ZAYED UNIVERSITY’S AL KHARAREF STORYTELLING CLUB was created to enrich the legacy of the Emirati storytelling tradition and contribute to the revival of this important cultural heritage within the United Arab Emirates. Last year, the Club in partnership with the Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation exhibited Story Mile a collection of 48 original fables and folktales, written by students from the Academic Bridge Program, illustrated by College of Arts and Creative Enterprises majors and translated by ZOWD volunteers into the language of its characters, Emirati dialect. The tales, which are soon to be published in a book, share not only the storytelling traditions of the Emirates, but have also introduced other key aspects of Emirati culture. These latest stories are creating new footprints in Emirati’s storytelling foklore, while preserving and reintegrating 24 archetypical traditional characters researched by Master Storyteller Abdul Aziz Al Mussallam and designated by the Department of Culture, Heritage and Information as genuinely Emirati back into the cultural landscape.
My Secret Transition
by Maha Ahmed Ebrahim Abdulla Hasan
ILLUSTRATOR: NaufAbdulrahman Abdulla Abdulrahman Al Shaikh
One day I went toa village where there was a donkey with blue eyes and a long horn. I heard someone calling my name, “Mohammed! Mohammed! Come! Come!” I followed the voice andall of a sudden, there was a girl with big blue eyes standing near a cedar tree. “What are you doing here?” I asked.
“I was waiting for you.” she said. “Look into my eyes and remember… remember.”
I ran away and jumped into my car. I was still in shock when I got home and continued to hear the voice over and over again in my head. I went to my room but I couldn’t sleep. I was worried about how the girl with the blue eyes knew my name. I thought about it for hours, until I dozed off into a short nap.
I heard footsteps getting closer and closer. When I opened my eyes, I saw a donkey standing beside me. I felt like there was someone holding meas I heard her calling my name again.
“Who are you? What do you want from me?” I said.
“I am the donkey you and your friends beat.It’s now time for revenge and reckoning,” it said.Suddenly, I heard my mother calling me and realized it was all a dream.
That morning, I went to the restricted area. I sat under the cedar tree and called the donkey. As night fell, I saw the donkey.In the blink of an eye, I found myself in another world full of mad cows. Tears welled in my eyes and I started shaking.
“Welcome to our world,” the donkey laughed. “Yesterday, I was badly treated and today, it’s your turn.” The donkey made me work like a slave and beat me every day.
One day I saw one of the other men smiling. “Why are you so happy?” I asked.
“I will go back soon and see my parents, my family and return to my world,” he replied.
My advice to you is to treat animals with respect, kindness and charity, and never forget God.
