101 Middle Eastern Tales and Their Impact on Western Oral Tradition

Ulrich Marzolph

• Publisher: Wayne State University Press
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9780814347737
• eBook ISBN: 9780814347751
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Folklore & Mythic Literary Criticism
• Index: Literature

A comprehensive exploration of the Middle Eastern roots of Western narrative tradition.

Against the methodological backdrop of historical and comparative folk narrative research, 101 Middle Eastern Tales and Their Impact on Western Oral Tradition surveys the history, dissemination, and characteristics of over one hundred narratives transmitted to Western tradition from or by the Middle Eastern Muslim literatures (i.e., authored written works in Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Turkish). For a tale to be included, Ulrich Marzolph considered two criteria: that the tale originates from or at least was transmitted by a Middle Eastern source, and that it was recorded from a Western narrator's oral performance in the course of the nineteenth or twentieth century. The rationale behind these restrictive definitions is predicated on Marzolph's main concern with the long-lasting effect that some of the "Oriental" narratives exercised in Western popular tradition—those tales that have withstood the test of time.

Marzolph focuses on the originally "Oriental" tales that became part and parcel of modern Western oral tradition. Since antiquity, the "Orient" constitutes the quintessential Other vis-à-vis the European cultures. While delineation against this Other served to define and reassure the Self, the "Orient" also constituted a constant source of fascination, attraction, and inspiration. Through oral retellings, numerous tales from Muslim tradition became an integral part of European oral and written tradition in the form of learned treatises, medieval sermons, late medieval fabliaux, early modern chapbooks, contemporary magazines, and more. In present times, when national narcissisms often acquire the status of strongholds delineating the Us against the Other, it is imperative to distinguish, document, visualize, and discuss the extent to which the West is not only indebted to the Muslim world but also shares common features with Muslim narrative tradition. 101 Middle Eastern Tales and Their Impact on Western Oral Tradition is an important contribution to this debate and a vital work for scholars, students, and readers of folklore and fairy tales.

Chapter 1

The Fox Rids Itself of Fleas (ATU 63)

---

•

Tales that enjoy such great popularity as to be known as “folktales” are not necessarily long and complex narratives. In particular, some of the tales catalogued as animal tales, that is, tale types ATU 1–299, are short and ostensibly realistic observations about the life of animals. These tales contrast with structured fictitious narratives such as fables, in which animals speak and act as metaphorical representatives of human characters, often stereotypical ones. Referring to the need for a clear distinction between the two types of animal tales, identified by Carl Wilhelm von Sydow,1 the compilers of the catalogue of French folktales discussed the short tale classified as tale type ATU 63: The Fox Rids Himself of Fleas.2 According to the tale, the fox would take a small object such as a piece of moss into its mouth and then slowly immerse its body into the water, tail first. To avoid being drowned, the fleas would gradually mount the fox’s body up to its head. Finally, when the fox would submerge its head in the water, they would save themselves by jumping onto the piece of moss. The fox would then abandon the floating object and be rid of the fleas.

Some of the tale’s versions documented from European oral tradition in the twentieth century are extemely short, such as the one in German dialect recorded by J. Schwebe from the oral performance of Christoph Lemke (b. 1866), a former farmer in Lüchow, Lower Saxony, in 1958.3 Although this version does not even mention an object on which the fleas rescue themselves, the action is virtually the same as summarized above.

The fox is full of fleas. It goes backward into the water with its tail first until the fleas jump off his nose. Thus it gets rid of the fleas.

Other versions, such as an Estonian text, authenticate the alleged observation by embellishing it into a lengthy narrative in which a man collecting wood at the shore of a river on a hot summer day observes the fox perform the said action.4 The Estonian text ends by mentioning that the narrator did not understand what the fox had actually done until he picked up the bundle of hay the fox had held in its mouth. It was so full of fleas that the narrator could not get rid of them himself. John Campbell’s version from the Scottish Highlands presents the observation as fact, claiming that the fox “was seen in the sea near the Caithness hills.”5 Similarly, the Irish narrator Mac Thuathaláin, aged 60, claimed his version to be a factual report, saying that Máirtín Ó Loideáin saw a fox “draw a mouthful of wool from a sheep, go into the river and swim to the foot of a waterfall and back” three times.6

In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the tale was repeatedly published as a factual report in newspapers. In a short notice in the May 4, 1911, issue of Nature, Bohuslav Brauner from Prague recounted the tale as told by his father almost fifty years earlier.7 Instead of wool or hay, the fox here sacrifices a tuft of his own fur to collect the fleas. The narrator further emphasized the fox’s ingenuity by stating “the effect was superior, for the fleas could creep into the hair without noticing any change of medium during the water trick.” In the United States, the December 22, 1900, issue of the Pacific Rural Times quoted the tale from the Baltimore Sun, referring to “an old hunter and naturalist of local repute” who told the tale, confirming it “as absolutely true and trustworthy.”8 Asserting that he never heard or read of the tale, the hunter related the events as “observed in the waters of the Patapsco River.” In this version, when the fox hurried away, the “object left floated near to the observer, and he hauled it ashore with a stick. Fleas literally swarmed through the object, which was found to be a bit of raw rabbit fur.”

Historically, the tale was popularized for many centuries by its mention in a fair variety of European works of a scientific, educative, and sometimes entertaining, nature.9 These include, to list but a few, Scots-Irish novelist William Hamilton Maxwell’s 1833 book on sports and pastimes of the United Kingdom;10 eighteenth-century German encyclopedian Johann Heinrich Zedler’s influential comprehensive dictionary “of all sciences and arts;”11 German author Hilarius Salustius’ chapbook Melancholini wohl-aufgeraumter Weeg-Gefärth (The Melancholic’s Well-tempered Companion; 1717);12 Sir Kenelm Digby’s Two Treatises: Of Bodies and of Man’s Soul, the “first comprehensive philosophical work in the English language,”13 initially published in 1644;14 Swedish historian and naturalist Olaus Magnus’s Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus (A History of the Northern People; 1555);15 Swiss physician and naturalist Conrad Gesner’s Historia animalium (History of Animals; 1551);16 and a number of sixteenth-century Spanish works.17 The ultimate source of these authors likely was Albertus Magnus’s (d. 1280) De animalibus (On Animals) who quoted the tale from the obscure medieval author known as Jorach or Jorath (“Iorach dicit . . .”).18 The earliest-known mention of the fox’s clever trick in the European literatures is attested in the Latin Otia imperialia (Recreation for an Emperor), compiled by Gervase of Tilbury at the beginning of the thirteenth century.19

More than three centuries prior to Gervase of Tilbury, the narrative is recounted from “popular tradition” (ḥadīth al-ʿāmma) in the Kitāb al-Ḥayawān (Book of Animals) written by the Arab polymath al-Jāḥiẓ (d. 868).20 Here, the action is presented more or less as a scientific observation with the fox taking a tuft of wool into its mouth and slowly submerging its body into the water until the fleas gather on the wool, at which point the fox suddenly abandons the wool and leaves. Being a critical observer, al-Jāḥiẓ added a commentary saying, “If this was true, then there would be nothing more amazing. And if it was not true (bāṭil), then the people would have attributed it to the fox only because of the animal’s demonstrated excellence in cunning and cleverness (al-khubth wa-’l-kays).”

Repeatedly mentioned in Arab learned and entertaining literature of the following centuries,21 albeit with a shorter and slightly different wording, the narrative is cited in such influential compilations as al-Damīrī’s (d. 1405) zoographical encyclopedia Ḥayāt al-ḥayawān (The Life of Animals)22 or al-Ibshīhī’s popular fifteenth-century encyclopedia al-Mustaṭraf fī kulli fann mustaẓraf (The Exquisite Elements from Every Art Considered Elegant).23 Still in the seventeenth century, Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn (al-)Ilyās al-Ḥanafī included the tale in his compilation of amusing tales, Nuzhat al-udabāʾ (Entertainment of the Educated).24 Although in particular al-Ibshīhī’s work was widely read until the twentieth century,25 the tale has apparently not been recorded from contemporary Arab oral tradition.26

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, the tale is presented in Western children’s books27 and various Internet we...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Introduction
• 1. The Fox Rids Itself of Fleas (ATU 63)
• 2. Belling the Cat (ATU 110)
• 3. The Bird Promises to Give Its Captor Three Pieces of Advice (ATU 150)
• 4. The Faithful Animal Rashly Killed (ATU 178A)
• 5. The Cat and the Candle (ATU 217)
• 6. The Princess and Her Secret Affair (ATU 306)
• 7. The Unfaithful Wife Transforms Her Husband into a Dog (ATU 449)
• 8. The Two Hunchbacks (ATU 503)
• 9. The Unpromising Rascal Makes His Fortune with the Help of a Magic Object (ATU 561)
• 10. The Mechanical Flying Gadget (ATU 575)
• 11. The Husband Buried Alive Together with His Deceased Wife (ATU 612)
• 12. The Contending Lovers Are Challenged to Acquire the Rarest Thing in the World (ATU 653A)
• 13. The Sensitive Brothers and Their Clever Deductions (ATU 655)
• 14. Years of Experience in a Moment: The Man is Transformed into a Woman (and Back Again) (ATU 681)
• 15. The Chaste Woman Coveted by Her Brother-in-Law (ATU 712)
• 16. The Three Old Men (ATU 726)
• 17. The Foolish Couple Waste the Three Wishes They Have Been Granted (ATU 750A)
• 18. The Subaltern Does Not Want to Sell the House to the Ruler (ATU 759E)
• 19. The Treasure Finders Murder One Another (ATU 763)
• 20. Greed Makes the Cheater Admit His Misdemeanor (ATU 785)
• 21. God Willing! (ATU 830C)
• 22. The Greedy Man Is Blinded and Falls into Misery (ATU 836F*)
• 23. Drinking Leads to Committing Serious Crimes (ATU 839)
• 24. The Princess Whose Suitors Will Be Executed if They Fail to Solve Her Riddles (AT 851A)
• 25. The Entrapped Would-Be Seducers Have to Work to Earn Their Food (ATU 882A*)
• 26. The Prince Learns a Profession (ATU 888A*)
• 27. A Pound of Flesh as Security for a Loan (ATU 890)
• 28. The Lowly Man Shrewdly Responds to the King’s Unanswerable Questions (ATU 922)
• 29. The Treacherous Treasure-Hunter (ATU 936*)
• 30. The Robbers Hiding Their Treasures in a Magic Cavern (ATU 954)
• 31. Whose Was the Noblest Action? (ATU 976)
• 32. The Villager in the Town of Rogues (ATU 978)
• 33. The Dishes of the Same Flavor (ATU 983)
• 34. The Fool Guards the Door by Taking It Along (ATU 1009)
• 35. The Fools Try to Keep the Bird from Escaping (ATU 1213)
• 36. Trying to Please Everyone (ATU 1215)
• 37. The Fool Doubles the Load by Counterbalancing the Wheat with Stones (AT 1242B)
• 38. Making a Hole in the Ground to Deposit the Soil from the Previous Digging (ATU 1255)
• 39. Warming Oneself on a Distant Fire (ATU 1262)
• 40. The Fool Forgets to Count the Donkey He Is Sitting on (ATU 1288A)
• 41. The Scholar and the Ferryman (El-Shamy 1293C*)
• 42. Freeing the Part of the Body Stuck in the Jar by Cutting It off (ATU 1294)
• 43. The Fox Fears It Might Be Taken for a Camel (El-Shamy 1319N*)
• 44. Accidental Cannibalism (ATU 1339G)
• 45. The Thieves Find Nothing to Steal in the Poor Man’s House (ATU 1341C)
• 46. The House without Food or Drink (ATU 1346)
• 47. The Liar Sows Discord between a Married Couple (ATU 1353)
• 48. The Frightened Person Withdraws the Vow to Die Instead of a Close Relative (ATU 1354)
• 49. The Weighed Cat (ATU 1373)
• 50. Test of Self-Composure: Small Animal Escapes When Lid of Vessel Is Lifted (ATU 1416)
• 51. The Tricky Lover Regains the Gift He Gave for Intercourse (ATU 1420G)
• 52. The Enchanted Tree (ATU 1423)
• 53. The Men Realize That They Will Never Manage to Control Women’s Sexuality (ATU 1426)
• 54. Ignorance Concerning the Use of Flour (ATU 1446)
• 55. The Burglar’s Lame Excuse: The Sound Will Be Heard Tomorrow Morning (Jason 1525*T)
• 56. The Swindler Leaves an Uninformed Person as Security for His Purchase (ATU 1526)
• 57. The Thief Claims to Have Been Transformed into a Donkey (ATU 1529)
• 58. The Subaltern Is Made Lord for a Day (ATU 1531)
• 59. The Clever Man Privileges Himself When Carving the Roast Chicken (ATU 1533)
• 60. Quoting the Scripture to Gain an Advantage at the Meal (ATU 1533A)
• 61. Hanging by Proxy (ATU 1534A*)
• 62. The Accused Wins the Lawsuit by Feigning to Be Dumb (ATU 1534D*)
• 63. The Exigent Dreamer (ATU 1543A)
• 64. Promising to Sell the Large Farm Animal for a Trifle Amount (ATU 1553)
• 65. The Rogue Trades Water for Wine (ATU 1555B)
• 66. Welcome to the Clothes (ATU 1558)
• 67. “Think Thrice before You Speak!” (ATU 1562)
• 68. The Sham Threat (ATU 1563*)
• 69. The Trickster Relieves His Itching with a Trick (ATU 1565)
• 70. The Prankster’s Ambiguous Dream (ATU 1572M*)
• 71. The Thievish Tailor’s Terrifying Dream of the Patchwork Banner (ATU 1574)
• 72. The Drink Served in the Pisspot (ATU 1578A*)
• 73. The Adviser Is Duped with His Own Advice (ATU 1585)
• 74. The Inanimate Object Allegedly Gives Birth and Dies (ATU 1592B)
• 75. The Courtiers Force the Bearer of a Present to Share His Anticipated Award (ATU 1610)
• 76. The Greedy Banker Is Deceived into Delivering the Disputed Deposit (ATU 1617)
• 77. The Pauper Regains His Buried Money (ATU 1617*)
• 78. The Imaginary Tissue (ATU 1620)
• 79. The Lowly Man Posing as Soothsayer (ATU 1641)
• 80. The Miracle Cure (ATU 1641B)
• 81. Who Stole?—The Thieves! (ATU 1641B*)
• 82. The Dream of Finding One’s Fortune Somewhere Else (ATU 1645)
• 83. The Dreamer Marks the Treasure with His Excrements (ATU 1645B)
• 84. The Clever Man Privileges Himself When Distributing Food Items among Several Persons (ATU 1663)
• 85. Anticipatory Beating (ATU 1674*)
• 86. The Animal Will Not Know How to Make Proper Use of the Meat (ATU 1689B)
• 87. The Clever Woman Has the Entrapped Would-Be Lovers Publicly Humiliated (ATU 1730)
• 88. The Clever Culprit Pretends That His Sword Has Been Transformed to Wood (ATU 1736A)
• 89. The Preacher Cleverly Avoids Delivering a Sermon (ATU 1826)
• 90. The Numskull Thinks That a Name Ages (ATU 1832N*)
• 91. How the Preacher’s Sermon Makes a Member of His Parish Cry (ATU 1834)
• 92. The Simpleton Is Not Able to Perform a Seemingly Easy Mental Task (ATU 1835D*)
• 93. The Illiterate Fool’s Reckoning of Time Is Ruined (ATU 1848A)
• 94. The Rider Goes Where His Bolting Mount Takes Him (ATU 1849*)
• 95. The Greater Bribe Wins (ATU 1861A)
• 96. Diagnosis by Observation (ATU 1862C)
• 97. The Liar Reduces the Size of His Lie (ATU 1920D)
• 98. The Trickster Forces His Challenger to Admit That He Is Telling a Lie (ATU 1920F)
• 99. A Nonsense Introduction to the Fairy-Tale World (ATU 1965)
• 100. Mouse-Maid Marries Mouse (ATU 2031C)
• 101. The Climax of Horrors (ATU 2040)
• Works Cited
• Index of Narrators and Collectors
• Index of Names and Motifs in the Tales
• General Index