Yiddish Folktales Read online

  Copyright © 1988 by YIVO Institute for Jewish Research

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Schocken Books Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto. Distributed by Pantheon Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York. Originally published in hardcover by Pantheon Books, a division of Random House, Inc., in 1988.

  All photographs are from the archives of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, New York.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Yiddish folktales.

  Bibliography: p.

  1. Jews—Europe, Eastern—Folklore. 2. Folk literature, Yiddish—Translations into English. 3. Folk literature, English—Translations from Yiddish. 4. Folk literature, Yiddish—Europe, Eastern. I. Weinreich, Beatrice. II. Wolf, Leonard.

  GR98.Y52 1988 398.2’089924047 88-42594

  eISBN: 978-0-307-82826-2

  v3.1

  For

  Nienke and Alex

  Kate and Max

  Stephanie, Don, and Barbara

  Acknowledgments

  It is with a wish to honor the memory of the tellers and collectors of the stories and with a sense of privilege that I share these folktales, which managed miraculously to survive the destruction of the community in which they were told.

  It is also with a wish to honor the memory of my mentors, Uriel and Max Weinreich, who I felt were constantly looking over my shoulder these past years.

  Many colleagues, friends, and family members have helped me along the way. First and foremost, I feel extremely fortunate in having Leonard Wolf as translator-collaborator on this volume. It has been a pleasure to work with him. Many times he would call simply to share his enjoyment and excitement in a group of tales I had sent along for translation. Many times I would call only to express how delighted I was with his marvelous translations.

  I am deeply grateful to Samuel Norich, director of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, for freeing me from other duties so that I could concentrate on this project, and for his continued support during difficult moments. For their constant and warm words of encouragement and their good advice, I owe a debt of gratitude to my folklorist colleagues Dov Noy, Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, and Eleanor Gordon Mlotek.

  I also want to take this opportunity to thank Sara Bershtel of Pantheon Books for initiating this project and for involving YIVO in it. She and her assistant, Julia Bogardus, together with copyeditors Mary Barnett and Ed Cohen efficiently smoothed out rough edges in the manuscript. And special praise for the fine illustrations goes to the art department at Pantheon.

  The library, archival and research staff at YIVO generously gave their assistance whenever called upon. I thank them one and all. My YIVO colleagues David Rogow, Lucjan Dobroszycki, and Zachary Baker earn special mention for helping me put order in the Polish and Russian spellings of place names. I am also grateful to Sheyndl Fogelman for the skill with which she handled the typing of the Yiddish manuscript, to Shari Davis and Lorin Sklamberg for their technical assistance, and most particularly to Jeff Shandler, who in the last weeks, when time pressures threatened ominously, came to the rescue with research and editorial assistance, always cheerfully given.

  And what would I have done without the readiness of good friends like Ulrike Abelson, Rosaline Schwartz, and Kate Resek, who lent a friendly ear whenever I needed to test an idea. Sydney Weinberg, Marcia Vevier, Sylvia McKean, and Eleanor Gordon Mlotek, in addition, were there whenever I asked them to cast a critical eye over a rough draft, and I am particularly grateful to them for this.

  I also wish to thank Don, Stephanie, and Barbara Weinreich for their encouragement, patience, and good advice during various steps along the way. Don gets special thanks for all the time he spent teaching me how to use his computer, and for getting two otherwise incompatible computers—Don’s and Leonard Wolf’s—to “talk” to each other.

  And finally, this book would not have been possible without a generous grant to the YIVO Institute from the New York State Council on the Arts.

  Beatrice Silverman Weinreich

  A Note on the Illustrations

  Many of the illustrations in this book were taken from examples of papirn-shnit (paper-cutting), a traditional Jewish folk art that was popular in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Poland and Russia. Various Jewish customs and holidays were associated with these paper-cuts. The mizrakh, the most impressive and intricate form, was hung on the eastern wall of homes and synagogues to indicate the direction of Jerusalem. Menorahs and lions occur frequently as conventional symbols for the Jewish people. Architectural elements, such as columns and the façades of buildings, sometimes appear as idealized representations of Jerusalem and its ancient Temple. Shvueslekh (“little Shavuoths”) and reyzelekh (rosettes) comprise another type of paper-cut, either rectangular or circular, used to decorate windows in the home on Shavuoth and in the booths erected for the celebration of Succoth. Other illustrations, such as the gravestone rubbings made by Monika Krajewska in Poland or the lithographs by Yudovin and Malkin, depict similar folk motifs as found in the stonecutter’s art. Some of the symbols that appear on East European Jewish tombstones tell us about the people whose lives they commemorate. A learned man is represented by holy books; two hands spread in the form of the priestly blessing indicate that the deceased was a Kohen, a descendant of the Kohanim (the priests of biblical Israel); a hand pouring liquid from a pitcher is a symbol for a Levite, whose ancestors were members of the tribe of Levi, who assisted the Kohanim in sacrificial ritual. A broken branch or broken candles tell us that the person buried beneath the stone died at a young age.

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Acknowledgments

  A Note on the Illustrations

  Introduction

  PART ONE

  Naked Truth and Resplendent Parables: Allegorical Tales

  1. Naked Truth and Resplendent Parable

  2. A Bit of Herring, a Pinch of Salt, and a Morsel of Bread

  3. Things Can Always Get Worse

  4. The Luck That Snored

  5. The Fever and the Flea

  6. Why Dogs Chase Cats and Cats Chase Mice

  7. Wisdom or Luck?

  8. Pleasing All the World

  9. Poverty Grows and Grows

  10. The Sacrifice of Isaac and the Caretaker of Brisk

  11. The Treasure at Home

  12. A Fable of a Bird and Her Chicks

  13. Letting In the Light

  14. Bad Luck

  PART TWO

  A Rooster and a Hen, Let the Story Begin: Children’s Tales

  15. The Pain in the Neck: A Nonsense Tale

  16. The Six-Pointed Homentash: A Purim Tale

  17. A Tale of Two Brothers

  18. Stones and Bones Rattle in My Belly

  19. Sóre-Kháne at the Tip of the Church Tower

  20. Little Bean

  21. A Topsy-Turvy Tale

  22. Clever Khashinke and Foolish Bashinke

  23. The Granny Bear

  24. Moyshele and Sheyndele

  25. Next Time That’s What I’ll Say

  26. The Naughty Little Girl

  PART THREE

  Magic Rings, Feathers of Gold, Mountains of Glass: Wonder Tales

  27. Hang the Moon on My Palace Roof

  28. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice

  29. The Beggar King and the Melamed

  30. Of Nettles and Roses

  31. The Demon and Sosye

  32. How Much Do You Love Me?

  33. The Master Thief

  34. T
he Orphan Boys

  35. Two Brothers Who Went to the Devil

  36. The Snake Bridegroom

  37. The Princess and Vanke, the Shoemaker’s Son

  38. The Foolish Youth and Elijah the Prophet

  39. The King’s Lost Daughter

  40. The Magic Fish and the Wishing Ring

  41. The Hunchbacks and the Dancing Demons

  42. The Princess of the Third Pumpkin

  43. The Orphan Boy Who Won the Bride

  44. Forty Hares and a Princess

  45. The Merchant’s Son and the Demons

  46. The Ram, the Basket, and the Stick

  47. The Golden Feather

  PART FOUR

  Justice, Faith, and Everyday Morals: Pious Tales

  48. The Tale of a Stingy Woman

  49. The Wheat Poured In at the Door

  50. In Heaven and Hell

  51. The Miracle of the Tree

  52. The Poor Man’s Ruble

  53. Blood and Water

  54. A Letter to God

  55. The Seven Good Years

  56. Set a Trap for Another

  57. A Succos Tale

  58. Only Eleven Little Fish

  59. A Passover Tale

  60. A Shocking Tale of a Viceroy

  61. The Leper Boy and Elijah the Prophet

  62. The Trustees

  63. A Tragic Tale

  64. Upon Me

  65. The Ballad of the Faithful Wife

  66. The Iron Chest

  67. Water Wouldn’t Hurt

  68. The Unlearned Villager

  69. Holding On to One-Quarter of My World

  70. The Poor Rabbi and His Three Daughters

  PART FIVE

  Nitwits, With, and Pranksters: Humorous Tales

  71. The Clever Girl: A Riddle Tale

  72. Then Where’s the Cat?

  73. The Best for My Wife

  74. The Coat of Patches

  75. The Bishop and Moshke: Another Riddle Tale

  76. Good Manners and Foolish Khushim

  77. Khushim and His Bride

  78. The Tale of a Leaf from the Tree of Knowledge

  79. Reb Hershele and the Goose Leg

  80. Hershele Ostropolyer and the Sabbath Caftan

  81. Why Khelmites Are Fools

  82. The Angel Spills the Jar of Fools

  83. A Shoyfer in Khelm

  84. The Hill Pushed Away

  85. How Khelmites Lighted Up the Night

  86. The Melamed’s Trunk

  87. The Rolling Stone

  88. A Cat in Khelm

  89. Khelmites Who Refused to Tread on Snow

  90. The Sundial

  91. A Khelm Compromise

  92. A Bridge in Khelm

  93. Sowing Salt

  94. Two Cows for a Melody

  95. Froyim Greydinger, the Magic Stick, and the Pot of Soup

  96. What Makes Tea Sweet: An Exercise in Logic

  97. The Visitor from the World Beyond

  98. The Ten Women

  99. The Congregation Loves Jam

  100. Motke Khabad Needs a Place to Live

  101. Why the Head Turns Gray before the Beard

  102. The Love Potion

  103. Skotsl Kumt: Skotsl’s Here

  104. The Clever Little Tailor

  105. Two Tunes for Three Hundred Rubles

  106. Some True Miracles of God

  PART SIX

  Sages, Tsadikim, and Villains: Legends

  107. Sabbath in Paradise

  108. The Baal Shem Tov and the Herdsman

  109. Yisroel, the Child Rebbe

  110. The Disciple Who Went Astray

  111. The Rebbe’s Melody

  112. Don’t Go into the Mud in the First Place

  113. The Missed Moment of Redemption

  114. The Mekarev Rebbe Gets Even with a Stingy Woman

  115. The Happy Pair and the Baal Shem Tov

  116. The Fleet-Footed Tomeshef Rebbe

  117. The Right Order Is Important

  118. Reb Khaim Urbakh Rocks a Cradle on Yom Kippur

  119. Rain and the Rebbe of Stolin

  120. The Miracle of the Dry Well

  121. The Reincarnation of Queen Esther

  122. The Penitent and the Rebbe of Tshekhenove

  123. The Boy Who Put Two Socks on One Foot

  124. The Power of the Mourner’s Prayer

  125. The Curious Disciple

  126. A Common Piece of Earth

  127. Reb Malkiel and the 702 Candles

  128. A Modern Miracle

  129. How Judah Halevi Entered Heaven Alive

  130. Rabbi Joshua and the Emperor of Rome

  131. A Wonderful Legend of a Cave

  132. Waiting for the Messiah

  133. The Torah of My Servant Moses

  134. Rabbi Jonathan and the Minister: A Disputation

  135. He Has Only One Weakness

  136. The Rabbi Shows Respect for His Shoemaker

  137. Evening the Score

  138. Reb Leybele of Mir Goes to the Marketplace

  139. Napoleon the First and the Jewish Officer

  140. Napoleon in Vilna

  141. Nafol tipol: Napoleon, You Will Fall

  142. The Cantonist’s Mother and Nicholas the First

  143. Czar Nicholas Decrees the Burning of the Talmud

  144. Emperor Franz Josef and the Innkeeper’s Infant

  145. The Poor Man and Rothschild

  146. Rothschild’s Shoes

  147. Rothschild’s End

  PART SEVEN

  Elves and Dibbuks, Ghosts and Golems: Supernatural Tales

  148. The Shoemaker and the Shretelekh

  149. The Synagogue, the Church, and the Town Hall

  150. The Transmigrating Soul

  151. Who’s Milking the Cows?

  152. The Passover Elf Helps Great-Grandmother

  153. The Old Shul in Motele

  154. The Blacksmith and the Horses with Human Hands

  155. The Mysterious Gold Chain

  156. The Unquiet Grave

  157. The Large Stone Synagogue of Berditshev

  158. The Golem of Vilna

  159. The Baal Shem Tov and the Gilgl

  160. The Shretele That Took a Little Nip

  161. The Lost Hat and the Pile of Gold

  162. The Miracle of the Beer Keg

  163. How Doves Saved a Synagogue from Fire

  164. The Calf That Turned to Gold

  165. A Cave That Leads to the Land of Israel

  166. Late-Night Spooks

  167. The Demon Sheep

  168. The Dibbuk Melody of Tolne

  169. The Missing Bridegroom

  170. Two Hrubeshoyv Legends

  171. Why the Rebbe’s Pipe Must Be Kept Lighted

  172. Luckily, the Rooster Crowed Late

  173. Neither Eat nor Drink What a Demon Offers

  174. A Balshem Drives Out a Dibbuk

  175. Lantekh, the Bridge Hobgoblin

  176. The Demon and the Willow Twigs

  177. The Sleepy Tailor and the Zmore

  178. The Last Dibbuk

  Glossary

  Annotations to the Tales

  Notes

  Bibliography

  About the Author

  Introduction

  Some of them began in the age-old, reassuring way, Amol iz geven, “Once upon a time.” Others began, S’iz an emese mayse, “This is a true story.” And they were told on all sorts of occasions. Comic and sentimental tales were told at weddings by the entertainers known as badkhonim. In the synagogue, grandfathers told stories about the Patriarchs and Elijah the Prophet to their grandsons during the intervals between early and late-evening prayers. Mothers and grandmothers told tales of wonder and magic around the stove in winter. Kheyder-students told scary ghost and demon tales when their teacher left for evening prayers. Teachers told stories of God’s wonders; preachers and rabbis told homely parables to illuminate the great truth
s, and the disciples of Hasidic rebbes told tales about their leaders that showed how wise and holy they were. Seamstresses and tailors, market-vendors and wagon drivers spun yarns to while away the hours as they worked.

  Amol iz geven. Once upon a time.

  This volume presents a selection from the wealth of Yiddish folktales and legends told in the Yiddish-speaking world of Eastern Europe during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Many of the tales in their present versions have never been printed before in any language and most of them appear here in English for the first time. Together they offer us a privileged entry into a vibrant and vital community. The Jews of Eastern Europe—some seven million people by 1939—lived throughout a vast territory, from Poland in the west to Russia in the east, from Latvia in the north to Rumania in the south. Jewish communities in size from derfer (villages) of a few families to shtetlekh (towns) to cities of hundreds of thousands. The ideological spectrum of these Jews was equally diverse. Numerous Hasidic groups, as well as their opponents, the misnagdim (rabbinic traditionalists), followed a variety of observance. During the nineteenth century a secularized Jewish population also emerged, and by the beginning of the twentieth, there were more than a dozen major Jewish political movements in Eastern Europe, ranging from the Jewish Labor Bund to the various Zionist parties.

  Yet diverse and decentralized as this population was, the vast majority of East European Jewry were united by their mame-loshn (mother tongue), Yiddish. Hebrew and Aramaic were the languages of sacred texts and prayer; Russian, Polish, Lithuanian, Hungarian, and a half-dozen other languages were used for communicating with non-Jewish neighbors and government bureaucracy. But the vernacular was Yiddish, the language of daily life, the language, too, in which an extensive oral and written literature, religious as well as secular, was created.

  The Yiddish tales included in this volume were drawn largely from the documentary efforts of folklorists and amateur collectors who, in the decades before and between the two world wars, wrote down thousands of legends, fables, jokes, and stories as they heard them from hundreds of gifted tellers. Though collected in this century, these stories embody a far older heritage of Jewish narrative art.

  Throughout Jewish history there has been a continuous reciprocal relationship between stories communicated by word of mouth and stories in writing. An example of this is “The Trustees,” one of the pious tales in this collection. This tale, recorded in 1926 in Poland, is a variant of a tale that appears in a book of moral literature published in 1707 in Yiddish (Simkhes hanefesh); and an even earlier version of this tale is found in a Hebrew book published in Salonica in 1521 (Yalkut shimeoni).1 Other tales in this collection can be traced back to agodes, stories and legends from the Jewish oral tradition that were written down some fifteen hundred years ago in Babylonia and Judea by the sages of the Talmud. The Talmud, in fact, is our earliest evidence of the fundamental role of storytelling in Jewish life. Over the centuries, in Eastern Europe as well as in other Jewish communities, stories from the Talmud and other rabbinic works re-entered the oral tradition in a variety of ways: preachers used them in their sermons, teachers read them to their pupils, parents told them to their children.