Speak Bird, Speak Again Part 12

Meanwhile, as he finished each accusation, she would pull the string and nod the doll's head.

"As if all that weren't enough for you," he went on, "you had to top it all with your aunty act. 'Welcome, welcome, aunty! It's been a long time since we've seen our aunty. It's been such a long time since aunty has washed our clothes!' And you kept me was.h.i.+ng clothes all day. And after all that, you insisted, 'We must bathe aunty.' By Allah, I'm going to burn the hearts of all your paternal and maternal aunties!"

Seeing her nod her head in agreement, he yelled, "You mean you're not afraid? And you're not going to apologize?" Taking hold of his sword, he struck her a blow that made her head roll. A piece of halvah (If the teller is not lying!) flew into his mouth. Turning it around in his mouth, he found it sweet.

"Alas, cousin!" he cried out. "If in death you're so sweet, what would it have been like if you were still alive?"

As soon as she heard this, she jumped up from under the bed and rushed over to him, hugging him from behind.

"O cousin! Here I am!" she exclaimed. "I'm alive!"

They consummated their marriage, and lived together happily.

This is my tale, I've told it; and in your hands I leave it.

Afterword.

In general, the five tales in this group portray the early stirrings of s.e.xuality, when they are still subjective feelings and before formal arrangements for marriage have been made. Except for "Jbene," the individuals in the tales, whether male or female, handle these feelings in a way that communicates them to those for whom they are intended. In "The Little Bird," the theme of s.e.xual awakening is manifested in the bird's preparation for marriage. By collecting her trousseau, and by beautifying and putting herself on display, she arouses the interest of the sultan's son. In "Jummez Bin Yazur, Chief of the Birds," the youngest daughter's request is ambiguous enough that the father can acquiesce without feelings of shame. The girl is sending the message of her readiness, which Jummez is able to decipher. In "Sackcloth," the s.e.xual awareness begins even before the girl leaves home, producing feelings of confusion, shame, and guilt, especially since she seems to arouse a most unnatural pa.s.sion in her father. Hence her desire to cover her body completely, so as to appear to be not only of the opposite s.e.x but also a horrible freak whom no one would want to touch. Only later, when she has had more experience and feels secure at the palace of the king's son, is she able to accept her s.e.xuality. Her dancing in public in the wedding dress her father had brought her is a declaration of her new awareness, her readiness to accept a mate. In "Sahin," the girl is the more mature of the two protagonists, and she awakens Sahin to his manhood. The emotional upheavals arising out of the first stirrings of s.e.xuality are here shown not to be limited to young women: young men feel them also. Sahin must work through his frustrations and his confusion to a.s.sume the responsibility of his manhood.

In "Jbene," in contrast, the girl attempts to hide or deny her s.e.xuality. Her behavior differs from the straightforward courts.h.i.+p behavior shown in the other tales in this group. She is more concerned with the welfare of her family than with her own; thus, her feminine, "nurturing," character emerges in relation to them, not to the husband-to-be, even though they were not willing to accept the responsibility that might have prevented her abduction. The tale shows the poignancy of separation, the isolation of the new bride. Jbene overcomes this isolation through acceptance of her mate, which in turn leads to reunion with her family. In "Jbene," s.e.xual ident.i.ty must be drawn forth from a reluctant woman, and her sorrow over the loss of her home security overcome.

The narrative devices used in these tales reinforce the theme of s.e.xual awakening and the attendant personality changes. While the use of disguise is common in folktales, it seems to be particularly appropriate here. In the last three tales in the group, the heroines or heroes put on some form of disguise in an effort to mask their confusion while in transition to the new ident.i.ty. The first two tales share the metaphorical disguise of the bird symbol, thus conveying a culturally complex meaning that would be impossible to communicate directly. Jbene's disguise of staining her body black literalizes the metaphor of ruining one's reputation; it serves as an appropriate symbol of her ambivalence and confusion, and of the shame or dishonor she might feel concerning her s.e.xuality. She stains her body black not only to remain anonymous but also to protect her reputation and ward off possible advances from the son of the emir. Her longing for her parents is expressed in her ditty, which at the same time is instrumental in attracting the attention she is trying to avoid. Similarly with Sackcloth, if merely being a woman is sufficient to arouse unnatural pa.s.sions, then her disguise transforms her into a monster of the opposite s.e.x. The son of the king signals his readiness for marriage by his willingness to disguise himself as a woman, which, as can be seen from "Sahin," is a humiliating thing to do, especially if the disguise were to be discovered. Whereas in "Sahin" the feminine disguise is at first thrust on the hero against his will, he later a.s.sumes it voluntarily; here, then, the use of disguise helps to convey the role reversal on which the tale is based.

As a group, these tales also convey something of the power that women possess. through their s.e.xuality. The first half of "The Little Bird" presents us with the archetypal image of a girl ready for marriage who, having made all the preparations, sends out her signals to attract the male. She appears to be pa.s.sive and receptive, prey to be hunted. On the other side we have the archetypal male, an authority figure with symbolic gun in hand, ready to a.s.sert his will. Yet he could not be more wrong than to a.s.sume that he can have the upper hand, either because he is a male or because of his social position, or both. In "Jummez Bin Yazur," the lover risks his life by admitting his secret to his sweetheart. And in "Sackcloth," as we have noted, the king's son risks his masculinity by wearing women's clothes. Finally, in "Sahin," it seems that no matter what the vizier's daughter does to the hero, his attraction to her only increases. The images here are reversed: she is the hunter and he the hunted.

In the Introduction we discussed the potential for conflict between husband and wife, especially when they are not first cousins. In this group of tales we can glimpse the source of this conflict: the power residing in women's s.e.xuality on the one hand and the superior social position accorded males on the other. In this respect the first and last tales in the group ("The Little Bird" and "Sahin") differ markedly from the others ("Jummez Bin Yazur," "Jbene," and "Sackcloth"), where the female is presented as having no concern but to be taken for a mate by the male. In "Sahin" and "The Little Bird," however, the roles themselves are put. to the test. Whereas the male, as represented by the son of the sultan, with his hunting tools and pretensions, receives his power from the role endowed on him by society, the power of the female is from within, from her own being. It is the source not only of her procreative power, but also of her creativity, her playfulness. For only the female is presented as playful, her playfulness in the courts.h.i.+p ritual being an outward expression of the power of her s.e.xuality.

Yet this playfulness has serious overtones, because in the end the private pa.s.sion must be channeled into public behavior that is in harmony with the norms of society. As Sahin says, "We have no recourse but for each of us to ask for the hand of his bride from. her father." In other words, legal and public sanction must be sought to validate private desire; otherwise, the whole process of courts.h.i.+p will remain at the level of a game. "The Little Bird" teaches us that underneath the charming acquiescence of Jbene and Sackcloth lies a power that no man can master. And "Sahin" teaches us that behind the apparent role of male domination sanctioned by society there may lie another reality altogether.

THE QUEST FOR THE SPOUSE.

The Brave Lad

TELLER: Allah has spoken, and His word is a blessing!

AUDIENCE: Blessings abound, Allah willing!

There was once the king of a city who had a very beautiful daughter. He announced that he would give her hand to anyone who could kill the ghoul. He also let it be known that the ghoul would be easy to kill: all one had to do was remove three hairs from his head. If they were removed, the ghoul would die. The ghoul had been giving the people a hard time, eating them and their animals, and they wanted to be rid of him. He lived in a cave in the forest, not far from the city.

A lad in love with the girl but too poor to become the king's son-in-law one day decided to try his fortune against the ghoul, even though he could not be sure if he would come back alive or not. No one except him dared agree to the king's condition.

The lad went to the ghoul's cave while it was still daylight, but did not find him at home. He was roaming about, looking for someone to eat. In the cave the youth found the ghoul's wife, who was a girl from their city. The ghoul had fallen in love with her and had abducted her. The moment she saw the young man, the girl gave him some advice. "You'd better go back where you came from," she said. "When the ghoul comes home in the evening, he'll make a feast of you."

But he refused to listen and stayed with her, telling her his story. The girl agreed to help him because she hated the ghoul, who had abducted her when she was engaged to her first cousin, whom she loved and who loved her. By helping the lad, perhaps she could get rid of the ghoul and go back to her cousin.

When the ghoul came home, he was growling from hunger. He had not been able to find anyone to eat. The girl hid the young man in the wardrobe.

"I smell a human being," roared the ghoul as he came in.

"Nonsense!" replied the girl. "You brought that smell with you."

The ghoul then ate whatever he could find and went to sleep. She lay down to sleep next to him. As soon as he was fast asleep, she plucked one of the hairs from his head.

"What's going on?" the ghoul grumbled, waking up.

"I dreamt you were drowning in the sea," she answered. "And by the time I got to you, your whole body was under water. Nothing was above except your head. So I pulled you by your hair to save you from drowning, but you woke up and woke me up, and it turns out I really was pulling your hair."

Believing her, the ghoul closed his eyes again, and no sooner was he fast asleep than she plucked another hair from his head. He woke, jumping up like a madman. "What's the matter with you?" he asked.

"I was dreaming," she lied, "that you and I were traveling together on a boat and I fell overboard. If I hadn't taken hold of your hair, I would certainly have drowned. And when you shouted at me, I woke up. It turns out I really was taking hold of your hair."

The ghoul, out of his stupidity, believed her again. When he was again sound asleep, she plucked the third hair from his head, and he died, thus sparing her and the people of the city his evil.

In the morning the girl and the lad headed back to the city, taking with them whatever they could carry from the cave, and not forgetting the three hairs. The king, the princess, and the people of the city received them joyfully when they heard about what had happened. As for the girl, they celebrated her wedding to her cousin. And as for the princess, they celebrated her marriage to the lad, arranging festivities and beautiful nights.

We ate from their feast, left them, and came home.

Gazelle

TELLER: [Not] until you testify that G.o.d is One!

AUDIENCE: There is no G.o.d but G.o.d.

Once upon a time there were three brothers. Their father happened to be a king, and he said to them, "Listen! I'm about to die, and you have three sisters. He who comes to ask for the hand of any of them - don't even ask where he's from. Just give her to him in marriage."

After the king died, the first suitor came to ask for the hand of one of the sisters, and he gave her to him. The second also he married off, and the third. Now the eldest brother, whose name was Hasan, thought to himself, "Here I've married off the girls, and I have no idea where they ended up."

"Let's go," he said to his brothers. "We want to go hunting."

They went hunting, you might say, to the outskirts of our town here. And lo! a gazelle sprang among them. This one said, "She's my prey!" and that one said, "She's mine!" [Finally] they said, "Not for me, or for you. Let's make a ring around her, and he whose horse she pa.s.ses near - she's his, and he becomes her hunter."

Now she was not really a gazelle. She was from the jinn (In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compa.s.sionate!). She gazed at them, and, since a good person always stands out among his folk, she picked one of the brothers and pa.s.sed right under his horse.

"All fight, brothers," Hasan announced. "You must go back now. She's my quarry, and I'm going to chase her."

He gave chase, and as he approached her, the gazelle would run away from him. She kept this up [until they stood] below his oldest sister's town. Once he arrived in the town, he had no idea which way the gazelle had turned. Where was he to go? After tying his horse, he looked around, and behold! there was the servantgirl of his oldest sister. "Mistress, mistress!" she called out to his sister. "That man tying his horse could almost be you. Perhaps you come from the same blood."

"Where is anybody going to come from to see me?" asked the mistress. "In any case, tell him to please come in!"

When she asked him to come in, the brother could not believe his ears. He had not known where to find lodging. On entering, he discovered his own sister. How happy they were! They celebrated with singing and dancing.

"And what brought you this way, brother?" she asked.

"Gazelle brought me," he answered.

"Good," she said. "Now relax."

By Allah, in a little while her husband showed up.

"Welcome, welcome to our brother-in-law!" he saluted him. "And what brings you to this part of the world?"

They held each other in friendly embrace, kissing each other on the cheeks. The host ordered dinner for his guest.

"By Allah," replied the brother. "Gazelle brought me."

"By Allah, I'm more than a match for a hundred hosts," returned the brother-in-law. "But I haven't been able to overcome Gazelle." (He meant hosts of jinn - In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compa.s.sionate!) "By Allah, this is my lot," the brother replied.

In the morning he mounted his horse and moved on. Gazelle appeared and did as she had done before, slowing down, then running away as soon as he came near, until she came below the palace of the second sister. As the other sister had asked, so did this one: "Brother, what has brought you here?"

"Gazelle brought me, sister," he answered.

"Welcome, welcome!"

They had dinner and amused themselves, enjoying each other's company.

"I can overcome two hundred hosts," announced the brother-in-law, "but I'm no match for Gazelle."

The next day he again mounted his horse and moved on, with Gazelle jumping here and there, until she reached the town where his youngest sister lived and his third brother-in-law was. He said, "I have more power than three hundred hosts, but I can't overcome Gazelle."

That's right. Now, each of his brothers-in-law had given him a hair, saying, "If you're ever in a tight spot, just rub this hair, and before you know it we'll be there."

On the fourth day she again jumped here and there until she reached her own city. When they arrived there, he did not know which way she had turned. Stopping to visit an old woman in a hut, he said, "Here's the price of my dinner! Take it and go bring me dinner and some feed for my horse. And tonight, mother, I'd like to stay here with you."

"One hundred welcomes!" replied the old woman.

They sat around chatting, and she asked him, "What brought you here, son?"

"Gazelle brought me," he answered.

"This Gazelle," she advised, "has suitors all over the world. See her castle? It's that one over there. And every time one of them comes asking for her hand, her father says, 'He who can move this mountain away from the front of my house can have her hand. And he who can't move it - I'll have his head.' And every morning you find him cutting off their heads."

"By Allah," he said, "it's all destiny and fate. I'm going to ask for her hand."

He came and asked this person and that, and they all said, "Don't go! You're a nice young man, and it would be such a loss if he were to cut off. your head."

"It's no use," he replied.

Remembering the hairs his brothers-in-law had given him, he rubbed all three of them, and behold! six hundred hosts of jinn appeared. Gazelle, too, she loved him and came to his aid. He started on the mountain, and before day had risen, look! it was (In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compa.s.sionate!) as if there was no mountain there at all.

When the sun rose, it shone on her father's bed. "Alas!" he cried out. "He's going to take her, d.a.m.n his parents!"

Now, there was one among the jinn who wanted Gazelle, but she did not want him because she preferred Clever Hasan. He and Gazelle always fought, but now that the mountain was gone, she overcame him. Taking hold of him, she hung him up by his hair.

She lived a month or two with Clever Hasan in the palace. And what a palace it was! Fit for a king! As she was used to roving, she said to him, "I'm going to roam for a while, and you look after yourself. This room you can open, and that room also. I'm going to take the air for a couple of weeks, and will be back."

Opening one room, he found treasure. And here were weapons. And here . . . [He opened them all] except a certain room. "This room," he thought to himself, "why did she give me its key and say, 'Don't open it!'? What's she hiding from me? By Allah, I've got to open it."

He opened it and found a young man hanging by his hair.

"Please!" he called out. "I beg you! Release me! I put myself at your mercy!"

The young man begged so much that Hasan took pity on him and released him, and no sooner had he done so than the mountain returned as it had been. He looked around, and there was Gazelle! Realizing what had happened, she came running.

"Why do you give me so much trouble?" she scolded him. "May Allah give you as much trouble in return! Just like that, you released him! If I hadn't defeated him, do you think the mountain could've been moved, or anything else have happened for that matter?"

Ashamed, he dragged himself below, while she went back up to deal with the man who had been bickering with her for so long.

"Who knows," he bragged, "but that this time I'll defeat you and take away your soul."

"And this time," she snapped back, "who knows but that I'll overpower you and finish you off. This time, I won't be satisfied just to let you dangle."

"What!" he mocked. "Go away! My soul is lodged in the kneebone of a certain tiger who lives in such and such a country. So, how are you to get hold of it?"

Now, her husband heard this, and he immediately set out for the country where that tiger was to be found. On his way he came upon three men arguing over their inheritance from their father. They were fighting over three things: a club giving anyone able to lift it power over forty men, a magic carpet, and a cap of invisibility. Haggling over these things, one of them said, "No! I won't take this. It won't be fair." And another said, "No! I won't take that. I'll be the loser."

"What are you arguing about?" he asked.

"We're arguing about which of these three things was intended for whom. You judge for us."