I have selected a few choice collections of Mediterranean
Christian and Muslim male and female tales and proverbs for
review from a huge reservoir of collected works. Some have been
known for centuries in the West published in numerous versions
and literary styles. Others unknown, languish on obscure library
shelves, their pages yellow with age, and still others remain
in the realm of oral transmission, passed on by word of mouth
but not committed as yet to the printed page.
Free from responsibilities of kitchen and nursery, men described
a world where the acquisition of power and money and inevitable
entanglements and rivalries were the sauce of life. Christian
and Muslim male stories had one characteristic in common: ambivalence
towards women.. In a few notable tales, praise is given to women,
albeit begrudgingly, for unusual feats of daring or cleverness.
On the other hand, most stories heaped scorn on women as conniving,
trustworthy and sexually over-heated unless held on a leash.
"Real" women were those who knew their place as loyal, submissive,
and domesticated women.
The seclusion of women in Islam was much more severe than among
Jews or Christians. In her book Arab Folk Tales, Inez Bushnaq
claims that the separation of the sexes existed before the advent
of Islam. Even today, when a boy is born, he is welcomed with
music and feasts; a girl's birth goes unmarked. When asked how
many children he has, a man counts only the males, not the females.
Bushnaq describes a typical banquet given for an honored guest:
"Ten men at a time reach into the food, making room for the
next ten till all are sated and the tray is carried out for
the women and children to pick clean.” (p. 6 ).
Like the Sephardic stories in this book, the women of Islam,
when they told their own stories, described themselves as intelligent
and resourceful. According to Busnaq, in the world of harems,
they rarely felt either affection or loyalty towards their husbands.
Happiness was seized by fair or foul means. In one story, the
caretaker of the women’s public bathhouse offers a prize to
the one who has successfully carried out the cleverest scheme
to outwit her husband. Like walking into a lion’s mouth, deceiving
one’s husband was a venture only the boldest, most adventurous
woman would hazard. In another story, a clever daughter saved
her father's life by solving a riddle put to him by the king:
“ can you make a supper of a lamb, earn me some money,and bring
it back alive?” The daughter found the solution; she gelded
the lamb, and roasted the parts on a skewer. Next, she sheared
the lamb's wool and sold it in the market. Thus the lamb served
as food, yet was alive, and earned money.
Translations into European languages of two volumes of tales,
Disciplina Clericalis and The Arabian Nights, brought into the
limelight life in the great cities of medieval Cairo, Baghdad
and Basra, at the apex of Islam’s commercial and political power.
In the 12th century, Pedro Alfonsi, a Spanish rabbi and Christian
convert, translated Disciplina Clericalis, an assortment of
morality tales, parables, sayings and riddles from Arabic, into
easy Latin. An astute and scholarly man, he had culled them
from many sources -- the Old Testament, the Koran, the Mishna
and Talmud, as well as folklore from the East, principally India.
Read at first by the clergy and educated classes, they later
became popular, principally passed on by word of mouth.
Spanish royalty who paved the way for its publication had several
reasons in mind: to expand knowledge of Eastern philosophy,
to teach men a code of honorable behavior towards each other
-- and to educate men in the "wiles and depravity" of women.
Ever since, the clergy and other moralists have used them in
sermons and writings against women. As Eberhard Hermes wrote
in his 1977 edition of Disciplina Clericalis, to knock women
goes back thousands of years. He quotes from an ancient Babylonian
source: "Woman is a pit, a hole, a watery grave; woman is a
sharp sword of iron that cuts through a man’s neck."
The few stories about clever women are among the most entertaining
in the collection. In Ten Chests, a master told his pupil a
story about a sharp old woman who outwitted a thief: A Spanish
Muslim on his way to Mecca, left his money with a man known
for his honesty, but then robbed him on his return. The old
woman retrieved the man's fortune by an elaborate plot, and
shamed the thief into returning the money to its rightful owner.
When the disciple expressed admiration for the old woman the
master told him that any philosopher could have solved the problem
because of his "native intelligence", and "superior methods
of investigation" . In his opinion, the old woman was successful
solely because of her intuition and wit.
Another story, The Sword, described a mother's subtle plot to
help her daughter deceive her husband. The plan was so successful
that the unsuspecting husband became friendly with his wife's
lover, thus proving that no man can win a battle with a malicious
and scheming woman.
In The Weeping Puppy, the most famous story , an old bawd led
an unwilling and virtuous married woman to an ardent suitor's
bed by the most unscrupulous, yet hilarious scheme. She fed
her little dog mustard that made him weep. She then convinced
her quarry that the dog, once a woman, turned into a dog because
she had refused the advances of a lover. The young woman surrendered
believing that she, too, would suffer the same fate. Like the
chief character in La Celestina, the 15th century Spanish novel
by Fernando de Rojas, the old woman was a brilliant strategist.
But, the author cast her as a victim of a precarious cutthroat
world where an unmarried woman earned a living by hook or crook
-- or starved. In this short story, however, the situation invited
nothing but laughter (and begrudging admiration).
Unlike the morality tales, The Arabian Nights, unknown in the
West until the 18th century, were swashbuckling chronicles of
a civilization on the march. Although told by a woman they described
a male world. First translated into French, and then into English,
they became known in sanitized versions for children. Hardly
nursery fare, they described a teeming medieval world of opulence
and unbridled egotism, of entrepreneurship and adventure, of
treachery, intrigue, and miracles. Even the poor could become
rich with a simple turn of the wheel, or a djinni’s magic, the
stuff that dreams are made of. Yet, many stories revealed the
plight of the poor in realistic terms, the grinding poverty,
injustice and wanton cruelty which most people endured. Criticism
was implied, if not always overtly expressed.
The medieval world reflected in The Arabian Nights was indelibly
stamped with the rule of emotion over reason. Conflicts in trade
and personal animosities were resolved instantly, usually violently
when the parties involved took the law in their own hands. With
no formal system of justice, the king decided all cases brought
before him. He heard the plaintiff's evidence, handed down the
verdict, and ordered the sentence carried out instantly. An
accusation was tantamount to guilt, and the accused only recourse,
a plea for mercy.
But above all, the stories were permeated with a worship of
luxury and sensuality. To live in an opulent palace, bathe in
perfumed waters, adorn one's body in silks and brocades, gold
and precious jewels, savor delicately spiced food, and have
at one's beck and call beautiful and voluptuous women were the
highest goals of civilized life. Contemplation and philosophy
were left to scholars and holy men.
The story which best revealed attitudes towards women was the
opening tale. It began with the murder of the wives of two neighboring
kings when discovered with their black slave lovers. Appalled
by such wanton behavior, they traveled to many lands to see
if other men had suffered the same loss of face. When they learned
that a djinni had also been deceived by a cunningly deceitful
woman, their self-esteem restored , they returned to their palaces.
For reasons never clearly stated, the first king then ordered
his vizier to bring him a virgin each night, and have her killed
the next morning. As the supply ran out only Shahrazad, the
daughter of the king's vizier, and her sister remained.. A clever
woman, she slept with the king, entertained him with stories
for a thousand nights, thus saving her own life and her sister’
s, and married him in the end.
Unlike monogamous Jews and Christians of the Middle Ages, Muslims,
especially the rich and powerful, were openly polygamous. According
to the Koran, the king was permitted four legal wives, but he
also kept numerous concubines and slaves, both men and women,
black and white, to satisfy his sexual appetite. For an ordinary
Muslim, the seclusion of women served only to heighten sexual
desire to a hysterical pitch. One look at a woman’s unveiled
face, her eyes framed by black kohl, her hair and body concealed
from head to toe in flowing robes, inflamed a man senses unbearably.
Until the 20th century and its tilt towards women's liberation,
Western women were also entirely enveloped in voluminous garments.
Yet, in polite and fashionable society it was perfectly acceptable
for a woman to wear a deep decollete revealing her breasts --
but never her ankles.
In Spanish tales and proverbs, women frequently occupied center
stage. For eons, ordinary Spanish women enjoyed a reputation
for their commanding presence. They worked in marketplace stalls,
processed foods, traded, and were purposeful, sober and dignified
citizens. While Spanish men admired their spirit (they seldom
immortalize colorless women) they nevertheless considered them
a threat to their authority. Women were both saints and whores,
mothers of their children and sexual objects. Even in sexual
practice there were two kinds of behavior -- the dull and proper
marital union for procreation, and the pleasurable romp with
a prostitute or mistress. In one of my stays in Spain, a friend
exclaimed one day, "You know, my wife is as good as any whore."
A great compliment, considering.
In Aurelio Espinosa's Cuentos de Espa_a, mostly collected from
men, Christian ambivalence towards women is clearly evoked.
In one story, a bossy wife killed each of her four husbands
for disobeying her orders, but was finally tamed by a fifth
husband by the threat of force. Yet in another, a wild and unruly
woman tore a robber's lair to shreds. Their captain offered
to marry her but planned, once in his power, to take revenge.
In the end, she outsmarted him, made a gentlemen out of him
-- and they lived happily every after.
In Spanish folk tales, fantasy played an important role; even
female occult powers, both Christian and pagan, were spirits
capable of good and evil. Xanas (nymphs), La Sirena (the mermaid),
La Gestia (a medieval demon), even the Virgin Mary, were sometimes
loving and kindly, and sometimes mean spirited when their authority
was threatened. In Galicia, the northwest province of Spain,
meigas (witches) were enemies of men. Dressed in white garments,
holding lighted candles, they prowled through the countryside
at night ringing bells and muttering prayers for the dead. When
they met men during their wanderings, they warned them with
the words, "Travel by day, for the night belongs to me.” Even
to this day, Galician men tell stories of their encounters with
meigas and the indignities they suffered.
SPANISH PROVERBS
More revealing than folk tales are Spanish proverbs. These short,
succinct, witty commentaries sum up the spare and unsentimental
Spanish male view of life. No one is spared, everyone is placed
on the executioner's block, most of all women. From a collection
of 40,000 proverbs assembled by the Spanish folklorist, Francisco
Rodriguez Marín, I selected 200 that referred to gender. Although
no mention was made by Rodriguez Marín, I must assume that they
were obtained from men. However, women often use them to criticize
other women. Here are a few sour comments about women:
Mujer galana. calabaza vana (An elegant woman, an empty gourd)
Mujeres buenas en todo el mundo dos docenas: mujeres malas a
millaradas (Of good women, two dozen in the whole world; of
bad women, thousands)
El infierno es una mujer sin gobierno (Hell is a woman run amok)
La mejor parte de su saber, lo aprendio el diablo de la mujer
(Most of what the devil knows he learned from a woman).
Opinions about love and marriage were a seesaw of feelings that veered from one extreme to the other. Marriage was sometimes an ensnarement for men and sometimes a secure haven. According to male thinking, once the marriage ring was on her finger and the vows duly exchanged in church, a woman belonged to her husband. I am reminded of a story I heard in Spain during one of my trips there. A young woman I met told me her husband had left her for another woman seven years before, set up a new household, and had children by her. Though he had deserted her, she was considered married to him. On one occasion, she was observed having coffee with a male acquaintance. The meeting was reported to her husband who lived in a nearby town. Soon afterward, she received an irate letter from him accusing her of shameless behavior, and disgracing his name.
Casamiento, .cansamiento, y el arrepentimiento en su seguimiento
(Marriage, boredom and regret in that order)
Gallinas y mujeres. entre cuatro paredes, (Hens and women, best
within four walls)
A la mujer y a la burra. cada dia una zurra (For a woman and
a donkey, every day a thrashing)
Love, however, was another matter, passionately desired, tenuous, uncertain, and not always given for the asking.
Amor de boquilla, no vale una hormilla: amor de corazon,
vale un millon (Love from the lips, a worthless button-hole;
love from the heart, worth a million)
By far the greatest number of proverbs portrayed male fear of
women with minds of their own. The submissive wife memorialized
in sermons and writings was more hope than reality:
Mujer que llora y raposa que duerme, mentiras (A woman who
cries and a fox who sleeps, lies!
Mujier sabida, plata partida: mujer resabida, apartate en seguida
(A wise woman, a treasure shared; a very wise woman, leave her
immediately)
Mujer compuesta y siempre en la calle, a todo lo malo esta despuesta
(A well-groomed woman, always in the street, is looking for
trouble)
Casarse con mujer poderosa es casarse con su se_ora (Marry a
strong woman and you marry your boss)
Here are few proverbs that reveal sympathy for women’s place
in patriarchal Spain:
El hombre se casa cuando quiere, y la mujer cuando puede.
(A man marries when he wants to, a woman when she can).
Mujer despreciada. mujer enamorada (A woman in love, a woman
despised)
Casa sin mujer, pobre ha de ser (A house without a woman, a
poor place indeed)
To be sure, there are many women’s proverbs but they have yet
to be systematically collected and published. However, here
is one reported to me by a Mexican woman:
El estado perfecto de la mujer es la viudez (The perfect
state of womanhood is widowhood)
With, it is hoped, a hefty bank account in her name.
--Henrietta Yurchenco
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