An old Maltese rhyme and some parallels from the Middle East

Abstract

It is well known that everywhere such lore as has survived has in the course of centuries been polished by the passing of time. The aim of this article is to show some parallels between a Maltese rhyme and two Arabic versions, one from Iraq and one from Sana'a', in Yemen. The Iraqi version is here reproduced as it appeared in E.S. Stevens's Folktales of Iraq, published in 1931. I am indebted to Mr. J. Cassar Pullicino who has kindly furnished me with the text of the Sana'a' version published by E. Rossi in L'Arabo parlato a Sana'a' (Roma, lstituto per l'Oriente, 1939, p. 122). Dr. Luigi Bonelli published the first variant of the Maltese rhyme, with an Italian translation, in Saggi del Folklore dell'Isola di Malta, in 1895. He stated that in his time this balderdash or, as he calls it, " filastrocca", was recited both in the country and in the towns by parents to young children who were willing to listen to a 'Storia' (story). To this day nearly all Maltese children know this rhyme or a variant of it.