Nile Kids presents...
Zaynab the Beautiful

After Mohamed and Zaynab got married, they lived in a simple house on the outskirts of the village. Each morning Mohammed would leave early to go to his camels, while Zaynab stays at home to look after the house. Then, one morning, Zaynab the Beautiful decided to go out into the desert for a walk.

After a while, she came to a well, and she was thirsty. So she lowered the bucket that was there. But, when she let down the bucket on the end of the rope, she found that the well was dry. As she turned away to go back home, a violent gust of wind and sand mad her close her eyes very tightly. When she opened them again, in front of her was a man dressed all in white, wearing a large turban and riding a black horse.

The man greeted Zaynab and asked if anything was wrong. She explained that she had wanted to drink some water but that the well was dry. The man immediately got off his horse. Taking a stone from his pocket, he threw it into the well At once, the well filled with water. The man handed a full bucket to Zaynab.

Zaynab was a smart woman. She realized that this was no ordinary man. She had heard of witches who could change themselves into human-looking forms. She wanted to run back home but she was afraid to show that she knew the secret of this man with the black horse. So, she drank some water and handed the bucket back to the man with a word of thanks. The man then told her to jump on his horse behind him and he would take her to where she lived. The look on his face gave her no choice but to do what he said, and soon they were galloping further and further into the desert. As night began to fall, the horse galloped on...Eventually, the rocking movement of the horse made her fall into a deep, deep sleep.

It was the next morning before her eyes opened again. She was surprised to find herself in a beautiful garden full of fruit trees, and hundreds ot brightly colored birds twittering in t he branches. A wise-looking old woman with long white hair and claws instead of hands, was looking down at her. Zaynab was so afraid, she turned her face away in terror as she try to get to her feet and run away, but the old witch spoke to her in a broken voice and said, "Do not be afraid, my child. I shall do you no harm as long as you look after the chickens that are my food- when I am unable to find children to eat."

So Zaynab the Beautiful was forced to spend her days looking after the witch's chickens. She had to grind corn for their food, ut out bowls of water for them to drink, and clean out the big cages where they lived. Early each morning, she had to collect hundreds of eggs for the old woman to sell in the neighboring village. All the time, Zaynab became thinner and thinner with the hard work she had to do, and with worrying about her husband Mohammed and wondering whether she would ever see him again.

And where was her husband all this time? Well, on the day when Zaynab the Beautiful was carried away on the black horse, Mohammed had returned home as usual. Finding that his wife was not there, he felt sure that something terrible had happened. He went at once to where his camels were grazing and, choosing the fastest, he set out into the desert in search of his wife. After many days of traveling, Mohammed came to a garden full of fruit trees and birds. Climbing over the wall, he found his wife fast asleep in the shade of a tree. He woke her gently so that she wouldn't cry out in fright nd she told him how she had been carried away by the witch and was having to work night and day until she was worn out.

"By day, she turns into an old woman and goes to the local village to sell the eggs I collect. Sometimes, though, she becomes a young man and rides far and wide in search of young children, which is the food she likes best. At the moment she is asleep, because she has just had a meal of six whole chickens. She eats them raw, with all their bones." Mohammed was horrified at the thought of his beloved wife being at the mercy of such a scary creature. He helped her to her feet and together they climbed over the garden wall. All the way back to the village, he kept looking back, expecting to see the witch following them.

Days went by, but there was no sign of the witch. The time of the Eid, or the Great Feast was approaching, so Mohammed went to the market to buy a sheep. After examining all the sheep, he chose the one which was the fattest. When he arrived home with the sheep, Zaynab like it so much that she tied it up in her room and fed it with rich green clovers. Then, in the middle of the night, she suddenly heard the sheep speaking to her. "Zaynab, Zaynab," it bleated in a cracked voice. "You can never escape from me...."

Zaynab was terrified! She woke her husband and whispered to him that the sheep he had bought was really the old witch. Mohammed realized that his wife would never let go of her fear unless he killed the old witch. So, he took his knife and killed it. Zaynab and Mohammed felt relieved that finally, the witch was dead!

But, there didn't notice a small drop of blood that fell from the knife to the floor, where it turned into a bead of many colors.

The next day, when she was sweeping the house, Zaynab found the bead. Planning to make use of it later, she put it in her mouth to keep it safe for the time being. She went on working, sucking the bead without thinking, and by mistake, she swallowed it. Just then, as she moved her broom along the floor, she heard the bead speak from inside of her stomach: "Zaynab, I am the witch! Zaynab, now I am right inside you. Now I will be with your forever, Zayan- forever! Hahahahaha!"
Wherever she went that day, Zaynab always heard the witch's voice. She thought she was going to go crazy!

Mohammed could now think of only one thing to do. He took his wife to an old wise man, who write her magic words on a slip of paper, and told her to swallow it. As the chewed up paper went down in Zaynab's stomach, the bead came up and out of her mouth. She spat it out, hardly able to stop herself from being sick.

Mohammed picked up the bead, which felt warm in his hand. He decided to take it back to the wise man. The wise man knew what to do. He places the bead in a stone pot and, with a heavy stick, ground it into a powder which he threw onto a fire. The fire blazed with brilliant flames and then died out.

Zaynab the Beautiful was free of the witch and, shortly afterwards, a baby girl was born to the happy couple, and they lived happily every after.