Egyptian Chronicles: Ramadan Arabian Nights 2023: Tale of Mando “The Prisoner” #EP4

Ramadan Karim.

And we continue our tale for this, the tale of Mando from the Audio One Thousand and One nights show.

It is not related to other Mando

But first just as I share with a great Egyptian state radio show, I must mention that Egyptian and Arab radio lost one of its radio icons a couple of days ago.

Egypt’s Legendary radio host Fadila Tawfik or as commonly known for generations as “Abla Fadila” or Miss Fadila.

Abla Fadila was the first woman to have a show dedicated to children’s tales on Egyptian state radio since the mid-1950s.

Fadila Tawfik passed away at the age of 96.

She died in Canada while staying with her daughter who is living there.

Born in 1929 to an Egyptian Nubian father and Turkish mother, Abla Fadila was the sister of renowned late Egyptian actress and leftist activist Mohsena Tawfik.

She was also the aunt of renowned Egyptian leftist activist Wael Khalil. She graduated from Cairo University’s Faculty of Law before joining the Egyptian Radio service.

I found out that there is a whole YouTube Channel dedicated to the old radio episodes of Abla Fadila’s tales for children in Arabic.

The animation is horrible but one thing is for sure, you hear it and do not watch it.

May Allah bless the soul of Abla Fadila.

Second, here is the 4th episode of our tale this Ramadan or episode no. 466 of the Egyptian Radio show in audio

Synopsis in English.

The guards of the King bring before him a poor and wretched prisoner, by the name of Saber. The man protests his innocence, claiming that he was wrongfully imprisoned by the vizier who coveted his cattle.

Saber pleads with the King, telling him that his neighbour can attest to his innocence and that his sick wife is alone without him. King Kahlan decides to test Saber's claim of innocence by ordering him to eat one-half of the apple.

Prisoner Saber as imagined by Midjourney

If he suffers no harm, he will be deemed innocent and released. But if he suffers any ill effects, he will be found guilty.

Saber eats the fruit and shows no signs of suffering. Vizier Shahlan insists that the man is still ill, but the King laughs at the Vizier's feeble attempts to undermine Saber's innocence. The King orders Saber's immediate release and this night, he divides the remaining half of the apple into two quarters, which he and his wife consume. The King believes that they will bear twins.

On the other side of the city, Saber returns to his sick wife, Marzouka, and tells her of his miraculous release. He gives her a quarter of the apple which he had hidden away so that she too can taste that rich man’s fruit.

And so it came to pass that a royal couple and a poor couple shared in Eve's apple, as well as the fate that it brought with it. Tomorrow's night, inshallah, will reveal the course of their fate, come what may.