The Tale of the Fish
Introduction and Commentary
This text, called The Tale of the Fish (Baghdad, 1904(?)) is unusual in that it has a full set of Hebrew vowel points, as will be seen in the accompanying sample page.
Introduction and Commentary
This text, called The Tale of the Fish (Baghdad, 1904(?)) is unusual in that it has a full set of Hebrew vowel points, as will be seen in the accompanying sample page.
The nature of Semitic languages is such that a writing system representing mainly consonants is adequate for almost all purposes for native speakers. Hebrew, Arabic and Syriac developed auxiliary vowel points to fix religious texts, in which the language had become archaic, and readers needed help to enunciate them correctly, which in the religious context was of great importance. Such systems also make possible virtual "corrections" to the text, which of course are not recognised as such. Thus Arabic restores the highly-regarded Bedouin pronunciation to a sacred text written in a dialect of lower standing, and Hebrew makes possible the substitution of words considered more decorous in public reading, such as the substitution of feet-water for urine. Syriac imported tiny Greek vowels to aid the pronunciation in one of its several writing systems.
The probable reason for the use of vowel points in this case is that the book was intended as a reading primer for children, so that while they were reading an entertaining story, they would learn the significance of the vowel points in the sacred Hebrew texts. A similar technique was used in a book put out some years ago by the reform Jewish movement in the United States, in which an English story was written in Hebrew letters with vowel points. Creating this "Judeo-English" enabled a fun way of learning to read sacred texts in Hebrew.
This text is based partly on the Arabian nights (omitting a crucial point that telling anyone about a secret command of unusual languages meant death) and partly on Midrash Leviticus Rabba 22.4, commenting on Ecclesiastes 5.8. The relevant Arabic text from the Arabian Nights can conveniently be found in A new Arabic grammar of the written language by J.A. Haywood and H.M. Nahmad (Cambridge, Mass. 1965) pp. 465–468. Here is the Midrashic tale in the translation of the Soncino Midrash:
It once happened that a certain person was coming from Babylon, and sat down to rest on the road, when he saw two birds fighting with each other and one of them killed the other. The survivor went and fetched some herb and, placing it on the other, revived her. It will be a good thing, he thought, if I take some of this herb and revive therewith the dead of the Land of Israel. As he was running along he saw a fox dead and decaying on the road. It will be a good thing, he thought, if I try it on this fox. He placed it on him and revived him. He went on until he reached the Ladders of Tyre. [This is a steep road cut in steps connecting Acre and Tyre. For further information, see Encyclopædia Judaica vol. 15, col. 1490. –ADC] When he arrived at the Ladders of Tyre, he saw a lion slain and decaying on the road. It will be a good thing, he thought, if I try it on this lion. He placed some of the herb on him and he came back to life and devoured him. This bears out the popular saying: 'If you have done good to the bad, you have done a bad thing!' Do not do good to the bad and no harm will befall you!
A translation of part of this Arabic text follows.
The Story
There is a story about a man who instructed his son at the time of his death, and said to him: My son, so long as your live, crumble your bread into the water, and do not eat your fill (?). When his father died, the boy fulfilled the instruction of his father, and a certain fish came and ate the bread. When this fish grew very big, she was catching [other] fish and eating them. When the other fish saw this, they went to Leviathan and said to him: Lord Leviathan, a certain fish has become great among us, and we cannot live with her. [Leviathan] said to her: Why did you grow larger than your fellows? She said to him: A certain man comes to me and crumbles bread, and I eat it. He said to her: Bring me the man that I may see if your answer is truthful. She went and brought him to Leviathan. He said to him: My son, why do you crumble your bread in the water? He said: My Lord, thus did my father instruct me: Crumble your bread in the water. And I fulfil the instruction of my father. He said to him: Did you really fulfil the instruction of your father? He said to him: Yes. Leviathan said to him: Open your mouth. He opened his mouth, and he put in it three pills. Then special knowledge rested upon him, and he understood and knew the speech of beasts and birds, and knew the seventy languages, and so he commanded the fish to take him to dry land. They went and reached dry land. He fell asleep. Two birds [mother and son] came, and one said to the other: I will go and peck out his eyes. The other bird said to him: Men are clever. He did not listen, but flew onto his foot. He did not feel him breathing. When he reached his eye, the man said: He will peck out my eye, and grabbed him. The bird's mother: Let him go, and I will show you a big treasure belonging to King Solomon, and on top of it there is a big crown. When he heard this he understood what was said, and said to her: I will not release him until you show me the treasure. Then he held him by his wing, and they went to the sea and stood by the treasure. Then he released him. The mother bird kept on saying: Why didn't you believe me when I told you not to go to the man, because he is clever. Nevertheless you went, and he grabbed you and I revealed to him the treasure on your account. She killed him. When he died, at that time she took a kind of herb, and put it on his mouth, and his breath returned to him. A certain man saw this herb, and said: Indeed, this herb revives the dead. He took the herb and said: I will go to Jerusalem, and revive the dead with it. While he was walking on the way, he saw a dead lion, he put the herb on him, the lion stood up and ate him.
The man who had been shown the treasure returned to his house, and hired porters so that he might bring the treasure and take it to his house. He brought them to the treasure and loaded them with silver and gold to the greatest possible extent. Among the donkeys was one which was violent and of evil deeds. He said to his fellows: If you listen to my advice we will play a certain trick which will deprive him of the treasure, because he has imposed on us more than usual. They said to him: What shall we do? He said to them: Do as I do, when I enter the gate of the city I shall fall down, and the men will come to get me up, and they will see the silver and the gold, and take it from me. His fellows said to him: The man is clever, if we do that he will beat us with a stick, and get us up from the ground without help. He said to them: See what happens when I do it. If they help, then you fall down too, and they will take all the property. The man heard the whole conversation and remained quiet. When they entered the city, the donkey fell down and people came to get him up. The man said to them: Please do not get him up, because I know their speech. He took a stick and began to beat him. When [the donkey] got up by himself [the other donkeys] said to him: If we had taken your advice he would have beaten us. Then he took the treasure to his house and hid it. His wife said to him: Where did you get all that wealth? He said to her: The Holy One, blessed be He, sent it to me. She began pestering him day and night [to tell her what happened.] When he decided to give in to her, on that day he entered the stable and saw his she-mule weeping. The cock came into the manger and saw the she-mule weeping. He said to her: Why are you weeping? She said to him: Because my master has decided to give in to his wife and then she will make things difficult for us, they will beat him and take the treasure. The cock replied: I have ten wives, and all of them are afraid of me and do not contradict me. My master has just one wife and if he would listen to me, he would beat her. You can see how they are afraid of me. He took a stick and called his wives and they came. He said: You see how they are afraid of me. My master should do the same to his wife. The man understood what happened and he went to the house. His wife began to pester him. He got up, took a stick and beat her, and she shouted: Mercy, mercy! What more can I tell you, come and see what brought him to this honour, as the verse says: And wisdom gives life to those who have it. Ecclesiastes 7.12
And all this came about because he followed the instruction of his father, and followed the commandments. May He make us worthy to keep, perform and fulfil all the commandments until the Redeemer comes. Amen, may such be the Divine Will.
The probable reason for the use of vowel points in this case is that the book was intended as a reading primer for children, so that while they were reading an entertaining story, they would learn the significance of the vowel points in the sacred Hebrew texts. A similar technique was used in a book put out some years ago by the reform Jewish movement in the United States, in which an English story was written in Hebrew letters with vowel points. Creating this "Judeo-English" enabled a fun way of learning to read sacred texts in Hebrew.
This text is based partly on the Arabian nights (omitting a crucial point that telling anyone about a secret command of unusual languages meant death) and partly on Midrash Leviticus Rabba 22.4, commenting on Ecclesiastes 5.8. The relevant Arabic text from the Arabian Nights can conveniently be found in A new Arabic grammar of the written language by J.A. Haywood and H.M. Nahmad (Cambridge, Mass. 1965) pp. 465–468. Here is the Midrashic tale in the translation of the Soncino Midrash:
It once happened that a certain person was coming from Babylon, and sat down to rest on the road, when he saw two birds fighting with each other and one of them killed the other. The survivor went and fetched some herb and, placing it on the other, revived her. It will be a good thing, he thought, if I take some of this herb and revive therewith the dead of the Land of Israel. As he was running along he saw a fox dead and decaying on the road. It will be a good thing, he thought, if I try it on this fox. He placed it on him and revived him. He went on until he reached the Ladders of Tyre. [This is a steep road cut in steps connecting Acre and Tyre. For further information, see Encyclopædia Judaica vol. 15, col. 1490. –ADC] When he arrived at the Ladders of Tyre, he saw a lion slain and decaying on the road. It will be a good thing, he thought, if I try it on this lion. He placed some of the herb on him and he came back to life and devoured him. This bears out the popular saying: 'If you have done good to the bad, you have done a bad thing!' Do not do good to the bad and no harm will befall you!
A translation of part of this Arabic text follows.
The Story
There is a story about a man who instructed his son at the time of his death, and said to him: My son, so long as your live, crumble your bread into the water, and do not eat your fill (?). When his father died, the boy fulfilled the instruction of his father, and a certain fish came and ate the bread. When this fish grew very big, she was catching [other] fish and eating them. When the other fish saw this, they went to Leviathan and said to him: Lord Leviathan, a certain fish has become great among us, and we cannot live with her. [Leviathan] said to her: Why did you grow larger than your fellows? She said to him: A certain man comes to me and crumbles bread, and I eat it. He said to her: Bring me the man that I may see if your answer is truthful. She went and brought him to Leviathan. He said to him: My son, why do you crumble your bread in the water? He said: My Lord, thus did my father instruct me: Crumble your bread in the water. And I fulfil the instruction of my father. He said to him: Did you really fulfil the instruction of your father? He said to him: Yes. Leviathan said to him: Open your mouth. He opened his mouth, and he put in it three pills. Then special knowledge rested upon him, and he understood and knew the speech of beasts and birds, and knew the seventy languages, and so he commanded the fish to take him to dry land. They went and reached dry land. He fell asleep. Two birds [mother and son] came, and one said to the other: I will go and peck out his eyes. The other bird said to him: Men are clever. He did not listen, but flew onto his foot. He did not feel him breathing. When he reached his eye, the man said: He will peck out my eye, and grabbed him. The bird's mother: Let him go, and I will show you a big treasure belonging to King Solomon, and on top of it there is a big crown. When he heard this he understood what was said, and said to her: I will not release him until you show me the treasure. Then he held him by his wing, and they went to the sea and stood by the treasure. Then he released him. The mother bird kept on saying: Why didn't you believe me when I told you not to go to the man, because he is clever. Nevertheless you went, and he grabbed you and I revealed to him the treasure on your account. She killed him. When he died, at that time she took a kind of herb, and put it on his mouth, and his breath returned to him. A certain man saw this herb, and said: Indeed, this herb revives the dead. He took the herb and said: I will go to Jerusalem, and revive the dead with it. While he was walking on the way, he saw a dead lion, he put the herb on him, the lion stood up and ate him.
The man who had been shown the treasure returned to his house, and hired porters so that he might bring the treasure and take it to his house. He brought them to the treasure and loaded them with silver and gold to the greatest possible extent. Among the donkeys was one which was violent and of evil deeds. He said to his fellows: If you listen to my advice we will play a certain trick which will deprive him of the treasure, because he has imposed on us more than usual. They said to him: What shall we do? He said to them: Do as I do, when I enter the gate of the city I shall fall down, and the men will come to get me up, and they will see the silver and the gold, and take it from me. His fellows said to him: The man is clever, if we do that he will beat us with a stick, and get us up from the ground without help. He said to them: See what happens when I do it. If they help, then you fall down too, and they will take all the property. The man heard the whole conversation and remained quiet. When they entered the city, the donkey fell down and people came to get him up. The man said to them: Please do not get him up, because I know their speech. He took a stick and began to beat him. When [the donkey] got up by himself [the other donkeys] said to him: If we had taken your advice he would have beaten us. Then he took the treasure to his house and hid it. His wife said to him: Where did you get all that wealth? He said to her: The Holy One, blessed be He, sent it to me. She began pestering him day and night [to tell her what happened.] When he decided to give in to her, on that day he entered the stable and saw his she-mule weeping. The cock came into the manger and saw the she-mule weeping. He said to her: Why are you weeping? She said to him: Because my master has decided to give in to his wife and then she will make things difficult for us, they will beat him and take the treasure. The cock replied: I have ten wives, and all of them are afraid of me and do not contradict me. My master has just one wife and if he would listen to me, he would beat her. You can see how they are afraid of me. He took a stick and called his wives and they came. He said: You see how they are afraid of me. My master should do the same to his wife. The man understood what happened and he went to the house. His wife began to pester him. He got up, took a stick and beat her, and she shouted: Mercy, mercy! What more can I tell you, come and see what brought him to this honour, as the verse says: And wisdom gives life to those who have it. Ecclesiastes 7.12
And all this came about because he followed the instruction of his father, and followed the commandments. May He make us worthy to keep, perform and fulfil all the commandments until the Redeemer comes. Amen, may such be the Divine Will.
