Speak Bird Speak Again (14 page)

"Don't
strike until you see that his eyes are red," she cautioned.
"That's the only way you can be sure he's asleep. If you see him
acting any other way, be careful not to strike. He'll be awake, and
alert to the slightest movement. Every night he sleeps in one of our
laps, and tonight it's the turn of the youngest. Take care not to
strike the girl!"

"I
smell a human!" announced the ghoul when he came home.

"It's
you who brought the smell in your wake!" the girls answered.
"How could a human being possibly get in here?"

The
ghoul went to sleep in the lap of the youngest one. Looking at him
carefully, the boy saw that his eyes were red and realized he was
asleep. Immediately, he drew the sword and struck him a blow in the
neck.

"Strike
again!" urged the ghoul.

"My
mother didn't teach me how," replied the lad.

He
then called up to his father, "I've killed the ghoul! Let a rope
down so we can all get out!" When the rope was lowered, the
young man said to the girls, "You go up first." He first
let the eldest up, then the middle one. Before he let her up, the
youngest, who had two identical bracelets, took off one of them and
gave it to him.

The
moment he laid eyes on her, the father was bewitched by her beauty.
He lowered the rope to bring his son up, but when the boy was near
the mouth of the well the father cut the rope.

[Landing
at the bottom of the well, the son of Worn-out One] searched about
and found a cave. He wandered around inside until he came to the end
of it, where he found a door. Opening it, he stepped outside, and
behold! he was back on the surface of the earth. He walked till he
reached the city, where he heard that his father was preparing to
marry the youngest of the three girls, but that she was refusing to
marry him until he could match her bracelet. Now, the father had been
going from one goldsmith to another, but none of them could match the
bracelet. Chancing to meet his father at one of the jewelers in town,
the boy said, "I'll make another bracelet just like the one you
have. Bring me three kilograms of roasted watermelon seeds to crack
so I can stay up a couple of nights and make it. Come back and take
it in two days."

"Fine,"
said the father.

In two
days the father came back. "Here it is," said the boy,
"I've finished it," and he gave his father the bracelet the
girl had given him in the well. Taking the bracelet, the father went
to see the girl.

"You
must show me the one who made it for you," the girl said.

The
father brought the boy, and as soon as she saw him, the girl
recognized him.

"Bring
me a sword from our house!" the young man commanded.

She
brought him a sword, and he killed his father and married the girl.

The
bird has flown, and a good evening to all.

4.

Once
upon a time there was a man. His mother was always calling down
curses upon his head. He strung a hammock for her and put her in it,
saying to his wives, "Rock my mother in this hammock, and take
very good care of her."

His
wives organized themselves so that one of them was always rocking her
while another was doing the work. His mother spent all her time in
the hammock, and his wives were always rocking her.

One
day a traveling salesman came by. "What's going on here?"
he asked. "Why is this woman always being rocked in the
hammock?"

"Brother,"
answered the man, "she's always calling down curses upon my
head."

"Is
she your mother?"

"Yes,
my mother."

"What
do you want, old woman?" asked the salesman. "Do you want a
husband?"

"Heh!
Heh! Heh!" she chuckled.

"Your
mother wants a husband," said the salesman to the son. "I
asked her, and she started to chuckle."

"Fine,"
said the son to the salesman.

"Mother,"
he said to her, "I'm going to find you a husband."

"May
Allah bless you!" she said. For the first time in his life she
called down blessings upon his head.

He
gave her nice clothes to wear, put earrings in her ears (she was
blind), and said, "Yalla ! Come with me! I'm going to find you a
husband."

He
carried her over to the lair of the hyena. Setting her down, he said,
"Sit here a while! Your husband will be arriving soon."

The
hyena came and approached her, but she drew away from him, saying,
"Swes, swes ! Not so fast! Not so fast! Water has been spilled
on the new clothes, and the cat has eaten the candy. Not so fast,
lest you break the seed!"

"Hmmm!"
thought the hyena. "This woman's blind and can't see me."

(She's
in even worse shape than I am!)

Every
time the hyena approached her, the woman said, "Water has been
spilled on the new clothes, and the cat has eaten the candy. Not so
fast! Not so fast! Lest you break the seed."

Her
son sat opposite, watching, until the hyena devoured his mother. Then
he left.

5.

TELLER:
Testify that God is One!

AUDIENCE:
There is no god but God.

There
was in remote times a king who had two wives, a new one who was
precious to him and whom he loved, and an old one whom he did not
care for. The old one had one son, while the new one had two.

"Wait
till your father has assembled the Council of State," said the
new wife to her eldest son one day. "Then go up to him, kiss his
hand, and ask him to give you the kingdom."

Waiting
till morning, when all the ministers and dignitaries of state were
meeting with his father, the son went up, wished the assembly a good
morning, came up to his father, and kissed his hand.

"What
do you want, son?" asked the king.

"Father,"
said the boy, "I want the kingdom in your lifetime, not after
your death."

"Go
work as hard as I did and suffer the same hardships," answered
the father. "Then come back, and I'll give you the kingdom."

The
boy went back to his mother, who asked, "What did he say to
you?"

"He
said such and such," the boy answered.

She
then sent her other son, who went up the next day, wished all a good
morning, came up to his father, kissed his hand, and waited.

"What
do you want, son?" asked the father.

"I
want the kingdom in your lifetime, not after your death,"
answered the boy.

"Go
work as hard as I did," the father said. "Suffer the same
hardships. Then come back and I'll give you the kingdom."

The
boy turned around and went straight back. He and his brother had not
achieved anything.

Meanwhile,
the old wife found out what was going on. Calling her son over, she
said to him, "Clever Hasan, go up to your father, kiss his hand,
and ask him for the kingdom." The boy went up and, finding the
divan already full of people, wished everyone a good day and came up
to his father. He kissed his father's hand and waited.

"What
do you want, boy?" snapped the father.

"Father,"
answered the boy, "I want the kingdom in your lifetime, not
after your death."

Taking
hold of him, the father gave him a beating and dismissed him. When he
came back to his mother, she said, "What's the matter with you?"
He answered, "Such and such happened."

"Go
back up and ask him again," she said.

The
boy went up again, and again his father beat him and threw him out.
When he came back down, his mother asked, "What happened to
you?" He answered, "Such and such he did to me. He beat
me."

"Go
back another time," she said, and he went up for the third time.

This
time the king shot up out of his seat, wanting to kill the boy. He
wanted to take hold of him and throw him down the stairs. The
ministers and lords of state also jumped up. "What! O Ruler of
the Age!" they said. "Just say to him the same words you
said to his brothers, and he'll go away. Do you think that this one
is going to come and take the kingdom?" They calmed the king
down, until finally he said to his son, "Go work as hard as I
did and suffer as I suffered. Then come back and I'll give you the
kingdom."

Turning
around, the boy went straight to his mother'.

"What
happened, son?" she asked.

"Such
and such he said to me," answered the son. "And if it
weren't for the ministers, he would have thrown me down the stairs."

The
following day his mother prepared provisions for a journey and took
her son to the outskirts of town, you might say down around the house
of Faraj, beyond all the other houses, where there was a slab of
stone. Standing on it, she called out, "O Ballan!" and,
behold! a horse appeared. It was a jinn horse. She put the food
provisions and a waterskin in the saddlebags and said to her son,
"Mount!" "Ballan," she said to the horse, "take
care of your rider. Farewell!" Then she went home.

Turning
to the west, the horse started moving. They traveled for a day, two,
three, four, ten, a month (Allah knows how long!), until they arrived
at the seashore. They had been traveling along the shore awhile, when
lo! there was a feather. And how it sparkled all by itself! Finding
it beautiful, the lad wanted to dismount and pick it up. "By
Allah," he said to the horse, "I want to get down and take
it up."

What
was the horse's response? "By Allah," he said, "you're
going to be sorry if you take it, and sorry if you don't."

"If
I'm going to be sorry either way," replied the boy, "by
Allah, I'm going to get down and bring it with me." Dismounting,
he picked up the feather and put it in his pocket. He then got back
on the horse, and they traveled and traveled until they arrived in a
city.

Where
does a stranger go? To the khan. Straight to the caravansary they
went, where the boy rented a room for himself and his horse, and
stayed.

That
night, as it happened, the king of that place let it be known that it
was forbidden for people to light their homes. He wanted to find out
who was obedient and who was not. Now, the youth knew of this order,
and did not dare light his room. Toward the end of the night, you
might say, he pulled the feather out of his pocket and stuck it into
the wall. If the teller is not lying, that feather lit up the whole
room.

Just
about then the king, in disguise, was conducting a tour of inspection
in the city with his minister, to see who was obeying his order and
who was not. They went around the entire city, and found it all dark.
When they passed by the inn, however, they found one of the rooms
lit.

"Councillor,"
ordered the king, "manage this for me!"

"The
owner, O Ruler of the Age," replied the vizier, "manages
his own property."

"Put
a mark on this place!" ordered the king, and the vizier marked
it.

In the
morning the king sent after the young man, and he came.

"Didn't
you know the king had ordered a blackout last night?"

"Yes,
Your Majesty, I did."

"Well
then, why did you put a light on in your room?"

"My
lord, I didn't light my room."

"But
I saw it with my own eyes. So did the vizier."

"Your
Majesty, I didn't light any lamps."

"What!
Are you calling me a liar? Executioner!"

"Your
Majesty, please, wait a moment. I tell you I didn't burn a light in
my room, but on the path I found a feather that glows by itself. I
hung it up, and it lit the room."

"What
kind of feather is this, that can light up a whole room?"

"A
bird feather, your Majesty."

"Bring
it over, and let me see if you're telling the truth!"

The
lad went and brought the feather. When the king saw it, he fell
completely in love with it.

"How
strange, O Ruler of the Age!" exclaimed the vizier. "Could
it be that you're so completely taken with a feather? What if you
were to see the bird from which this feather came? What would you
do?"

"And
who's going to bring this bird?" asked the king.

"He
who brought the feather," answered the vizier, "can also
bring the bird."