Folktales of Joha, Jewish Trickster

7: Joha, son, and grandson

7 JOHA, son, and grandson “Like father, like son! But what a grandson!” C H A P T E R 129 F o l k t a l e s o f J o h a 130 What Prescience! After a week of marriage, Joha’s wife gave birth to a little boy. They came to where Joha was working and said to him: “Joha, a son has been born to you!” He ran to the market right away, bought whatever he intended to buy, came home, opened the parcel, and began to put what he had bought next to the child’s bed. There were books . . . notebooks, crayons . . . and the schoolbag. His wife said to him: “What is this, Joha?” Joha said to her: “One who traverses the road of nine months in one week, the following week can ask me to go to school! Now,” he said, “while I have the money, I will buy him everything, because next week maybe I won’t have the money!” NARRATED BY RASHEL PERERA – 1987 A Preventive Slap One day Joha called his son and said to him: “Go and bring water from the well.” He put an earthenware jar in his hand and said: “Be careful not to break the jar on the way!” And he gave him a good slap. The son began to cry and said: “Why did you give me a slap? What did I do? I didn’t break the jar yet!” Joha said to him: “Tell me, what good will the slap be after you have broken it?” NARRATED BY JEANNETTE BEN-NAE – 1982 J o h a , S o n , a n d G r a n d s o n 131 “Out of the Mouths of Fools and Babes . . . ” One day Joha took his little son to the market to buy a sheep. When they reached the market, Joha began to feel the sheep, one after the other, until the son asked him: “Why are you doing that, Papa?” Joha said to him: “I have to do this before I buy the sheep.” A few days later, when they sat down to eat, the son said to his father: “Do you know what? The neighbor was here, and it seems to me that he wants to buy Mama!” NARRATED BY TSAHI HASDAY – 1999 Professional Matchmaker Joha had a son who was very stupid. He was already grown up, and Joha wanted him to learn a profession. One day Joha took him to a carpenter and said: “Look, teach my son one thing—I want him to earn a living . . . I am soon going to die—that he should earn a bit of money.” But the son said: “No, no, no! I cannot carry planks . . . nails. . . . I cannot! Another time, Joha took him to a shoemaker. He said: “Please, teach my son. I will pay you whatever you wish!” Joha’s son stayed there one, two days, but he didn’t like it. He said: “What? Hammer shoes the whole day long! This is not for me!” What could he do? What could he do? His father took him to a matchmaker. He said: “Look, whatever you want, I will pay you. Teach my son to be a matchmaker.” F o l k t a l e s o f J o h a 132 The son said: “Yes, I do want to become a matchmaker!” “Ah!” said the matchmaker, “being a matchmaker is very easy! We will go to a house. There, let us say, is a bride. I will say: ‘The bride is beautiful! The bride is rich! She has hands of gold. She has a very fine dowry!’ And you will assist me. You will say, ‘What hands! What a dowry! What money!’” When they went to the family of a bride, the matchmaker said: “Look, there is a very fine young man, quiet, respectable. He earns a good living. But,” he said, “he has a little hump.” “What!!” said the matchmaker’s assistant. “Such a hump! A really big, fine hump!” NARRATED BY ESTER LEVY – 1998 Miserliness Joha sent his son to study in America. But Joha was very miserly. The son was studying, but he had to pay rent; he had to pay for everything. He sent a letter to his father: “Papa, I want you to send me money, to study more.” Joha didn’t reply...