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Overview
A wealthy man sees a butcher strike a greyhound that has been eating bones. Moved by compassion, he buys meat and throws it to the dog. The animal is the son of a king beneath the earth, and the later account explicitly identifies its shape as a transformation. When the man loses his wealth and works washing for others, he finds a jerboa wearing an ear-ring, kills and eats it, and hides the ornament. A woman emerges from the earth and identifies the jerboa as her son. She takes the man underground, threatening to separate him from his children and make him work in her son’s place.
The transformed greyhound’s prince recognizes his former benefactor in this captivity. He identifies himself, hears the man’s account and instructs him to appeal to the king. The prince also promises to speak on his behalf and explains how to choose a reward: refuse treasury money and request the king’s blessing through his saliva. The king challenges the woman’s punishment, reasoning that people take and eat jerboas, orders the ear-ring returned and commands her to take the man back. At the prince’s request he offers a reward. The man follows the advice, receives understanding of beasts and birds, and accepts a warning that revealing the secret will kill him.
Back above ground, the man understands a bird directing him to buried treasure and becomes a substantial merchant. He also overhears his donkey and a mule discussing how to spill his concealed wealth, defeats that plan, and hears household poultry whose exchange makes him laugh. His wife insists on knowing why despite the fatal disclosure warning. A neighbor’s dog advises beating her until she withdraws her demand; the man follows this violent counsel, and the printed ending has the dogs celebrate and the wife cease asking. These later animals are not identified as the underground prince. The benefactor’s demonstrated role is transformation, recognition and successful intercession; the royal father actually bestows the animal-language gift.
Origins & earliest records
René Basset, Nouveaux contes berbères (1897), no. 108, Le langage des bêtes, complete pp. 119–124. Original note 197, p. 327, names Mohammed b. Ahmed b. Abou Bekr ben Sa’demou as communicating the text at Ouargla in 1885. The named chain is retained as printed rather than silently shortened to the differently printed name in note 187 for tale 103.
Records & interpretation
Complete French narrative inspected in original DjVu pages 158–163, printed pp. 119–124; original note 197 checked on page 366, printed p. 327. The jerboa killing, underground judgment, royal gift and violent human ending are retained without substituting a more agreeable conclusion. Earlier Étude sur la Zénatia du Mzab, pp. 156–163, remains a cited lead.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
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Nouveaux contes berbères
No. 108, complete pp. 119–124; note 197, p. 327. Comparative note 198 discusses other animal-language stories and is not treated as this text’s narrator.
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 communicated narrative in collected translation; original facsimiles inspectedOriginal edition, complete underground prince and animal-language taleResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
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