A Berber Cinderella -Maghigha
One of my favourite Riffian fairytales is this one... it reminds me so much of my childhood, and it had been my most cherished story as I was doing fieldwork a few years ago. I enjoyed doing the translation too, and I thought it was a very special fairy tale indeed. By comparing it to other universal well-known stories I realised that it was another version of the Cinderella story, sharing the same principal motifs such as the passing away of the mother, the step-mother, the step-sister, the royal event where the prince sees the maiden and decides to marry her... an enthralling sequence of events, very similar to the famous version yet with a different taste.
The other shared trait is the name of the heroine. She's called "Maghigha", and the etymology of the name echoes the name of Cinderella. The word maghigha can be treated as an adjectibe that is derived from the noun: "igh'edh", which in local Berber dialect means: cinder, or ash. This name describes the heroine as being covered with ash due to her dwelling in the room wherein the cooking is made, which is in its turn called by the Berber speaking community: "thighaghaath".
I invite everyone to read the story, for it has enchanted many the readers so far. There are other versions of the same story in Moroccan context, and that stands as an evidence of the richness of Moroccan culture and its diversity. I suggest you read the article about a Jewish Moroccan version of Cinderella story, which is an amazing approach to a different cultural background in Morocco.
I should not miss the opportunity to give my special thanks to Mr. Ronald Stephen Maclurgh for the insightful and outstanding remarks and suggestions about the translation...
"Once upon a time, there lived a young maiden with her parents in a little house. She enjoyed beauty beyond compare, and her delightful charms caught the glances of weak-hearted men with utmost ease. But one day, the unexpected happened. After a long period of being gravely ill, Maghigha’s mother died, leaving a poignant scar in the family and in the young woman’s heart.
The death of her mother left a gaping hole in the hearts of her family, and particularly for Maghigha’s father. But obeying those first impulses of his grief led to marriage with an evil woman. Moreover, the new wife had a daughter who had inherited all her mother’s wicked character of self-centeredness, envy, and ill will. And now the focus of their combined malice was the sweet Maghigha, still the object of her father’s love and affection.
One day, Maghigha’s father was called to travel to a distant land, causing him to be away from his family for an extended time. The period of his absence was such that the stepmother was able to completely humiliate the beloved daughter, and she spared no effort in so doing. Depriving her of anything but the simplest of clothing, Maghigh was sent to live outside the house, relegated to sleep by the door of the kitchen beside the hearth. During the day, she was forced to work in the most difficult of tasks both inside and outside the home, in filthy rags, smeared with ashes from the fire.
The young maiden’s blooming loveliness was now covered with layers of soot and filth. Her long nights were filled with tears of grief at the loss of her mother, the protracted absence of her father, and the unhappy circumstances of her life. So cruelly was she treated, that Maghigh soon found herself in a constant state of depression and despair.
One morning, a man passed by the houses of the hamlet, inviting the entire realm to attend the monarch’s festival, and inviting all the young unmarried maidens to be there in their most beautiful and elegant clothes. The invitation did not go unnoticed by Maghigha, who soon began to hope against hope that even she might be able to attend the king’s party. The poor girl begged her stepmother to allow her to go with her and her stepsister to the event. She was answered in a conniving and misleading response:
“You may attend when you separate the grains in this bag and sort them out.”
The bag the step-mother gave to Maghigha was filled up with all kinds of grain and seed mixed together, and the poor maiden had to sort them and group each type in a different bag. She toiled the entire day, and it seemed that the task would never end. Finally, the truth dawned on Maghigha that her stepmother had purposely devised a scheme that would prevent her from attending the king’s party, and she burst into tears.
“Don’t you see how smeared you are with dust and soot?” laughed the stepsister in distain. “You are just a servant! What makes you think you deserve to go to the king’s celebration?” Together with her mother, the stepsister then left for the party in their finest of embroidered and beaded garments, boasting over Maghigha as she departed.
Maghigha lingered in the kitchen with the grain-filled plate before her on the table. Separating lentils, peas, rye, and other seeds, each one in their individual bags, she cried incessantly. “I will never finish this terrible and endless job, not even in a hundred years!” she cried out desperately to herself.
Suddenly, as if by magic, an eagle appeared at the kitchen window, and spoke to her:
“Oh you poor creature! What distresses thee so much that thou hast been crying since the morn and now it is close to nightfall?”
Maghigha looked at the eagle and said in a faint voice:
“Oh Eagle! my step mother gave me this bag overflowing with mixed grains and I must separate them all before I can go to the king’s party. Yet, as you can see, it is impossible for me to finish this enormous task before the party is over!”
Upon hearing these words, the eagle took flight and departed. In a short while, the eagle returned, bringing with him a flock of birds, all with the intention of helping the maiden in cinders with her arduous task. They frenetically began picking up grains and aided the young girl to quickly finish the job. The birds managed in no time to separate the mixed grains after the eagle spoke to the maiden:
“Now, thou canst go to the king’s party!”
“Alas, I cannot…” said the young girl mournfully, “I have no clothes fit for the king’s presence. My step mother took away all the garments that I once owned, and left me none to wear but this filthy rag.”
The mysterious eagle flew away once again, and returned in a short while. He carried with him in his beak a wonderfully adorned garment and marvellously embroidered slippers. He then spoke to her:
“Now thou canst go to the king’s party, young maid!”
The maiden eagerly accepted the eagle’s gift, putting on the new cloths, and slipping into the elegant shoes which fit perfectly.
Maghigha was the most beautiful woman at the King’s ball. She was so transformed so completely that even her step mother and step sister did not recognize her. So gorgeous she looked in her enchanting clothes, that she aroused envy and bewilderment in the hearts of the attendants. And wonder of all, who should instantly fall in love with her but the prince himself! Her dazzling beauty spellbound the heart of the king’s son and he immediately fell prey to her bashful looks.
The prince, haunted by the mysterious maiden who had suddenly appeared among his father’s guests was determined to speak with her before she could leave. To do so, he connived a way to hinder her return by lathering her road home with soap.
Maghigha was anxious to go back to her home earlier than her step mother and step sister, otherwise she would be punished. Purposing to leave earlier than all the other guests, the maiden left hastily. But the prince had lathered the trail with soap and it had been made very slippery, causing her to slip and to fall. The prince had done this in order to find and identify the fair maiden whom he had seen at the ball. But Maghigha quickly lifted herself from the trail and scurried home, leaving behind her one of her slippers. The prince in pursuit soon found the slipper, picked it up, and guarded it carefully as his only link to the beautiful girl.
The following day, the prince implored his father to summon once more all the women who had attended the palace party the prior night, for among those guests, he had seen the most charming lady he had ever laid eyes upon. The order was given for all the women to return. And all obeyed, save the lonely Maghigha, who was ordered to stay at home by her stepmother. The prince commanded that each maiden try on the slipper. Taking it in his hands, he said to women before him:
“Last night, I fell in love with the fair lady to whom belongs this slipper. As she left the ball, this fell from her foot, and I wish to return it back to her before I ask for her hand in marriage.”
The young girls were thrilled and happy to hear the prince these words, and each one pretended to have lost a slipper the prior night. Therefore every maiden tried to force the delicate slipper upon their foot, but the magical slipper fit not one of them. The prince, intrigued, eyed suspiciously all those who had come, announcing:
“The owner of this slipper is not present for it fits not even one of you! The maiden I met last night is not here today. I demand to know this: Is there any person here that is aware of another maiden who has not come to the palace? If so, tell me now!”
“I have a maid at home” Answered Maghigha’s step mother half-heartedly “but she is filthy and dirty, and she did not attend the celebration last night, Sire.” But the prince ordered his guards to fetch her.
When the young girl came to the palace, she was once more covered with thick layers of ash and dust, and the prince did not recognize her. But when he placed the lost slipper upon her foot, it slipped with the utmost of ease. At that moment he realized that the mysterious and beautiful maiden who had stolen his heart the night before, was now before him. Without hesitation he asked her to become his wife.
The step mother, who wanted to ruin her step daughter’s good fortune, feigned joy upon the engagement of Maghigha to the prince, till the day she decided to take revenge.
The evil woman brewed an evil spell and placed a bewitched concoction on the head of a small needle. Then, on the very morning of the wedding day, she offered to help Maghigha untangle her long braid. In a moment of sudden rage, the envious woman stabbed the needle into the top of the maiden’s head, and the young beautiful princess was immediately transformed into a little bird. The poor girl, now reduced to a small bird, sorrowfully spread her wings and flew away to a distant place where no one would see her. Not even the prince would be able to find her, to whom she would cause profound distress if he were to see her in this altered state.
The days passed, and the prince, thinking that his beloved fiancé had abandoned him, grieved deeply for his lost love. One day, the evil step mother approached the sorrowful prince and told him:
“Alas Sire! Your princess has shown that she is not an honest woman; she is not worthy of your love for she is false-hearted. For if she truly loved thee, then she would not have abandoned thee in the way she did.” And then she added “ Please take my child as thy bride, Sire. She might not be as lovely as that unfaithful woman, but at least she does sincerely love thee.”
Without much ado, the prince accepted Maghigha’s step-sister as his wife, and the evil stepmother triumphed in her deceit. She savoured the victory in her heart and was well content.
One day, not long after the wedding, the prince went hunting in the forest. His horse was taking a drink from a stream in the middle of a cane field. However, a queer sound that resembled a human voice frightened the horse every time it leaned toward the stream to drink. The royal guards accompanied the prince as he approached the source of the sound in order to search out the strange human lament coming from within the thick field of canes. The prince ordered that his guards cut all the canes and search for the strange moaning creature.
While the guards cut down the long canes with sickles, the strange voice continued to sing:
“a yaqessass a yaqessass u-γaanim
adu u-fuḏ, sennež iw fuḏ
γaak a tqess-ḏ tiḏoḏin n-rḣenni i-yuγin”
“Cane cutter, O! cane cutter!
Under the knee, over the knee
Be wary not to cut the henna-dyed tiny fingers…”
The guards continued to hear the song as they cut through the cane. Then suddenly, from the heart of the dense cane grove, there soared a little bird, which flew directly into the prince’s lap. The prince took the little bird in his hands, and began to gently stroke its little head:
“So it was you that scared my horse and prevented it from drinking water!” said the prince in surprise. And as he was caressing the little bird’s head, he noticed the small thorn that was implanted in the middle of its feathers. Thinking that the thorn was the cause of the bird’s anguish, the prince carefully pulled it out, and discovered that it was not a prickle, but rather a long needle. Immediately, the little bird started to take human shape. And behold, it was his dear departed wife!
Maghigha was now free from the wicked spell, and the prince was shocked to realize that his beloved wife had been transformed into a bird by the cruel machinations of the step mother and her daughter. He took his long lost wife home and decided to take revenge for all the sufferings of his dear Maghigha.
Upon his arrival at the palace, the prince ordered his guards to behead the selfish step sister of Maghigha, and to cut her into parts. They put her head in the bottom of a sack, and covered it with the rest of her flesh. Calling one of his messengers he said to him:
“Go to my mother in law and tell her that I am coming together with her daughter for dinner tonight. Tell her to invite as many people as she can, and give her this bag of meat to cook.” The messenger seized the bag and departed on horseback.
When she heard the messenger’s words, the greedy step mother enthusiastically dragged the heavy bag of meat inside her home. Conceitedly she sent for all her neighbours to attend the special meal she was going to prepare for her daughter and her husband the prince. She began to cook the meat she had been given, and as her guests arrived, they began to stuff themselves from the large dishes piled with the meat placed before them. But when the mother reached the bottom of the bag, she was horror stuck at the sight of her daughter’s head. Quickly running into the room full of guests, she implored them, in anger, to vomit up all that they had eaten.
The prince later sent word to his mother in law that he had discovered her witchcraft, that Maghigha returned to her ordinary appearance and was once more at his side. He decided that the punishment had already delivered to the woman was adequate to revenge for his beloved’s suffering. And thereafter, the prince and Maghigha lived happily together.
