There are found current among them a vast number of fairy tales, such as equal in wildness and horror the strangest inventions of oriental imagination.  Their tales of ogres and ogresses are unsoftened by any of that playfulness and bonhomie which give such undying charm to the “Thousand and One Nights.”  The element of the miraculous takes many original forms in their popular tales, and they have more than their share of the folk-lore legends and traditions such as Herodotus loved to collect.  It was said of old that something new was always coming out of Africa, and certainly the contribution which the Berbers and Kabyles have made to the fund of wonder-stories in the world may be looked upon as new, in more than one sense.  It is new, not only because it is novel and unexpected, but because it is fresh, original and highly interesting.

The fables of these tribes are very abundant and very curious.  The great hero of the animal fable in Europe has always been the fox, whose cunning, greed, and duplicity are immortalized in the finest fable the world’s literature possesses.  The fables of northwest Africa employ the jackal instead of Reynard, whose place the sycophant of the lion not inaptly fills.

There are a number of men among the Kabyles and other Berber tribes who make a profession of reciting poems, tales, and proverbs, and travel from one village or encampment to another in search of an audience.  They know the national traditions, the heroic legends, and warlike adventures that pertain to each community, and are honored and welcomed wherever they go.  It was from these men that the various narratives contained in this collection were obtained, and the translation of them has engaged the talents and labors of some of the world’s foremost oriental scholars.

[Illustration (Facsimile Signature):  Epiphanius Wilson]

CONTENTS

MOORISH BALLADS

Fatima’s Love
The Braggart Rebuked
The Admiral’s Farewell
Moriana and Galvan
The Bereaved Father
The Warden of Molina
The Loves of Boabdil and Vindaraja
The Infanta Sevilla and Peranguelos
Celin’s Farewell
Celin’s Return
Baza Revisited
Captive Zara
The Jealous King
The Lovers of Antequera
Tarfe’s Truce
The Two Moorish Knights
The King’s Decision
Almanzar and Bobalias
The Moorish Infanta and Alfonzo Ramos
The Bull-fight of Zulema
The Renegade
The Tower of Gold
The Dirge for Aliatar
The Ship of Zara
Hamete Ali
Zaide’s Love
Zaida’s Jealousy
Zaida of Toledo
Zaide Rebuked
Zaida’s Inconstancy
Zaide’s Desolation
Zaida’s Lament
Zaida’s Curse
The Tournament of Zaide
Zaide’s Complaint
Guhala’s Love
Azarco of Granada
Azarco Rebuked
Adelifa’s Farewell
Azarco’s Farewell
Celinda’s Courtesy
Gazul’s Despondency
Gazul in Love
Celinda’s Inconstancy