Folktales of Joha, Jewish Trickster

3: Joha and work

3 JOHA and work “Joha wanted to die in order to get enough sleep.” C H A P T E R 45 F o l k t a l e s o f J o h a 46 Lazy Joha Joha’s mother said to him: “Look, do me a favor: go to the marketplace and bring me a kilo of meat, a kilo of fish, and a kilo of flour. But come back quickly!” Joha went off and very soon returned home and said: “Mama, I forgot what you asked me to buy!” The same thing happened again. Finally, his mother said to him: “Write the three things I told you on the palm of your hand.” Joha wrote them and went off. Along the way he came across a pool of water. He played in the water, and what he had written on his hand got washed off. He returned home and said to his mother: “I’ll try just this once more, but not again!” His mother told him again and he walked the whole of the way, repeating: “Meat, fish, flour . . . meat, fish, flour . . . meat, fish, flour.” When he had bought everything, he stood there saying, “I don’t know what to do! These things are very heavy!” A dog passed by. Joha said to it: “Carry this meat home for me.” The dog cried: “Bowwow!” Joha gave him the meat. The dog went off. A cat passed by. Joha told it to carry the fish home. As for the flour, he said: “This is heavy, too!” He said to the air: “Carry this flour home for me!” He came home and asked his mother: “Has everything I bought arrived?” His mother said: “No!” Joha told her that he had sent the meat with the dog, the fish with the cat, and the flour with the air. J o h a a n d Wo r k 47 And his mother said: “Get out! Until you bring everything back to me, you won’t sleep at home!” NARRATED BY ESTER COHEN – 1994 Pedantry Many years ago, they didn’t sell ready-made bottles of oil in the grocer shops. Everyone brought a bottle, and it was filled for them. One day, when there was no oil in the house, Joha’s mother put a bottle in his hand and said: “Go, buy me two liters of oil.” Joha went to the grocer’s and said to him: “My mother told me that you should give me two liters of oil.” The grocer measured out the oil and poured it into the bottle . The bottle was smaller than his mother had thought, so a bit of oil remained. The grocer said: “Joha, there is still a little oil left. Where shall I put it for you?” Joha turned the bottle upside down and said: “Put it here. There is a hollow in the bottom of the bottle.” In this way all the oil that was already in the bottle spilled out, and Joha went home with only the little bit in the hollow. His mother said: “Joha, where is the oil?” “Here!” He turned the bottle upside down again, and the rest of the oil was emptied as well. NARRATED BY ISSAHAR AVZARADEL – 1991 F o l k t a l e s o f J o h a 48 Tasty Work Joha wanted to have some income. He didn’t know what work to do, what employment to take, or what to trade. He went to the marketplace and saw many there selling grapes. Said Joha: “It seems that this is a prime trade! Selling grapes!” “But,” he thought, “If I go and sell grapes where all these vendors are, I won’t be able to sell anything.” He asked himself, “Where should I sell?” and decided to go to the entrance of the cemetery. He took two baskets of grapes, sat down at the entrance of the Mount of Olives, and waited: No cock crowed, no dog howled. And he stood there, shouting: “Come, buy grapes of Muscat and grapes of Hebron!” But there was no sound or reply. Finally, as he waited for some client to appear, he began to taste the grapes. He filled his throat, grape by grape, and finished all the bunches. Then he returned home with the empty baskets. His mother saw him with empty baskets, was very...