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Siblings 6. Half-a-Halfiing TELLER: Allah has spoken and His word is a blessing! AUDIENCE: Blessings abound, Allah willing!1 Once upon a time there was a man who was married to two women. One of them was his first cousin and the other was a stranger, and neither of them could get pregnant.2 "I'm going to visit the sheikh,"3 he said to himself one day, "and maybe for the sake of Allah he'll give me some medicine to make these women conceive." He went to the sheikh and said, "I want you to give me a medicine that'll make my wives get pregnant." "Go to such and such a mountain," the sheikh advised, "and there you'll find a ghoul. Say to him, 'I want two pomegranates to feed my wives so they can get pregnant,' and see what he says to you."4 The man went forth, and came upon the ghoul. He approached him 1. See Tale 16, n. I, for a literal translation and a discussion of this opening formula. Insdlla (Allah willing!) is one of the most commonly heard expressions in the Arab world, representing, among both Christians and Muslims, an all-pervading belief in the will of God. For a story of what befell a man who refused to say insdlla, see Schmidt and Kahle, Volkserzahlungen II:42. 2. Presumably the man married his cousin first, and when she could not get pregnant he married the stranger. Many proverbs and folk sayings illustrate the desirability of endogamy, such as "A first cousin with [nothing more than] a cloak, and as for the stranger—damn his father!" (ibn il-c am w-il-c abd, w-il-ganb yil'an ^abdh). A first cousin is in fact entitled to his cousin even when she has been promised to someone else: "A first cousin can bring a bride down from the mare [even if she's on her way to marry someone else]" (ibn il-c am bitayyih c an il-faras). For a discussion of endogamy, see Introduction. 3. The sheikh was a practitioner of holistic folk medicine. Among Palestinian peasants, no clear distinction is drawn between exorcism, the use of charms, folk psychotherapy, and folk medicine, although only a religious person is trusted to provide care. See Tale 22, n. 7. 4. For a discussion of the ghoul figure, see Tale 3, n. 7. Ghouls, as we have said, play a complex role in the tales; here, they are helpful figures. Although their unkempt appearance gives the impression of neglect and wildness, their favor can be won by giving them the comforts of civilization, such as shaving their beards and trimming their hair, particularly the eyebrows. See nn. 7, n, 12, 13, below; and Footnote Index, s.v. "Ghouls and Jinn." Pomegranates are a symbol of fertility; see Tale 35, n. i. 84 6. Half-a-Halfling 85 immediately, shaved his beard, trimmed his eyebrows, and said, "Peace to you!"5 "And to you, peace!" replied the ghoul. "Had not your salaam come before your request, I would've munched your bones so loud my brother who lives on the next mountain would've heard it.6 What do you want?" The man told him what he wanted, and the ghoul said, "Go to the next mountain over there, and you'll find my elder brother. Ask him, and he'll tell you what to do." The man went to the next mountain over and found the ghoul. He did with him as he had done with his brother. Then he said, "Peace to you!" "And to you, peace!" replied the ghoul. "Had not your salaam come before your request, I would've munched your bones so loud my sister who lives on the next mountain would've heard it. What can I do for you?" The man told him what he wanted, and the ghoul said, "Go to my sister on the next mountain over there, and she'll tell you what to do." The man did as he was told, and found the ghouleh grinding wheat, her breasts thrown over her shoulders.7 He came forward and sucked on her right breast, then on her left. After he did this, he put a handful of her flour in his mouth. "You've sucked at my right breast," declared the ghouleh, "and now you're dearer to me than my son Ismac m. You've sucked at...

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