The Jew and the jar It was… There were many… around four or five Jewish men, every Saturday they used to fill their pockets with watermelon seeds, and there was a coffee shop, they went to sit in the coffee shop. Then… they were sitting in the coffee shop, And there was someone who had a donkey on which he used to load jugs. He went to sell them. Every time he used to pass by (the coffee shop) he saw them and started to curse and to come down on the Jews. One time, One of the men that sat there said: No one but me can deal with him. What do you intend to do to him? he told them: I won't say. I will do the thing and then (you will see). He (the donkey owner) came by all cocky on Saturday cursing and coming down on the Jews. The other one prepared a needle, got close to the donkey, (and) pricked his ears with the needle. It hurt him (the donkey), (it was a) strong prick. It hurt him, and he started to jump. He shook off and all the jugs fell down on the ground. This guy went to complain about him, to the police. They brought him (to the police). Why did you break his jugs? he told him (to the police officer): I didn't break his jugs. I went to whisper in his (the donkey's) ears. I told him: If you are a Jew who is the son of a Jew like he says, how come... today is Saturday, How come you work on Saturdays? And he got angry and shook off his cargo. I have nothing to do with it (rhetorically: what do I have with it?). They told him (to the donkey's owner): Quickly! They kicked him out, The donkey's owner. And he (the Jew) came out innocent.

Translation is provided by courtesy of Dr. Assaf Bar-Moshe

When I lived in Baghdad, (people) would slap themselves in the face when a woman would give birth to a girl. (They) were worried about how much money she would cost them, which man would take her, (whether) she would be a good girl or not…all of those things. My mother and father had one boy and one girl. My brother and sister. (People) said to my mother, “you need to give birth to another boy. That would be a good thing to happen. You need to have another son.” And (she) got pregnant, and (she) gave birth to me. (People) say that when my father heard that my mother had given birth to a girl, he didn’t speak to her for three weeks. But no matter. (He) started…(to see me as though) I was his daughter. He would take me wherever he went, and teach me, and (it was) good…I was by his side a lot. When I was ten years old, we came to America. And my mother started thinking. She was afraid to speak. How much (money) will we (need to) bring a man for this (girl)? How much will this girl cost? How much money will she need?I heard (this) and said, “what are you talking about? I won’t take him (a man)! He should love me. I don’t want money! He shouldn’t need a (financial) deal in order to take me.” She said, “if you don’t find someone to take you, what will you do? What will all of us do?” I said to her, “no…I won’t get married. What’s wrong with that?” She said to me, “your death (would happen) before you not getting married. Your death (would happen) before (that).”