Speak Bird Speak Again (50 page)

"In
that case," she continued, "come let me sew straps on this
pouch, which has a copy of the Qur'an in it (he couldn't read or
write), so you can hang it over your shoulder. Every Thursday go to
the cemetery, and you're bound to bring home some bread for your
children."

"By
Allah that's a good suggestion," he said, "except that I
don't know how to read."

"And
do you think anyone's going to be listening to what you're reading?"
she asked. "Just take hold of the Qur'an, open it, and mumble
something."

Strapping
the Qur'an across his shoulder, he went to the cemetery, opened the
book, and stood there, you might say reading from it. Wherever he saw
people gathering around a fresh grave, he stood by them and mumbled
as if reading.

"Make
way for the sheikh!" people shouted. "Let the sheikh have a
place to sit! Bring fruits over here for the sheikh! Gather the cakes
for the sheikh!"

His
bag full, he went home and emptied it out for his children. They ate
from it from one Thursday to the next.

The
following Thursday, as chance would have it, the mother of the king's
wife died.

"Go
call the sheikh!"

They
went and said to him, "Come to the king's wife. Her mother has
died, and she wants to give you alms."

Taking
the Qur'an with him, he went and mumbled something, swaying from side
to side. The king's wife gathered a little from everything she had
brought and gave it to the sheikh, saying, "Venerable sheikh,
will you come back next Thursday?"

"I'm
at your service," he answered.

On the
third Thursday he went to see her. Now, the king's wife was in her
ninth month and was expecting at any moment.

"Honorable
sheikh," she said, "you must divine for me. What am I going
to have? A boy? Or a girl?"

"What
am I going to do?" he thought. "If I say 'a girl' and she
has a boy, the king will cut off my head. And ill say 'a boy' and she
has a girl, he'll cut off my head. What a trap this is! What am I
going to do? What a mess you've gotten yourself into, Sparrow! May
fate let you down, Locust! How did you manage to get Sparrow into
this fix?"

"There!"
he said to his wife when he went home. "You weren't satisfied
until you made me work. What's this mess I've gotten myself into?"

"Is
that all?" she answered. "Divine for her, and whatever you
feel like saying, say it. And on the day of reckoning, Allah mill
help."

When
he came to see the king's wife the following day, she asked, "Did
you, Allah willing, do the divination?"

"Yes,
by Allah," he answered. "I read your fortune in the sand.
You're going to have a boy and a girl."

"Will
I give birth in the palace upstairs, or downstairs?" she asked.

"You'll
give birth upstairs and downstairs," he said.

And
so, the following day, behold! a messenger came from the king's wife.

"What
news of the king's wife?"

"When
she was in the palace downstairs," he reported, "she went
into labor. 'Go bring the midwife!' they said, but while waiting for
her she gave birth to her first baby. Thinking she had finished, they
took her to her room upstairs in the palace, and when the midwife
arrived she said there was still another baby inside her, and she
gave birth to it upstairs."

Now,
she had told the king that the sheikh had divined for her and had
said she would give birth to a boy and a girl upstairs and
downstairs. When the news reached the king, the good news that his
wife had given birth to a boy and a girl, he said to Sparrow, "It's
settled! From now on I'm going to let you divine everything that may
happen around here." The king then showed him his favor, giving
him what fate decreed should be his share.

"Woe
to you, Locust!" said Sparrow when he went home. "The king
says such and such, and I can't read or write. How can I divine for
the king?"

"When
the day of reckoning comes," she answered, "Allah will come
to the rescue."

One
day the king went down to the orchard to take the air and lost track
of time. When he came to do his ablutions so he could pray, he took
off the royal ring and put it aside. Now, there was a boy roaming the
fields and tending a flock of ducks and geese. A one-eyed goose,
while pecking around, happened to swallow the ring, and the boy was
afraid to tell the king. When he had finished his ablutions and
prayed, the king looked around for the ring; not finding it, he sent
for the sheikh.

Now we
go back to the boy, who went to sit by the gate. "The sheikh
will find me out and tell the king," he thought, "and he'll
cut off my head." Sitting by the gate, he waited, and when the
sheikh came by he said, "I throw myself on Allah's mercy and
yours. Such and such is the story, and I was too scared to tell the
king for fear he'd cut off my head. I want you not to say anything.
I'm afraid if the king knew he'd cut off my head."

"Don't
worry," said the sheikh.

Going
in to see the king, the sheikh said, "Yes, Your Majesty!"

"Such
and such is the story of the ring," the king said.

"Your
Majesty," said the sheikh, "do you keep geese and turkeys?"

"Yes."

"Your
Majesty," continued the sheikh, "there's among them a
one-eyed goose. Send someone to bring that one-eyed goose over here."

They
went and searched and found it was true. There was a one-eyed goose.
Taking hold of it, the sheikh slaughtered it, slit its gullet, and
pulled the ring out before the king and the vizier, who were looking
at each other [wondering], "What kind of creature is this, who
has this knowledge?" The king accepted the ring and rewarded the
sheikh, who gathered himself and went home.

Not
many days had gone by when the sultans treasure chest was stolen.

"Send
for Abu Ali!" he said. "Send for Abu Ali!"

When
the sheikh came in, the king said, "You have forty days to
divine who stole the treasury."

Again
he went to his wife, crying out, "What a misfortune, Locust! You
really got me into a mess! Where did the treasure chest disappear to,
and how should I know who took it when I don't even know how to
count? How am I to know when the forty days are up?"

"Don't
worry, my good man," she said. "I'll count out forty
pebbles and put them in your pockets. Every day, after you finish
evening prayers, throw one of them away until they're all gone. Then
you'll know the time's up."

Counting
out forty pebbles and stuffing them in his pockets, she said, "After
prayer in the evening, just before you eat dinner, throw one of them
away."

That
evening, after he had finished praying, he threw one of the pebbles
away and said "Heh! This if the first of the forty."

Now,
the treasury had been robbed by forty thieves.

"If
tomorrow the sheikh were to divine in the sand," they whispered
among each other, "he'd expose every single one of us. Let's go
check up on him."

They
sent one of them to check, but no sooner had he reached the door of
the sheikh's house than the thief heard him say, "Heh! This is
the first of the forty." Back to his mates he ran.

"Listen!"
he said, "By Allah, before he even saw or became aware of me he
knew who I was, because no sooner did I come near the house than he
said, 'Heh! This is the first of the forty.'"

But
they did not believe him, and one of them who thought himself clever
said, "Tomorrow, I'll go myself."

The
following day, just as it was turning dark, the thief headed for the
house of the sheikh, who had barely finished evening prayer when,
taking a pebble from his pocket, he tossed it out and said, "Heh!
This is the second of the forty."

Back
the thief went running, as fast as he could, and said to his mates,
"Listen! By Allah, he's found us out one by one. It's best for
us to knock on his door, go in to see him, and try to negotiate."
So four or five, you might say, of the sensible ones among them went
to Abu Ali's shack in the evening. One of them came forward to knock
on the door, and 1o! the sheikh was saying, "Heh! This is the
third of the forty."

"You
see, by Allah," they whispered among themselves, "he knows
each and every one of us." Then, going in to see him, they said,
"We've come to you, O sheikh, so that you can save our souls."

"Allah
is the only savior, my children," he said.

"We
know," they continued, "that you've been divining to locate
the sultans treasury. We're the ones who stole it."

"Yes,"
he answered, "I knew all along it was you."

"All
right," they said, "we'll bring it back, but we beg you not
to tell on us."

"You
see that I know all," he said. "If even one para is
missing, I will tell. Make absolutely sure not to spend any of it."

"Absolutely
not!" they assured him.

"In
that case," he replied, "bring it here to me and, for the
sake of Allah, I'll let you go free. I won't say anything to the
king."

Away
they went, took up the chest, and brought it in to the sheikh. No
sooner had they left than he went to see the king and said, "Your
Majesty, the treasury has turned up."

"In
only three days it turned up!" exclaimed the king.

"Yes."

"Where
is it?"

"At
my house. Send someone to fetch it."

When
they had gone, gotten the treasure chest, and come back, the king
declared, "From now on, I won't even move anything from one
place to another without consulting Abu Ali. And I won't walk from
here to there except with Abu Ali at my side."

"O
Ruler of the Age," the vizier broke in, "this man's
condition is disgusting. Does someone like him walk with kings?"

"What
does it have to do with you?" answered the king.

Now,
in a distant country there was a prince whose palace was on an island
in the sea, and he wanted to hold a party in it for the other kings,
including our king.

"My
vizier," said the king, "I want to send for Abu Ali. Let us
take him with us."

"Why
Abu Ali?" complained the vizier. "He doesn't know how to
talk, how to sit in company, or even how to eat."

"Impossible,"
said the king. "I want to take him with me."

"The
orders are yours to give," replied the vizier, "and the
advice is yours to follow."

Sending
for Abu Ali, they gave him a new suit of clothes with an aba and made
him look good, and the king took him along to the palace. But no
sooner had they arrived than they saw him leave the assembled kings,
go running down the stairs, and sit outside on the sand. "Now my
wife will be baking bread," he said to himself, moving his hands
as if baking bread. "Now my wife will be cooking," he
thought and made cooking motions in the sand with his hands.
Meanwhile, the king's eye was on him.

"God
knows what's going on," said the king to the vizier. "Abu
Ali's divining something in the sand."

Abu
Ali was now saying to himself, "Heh! Now she's finished cooking.
Heh! Now she's serving the food. Come eat, children! Come, come,
come!"

"Let's
go! Let's go!" said this king to the other kings. "Let's
go! Abu Ali's calling us. God knows what's going on.!"

And
down came all the guests, running after the king. (See how the Lord
can show his mercy!) No sooner had the guests rushed out of the
palace than it came tumbling down. It turned out the ground on which
it had been built was loose. Everyone stood, looking at it in
amazement.

"See,
my vizier," he said, "what would have happened if we hadn't
brought Abu Ali with us?"

But as
they were standing around looking at the remains of the palace, lo! a
bird with a locust in its beak flew into the king's sleeve. The king
held it in his sleeve without knowing what it was.

"Abu
Ali," he said, "tell me what's in my sleeve?"

"By
Allah, O Ruler of the Age," answered Abu Ali, "tales and
complaints are neverending. If not for Locust, Sparrow wouldn't have
been caught!"

The
king shook his sleeve open, and behold! a sparrow with a locust in
its beak flew out.

"See,
my vizier," he said. "Even I didn't know what was in my
sleeve."

"Abu
Ali Abu Ali!" everyone exclaimed as they went home.