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

Overview

The sultan obtains a beautiful young woman through a trader’s abduction and marries her. She is the girl who survived Aggelamusch with her brother Muhammed. After years of searching, the brother reaches her through ring recognition and concealed transport in a servant’s basket. She hides him beneath wool, but her children notice him and reveal his presence. Before presenting him, she secures the king’s promise of protection. The king welcomes him and employs him as a camel herder. The boy’s flute music captivates the animals so completely that they neglect feeding and become thin.

When asked to cut the king’s hair, Muhammed discovers horns upon his head. The king warns that disclosure will cost the boy his life. Alone, the boy nevertheless plays the secret on his flute. It falls into a cistern, continues singing and grows into a reed. The sultan and his vizier find the camels dancing around this music and hear the revelation. The ruler is distressed but acknowledges that his promise to the sister prevents him executing her brother. Cutting the reed first fails because it regrows; pitch applied after a second cutting stops it.

Later the king again needs his hair cut, though he fears renewed singing about the horns. His wife recommends her brother, then privately tells Muhammed to kill the king during the task. The boy does so and also beheads the vizier, the trader responsible for her earlier abduction. He becomes sultan. The horns are a discovered bodily feature of this particular ruler, not an additional transformation into Aggelamusch or an identified species. The court’s threatened punishment, prior promise and eventual assassination all remain part of the same long narrative.

Concealed hornsThreatened execution for disclosureBinding protection promiseSinging-reed revelationDeath during haircut
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Origins & earliest records

Hans Stumme, Märchen der Schluḥ von Tázerwalt (Leipzig, 1895), tale 16, Aggelamusch: complete German pp. 131–146. Abdulla Ben Mhammed, dictating contributor; Leipzig recording context Preface v–vi.

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Records & interpretation

Whole long German tale 16 read through Muhammed killing the horned ruler and vizier and becoming sultan. Hair thickness is not converted into body height; crow rescue, monster death, failed command imitation, abduction/reunion and flute-to-reed ending remain separate acts.

Selected bibliography

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

  1. 01

    Märchen der Schluḥ von Tázerwalt

    Abdulla Ben Mhammed, dictating contributor; Hans Stumme, recorder and German translator · 1895

    Tale 16, whole German pp. 131–146: animal assembly and crow pp. 133–135; Aggelamusch pp. 135–138; abduction and reunion pp. 138–144; horns and reed pp. 144–146; Preface pp. v–vi.

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 Tashelhit transcription with German translationOriginal bilingual collection: AggelamuschResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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

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