. 12, p. iv.
Paris, 1891.

[7] Iumsche Maerchen und Gedichte. Leipzig, 1898. 2 vols. Maerchen und
Gedichte. Aus der Stadt Tripolis in Nord Afrika. Leipzig.

[8] Zum Arabischen Dialekt. Von Markko. Leipzig, 1893. Vers. 8.

We must not forget that these last-named have borrowed much from the first
ones, and it is by them that they have known the celebrated Khalif of
Bagdad, one of the principal heroes of the "Thousand and One Nights,"
Haroun al Raschid, whose presence surprises us not a little when figuring
in adventures incompatible with the dignity of a successor of the Prophet.

As in the Berber tales, one finds parallels to the Arab stories among the
folk-lore of Europe, whether they were borrowed directly or whether they
came from India. One will notice, however, in the Arab tales a superior
editing. The style is more ornate, the incidents better arranged. One feels
that, although it deals with a language disdaining the usage of letters, it
is expressed almost as well as though in a cultivated literary language.
The gathering of the populations must also be taken into consideration; the
citizens of Tunis, of Algiers, and even in the cities of Morocco, have a
more exact idea of civilized life than the Berber of the mountains or the
desert. As to the comic stories, it is still the Si Djeha who is the hero,
and his adventures differ little with those preserved in Berber, and which
are common to several literatures, even when the principal person bears
another name.

The popular poetry consists of two great divisions, quite different as to
subject. The first and best esteemed bears the name of Klam el Djedd, and
treats of that which concerns the Prophet, the saints, and miracles. A
specimen of this class is the complaint relative to the rupture of the Dam
of St. Denis of Sig, of which the following is the commencement:

"A great disaster was fated:[9]
The cavalier gave the alarm, at the moment of the break;
The menace was realized by the Supreme Will,
My God! Thou alone art good.
The dam, perfidious thing,
Precipitated his muddy Legions,
With loud growlings.
No bank so strong as to hold him in check.

"He spurred to the right,
The bridges which could not sustain his shock fell
Under his added weight;
His fury filled the country with fear, and he
Crushed the barrier that would retain him."

[9] Delphin et Genis. Notes sur la Poesie et la musique Arabes dans le
Maghreb Algerien, pp. 1