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Overview
A merchant buys a mistreated little monkey on the island of Sunudi with money entrusted to him by Mohammed. The animal frees captives held for slaughter on another island, then joins divers and retrieves especially valuable pearls. Its rescues and the merchants' contributions make its new owner wealthy. Later it returns each evening with a bag of gold and finally speaks, declaring itself a marid in ape form. It presents its transformation as a divine commission to bring Mohammed good fortune, and instructs him how to secure marriage with a shereef's daughter.
The wealth-producing beginning makes the later betrayal more consequential. The merchant has forgotten to buy goods with Mohammed's five dirhems and purchases the abused monkey with that exact deposit. After it releases the bound voyagers, he asks each survivor to contribute twelve hundred deenars to its owner in gratitude, adding the pearls it retrieves. Mohammed initially thinks the single animal a poor return on his money until the locked chests arrive. The ape subsequently brings five hundred gold pieces in a bag each evening. These genuine benefits prepare the owner to trust the later instructions that promise another treasure.
The apparent benefactor directs the groom to perform actions around a chest, knife, cock, basin and water, claiming a secret treasure will result. Instead the bride disappears. Her father explains that these were the charms binding the marid, who had previously tried to steal her, and that the groom has released him. White-snake helpers confirm the deception. Mohammed eventually reaches Nuhas, where the captive wife identifies her abductor's control over the city's spirits. After that authority is turned against him, the marid is brought back with his hands bound, confined in a copper bottle and thrown into the sea. Its useful animal conduct therefore belongs to the same antagonist's prolonged scheme.
Origins & earliest records
Steere's preface identifies Mohammed the Languid as a story also present in Arabian Nights. His Swahili version was begun by Mohammed bin Abdallah bin Ali, continued by another Mohammed at p. 160 and, after that contributor died, completed by the first at p. 180. This is a Swahili literary and storytelling witness with acknowledged wider transmission, not a claim of uniquely local invention.
Records & interpretation
The complete supernatural encounter sequence and conclusion, English facing pp. 165-189, read in the bilingual 1870 primary volume. Selected English pp. 165-177 establish the animal disguise, wealth and release; pp. 179 and 187-189 expose the binding and conclude the abduction.
In the literature
“I am not an ape”
Mohammed the Languid; English173, Marid’s self-description · Edward Steere
An ape-shaped Marid supplies wealth, uses the beneficiary to release its restraints and abducts his bride.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Swahili Tales - Mohammed the Languid
Selected English pp. 165-177 establish the animal disguise, wealth and release; pp. 179 and 187-189 expose the binding and conclude the abduction. Contributor sequence in preface pp. ix-x; Arabian Nights comparison in opening preface.
- 02
Swahili Tales, as Told by Natives of Zanzibar — Mohammed the Languid
London: Bell & Daldy,1870, actual title-page OCR. Complete selected Mohammed the Languid, title149, English151–189 with facing Swahili placement, independently read; relevant prefacev–x read. Prefaceix explicitly identifies changing contributors at160 and180 and calls this an Arabic-story rendering; no independently inspected Arabic original or whole-volume claim.
Family & connections
A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.
Located primary passages
Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.
Swahili Tales, as Told by Natives of Zanzibar — Mohammed the Languid
London: Bell & Daldy,1870, actual title-page OCR. Complete selected Mohammed the Languid, title149, English151–189 with facing Swahili placement, independently read; relevant prefacev–x read. Prefaceix explicitly identifies changing contributors at160 and180 and calls this an Arabic-story rendering; no independently inspected Arabic original or whole-volume claim.
- An ape-shaped Marid supplies wealth, uses the beneficiary to release its restraints and abducts his bride.
The apparent benefactor’s explanation of divine purpose is its own speech; the father and white snakes reveal the binding and deception. The captive bride’s assistance is central to rescue. No death or melting is attributed to this abductor; that happens to a separate carrier.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Digitized primary collected narrative and literary transmission witnessSteere 1870 - Mohammed the LanguidResearch access: 2026-10-05
- Primary text transcriptionMohammed the Languid transcriptionResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
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