oud bewailing,
From door and lattice, high and low--"Alas! alas for Celin!"

An old, old woman cometh forth, when she hears the people cry;
Her hair is white as silver, like horn her glazed eye.
Twas she that nursed him at her breast, that nursed him long ago;
She knows not whom they all lament, but soon she well shall know.
With one deep shriek she thro' doth break, when her ears receive their
wailing--
"Let me kiss my Celin ere I die--Alas! alas for Celin!"

THE STORY OF SIDI BRAHIM OF MASSAT

[_Translated by Rene Basset and Chauncey C. Starkweather_]

THE STORY OF SIDI BRAHIM OF MASSAT

I

The Taleb Sidi Brahim, son of Amhammed of Massat, in the province of Sous,
tells the following story about himself: When he was still a child at his
father's house he went to the mosque to read with a taleb. He studied with
him for twelve and a half years. His father gave him bread and kouskous,
and he ate eight deniers' worth a day. I will make known the country of
Massat. It contains seventeen towns. In the middle of these is a market.
The Jews have a refuge in the village of the chief named
Mobarek-ben-Mahomet. He lives with a sheik called
Brahim-Mahomet-Abon-Djemaa. These two chiefs levy a tax on the Jews. They
receive from them four ounces per family at the beginning of each month. If
the festival of the Mussulmans coincides with the Sabbath of the Jews, the
latter pay to each of the chiefs one ounce for a Jew or a Jewess, boy or
girl, little or big. The following are the details of the population of
Massat. It includes 1,700 men. As to the women, little boys or girls, only
the Lord knows their number. There are 1,250 houses. The horses amount to
180. They ride them and make them work like oxen and mules. They also fight
on horseback. The country has trees, vines, figs, cacti, dates, oranges,
lemons, apples, apricots, melons, and olives. There is a river which flows
from there to the sea. The commerce is considerable. There are Jews and
Mussulmans. The number of books in the mosque is unknown, unless it be by
God. The teachers are numerous as well as the pilgrims, the descendants of
Mahomet, and the saints. May God aid us with his blessing!

We will now speak of the tribute which the people of Massat pay yearly to
Prince Mouley-Abd-Er-Rahman. Up to our days they had, for fifty-one years,
given him 5,000 livres of silver. The prince said to them, "You must pay
1,000 livres more." Th