Speak, Bird, Speak Again: Palestinian Arab Folktales

Group V. UNIVERSE

Group V UNIVERSE This page intentionally left blank 42. The Woman Who Fell into the Well Once there were some men who had been out selling, you might say, charcoal and were on their way home.1 As they were traveling, one of them said, "God forsake you!2 By Allah, we're hungry!" "O So-and-So!" they said. "Stop by and ask for something for us." Stopping by a house to ask for something, he found a woman at home.3 "I entreat you in Allah's name, sister," he said, "if you have a couple of loaves of bread, let me have them for these cameleers. We're on the road from faraway places, and we're hungry." "Of course.," she said, and reached for the bread, giving him what Allah put within her means to give—a loaf, maybe two. And, by Allah, on his way out of the house, he stumbled over a dog tied to a tree. Startled,4 the man fell backwards, and behold! he ended up in a well that happened to be there. It was a dry well and held no water at all.5 "There is no power and no strength except in Allah!" exclaimed the woman.6 "O sister," the man cried out, "lower the rope and pull me out!" Throwing him the rope, the woman started to pull him out but when he almost reached the mouth of the well her strength failed her. His weight grew too heavy for her, and she fell into the well with him. "There is no power and no strength except in Allah!" exclaimed the man. "But don't worry, sister. By Allah's book, you're my sister!"7 And they sat together for a while. 1. For traveling salesmen, see Tale 4, n. 3. 2. *Alla yiqtac kum—literally, "May Allah cut you off, or abandon you [on the road]!" This is more an expletive than a curse. 3. It is an accepted practice for merchant-salesmen traveling in remote villages to ask for food at private homes; people would distinguish between them and beggars. The woman here is by herself, without male "protectors." As we haveseen from Tales 10 and 35, this situation has considerable potential for complication. Cf. Tale 31, n. 2. 4. As we find out later on in the tale, the man is startled by the dog charging him. 5. On wells, see Tale 3, n. 4. 6. This exclamation, la hawla wa-la quwwata ilia b-illah, is used frequently, especially in situations that are beyond individual control. It is usually abbreviated, as here, to la hawla wa-la ("There is no strength and no . . ."). 7. y lnti uxti ft ktab alia is a binding declaration of honorable intention, carrying the moral weight of an oath (for which, see Tale 13, n. 7; and cf. Tale 20, n. 5). 297 298 The Tales: Universe Now, her brothers were seven, and with their plowman they were eight, and they were all out plowing the fields.8 In a while the plowman showed up. "Hey, So-and-So!" he called out. "Hey, So-and-So!" But she did not answer. After a while, she called out from the well, "Pull me out!" When he had pulled her and the man out, she said, "Such and such is the story, and please protect my reputation. By Allah, this man is like my brother. Protect me, and don't tell my brothers. They'll kill me. And come harvest time, when my brothers pay your wages, I'll add two measures to your share. Just don't tell on me!" "Fine," said the plowman. A day went and a day came, and they harvested the grain and threshed it. He took his wages, and the sister gave him extra. "What did you do this year," asked his wife, "that So-and-So's household gave you extra?" "By Allah," replied the man, "he who protects another's reputation, Allah will protect his reputation in turn." "Impossible!" she insisted. "You must tell me what happened, or else you'll worship one God and I another!" "By Allah," he said, "there was a girl who had fallen into a well with a man, and I pulled her out." Now the wife, when she sat together with the other women, used to say, "Did you know? So-and-So—my...