The narrative heritage is that memory of living events, that story that carried the horrors of its events and passed it down by generations to remain rooted in minds with its lessons and reminders, and sometimes terror. What is served by its listener, whether child or adult, is that perhaps one of the famous stories that the brothers narrate to their children in the Arab countries is the story of Mother of Boys.
Mother of Boys has many names in our different Arab heritages and is famous with different names from one country to another. She is as described by the ancients, a female of jinn who is long-lived or has very long age. Their names vary between Om al-Asfour, Om al-Da’w, and Om al-Khawas.
Not only her name is strange, but her form as well. She has a huge body and two long breasts that hang to the ground, so she lifts them on her back. She has tangled hair like spiders, huge red protruding eyes, and sharp long fangs. She especially loves children, especially those who don’t listen to their parents’ warnings, and go out after the sun sets without obeying it. She strikes them with the pains they suffer from until death. She also causes the fetus to miscarry even if its growth was complete, so the child is born dead and on his body a blue handprint, and this is proof that she was the one who did that.
The Lion Hasan: Hasan was my brave lion living among his tribe individuals who would cross through the deserts from one time to another searching for food and water, and grazing sheep as well. That rural tribe that Hasan belonged to had been forced at one time with the intensification of heat and dryness of the deserts to move to settle near one of the mountains. This mountain was known to be anciently a place for Mother of Boys.
During the tribe’s youth gathering with each other at night, chatting and exchanging conversation, one of them mentioned the story of Mother of Boys and informed them of her form. Here, Hasan laughed and said: The whole matter is no longer being contradictory legends. The youth denied what his friend had said. Here, one of them stood up challenging Hasan, saying to him: If you are a brave lion, it’s enough for you to carry a sheep, take her, slaughter her at the mountain, or in other words, follow me behind and we will all eat from the meat of the sheep, without losing a single piece.
Hasan accepted the challenge from the door of generosity and courage, and he got up, carrying the sheep on his back, and launched with it behind the mountain. Hasan was carrying in his hands three machetes. He planted them in the sand when he reached his destination. He descended the sheep from his back and started slaughtering her, then he started cutting her and dividing her to put her in small baskets.
After Hasan finished his work, and before he put the meat in the baskets, he felt eyes red and huge staring at him from every place around him. Here, Hasan realized that the story his friends had narrated was true. He raised the machetes at those moments in an attempt from him to distance them, but without avail.
Suddenly, Mother of Boys stood up, raising her breasts, and a foul liquid erupted from them. Hasan was blinded in his eyes, felt blindness, and started walking away from them. As soon as he distanced, he sat looking at them while they were eating the sheep’s meat. Mother of Boys told him that what she had sprayed on his eyes was poison, and he would lose his sight. He wouldn’t find any treatment unless he presented his eyes, then put white honey on them continuously until she heals completely, and that was over a period of three days. Hasan indeed returned to his tribe and received the treatment until his eyes healed.