Tales of Juha: Classic Arab Folk Humor (International Folk Tales) Paperback – Illustrated, January 1, 2006

I am baffled at the review penned by my learned colleague, who saw fit to assign one star. His evidently Middle Eastern surname gives me pause, but I discern more sour grapes than legitimate analysis. I find the material extremely funny, revealing much about the cultural mores of the Arabic peoples and also providing good, honest, clean laughs. The material pokes fun at government officials, the wealthy, and the "learned" as well as demonstrating simple-minded "dummy" jokes. I also recognize material found elsewhere variously packaged, such as in the guise of Sicilian anecdotes ("Giufa," with an accent grave over the A, they call him), and one or two stories recognizable from the fables of Aesop or--as the Armenians call him when you see the material packaged as "theirs"--Olompianos with a Polish-style slash through the L.The book provides ideal light reading and, for those who don't know much about the culture of the Islamic peoples, will also proffer the rudiments of an education therein. Never mind sour-pussed reviewers who dare to contradict my authoritative opinions!

I do a good deal of oral storytelling, and was hoping that these would be a useful resource. They are not. It's possible that a good enough storyteller could elaborate some of them into something that an audience would enjoy, but it would take a good deal of effort.The most interesting thing about the collection for me was seeing versions of stories I already knew from other sources, including one from Boccacio. In each case, the Juha version was much weaker than the version I knew. Which is the original and which the copy I cannot tell--the book provides no useful information about the dates of composition of the stories, and my guess is that they were all collected from current usage, although I gather that there are Juha stories from much earlier. Internal evidence, such as the presence of a musket in one story, suggests that at least some of them are recent enough to have been copied from an earlier European source.

It is supposed to contain funny tales about Geha. After I read a number of pages with great patience without finding a single funny tale I sent the book to my garbage can.

Book was a disappointment. Literal translations of phrases and dialogue do not convey the subtlety of the punchlines of the stories which are usually aphorisms

I loved this book - this is the kind of folk humor where you have to think for a few seconds, but I actually laughed out loud while reading this. Here are a few of my favorites, to give you a sampler:~~~~~One day talk at Tamerlane's court had turned to the subject of the torments of Gehenna and the misery and torture meted out to heretics there. Juha was present, and Tamerlane addressed him."And where, I wonder," he said, "will we be ranked in the afterworld?""With the kings and great men," Juha replied, "who have left deathless names behind them."Tamerlane was quite delighted by this."Which kings did you have in mind, Juha?" he asked.Juha listed a few."Such as," he said, "the Pharaoh at the time of Moses, Nimrod, Hülegü, Genghis Khan- people who are like Your Majesty.~~~~~"You know, don't you, Juha," Tamerlane said one day, "that each of the Abbasid caliphs had his own particular title - "Successful by the Will of God,' 'Dependent on God,' 'Taking Refuge in God,' 'Trusting in God,' and similar titles? If I'd been one of them, what title do you think I should have taken?""Doubtless," Juha answered at once, " Your Majesty would have been called 'It is to God that we Turn."»~~~~~The city where Juha lived had a drunkard for a judge. One day the judge went to a nearby orchard, got dead drunk and put his turban and cloak to one side. Juha, who was out walking, came upon the judge, snatched the cloak, put it on andwalked off.Eventually the judge sobered up and missed the cloak and he gave the court clerk the task of finding it and bringing in the thief. The clerk searched around, and, finding Juha wearing it, took him off to the judge, who asked him how he'd come by that particular cloak."Yesterday," Juha said, "I went to an orchard with some friends, and we stumbled on a drunk who was sleeping it off. He was in the most appalling state. So, I took his cloak and put it on. I can produce Witnesses to support this, and they'll tell you and everyone else who this drunkard was.""We're not interested." the judge said, "in the identity of this worthless person. Wear the cloak to your heart's desire. I want nothing to do with the owner.”~~~~~Juha and his son were standing alongside as a funeral procession passed. The widow was lamenting and addressing her deceased husband."They're taking you," she said, "to place where there is no bed, or cover, or carpet, or food, or water"."By Almighty God," Juha's son said, "they're taking him to our house!"