New Husband for an Old Woman

For the #RamadanReadathon at Twitter, I want to highlight some story collections that people might enjoy reading, featuring free full-text books online; here are all the books I've featured so far, including a 100-word story for each one too.

So, today's book is Speak Bird, Speak Again: Palestinian Arab Folktales by Ibrahim Muhawi and Sharif Kanaana. See details below, and here is a story from that collection:



New Husband for an Old Woman

An old widow was always cursing her son.
One day a salesman came by and said, "Your mother needs a husband."
"Yes, my son!" said his mother. "Get me a husband and you'll have Allah's blessing."
The salesman carried her away to a hyena's lair. "Your husband's coming soon," he said.
The hyena arrived but the old woman said, "Not so fast; wedding first!"
The hyena realized she must be blind. Every time he approached her, she said, "Not so fast; wedding first!"
Finally, the hyena ate her.
The son had been watching, and after that, he went back home.



You can find a longer version of that story, and many other stories besides, in the online book, which is available at the University of California Press E-Books Collection.





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