A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
Two brothers are talebs in Ouarzemmimen in the Sous. One travels while reciting magical formulas and reaches Tazia among the Aït Arous, near Mouley ’Abd es Salam. People there tell him of a treasure and accompany him to seek it. When he recites at the place, a fairy comes out: both sky and earth tremble. The frightened taleb holds his breath, but she kills him. News reaches his brother, who vows to find and capture the being responsible.
The surviving brother questions people from tribe to tribe until he finds the place. His own recitation brings the fairy out, and he seizes her and forces her into an inkwell. He takes her back to Ouarzemmimen and holds her in his house. Giving her an iron axe, he sends her to cut wild jujube brushwood and argan. The final sentence says that this continues until her death. The story’s sequence turns a terrifying emerging presence into a captive worker; it neither describes a voluntary marriage nor supplies a release from the brother’s control.
Origins & earliest records
René Basset, Contes populaires berbères (1887), no. 32, complete printed pp. 67–68. The heading identifies Chelha of the Sous; preface xiv assigns no. 32 to the Massat contributor residing at Tétouan. Original note 65, printed pp. 174–175, identifies El H’adj Moh’ammed of Massat, dictating at Tétouan in 1883; Basset says he had published the text in his Manuel de langue kabyle, Textes pp. 35–36.
Records & interpretation
Complete French episode read against original DjVu pages 105–106, printed pp. 67–68, including the final woodcutting and death sentence. Preface xiv inspected separately. Original note 65 inspected across both printed pp. 174–175.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Contes populaires berbères
No. 32, complete pp. 67–68; preface xiv. Original note 65, printed pp. 174–175, identifies El H’adj Moh’ammed of Massat, dictating at Tétouan in 1883; Basset says he had published the text in his Manuel de langue kabyle, Textes pp. 35–36.
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 32Research access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.