Hello, and welcome to the September 2021 Folklore & Fiction dispatch. In this edition, I'll be exploring ATU 2014 "Chains Involving Contradictions or Extremes." Let's begin with a Palestinian story that tells us right in the title where it fits among folklore genres and contains a treasure chest of narrative jewels to admire.
"A Tall Tale"
There was and there wasn't, O Ancient of Days, a king who had one daughter. She was of such astonishing beauty that when she reached the age to be married, suitors thronged her father's court. Yet whenever the king mentioned marriage to her, she would say, "I shall be wed only to the man who can tell me a story whose beginning is impossible and whose end is untrue." News of the challenge spread and many were the princes who took it up. Time and again a suitor would begin in the traditional manner of storytellers with the words, "Let us profess that Allah is One and has no equal." And there and then the princess would send him on his way, saying, "A story that lies from beginning to end is no place for the profession of the unity of Allah!" So it went on until one day a handsome and quick-witted youth came before her and said, "I shall tell you a tale to fulfill your heart's desire." And when she had invited him to sit before her, he began:
"Before uttering an untruth, I crave forgiveness from Allah Who alone is All-Knowing."
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