Aja'ib.

Books Folklore and Mythology Electronic Texts is a (very) old school web page hosted at the University of Pittsburgh, which lists hundreds of folk tales from across the world in a big long lists with links to the actual stories throughout.

They're from a range of sources and translated by retired professor, Professor D. L. Ashliman. Here's one about choosing a wife through the use of dairy products:
A young herdsman wanted to get married. Now he knew three sisters. All were equally beautiful, and he liked them all equally well, so he could not decide which of them he should choose as his bride. His mother noticed this, and she said to him, "Let me give you some good advice. Invite all three sisters to eat with you at the same time. Serve them some cheese and pay attention to what they do with it."

The son followed this advice. He invited the girls to his house and served them cheese. The first one greedily ate her piece, complete with the rind, so that not a trace of it was left. The second one, to the contrary, cut off the rind so thick that she wasted a lot of good cheese. The third one neatly peeled off just the right amount of rind.

The herdsman told his mother what had happened with the cheese, and she said, "Choose the third one. She will bring you luck."

That is what he did, and as long as he lived, he never regretted having followed his mother's advice.

No comments:

Post a Comment