Juha’s Nail

Nationality: Syrian
Age: 52
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 11, 2017
Primary Language: Arabic
Language: English

Juha had a house he liked very much. But, he needed some money so he had to sell it. For him, to keep a connection to his house, he put in the contract that he is selling all of the house, except a nail on one of the walls. After a week, Juha knocked the door, and when the new owners opened, he told him “Excuse me, I am here to check on my nail.” And he kept doing this almost every day and especially during lunch or dinner time, to be able to share the owner’s meals. After a while, the owner was so tired of Juha’s visits, he left the keys with him and departed. The phrase “Juha’s Nail” stayed as a expression for when you use an excuse to keep coming back for something you are attached to.

Background information: This is a piece of folklore read about in school in the Middle East. The informant found the story for the phrase, “Juha’s Nail,” particularly funny. Juha is a recurring character in many Middle Eastern stories.

Context: The informant told me about this story in a conversation about folklore.

Thoughts: I think it’s so cool and interesting to have a metaphor used in language that started as a story/joke. I have not learned about Arabic metaphors, so it’s fascinating to learn about the origins of one of them.

The Story Behind Chinese Valentine’s Day

Nationality: Arab American
Age: 22
Occupation: Law student
Residence: Silver Spring, MD
Performance Date: April 22, 2017
Primary Language: English
Language: Arabic, Turkish

The story is as follows: On the 7th Day of the 7th Lunar Year, two lovers, who can only see each other on that day (once a year), meet through the help of magpie pigeons. The pigeons form a bridge across the skies, heavens, and earth to enable the man and woman to meet and spend the day together in-love. The woman lived in the heavens and the man was a cowherd. They could only meet once a year because the woman’s father, an emperor, did not approve of the relationship. Magpies made it possible for them to meet once a year, a condition that the emperor father agreed to. Legend has it that you don’t see magpies in China on this day because they would be too busy building, or acting, as the bridge between the emperor’s daughter and the cowherd.

Background information: “I heard this story while I was in Beijing. It interested me because I heard the story during the actual Chinese Valentine’s Day itself, and I saw quite a few couples on the streets that day (more so than on Valentine’s Day anywhere else). My Chinese colleagues teased with me and asked if I had a girlfriend to go on a date with in China, and whether or not she was Chinese. It was a fun day with lots of learning and lots of laughs.

“At that day’s evening, my Chinese teacher, named Boya Lin, shared the story with me and my classmates. It was by far one of the most entrancing and beautiful tales I had ever listened to, though it might be thanks to Boya’s great storytelling skills.”

Context: The informant told me this story in a conversation about folklore.

Thoughts: It is interesting to see a story that connects to a legend – two categories of folklore helping to create one piece of folklore. It is a sad, romantic story, one of two lovers who cannot be together all the time due to parental interference. I especially like how it connects itself to the present with the legend about the magpies.

Şeker Bayramı

Nationality: Arab American
Age: 22
Occupation: Law student
Residence: Silver Spring, MD
Performance Date: April 22, 2017
Primary Language: English
Language: Arabic, Turkish

Turkish: Şeker Bayramı (literally, Sugar Holiday, a.k.a. Eid Al-Fitr, following Ramadan)

“Turks deem Eid Al-Fitr as a holiday meant for the distribution of sweets and delights (so do Arabs, but Turks generally take it to larger extents). I’ve experienced 2 days of Şeker Bayramı in İstanbul following a month of fasting for Ramazan/Ramadan. What I remember the most about it was the sheer amount of cotton candy everywhere on Cevdet Paşa street nearby the bosphorus in Istanbul’s Bebek neighborhood. It was a good time to indulge in sweets following the best Ramadan I have ever experienced (so far!).”

Context: The informant told me this in a conversation about folklore.

Thoughts: I have been to many (Arab) Eid celebrations, but the only type of sweets they generally had were dates, chocolate, and Jordan almonds (pastel color coated almonds). It is interesting to see that cotton candy is a big part of the celebration in Turkey, as it is not exactly something I would expect to be a part of Eid, considering that it is not Middle Eastern/Muslim in origin. It is intriguing to see the different desserts of the world they take in to complement the event – a part of globalization, perhaps?

Uyghur Proverb

Nationality: Arab American
Age: 22
Occupation: Law student
Residence: Silver Spring, MD
Performance Date: April 22, 2017
Primary Language: English
Language: Arabic, Turkish

خېرىداردا كۆز بولسا، قاسساپ ئاچتىن ئۆلەر

Translation: If the customer had eyes, then the butchers would die from hunger. (i.e., if customers found out about how a business practices entirely, then the customers would stop buying and instead make the items themselves or demand the business to change, since not all businesses are honest or efficient).

Background information: “I heard this proverb while walking through Urumqi, the capital city of Xinjiang Autonomous Uyghur Province. It introduced me to the shrewd business and customer relationships that the Uyghurs treasure. I found a lot of treasures in Urumqi, a city that far too many people don’t know about. It is larger than Chicago.”

Context: The informant told me this proverb in a conversation about folklore.

Thoughts:  To me, this is an interesting proverb, and one that holds a viewpoint that is definitely held by a large amount of people. In this capitalistic society, we have corporations mass-producing items in ways that are not ethical, or even in ways we do not know – this creates mistrust toward these producers in the consumers. These corporations also want you to think you are a part of the family, even though you will never be; they do not care about you like they suggest, and want your money, a dishonesty a lot of people realize.

Circassian Metaphor

Nationality: Syrian
Age: 40
Performance Date: April 13, 2017
Primary Language: Arabic
Language: English

Someone asked a Circassian Elder, “Which is more important, to love, or to be loved?”

He replied, “Which wing is more important for the bird, the left wing or the right wing?”

Background information: This is a Circassian metaphor, or more broadly, folk speech. The informant heard it from her mother.

Context: The informant told me this metaphor in a conversation about folklore.

Thoughts: This is a nice little metaphor, comparing love and the wings of a bird. It shows how the importance of both loving and being loved goes hand-in-hand. They must coexist, and one is not necessarily more important than the other – they’re both equally important in this life.