In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

57 Little Fish, Big Fish T O L D B Y A R Y È T E S L E R T O G E R S H O N B R I B R A M The head of a certain community was known to be a great miser. All the beggars in the neighborhood told one another about him and publicized the fact far and wide. Once the head of the community received a great honor: a well-known rebbe* honored him with a visit. The head of the community had no choice but to invite the honored guest for the midday meal. He took council with his wife, who was even stingier than he was, and the two of them decided that the menu would include fish. In the afternoon they would serve the little fish and keep the big fish for the evening, after the rebbe had left, when they could enjoy them. The rebbe peeked into the kitchen, where he saw the dishes cooking on the stove and imagined the fine flavor of the fish. How great was his disappointment when he saw that the platter placed before him contained only small fish. He leaned over and seemed to be carrying on a whispered conversation with them. The astonished couple sat there in tense silence, watching this wonder. A great miracle was taking place in their own house—with their own eyes they could see the rebbe conversing with the fish. The story of the miracle in their house would certainly be passed down to future generations. After a while the head of the community made so bold as to ask the rebbe: “Your honor, may you live to be one hundred and twenty, you understand the language of fish and can converse with them?” “Certainly,” sighed the rebbe. “Ever since my late brother drowned in the river, I keep asking the fish whether they have seen him.” “And what did the fish reply?” “They said, ‘we weren’t born yet when the disaster took place. But there are large fish in the kitchen, and they certainly know the answer.’ ” * A Hasidic rabbi. 418 57 / Little Fish, Big Fish  419  COMMENTARY FOR TALE 57 (IFA 8889) Recorded by Gershon Bribram as told by Aryè Tesler, in 1970 at Kibbutz Ma‘agan.1 Cultural, Historical, and Literary Background This humorous narrative occurs in two main variations: a repartee between a host and his jester guest and a repartee between parents and their clever son. Repartee between Host and Jester Guest The documentation of the first form of the tale dates back to classical antiquity. Athenaeus2 (c. 200 C.E.) reported an anecdote told by the poet Phainias of Eresos (c. 300 B.C.E.), a pupil of Aristotle, about Philoxenus, the poet of Cythera (436–380 B.C.E.), who was a dinner guest of the tyrant Dionysios the Elder (432–367 B.C.E.). Dionysios served Philoxenus a small mullet, while on his own plate was a large one. Philoxenus put his small fish his ear. When Dionysios asked him why he did that, Philoxenus answered that he was writing a poem about Galatea and desired to ask the mullet some questions about Nereus [a sea divinity who fathered Galatea] and his daughters. And the creature, on being asked, had answered that she had been caught when too young, and therefore had not joined Nereus’s company ; but her sister, the one set before Dionysios, was older, and knew accurately all he wished to learn. So Dionysios, with a laugh, sent him the mullet that had been served to him.3 In the Middle Ages, the anecdote recurred in Islamic tradition associated with Ash’ab (eighth century), who was likely a historical personality, an entertainer, who later became the central figure in humorous narrative cycles.4 A version of the present story is included in the tenth-century book of jokes ‘Iqd, by Ibn ‘Abddrabbih.5 Joke and anecdote collectors have found that the story was current in Europe from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries.6 The tale in the Jewish tradition in Yiddish-speaking communities corresponds to the European variant.7 Repartee between Parents and Clever Son The second form of the tale seems to date from later Middle Eastern humor, often centering around the figure of Djuha.8 Surveys of this anecdote have been conducted.9 Similarities to Other IFA Tales The following versions are on deposit in the IFA: [3.145.186...

Share