Multicultural Folklore

Tunjur! Tunjur! Tunjur! A Palestinian Folktale
Retold By: Margaret Read MacDonald
Illustrated By: Alik Arzoumanian

Summary:

This is a Palestinian Folktale that has been passed down and retold in various ways. It involves a woman praying for a child, even if that child is a pot. She receives her wish, and a pot she owns comes alive. One day her child pot begs to go to market, and even though she doesn't thing the pot is old enough to know right from wrong, she lets her go. The pot runs into the merchant who thinks the pot is beautiful and fills it with honey. The pot runs off and takes the honey to her mother, making the noise Tunjur! Tunjur! all the way home. When her mother sees the honey she thinks someone has given them a gift, and allows the pot to go back the next day. The pot then goes to the king, and the king's wife fills the pot with jewels. The pot runs home and her mother is distraught because the pot has stolen. The next day the pot returns and the king and the merchant recognize the pot that steals, deciding to give it the "reward" it deserves. The pot is excited for a reward until it finds that its reward is mud and muck. This is when the pot learns its lesson!

Application:

This story should be used to study the form of folktale, especially Palestinian folktale. It provides great example of repetition within the story, of personification, and of a lesson learned. These are all plainly displayed and easy to pick out in the story, making this a great folktale to open with to discuss these points of folktale.