The Horses of the Sahara 11

The Horses of the Sahara 11

Sebâa el Khrouya_, seven years for my Brother;

_Sebâa lya_, seven years for myself;

_Sebâa li adouya_, seven years for my enemy.

 

It is therefore from seven to fourteen that they consider a horse as

most apt for the exercises of war. I have often had the curiosity to

inquire of the Arabs if they know whence they had received the horses of

which they were so proud. In reply to this question they would point

with their finger to the East, and answer: "They come from the native

country of the first man, where they were created a day or two before

him." And as confirmation of this their belief, they would add: "Allah

hath said: 'I have created for man whatsoever is upon the earth. I give

it all to Adam and his descendants. Man shall be the most noble of

created beings, and the horse the most noble of animals.' Now, when a

chief is expected to come and rule over us we prepare a tent to receive

him, carpets for him to sit upon, and various dishes to gratify his

palate, and, above all, horsemen to attend upon him and execute his

orders. Consequently the horse must have been created before the coming

of Adam upon the earth."

 

 

THE STEED OF NOBLE RACE.

 

Where are those noble steeds

Whose dam never knew any but a noble sire?

The stirrup is their life; inaction is death to them.

O Father of cavaliers! the ignorant find them every where,

But they are as rare as true friends,

And when they die the very saddle sheds tears.

 

In the race-course of valour

May Allah bless the noble courser!

His chest is of steel, and his flanks of iron:

He loves naught but rapine, glory, and the combat;

He cherishes his master and his family,

And when he gallops, he puts the thunder to shame.

He passes, look at him: he is already out of sight;

Women, grudge him not the milk of our she-camels.

 

What has become of the time when I used to bestride a swimmer,

With black eye, wide nostrils,

Clean limbs, and a faithful heart!

It was a sparrow-hawk for carnage,

And life was nothing worth to me

When the bridle was out of my hands.

I was then young; I went in search of danger,

I mocked at the ill-omened ravens;

The distant always seemed to me close at hand,

And my tent overflowed with plunder.

 

In summer, when sleep has restored strength to my body,

When the eye of light has dispersed the shades of night,

And when the heat bites everything, even into stone,

The song of the turtle-dove fills me with soft desire.

In the boughs of the palm-tree shaken by the slightest breeze,

On the leaf that sighs and bewails itself,

She is consumed with passion.

By my head! she rekindles in my breast the fire of bygone days.

 

They said to me:

Ah! thou art still longing for them who dye their eyelids with black?

And I answered: No, in my eyes

Nothing at present is equal to my horse of pure blood.

With him, I bear myself proudly; I hunt and increase my riches;

With him, I enter the strife and protect the poor and the orphan;

With him, I chastise insult and daunt my rivals;

His neigh is like the roar of a lion in the mountains;

It is an eagle hovering in the air.

 

Away with you, fond memories of this world!

The most potent has never carried off more than a winding-sheet.

I am known by my air-drinker, at night and in the fight;

I am known by my sabre, the shock of battle, the pen and the paper;

I am sharper than a spear, and endure hunger like a wolf.

No matter: to-day I court solitude:

In solitude is happiness: age has taught me that.

Never again shall men behold me seeking a horse, or the love of

women, or the court of an Emir.

 

 

* * * * *

 

REMARKS BY THE EMIR ABD-EL-KADER.

 

Horses, though they are all of one and the same family, are of two

different species: the first is the Arab race, the other the race of the

_Beradin_. In like manner oxen, though of only one family, are of divers

species: the first that of domestic cattle, which is the best known, and

the second that of buffaloes: as different from one another in agility

and weight as are the Arab horses from the _Beradin_. In like manner,

too, the family of camels is one, and yet includes more than one

species,—the Arab race and the race _Bakhati_.[31]

 

If the foal has for its sire an Arab horse, and for its dam an Arab

mare, it is indisputably noble, _hôor_.

 

If it has for its sire an Arab horse, and for its dam a _Beradi_ mare,

it is called _Hadjin_.

 

If it has for its dam an Arab mare and for its sire a _Beradi_ horse, it

is called _Meghrif_, and it is inferior to the _Hadjin_.

 

Hence it will be seen that the most important rôle is assigned to the

sire.

 

It is impossible, we think, to get a pure race out of a stock the blood

of which is impure. On the other hand it is a well authenticated fact

that it is quite possible to restore to its primitive nobleness a breed

that has become impoverished,—but without any taint in its

blood,—whether through insufficient food, want of proper care, or

excessive and unsuitable work: in a word, a race may be restored, the

degeneracy of which has not been occasioned by any admixture of blood.

 

In default of public notoriety, it is by actual trial, by speed combined

with bottom, that the Arabs form their judgment on horses, and recognise

the nobleness and purity of their extraction. But the form likewise

reveals the higher qualities. A thoroughbred horse is one that has three

things long, three things short, three things broad, and three things

clean. The three things long are the ears, the neck, and the fore-legs.

The three things short are the dock, the hind-legs and the back. The

three things broad are the forehead, the chest, and the croup. The three

things clean are the skin, the eyes, and the hoof.

 

He ought to have the withers high, and the flanks hollow and without any

superfluous flesh.

 

"Dost thou accomplish a journey at great speed with steeds high in the

withers and fine in the flanks?"

 

The tail should be well furnished at the root, so that it may cover the

space between the thighs.

 

"The tail is like unto the veil of a bride."

 

The eye of a horse should be turned as if trying to look at its nose,

like the eye of a man who squints.

 

"Like to a beautiful coquette who leers through her veil, his glance

towards the corner of the eye pierces through the hair of the forelock

which covers his forehead as with a veil."

 

The ears resemble those of an antelope startled in the midst of her

herd.

 

The forelock, abundant.

 

"In the hour of pain mount a slender mare whose forehead is covered by

silky and flowing hair."

 

The nostrils, wide.

 

"Each of his nostrils resembles the den of a lion; the wind rushes out

of it when he is panting."

 

The cavities in the interior of the nostrils ought to be entirely black.

If they are partly black and partly white the horse is of only moderate

value.

 

The fetlock, thick.

 

"They have fetlocks that resemble the down which is concealed beneath an

eagle's wing and like him they grow black in the heat of battle."

 

The fetlock joints, small.

 

"The fetlock joints of their hind-legs are small, but the muscles on

both sides stand out prominent."

 

The hoof, round and hard.

 

"The hoof should resemble the cup of a slave. They walk on hoofs hard as

the moss-covered stones of a stagnant pool."

 

The frogs, hard and dry.

 

"The frogs concealed beneath the hoofs are seen when he lifts his feet,

and resemble date-stones in hardness."

 

"When my courser rushes towards a goal he makes a noise like to that of

wings in motion, and his neigh resembles the mournful note of the

nightingale."

 

"His neck is long and graceful as a male ostrich's. His ear is split in

two and his black eye full of fire."