Folklore

Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Rasha. Her hair was always messy, and she wore torn clothes and worn-out shoes. She lived in an old house with her parents. They often went to sleep hungry. Despite that, she never complained. She was characterized by striving to improve her life and her family’s life. Sometimes Rasha would share food with her favorite friend Jad, whose family was also poor. He would do the same as her when food was available to him. ...

Once upon a time in ancient times, there was a small farm whose inhabitants lived in safety. A crowing rooster lived there with beautiful colorful plumage. The rooster possessed a beautiful natural voice with which he would wake the inhabitants every morning. A strong and loyal dog also lived on the farm, protecting the farm’s inhabitants from every evil intruder. The rooster and the dog were intimate friends, inseparable companions who hardly separated throughout the day. ...

There was a cottage in the village with a thatched roof and all kinds of plants, and in it lived a very poor elderly couple whose horse was their only source of livelihood. They would lend it to merchants in exchange for some grain or clothing and asked for nothing more. They were happy with what they had. One day, the wife said to her husband, “There is an opening in the roof, and something has fallen into the house.” He said to her, “That is good because the house windows are rusted and closed. Through the opening in the roof we will get light and air without having to repair it.” She said to him, “You are right, but what about winter and rain?” He said to her, “We will need a way to collect money.” She said to him, “There is a market fair, why don’t we sell the horse? We will get a good amount.” He said, “Perhaps. I hope I succeed.” She said, “You will succeed because my old man is always right.” ...

When the door was pushed, Thaloub straightened up, and disappointment almost overcame him, for his mother hadn’t come as he wished. Rather, his grandfather was the one who came. But as soon as he saw his grandfather placing a piece of honey on the table, he felt his hopes reviving. Then he spoke secretly to himself, saying: A real fox. In truth, this word he said was for his grandfather, who used to say: A real fox is one who can get honey by any possible means. Then Thaloub stood up approaching the table and said: Oh grandfather. ...

Once upon a time, in days of old, there was a king named Wardan. One day, a small princess was born to the king. On that day, the king prepared three golden plates, three golden spoons, and the most delicious food, and sent to call the forest fairies. The first fairy’s attendance at the palace and presenting the gift: There were three fairies in the forest, and each fairy would come to the small princess with a gift. The king said to himself: Which of them will bring the most beautiful gift for the princess, and what will the gift be? The first of the three fairies came, ate her food, and presented her gift. Her gift was a bag full of gold! So was the first fairy’s gift the most beautiful? The palace sage smiled and said: The bag of gold is not the most beautiful gift for the princess, because gold will be spent and become as if it never was. ...

I awoke feeling alarmed about movement near me. As soon as I opened my eyes, I was startled because I saw the mole heading toward his house. At that moment, I sighed in relief, then I said: You frightened me; I thought you were… The mole stopped, saying after interrupting my speech: The fox? Before I could answer with anything, he spoke again saying: There’s a rabbit looking for you. ...

There was a water seller named Muhammad who sold water to people while wandering with his jar in the markets. Everyone loved him for his good character and cleanliness. One day, the king heard about this water seller and said to his minister: Go and bring me Muhammad the water seller. The minister went to search for him in the markets until he found him and brought him to the king. The king said to Muhammad: From today onward, you have no work outside this palace. You will work here in my palace, serving water to my guests and sitting beside me telling me people’s amusing stories. ...

The night passed and dawn broke, and the golden red rooster crowed to announce the beginning of a new day. There in his burrow, the cunning fox awoke early to the rooster’s crowing and shook the traces of sleep from his eyes. The cunning fox wakes early: Then he looked into the distance and said: Oh, oh, oh… how beautiful it is to wake up early to the rooster’s crowing, but even more beautiful is when the rooster is on my table for my breakfast! Oh, oh, oh, the rooster’s voice is wonderful, and even more wonderful is to tear his flesh between my fangs. ...

Once upon a time, there was a swarm of evil goblins who lived in a forest. They had spent a lot of their time mocking an old man who couldn’t move, see, or hear. They didn’t show him any respect and kept mocking and making fun of him, until his condition became so terrible that the great physician decided to teach the goblins a lesson they wouldn’t forget. Where a strange amulet fell on the goblins’ heads, since that moment every mother of theirs would turn toward the old man and make his condition better. This had a strange effect on the scold who was in charge of them. And naturally, the goblins didn’t know anything about that amulet or what was happening. Whenever they described the goblin to the man as foolish and old, his head became smaller and softer, while the scold who burned and boiled him became angrier and angrier. ...

The story of the date palm and the woodcutter is one of the world’s wonderful children’s stories, collected and composed by Toshio Ozawa. The story of the date palm and the woodcutter is a tale from old Japanese legends, or more precisely, it’s Japanese myths from ancient times that are taught to Japanese children until the end of the elementary stage. The story is told as follows: Master Kichiumo and cutting wood logs: One day, Master Kichiumo was cutting a log of wood under a date palm tree behind his house. When he struck with his axe, the ground shook and a very ripe date palm fruit fell on his head. ...