Folktales of Joha, Jewish Trickster

10: Joha talks about himself

10 JOHA talks about himself “Joha went to the baths and didn’t stop talking about it for years!” C H A P T E R 173 F o l k t a l e s o f J o h a 174 The Left Ear Joha is a very simple and cunning man. Once they asked him: “Joha, show us your left ear!” And Joha did like this: He passed his right hand over his head and said, “Here it is!” NARRATED BY MAZAL STROCK – 1996 A Suitable Place It was nighttime. Joha was outside in the street. He was looking for something on the ground, under the lamplight. A neighbor passed and said to him: “Joha, what are you looking for? I will help you!” Joha said to him: “I am looking for a ring that fell off my finger.” The neighbor began to look with him, but the two of them couldn’t find anything. After a while the neighbor said: “Joha, are you sure that this is where it fell? There’s nothing here!” “Ah, no!” Joha said. “The ring fell off in the house, when I went down to the cellar. But it is useless to look for it there, because there’s no light. . . . Here there is light! That is why I am looking here!” NARRATED BY MATILDA KOEN-SARANO – 1997 J o h a Ta l k s a b o u t H i m s e l f 175 Easy Puzzle Joha filled the pocket of his coat with grapes and went for a walk. He met the neighbors’ small children and said to them: “Children, if you can guess what I have in my coat, I will give you a bunch!” “Grapes!” they said immediately. “Goodness me!” said Joha. “How were you able to guess so quickly?!” NARRATED BY MATILDA KOEN-SARANO – 1987 Each Unto His Own Joha lived in a village far from the city. Once, twice a year he had to go and buy things to eat and to wear. He would take his little donkey and set out. The road was very long, so when he was alone and wanted to talk he would converse with the donkey. One day, he said to it: “Do you know what we are going to do? Instead of taking the long way around, which will take us two or three hours, we will go along the railway track.” He took the donkey to the train track. A train was coming: “Ooo . . . ooo . . . ooo.” Said Joha: “Let it whistle. . . .” “Whistle! Whistle!” he said to the train. “If you won’t move aside, neither will I!” The train went “Oooo. . . .” Joha did nothing; he just stood in its path. By chance, it happened that the train had to switch tracks. It went onto the other track. F o l k t a l e s o f J o h a 176 Said Joha to the donkey: “Didn’t I tell you? It moved aside, I didn’t!” NARRATED BY NISIM ROFE – 1990 Premature Vision Joha had never been on an airplane. His friends said: “Let’s see what will happen. Let’s put him aboard an airplane.” They put Joha aboard, and he began to look through the window. He said: “Oh! All the people down there look like ants!” “Yes,” his friends said. “It is true that when the plane takes off, they will look like ants down there—but the plane has not yet taken off!” NARRATED BY VALENTINA TSOREF – 1990 Careful What You Say! Joha was working in his shop with his assistant. He said to the assistant: “Look out the window and tell me what the weather is doing.” The assistant looked and said: “Ah! We have rain. We won’t have any customers!” Joha looked him full in the face and said: “We have rain?! Since when are we partners?” NARRATED BY MIRIAM RAYMOND – 1988 J o h a Ta l k s a b o u t H i m s e l f 177 What a Voice! One day, as he was washing himself, Joha began to sing. The bathroom was very small, and it had stone walls. In this small space Joha’s voice sounded very beautiful, or so it seemed to him. Ah! thought Joha. I sing well! I am going to sing in a place where other people can...