Folktales of Joha, Jewish Trickster

1: Joha and his family

1 JOHA and his family “Joha laughed, the whole family laughed.” C H A P T E R 21 F o l k t a l e s o f J o h a 22 One at a Time At that time, before departing, the train would whistle one whistle . . . toot . . . toot . . . toot. . . . Joha’s mother, together with her little son, was running to catch the train before they blew the whistle. “Climb aboard, my soul! Climb aboard, my soul!” his mother said to him. The man from the train, who was waiting to blow the whistle , said: “First, you climb aboard. After that, let your soul climb aboard!” NARRATED BY POLA GREGO – 1990 Like This! Joha’s mother said to him: “Go and buy me two liters of milk.” So Joha went to buy her two liters of milk. He arrived home and knocked at the door, with one liter of milk. His mother said to him: “I asked you for two liters. Where is the second one?” Her son said to her: “It broke, Mother!” “How?” his mother said to him. Joha took the other liter and . . . pulled it . . . and broke the second one. “Like this!” NARRATED BY SARA BEHAR – 1998 J o h a a n d H i s F a m i l y 23 Which Half Hour? Joha asked his mother: “Mama, can I go out to play with my friends?” “Yes, but come back in half an hour.” “How will I know when half an hour has gone by?” “Ouff!” his mother said to him. “Ask someone in the street.” A good listener needs few words. Joha went out and played, and played. After some time had passed, he approached a man and asked, “Sir, sir, can you tell me—has half an hour gone by?” NARRATED BY ELIEZER PAPO – 1999 All Good Joha’s mother sent him to buy matches from the grocer’s. She said to him: “Look, Joha, make sure that the matches are all good!” Joha went to the grocer’s and bought a box of matches. On the way home he said to himself, “I will look to see that the matches are good, so that my mother won’t shout at me afterward.” Joha opened the box, lit a match . . . it was good. He put the matchstick back into the box. He took another one and lit it . . . saw that it was good. He extinguished the matchstick and put it back inside the box . . . and so on and so on. He tried them all and saw that they were all good. When he arrived home, he gave the box to his mother. She opened the box and saw that all the matches were used. F o l k t a l e s o f J o h a 24 She said to him: “Joha, what is this? The grocer cheated you! All the matches are used!” “No!” Joha said to her. “What happened is that on the way home, I tried them to see if they were good, as you told me. They were all good!” NARRATED BY KOHAVA PIVIS – 1999 He Is Different There were three youths. One of the three was Joha. They strolled about, looking in shop windows. They passed a shop window filled with dolls and toys. One of the youths said: “You know, my parents shopped for me in here!” “Come on! What are you talking about? Your parents are rich!” They walked farther and came to a much more fashionable shop, filled with all kinds of games and toy animals. The second youth said: “You know what? My parents shopped for me in here!” “Goodness!” the other two said. “Your parents must be very, very rich!” Joha said: “Me they didn’t buy. They didn’t have any money, so they made me!” NARRATED BY ESTER LEVY – 2000 J o h a a n d H i s F a m i l y 25 Mother’s Advice Once Joha’s mother said to him: “Go, sweetheart, and visit your grandmother.” Joha said: “Fine!” And he went to visit his grandmother and stayed with her for a few hours. When he was about to leave, his grandmother said to him: “Look, I have some margarine and I am not using it. Take it. Bring it to...