Cairene Folklore. 359
II.
" There was a man whose name was Kheba (Ignoramus), who was married to a wife named Neba (Scold) ; he w^as walking one day when he found a very pretty thing, so he said (to himself) : ' It will do as a present to the Sultan.' He took it and went to the Sultan and said : ' Accept this present, O king, I have brought it for you ! ' The Sultan said to him : ' Tell me what I shall give you in return for it.' He answered : ' I want you to fill my house with bread.' The Sultan replied : ' My man, ask for something else. ' He answered : ' I want you to fill my house with bread ! ' The Sultan ordered (accordingly) that his house should be filled with bread. When they had filled the house with bread, he and his wife sat down to devour the food. He said to her : ' Get up, Neba, and moisten the bread ! ' She replied : ' Get up yourself, Kheba, and moisten the bread.' He answered her, and words ran high, as to who should moisten the bread. The two sat opposite one another, but neither he nor she speaks (a word). Now there was a woman with child, who sent her negress slave
'allaha : " Shufto meskin, 'ar>'an, gey'an." Lamma hiya sima't, 'ayyatet ketir ; rahet, gabet hudum wa-esh wa-flus : iddethum lir-ragil, u'aletlo : ' ' iddi dol le- Mohammed ibni usellim 'aleh ketir." Er-ragil akhad el-hagat umishi : 'r-ragil yekallim nefsith : "mush bess marati magniina, kid en-niswan ze kida." Swo>7a el-gindi ga min barra; yil'a marato bit'ay>'at; 'allah : "khabar e, Fatuna?" 'aletlo : "fi wahid lagil ga min gehennam, shaf ibni Mohammed meskin 'aiyan uga'an; an' iddetio shwoyyet shemmashir, shwo}7et akl 'alashan yewaddi 1' Mohammed ibni." El-gindi 'allah : "enti magnuna, mahaddish gai min gehennam; fen er-ragil?" 'aletlo: " mishi kida!" El-gindi rikib el- hosan beta'o, umishi 'alashan yehassal er-ragil, leinn yemsik minno esh-shem- ashir. Er-ragil shafu min bo'd. Khabba 'sh-shemashir f i wahid saqia : ukallim I'wahid 'Hi fi-'s-saqia : " Khod wahid 'irsh we-hat asaya min el-genena." El- walad nott el-het ; el-gindi ga, yis'al er-ragil: 'alio: "ya shekh, mafattish wahid ragil min hina ; ma'ah wahid buqga hudum?" 'Alio, "aiwa, ya gindi, huwa nott dilwaqti f il genena." El-gindi 'alio, " emsik el-hosan lamm' agi." 'R-ragil rikib el-hosan umisik el-hudum umishi. El-gindi yedawwar, yedawwar 'ala 'r-ragil : maf ish. Lamma yirga' el-gindi min el-genena mayil'ash el-hosan. 'Khad ba'do uriga' 'al-bet : es-sitte betahto getlo : "fen el-hosan?" 'Allaha : "ana ba'to 1' Mohammed, yirkabu fil gehennam."
