4.
Šweš, Šweš!^[1]

Once upon a time there was a man. His mother was always calling down curses upon his head. He strung a hammock for her and put her in it, saying to his wives,^[2] "Rock my mother in this hammock, and take very good care of her."

His wives organized themselves so that one of them was always rocking her while another was doing the work. His mother spent all her time in the hammock, and his wives were always rocking her.

One day a traveling salesman came by.^[3] "What's going on here?" he asked. "Why is this woman always being rocked in the hammock?"

"Brother," answered the man, "she's always calling down curses upon my head."

"Is she your mother?"

"Yes, my mother."

"What do you want, old woman?" asked the salesman. "Do you want a husband?"

"Heh! Heh! Heh!" she chuckled.^[4]

"Your mother wants a husband," said the salesman to the son. "I asked her, and she started to chuckle."

"Fine," said the son to the salesman.

"Mother," he said to her, "I'm going to find you a husband."

"May Allah bless you!" she said.^[5] For the first time in his life she called down blessings upon his head.

[1] The name of the tale is the diminutive form of the common expression Šway, šway , "Not so fast!"

[2] As noted in the Introduction, the frequency of reference to polygyny (cf. also Tales 5, 6, 7, 20, 30, 35) is out of all proportion to its actual occurrence in the culture.
The situation prevailing at the beginning of the tale, where the two wives serve the mother, reflects fairly accurately the expectations (if not the actual practice) prevalent in the culture, which holds motherhood in very high esteem. They say that "paradise is under the feet of the mothers" (il-janne taht aqdam il-'ummahat ).

[3] Traveling salesmen occur fairly frequently in the tales (cf. Tales 10, 12, 26, 34, 42). They brought with them not only household goods, such as cloth and glassware, but also much lore, especially in folk medicine. Considered jacks-of-all-trades, they often gave advice on taboo subjects as well. They say of a woman who badly wants marriage, for instance, that she is "after that which the salesman talked about" (bidha mn ilii 'ahka `anno l-bayya` ).

[4] Sexuality is an especially taboo subject in Palestinian culture. In showing discontent with everything, the mother uses the culturally approved code to communicate her message.

[5] Alia yirda `alek —literally, "May Allah be pleased with you."

He gave her nice clothes to wear, put earrings in her ears (she was blind), and said, "Yalla !^[6] Come with me! I'm going to find you a husband."

He carried her over to the lair of the hyena.^[7] Setting her down, he said, "Sit here a while! Your husband will be arriving soon."

The hyena came and approached her, but she drew away from him, saying, "Šweš , šweš ! Not so fast! Not so fast! Water has been spilled on the new clothes, and the cat has eaten the candy. Not so fast, lest you break the seed!"^[8]

"Hmmm!" thought the hyena. "This woman's blind and can't see me."

(She's in even worse shape than I am!)^[9]

Every time the hyena approached her, the woman said, "Water has been spilled on the new clothes, and the cat has eaten the candy. Not so fast! Not so fast! Lest you break the seed."

Her son sat opposite, watching, until the hyena devoured his mother. Then he left.^[10]

[6] "Let's go!" from ya Allah (O Allah!), is a very common expression in Mashreq Arab culture. The name of Allah is invoked at the beginning of a journey to make it a propitious one.

[7] The hyena—an appropriate creature in this context—is ascribed characteristics bordering on the supernatural. it is thought to be a very ugly creature that does not attack its victims directly. Rather, it rubs against them and urinates and, by its eerie sound and the smell of its urine, entrances them and lures them to its lair, where it devours them. At the end of the tale the hyena approaches the old woman several times, but she is already entranced. The son sees the mother's sexuality as a form of possession resembling the magic power of the ugly hyena. Linguistic evidence corroborates this view. They say bitzabba` ("he's behaving like a hyena") of an ugly old man who attempts to behave seductively, and indeed, the actions of the hyena—at least in the old woman's eyes—are seductive. See Grant, People : 18; Hanauer, Folklore : 270-273; Sirhan, Mawsu`at V:47; and Granqvist, Problems : 116-118.

[8] In this formulaic expression, the words for "water" (mbu ), "new clothes" (dahha ), and candy (mahha ) are all derived from baby talk (see Tale 1, n. 7). The last two are a rhyming pair; the part of the expression about breaking the seed is obscure.

[9] This interjection by the teller, who was nearly blind and over seventy years of age when we collected the tale, identifies her with the woman in the tale, which possibly explains why the woman's blindness—a significant narrative detail—is introduced so casually.

[10] The woman in this tale would be considered to have achieved what all women are supposed to dream about: loving and obedient sons and grandchildren, and dutiful daughters-in-law. Not only is she loved and cared for, but she can now be complete mistress of her household. On the complexity of the mother/son relationship, see Introduction, "The Tales and the Culture."