Speak Bird Speak Again (16 page)

"What's
the matter?"

"They
want me to bring her horse."

"Didn't
I tell you you'd be sorry if you took it, and sorry if you didn't?
Anyway, this is an easy one. Go back to the king and say, 'I want a
gold-and-silver bridle from the treasury of the vizier. Otherwise,
the task will never be done.'"

Returning
to the king, the youth made his request. The king summoned the
minister, and said, "You must provide him with a bridle made of
silver and gold."

Selling
nearly everything he owned, the minister had the bridle made. They
sent after the boy, and he came and took the bridle with him back to
the horse. After the lad put the bridle on him, the horse told him to
mount, and he flew with the boy till he crossed the sea and came to
the country of the girl's father, where he landed in hilly territory.
The boy dismounted.

"Do
you see that mountain?" asked the horse.

"Yes."

"Over
there, by the side of that mountain, there's a cave, and in the
depths of the cave is the horse you want. He's bigger and stronger
than me, and I can't let him see me. If he sees me, he'll kill me.
Take this bridle with you. When you approach him, he'll neigh so loud
the earth will shake, but don't be afraid. Come up to him fearlessly,
put the bridle on his head, the bit in his mouth, tighten his cinch,
remove his hobble, mount him, and ride him straight back. You'll find
me back at the inn. Don't worry about me!"

The
boy went and did as the horse had instructed him. He mounted the
girl's horse, and it flew with him until they reached the city, where
he headed straight to the king.

"O
Ruler of the Age," he announced, "here's her horse! I've
brought it." Giving him the horse, the youth returned to his
room.

The
king led the horse with him, and said to the girl, "Open up!
Here's your horse! It has come."

Seeing
her horse, the girl brought out a sword, opened the door, mounted
him, and set to slashing him until she had chopped him into three or
four pieces. Then, going back into the palace, she locked the door.

"O
so and so! O daughter of worthy people!" the king pleaded.

"By
Allah, I won't open," came the reply, "until my horse has
been made to stand up as he was before."

"Eh!"
exclaimed the king, "who's going to revive your horse?"

"O
Ruler of the Age," the vizier broke in, "Do you think it's
such a big thing? He who brought the bird and the girl, and brought
the ring from the depths of the sea, can also bring the horse back to
life."

The
king sent after the lad and said, "You must bring the horse back
to life, just as he was before."

"Please
have mercy, O Ruler of the Age!" the boy entreated. "The
living creatures you've asked for, I've brought. But reviving the
dead! Is it possible that anyone can bring dead creatures back to
life except their Maker?"

"You
have two days and a third to raise this horse from the dead,"
the king said. "Otherwise, I'll cut off your head!"

The
boy went home to the horse, his eyes full of tears.

"What's
the matter?" asked the horse, and the boy answered, "Such
and such is the problem."

"All
fight," the horse reassured him. "This is an easy one. Go
back to the king and say, 'O Ruler of the Age! I want a pail made of
silver and gold from the treasury of the vizier. Otherwise, this
thing will never come to pass.'"

The
king summoned the vizier. "You must have a pail of silver and
gold made for him."

If his
wife had any jewelry left, the minister did not spare it. He sold
every last thing he had to make the gold-and-silver pail, which he
delivered to the young man, who brought it to the horse.

"Go
get me five piasters worth of rope from the shop," said the
horse. The boy went and got the rope. "Tie the handle of the
pail with the rope," said the horse, "and dangle it from my
neck." The boy tied the pail and dangled it from the horse's
neck. "Mount!" said the horse. He mounted, and the horse
flew with him. "Soon we'll be landing on the sea of life,"
said the horse in flight. "I'll have to dip my head in the water
to fill the pail. When I bring my head out again, I'll be drunk. You
must be careful to stay awake so you can splash some of the water on
my face and revive me. Otherwise I might fall into the sea, and it'll
be the end of both of us."

"Don't
worry," said the lad.

The
horse flew until he reached the sea of life, then landed, fired the
pail with water, and pulled his head out. But the boy's attention had
wandered, and he forgot to splash him. The horse reeled from side to
side, and he was about to fall when some of the water from the pail
splashed on his face and he revived. "See what you've done!"
the horse chided him. "You've almost cost us both our lives."
And he flew back. Where? Straight to the inn.

"Go
bring me a few empty bottles," said the horse when they landed
at the khan. The lad went and brought them. The horse then filled
them with water from the pail, saying, "Take these and put them
away now. They'll be needed later. Then carry this pail over to the
cut-up horse. Bring the severed joints together and splash them with
the water, and they'll stick. Open his mouth and pour some of the
water into it, and he'll rise up, neighing as he did before."

The
youth went, stuck the horse's joints together, and poured some of the
water down his mouth. The horse jumped up, neighing as he used to.

"Open
your door!" said the king to the girl. "Your horse is like
it was before!"

"I
swear by my father's head," she answered, "and by Him who
gave him power over people's necks, I won't open, and you won't see
me, until you've burned at the stake the boy who brought my horse and
my bird!"

"My
dear girl," exclaimed the king, "what's his fault except to
be doing us favors?"

"I
don't know," came the response.

Now
the minister saw his opportunity. "O Ruler of the Age!" he
jumped in. "Are you afraid for him? Why should you care about
him at all?"

The
king sent the crier into town to announce that everyone must bring a
load of wood and some burning coals. The boy was summoned and
informed of his fate, and he went crying to the horse. The wood was
piled, and the boy was brought and put on top. They were ready to
light the fire.

The
horse had meanwhile gotten hold of the boy and said to him, "Take
off your clothes and rub yourself with the water from the pail until
your body is all wet. Then go up to the top of the pile, stand in the
middle of the fire, and tell them to throw more wood into it. Don't
be afraid!"

The
lad did as the horse had advised him, mounting to the top of the
woodpile. They started the fire, and the flames engulfed him till he
was no longer visible. Turning the logs over, the lad called out to
the king, "Bring, O King, bring more wood and add to the fire!
This is the reward for good deeds! Bring more wood!"

The
king then asked the boy to come down from the fire. He did, and
behold! he was completely unharmed.

"Where
are you from, my lad?" asked the king.

"I'm
from such and such a city," answered the young man. "I'm
the son of King So and So."

The
king rushed up to the boy, hugged him, and started kissing him.
"You're the son of my brother," he exclaimed, "and I'm
doing this to you!" Taking hold of the vizier, he pushed him
into the fire. Then, dear brothers, he gave the lad the girl for a
bride. He also gave him the horse, the bird, the boat, the pail, and
everything else, and they rode out together. They were on their way
to the king who was the father of the boy.

This
king was sitting at home, and what did he see but a troop of horsemen
approaching from afar. Thinking he was being attacked, he alerted his
army, and they got themselves ready and mounted their horses. The
king sent a scout to discover what was going on. The scout rode out,
and found it was the king's own brother, come to pay him a visit.
When the king heard this news, how happy he was! He went out to meet
his brother in person, and found his own son with him.

When
they had gone inside, the king's brother related to him the story of
his son and what had happened to him. At that moment, in the presence
of his brother, the king stepped down and handed his kingdom over to
his son, who accepted it from his father and was content.

This
is my tale I've told it, and in your hands I leave it.

Afterword

The
five tales brought together here are concerned with the different
aspects of the relationship between parents and children, touching on
the theme of individual freedom, which will recur in many of the
tales that follow. The first tale focuses on the relationship between
mother and daughter, the second and fourth on that between mother and
son, and the third and fifth on that between father and son.

The
opening episode of the first tale, itself a recurring motif in the
corpus, demonstrates the importance of having children (a major theme
in the culture), and subsequent events in the tale demonstrate the
economic

value
children have for the family. It is significant that the woman in
"Tunjur, Tunjur," as in nearly all the other tales in which
a similar wish is made, should ask for a daughter rather than a son.
But in addition to the emotional bonds that hold mother and daughter
together, an economic motive is operating in the tale as well. The
mother's initial wish is not only for a daughter but also for a
source of income, and her willingness to let her daughter out of the
house is conditioned by her poverty. The daughter, for her part, does
not want to remain "on the shelf," which is considered the
proper place for a woman - well scrubbed and beautiful, but out of
sight. She wants to go out and see the world.

Yet
this urge for freedom is fraught with danger to the family honor. A
kind of inevitable logic is evident in all the tales: whenever a girl
is allowed out of the house or left on her own, trouble follows. This
point emerges clearly from the fifth tale in the group (and from
following tales as well), where the father's indulgence of the
princess's whims leads to her abduction by the hero. In "Tunjur,
Tunjur," in contrast, the theme of individual freedom is
intertwined with that of economic necessity. Tunjur's adventures,
which by the standards of the community are morally ambiguous, are
forgiven by her mother; the daughter would not have been able to get
away so easily if there had been any males in the family. Perhaps
because of these constraints on the freedom of women, the daughters
in both tales must rely on a ruse to achieve their aim of getting out
of the house.

The
second and fourth tales present a different aspect of the
child/parent conflict; the focus here is on sexual jealousy, a taboo
subject in the family circle. In the second tale, "The Woman Who
Married Her Son," the conflict arises from the son's need to
switch roles - he must cease to be his mother's son and establish
himself as his wife's husband and the head of his family. In the
situation of the patrilocal extended family, when a son marries, both
mother and daughter-in-law have difficulties. The mother's
possessiveness in the tale, her need to keep her son under her
control, drives her to throw the wife out of the house so that she
can be both mother and wife to her own son. In the fourth tale, in
contrast, the mother wishes to break free of her role, which confines
her to being a passive recipient of her sons attention. In addition
to being a mother, she also wants to marry again and become a wife.

The
third and fifth tales are concerned with the relationship of fathers
and sons. Both illustrate the sons struggle to achieve independence
by challenging the authority of the father. In the third tale,
"Precious One and Worn-out One," the father is shown as
being a deceitful tyrant who resents the sons courage and
independence and attempts to compete with him sexually. By overcoming
the father, the son succeeds in demonstrating his maturity and
achieving independence. Similarly, in the fifth tale, "The
Golden Pail," the son proves himself worthy of inheriting his
father's kingdom by meeting his uncle's challenge. Here the co-wives
also compete, wishing their respective children to inherit the
throne. In particular, it is the rejected co-wife who urges her son
to challenge the father and who provides him with the means to
achieve success, thereby vindicating her position in the family. In a
polygynous situation, the struggle over inheritance starts very early
in the marriage; indeed, often the main worry of a first wife and her
children is to prevent the father from marrying again because of
concern over inheritance. Although the stake in the last tale is the
entire kingdom, the struggle over a family's small piece of land
could be just as intense.