Storytellers of Marrakech

[Bosco 1]

the story is also available to listen to online or download as podcast

The story-tellers of Marrakesh link

By Richard Hamilton

BBC, Morocco

In the Moroccan city of Marrakesh, you can still find men who tell ancient stories that have been handed down from generation to generation.

But with modern technology offering new forms of diversion and entertainment, young people are ignoring the story-tellers and for the first time in perhaps 1,000 years the tradition is dying out.

Legend has it that the muezzin - the man who called the faithful to prayer - at the top of the main mosque in Marrakesh had to be blind.

It was thought that a sighted man might gaze down from the Koutoubia, as it is called, into the sultan's palace below and see his harem.

But a sighted man would also see the wild teaming maelstrom of Marrakesh's main square or Jemaa al-Fna.

He would see fire-eaters and fortune-tellers, acrobats and snake-charmers. For all human life is here: if you walk into the square you will be besieged by men with monkeys and women trying to squeeze henna onto your hands.

And then there is the noise: the square is a cacophony of drums, reed pipes and songs performed by musicians from sub-Saharan Africa.

But if you can find a quiet corner in the square you might come across the city's hidden gems.

A Thousand and One Nights

He tells tales of sultans, thieves, wise men and fools, he speaks of mystics, genies, viziers and belly dancers

They may not be the most obvious entertainers and they are certainly not the loudest, but if you can seek out a story-teller or a halaka, you are in for a treat and an old one at that.

Because story-telling in Morocco is as old as the hills, and as ancient as the Atlas mountains.

I found Moulay Mohammed, a bearded man with a few missing teeth, sitting in the square in his grey jellabah surrounded by a circle of onlookers.

He is 71 and has been a story-teller for 45 years.

He used to come as a boy and listen to the old men in the square tell their stories and he was so entranced by them that he became one himself.

He says he knows most of the Old Testament and all of A Thousand and One Nights.

According to legend, to prevent her murderous husband King Shahryar from killing her, the Persian Queen Scheherazade told a different story every night for 1001 nights.

Moulay Mohammed is like a modern day Scheherazade: he tells tales of sultans, thieves, wise men and fools, he speaks of mystics, genies, viziers and belly dancers.

Under threat

Moulay Mohammed told me it is not just what he says that counts but how he says it.

Young Moroccans would rather watch TV soap operas than listen to a story-teller much less become one themselves

Even if you do not understand a word of what he says, it is still fascinating to listen to a halaka.

You can sense the drama of the story and feel its suspense. His words are precious and they seem to hang in the air.

Today more than 40% of all Moroccans are illiterate, so the oral tradition is vital.

Of course story-telling is a form of entertainment, but it is much more than that.

Like the parables of the New Testament, the stories are ways of conveying ideas, values and philosophies.

But all this is under threat. While there used to be 20 or so halakis in Marrakesh, there are now only about half a dozen and they are all old men.

After more than a millennium, the art of the halaka is on the wane. Young Moroccans would rather watch television soap operas than listen to a story-teller much less become one themselves.

Disappearing yarns

However the United Nations cultural organisation, Unesco, has intervened to try to save the stories as part of the world's oral heritage.

It is even recording some of them on the internet, so modern technology may yet come to the rescue of these wondrous tales.

I asked Moulay Mohammed if he would pass his skills on:

"If someone wants to come and learn from me they can, but it is not easy," he said. "It takes years to remember the stories."

And was he worried that his craft might one day die out? "Ah, only God knows the answer to that. Today there are story-tellers. That is all I know."

Another old man was sitting in the crowd hanging on Moulay Mohammed's every word.

Did he think the story-tellers would still be here tomorrow? "Moulay Mohammed is one of the best in Marrakesh, and we like him very much" he said. "But if he disappeared, a lot of his yarns would disappear too."

Google Earth

And what, I wondered, did Moulay Mohammed make of television?

"Television?" he laughed, "why it is something out of this world. This is real life here in the square. It is much better to sit in the square in the sun, as you are doing now, than in some dark room with a television!"

And sitting in the square under an azure sky, I thought Moulay Mohammed was probably right.

Looking up at the pink rooftops of Marrakesh, the Atlas mountains and the fabulous Koutoubia mosque, it was hard to imagine a place I would rather be.

There may not be a blind muezzin any more in the minaret of the Koutoubia but the story of the men who could not look down on the sultan's harem strikes a familiar cord now.

The Moroccan government has blocked the internet device Google Earth so that people cannot look from above into the grounds of the king's sumptuous royal palaces.

Perhaps in 1,000 years people will be telling a story about that.

From Our Own Correspondent was broadcast on Saturday, 17 February, 2007 at 1100 GMT on BBC Radio 4. Please check the programme schedules for World Service transmission times.

Three Ways to Listen From Our Own Correspondent

[sereia 0]

the story is also available to listen to online or download as podcast

And what, I wondered, did Moulay Mohammed make of television?

"Television?" he laughed, "why it is something out of this world. This is real life here in the square. It is much better to sit in the square in the sun, as you are doing now, than in some dark room with a television!"

And sitting in the square under an azure sky, I thought Moulay Mohammed was probably right.

Looking up at the pink rooftops of Marrakesh, the Atlas mountains and the fabulous Koutoubia mosque, it was hard to imagine a place I would rather be.

so...SO true. it almost brought tears to my eyes!

[Bosco 1]

It is sad. Despite how touristy Djma El Fna can be, the storytellers are there for the Moroccans.

[sereia 0]

the times i went to jmma el fna it seemed to be full of mostly moroccans watching and listening to each other. maybe moroccan tourists? hehehe...

i didn't like how i was hounded there in the square. one man threw his monkey on my shoulder as i walked by. so my friend took a picture. then he demanded the equivalent of $50 from me. that was fun fighting with him over that one.

if someone notices you watching them while they are dancing, singing, fighting, juggling, snake charming, etc...they come over to you and expect money. i felt like i couldn't even look at anyone unless i had a lot of dirhams in my pocket. and man be careful going in the food section. every guy there begs you and i've even been pulled by my arms to be sat in their section so i would eat their food! i still had a great time though.......

but i do agree this type of thing is a lost art. and its a shame tv is taking over the world. i love travel. its my #1 passion in life. i can't imagine not going to countries and experiencing things like this, even if i had to fight with a man and his monkey. these are the kinds of experiences i'll never, ever forget. and even tear of when i think of it being gone someday.

[Bosco 1]

Oh there were oodles of what I presumed to be Club Med tourists when I was there.

I have pictures of myself and my husband with the monkeys and snakes. I have no idea what my husband paid Also went fishing for Coca-Cola, lol.

We stayed right at Djma El Fna, so we ate our evening meal there. You have to love how two people can get totally stuffed on $3. The one thing that bothered me was how the stall vendors would shoo away the people begging for our leftovers - we had no problem handing them over

I cannot remember what it is called, but the spicy hot tea (not the mint) that is served.... we ordered two cups one night and the vendor started telling me in a lurid way how it is an aphrodesiac and how it is late at night and I am there with a man. My husband did not catch what the guy was saying and I am glad he didn't or the police would have been involved

[sereia 0]

omg yeah that stuff is supposidely an aphrodisiac. also the little crumbly brown stuff they sell with it. forgot the name.my fiance says that a lot of the time they lace it with "something". my fiance's mom makes that stuff for rammadan. minus the "something" though. i hated both the tea and the brown stuff. it has some spice in there i can't pin point but i don't love.

we did the coca-cola thing too! soooooo close, yet so far away from winning that darn bottle of coke! lol

my fiance kept telling me what he thought i should do, so i handed it over to him and he still didn't win. ha!

hopefully your fiance didn't pay $50. probably not even 50 cents!!!! i wasn't with my fiance when that monkey incident happened. it was when i was in morocco before i met him and i was with my american friend.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

A similar situation occurred with Native American storytellers and Native American languages in the US. Projects were funded to put their stories on video for prosterity. What happened after, is, because of the video, the popularity of the storytellers and the languages expanded. Something to that effect could help in this case.

[Bosco 1]

Nearly all of my pictures are on another computer and this one isn't particularly good, but it brings back memories. Oh, and I think the tea is hunja and the other stuff tkaout. I know hunja has cinammon and I think tkaout has ginger too. And as far as the tourists versus Moroccans things, I think it is more tourists in the early part of the day and more Moroccans later at night.

Edited February 20, 2007 by Bosco

[sereia 0]

hahaa i have a photo almost exactly like that.

definitely the tourists retreat into their rooms or restaraunts as the night grows on. there was a lot of men cruising too. marrakech is such an interesting mix of everything!

i love ginger and cinnamon. there is something else about the tea/dessert i didn't like. i'll have to get the recipe from my mom-in-law to see what it is.

[Bosco 1]

Were the guys that drink boiling water there when you were there?

[sereia 0]

NO! wow...crazy. if i ever go again i'll definitely look for that. how creepy. hehe

[Bosco 1]

LOL... there was one that was heating up a kettle on one of the propane stoves. He was sort of caveman looking. He proved that the water was boiling and then drank some. He then did some sort of crazy dance (knees bent, side stance and chest thumping) with some manly sounds, lol.

[MrsAmera 41]

Ohhhh this is making me so sad! My hubby lived in the Kasbah of Marrakech and we would walk to Djem al Fna almost everyday. I feel like I know that place as well as my own neighborhood! I never did get very good at the directions in the souk though. I remember going to eat snails with him and his brother one night in January ewwww! I'll let you know what the name of the spicy tea is after I talk to hubby.

[brnidokiegurl 0]

You got the monkey i got the snakesss, was quite an experience, definately going back to see more.

[patiently_waiting 0]

That was my favorite place. I hate snakes though, so i didn't go anywhere near them. I didn't see that fishing for coke thing...now i have a reason to go back. I loved it there. So many great memories. Can't help but sit and smile.