We are always being exhorted to be charitable, and of course charity begins at home, but helping out your elder brothers when they’re down on their luck through their own stupid fault carries its own risks.
They might be glad indeed not to be in the gutter after all, but will they be able to hack the unrepayable debt of gratitude they must now forever bear, not to mention the constant and inescapable reminder that you, kid brother, have done better than they, and are an altogether smarter chap?
And how do you, defender of family values and the blood tie, you man of charity and good deeds, seeking no reward beyond your own sense of virtue, you savvy and successful merchant who knows how to turn a good profit and make sensible provision for the proverbial rainy day, how do you handle your role of benefactor? Does not your virtue render you a clearly superior being? You may not mean to rub their noses in it, but some feeling of satisfaction must ensue, and be hard to hide. Or maybe you don’t try to hide it.
And then, you have the gall to become the love object of a beautiful and mysterious girl, and start devoting all your time – and your wealth – to her, and ignoring your blood brothers! You are just asking for it, aren’t you?
Okay, maybe you’re not actually asking to be murdered. But you are very annoying.
It’s a good thing the beautiful and mysterious girl turns out to be an ‘ifrita, and a convert ‘ifrita to boot, believing in God and his Apostle, but still retaining her magical powers, and so able to whisk you off in mid-murder to a magical island, and thence back to your homeland, safe and sound!
Is it not supremely charitable of you now not to wish your brothers dead? They certainly deserve it! Being magically turned into Salukis – such beautiful creatures – for ten years, while not exactly fun for them, I‘m sure, is hardly commensurate with their evil deed. And what are you doing now the ten years have passed? Going about the world seeking the one who will release them from their spell!
I hope you’re not expecting gratitude.
Still, it’s a mind boggling enough tale to merit the redemption of the second third of the merchant’s blood debt. Will the third old man’s story be a match for the other two?
I’d be interested to know what differences (not just similarities) strike you, between the Arab world of the 1001 Nights and the European – or even the Irish – world of today. Another blogger Patrick the Rogue has recently remarked here upon differences he sees in Arab and Afghan cultures from what he calls those in the “free world”.
These comparisons do interest me, and will no doubt come up as I progress through the stories. Thanks for the pointer to Patrick the Rogue – fascinating! I’ve added him to my RSS feeds and have posted a comment over there.
It’s the classic debate of cultural relativism. Can people outside of a culture comment on it?
Can people inside a culture comment on it?
In my view anyone is entitled to comment on a ‘culture’, whether insider or outsider.
[...] the two jealous brothers who got turned into dogs? We now learn that a similar story underlies the mistreatment of the black bitches. Maybe the [...]
oh, my!