THE WONDER TREE

In the land of Arabia, lived a chief named Ali Ben Ahmed along with his tribe. He has a daughter named Zuleika. One evening , Zuleika ran to his father’s arms and cried. Because there was someone who is riding their way from the south. The chief scanned the southern horizon until his eyes found a little yellow cloud of dust in the far distance. Zuleika was delighted because she love visitors who tells the wonders of the world which her eyes had never seen. The stranger who was proud and dignified brought greetings from the great Sheik Ben Nedi. The whole camp bustled with excitement and prepared each gifts for the great man. Only little Zuleika sat alone and idle, because she had no gift to give to the great Sheik Ben Nedi. She ran away from the tents and sat on a great stone near the well. Suddenly out of the well appeared a white image of a woman. The white image asked Zuleika why she was crying and told her to come back the next day to receive the gift for the Sheik. The next day, Zuleika saw a tree near the well where she was yesterday. She was so shocked and so as his father, Ali Ben Ahmed. Zuleika gave the gift to the great man and the Sheik was so delighted for it is a precious gift from a child’s precious heart.

INTRO:

The folktale implies the culture of Arabians being hospitable to visitors from faraway lands. Offering gifts for their visitors gives me a hint of the culture of Arabia which can be somewhat similar to our Filipino values. The folktale also find a way how the date palm can show the identity of the Arabian land.

RHODA CACAO is the author of the story that was written on November.13,2014.

The story is about the custom among the Arabs to give presents to their visitors. Zuleika cried because she had no gifts to offer, but she was mistaken.


BODY:

In Arabia, gifts should only be given to the most intimate of friends. For a Saudi to receive a present from a lesser acquaintance is so embarrassing as to be offensive. It is not unheard-of for an employee returning from leave to get the sack for the impertinence of bringing his boss a present from home. Even worse is expressing admiration for something belonging to another because it makes him feel obliged to make a gift of it.

And that is what Zuleika is feeling in the story that’s why she was so sad when she knew that she doesn’t have a gift to give to the great Sheik Ben Nedi.

According to https://thearabianuae.com/when it comes to hospitality, Arabs are in a league of our own. They take hospitality - a key Arab virtue - very seriously, using every opportunity to honor our guests to the best of our abilities.

And that is what Ali Ben Ahmed and his tribe did when the great Sheik Ben Nedi came to their place.

According to https://www.britannica.com/topic/sheikhit strictly means a venerable man of more than 50 years of age.The title sheikh is especially borne by heads of religious orders, heads of colleges, such as Al-Azhar University in Cairo, chiefs of tribes, and headmen of villages and of separate quarters of towns. It is also applied to learned men, especially members of the class of ulamas (theologians), and has been applied to anyone who has memorized the whole Qur’ān, however young he might be.That is the role of the Sheik that visited the chief Ali Ben Ahmed and his tribe. Whom is Sheik Ben Nedi.

In my opinion, children are really not expected to give gifts because they don’t have the enough money yet. Just make them feel happy as ever.

CONCLUSION:

I have come to a realization that there are cultures and traditions in Arabia that really have to be done. And that’s what makes it nice in Arabia right now. And also I’ve learned that there is also a respect between people in Arabia.

REFERENCES:

·      https://thearabianuae.com/

·      https://www.britannica.com/topic/sheikh