Every morning, Solika walks past the palace windows, her breakfast basket in hand. At his window, the prince is dying to know what she has in there, but this is Solika's closely-kept secret. Until the day the prince decides to bring out the heavy artillery... The ten folktales in this book carry the memory of the Eastern Judeo-Spanish people, their wisdom, their way of life and most of all, of their humor. These folktales were transmitted orally thanks to the talent of storytellers who would willingly adapt them to their audience. This is how folktales traveled, morphed and were constantly reinvented. May they once again escape from these pages to be revived in the mouth of the storyteller!

M. Abraham Behar, un riche marchand d'Istanbul a perdu sa femme. Ses amis le voyant seul et abattu lui conseillent de se remarier ou d'adopter un animal de compagnie. Après beaucoup de refus, M. Behar décide de se rendre à Paris, à La Galerie Lafayette où l'on trouve de tout et plus encore. Quel n'est pas son étonnement d'y trouver... un perroquet juif qu'il achète sur le champ.

Les contes judéo-espagnols, anciens ou nouveaux, portent la mémoire des juifs sépharades d'Orient, de leur sagesse, de leur mode de vie et surtout de leur humour. Les petits et les grands défauts de chacun y sont traités avec beaucoup d'ironie et de réalisme. Comme les juifs ottomans ne vivaient jamais en ghetto, ils ont aussi emprunté beaucoup de traits à leurs voisins grecs, turcs, arméniens... qu'ils ne manquent pas une occasion de mettre en scène.

Mr. Abraham Behar, a rich merchant from Istanbul has just lost his wife. His friends are worried about him because he is lonely and sad, so they suggest he remarry or adopt a pet. Mr. Behar refuses repeatedly, but finally he gives in and decides to go to New York where you can find anything and even more. To his surprise he meets....a Jewish parrot that he purchases on the spot. Whether traditional or contemporary, Judeo-Spanish tales carry the memory of Sephardic Jews, their wisdom, life style and most of all, their humor. Because the Ottoman Jews did not live in ghettos, they also borrowed many elements from their Greek, Turkish, Armenian neighbors and they never missed an opportunity to have them play a role in their tales!