Page:Ossendowski - The Fire of Desert Folk.djvu/146

130 with a scorpion in its beak, which kept rats from the mosque, and a sphere made from an unknown stone, whose presence killed every snake that came in whatsoever manner within the walls of Kairween. In that age this was a very useful talisman, as there were frequent cases of the killing of political or religious adversaries by means of poisonous serpents."

At this point the jealous Hafid interrupted the tale of the muezzin.

"And when the rulers of the Almoravide dynasty began a formidable enlargement and beautification of Kairween, workmen engaged in excavating for the construction of one of the principal gates uncovered an old vault. Thinking that it contained treasure, they broke into it but found that it held only a stone basin of fresh, cool water in which an immense tortoise was living. As the animal's growth throughout the centuries had carried it beyond the width of the incurving brim, the workers found it impossible to remove the tortoise and so sealed up the vault and left it there, where Allah had provided it, in the flowing stream, with all that was requisite for its life. Though partially destroyed by fire, Kairween was later rebuilt and became the last word in its display of art and wealth. Poets composed beautiful verses on the mosque and the medersa, while the Faithful were ever overawed by the richness and splendor of the temple.

"When the Almohades seized the power in Maghreb, the council of Imams and scholars in Fez, uncertain as to what course the victors might follow, spread paper and whitewash over the gilded walls and the ceilings set with enamel and precious stones. But to the great relief