Lesson 85 · C1
The monkey and the carpenter
C1 begins with the morphology B2 left aside: four-consonant verbs that sound like what they do (zelzel, shake; ferfer, flutter) and colour verbs (7mar, go red). And with a monkey who pokes his nose where it doesn't belong.
- Conjugate four-consonant verbs.
- Form their reflexive with t-.
- Use Form IX for colours and changes in appearance.
- Read a Kalila wa Dimna fable without pre-teaching.
Twenty-four words
Quadriliterals, colour verbs and the vocabulary of the fable. Several words imitate the sound of what they name.
Four consonants
-
تَرْجَمْ
terjem
to translate
Four consonants: t-r-j-m.
- كَرْكَبْ kerkeb to roll (something)
-
زَلْزَلْ
zelzel
to shake
Reduplicated: z-l-z-l.
- فَرْفَرْ ferfer to flutter; wag
- وَسْوَسْ weswes to whisper; obsess
- الزَّلْزَالْ z-zelzal earthquake
With t-
-
تْزَلْزَلْ
tzelzel
to tremble; be shaken
Reflexive t-.
- تْكَرْكَبْ tkerkeb to roll
- الْوَسْوَاسْ l-weswas obsession; nagging worry
Form IX: colours
-
حْمَارْ
7mar
to go red
Form IX.
- صْفَارْ sfar to go pale; turn yellow
- بْيَاضْ byad to go white; grey
- كْحَالْ k7al to go black
- خْضَارْ khdar to turn green
The fable
- الْقْرْدْ l-qerd monkey
- النّْجَّارْ n-nejjar carpenter
- الْخْشْبَة l-khshba plank; log
- الْوْتْدْ l-wted wedge
- الشّْقّْ sh-shqq split; crack
- الشّْطْبَة sh-shetba tail
Poking your nose in
-
دَّخَّلْ رَاسُو
dekhkhel rasu
to poke one's nose in
“To put one's head in”.
- مَا شْغْلُوشْ ma-shghlush none of his business
- الْفُضُولْ l-fudul nosiness
- تّْعَاقْبْ tt3aqeb to be punished
Four consonants and a colour
Four lines of the fable in Darija. Find the odd verbs: how many consonants do they have?
- الْقْرْدْ دَّخَّلْ رَاسُو فْشِي حَاجَة مَا شْغْلُوشْl-qerd dekhkhel rasu f shi 7aja ma-shghlush
- زَلْزَلْ الْوْتْدْ حْتَّى خْرَجْzelzel l-wted 7tta khrej
- صْفَارْ وْجْهُو مْلِّي تّْشَدّْsfar wejhu mlli ttshedd
- الْكَلْبْ كَيْفَرْفَرْ بْشْطْبْتُوl-kelb kayferfer b shetbtu
Which verb repeats a syllable? How does Darija say “his face went pale”?
The rule
Quadriliterals: four consonants, conjugated like Form II: terjem, kayterjem, mterjem.
Many are reduplicated and sound like what they do: zelzel, ferfer, weswes.
With t- in front: reflexive or passive: tzelzel, “tremble”; tterjem, “be translated”.
Form IX: colours and visible change, one verb: 7mar, “go red”; sfar, “go pale”. Past: 7marit, 7mart. Present: kay7mar. Usual subjects: face, hair: 7mar wejhu, byad rasu.
Rare forms
| Form | Say it | Means |
|---|---|---|
| تَرْجَمْ ← كَيْتَرْجَمْ ← مْتَرْجَمْ | terjem → kayterjem → mterjem | translate → translates → translated |
| زَلْزَلْ ← تْزَلْزَلْ | zelzel → tzelzel | shake → tremble |
| الطّْيَارَة تْزَلْزْلَاتْ فْالسّْمَا | t-tiyara tzelzlat f s-sma | the plane shook in the air |
| الطّْيْرْ كَيْفَرْفَرْ | t-teyr kayferfer | the bird is fluttering |
| كَرْكْبْ الْكُورَة | kerkeb l-kura | roll the ball |
| حْمَارْ وْجْهُو بْالْحْشْمَة | 7mar wejhu b l-7eshma | he went red with embarrassment |
| صْفَارْتْ مْلِّي سْمْعَاتْ الْخْبَرْ | sfart mlli sem3at l-khbar | she went pale when she heard the news |
| رَاسُو بْيَاضْ | rasu byad | his hair's gone white |
Rows 6–8: one Form IX verb where English uses “go” + colour.
What English gives you, and what it costs
Free: “redden”, “whiten”, “blacken”: English has one-word colour verbs too, just used less.
Free: “zigzag”, “flip-flop”, “tick-tock”: English reduplicates for sound and motion too.
Costly: “go red”. wella 7mer is understood but sounds translated.
Your mistake, not someone else's
Looking for “went”, you find wella, “become”. For colours, Darija has its own verb.
×وْلَّى حْمَرْ وْجْهُو“He became red”, with wella.
✓حْمَارْ وْجْهُو“He went red”.
Only for colours and physical traits. Elsewhere, wella is still fine.
The monkey and the carpenter
A complete fable from Kalila wa Dimna, told by the jackal Kalila as a warning to his brother: meddle in what isn't yours and you'll end up like the monkey. At the end, the next sentence of the text, with a classical quadriliteral: yubasbisu, “wags its tail”.
مَنْ تَكَلَّفَ مِنَ الْقَوْلِ وَالْفِعْلِ مَا لَيْسَ مِنْ شَأْنِهِ، أَصَابَهُ مَا أَصَابَ الْقِرْدَ مِنَ النَّجَّارِ.
قَالَ دِمْنَةُ: وَكَيْفَ كَانَ ذٰلِكَ؟ قَالَ كَلِيلَةُ: زَعَمُوا أَنَّ قِرْدًا رَأَى نَجَّارًا يَشُقُّ خَشَبَةً بَيْنَ وَتِدَيْنِ، وَهُوَ رَاكِبٌ عَلَيْهَا، فَأَعْجَبَهُ ذٰلِكَ.
ثُمَّ إِنَّ النَّجَّارَ ذَهَبَ لِبَعْضِ شَأْنِهِ، فَقَامَ الْقِرْدُ وَتَكَلَّفَ مَا لَيْسَ مِنْ شُغْلِهِ، فَرَكِبَ الْخَشَبَةَ، وَجَعَلَ ظَهْرَهُ قِبَلَ الْوَتِدِ، وَوَجْهَهُ قِبَلَ الْخَشَبَةِ.
فَتَدَلَّى ذَنَبُهُ فِي الشَّقِّ، وَنَزَعَ الْوَتِدَ، فَلَزِمَ الشَّقُّ عَلَيْهِ، فَخَرَّ مَغْشِيًّا عَلَيْهِ.
فَكَانَ مَا لَقِيَ مِنَ النَّجَّارِ مِنَ الضَّرْبِ أَشَدَّ مِمَّا أَصَابَهُ مِنَ الْخَشَبَةِ.
[…] أَلَا تَرَى أَنَّ الْكَلْبَ يُبَصْبِصُ بِذَنَبِهِ حَتَّى تُرْمَى لَهُ الْكِسْرَةُ.
Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ, Kalīla wa-Dimna (s. VIII), «El mono y el carpintero» y la frase siguiente del mismo capítulo. Texto de ar.wikisource.org con cortes marcados […]; vocalización de Learning Darija · dominio público
Did you follow?
What was the carpenter doing?
Show answers
Splitting a plank between two wedges, sitting on it.
What did the monkey do when he left?
Show answers
Climbed onto the plank and pulled out the wedge.
What happened to him?
Show answers
The split closed on his tail and he fainted.
What was worse for him?
Show answers
The carpenter's beating, more than the plank.
Check
First lesson of C1: all five are open.
All five exercises of this lesson are open. It is the sample of the level: from lesson 86 on, three of the five are in the C1 book.
1Conjugate
The verb in the form asked for.
- زَلْزَلْ (هِيَ، تّْ-، مَاضِي)
- تَرْجَمْ (مَفْعُولْ)
- فَرْفَرْ (هُوَ، حَاضِرْ)
- حْمَارْ (أَنَا، مَاضِي)
2Match
Verb to what usually goes with it.
| 1 | حْمَارْ | a | الشّْعَرْ مْعَ الْكْبَرْ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | صْفَارْ | b | بْالْحْشْمَة |
| 3 | بْيَاضْ | c | الْأَرْضْ |
| 4 | تْزَلْزَلْ | d | بْالْخُوفْ |
| 5 | فَرْفَرْ | e | الطّْيْرْ |
3True or false?
According to the fable.
- The carpenter was sitting on the plank.
- The monkey helped the carpenter.
- The monkey's tail got trapped.
- The carpenter did nothing when he came back.
4Fill the gap
With a quadriliteral or Form IX verb.
ترجمكركبصفاركيوسوس
- ___ ليا هاد البراوة للفرانساوية
- ___ البرميل حتى للباب
- ___ وجهها ملي شافت الدم
- باين عليه ___، ما نعسش
5Tell it
Retell the fable in Darija in six sentences, with two verbs from the lesson.
دَّخَّلْ رَاسُوزَلْزَلْصْفَارْتّْعَاقْبْمَا شْغْلُوشْ
A model
كَانْ وَاحْدْ الْقْرْدْ كَيْشُوفْ النّْجَّارْ كَيْقْطَعْ الْخْشْبَة. مْلِّي مْشَى النّْجَّارْ، الْقْرْدْ دَّخَّلْ رَاسُو فْحَاجَة مَا شْغْلُوشْ. طْلَعْ فُوقْ الْخْشْبَة وْ زَلْزَلْ الْوْتْدْ حْتَّى خْرَجْ. الشّْقّْ تْسَدّْ عْلَى الشّْطْبَة دْيَالُو، وْ صْفَارْ وْجْهُو بْالْوْجَعْ. رْجَعْ النّْجَّارْ، وْ تّْعَاقْبْ الْقْرْدْ مَرَّة أُخْرَى. اللِّي كَيْدَّخّْلْ رَاسُو فْمَا شْغْلُوشْ، كَيْلْقَى مَا يْكْرَهْ.
Show answers
| 1. Conjugate | تْزَلْزْلَاتْ · مْتَرْجَمْ · كَيْفَرْفَرْ · حْمَارِيتْ |
|---|---|
| 2. Match | 1-b, 2-d, 3-a, 4-c, 5-e |
| 3. True or false? | 1-True, 2-False, 3-True, 4-False |
| 4. Fill the gap | ترجم · كركب · صفار · كيوسوس |
I can now
- Conjugate terjem, zelzel, ferfer.
- Form the reflexive with t-.
- Use 7mar, sfar, byad.
- Read a classical fable cold.