Folktale

Our Arab folk heritage abounds with many grandmothers’ stories that they used to tell us when we were small children. Among those folk stories is the story of the Locust and the Bird from our brotherly Tunisian heritage. Zahra was staying at her grandmother’s house for several consecutive days. During the period she stayed, she would go out every day to water the flowers in the backyard garden. One day, she saw a shiny green locust standing on one of the flowers. She kept contemplating it until her grandmother came, grabbed the locust with her hands, and said to the children, “Here is the bird’s wife, oh children.” The boys cheered a lot, but Zahra asked her grandmother to tell her the story. ...

One summer night, the Sultan went out to stroll through the city after feeling some sudden distress. He shouted at one of his guards to bring his chief to go out on a tour with him. This Sultan was accustomed to strolling through the city from time to time in disguise. As soon as his guard chief met him, the Sultan began, saying, “Come, let’s go out for a walk; I feel distressed.” His guard chief agreed and went out with him, strolling among the city streets. ...

Juha had a land that he plowed and planted. He rejoiced whenever he saw the grain of wheat he had sown and buried in the soil come out as a small ear that grew and grew and grew, became filled with large grains, turned yellow, and swayed with its sisters while the wind played with them. Juha in Summer: In the summer, he would harvest the ears with the sickle and heap them, then wrap each heap with a rope and carry it to the threshing floor for threshing. He would harvest and sing and entertain the harvesters. At night, he would stay up with his companions at the threshing floors, telling stories. ...

In ancient times, there was a traveler known as Abu al-Nadhr. This man was constantly traveling, going here and there in God’s vast earth. He had been accustomed to this throughout his life. One of his characteristics was that he left for himself a friend in every town he visited. When he reached seventy years of age, he decided to return to Basra once again to visit one of his old friends named Abu al-Yasar. ...

In ancient times, in a distant country between countries, one of the princesses lived with her mother the queen in a high castle. The princess was still a small child when her father the king died, so she grew up in the care of her mother the queen. The princess grew up and became a charming girl. Once, the queen said to her daughter, “You are now a girl, my daughter, and it is time for you to marry. A young prince from a neighboring kingdom has asked for your hand.” ...

One day, a huge caravan set out from Iraq, containing more than one hundred and fifty camels carrying on their backs many goods of different shapes and types, strange and unique as well. It also included dozens of travelers from merchants, sellers, and others who went with the caravan in search of livelihood. After that huge caravan reached a place with some shade, the merchants and everyone in the caravan went to take some rest, for fatigue had reached its utmost extent. Indeed, everyone went to the shade and slept until they woke up again after a period of time to the sound of one of the merchants shouting that his money had been stolen. ...

Once upon a time, there was the last group of dinosaurs that lived on the crater of one of the mountains located far from the provincial forests. They lived for thousands of years away from earthly changes, living in peace and safety without needing anyone. One day, their leader decided to return to the earth to impose control over it. Their leader said: Enough of us living like this isolated from the other world. We must descend to the earth. The dinosaurs destroyed their home that they had made on top of the mountain, then headed toward the earth. ...

It is told that a girl named Jamila lived with her grandmother after her parents died. Her grandmother loved her very much and was always afraid something bad would happen to her. She didn’t allow her to go out with the girls. Jamila was a girl of extreme beauty, and when she grew up, Jamil, her cousin, proposed to her. In the same village, there were six girls who weren’t as beautiful as her, and none of them loved Jamila, nor did anyone propose to them. But they imagined Jamila was an arrogant girl because she didn’t play with them. Under the influence of jealousy and envy, the six girls went to Jamila’s grandmother and said to her, “Allow Jamila to go out with us today to the forest to gather firewood.” ...

It is told that a poor man named Shaban lived in a village bordering a mountain. Every day the man went out to search for salt among rocks, caves, and valleys. Whenever he found an amount of salt, he carried it in a sack on his shoulders and sold it to the villagers. He had no children to spend on except himself and his wife. One day he returned carrying a sack of salt to his house and placed it in a corner of the room where he lived with his wife. ...

There was a king known for his justice and kindness. He tried to help everyone with their problems. The people in the good king’s kingdom were happy, and everyone loved him and rejoiced because the king was just. One day, the king decided to build a palace on the bank of a river. He asked his workers to inspect the building from the start, so that he could start the work. The workers started the work, and within a few days the palace was ready. Before the king arrived to see the palace, the minister decided to go to make an early inspection and to ensure that everything was good. ...