Folktales

Here is my English translation/outline of the three stories we are working on. In the creation of the show we will expand and contract these stories as needed.

The Ogress and the Seven Sisters

There once was a widower with seven daughters. Six of his daughters were not very bright but the seventh daughter, Aicha, was incredibly smart. One day in the middle of winter the widower leaves on to take part in the Hadj to Mecca. He leaves his seventh daughter in charge of her other sisters and the house.

“Do not open the door to strangers. And remember you do not have any aunts or grandparents. Believe no one if they try to tell you otherwise.”

Not long after the widower left on his journey an evil ogress, hungry for human flesh, knocks on the door.

“Girls! It’s your old aunty come to pay you a visit! I have food for you all!”

Aicha responds: “we do not have any aunties. Go away!” But her other six sisters, thinking only of the food, barrel past her and open the door for the ogress. The old ogress distributes her food to all of the sisters who gobble up the food and fall asleep. Aicha, knowing they are in danger, does not touch her food. When the ogress is not looking she runs out into the nearby forest. And runs, and runs, and night falls, and she continues to run.

When the Moon is at her height in the night sky she tells Aicha “your first sister has died at the hands of the ogress.” Aicha continues and every few steps the Moon tells Aicha of another sister who has been eaten by the ogress…

After days of traveling Aicha takes shelter in a cave. Inside the cave Aicha encounters two women who tell her:

“We are the wives of the Snake that lives here. When he comes to see us we will pretend that you are a baby so that he won’t eat you.”

The Snake arrives and sees his two wives with a baby. As soon as the Snake looks upon Aicha he is filled with joy and falls in love with her.

[Dialogue between Aicha and the Sheep that I don’t understand yet…but the Sheep dies]

The Snake learns the true story of Aicha and marries her. On their wedding day the Snake suddenly transforms into handsome and strong man.
His two other wives become her humble servants.

The End

The Snake Egg

A young girl lives happily with her father, two brothers and step-mother. Her step-mother becomes incredibly jealous of her and goes to visit an old wise woman for ideas of how to get rid of her step-daughter. The old wise woman gives her a snake egg to feed to the young girl.

After eating the egg the girl’s belly starts to grow bigger and bigger as the snake egg matures. The step-mother brings the girl in front of her father and says “look at the shame your daughter has brought upon our family! She has gotten herself pregnant!”

Without giving the girl a second to defend herself and tell the true story the father and two brothers dig a tomb and bury her alive.

The next day a Traveler is passing by and hears someone crying from underground. He starts to dig and uncovers the girl, still alive. He takes her to his house in a far away village and the girl tells him her story and the injustice befallen her. He then goes to see the local wise man who tells him:

“Slaughter a sheep. Dry and salt the meat. Add extra salt. Then feed the meat to the girl. The snake inside of her will get thirsty. Hang her by her feet and near her mouth set a basin of water. The snake will crawl out of her belly in order to drink.”

The Traveler does just this.
Then the Traveler and the girl get married and have a son.

The son one day asks his mother why he has never met his grandfather and uncles. She decides to take him to her village. She tells her son “when we are at your Grandfather’s house ask me to tell you a story. I will say no the first time. Keep asking me until I agree.”

At her father’s house her son asks for a story. “No not now,” she says as planned. He asks again “No not now” she says. He asks a third time and she agrees.

She begins to tell her own story of what really happened to her and how her step-mother betrayed her. As the story unfolds her step-mother starts to sink into the floor. By the end of the story only her step-mother’s head remains visible. Enraged, her father takes a sword and cuts off the head of his wife. And the family is reunited again. The End.


Drima

A young woman named Drima goes to fetch water at the fountain. A strand of her hair falls into the water. A few hours later, after Drima has returned home, her brother comes riding up to the same fountain on his horse. The horse refuses to drink. The brother looks into the water and sees a strand of hair floating in the fountain. He proclaims:

“I will marry the woman from whose head this hair fell! I swear to God!”

He arrives at home and tells his mother “I swear that I will marry the woman from whose head this hair fell. Find her for me!”

His mother goes door to door looking for the woman. Exhausted and fatigued she returns home without having found the woman. She suddenly realizes that Drima’s hair is the exact match. Quietly she tells her son: “this hair belongs to your sister, Drima.”

“I swore it. I will marry my sister.” He responds. So the mother and her son begin wedding preparations in secret. While Drima is in the courtyard rolling couscous a Chicken approaches and says: “Your family is preparing to marry you to your brother!”

Drima hears this and confronts her parents. They tell her that it is indeed true. So, Drima decides to run away. She heads to the forest and hides in a cave. The family’s servant is sent to look for her and finds her hiding in the cave and goes back to tell the brother. The brother goes to the cave and says: “Drima don’t be afraid, stick out your hand.” She does this and her brother cuts off her hand. So Drima curses her brother with a large pine needle in his hand. He returns home screaming in pain and Drima starts to walk through the forest away from her home.

A Traveler finds Drima wondering in the forest. Drima tells him her story. The Traveler and Drima get married and live in the Travelers house in a far away village.

One day Drima is washing wool in the fountain when a Crow arrives and says to her:

“If you give me your wool I will give you anything you wish for!”

Drima wishes to have her hand back. The Crow produces her hand and it reattaches as if it had never left her. Then Drima travels back to her village and removes the giant pine needle from her brother’s hand.

The End