Main piece:

A boy and girl fall in love, but there’s a river between them. The woman knows pottery and they were going to elope together. The girl decides to run away from home because her parents want to have her marry someone else but the girl escapes but doesn’t know how to swim. She decides to use her pottery as a float to help her cross the river to be with her lover but as she floats across the water the pottery dissolves away because it’s made of clay.  

Background information (Why does the informant know or like this piece? Where or who did they learn it from? What does it mean to them?):

Informant heard it from school by a teacher in a literature class when he was learning back at home in Pakistan. It is just a story to him that he knew as a young boy.

Context (When or where would this be performed? Under what circumstance?):

This story is the Pakistani version of Romeo and Juliet. It is told to children as fiction.

Personal Analysis:

It’s somewhat similar to Romeo and Juliet but it has hints of a culture different from American culture. For instance, the use of pottery as a major item in the story shows that it was a much more common practice and custom. I’m not surprised they have a traditional story like this. Star crossed lovers seems to be common not just in the U.S. but around the world. Kids find these stories entertaining anyway.