Speak Bird Speak Again (40 page)

"I'd
get married," he answered.

"Now
you're older and wiser," she said, "and I want to get you
married. Such and such is the story."

She
took her brother with her, and they went searching in this world to
find a bride. Before long they came upon a girl living in a house all
by herself. The lad married her, and she became pregnant and gave
birth first to a girl. In the middle of the night, the woman got up,
devoured her daughter, and smeared the lips of her sleeping
sister-in-law with blood. When they woke up in the morning, she said
to her husband, "Your sister's a ghouleh, and she has eaten our
daughter. Come take a look at her lips."

"Why
did you eat the girl?" he went and asked his sister.

"By
Allah, brother," she answered, "I didn't eat her."

The
young man did not say anything. He just waited.

The
following year, his wife gave birth to a boy, and she got up in the
middle of the night and ate him, again smearing her sister-in-law's
lips with blood. Becoming suspicious of his sister, the brother did
not say anything to her. "I must kill her," he said in his
mind.

In a
few days he said to her, "Come, let's you and I go into the
countryside." When they had gone some distance, he sat her down
under a tree by a well and said, "So, this is how you treat me,
eating my children!"

"By
Allah, brother," she answered, "I didn't eat them."

Drawing
his sword, he cut off her hands and her feet, and she called down a
curse upon him: "Brother, may a thorn get stuck in your foot
that no one can pull out." Allah heard her prayer, and a thorn
got stuck in his foot on his way home. As he approached the house, he
found his wife chasing after a rooster and realized she was a
ghouleh. Not daring to go in, he ran back the way he had come.

Now we
go back to his sister. As she was sitting by the mouth of the well,
lo! a female snake came up to her panting and puffing with fear.
"Hide me," she begged, and the girl hid her under her
dress. In a while a he-snake showed up puffing and asked her, "Have
you seen a she-snake?"

"Yes,"
she answered. "There, she's fallen into the well."

The
male dropped himself into the well, and the female, coming out from
under the girl, called after him, "Explode! Here I am!" The
male burst and died. The female, meanwhile, rubbed like this on the
girl's stumps, and her hands came back as before. She then rubbed the
girl's legs, and her feet came back as they had been. Then the girl
went her way. She found a husband, got married, and had children.

One
day her brother, who had been wandering around looking for someone to
pull the thorn from his foot, but without success, came to his
sister's doorstep. He did not realize it was his sister's house, but
the moment she saw him she recognized him, while he had not
recognized her. She had in the meantime said to her children, "When
a man who limps comes by here, keep asking me, 'Mother, tell us the
story of the man who cut off his sister's hands and feet.'"

"What's
your problem, uncle?" she asked, calling him over.

"There's
a thorn in my foot," he answered, "and nobody's been able
to pull it out."

"Come
here and let me see," she said, and doing with the pin like
this, behold! the thorn jumped over there. Rising to his feet, he
kissed her hands.

"Stay
and have dinner with us," she said.

He sat
down to eat, and the children said again and again, "Mother,
tell us the story of the man who cut off the hands and feet of his
sister." The mother began to tell the tale, and at the end she
said to them, "I'm the one whose hands and feet were cut off,
and this man here's your uncle."

The
moment he heard this, they all got up and hugged each other.

The
bird has flown, and a good night to all!

32.

TELLER:
Once there was a king - and Allah's the only true King. Let him who
has sinned say, "I beg Allah for forgiveness!"

AUDIENCE:
May God grant us remission from our sins!

Once
there was a king who had an only son and no other. His name was
Nayyis, Little Sleepy One, and his father loved him very much and
indulged him. One day the daughter of the king of the jinn fell in
love with him and stole him away from his father. There was no place
left in the world where the king did not ask about his son, but he
could not find him.

In
that country there were three girls who were spinners. They used to
spin their wool, sell it, and eat from what they earned. When they
grew sleepy while spinning at night, they would sing:

"O
Nayyis

Go
away from here!

To us
you're no cousin

Or a
brother dear.

Go to
the princess instead

She
will clothe and indulge you

And
keep you well fed."

Now,
there were scouts in the town searching for the son of the king, and
they heard the song of the spinners. To the king they rushed and
said, "O Ruler of the Age, we've found your son!"

"Are
you sure?"

"Yes,
we've found him!" they answered. "We heard a gift sing:

'O
Nayyis

Go
away from here!

To us
you're no cousin

Or a
brother dear.

Go to
the princess instead

She
will clothe and indulge you

And
keep you well fed.'"

"Ah,
yes!" exclaimed the king. "This must be my son."

"Go,
bring the girls!" The order was given, and the guards went and
brought the first one.

"Young
woman," said the king, "do you know Nayyis?"

"Yes,
my lord," she answered. "He comes to me every night."

"Good,"
they said to her and brought her to live in the palace, where
servants and attendants waited on her. She ate and drank her fill,
doing no work and feeling no fatigue, and stopped feeling sleepy.
When two or three nights had gone by, they asked her, "Young
woman, have you seen N'ayyis?"

"No,
by Allah," she answered, "I haven't seen him in a couple of
nights."

The
king married her to his cook and sent after the second one.

"Young
woman," he asked, "do you know N'ayyis?"

"Yes,
my lord. Day and night he's with us."

They
bathed and clothed her and put her in the palace where she lived in
bliss and comfort. When she had rested and slept enough, she stopped
feeling sleepy.

"Have
you seen Nayyis, young lady?" the king asked.

"No,
by Allah, my Lord," she answered, "I haven't seen him in
two or three days."

The
king married her to the baker.

"Have
you been seeing Nayyis, young woman?" the king asked the third
girl when they had brought her.

"Yes,
my lord. Every night I see him."

They
did with her as they had done with her sisters, settling her in the
palace. She turned out to be more clever than her sisters. Every time
they asked her, "Did you see Nayyis, young woman?" she
would answer, "Yes, my lord. Every night I see him."

For a
month, two, three, four, she said she had seen him every night.
Finally the king said to his wife, "Take this pair of bracelets.
Give them to her, and ask her to pay for them. If she can come up
with the money, then she really has been seeing Nayyis. If not, then
she's a liar."

"Here,
young woman," the wife said, "take this pair of bracelets
and bring me their price from Nayyis."

"Yes,
my lady," replied the girl.

That
night, she sat up in bed, crying and calling out:

"O
Nayyis

Go
away from here!

To us
you're no cousin

Or a
brother dear.

Your
father has given me

This
pair of bracelets

How am
I to pay the treasury

The
price of this jewelry?"

And
how she cried! When she had called out three times, lo! a voice said,
"The key's in the wardrobe, and the wardrobe's full of treasure.
Reach in and take what you want." Opening the wardrobe, she took
out the price of the bracelets, laughing happily.

"Here,
uncle," she said, "take the price of the bracelets."

"So,"
thought the king, "it's true, my son's still alive."

She
had stayed another three, four months (Allah knows how long!) when
the king brought her a ting.

"Bring
me the price of this ring from Nayyis," he said.

"Right
away, my lord," she answered and went back to her bed, crying
and calling out:

"O
Nayyis

Go
away from here!

To us
you're no cousin

Or a
brother dear.

Your
father has given me

This
ring

And
how am I to pay the king

The
price of this precious thing?"

Again
the voice said, "The key's in the wardrobe, and the wardrobe's
full of treasure. Reach in and take what you want!" Taking out
the price of the ring, she gave it to her uncle.

One
day Nayyis himself came up to see her and said, "Young woman, my
wife's pregnant, and you must stuff your dress with rags and pretend
you're pregnant until nine months are up."

Wrapping
a bandage around her head, she made a point of going to see her uncle
every once in a while.

"Uncle,
I'm pregnant."

"Yes,
daughter. What do you want?"

She
said she wanted a piece of liver, and he brought her three.

"O
uncle, I want squabs. O uncle, I want this, and I want that,"
she kept asking. Whatever Nayyis's wife down below craved, the girl
would ask the king for. Then Nayyis would come and take it to his
wife below.

Her
pregnancy over, the jinn wife gave birth first to a boy.

"Here,
young lady," said Nayyis. "Take this baby and hide it
inside your underwear. Then cry out, 'Mother, I've given birth!'"

Putting
the baby in her undergarments, the girl came to the top of the
stairs.

"Master!"
she cried out. "I've had the baby."

"In
the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful!" exclaimed
the king.

Bringing
the baby out, they washed and dressed him. Then they looked after
her, wrapping a bandage around her head and putting her to bed.

She
brought the boy up, and how handsome he was - the son of royalty! The
king was crazy about him.

The
jinn wife became pregnant again, and the girl did as before. The wife
gave birth to a boy, and the girl took him and hid him in her
underwear.

"Uncle,
I've given birth!" she cried out. "Mistress, I've given
birth!"

They
spoiled her more and more, giving her four wet nurses to help her.
What can you say? She was now a queen!

The
wife became pregnant and delivered a third time, giving birth to a
girl. And the same thing that had happened with the two boys also
happened with the girl.

One
day Nayyis came up, bringing her three candles, and said, "During
the call to prayer on Thursday evening, light these candles." On
Thursday evening, she did just as he had said, putting one boy on
this side of her, the other on the other side, with the girl in the
middle, and lit the three candles. When the jinn wife saw her, she
cried out, "Alas! Alas! The human woman has done me in!"
And she exploded and died.

"May
you never rise again!" Nayyis cursed her, tearing down the
palace over her and coming back up again.

"Master,
come see Nayyis!" shouted the spinner girl. "Mistress, come
see Nayyis! Hurry! Hurry!"

When
they rushed down to see their son, he said, "I was married to a
jinn woman, and these children of mine are from her. But if it
weren't for this girl here, by Allah, I would never have come back. I
want to marry her."

They
had a wedding celebration that lasted seven days and seven nights.
Music was playing and people were dancing. Our master married our
mistress - and may every year find you in good health!