um besisi

A few days before Eid, Um Besisi was weaving when the mouse came to her and said: Um Besisi, my mother sent me to ask if she could borrow your sieve? Um Besisi looked up from her weaving, and nodded her agreement: “Of course! It is in the kitchen covering the milk. Go bring it, but make sure you don’t drink any of my milk.”

The mouse crept into Um Besisi’s kitchen, and saw the big blue bowl of cold milk covered with the sieve. He stared at it, suddenly very very thirsty. It was a big bowl, surely Um Besisi would not notice if he took just a little sip? He quietly lifted the sieve up and drank a little from the milk, then hurriedly wiped one whisker clean and left the other. When he came back, Um Besisi immediately saw the milk on his whiskers. She set down her weaving, standing up and puting her hands on her hips: Mouse, why did you drink my milk? The mouse widened his eyes innocently. “Me? I didn’t touch your milk, Um Besisi.”

Um Besisi frowned dangerously: “There’s milk on your whiskers, and if you got close enough to get your whiskers wet then you must have drunk some.” The mouse squeaked: No, no, I didn’t touch the milk Um Besisi, it must have gotten on my whiskers by accident.

Um Besisi smiled, a thin smile: “I don’t like being lied to and I don’t like being treated like a food.” And just like that, she cut off his tail. The mouse yelped and squeaked, looking at his lost tail in misery. He turned to Um Besisi and saw that she had sat down and taken up her weaving, just as though nothing had happened. “Please Um Besisi, I’m very sorry I drank your milk! Please give me back my tail! It will be Eid soon, how can I go out of the house and play with me friends when I have no tail?” Um Besisi ignored him, but he kept on pleading and pleading with her to give him back his tail until finally, she looked up at him, considering, and then said: “All right mouse, if you want your tail back so badly, go bring me some milk from the goat.”

The mouse skipped and jumped with joy. He would get his tail back! He thanked Um Besisi profusely and scurried out of the house, going straight the goat. When he got there he said, quickly, impatiently: “Goat, please give me some milk and the milk is for Um Besisi and Um Besisi will give me back my tail so I can play with my friends when its Eid.”

The goat looked at him with distaste, chewing busily. She swallowed, and then said: “Allright, but first go bring me buckthorn from the jujube tree.” The mouse looked crestfallen, but he went straight to the jujube tree and said: “Jujube tree, please give me some buckthorn and the buckthorn is for the goat and the goat will give me some milk and the milk is for Um Besisi and Um Besisi will give me back my tail so I can play with my friends when its Eid.” The jujube said: “Fine, but first go bring me floodwater from the valley.” The mouse sighed a little, but turned right round and went to the valley. When he finally got there, he looked around and said, a little desperately: “O Valley, please give me some floodwater, and the floodwater is for the jujube tree and the jujube tree will give me buckthorn and the buckthorn is for the goat and the goat will give me some milk and the milk is for Um Besisi and Um Besisi will give me back my tail so I can play with my friends when its Eid.” The valley was quiet, but finally, the mouse heard the leaves rustling: “You will have some floodwater, but first you must convince a few ullulaters from the tents to stay here and make the valley ring with merry making.”

The mouse blinked in confusion, but finally he shrugged and went down to where the tents were closely clustered together. He stood in the middle and said meekly, “O people of the tents, will you please send some ullulaters to the valley and the valley will give me some floodwater and the floodwater is for the jujube tree and the jujube tree will give me buckthorn and the buckthorn is for the goat and the goat will give me some milk and the milk is for Um Besisi and Um Besisi will give me back my tail so I can play with my friends when its Eid.”

The people looked at each other and then looked at the mouse and said: “We’ll consider it, but only if you go bring us a sheep from the shepherd.” The mouse turned around and went to the shepherd. He took a deep breath and said: “Shepherd, please give me a sheep for the villagers and they will give me some zaghratat (ullulaters) and the ullulaters are for the valley and the valley will give me some floodwater and the floodwater is for the jujube tree and the jujube tree will give me buckthorn and the buckthorn is for the goat and the goat will give me some milk and the milk is for Um Besisi and Um Besisi will give me back my tail so I can play with my friends when its Eid.” The shepherd listened to all this with a small smile, and then when the mouse finally finished and took another breath, the shepherd said: “Sure, you can have a sheep, but first go get me a stick from the carob tree.”

The mouse rubbed his head, which was beginning to ache, but he didn’t say anything until he finally found the big carob tree all on its own in a field. Then he said: “O carob tree, please give me a stick and the stick is for the shepherd and the shepherd will give me a sheep and the sheep is for the villagers and they will give me some ullulaters and the ullulaters are for the valley and the valley will give me some floodwater and the floodwater is for the Jujube tree and the Jujube tree will give me buckthorn and the buckthorn is for the goat and the goat will give me some milk and the milk is for Um Besisi and Um Besisi will give me back my tail so I can play with my friends when its Eid.”

The carob tree stirred slightly, considering the mouse’s plight. Then it said: “Fine, but it’s not fair that everyone should get something and you expect to be given a stick for nothing. I want you to bring me a puppy from the dog.” The mouse wrinkled his nose. “A puppy?” “Yes, a puppy.” The carob tree said, firmly.

The mouse shrugged and went to the dog, asking very politely this time: “Dog, please give me a puppy and the puppy is for the carob tree and the carob tree will give me a stick and the stick is for the shepherd and the shepherd will give me a sheep and the sheep is for the villagers and they will give me some ullulators and the ullulaters are for the valley and the valley will gve me some floodwater and the floodwater is for the Jujube tree and the Jujube tree will give me buckthorn and the buckthorn is for the goat and the goat will give me some milk and the milk is for Um Besisi and Um Besisi will give me back my tail so I can play with my friends when its Eid.”

The dog stared at him and then looked down at her four puppies. “Allright,” she said, grudgingly, “but you’ll have to bring me the mare’s placenta.” The mouse rubbed his head again in bemusement, then went to the mare and said: “O mare, please give me your placenta for the dog and the dog will give me a puppy and the puppy is for the carob tree and the carob tree will give me a stick and the stick is for the shepherd and the shepherd will give me a sheep and the sheep is for the villagers and they will give me some ullulators and the ullulaters are for the valley and the valley will give me some floodwater and the floodwater is for the jujube tree and the jujube tree will give me buckthorn and the buckthorn is for the goat and the goat will give me some milk and the milk is for Um Besisi and Um Besisi will give me back my tail so I can play with my friends when its Eid.” The mare snickered in amusement at the mouse’s speech, but nodded her agreement. “But I’d like some hay in return. You can get it from the harvesters.”

He went to the harvesters and said, “Harvesters, please give me some hay for the mare and the mare will give me her placenta and the placenta is for the dog and the dog will give me a puppy and the puppy is for the carob tree and the carob tree will give me a stick and the stick is for the shepherd and the shepherd will give me a sheep and the sheep is for the villagers and they will give me some ullulators and the ullulaters are for the valley and the valley will gve me some floodwater and the floodwater is for the Jujube tree and the Jujube tree will give me buckthorn and the buckthorn is for the goat and the goat will give me some milk and the milk is for Um Besisi and Um Besisi will give me back my tail so I can play with my friends when its Eid.”

The harvesters had straightened up from their work to listen to the mouse’s piping voice rattling off the long list of things, grinning at each other. When he finally got to the end, one of them held out a sickle. “Go sharpen this at the blacksmiths and you’ve got a deal, little mouse,” he said.

The mouse took the sickle and went to the blacksmith and said: “O blacksmith please sharpen this sickle and the sickle is for the harvesters and the harvesters will give me some hay and the hay is for the mare and the mare will give me her placenta and the placenta is for the dog and the dog will give me a puppy and the puppy is for the carob tree and the carob tree will give me a stick and the stick is for the shepherd and the shepherd will give me a sheep and the sheep is for the villagers and they will give me some ullulators and the ullulaters are for the valley and the valley will gve me some floodwater and the floodwater is for the jujube tree and the jujube tree will give me buckthorn and the buckthorn is for the goat and the goat will give me some milk and the milk is for Um Besisi and Um Besisi will give me back my tail so I can play with my friends when its Eid.”

The blacksmith smiled very widely at the mouse’s tale, but he took the sickle from him and looked at it. “Fine, but first go bring me some fire from the house.”

The mouse, by now very tired, walked slowly over to the house. He knocked on the door, and when it was opened he said: “o people of the house, please give me some fire and the fire is for the blacksmith and the blacksmith will sharpen this sickle and the sickle is for the harvesters and the harvesters will give me some hay and the hay is for the mare and the mare will give me her placenta and the placenta is for the dog and the dog will give me a puppy and the puppy is for the carob tree and the carob tree will give me a stick and the stick is for the shepherd and the shepherd will give me a sheep and the sheep is for the villagers and they will give me some ullulators and the ullulaters are for the valley and the valley will gve me some floodwater and the floodwater is for the Jujube tree and the Jujube tree will give me buckthorn and the buckthorn is for the goat and the goat will give me some milk and the milk is for Um Besisi and Um Besisi will give me back my tail so I can play with my friends when its Eid.”

The people of the house felt sorry for the poor mouse, and they said to each other it would be a pity for the mouse to have no tail when it is Eid, and told him to go ahead and take some fire. The mouse jumped for joy at these words, and quickly took the fire to the blacksmith who sharpened the sickles and the sickles went to the harvesters and the harvesters gave him some hay and the hay went to the mare and the mare gave him her placenta and the placenta went to the dog and the dog gave him a puppy and the puppy went to the carob tree and the carob tree gave him a stick and the stick went to the shepherd and the shepherd gave him a sheep and the sheep went to the villagers and the villagers gave him some ullulators and the ullulaters went to the valley and the valley gave him some floodwater and the floodwater ran to the jujube tree and the jujube tree gave him some buckthorn and the buckthorn went to the goat and the goat gave him some milk and he gave the milk to Um Besisi and Um Besisi gave him back his tail and he played all Eid.

And I came over here, and they went over there, And the winds came and the rains came…

11/07

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