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Overview
Four brothers leave home to steal. A dragon comes upon them asleep and kills two. The surviving pair wake to find their brothers dead, seize the serpent when it arrives, put it into a game bag and carry it to their mother. They then bring it before the king, who is to decide whether to kill or release it. Their mother insists that the law requires its death for killing her sons. The opening calls the being a dragon, while the remaining account calls it a serpent; no wings or fire are described.
The king first asks whether the sons wronged the creature. The serpent raises its head and, by the power of God as the narrator expresses it, speaks in answer. It says that they previously killed its wife and that it killed them in return. The mother renews her threats, but the king releases the serpent. The account records the creature’s defense as testimony within the hearing, without independently narrating its wife’s killing.
The woman then obtains poison and gives it to a woman in the king’s kitchen to mix into his supper. After eating, the king falls ill, identifies the bereaved mother as the likely culprit and dies. His widow confronts the guilty woman and demands her death in return; she is taken away to be killed. The final retaliation concerns the human court and the king’s murder, not a second attack by the released serpent.
Origins & earliest records
René Basset, Contes populaires berbères (1887), no. 49, La femme, le roi et le serpent, complete pp. 102–103, headed Figuig. Original note 100, p. 201, identifies an unnamed tailor from Figuig who dictated the text at Tlemcen in 1883. This is distinct from the named Aïn Sfisifa tailor who contributed other tales.
Records & interpretation
Complete French narrative inspected in original DjVu pages 140–141, printed pp. 102–103, including the king’s death and the woman’s final sentence. Dragon/serpent wording and the creature’s attributed testimony remain distinct. Original contributor note 100 inspected on DjVu page 239. Basset cites text and transcription in Bulletin de correspondance africaine (1885), pp. 425–427; that earlier publication has not independently been inspected.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Contes populaires berbères
No. 49, complete pp. 102–103; note 100, p. 201; preface xiii–xiv.
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.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Primary collected narrative; original facsimile inspectedOriginal edition, complete narrative 49Research access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
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