Once upon a time there was an old man and an old woman. They wanted to buy mochi for New Year which would come soon. They decided to make sedge hats to trade for mochi.
A few days later, the old man started in the snow to town with the...
One winter there was an old woman who was left behind. She was so old that she couldn’t even chew kamik leather anymore. Her family left her with only a few insects to eat. The woman said: “I’m not going to eat these poor creatures. I am old and perhaps they are...
Once upon a time, there lived an old man with his beautiful daughter. She fell in love with a handsome lad, and the two married with the old man’s blessing. The young couple led a happy life, except for one problem: the husband spent his time working on alchemy,...
Once Mullah was asked to perform a miracle.
“Never mind,” said Mullah as he commanded a tree to come nearer to him.
The tree did not move.
“Never mind,” said Mullah again as he stepped forward toward the tree.
“You said you are holy,”...
Everyone brings something to a new country. Part of what Sayed brought was a terrible fear of never having enough. He had his reasons. In the small village he had come from, he had had so little.
He did not have little now. He lived in a...
Once Mullah went to a Turkish bath. The attendants ignored him. Upon leaving the bath, Mullah gave each of the servants two derhams as tip.
Next time the attendants gave Mullah special attention, hoping to get much more in tips than on the previous occasion...
There was once an Indian who had a taboo against eating porcupine. He himself had originally been an animal but was transformed into a human being and therefore does not eat the flesh of the porcupine lest he be transformed again. He chose to live among the...
Once there were three brothers who loved adventure. One day they decided to go on a journey, each one to a different country, and to meet again on a certain day ten years later. Each brother was to bring back with him an unusual gift.
...Once there was a shoemaker—a poor man with his wife and children, just like the son of Yusif il-Xatib (a shoemaker in the storyteller’s village), who is new to the craft. All day he mended shoes—save the listeners!—so he could make two or three piasters and buy bread...
Once upon a time, a king and queen lived happily together. One day, the King felt restless, and decided to wage war on a heathen lord, infamous for his cruelty and evil. The King gathered a great army, took leave from his wife, and set sail. When the King landed in...
