Author Archives: Sally Bailey

Mullah’s Donkey in a Well

Nationality: Persian
Age: 53
Occupation: N/A
Residence: Tustin, CA
Performance Date: 4 March 2017
Primary Language: Persian
Language: English

Informant: My friend’s mother told this story as one of her favorite Mullah Nasruddin narratives, saying she cannot remember where she originally heard it but she always thought it smart of Mullah.

Original Script: “A donkey falls into a well. And then everyone in town, they were thinking how they can actually rescue the donkey and no one can think of anything. And Mullah came and said if you put dirt on it. And everyone was accusing him, “why? it’s going to be buried under the dirt!” And it’s the smartest thing because if they were putting in the dirt and filling the hole so he could actually walk up. That was the smartest actually idea that he had at the time.”

Context of the Performance: Over dinner, family members exchanged old folk stories they remember from Iran.

Thoughts about the Piece: I liked this piece; it’s a good example of Mullah while being clever. I mostly enjoyed how excited the storyteller was, as it was clear this is her favorite story.

Texas Sheet Cake

Nationality: American
Age: 48
Residence: Brentwood, TN
Performance Date: 15 March 2017
Primary Language: English

Informant: My mother found culinary recipes that have been passed on through generations, and become a part of our family folklore

Original Piece: I can claim this recipe because I’ve made several adjustments to the one passed on to me from Grandmama. This is THE go-to cake—birthday, graduation, family reunion. Growing up we always ate it on a blanket in the front yard with homemade peppermint ice cream while we watched the fireworks. My mother-in-law always requests I bring it to any family function. You will thank me for this cake.

Context of Performance: My mother was sifting through old family recipes to send to me and my sister at college, so we wouldn’t forget our “southern heritage”.

Thoughts about the Piece: I liked this recipe because it is an example of a recipe that has been passed down in my family for several generations, and was originally grabbed from a copy of “Southern Living”. However, over the years, the women in my family have changed and altered it to produce the best form of this, which is a good example of what folklore is.

Louis and Clarke Reenactments

Nationality: American
Age: 74
Occupation: N/A
Residence: Ava, IL
Performance Date: 15 March 2017
Primary Language: English

Informant: My grandmother has always lived in a small town in southern Illinois. Its population is a little under 600 and dwindling quickly. However, she recounted some of the unique folklore and traditions that have remained alive throughout the years.

Original Script: Some Ava folklore is that Louis and Clarke spent the night on their trek to the west. They even had reenactors a couple of years ago who came through, and it was, it must have been mid-July, so you know it’s in the nineties and they’re wearing their furs. But, you know, people love it.

Context of Performance: At the breakfast table, she told the story to myself and my sister.

Thoughts about the Piece: I enjoy hearing about the little quirks and traditions that small towns, specifically in rural agricultural areas, keep throughout years.

Why Jinn are Good

Nationality: Persian
Age: 53
Occupation: N/A
Residence: Tustin, CA
Performance Date: 4 March 2017
Primary Language: Persian
Language: English

Informant: My friend’s mother tells stories about the Jinn, as her grandfather told to Shiva. She says she does not know if Jinn exist, but there are certainly people in Iran who swear they are real. She has fun telling these stories because of their potential for belief.

Original Script: “Okay so initially, this is what my grandpa told, this is the story that has been passed down to him. The reason they were all good—the villagers were all good with the Jen, because, apparently this one girl one day comes home and the mom had peeled a lot of garlic. But she didn’t want to dispose of the garlic skin anywhere because they’re so light they fly away. So she had put them in a little bag and she gives it to the daughter and says, ‘take it to that pond over there and release it to the water’ because then it won’t get—spread out all over. So she goes and there is this pretty, pretty girl sitting by the pond and she says, ‘no, don’t dispose these here, just give them to me.’ And she says, ‘Okay, here they’re…they’re just garlic peels, whatever.’ And she gives her, the pretty woman gives the young girl, a bag of something and she says take these to your mom. And she takes these to her mom, the bag, and the mom says, ‘why did you accept anything, that was trash I gave you.’ And she says, ‘well this was a nice lady, she asked me to do this, I am doing this.’ And they open it up and the bag is full of pearls. So since then, the villagers have been good to these creatures. They aren’t scared of them, if they see them they won’t freak out.

Context of the Performance: Over dinner, family members exchanged old folk stories they remember from Iran.

Thoughts about the Piece: I love the Jinn stories. I especially loved the story, passed down through generations of families. The storyteller said she might believe that it is true, which made listening to it all the more enjoyable.

Donkey Market

Nationality: Persian
Age: 83
Occupation: Retired
Residence: Irvine, CA
Performance Date: 4 March 2017
Primary Language: Persian
Language: English

Informant: My friend’s grandfather is originally from Tehran, Iran. He moved to California as an adult but retold some of his favorite stories he heard from his parents as a child.

Original Script: “Once, Mullah realizes his donkey is very old and he’s not working anymore. I mean, he’s not useful anymore. That’s why he wants to take it to—they had a special place for buying and selling donkeys. They had a special market, in the market of the town there was a special place, specially devoted to donkeys, for instance. He takes that, he goes to that market, calls somebody because there was people over there introducing donkeys for the buyers. He says, ‘okay, take this and go ahead and do the—the job, your job.’ He takes the donkey and goes and starts the shouting, ‘this donkey’s a very great donkey! Very powerful! Very beautiful!’, starts explaining about the donkey, many many good things about the donkey. Mullah thinks about it, what a great donkey! So he calls him back and says, ‘this is a very good donkey!’ He says, ‘I told you!’ He said, ‘Okay, how much?’

Context of the Performance: Over dinner, family members exchanged old folk stories they remember from Iran.

Thoughts about the Piece: This is a longer tale about Mullah. This was also my favorite story, because although some of the plot details were irrelevant—donkey markets, for example, are no longer around—the underlying story is timeless.