Zuchara

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AdulteryDeceptionDeceitful loverDeceitful womanEvidenceFalse evidence of virtueFood and drinkGullible husbandMoney in exchange for promise of sexWoman tricked/coerced into sexCoerced sex

Sugar

A man gives his wife money to buy food, and she goes to the market. The merchant lusts after her, and offers to give her sugar in exchange for sex. The wife agrees in advance, ties the sugar up in her cloak, and enters the merchant's chambers. While they are busy, the merchant's servant replaces the sugar with dust. The wife returns home none the wiser, leaves the bundle, and goes to fetch her pot. When her husband exclaims that there is nothing but dirt in her cloak, the wife understands that she was swindled. She fetches a seive, and claims that she was kicked by a cow on the way home, dropped everything in the dirt, and must now sift the particles apart. Her husband believes her and sifts the dust.

Note

Nishimura notes this story, which falls under the heading of motif TMI J1702 (simply titled 'Stupid husband'), has analogues in: Seventy Tales of a Parrot, Textus ornatior 32, Textus simplicior 13 and 32; Der persische Dekameron, 22 ‘Der befreite Jüngling’; Qadiri, The Tooti Nameh, 25 ‘Of a woman, who, having gone to buy Sugar, had an Amour with a Grocer’; Johannis de Capua, Directorium Humanae Vitae, 35.

Critical Literature
Nishimura (2001), Epstein (1967), Clouston (1884)

Zuchara appears in the following versions and secondary versions
Version Original Language Branch of Tradition Adapted from A (The Seven Viziers) Arabic East A101 (Hundred and One Nights) Arabic East Hebrew Group A East Mishle Sendebar Hebrew Group B Hebrew East Mishle Sendebar Hebrew Prints Hebrew East Latin Mishle Sendebar East Hebrew Mishle Sendebar Mishle Sendebar Hebrew East

Zuchara is narrated in the following occurrences
Narrator Pages Fourth Master Berlin Staatsbibliothek Ms. lat. qu. 618, Hebrew Group A, Hebrew Group B, Hebrew Prints, Latin Mishle Sendebar, Mishle Sendebar Third Master Berlin Staatsbibliothek Sprenger 1368, Paris Bibliothèque nationale de France Arabe 3639, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 3670

Zuchara appears in the following manuscripts

Manuscript Language Siglum (Version) Language Group within Version Berlin Staatsbibliothek Ms. lat. qu. 618 Latin Mishle Sendebar Latin Mishle Sendebar Berlin Staatsbibliothek Sprenger 1368 Arabic A (The Seven Viziers) Arabic A Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 3670 Arabic A (The Seven Viziers) Arabic A Città del Vaticano Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana Ebr. 100 Hebrew Mishle Sendebar Hebrew Mishle Sendebar Oxford Bodleian Library Bodley Or. 135 Hebrew Mishle Sendebar Hebrew Mishle Sendebar Oxford Bodleian Library MS Heb. d. 11 Hebrew Mishle Sendebar Hebrew Mishle Sendebar Paris Bibliothèque nationale de France Arabe 3639 Arabic A (The Seven Viziers) Arabic A