Mohammed with the Magic Finger

Once upon a time, there lived a woman who had a son and a daughter. One morning she said to them: 'I have heard of a town where there is no such thing as death. Let us go and live there.' So she packed up her house and went away with her son and daughter.

When she reached the city, the first thing she did was to look around and see if there was any graveyard. When she found none, she exclaimed, 'This is a wonderful place. We will stay here forever.'

By and by, her son grew up and married a girl who had been born in that town. But after a while, he grew restless and went away on his travels, leaving his mother, his wife, and his sister behind.

He had not been gone many weeks when one evening his mother said, 'I am not well. My head aches dreadfully.'

'What did you say?' asked her daughter-in-law.

'My head feels like it's going to split,' replied the old woman.

The daughter-in-law asked no more questions but left the house and hurried to some butchers in the next street.

'I have a woman to sell. What will you give me for her?' she said.

The butchers answered that they must see the woman first, and they all returned together.

Then the butchers took the woman and told her they had to kill her.

'But why?' she asked.

'Because,' they said, 'it is always our custom that when people are ill and complain of their head, they should be killed at once. It is much better than letting them die a natural death.'

'Very well,' replied the woman. 'But please leave my lungs and my liver untouched until my son comes back. Then give them both to him.'

But the men took them out at once and gave them to the daughter-in-law, saying, 'Put these away until your husband returns.' And the daughter-in-law took them and hid them in a secret place.

When the old woman's daughter, who had been in the woods, heard that her mother had been killed while she was out, she was filled with fear and ran away as fast as she could. At last she reached a lonely spot far from the town, where she thought she was safe. She sat down on a stone and wept bitterly. As she sat sobbing, a man passed by.

'What is the matter, little girl? Answer me! I will be your friend.'

'Ah, sir, they have killed my mother. My brother is far away, and I have nobody.'

'Will you come with me?' asked the man.

'Thankfully,' she said, and he led her down, down, under the earth, until they reached a great city. Then he married her, and in time she had a son. The baby was known throughout the city as 'Mohammed with the magic finger,' because whenever he stuck out his little finger, he could see anything that was happening for as far as two days' journey away.

By and by, as the boy grew bigger, his uncle returned from his long journey and went straight to his wife.

'Where are my mother and sister?' he asked. But his wife answered, 'Have something to eat first, and then I will tell you.'

But he replied, 'How can I eat until I know what has become of them?'

Then she fetched a box full of money from an upper room and laid it before him, saying, 'That is the price of your mother. She sold well.'

'What do you mean?' he gasped.

'Oh, your mother complained one day that her head was aching, so I called two butchers and they agreed to take her. However, I have kept her lungs and liver hidden in a safe place until you came back.'

'And my sister?'

'Well, while the people were chopping up your mother, she ran away, and I heard no more of her.'

'Give me my mother's liver and lungs,' said the young man. And she gave them to him. Then he put them in his pocket and went away, saying, 'I can stay no longer in this horrible town. I go to seek my sister.'

Now, one day, the little boy stretched out his finger and said to his mother, 'My uncle is coming!'

'Where is he?' she asked.

'He is still two days' journey away, looking for us. But he will soon be here.' And in two days, as the boy had foretold, the uncle had found the hole in the earth and arrived at the gate of the city. All his money was spent, and not knowing where his sister lived, he began to beg from all the people he saw.

'Here comes my uncle,' called out the little boy. 'Where?' asked his mother. 'Here at the house door.' And the woman ran out and embraced him and wept over him. When they could both speak, he said, 'My sister, were you there when they killed my mother?'