Folktales from the Arabian Peninsula WORLD FOLKLORE SERIES ADVISORY BOARD Simon J. Bronner, Ph.D. Distinguished Professor of Folklore and American Studies Pennsylvania State University at Harrisburg Joseph Bruchac, Ph.D. Abenaki Storyteller and Writer Natalie O. Kononenko, Ph.D. Professor of Slavic Language and Literature University of Virginia Norma J. Livo, Ed.D. Writer and Storyteller Margaret Read MacDonald, Ph.D. King County Library System FOLKTALES FROM THE ARABIAN PENINSULA TALES OF BAHRAIN, KUWAIT, OMAN, QATAR, SAUDI ARABIA, THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, AND YEMEN NADIA JAMEEL TAIBAH AND MARGARET READ MACDONALD World Folklore Series Copyright © 2016 by Nadia Jameel Taibah and Margaret Read MacDonald All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Taibah, Nadia Jameel. Folktales from the Arabian Peninsula : tales of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen / Nadia Jameel Taibah and Margaret Read MacDonald. pages cm. — (World folklore series) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-59158-529-9 (pbk : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-4408-4207-8 (ebook) 1. Tales—Arabian Peninsula. 2. Folk literature, Arabic—Arabian Peninsula. I. MacDonald, Margaret Read, 1940- II. Title. GR275.T35 2016 398.20953—dc23 2015013879 ISBN: 978-1-59158-529-9 EISBN: 978-1-4408-4207-8 19 18 17 16 15 1 2 3 4 5 This book is also available on the World Wide Web as an eBook. Visit www.abc-clio.com for details. Libraries Unlimited An Imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC ABC-CLIO, LLC 130 Cremona Drive, P.O. Box 1911 Santa Barbara, California 93116-1911 This book is printed on acid-free paper Manufactured in the United States of America CONTENTS Introduction ............................................................................................................................ix The Arabian Peninsula �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ix The Countries of the Arabian Peninsula ��������������������������������������������������������������������������xiii Luqman the Wise ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������xix FOLKTALES FROM SAUDI ARABIA Tales shared by Nadia Jameel Taibah Animal Tales ...............................................................................................................................1 The Dove, the Partridge, and the Crow .................................................................................1 The Fox, the Wolf, and the Lion ............................................................................................3 The Ant and the Louse ...........................................................................................................4 Riddle Stories .............................................................................................................................5 Signs ......................................................................................................................................5 Jouha Stories ..............................................................................................................................7 Jouha and His Donkeys .........................................................................................................7 Humorous Tales ..........................................................................................................................8 The Poor Lady’s Plan ............................................................................................................8 Magical Stories ........................................................................................................................10 Throw Your Pumpkin and Pick Me Up ................................................................................10 The Annoying Dove .............................................................................................................14 The Seven Buckthorn Pickers ..............................................................................................16 Religious Tales .........................................................................................................................18 A Wise Young Boy ...............................................................................................................18 The King, the Prince, and the Naughty Sheep .....................................................................20 The Miracle of the Spider’s Web .........................................................................................21 ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattab Cooks Food for Hungry Children ...................................................22 SAUDI ARABIA: OTHER TALES Retold by Margaret Read MacDonald Makki and Kakki ......................................................................................................................23 The Mouse and the Eggshell Boat ...........................................................................................24 Contents v The Cat Country .......................................................................................................................25 The Lost City of Ubar ..............................................................................................................27 FOLKTALES FROM BAHRAIN Aziz, Son of His Maternal Uncle .............................................................................................29 The Springs of Bahrain ............................................................................................................31 FOLKTALES FROM KUWAIT About Jouha .............................................................................................................................33 Answering the Scholar .............................................................................................................34 Jouha Sings from the Minaret ..................................................................................................35 Counting the Days of Ramadan ...............................................................................................36 Choices .....................................................................................................................................37 The Helpful Dog ......................................................................................................................38 The Black Pearl and the White Pearl .......................................................................................40 Kill the Man Who Killed the Dog ............................................................................................43 Nesóp and the Snake ................................................................................................................45 The Hattáb (Woodcutter) and the Khaznah (Treasure) ............................................................46 FOLKTALES FROM OMAN Abu Nawas, the Trickster .........................................................................................................47 A Djinn Story ...........................................................................................................................49 Jouha Loses His Donkey ..........................................................................................................50 Who Should Ride the Donkey? ................................................................................................51 When Jouha’s Donkey Passes Gas ...........................................................................................52 The Djinn Outside the Window ...............................................................................................53 The Sad Story of the Mother Camel ........................................................................................54 The Camel from the Rock ....................................................................................................54 Facts: The Remarkable Camel .............................................................................................55 Why Love is Blind ...................................................................................................................56 The Thrifty Ant ........................................................................................................................57 The Fake Bride .........................................................................................................................58 Strangers on the Road ..............................................................................................................59 The Jinn Builds a Road ............................................................................................................60 Tricking the Sahar �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������61 The Biggest Lie ........................................................................................................................62 FOLKTALES FROM QATAR The Helpful Fish ......................................................................................................................63 vi Contents Wealth, Success, and Love .......................................................................................................64 Origin of the Dhow’s Lateen Sail ............................................................................................65 FOLKTALES FROM THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Why the Hen Cannot Fly .........................................................................................................67 The Shaikh’s Sheep ..................................................................................................................68 The Fisherman’s Daughter .......................................................................................................70 FOLKTALES FROM YEMEN The Queen of Sheba Visits King Solomon ..............................................................................71 Queen Bilquis Visits King Suyleiman......................................................................................72 The Mighty Dyke of Ma-rib ....................................................................................................73 The Year of the White Elephant ...............................................................................................74 The Manly Maiden ...................................................................................................................75 ARABIC PROVERBS AND PROVERB TALES Arabic Proverbs ........................................................................................................................81 Proverbs from the United Arab Emirates .................................................................................82 Hunain’s Slippers .....................................................................................................................82 A Crab Has Drowned a Camel .................................................................................................82 Riddles ...................................................................................................................................85 Arabic Words .........................................................................................................................87 Tale Notes ..............................................................................................................................89 More Folktales from the Arabian Peninsula ........................................................................103 Bibliography ........................................................................................................................105 Index ....................................................................................................................................107 Contents vii INTRODUCTION The marvelous legendry of the Arab peoples from ancient times is well known through The Thousand and One Nights, often called The Arabian Nights. You will find many editions of those stories in your library. The stories in these collections vary, and only some of them are from the Arabian Peninsula. A collection featuring other tales of marvels, some with earlier origins even than The Thousand and One Nights, can be found in the excellent Fabled Cities, Princes & Jinn from Arab Myths and Legends by Khairat Al-Saleh (New York: Schocken, 1985). In Tales from the Arabian Peninsula, we offer simpler stories, those told today by the people who live in the countries of the Arabian Peninsula. We have limited ourselves to only tales from the Arabian Peninsula itself and do not include tales from the other Arabic-speaking countries. THE ARABIAN PENINSULA Travel and Trade The Arabian Peninsula’s position has placed it at the crossroads of travel and trade throughout time. Archeological digs all along the Arabian Gulf Coast have revealed remains of the towns of ancient peoples, such as the Dilmun civilization, a Bronze Age trading center from around 3,000 BC. The Dilmun civilization was centered in present-day Bahrain and also had a town on Failaka Island in present-day Kuwait. Their Bahrain city was a two-day sail from Mesopotamia and a stop for ships to restock supplies and water before heading across the Indian Ocean to India. It was also a trading center for pearls, copper, and other goods and a center of ship building. Some of the oldest evidence of inhabitants on the Arabian Peninsula are the 40,000-year-old Stone Age sites found in Yemen, at the southwestern end of the peninsula. This area also claims various biblical and Koranic sites. It is believed to be the land of the Queen of Sheba, and some believe that Shem, the son of Noah, settled there and founded the Semite people. On the Red Sea side of the peninsula, trade routes were also busy. Frankincense and myrrh as well as pearls were traded. The Saba people who ruled around 1000 BC had quite an advanced civilization. They built houses that were several stories high and constructed a dam that was 2,000 feet wide (609 meters) for irrigation. On the southeastern end of the peninsula, in Oman, a 200 BC fortress, perhaps much older, has been found inland, just at the edge of Rub al-Khali (the Empty Quarter desert) at Shisr. Stone Introduction ix