Moorish Literature | Page 5

of iron, nor yet of wood,?They are not in harness, not in saddles,?They have no handsome saddle-bags,?They've naught of what makes mankind proud;?They've no fat and healthy camels,?The Tsaggmaren; don't speak of them;?They are people of a mixed race,?There is no condition not found with them.?Some are poor, yet not in need;?Others are abused by the demon,?Others own nothing but their clubs.?There are those who make the pilgrimage, and repeat it,?There are those who can read the Koran and learn by that?They possess in the pasturage camels, and their little ones, Besides nuggets of gold all safely wrapped."[24]
Another style, no less sought for among the Berbers inhabiting cities, is the "complaint" which flourished in lower Morocco, where it is known under the Arab name of Lqist (history). When the subject is religious, they call it Nadith (tradition). One of the most celebrated is that wherein they tell of the descent into the infernal regions of a young man in search of his father and mother. It will give an idea of this style of composition to recite the beginning:
"In the name of God, most clement and merciful,?Also benediction and homage to the prophet Mohammed,?In the name of God, listen to the words of the author,?This is what the Talebs tell, according to the august Koran. Let us begin this beautiful story by?Invoking the name of God.?Listen to this beautiful story, O good man,?We will recite the story of a young man?In Berbere; O God, give to us perfection;?That which we bring to you is found in truthful tradition, Hard as a rock though thy heart be, it will melt;?The father and mother of Saba died in his childhood?And left him in great poverty;?Our compassionate Lord guided him and showed him the way, God led him along toward the Prophet,?And gave to him the Koran."[25]
Other poems--for instance, that of Sidi Hammen and that of Job--are equally celebrated in Morocco. The complaints on religious subjects are accompanied on the violin, while those treating of a historical event or a story with a moral have the accompaniment of a guitar. We may class this kind of poems among those called Tandant, in lower Morocco, which consist in the enumeration of short maxims. The same class exist also in Zouaona and in Touareg.
But the inspiration of the Khabyle poets does not always maintain its exaltation. Their talents become an arm to satirize those who have not given them a sufficiently large recompense, or--worse still, and more unpardonable--who have served to them a meagre repast:
"I went to the home of vile animals,?Ait Rebah is their name;?I found them lying under the sun like green figs,?They looked ill and infirm.?They are lizards among adders,?They inspire no fear, for they bite not.?Put a sheepskin before them, they?Will tear your arms and hands;?Their parched lips are all scaly,?Besides being red and spotted.
"As the vultures on their dung heaps,?When they see carrion, fall upon it,?Tearing out its entrails,?That day is for them one of joy.?Judging by their breeches,?And the headdresses of their wives,?I think they are of Jewish origin."[26]
This song, composed by Mohammed Said or Aihel Hadji, is still repeated when one wishes to insult persons from Aith Erbah, who have tried several times to assassinate the poet in revenge.
Sometimes two rival singers find themselves together, and each begins to eulogize himself, which eulogy ends in a satire on the other. But the joust begun by apostrophes and Homeric insults finishes often with a fight, and the natural arm is the Basque drum until others separate the adversaries.[27] We have an example in a dialogue of this kind between Youssuf ou Kassi, of the Aith Djemnad, and Mohand ou Abdaha, of the Aith Kraten. The challenge and the jousts--less the?blows--exist among the chellahs of lower Morocco, where they are called Tamawoucht; but between man and woman there is that which indicates the greatest liberty of manners. The verses are improvised, and the authors are paid in small money. Here is a specimen:
The woman: "When it thunders and the sky is overcast,
Drive home the sheep, O watchful shepherd." The man: "When it thunders, and the sky is overcast,
We will bring home the sheep."?The woman: "I wish I had a bunch of switches to strike you with!
May your father be accursed, Sheepkeeper!" The man: "Oh, God, I thank thee for having created
Old maids to grind meal for the toilers."[28]
Another manifestation, and not less important of the popular Berber literature, consists in the stories. Although no attempt has been made in our days to gather them, many indications permit us to believe that they have been at all times well treasured by these people. In the story of Psyche that Apuleius inserted at the end of the second century A.D., in the romance of Metamorphoses,[29] we read that Venus imposed on Psyche,