A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

The hedgehog and jackal become friends and compare their stock of tricks. The jackal claims a hundred tricks and half of another; the hedgehog claims only half of one. They walk until they reach a settlement at midnight, find a grain silo, descend together and eat wheat until satisfied. Their exchange gives the hedgehog a deliberately modest position beside the boasting jackal, but the confined store makes the ability to leave more useful than the number of tricks claimed.

The hedgehog asks its companion to lower itself so that it can climb up and look outside. It mounts the jackal’s back, jumps and lands outside the silo’s opening, leaving the jackal within. It then tells the trapped animal to escape as best it can, pointing out that its own half-trick has succeeded where the jackal’s larger supposed store has not. The tale ends with that challenge; it does not narrate a later rescue, the jackal’s death or a further punishment. No transformation occurs: the hedgehog’s unusual capacity is articulate planning and negotiation in a speaking-animal narrative.

A separate Zouaoua tale makes the hedgehog and jackal farming partners. Offered a choice between what grows above and below ground, the jackal chooses the onion tops; when they plant wheat next, it switches to what lies below. The hedgehog refuses its demand to redo the division. They agree that the first to reach the threshing floor will take its contents, but the hedgehog hides its brother in a heap of wheat. The jackal arrives to find that brother already measuring grain. When it demands another race, the original hedgehog replaces his brother at the destination and is again found measuring wheat. The frustrated jackal leaves; no magical speed is required.

Another Zouaoua account makes a hedgehog the adviser of a man threatened by the viper he raised. Once the snake descends for couscous, the hedgehog tells the man to kill it. It immediately escapes into a bush afterward. The man reveals that he would otherwise have taken the helper home as food for his children, and the hedgehog condemns the ingratitude. This ending belongs to its own human–viper encounter, rather than the grain raid or the two farming races.

SpeechHalf-trick claimMidnight grain raidCompanion used as climbing supportEscape from siloBoast exposedHarvest divisionBrother doubles racing opponentAdvice against viperEscape from intended human exploitation
01

Origins & earliest records

René Basset, Contes populaires berbères (1887), no. 1, Le chacal et le hérisson, complete printed pp. 3–4, headed Béni Menacer. Preface xiv places no. 1 in the Cherchel series supplied by the son of the qaid of Smian in 1884–1885. Separate Zouaoua tales 6–7, complete pp. 14–17, are now included without assuming one shared individual or contributor. Original source note 1, p. 131, names Si Moh’ammed ’Abdi, son of the Smian caid, as the contributor at Cherchel in 1884. Source note 9, pp. 136–137, identifies manuscript no. 17 for tale 6; note 11, p. 140, identifies manuscript no. 1 for tale 7.

02

Records & interpretation

Complete French tale inspected against original DjVu pages 41–42, printed pp. 3–4. The closing challenge is the actual endpoint; no additional escape or death for the jackal is supplied. Complete tales 6–7 read in original DjVu pages 52–55, printed pp. 14–17. Source note 9, pp. 136–137, identifies manuscript no. 17 for the crop-and-race tale; note 11, p. 140, identifies manuscript no. 1 for the viper-rescue tale. These are separate manuscript sources. Note 1 inspected in original DjVu page 169; its earlier Notes de lexicographie berbère reference is a bibliographic lead.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Contes populaires berbères

    René Basset, French translator and editor; contributor context stated separately · 1887

    No. 1, Le chacal et le hérisson, complete pp. 3–4; preface xiv; source note 1, p. 131. Separate complete nos. 6–7, pp. 14–17; source note 9, pp. 136–137, and source note 11, p. 140.

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.

  1. Primary collected narrative; original facsimile inspectedOriginal edition, complete narrative 1Research access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

FT·3476 · RESEARCH EDITION 01Back to top ↑