A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
A young woman from Bou Semghoun goes to Ouarga, where spirits carry her away. Her brother sets out to find her. She emerges from the mountain to greet him and explains that she has married a jinn. She asks him to wait, then brings a sack of ashes as a gift for their mother. She tells him to continue without stopping until he reaches their mother’s house. The human bride gives both the gift and its condition; the husband is identified as a jinn but is not shown speaking in the scene.
At Ouarga the brother stops to examine the sack. Finding only ashes, he empties most of it and keeps a little at the bottom. When he reaches his mother, she tells him to shake out what remains, and they find coins. He races back to the place where he discarded the ashes but finds nothing. Returning to his sister, he receives no replacement: she refuses because he shook out the earlier gift before reaching home. The episode ends with the lost greater portion and the refusal, while the woman remains associated with the mountain household.
Origins & earliest records
René Basset, Contes populaires berbères (1887), no. 43, Le présent de la fée, complete pp. 90–91. Note 92 on p. 190 identifies Ould Tedjini as the contributor at Frenda in 1883. The story’s Bou Semghoun and Ouarga setting is separate from the recording place.
Records & interpretation
Complete French account inspected in original DjVu pages 128–129, printed pp. 90–91. The title calls the giver a fairy, while the body describes a girl carried away and married to a jinn; these wordings are distinguished rather than silently making her a born fairy. Original note 92 on DjVu page 228 verifies Ould Tedjini, Frenda, 1883. Its earlier Notes de lexicographie berbère, third series, pp. 73, 76–77, is retained as a cited bibliographic lead rather than a second independently read witness.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Contes populaires berbères
No. 43, complete pp. 90–91; contributor note 92, p. 190; preface xiv.
Family, evolution & connections
Ash-gift woman’s human family — Basset 43
Complete French telling, printed pp. 90–91, DjVu pages 128–129.
Scroll sideways to see all branches. With a keyboard, focus the tree and use the arrow keys.
- Unnamed mother of the human siblings
- Her brother, bearer of the ash gift
Explicit brother, sister and shared-mother statements; marriage noted on the daughter without creating an offspring branch. All relatives are unnamed; father and sibling birth order are unstated. The woman’s reported jinn marriage does not establish fairy birth or any children. The title and body’s descriptions remain distinct.
Unnamed jinn husband in Basset 43
The abducted young woman expressly says she is married to a jinn. The title’s fairy wording does not establish that she was born a fairy; no child of this marriage is supplied.
Unnamed brother of the ash-gift woman
The narrator identifies the searcher as her brother. Their mother is also expressly identified; no father or birth order is supplied.
Unnamed mother of the ash-gift siblings
The daughter calls the recipient her mother, directs her brother to his mother’s home, and he identifies the giver as the recipient’s daughter. The jinn husband belongs to a distinct marital relationship.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Primary collected narrative; original facsimile inspectedOriginal edition, complete narrative 43Research access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.