The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1891-08-15
THE MOORISH STORY TELLER.
How He Entcrtains Ills People with Tan
clful Tales of tho East.

s''S "OOViSti StONV tGG1EHs
How Ho Entcrtains Ills People with Tan
clful Tales of tho East.
Hall Caine, author Of "The Deem
ster" and other novels, has discovered
Moorish story teller. The Moorish
story teller Is not usually n Moor,
properly SO called, but Of negro blood,
and comes from beyond the Atlas. ne
is familiar figure on the Mohammedan
holiday, Friday, in the COX, or market
place, of Moorish towns. Surrounded
by two, three or four lines of listeners,
in semi-circlc, he strums on sort Of
guitar, and tells his stories in gasps and
and spasms and with great fcrvor. His
stories are not always of kind that
bear repetition, but some arc harmless;
and of that sort Mr.. Cainc gives, Us On
in the sols at Tangier, md had trans
lated to him by resident. Most of
this oral literature of tho market place
seems to be n sort OF apocryphn to tho
Arabian Nights" "Oncc there was q
good man, and his namo was Ali. Hc
had Christian captive, O beautiful
English girl. Ali was willing to mako
her his wife if she would become q true
believer Praise the merciful Allah
md his prophet tho Lord Mohommed!
(Story teller and audience touch their
forchcnds.) She, on her part, was will
ing to be Ali's wife il he would become
n Christian. One day Ali told her to go
down to his stable under his house and
saddle his favoritc horse
when she got to the stable the horse
lifted both It's fOrefeet and struck her
down. For timo she was insensiblc,
and when she recovered consciousness
She took tho blow of the horse as q
proof Of her unbelicf In the truo God
ind his prophet. Allah suvc and bless
us (Au touch forchcads again.) So
sho went up to Ali and told him she be-
ucvcd and would become his wife Then
Ali said: Go down ngain and saddle my
horse She went down, ond tho horse
struck her again. Onco more she re-
turned to Ali. You wcro not true be-
lever said All; go down again Yet
again She went down to the stable, and
then Ali's favorito horse suffered her to
saddle him, md she brought him to Ali,
md All married her, and she was o true
believer for ever after. (Story-tcllcr
stops to make collection; n good num-
Der of copper coins urc handed to him,
then he rcsumcs.) Now we leave Ali
md go far away into the desert There
was fight between good Moor md o
great Christian chief. The Moor had q
beautiful wife, and the Christian killed
him and took his wife and rode awav
with her. And one day he met Ali and
challenged him to fight. But Ali had q
magic sword, with which he could kill
whatever he could sec, no matter how
far away; so while the chief was boast
ing Ali drew his sword and swept 1t In
the mir. And when tho Christian chief
cried: Come and fight me- All on
swercd him: You are dead already,
turn yourself round and you shall Sec
'"Thcn the chief found that he had
been cut SO clean by Ais magic sword
that he did not know that he was dead.
But he fell dsunder as no twisted about
and rolled off his horse into the sand,
SO the Moorish woman whom he had
made cnptivc rcjoiccd, and she looked
upon Ali and saw that he was q goodly
man and offered herself to him to be his
wife But Ali had got wife already,
even the captive who he'd once been q
Christian. So he would not take tho
Moorish woman, but gave her to an
other, and thus oil was we'll and every
body was happy. Give thanks to Allah,
the inerciful and mighty. (AIore touch
ing OF forchends and another collcc-
tion.)" Then q story of finer flavor
told with infinite and too obvious pan
toIniinc, amid shriclSs of laughter from
mon and women, little boys and girls