Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 22, 1911.djvu/189

 The Great Feast in Morocco. i6i

was witnessed by some two hundred people. There was a man dressed up in goatskins, called Bujlud {biijlild, " one who is dressed up in skins "), and an " old man " called Sehsioh {seh s-sioh, "the oldest of the old"), who were fighting between themselves for the possession of a " young woman," called Yissuma. There was, moreover, a "Jew," who amused the audience by his twaddle, and on the second occasion there were two "Jews" and two "women." With a stick in his hand, Bujlud kept the spectators in order, preventing them from moving about. He also imitated a pig, and Sehsioh made him plough. The performances included much music, singing, and dancing, and were said to take place seven consecutive nights, beginning on the evening of the first day of the feast. When passing another village in the same district, I met a procession consisting chiefly of children and headed by a man dressed up in goatskins and a "young woman," dancing as they went along. Bujlud's legs were bare and painted white, and so was his face, and on his head he wore a straw hat with a long tail. His dance was distinctly indecent. The children were teasing him, and he beat them in return.

In the village of 1-Hmis, the chief centre of the Sahel, I witnessed a great performance, in which there were three men, dressed up in goatskins, dancing to the queer music of a rural band of musicians in the presence of hundreds of spectators. A whole farce was connected with this per- formance. There was an old man, Sehsioh, and his wife Halima, and the plot of the play consisted of the old man's suspicions as to her fidelity and the accusation of her to a person acting as kddi, or judge. The following dialogue gives an idea of the coarseness of the play. Halima says to Sehsioh, — " I feel ill and am going away." — Sehsioh. " You are not allowed to go ; I have not slept with you for three months." — H. " I am not your wife You give me no food." — S. " I am going to fetch wheat for