"hell hath no fury like a woman scorned"

From all that I've read and heard, I have yet to find a world as mystical and wise as the realm of Arab tales of olden times. In light of that, here's a precious gem in the form of a Bedouin folktale:

As the weary traveler sat by the well, he studied the older woman as she filled her bucket and saw the perfect opportunity to ask the question that had bafflled him all this time. He asked the woman: " What do people mean when they say {ان كيدهن عظيم}?" 

(the arabic equivalent of Congreve's {hell hath no fury like a woman scorned}). 

Instead of an answer however, the woman poured the water over herself and started screaming wildly: "Help! Help!". The traveler froze, perplexed. "At any moment now my seven sons will be here to my aid and I will tell them you were tormenting me and had thrown me into the well. They won't hesitate to kill you for such insult to my honor." The traveler, still in shock, could barely deny her false allegations.

When the sons arrived and asked their mother what had happened, she replied:"I almost drowned, this man here is a hero. He saved my life!". The sons rushed to shake the man's hand and thanked him warmly for the great favor he had done their mother. 

From that day forward, the traveler was careful to never incite a woman's anger, for he finally understood the true fury of a woman scorned.

Underestimated and marginalized, women at the time had to tell stories in order to have their voices heard. Being denied an education left them unable to read or write, and they were never given the consideration and esteem male poets and scholars received. As such, they resorted to telling clever, creative tales that would go on to live far longer than most works of their male counterparts at the time. The moral in this wonderful tale doesn't state that all women are dangerous, but rather, if a woman was...you wouldn't want to find out.

By Norah Althunayan