A wealthy man refused to let his daughters marry despite their desires. Secretly meeting their suitors in the garden, the sisters were discovered by their father, who killed and buried them there before departing on a pilgrimage. Later, a musician playing in the garden encountered the sisters’ spirits, who revealed hidden treasure. Grateful, the musician unearthed it, became rich, and the sisters returned to their graves.
Source
Moorish Literature
romantic ballads, tales of the Berbers,
stories of the Kabyles, folk-lore,
and national traditions
The Colonial Press,
London, New York, 1901
► Themes of the story
Forbidden Love: The daughters’ secret meetings with their suitors defy their father’s prohibitions.
Ancestral Spirits: The spirits of the deceased daughters interact with the living musician, guiding him to the hidden treasure.
Hidden or Forbidden Realms: The garden serves as a secret meeting place and later as the site where hidden treasure is revealed.
► From the same Region or People
Learn more about the Berber peoples
Translated by Réne Basset
and Chauncey C. Starkweather
A man who possessed much money had two daughters. The son of the caliph of the King asked for one of them, and the son of the cadi asked for the other, but their father would not let them marry, although they desired it. He had a garden near his house. When it was night, the young girls went there, the young men came to meet them, and they passed the night in conversation. One night their father saw them. The next morning he killed his daughters, buried them in his garden, and went on a pilgrimage. That lasted so until one night the son of the cadi and the son of the caliph went to a young man who knew how to play on the flute and the rebab. “Come with us,” they said to him, “into the garden of the man who will not give us his daughters in marriage. You shall play for us on your instruments.”
► Continue reading…
They agreed to meet there that night. The musician went to the garden, but the two young men did not go. The musician remained and played his music alone. In the middle of the night two lamps appeared, and the two young girls came out of the ground under the lamps. They said to the musician: “We are two sisters, daughters of the owner of the garden. Our father killed us and buried us here. You, you are our brother for this night. We will give you the money which our father has hidden in three pots. Dig here,” they added. He obeyed, found the three pots, took them away, and became rich, while the two girls returned to their graves.
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Dreamtime Whispers 