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There is, of course, also the trickster side to the
trickster-fool, and he is not always the one made ridiculous
in the stories. In
“The Tarboosh Merchant and the Monkeys,” Juha chances upon
the answer to his dilemma, but once given the key to solving
his problem, he turns it effectively to his advantage.
*****
Once upon a time, there was a tarboosh merchant named
Juha who bought tarbooshes in the bazaars of the cities
and resold them in the countryside.
One day, with his crates filled with tarbooshes, he
fell asleep at the foot of a mountain called the Mountain
of the Monkeys. While he was asleep, monkeys opened the crates
and put the tarbooshes on their own heads.
When he awoke, the merchant was very surprised! All
around him he saw monkeys wearing his tarbooshes. He begged them to return the hats. He threatened them. But
nothing worked. They
just sat, wearing the tarbooshes.
So Juha, in a rage, threw his own hat on the ground.
Immediately, all the monkeys imitated him.
Juha began running, and the monkeys imitated him
again. So he ran
back to the place where he had thrown his tarboosh. He picked it up and threw it in the crate. The monkeys imitated him and he soon had all
his tarbooshes packed again and ready to go.
*****
The trickster-fool is frequently able to manipulate
cultural conventions, as he does in the next tale, “Juha
in the Camp of the Nomads.”
Among the nomadic Bedouins of the Middle East, anyone
asking for shelter is traditionally entitled to a specified
number of days during which he can expect full hospitality
from the tribe. Although the period varies, most commonly it
is three days. At
the end of that time, however, the guest is expected to
move on to avoid straining the hosts’ resources in the harsh
desert environment. Another
convention, however, permits a traveler to request protection
from a Bedouin host, and even to attach himself to the tribe
as an adopted member, or “client.”
The honor code requires in most instances that the
host acquiesce to the request.
*****
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