The aim of this paper is to provide a brief introduction to the life and tales of Abdelaziz El-Aroui1 (1898–1971), a well-known Tunisian storyteller. He was above all a journalist and a playwright. He was also an active member of the literary group Taht Essour. His tales were transmitted by Tunisian radio and later by TV. Their popularity spread to neighboring countries, especially Algeria and Libya. This popularity derives from his practice of drawing upon traditional sayings, stories and proverbs and from his intention to associate his work with the Tunisian dialect and to penetrate the depth of the human soul.

This article offers a local version of the Palestinian folktale of Ǧbēne, audio recorded in 2018 in the town of Bāḳa l-Ġarbiyye in the Muṯallaṯ area. The tale of Ǧbēne represents the feminine passage from infancy to adulthood and marriage. These stages are marked by the opposition of white and black, which symbolically evoke complex cultural values. After a background to folktales in general, and in the Palestinian Arabic speaking area in particular, the tale of Ǧbēne is examined within its sociocultural context, with reference to its contemporary transmission and notes on plot, content, and cultural elements and comparisons of its different versions. The text is provided in transcription and translation, and accompanied by a linguistic analysis that highlights the features of the traditional Arabic variety spoken in Bāḳa l-Ġarbiyye through comparisons with other dialects, especially those spoken in adjacent areas inside the Muṯallaṯ region and outside it.

Folklore plays a crucial role in the preservation of the local heritage, and it can provide valuable information regarding cultural and religious norms, language, and environment of that people. The folktale is one of the many forms of folklore and it represents the product of the individual traditional heritage that originates from a population’s collective cultural imagination and background. In the Arabian Gulf societies, the oral tradition of storytelling has been prominent for a very long time and it has somehow been preserved until fairly recent times. The folktale belongs to the Emirati intangible cultural heritage, and it constitutes a deeply rooted element related to Bedouin tribal clans and to the desertic and maritime environments which characterised the territory. The United Arab Emirates is very attentive to the conservation of their heritage, both at national and international levels. This study provides a socio-cultural and linguistic analysis of the Emirati folktale, based on a sample of three stories from Al-Ain, written in Emirati Arabic, which share a common feature: the wickedness of wives.