The Tales and the Culture
Having selected the forty-five tales to be included in this volume on the bases discussed earlier, we then had to arrange them so as to give the reader the most meaningful perspective. In many collections, tales are presented at random, without regard to form or content. We rejected this arrangement because it does not demonstrate an organic connection between the tales and the culture that gives rise to them. Other arrangements are based on the form of each tale - that is, on its Aarne-Thompson type number (for which, see Appendix C) - but this approach too was rejected on the same grounds. The best arrangement, we thought, is one that not only relates the tales to the context but also helps them cohere one to another. On considering the tales as a whole, we observed that they fit into a pattern reflecting an individual's life cycle from childhood to old age. We therefore decided to divide them according to this pattern into five thematic groups - individuals, family, society, environment, and universe - some of which are further divided into subgroups. These categories are useful only to the extent that they help us understand the tales; the discussion in the afterword to each group will make clear why certain tales were grouped together.
Our decision to adopt this scheme is based on our desire to ground the tales in the culture from which they arise. It would be wrong to start out with the assumption that the tales merely reflect the culture, or that the culture constitutes the subject matter of the tales, for then their interest would be strictly regional, limited to the cultural area from which they came. Rather, the forms of these tales, which are derivable directly from the Arabic and Semitic traditions in folk narrative, are related also to the Indo-European tradition, with which they share recognizable plot patterns (as identified by Aarne-Thompson type numbers). Certainly, the form of each tale is part of its content. If, for example, we consider "Sackcloth" (Tale 14) on the basis of plot alone, we see that it is in essence the story of Cinderella (and indeed, both tales have the same Aarne-Thompson type number). To the extent that "Sackcloth" embodies a courtship ritual in which an eager male pursues an elusive female, the content (and meaning) of both tales is similar. Yet when we examine "Sackcloth" more carefully, it becomes apparent that much of its content is derivable from Palestinian (and Arab) culture. Therefore, knowledge of at least that part of the culture embodied in the folktales will enrich our study of them; without it, analysis would suffer from a certain degree of abstraction. The culture and the art form are not reducible to, or deducible from, each other. The tales do not simply mirror the culture; rather, and more accurately, they present a portrait of it. It would surely be of interest to readers of these folktales to observe how thoroughly that portion of their form which is common with other traditions has been adapted by local tellers to express indigenous realities. Then we will be better able not only to understand the tales as cultural documents but also to appreciate them as works of art.
In the footnotes accompanying each tale and in some of the afterwords following each group, we will explore further specific aspects of this relationship between the tales and the culture. Our concern here is to present the general features of Palestinian culture that inform the tales - that is, the common assumptions that hold narrators, audience, and material together. The tales assume a stable social order, which no doubt characterized Palestinian society for hundreds of years before the advent of the British Mandate in the early 1920s; the current situation for most Palestinians, however, is one of diaspora and exile, requiring adaptation and cultural change. This is not to say that the cultural assumptions informing the tales and those prevailing in modern Palestinian society have been severed. Ideals of behavior that have developed through the institutions of the culture over countless generations do not simply vanish overnight. Even though the majority of Palestinians no longer live in extended families, for example, the standards of behavior characteristic of this ancient institution are still current in their social milieu. Indeed, the very survival of the tales as a tradition with a recognizable narrative structure, a coherent moral universe, and a set of assumptions immediately understandable to audience and narrator alike confirms the cultural continuity of Palestinian social life.
The Palestinian folktale, as we have seen, is primarily a woman's art form, and certain stylistic features give the tales their particular character. Yet Western readers will be struck as much by the tone of the tales - the narrative voice that speaks through them - as by their style, for the tales empower the women who narrate them to traverse, in their speech, the bounds of social convention. This speech is direct, earthy, even scatological, but without awkwardness or self-consciousness. The narrators are keen observers of the society around them, particularly those features of the social structure that touch directly on their lives. Because the tale-tellers are older women who have gone through the cycle of life, they are free of blame and at the same time endowed with the experience and wisdom necessary to see through hypocrisy and contradiction.
The "household" context of the tales, moreover, is that of the extended family, and our understanding would not be complete without some knowledge of the structure of this institution, within which women have traditionally spent their whole lives. As in the case of Fatme, older village women who have spent their lives with contact limited almost completely to the social unit that is the extended family are not uncommon. A Palestinian proverb says, "The household of the father is a playground, and that of the husband is an education" (bet il-'ahil talhiye, u-bet il-joz tarbiye). Whatever the truth of the proverb, the fact remains that a woman always belongs in one household or the other.
Folktales, like other forms of narrative, thrive on conflict and its resolution, not only as a theme but for plot structure as well. As we shall see, the tellers do not have to invent situations of conflict, for they are common in the social milieu, just as the colloquial language, with all its expressive potential, is in the linguistic environment. The majority of conflicts embodied in the tales have their basis in the structure of society - and necessarily so, if the tales are to be accepted as presenting a portrait of that society. The organizing or orienting principle in Palestinian life is the kinship system, which defines both social position and roles and modes of interaction. Out of this stable, conservative ground arise figures in the tales whose desires put them in conflict with the established order as represented by the dictates of the kinship system, and who in the long run must learn to harmonize their separate wills with the will of the collectivity. Much can be learned about conflict and harmony simply from contemplating the definition of the Palestinian family, which is extended, patrilineal, patrilateral, polygynous, endogamous, and patrilocal. (Unless otherwise indicated, all future reference to the "extended family" will be to the Palestinian version.) We consider the elements of this definition as structural patterns that generate the types of behavior encountered in the tales. By looking more closely at these elements, then, we can learn something about the grammar of that behavior.
The extended Palestinian family has traditionally had three or more generations living in close proximity as one economic unit, sharing all income and expenses, with ultimate authority lying in the hands of the patriarch who heads it. It is patrilineal because descent is traced through the father, patrilateral because only the relatives on the father's side are considered relatives in the formal system of relationship, and patrilocal
because the wife leaves her own family to live with that of her husband. The criterion of endogamy permits a male to marry his (patrilateral parallel) first cousin, while that of polygyny allows him, under certain conditions, to marry more than one wife.
Patrilineality and patrilaterality define social identity for the patriarch's descendants, providing them with a ready-made basis for interacting with others, both inside the family and outside. The patrilineal bond is the foundation on which the whole system is built. Individuals are rarely ever referred to by their first names: married men with children are referred to as "Father of So-and-So" (Abu Flan), women as "Mother of So-and-So" (Imm i-Flan). Three of our tales have titles derived from this naming system (Tales 27, 33, 45). According to Palestinian practice, a full name need consist of no more than a person's, name followed by the first name of his or her father. The oldest son will usually name his firstborn son after his own father, thereby confirming for the grandfather the continuity of his line during his lifetime. Indeed, even before they are married or have children, Palestinian men may still be referred to as "Father of (name of his own father)" in anticipation of their having sons. From this practice we conclude that the ideological basis of the system lies in this father/son bond. With social identity being by definition masculine, the female is simply defined out of it. If "self" is ipso facto male, then the female becomes the Other - the outsider or stranger. Thus, for the female, conflict is inherent in the structure of the system. We shall explore female Otherness in relation to several aspects of the extended family, but first let us focus on conflictual situations arising out of the general characteristics given above.
Polygyny serves as a good example of the dialogue we are establishing between the tales and the culture. It is one thing to state simply and objectively that the society is polygynous and completely different to observe how polygyny is treated in the tales, where its direct or implied occurrence (Tales 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 20, 28, 30, 35, 44) is greatly out of proportion to its incidence in the society. This frequency, we feel, serves an educational function, especially if we keep in mind that children are listening every time these tales are told. In none of the tales is polygyny presented in a good light. More than any other institution or practice, it represents the power of men over women, setting females in competition for the affections of the male. In the tales, as in life, it is disruptive of family unity and harmony; the only case of cooperation occurs when the wives unite against the introduction of yet another wife into the family (Tale 30). The institution is abhorrent to women and denigrated in the culture. A proverb says, "A household with one wife is a source of pride, one with two is a laughingstock, and one with three - uncover yourself and defecate!" (bet wahade faxra, bet tinten suxra, bet talate - sammir w-ixra). Fights between (or among) co-wives will, more often than not, spill out into the surrounding community, thereby causing shame and embarrassment and violating one of the most cherished of family values, that of keeping its secrets mastura, or to itself (literally, "hidden," "behind a screen").
In a polygynous situation the stage is set for conflict the moment a man decides to marry his second wife (Tales 20, 30). If he has children by his first wife, they will raise strong objections out of respect for their mother and in defense of their inheritance. The struggle between the co-wives continues throughout the formation and growth of the family, down to - and sometimes as a direct cause of - the family's ultimate breakup. If the age difference between the co - wives is extreme, the older may save face and retain her self-respect by sponsoring the younger one, guiding her as a mother would. Publicly she might say she does not need sex, that she now has sons to look after her. If, however, the age gap is not so great, struggle is inevitable. As we see frequently in the tales, the women fight and conspire against one another, each trying to win the affection of her husband in different ways. They compete in all things, especially in producing male children. The one with more sons increases her prestige in the family and her husband's affection for her. (Note the title of Tale 3: "Precious One and Worn-out One.") If both have children, the conflict is transmitted to the offspring (Tales 5, 6). Each woman with her children forms a subunit within the family; the mothers socialize their children to hate the other group, and each woman uses her own children to manipulate the father and thereby gain advantage for them and for her (Tales 5, 28). The husband himself may stoke the fire of conflict between his wives and their respective offspring, too, by showing preference for one set over the other.
Nevertheless, polygyny serves a useful function in the society. From the perspective of a social system that perpetuates itself through the patriarchal extended family (and leaving economic considerations aside), the purpose of marriage is to produce offspring, especially sons. A childless marriage, then, contradicts its very reason for being. Under these circumstances, polygyny enables a man to combine his personal desire to keep his first wife, whom he may love, with his duty to the family to produce children. It can best be understood in relation to the cultural view of marriage as sutra (protection) for the woman; it is economically and socially more advantageous for a woman to be married than divorced (though cases where divorce has been beneficial to the woman are not unknown), even if that means putting up with a co-wife. Polygyny is not practiced by Christian Palestinians, and for Muslims it is regulated entirely by Islamic law (saria), which restricts to four the number of wives a man may have and defines his duties and obligations to them, fair and equal treatment being of foremost importance.
Also helpful to the understanding of polygyny is the feature of endogamy, another characteristic of the Palestinian extended family. A man's first duty in choosing a wife is to his patrilateral parallel first cousin (or, more accurately, it is the duty of the family to reserve their daughters for these cousins). In the majority of cases where polygyny is an issue, the man marries his cousin first, and when he has no children by her he mar-ties another woman (Tale 6). Only in one case (Tale 30) is sexual pleasure presented (and even there through symbol) as a motivation for polygyny. In all the tales where polygyny occurs, the men love their first wives and are loath to part with them, and the first wives are always vindicated against the others.
Endogamy (Tales 6, 16, 21, 25) may be seen as a necessary adjunct of the social system defined by the patriarchal extended family because it combines the two major poles of relationship in the society - descent (hasab) and affinality (nasab) - under one roof. It serves the purposes of the family well because it guarantees husbands for the daughters and wives for the sons. Presumably, it forms the ideal marriage because it exercises a positive pull toward family harmony. When a man marries his first cousin, he is not bringing a stranger (cf. Tale 6) into the house; she will therefore, it is thought, share her husband's economic interest. Because both derive their identity from the same patrilineal source, it will not be easy for him to divorce her. Even when they are not related by blood, husbands and wives address each other as "cousin" (ibin ammi and bint ammi, or "son of my father's brother" and "daughter of my father's brother") and each other's parents as ammi (uncle) and mart ammi (uncle's wife).
Occasionally, however, endogamy is disruptive of family unity. When, for example, one of two brothers living together in the same family has a son, and the other a daughter, these offspring are expected to marry. But if for some reason either set of parents obstructs the marriage, conflict is bound to ensue. If they do not marry, then something is considered to be wrong with one of them (Tale 21). In this respect, as with polygyny, the tales provide a critique of the culture, because they do not automatically reflect the prevailing view that first-cousin marriage is best. In Tale 21 a young man passes over seven of his first cousins, all of whom prove nasty and vindictive when he marries a "stranger." And in Tale 25 two sets of marriages are compared, one in which a maligned wife is actually faithful to her husband, the other in which three cousins in a row, though protesting their faithfulness, turn out to be licentious and unfaithful to their shared husband.
The two issues discussed thus far, polygyny and endogamy, are fundamentally related to the third feature of the Palestinian extended family, patrilocality. A woman may marry outside her family, but her in-laws will always consider her a stranger because she does not belong to the patrilineal network of relationships that define social identity for them: she is not one of them. Thus, given a choice, a woman will always prefer to stay as close to her paternal family as possible (we shall see why in our discussion of brother/sister relationships below). For unlike endogamy, which does not require but merely favors first-cousin marriage, patrilocality leaves the newlyweds no choice: the bride must move into the household of her husband. This requirement, as can be immediately perceived, has major implications for our understanding of women and their behavior in the tales. At no time in her life is a woman considered to live in her own space. When she is single, she lives in the household of her father; after marriage, in that of her husband. In the tales patrilocality is taken for granted and is not questioned like polygyny, although in one fantasy (Tale 44) the husband, who has just married the king's daughter, lives with her in a palace given to them by her father.
Not only in kinship and space is the woman turned into the Other, but in other important areas of social behavior as well, such as the related subjects of family economy and the structure of family authority. Both of these spheres will be discussed in detail later; here we will focus on the woman's place in the structure of the family itself. The backbone of the family is a set of brothers who have grown up together and by adulthood have found their own places within the family. In the early stages of the family's formation, and before the brothers are married, they share a common goal - namely, the unity and solidarity of the family, which they recognize as the basis for their economic existence and social identity. As a unit, it also becomes their shelter and their source of strength (izwe) against the outside world. Wives are brought into the family as attachments to the brothers. If they are not first cousins, they come into an alien environment in which they are considered strangers. Their role is therefore assumed to be divisive, aimed at splitting the family up so they can form their own separate families. Thus a married woman, too, becomes the Other, for she pulls the man away from the orbit of the family as son and brother and into her own orbit as husband. Because she is perceived as a threat, her coming into the family is generally viewed with apprehension. We have several examples of this syndrome in the tales, the most outstanding being Tales 2 ("The Woman Who Married Her Son") and 7 ("The Orphans' Cow"). The conflict in these tales, in which a wife is victimized by her mother-in-law, is generated from the contradictory role a wife is supposed to play in the network of relationships within the family. The tales in these cases draw their material directly from life.
Just because, by virtue of their gender, women do not form part of the kin group does not, however, mean that they have no power in Palestinian society. On the contrary, the power of the Other is at least equal to that of "self"; the difference is merely one of perspective. That power may express itself in various ways, the telling of tales being one of them. Women also have the power of their sexuality (see below), as we see in nearly all the tales (e.g., Tales 2, 5, 12, 14, 15, 17, 18, 21, 25, 35). Indeed, the tales themselves show us the power women have over men and each other: most of the tales have grammatically feminine titles, many of which are women's names (Tales 3, 13, 17, 18, 20, 26, 27, 31, 33, 42, 43), and even those that do not have feminine titles, such as Tales 14 and 43 ("Sackcloth" and "The Rich Man and the Poor Man"), concern women as the major characters. In many tales women instigate action, while the men are often passive (e.g., Tales 1, 15, 27, 29). Furthermore, the exigencies of the patriarchal system require people to prefer sons over daughters. Male children are valued beyond all other values, as a popular proverb confirms: "Pamper your son, and he'll benefit you; pamper your daughter, and she'll bring you shame" (dallil ibnak binfaak; dallil bintak bithinak). In the tales the mother's wish is almost always for a daughter (Tales 1, 8, 23). In short, these tales almost always concern, not heroes, but heroines: mothers, daughters, and wives.
Are the women indulging in fantasy here, in wish fulfillment? We think not. No doubt an element of fantasy is involved, as is in all folk-tales. But if our hypothesis is correct and the tales do present a portrait of the culture, then their treatment of women must contain a large measure. of truth, as anyone familiar with Arab society would confirm. Besides, the position of Otherness in which women are cast endows them with objectivity; they observe the society and weave plots for the folktales from the materials of their daily experience. As the proverb quoted earlier says, "The household of the husband is an education." Older women, especially those past child-beating age, have been through a complete cycle of life in the midst of extended families that could have as many as thirty members ranging from infancy to old age - a very good school indeed. Although we shall return to this subject in our discussion of sexuality, it is relevant here to look at the connection between women's social position and the almost scabrous tone of the tales. When women are past childbearing age, they are considered asexual and hence beyond the operative social taboos concerning speech and other forms of outwardly acceptable politeness. Omitted from the formal kinship structure, women are left to define their roles in society themselves. They do so through the tales, and in other forms of folklore that in Palestine are traditionally their domain: embroidery, basket weaving, pot making, and verbal arts like wedding songs and laments for the dead. Women provide a large measure of the creative and artistic energy in the society, as these folktales amply demonstrate.
We can better comprehend the social position of the tellers if we consider how authority is managed in the society. Authority devolves upon the individual on the basis of three criteria: sex, age, and position in the family. The greatest authority lies in the male head of the family, who combines all three: he has authority over every member of his family. Women, of course, do not benefit from the criterion of sex, but they do from the other two. By virtue of her position relative to her husband, the wife of the patriarch has authority over all the females in the family. Similarly, the wife of the eldest brother has authority over the wives of the younger brothers, even though some of them may be older than she is. Old age has authority because it commands respect and obedience. Frequently reiterated proverbs help instill this obedience in the minds of the young, such as "He who sees no good in the old will see none in the new" ('illi malos xer ib-atiqo, malos xer bi-jdido) and "A month older than you, a whole age wiser" ('akbar minnak ib-saher, 'axbar minnak ib-daher). Therefore, by the time they have become mature tellers, women have acquired not only wisdom and experience in life, but a certain amount of authority as well. This authority is reflected in the tales in the directness of approach, the earthiness of tone, and the concision of narration.
Before we begin our discussion of family structure, a note of caution is perhaps in order. To the extent that the ensuing analysis deals with individuals in terms of the roles they play within the context of the family, it is inspired by the tales. Certainly, the notion of role is more helpful to the study of the folktale than is that of character, which is more appropriate to the analysis of short stories and novels. And indeed, from the perspective of the extended family - the social unit on which our analysis is based - individuals are important only insofar as they fulfill roles (father, mother, son, daughter, husband, wife) that help perpetuate the institution of the family. But because our thesis is that the structural patterns existing in the family generate the types of behavior we encounter in the tales, our approach is not governed entirely by the tales. In other words, we do not, in, our examination of family relationships, single out only those that occur in the tales. Rather, we address conflicts in the society that, when translated in terms of the tales, become the existential realities of the heroines and heroes. Furthermore, we do not concern ourselves only with situations that lead to conflict but consider as well those that are conducive to harmony. The reason is simple and compelling: the family occurs in all the tales without exception, either as theme or as background. And because our concern is to explore the relationship between the tales and the culture, we must examine the whole system of family relationships in order to provide the necessary cultural background to the tales. We thus avoid the pitfall of looking at the tales as mere reflectors of the culture but rather see them as esthetic transformations - miniature portraits of an existing social reality.
Assuming for the purposes of the discussion a three-generation extended family, we will explore each set of relationships within it, both vertically (parents in relation to children, and vice versa) and horizontally (in relation to other members of the same set or other sets). In such a family there will be a patriarch (the grandfather), a matriarch (his wife), a set of brothers (their sons), a set of sisters (their daughters), and a set of grandchildren. Because the family is by definition patrilineal, the set of brothers constitutes its backbone, as we saw in our discussion of social identity. The sisters, it is presumed, will marry and move out, but some of them may remain single and live in their father's house the rest of their lives. Because the family is patrilocal, wives are introduced into it as attachments to the sons and share a special category of relationship - namely, that of husband's brother's wife (silfe ; plural, salafat). Beginning with the father/son relationship, then, we shall examine each relationship in turn, focusing first on its social content and then on its configurations in the tales.
Father/son relationships, although not as numerous in the tales as relationships between mothers and daughters, nevertheless form the basis for action in several (e.g., Tales 5, 6, 30). As we said earlier, this relation constitutes the ideological basis of the family, the cement that bonds it being the cultural value of absolute obedience to the father. Ideally, a son should assert his will as little as possible in the family, and sons are highly praised for loyalty and obedience to the father. Yet the interests of the two generations do not always converge. Conflict can arise, for example, as a result of the father's polygyny, as in Tale 30, or when the son challenges the father's authority (Tale 5), or the father abuses his authority (Tale 3). This last tale also illustrates another type of conflict - that resulting from the father's preference for the sons of one wife over those of another.
Mother/daughter relationships occur frequently in the tales (Tales 1, 7, 13, 15, 18, 23, 27, 28, 35) and form the basis for the action in at least four (Tales 1, 18, 23, 27). Even though technically they belong to different families (the mother remains part of her father's extended family), mother and daughter have no cause for conflict; rather, their interests are mutual and they share a bond of trust (Tales 1, 15, 28). Argument over inheritance - a major cause of conflict among male members of the family - does not touch them because they do not usually inherit. Despite the obvious emphasis on having male offspring, women appreciate their daughters as much as they do their sons, and childless mothers in the tales wish for daughters far more frequently than they do for sons (Tales 1, 8, 13, 23). Common sayings confirm this appreciation - for example, "Girls are kind" (il-banat hanayin) and "Daughters will help you [literally, 'you will find them'] in your old age; they will take pity on you" (il-banat bit-laqihin ib-kabarak, bi-sfaqualek). Whereas a son is duty bound to take care of his mother, a daughter will do so out of kindness (Tale 1). A son may neglect his mother for his wife or side against her in cases of conflict between the two, but a married daughter, because she lives in her husband's household, never faces that situation. And although she is not supposed to, because the household technically belongs to her husband, a married daughter will frequently send her own daughter with food for her mother, particularly if the older woman has been neglected by her sons or brothers.
Mothers are also expected to be kind to their daughters and make a special effort to keep in touch with them, as we see dearly in Tale 27. They play a major role in their daughters' marriages as well (Tale 23). Moreover, because mother and daughter fulfill many family functions together, they form a natural unit within the family. One of the most important of these functions involves locating a bride for the son (brother), as in Tale 21, and providing him with a critique (bunuqduha) of the intended's deportment and character. If she is from a different village and they have not seen her before, they might even give her some simple tests, such as threading a needle (to test eyesight) and cracking a nut with her teeth - as we see in an exaggerated form in Tale 12. By and large, the tales accurately reflect the mother/daughter relationship as it is in life.
It would be difficult to conjecture the extent to which the mother/son relationship as portrayed in the tales reflects the actual situation. Certainly this relationship is depicted throughout the tales as extremely complex. In Tale 2 a mother kills her daughter-in-law and pretends to be her sons wife, and in Tale 4 a son sends his mother to certain death because she wants to marry at an advanced age. In Tale 22 a son tears his mother to pieces, along with the children she had borne to a giant. Obviously these things do not go on in real life; the tales must therefore reflect the emotional complexity of the relationship rather than its social content. Although there are psychological and mythological explanations for this complexity - a favorite theme in all literature - we will explore it in terms of the parameters already established. Despite the closeness that should characterize the relationship, the contradictory criteria for authority do cause contention. A son, particularly the eldest son, is second in command to his father and can therefore wield power based on both his gender and his position in the family. The mother, in contrast, commands respect and obedience by virtue of her age and her position as mother. As long as the son is young and under her protection, no problems arise. But as he approaches manhood and is pulling away from the sphere of his mother to that of his father (Tale 21), the potential for conflict increases. A son must start asserting his authority early in order to establish himself as a man, and a mother who impedes this process is bound to cause problems. Furthermore, a son in some respects plays the role of husband to his own mother, because he must guard her honor. Her sexuality, then, especially if she acts on it as in the tales cited above, is a certain source of conflict.
Other aspects of motherhood are also significant in the tales, such as the role of the stepmother (Tales 7, 9, 28) and the significance of the process of adoption by a ghouleh, or feminine ghoul (Tales 10, 22); these aspects will be discussed in the footnotes and afterwords to the tales.
The father/daughter relationship is extremely important in the structure of the family, because it is the father (or more accurately, the patriarch) who gives his daughter in marriage, thereby establishing a relationship of nasab (in-laws) with another family. She remains a member of her father's family for the rest of her life and does not take her husband's name even after marriage. The father and his sons thus remain responsible for the daughter throughout her life, whether she remains single and lives under their roof or marries and moves out. The tales (5, 7, 9, 12, 13, 14, 22, 28, 34, 44) present this relationship as one of great complexity, which does not necessarily reflect the way it is managed in life. Neither by virtue of her gender, age, or position in the family is the daughter endowed with any authority. Some of the tales (5, 12, 15, 22, 44) confirm the image of a carefree daughter able to manipulate her father into acceding to her wishes, even those that go against social convention, as in Tale
12. In Tale 14 the father interprets his relationship to his daughter as one of ownership - he wants to give her away in marriage, but to himself. Although this desire, like some of those discussed in the mother/son relationship, is susceptible to psychoanalytic and other types of explanation, the root cause of the conflict in the first part of the tale stems from the father's overstepping the bounds of authority that should regulate his behavior toward his daughter.
Natural brothers from the same mother generally maintain a harmonious relationship; they have grown up together, and by the time they are adults they have found their rightful places in the family (Tale 15). Because they share gender and position in the family, the criterion of age becomes all important in regulating their mutual relationships. As a result, the youngest brother must submit to the authority of his older brothers, who have priority over him in every respect (Tale 8). They get married before him and dispose of the collective property of the family according to their own needs. By the time the father dies and the extended family begins to break up, the older brothers have children of their own and have allocated to themselves enough of that collective property to be well established. Thus, when the family property is formally divided the younger brother may not obtain his fair share, and he must struggle on his own - although his older brothers may help him out as a favor.
In light of our thesis that the Palestinian folktale is a woman's art form, it is interesting to note that conflict over inheritance among natural brothers is not an explicit theme in these tales, even though in the society stories concerning unfair division of property are remembered for generations. Perhaps this is because conflict over the father's inheritance, which is one of the major causes of strife among natural brothers, is an exclusively male concern. Nevertheless, instances of conflict among half-brothers abound in these tales (e.g., Tales 3, 5, 6, 7), here because of polygyny, the father preferring the sons of one wife over those of the other. The situation at the opening of Tale 5, where the king treats the son of one wife gently while abusing the son of the other, is a dramatic representation of what actually does take place. In life, people understand such treatment; the tales, however, which always vindicate the youngest son against his older brothers, show it to be an injustice.
The relationship among sisters is accurately reflected in the tales (10, 12, 20), though of course not down to the smallest detail. Until they are married, sisters live together in one household, each having established her place and relationship to the rest of the family. The most sensitive question among them, and indeed, the major issue in the lives of all Palestinian women, is that of marriage. Thus, all three of the tales cited show conflict among sisters as being caused by jealousy. In Tale 10, the strife arises from jealousy over the youngest sister's marriage to the son of the king; in Tale 12 likewise, the older sisters are jealous of the youngest one, who has a secret lover; and in Tale go the improvident older sisters end up punishing the younger one. The tales derive from their folk narrative form - and in this respect they do not accurately reflect the culture - a high degree of violence inflicted by sisters on one another. People do, however, recognize that jealousy and envy are potent motivating forces toward evil, and they attribute the power of the evil eye to these forces.
Between brother and sister the relationship is warm and harmonious. It is certainly the relationship most idealized in the tales (7, 9, 10, 31, 42, and even 8). Generally, the sister's attitude toward her brother is one of love and respect, and his to her is one of lifelong concern and protectiveness. An older sister may exercise a nourishing and maternal role toward her brother (Tales 7, 31), particularly if the mother is dead (Tale 9); whether younger or older, she willingly serves him and his family, moving into his house if she remains unmarried after the parents die. Such a relationship is important because her brother remains her protector (sanad, izwe) for the rest of her life. As we noted earlier, a bride's position in the extended family of her husband is one of relative weakness at first, but if she comes into her new situation with a strong and supportive set of brothers behind her, she can in fact enjoy a certain sense of power. A bride with no brothers is pitied; she is considered to be "cut off" (maqtua), with no one to stand up for her in time of need.
Despite the potential for harmony between brother and sister, however, conflict is possible in several areas. The most important of these concerns the issue of sexual honor, as we see clearly in Tale 42, where the sister must run away from her brothers in order to save her life. Sexual honor is also addressed in Tale 8, although obliquely, as we explain in the footnotes. A brother is bound to protect his sister's sexual honor, and she in turn can ruin her own reputation and that of her family through indiscreet behavior. Another possible area of conflict involves inheritance. Although entitled by Islamic law (saria) to half what a man inherits, women usually forgo this right in favor of their brothers. If she marries, the sister will share in her husband's wealth - or poverty (Tale 43); and if she remains single, her father or brothers will provide for her. A sister, however, can pose a threat to her brothers by demanding her share of the inheritance, thereby, if she is married, transferring family property to others who may be enemies. (Although it is not attested in the tales, the issue of inheritance is socially very significant, for it constitutes yet another way - economics - in which women are turned into the Other.) A third source of conflict might lie in a hostile relationship between a sister and her brother's wife, as in Tale 31; yet regardless of how much tension exists between the two women, a sister will never break her relationship with her brother, even if he wrongs her (Tales 8, 31, 42).
Because the wives of brothers (salafat) may come from different extended families, and possibly from divergent social backgrounds, their mutual relationships form a potentially great source of conflict, both for themselves and for those around them. In this respect the relationship resembles that of co-wives; and indeed, the two sets are structurally similar. Because Levirate marriage is practiced in Palestine, salafat can become co-wives. Furthermore, because marriage to a man is also marriage into a family, all the brothers' wives come into the same family from the outside, and each must find her own place in it, competing for the favor and attention of all her in-laws. A clever woman (malune) who gets along well with her husband's family (daramha - literally, "her uncle's household"), like the heroine of Tale 15, is much admired in the society.
The causes for jealousy and hostility among salafat are many. Work distribution becomes a source of friction when one of the wives is perceived to be doing less than her fair share. Even a pregnant woman who is close to term may be criticized for not doing enough; and after the birth, her sisters-in-law are watching for her to resume her duties. If after forty days she has not yet started working her full load, she will definitely hear about it. Her husband could add fuel to the conflict by taking his wife's side against her salafat . The only example we have in the tales of this kind of relationship combines it with a sister relationship - that is, two sisters are married to two brothers, a combination that does occur in actuality (Tale 43). In this tale the transformation of social reality into fiction and its adaptation to the pattern of a widely known folktale can be clearly seen (cf. Tale 28). Again recalling our observation that the Palestinian folktale is a woman's art form, we note that here the protagonists are not male, as is typical in other traditions, but female, with maleness retained only in the title. Moreover, this tale collapses two sets of conflicting situations into one. By marrying two sisters to two brothers, it not only puts them in conflict in their roles as salafat but also forces them to compare their respective situations. And by making one husband rich and the other poor, it exacerbates their jealousy and conflict as sisters. Thus the tale puts the sisters into a situation where they are as closely related as possible but the potential for conflict is at a maximum level.
The conflict-ridden relationship between a mother-in-law (hama) and her sons wife (kinne) is of course proverbial, and the Palestinian context is no exception. Tale 34, for example, presents the husband as a ghoul and his mother and sister as ghoulehs, none of whom possess any redeeming features whatsoever. As we have seen, until she has acquired a daughter-in-law a woman in Palestinian society has no adults over whom she can exercise authority. Daughters-in-law (kanayin), who may be in conflict with each other as salafat, always unite against the mother-in-law when the occasion calls for it. The image we have of the mother-in-law in the tales, however, although usually negative, is not entirely that of an oppressive tyrant. In Tale 2, for example, the harm the mother inflicts on her sons wife is obviously due to sexual jealousy, whereas in Tale 7 the mother and the sister fear that the wife will replace them in the son's affections. And Tale 21 shows us a completely different facet of this relationship as the bride, whom her husband has shunned out of fear, conspires with his mother to bring him back home.
In contrast to the mother-in-law's presumed hostility, the father-in-law's attitude toward his sons wife is expected to be warm and protective. It would not be unusual in a domestic quarrel for the wife to appeal to her father-in-law ("uncle") against his own son. From the father-in-law's perspective, unlike that of his wife and daughters, the son's wife is not divisive; rather, by providing the family with children, she contributes materially to its growth and therefore its strength. In Tale 21, the king blesses his daughter-in-law's efforts to bring his son back home. He should treat her as if she were his own daughter, for he is responsible to the head of her family in case of conflict involving her. If a woman is unhappy with her husband's treatment of her, her family complains not to her husband but to his father. Indeed, the tales present pictures of some complexity in this relationship between the patriarch and his sons wife. Tale 32, for example, would be totally obscure if divorced from this social context. The father in that tale perceives his first daughter-in-law as a jinni, presumably because she has enchanted his son and keeps him all to herself and away from his filial obligations; the attention the father and his wife lavish on the obedient second daughter-in-law, in contrast, is meant to exemplify the harmony that can prevail when a sons wife subserves her will to theirs.
The relationship between the bride's father and her husband is a critical factor in two tales (12, 44), and it assumes secondary importance in a third (Tale 22). In some respects Tale 12 is the counterpart of Tale 32, for now we have the son-in-law enchanting the daughter and taking her away from her father. Here also, the tale would remain somewhat obscure if we did not take this relationship into account. The father's forgetfulness in bringing his favorite daughter the bird she had asked for indicates his unwillingness to part with her. Hence the husband in this tale, like the wife in Tale 32, is given the shape of a magical and utterly remote creature. In Tale 44, the king has a daughter but no sons; his interest in a son-in-law, then, represents interest in a son to make his heir. Finally, the second half of Tale 22 also takes for its theme the relationship between father and son-in-law; there, the king ostracizes his daughter for marrying against his will. In life, such an action could lead to a permanent rupture, but in the tale the father is ultimately reconciled with his daughter and accepts his son-in-law as his own.
We now turn to the relationship between husband and wife. From our discussion thus far it should be clear why this is the most prominent relationship in the tales: it occurs as a theme in nearly all of them and provides the basis for the plot in several (Tales 24-27). Marriage is a threshold event in a woman's life; not only does she form a lifelong bond, but she moves out of her father's house as well. This journey to the husband's household constitutes the plot of several tales, including 7, 12, 13, 14, and, most notably, 18. For the male too, marriage, although not so traumatic, is nevertheless an important event, bringing great responsibilities, some of which he may not yet be ready, or willing, to shoulder (Tale 21). Because marriage creates an alliance between two extended families, it complicates the system of relationships in the society. It is generally acknowledged that the relationship of nasab (in-laws) is never an easy one; indeed, it could be fraught with problems throughout, from the early stages of familiarity through, perhaps, the husband's taking another wife later. Marriages are usually arranged between socially equal members of extended families, who at the same time are likely to be adversaries competing with each other for power and influence in the society.
The tales explore various facets of married life, from the first stirrings of desire to the building of a family and the birth of children. With regard to the awakening of sexuality (the third group of tales in Group I, and elsewhere), the cultural sensitivity about this subject is accurately reflected, being dealt with indirectly, usually through symbol (a bird in Tales 10, 11, 12). Yet at the same time the tales adopt an imaginative reality that would not be tolerated in the culture. In fact, what gives some of these tales their particular character is the way this reality is used to present the woman's viewpoint. Specifically, in several tales (10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 17, 23) it is the woman who either expresses an interest in acquiring a husband or goes out and actively pursues one. In life, in stark contrast, a woman must show no public interest in the subject of sex, lest she compromise her honor. Even when the subject is her own marriage, a modest woman would not say yes should her father consult her wishes in the matter; most likely she would leave it to her father to make the decision. Yet in some tales, as we have seen (Tales 12, 22), the girls decide themselves, and against the wishes of their parents.
The marriage relationship is not necessarily a harmonious one, especially when the couple remains within the confines of the extended family. As we have said, the wife comes from the outside into an already formed unit whose members share not only a common descent but also a way of doing things. They have established a life together over many years, and until the wife learns to conform to their ways she is subject to criticism, perhaps even ridicule. Her in-laws do not necessarily accept that she comes from a different background and so may do things differently; more likely they will simply consider her way wrong. With the husband under strong pressure to remain loyal to the family, he may, even against his will, find himself in a situation of conflict with his wife, as in Tales 18, 29, and 32. In Tale 29 the man chooses - to his peril - to believe a ghouleh who claims to be his aunt rather than listen to his wife. A striking theme common to several of the tales (24, 25, 35, 42) is that of the calumniated wife. Tale 24, in which a suspicious husband wrongfully punishes his wife, clearly serves a didactic purpose, for it addresses a specific abuse in domestic relationships. Tale 25, too, deals with male suspicion and jealousy of a wife who proves to be in the right. And in Tale 26 the wife insists on living with her husband on her own terms - and wins.
Finally, we turn to the relationship between the sister and the brother's wife. This is one of the most important of women's relationships, and the one with the greatest potential for growth. Initially, the sister feels great joy at the prospect of her brother's marriage, which she expresses publicly by dancing at his wedding and singing songs of praise for his wife. And in fact, as we mentioned earlier, the sister plays an important role in the selection of her brother's wife. Together with her mother, she searches for a girl with whom they can get along, since they will be living together in one household possibly for life. Thus the sister provides her brother with a critique of the girl's character and appearance - at which juncture the potential for conflict is already strong, for the sister might find fault with a potential bride who nevertheless marries the brother. In the close-knit social milieu of the family the sister's negative judgments cannot long remain a secret, and so already at the start the new bride must overcome the sister's antipathy in order to please her husband.
Assuming, however, that harmony reigns at the beginning, nevertheless the conflicting interests of wives and sisters are bound to give rise to hostilities and friction. The wife sees the sister as a junior mother-in-law, and so she lumps them together as a common enemy. This conflict, which springs out of the brother's lifelong obligation to his sister, is clearly exemplified in Tale 31, where the wife accuses the sister of being a ghouleh. It may also explain the paternal aunt's portrayal as a ghouleh, both in this collection (Tales 6, 29) and throughout the tradition. Here again, the conflict between brother's wife and sister in the tales may arise from the conflicting loyalties both of them expect from the brother in real life. Even though the family has actually gained a new member in the daughter-in-law, the sister (and her mother) still feel that they have lost a brother (and a son). The sister may think she is losing not only influence over her brother but also his affections as a result of this "stranger" coming into the household. Whereas the struggle between mother and daughter-in-law frequently breaks out into the open, that with the sister is more likely to remain muted. The wife in turn fears, and not unreasonably given the structure of the extended family, that her husband will be more of a brother to his sister and a son to his mother than a husband to her.
Another possible source of friction here (which does not occur in this collection) is resentment over inheritance. Sisters, at least before they marry, spend much of their lives working in the house, assisting the wives in housework and childrearing. Yet the sisters do not inherit, whereas the wives at least benefit from the fact that their sons inherit. If a sister marries into a family poorer than her own, she is bound to feel that her brother's wife has somehow disinherited her.
With age, however, especially after the sister marries and becomes occupied with the affairs of her own conjugal family, raising her own children, and coping with her husband's sister, the hostility between her and her brother's wife lessens. As we said, the sister has a vested interest in maintaining a harmonious relationship with her brother and his children, and very often this harmony eventually includes the wife, who herself no longer feels threatened by the sister's presence in the house.