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Showing 1 - 20 from 27 entries
> The legend of Jaber Yassein
> The hungry Badawy
> The Wise Bedouin
> Miriamiya, "Sage of Virtue," and other aromatic herbs
> Al-Khader tales
> The Clever Man and the Old Man
> King Solomon and Balquis
> The Prophet Mohammed and the Olive Tree
> Legends from Teqoa
> Mar Saba stories
> Legends of Bethlehem
> Solomon's Pools
> The white flower of innocence
> Iblis' trick
> The threshing floor
> A pierced belly
> Lot's dilemma
> Generous but stingy
> The sultan and his wazir
> A covenant between brother and sister
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Once there were two brothers who were very good with each other. They always worked together in the fields. During the threshing season they piled the corn in two heaps of equal height. Afterwards they jointly slept in the field to guard their harvest.
Now during one such night one of the brothers woke up and said to himself: "It is not really right that I receive the same amount of corn as my brother. He is raising a family and has many more expenses." He stood up and put seven measures from his own pile on that of his brother. Then he went back to sleep. Shortly afterwards his brother woke up and thought by himself: "It is not right that I receive the same amount of corn as my brother. He is alone and misses the joys I have." So he stood up and put seven measures from his pile on top of his brother's.
In the morning, when both of them woke up, they were surprised to see that both piles were still the same. God saw their deeds and declared the threshing floor to be holy forever.
(According to legend, the threshing floor is located in the south-east corner of the old city of Jerusalem, near what is now the Church of Dormition).
Mitri Raheb and Fred Stickert: Bethlehem 2000: Past and Present. Palmyra 1998, Heidelberg
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