71

story i.L388 (Tape 113, 1972) I~arra tor:

Location:

..Resat Ozbas, 1Sake,

hovince of'/J.ydln

Spring 19(12

Joseph saw a ~~Jacob had nine sons, one of whom was Joseph.

and related it to his father: "Father," he said, "in my dreaJ!! I sa.v

eleven stars gesturing to me."

His father warned him and said,

~

"Son, there are people jealous

of you. Be careful." Joseph was Jacob's favorite son, and he pre-

ferred this son to his other sons who were born by a previous ,'dfe.

His brothers were ~~ of Joseph, and this jealousy le:d them to

treachery.

One day they said to their father, "Father, .Joseph seems to be

bored.

Would you let him come ~dth us when we go to herd the flock

1 This tale is included because it is as much a folktale as it is

the !~oranic acc~unt of Joseph. There vall be notes following thatindicate significant divergences from Chapter XII of the Koran,the chapter (~) in which the account of Joseph is given.

The title Hazreti is maintained hero simply because there is no

exact equivalent in English. l-iost Turkish-English dictionaries

define pazret~ as ~cellegcr; ~n~, also somet~es given, is acloser definition. It \faS a religj_ous honorific given to the earlycaliphs, and it is nOvi used with the name of ma~T different greatreligious figures of the past. Biblical and Koranic characters areoften given the terI:l Hazreti. Perhaps His Ileverence or His Holinesswould be a good rendering of the intent of the tem--; -

8'O~

Story #388

today? It will be a change for hiJn." Jacob gave them the permission.

However, as soon as they left the house, his brothers began to beat

t~ :) b ~e", --l~6'..e1~ ~~ ~Joseph. Then they thre~~~~ P. ~~-,appened to be

passing by, and the oldest brother sold Joseph to the caravan leader

for one~. The caravan leader took Joseph to ~

\'llien the brothers returned home, they said to their father,

for his lost son.

In EgyI~ the caravan leader delivered Joseph to the Pharaoh. In

the palace Joseph received a good education, and this education enabled

Joseph was so handsome th~t whenever hehim to irlterpret dreams.

"I wonder how much my goodlooked in the mirror he used to think,

looks would be worth if they were to sell me as a slave?"2

became infatuated ~dth the hand-The Pharaoh's ~dfe, Zeliha,

Joseph refused, but as hesome man and said to him, "Lie ".'ith me. II

was going out of the roorfi, Zeliha held him by the shirt and tore off

~

At this moment the Pharaoh and his unclethe back of the shirt.

"vvbat punishment isZeliha said,came and witnessed the scene.

2 The narrator has here upgraded the position of the woman who makesadvances to Joseph. In the Biblical account (Genesis) it is the vdfeof Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh. In the Koran it--is the Governor'swife. The woman is given no n~~e in the Koran, but in a later Arabictradition she is called Zula~Tkha. -See ~'iatt 1 s Comrer,ion to the ':'ur' ar..

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Story #388

given to a man who rapes a Wonlan?tl~~ithout waiting for an answer, she

The law called for death in

spread throughout the palace. Zeliha invited the gossiping women to

tea.

Along with tea, she served them fruit. As the women ~lere peeling

The women were

In their confusion,

the guests accidentally cut their fingers.Upon this, Zeliha said,

"You cut a finger when YO11 saw him onc~. Be my judge and appreciate

the way I feel when I see him around me every day. "

prisonment.

In the dungeon Joseph befriended two prisoners: thePharaoh's cook and a beverage maker. They were both accused of attemptinc;

to poison some high officials in the palace.One night the cook had

3The Koranic account differs from both the Biblical story and from thisfolktale. In the Koran Joseph's innocence of approaching the woman isestablished by deduction. Since the cloth was torn by the woman fromthe ~ of his shirt, it must have been taken when he was trying toget away from her. It is because of this establishment of innocence thatJoseph is, at first, not thrown into prison.

~

Story 11388

Joseph interpreted the dream and said,"loW friend, Ifm afraid you \'lill

be executt!c}..w~J lose your head.rr6

The beverage maker said, III saw a @~too. In my dream I was

1\1nen

died.

r~they survived.

The cook

was~~ci) but the beverage maker was set free.Before the

beverage ~~ker left the prison, he thanked Joseph and said,"You inter-

preted my dream very well, indeed."

Then Joseph saic;i, "Please recOJTJnend me as a dream interpreter to

the people in the palace.. II

5Simit--a crisp, tasty biscuit covered ~dth sesame seeds. About sixinche"s in diameter, it is circular, vdth a hole in the center. .4_bisc~~ would be a good "English translation. They are relished by 1urksand visitors to Turkey. They are sold not onlJr in bakeries but on thestreet by hawkers who carry large trays of them on their heads.

6In the Koranic interpretation of the cook's dream, Joseph tells the manthat he .~~ be crucified and birds v.~ peck on his head.

7In the Koran it is grape

juice

that he dreams he is squeezing~

Story #388

lean oxen devour seven well-fed oxen. Since he had seven provinces

under his rule, he feared that the dream foretold some catastrophe.

He vmnted somebody to interpret his dream.

The beverage maker said, "Sir, Joseph, who has been in prison for

so long, is an excellent dreaQ interpreter. vJhy don tt you consult hj;n?11

Joseph was called before the Pharaoh. Before he interpreted the

dreanl, he pleaded with the Pharaoh and said, "I will interpret ;vour

8The Pharaoh agreed to set Joseph free.dreaJn if you set me free. II

~

Then Joseph interpreted the dream in a very refined language. In sw,-

~

mary, this was the interpretation: "There vr4-11 be seven years of abun-

It would be wise

to store grain during the seven years of good cro~ and when the seven

years of famine begin, sell grain to the people." The Pharaoh was so

pleased with this interpretation that he made Joseph his vizier. 9

As Joseph had predicted, after seven years of abundance, famine.began. People over the kingdom came to get grain in return for money

8In the Koranic version Joseph wants not only to be set free but alsoto be exonerated from the charges against him by his master's vdfeand the 'iomen who cut their hands i~ excitement over Joseph. Sincethey had demonstrated the same wealaless for the handsome youth, Joseph,as had his master's wife, they too lodged charges against him, and sohe was eventually jaileci. In the Koran, the king questions the women

and the wife of the Governor, and they admit their false accusations;the Governor 's ~dfe adnuts that she approached Joseph, not he her.

9 Again, the vlord ~z!er is an obvious anachronism.

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Story #388

"~;~"f"On one condition you may. lJext time bring your

youngest brother. II

At first

;; Jacob hesitated to give them permission."\'Jhat 1-rill I do if you let

The oldest brother, ho\~ever, pleaded, III '11 deliver the boy to

~

you safely, at the risk of my own head.'!

Joseph gave his brothers more grain. Before they left, he stealthily

,,'\fter

~

scales were missing. He ordered the men to search all the camel bags.

~

All the brothers were brought to the palace.

The brothers protested, "This is injustice.

Joseph answered, "It is injustice, I grant you. HOt"lever, I had

10The narrator has confused his o,'m count of the brothers. Earlier hehad stated that Jacob had nine sons. Here, ~;ith Joseph and Benj&hinnot present, the other brothers number eight. Accordip~ to the Biblicalaccount Jacob had twelve sons, each a founder of one of the tribes of

Israel.

~

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#388

I am yourbrother Joseph." The brothers rejoiced when th~J heard this!..

ThenJoseph said, "Take my shirt to my father. He "lill regain his sight

v.hen he rubs thj.s shirt on Ius eyes."

"I smell the '"i;;.~~scent of the body of my son Joseph.

He is still alive."

'men

he

~i~of the shirt, once more savl daylight.

Sometime later the Pharaoh died. The Pharaoh's wife wanted to

marry Joseph, and 11e agreed. !liter they were married, she asked,

~

Joseph?!!

Joseph answered, "If I had made love to you then, I would have

committed adultery and become a slave of my passions.By being<~~~

of the people.,,11

~

11The conclusion of this folktale has no basis in either the Biblical orKoranic accounts. In the Bible, Joseph marries an Egyptian girl nameclAs~path. and they have t~lO sons. Here he marries the Pharaoh's ~dfeafter -the Pharaoh dies, becoming himself now the ruler. In explainir.gto the ~;oman why he ~Brries her nO~l but would not become her lover whenshe was young and beautiful, Joseph is given a very ~,oralistic anddidactic speech. This changes the point of the story from what it wasin both the Bible and the Koran.