getting angrier and angrier. Smoke was coming out of his nostrils almost, flames from out of his ears. Finally, the Genie took off. He had the hair with him. He was howling. The hair wasn’t any straighter than it had been in the beginning. Most likely he’s howling and working at it still.
One thing’s for certain; the Genie didn’t come back. The Master waited a week or so, in case. When the week was up, he organized a great feast. The feast was for the servants so they could celebrate. After that, the Master didn’t forget his promise about treating them better. He became kindness itself to them. Everyone was much, much happier than they’d been before.
As for Jane, the cook said she didn’t have to wear her servant’s cap again. Not ever. She wouldn’t have had to anyway, because the Master gave her a whole lot of money to live on to thank her for her help. First she went on a journey down the river; then she went up it; then she came back.
The money the Master provided meant she only had to work when she wanted. That’s what she did then. She only did the kind of work she wanted to, as well. Mostly she spent her time helping people with their troubles. It didn’t seem to matter what problem anyone brought her. She always had some sort of an answer. Folks said she could have dealt with a hundred Genies if she’d had to. Still, they were glad enough to find that there wasn’t even one more Genie that appeared.
A NOTE ON SOURCES
JESPER AND THE JACKRABBITS. This is from a Scandinavian tale which I found in The Violet Fairy Book among the stories collected and edited by Andrew Lang (New York: Dover Publications, 1967). Lang’s version is entitled, “Jesper Who Herded the Hares.”
JACINTHE WINS WORDS. From Speak Bird, Speak Again. Palestinian Arab Folktales by Ibrahim Muhawi and Sharif Kanaana (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1989). In that book, the story is called, “The Rich Man and the Poor Man” although it is still very clearly about two sisters.
A CAT AND MOUSE TALE. From a story collected by Helen Creighton in Canada, as part of her book A Folk Tale Journey Through the Maritimes (Wreck Cove: Breton Books, 1993). That version is called, “The Old Cat Spinning in the Oven.”
JAMILLA FINDS FEAR. This story has a large number of antecedents. It was set down by the Brothers Grimm as “The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was” and is also found adapted from a Turkish version in Andrew Lang’s The Olive Fairy Book (New York: Dover Publications, 1967). I have added elements from “Down Come a Leg,” collected in Virginia by Richard Chase. I have never found the story with a girl as the central character, however.
JACK GETS HIS FIRE. From “Jack and the Beekeeper” as collected by Alan Garner for his book A Bag of Moonshine (London: William Collins & Sons, 1986).
JANE SAVES THE DAY. From a Tamil tale entitled, “A Hair’s-Breadth Escape” published in Folktales from India: A Selection of Oral Tales from Twenty-two Languages, selected and edited by A.K. Ramanujan as part of The Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library (New York: Pantheon Books, 1991).