What the Sultan means when he bestows a Wife.
The Kaïd of Shedmah, Boh Djemma, had distinguished himself against some rebels who had risen against the Sultan, and the praise bestowed upon him openly by his enemies in the hearing of the Sultan, excited the suspicious sovereign’s anger and jealousy to such an extent that he was determined to get rid of such a dangerous enemy; in order to which he called for the Kaïd and praised his exploits in the presence of all his great men, ordered him a suit of his own royal clothing and a favourite horse, and promised him a wife out of his own seraglio. The Kaïd rejoiced, and his enemies too: the Kaïd, because he regarded himself as a favourite; and his enemies, who were older and knew better, because that he was doomed. In a few days the Kaïd was sent home and his new wife along with him in great state, and in ten days more the Kaïd was carried to the grave, he having died suddenly (poisoned by the Sultan’s female executioner) in the night.
A similar occurrence took place with the Kaïd of Haha; but he had a watchful and wise mother, who watched the new wife until she saw her prepare a dish for her son, when she presented herself before him, charged the new wife with her intended crime, and dared her to eat of her own dish. The Kaïd’s eyes were opened, and he compelled the Sultan’s lady, his new wife, to eat of the dish which she had prepared for him, when she immediately died from the effects of her own poison. This Kaïd ever after kept away from the Sultan until, a few years ago, his evil genius prevailed on him to obey the Sultan’s call, when he died within an hour after taking supper with the Sultan.
Abd el Saddock, Kaïd of Mogador, Duquallah, Abda, and Sous, and his False Friend.
Some years since, the Kaïd of Mogador[2] (father of the Kaïd Hadj Amara who entertained you when there) ruled over the provinces of Duquallah, Sous, and Abda, and made a great deal of money during his administration, and secured the love of all good Moors by his making the Jews acknowledge their inferiority to the Moors. But suspecting that his time to be squeezed by the Sultan had nearly arrived, he determined to prepare for it, and so outwit a false friend, who was an enemy of his, and the Sultan at the same time; in order to which, he called upon his false friend, and invited him to dine with him that evening in private as he had something to tell him. After dinner the Kaïd told his guest that he was getting afraid of the Sultan seizing him in order to get his money. ‘Now,’ said he, ‘I have a favour to ask of you, which is that you will carefully preserve the treasure which I will show you, and when I am seized upon take the keys of my house, but do not live in it, and when my son Hamara knows how to use my money, then tell him of the box and give him the keys; and further, I want you to swear that you will never tell where I have hid my treasure, and that you will not tell any one of what has passed this night.’ The false friend took the oath with mental reservations, as would appear from the sequel. The Kaïd then ordered four slaves to attend upon him, and all descended to the cellar, where the money was concealed in a large strong wooden box, buried in the ground. The box was then opened and was seen to be full of silver and gold, &c. The Kaïd then had the box covered up, and the false friend took his departure. After he went away, the Kaïd returned with his slaves and had the money, but not the box, removed to a really secure place, and had the box filled with bits of stones and broken pottery and recovered over in the same manner as it was before, when seen by the Kaïd’s false confidant; he then had his slaves carried off to prison and put to death on some pretext or other. The next day when the Kaïd’s confidant heard of the slaves being dead, he knew it was to prevent their telling, and concluded that it was the secret which he possessed which the Kaïd wanted to guard, and that he alone knew of the secret of the Kaïd’s wealth and its hiding place. In some short time afterwards, an order came from the Sultan ordering Abd el Saddock up to Marocco; upon which the Kaïd told his confidant of his trouble and begged him to be true to his oath, blessed him, kissed him, and then went to wait upon the Sultan. The Sultan upon seeing him ordered his arrest and torture, accusing him of robbing him and his people, &c.; upon which the Kaïd was carried off to the torture, when he kept denying having any money, and being guilty of the charges brought against him. At last the Sultan, losing all patience, sent him word that he had received information, so the Kaïd had better speak the truth at once, for such a one (the false friend) had declared that he had a large box full of treasure, but was sworn not to tell of its whereabouts. The Kaïd, therefore, must either tell or suffer death by torture. At this the Kaïd pretended to be much alarmed, and declared that nothing could be concealed from Seedna, so he would confess the whole truth, and that what such a one said was true and that it was concealed in such a place, and put there in presence of such a one (the informer, the Kaïd’s confidant), and that if the Sultan sent for it he would have it all. The Kaïd was then put in prison, and notaries and soldiers sent for the money under the guidance of the informer who was in great glee, thinking that now his fortune was made and his favour with the Sultan secure; but upon arriving at the cellar and the box being opened, nothing but stones and broken pottery was found where there had been gold and silver. Imagine the wretch’s horror as the notaries said he himself must inform the Sultan, as they dare not do so; however, as there was no use in lamenting, they returned to Marocco, and the informer had to tell Seedna that there was nothing in the box but rubbish; upon which the Sultan ordered the Kaïd to be brought before him and demanded the meaning of such a thing. The Kaïd answered, ‘True, our lord, it is that I did not oppress your people, and the money hidden in that box was made by lawful means, and I reposed confidence in my friend here, and left the money for my son; and so I told your majesty truly that I had nothing, because it then became by my gift my son’s money, and this, my false friend, has broken his trust, robbed my son and Seedna, and then to cover his knavery, sought my life by trying to turn our lord against me. I therefore beg that our lord will make him confess what he has done with Seedna’s money.’ The Sultan thought the informer simply wanted to make him a fool to cover his knavery, and at once, in a passion, ordered him to be flogged until he confessed. But as he could not confess that he had taken the money and had none of his own to replace it, the lash was continued until the wretch died under it. The Kaïd was set free and restored to Mogador, and the informer’s son is now assistant weigher at the Custom House, Mogador.
SIX MOORISH FABLES.
1. Fable of a Hedgehog and a Fox.
Once upon a time a fox accidentally meeting a hedgehog addressed him as follows, ‘I am much oppressed with thirst;’ to which the hedgehog replied, ‘So am I, and I know a well where we can drink.’ The fox then said, ‘Come along.’ They travelled on till they reached the well where they found two buckets worked by a pulley, one ascending whilst the other descended. ‘Now,’ said the hedgehog, ‘I will go in first, and when I tell you, jump into the other bucket.’ The hedgehog went down and had his drink, and then shouted to the fox, ‘Now you jump in.’ He did as he was told, and as he went down met the hedgehog coming up in the ascending bucket; upon seeing which he said, ‘What does this mean?’ The hedgehog answered thus, ‘It is the world goes round:’ and when he was safely at the top, and the fox had reached the bottom, he called down to him and said, ‘Those who want to kill me I catch them in a trap, and to those who do me a good turn I do the same to them.’
2. The Camel, the Hedgehog, and the Lion.
Once upon a time there was a camel who met with a hedgehog, and the camel tried to trample on him. The hedgehog said to the camel, ‘Wait till I call my brother, he is able to kill both you and me.’ ‘No,’ said the camel, ‘if he comes he will perhaps kill me.’ ‘No, no,’ said the hedgehog, ‘if you wish to see him, lie down on your belly or on your back, open your mouth and let the flies come in, and appear as if you were dead.’ The camel said, ‘All right.’ ‘Well, well,’ said the hedgehog, ‘I will go call my brother.’ The hedgehog went away to look for a lion, and meeting with one, said, ‘Your servant, my lord; there is a wild beast which wishes to eat me.’ The lion replied, ‘Will he eat me?’ The hedgehog said if he were there he certainly would; but he has gone away to get food, ‘but my lord, if you would like to see what he has procured for his breakfast, come along with me.’ The lion said, ‘You go first.’ ‘Very well I will do so,’ said the hedgehog, ‘and when you follow and get near, roar with all your might.’ The lion said, ‘All right.’ The hedgehog said, ‘I shall go first.’ So away went the hedgehog, and said to the camel, ‘Now, he is coming you lie still; don’t stir or he will eat you.’ The camel said, ‘All right;’ and whenever they heard the roarings of the lion, the camel said to the hedgehog, ‘Listen to the noise he makes while talking.’ The lion then drew nearer and roared again; when the camel exclaimed, ‘In the name of the most merciful God, is he going to eat me?’ The hedgehog said, ‘Don’t stir, don’t fear.’ The camel said, ‘All right.’ They waited till the lion came, when the hedgehog addressed him, and said, ‘This is a morsel of the breakfast the monster is going to eat.’ The lion and the hedgehog now bade each other adieu; and when the lion had departed the hedgehog said to the camel, ‘Now you may get up, but tell me which of the two is master.’ The camel replied, ‘It is you, it is you; good morning.’ The hedgehog said to the camel, ‘Are you going away?’ The camel replied, ‘Yes, my lord, I am;’ and from that day to this they have never spoken.