two rival singers find themselves together, and each begins to
eulogize himself, which eulogy ends in a satire on the other. But the joust
begun by apostrophes and Homeric insults finishes often with a fight, and
the natural arm is the Basque drum until others separate, the
adversaries.[7] We have an example in a dialogue of this kind between
Youssuf ou Kassi, of the Aith Djemnad, and Mohand ou Abdaha, of the Aith
Kraten. The challenge and the jousts--less the blows--exist among the
chellahs of lower Morocco, where they are called _Tamawoucht_; but
between man and woman there is that which indicates the greatest liberty of
manners. The verses are improvised, and the authors are paid in small
money. Here is a specimen:

_The woman_: "When it thunders and the sky is overcast,
Drive home the sheep, O watchful shepherd."

_The man_: "When it thunders, and the sky is overcast,
We will bring home the sheep."

_The woman_: "I wish I had a bunch of switches to strike you with!
May your father be accursed, Sheepkeeper!"

_The man_: "Oh, God, I thank thee for having created
Old maids to grind meal for the toilers."[8]

[7] Hanoteau, p. 275 et seq.

[8] Stemme, p. 7, 8.

Another manifestation, and not less important of the popular Berber
literature, consists in the stories. Although no attempt has been made in
our days to gather them, many indications permit us to believe that they
have been at all times well treasured by these people. In the story of
Psyche that Apuleius inserted at the end of the second century A.D., in the
romance of Metamorphoses,[9] we read that Venus imposed on Psyche, among
other trials, that of sorting out and placing in separate jars the grains
of wheat, oats, millet and poppy pease, lentils and lima beans which she
had mixed together. This task, beyond the power of Psyche, was accomplished
by the ants which came to her aid, and thus she conquered the task set by
her cruel mother-in-law.

[9] Hanoteau, Essai de Grammaire Khabyle, p. 282 et seq. Alger.

This same trial we find in a Berber story. It is an episode in a Khabyle
story of the Mohammed ben Sol'tan, who, to obtain the hand of the daughter
of a king, separated wheat, corn, oats, and sorghum, which had been mingled
together. This trait is not found in Arab stories which have served as
models for the greater part of Khabyle tales. It is scarcely