Speak Bird Speak Again (33 page)

"O
despair!" the mother cried out when he knocked. "Here he
is, still alive, O Slave of Blessing!"

"By
Allah," the giant exclaimed, "I have no idea how he could
have come back."

"Welcome
back, son!" she said. "Allah be praised for your safety?

She
kissed him, taking away the pitcher. "And now," they said
to each other, "What are we going to do?"

"Ask
him where his strength lies," suggested the giant.

"O
Clever Hasan, my son," she asked him one day, "where does
your strength lie?"

"On
my head are seven hairs," he answered. "If you cut them,
all my power will be gone,"

"Come
here," she said, "and let me remove the lice from your
hair."

She
sat down to delouse him and pulled the seven hairs from his head.
When she gave him a bit of thread, he did not have the strength to
break it.

"O
Slave of Blessing!" she called out. "Come over and cut off
his head!"

"No,
mother? begged Hasan. "I'm your son!"

"Never!"
said the mother. "Cut off his head!"

They
chopped off his head, gouged out his eyes, and cut his body into four
pieces, which they put in a box that they threw into the sea. The
following day some fishermen found a box that had been washed ashore
by the waves. "By Allah," they said, "this will make a
good present for the king's daughter. We're going to present it to
her."

Taking
the box with them, they came to the daughter of the king, and the
moment she saw them, she knew. "Alas!" cried she, "Oh!
What a loss, Clever Hasan!" She took him from the fishermen,
giving them ten dinars and sending them on their way. "So! Your
mother did you in!" she said to him, opening the box. "How
much did I advise you, but you didn't listen!"

With
the water of life at hand, she connected the foot to the leg and
rubbed them with the water, and (Allah granting the power) it healed.
She then connected the arms, the back, and the shoulders. Lastly, she
placed the head in place and rubbed it with the water, and behold! he
sneezed.

"Where
am I?" he asked.

"You're
with me, O Clever Hasan," she answered. "Where are your
eyes?"

"They
gouged them out before they slaughtered me. My little brother has
them."

"Don't
worry!" she said, and set about feeding him broth of squab and
chicken every day. She fed him these nutritious broths daily until he
grew as strong as a camel.

"I'm
going back to kill the giant," he announced.

"And
how are you going to kill him?" she asked. "First you must
get your eyes back. Take some trinkets with you and call out,
'Bracelets, O girls! Rings, O girls!' Your brothers will come out and
ask how much you want for them. Say you don't want money, you want
eyes. What's in your left hand for the left eye."

Hasan
did as she advised him. "Ah! Yes!" his little brother piped
up. "By Allah, my brother's eyes are on the window sill. Wait
till I get them for you." Taking the eyes with him, Hasan threw
down all his trinkets, saying, "On your way now!"

When
he had come back, the king's daughter put his eyes back in place and
he became better than before, even more youthful than he had been.
Having got his eyesight and his strength back, he said to the king's
daughter, "I'm going over to kill them one by one."

"O
my sweetheart, my soul!" she pleaded with him. She nearly died
begging him to stay. "Never!" he said, mounting his horse.
Taking his sword with him, he headed straight for the door and
knocked.

"Who
is it?"

"I'm
Clever Hasan!" he announced.

"Yee!"
she screamed, "It's the death of me!"

"You
didn't say that when you had me slaughtered," said her son. "You
had me quartered. But by Allah, I'm going to tear you to pieces - you
and your Slave of Blessing? First he cut the giant's throat over her
knee, then he slaughtered the two boys and the girl and tore them to
pieces in front of her. "As for you," he said, "I'm
not only going to kill you, I'm going to tear you to shreds. I bring
you here whole and hearty, and you betray me by marrying the slave
whose legs I cut off!"

He
tore her apart and threw the pieces away. Then he demolished the
palace and took all the giant's treasure, sending it to the king's
daughter.

One
day the king asked his daughter, "Don't you want to get
married?"

"Yes,
father, I do," she answered. "Let it be known in town that
I want to get married."

It was
made public that the king's daughter was ready to marry, and the
notables - the viziers, the pashas, and the beys - came passing under
her window, expecting her to choose one of them by tossing an apple
over his head, but it was no use.

Meanwhile,
Clever Hasan put on a tattered sackcloth. He had also got

hold
of a sheep's stomach, which he had ripped open and put on his head.
He then came and walked under the window of the king's daughter's
palace. Recognizing him, she threw the apple down over his head.

"Yee!
What shame!" some exclaimed. "What a disaster!" said
others. Each had her own words, and the father refused. He did not
want to give her to him.

"Never!"
she insisted. "I won't take another!"

"If
you must marry him," he said, "you'll marry him in the
house of desertion."

"Fine,"
she said. "I accept."

They
were married and lived together in isolation. Time passed, and her
father was at war. Clever Hasan had an old, worn-out mule, and when
the war started he rode it into battle. "Ha! Ha!" he egged
his mule on, and people abused him, spitting on him and cursing:
"Damn your father and his father who took you for a son-in-law
by giving you his daughter!"

When
he had left these people behind and there was no one around to see
him, he brought out his magic ring.

"Magic
ring!" he called out.

"Your
servant at your command!" came the answer.

"I
want a green mare the like of which has never been seen, and I want a
gold-plated sword."

Immediately,
a green mare appeared, a green suit of armor, and a golden sword. He
went down to battle, and - slit! slit - he slit throats till sunset.
A third of the enemy was destroyed. On his way back to town, riding
his mule and wearing his tattered clothes, whoever saw him spat on
him.

The
next day he went to battle, and again people were cursing him and
spitting on him as he passed through. When he had gone some distance
and there was no one around to say "There is no god but God!"
he dismounted from his mule.

"Magic
ring? he called out.

"Your
fortune's at your fingertips!" came the answer.

"I
want a red mare, a red suit, and a gold-plated sword."

Down
to battle he went, and - slit! slit! - he cut throats until another
third of the enemy was gone. Pulling himself together, he went home
as people spat on him.

On the
third day he mounted his mule and came down, and when he reached a
deserted spot, out came the ring.

"Magic
ring!"

"Your
fortune's at your fingertips?

"I
want a white suit, a white mare, and a sword that will give me the
upper hand in battle."

"Fine.
Right away!"

Clever
Hasan came down to the field of battle. Meanwhile, the king, hearing
about the knight who came and killed a third of the enemy every day,
said, "By Allah, I want to go and see the knight about whom the
people have been talking."

Clever
Hasan came down to the battleground, killed the remaining third, and
went back home riding the white mare. When people saw him and
realized who it was they had been spitting on, they thought something
strange was going on and went to speak to the king about it. When the
king saw Hasan, he was overwhelmed.

"Your
husband," he asked his daughter," what's his name?"

"His
name," she answered, "is Clever Hasan, the son of King
So-and-So."

"You
married the son of King So-and-So!"

"Yes."

The
king came forward and embraced Hasan, saying, "I'm really sorry,
dear son-in-law?

He had
it announced in town that there was to be a feast of seven days and
seven nights to celebrate the marriage of Clever Hasan to his
daughter. The townspeople were invited to feast for the whole week at
the king's expense, in celebration of Clever Hasan's wedding.

And
may every year find you in good health!

23.

TELLER:
Testify that God is One!

AUDIENCE:
There is no god but God.

Once
there was a woman who could not get pregnant and have children. One
day she cried out, "O Lord, would you grant me a little girl,
even if she's nothing more than a cricket!" It so happened that
Allah heard her plea, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a
cricket. A day went and a day came, and the cricket grew up. Once
upon a day she wanted to get married.

"Mama,"
she said, going to her mother, "I want to get married."

"What
can I do for you?" asked the mother. "You must look for a
bridegroom as small as you are."

The
cricket went away, and came upon a camel.

"Ba!
Ba!" said he. "Will you marry me?"

She
answered:

"Cricket,
cricket, your mother!

And
you are cousin to the whore.

I'll
put the gold in my sleeve,

And
talk to my mother some more."

"O
mama!" she said to her mother. "His eyes are very big, his
head is very big, and his ears are very big. All of him is very big."

"No!"
said the mother. "This one's not your size. Don't marry him."

Back
to the camel the cricket went, and said, "I don't want to marry
you."

She
wandered around some more, and met a bull.

"Ba!
Ba!" said he. "Will you marry me?"

She
answered:

"Cricket,
cricket, your mother!

And
you are cousin to the whore.

I'll
put the gold in my sleeve,

And
talk to my mother some more."

She
went to her mother and said, "O mama! His eyes are large, his
head is large, and his ears are large. All of him is large."

"Better
not marry him," said the mother.

Back
to the bull went the cricket. "I don't want to marry you,"
she said.

She
went away, and walked and walked until a little mouse found her
wandering about and chirping, "Tzee, tzee, tzee."

"What're
you looking for?" he asked.

"I'm
wandering around looking for a bridegroom."

"Will
you marry me?" he proposed.

She
answered:

"Cricket,
cricket, your mother!

And
you are cousin to the whore.

I'll
put the gold in my sleeve,

And
talk to my mother some more."

"O
mama!" she said to her mother. "His eyes are wee, his head
is wee, and his ears are wee. All of him is very small."

"Yes,"
said the mother, "this one's your size. Marry him."

So
back to the mouse the cricket went. "Yes," she said, "I'll
marry you." And she went to live with him in his house.

One
day (it is said) their clothes became dirty, and they wanted to go
somewhere to wash them. "Well," they said, "let's go
look for water. Where shall we go?" They wandered about, with
her walking behind him, and both of them going "Tzee, tzee,
tzee," until you might say they reached the Sea of Acre. Looking
over this sea, they said, "Well, how is this going to be enough?
There's barely enough water here to get our clothes wet." They
turned around and went down to the Sea of Tiberias. They searched
everywhere, up and down, but found no water. "There isn't enough
water for us anywhere!" they exclaimed.

As
they wandered, they saw a donkey's hoofprint with a little water in
it. Calling her husband over, she said, "These waters will be
enough for us to wash ourselves and our clothes, with some left
over."