Lesson 96 · C1

The halqa

In Marrakesh's Jemaa el-Fna square, as evening falls, a man draws a circle with his voice: come closer, listen, I'll tell you… It's the halqa, the storyteller's ring, recognised by UNESCO as oral heritage in 2001. Its grammar is that of any good anecdote: past told in the present, the audience addressed, and the ending always saved for tomorrow.

Tell a story in the narrative present.
Address an audience.
Build suspense.
Read and perform a halqa opening.

Twenty-four words

Openings and suspense, audience formulas, the square, the tale and the stage.

Telling

كَانْ يَا مَا كَانْ kan ya ma kan once upon a time
وَاحْدْ النّْهَارْ wa7ed n-nhar one day
وْ فْجْأَة u fej'a and suddenly
وْ شْنُو وْقَعْ؟ u shnu wqe3? and what happened?
تْسَنَّاوْ tsennaw wait (you all)
Plural: to the audience.

To the audience

سْمْعُو sem3u listen (you all)
آ الْحَاضْرِينْ a l-7adrin ladies and gentlemen
“O you who are present”.
غَادِي نْحْكِي لِيكُمْ ghadi n7ki likum I'm going to tell you
قْرّْبُو qerrbu come closer
صَلِّيوْ عْلَى النّْبِي salliw 3la n-nbi pray for the Prophet
Formula to call for attention.

The square

الْحَلْقَة l-7alqa the ring; halqa
الْحْلَايْقِي l-7layqi street storyteller
جْمَعْ الْفْنَا Jem3 l-Fna Jemaa el-Fna
السَّاحَة s-sa7a square
الْبَرَكَة l-baraka donation
“The blessing”.

The tale

الْحْكَايَة l-7kaya tale
حْكَى 7ka to tell (a tale)
الْبَطَلْ l-batal hero
السُّلْطَانْ s-sultan sultan
الْغُولَة l-ghula ogress
Folk-tale character.

The stage

الْمَسْرَحْ l-masra7 theatre
الْمُونُولُوغْ l-monolog monologue
الْجُّمْهُورْ j-jumhur audience
ضْحَّكْ de77ek to make laugh

The past, in the present

Four lines from the storyteller. The tale happened long ago. What tense does he tell it in?

كَيْدْخُلْ السُّلْطَانْ لْلسُّوقْ، وْ كَيْشُوفْ وَاحْدْ الشّْيْخْkaydkhul s-sultan l s-suq, u kayshuf wa7ed sh-shikh
كَيْقُولْ لِيهْ: آ الشّْيْخْ، بْشْحَالْ هَادْ الْحْكْمَة؟kayqul lih: a sh-shikh, b sh7al had l-7ekma?
وْ الشّْيْخْ كَيْضْحَكْ… وْ شْنُو قَالْ لِيهْ؟u sh-shikh kayde7k… u shnu qal lih?
تْسَنَّاوْ، آ الْحَاضْرِينْ، غْدَّا نْكْمْلُوtsennaw, a l-7adrin, ghedda nkemmlu

Why kaydkhul and not dkhel? Who is line 4 addressed to?

The rule

Narrative present: story events in the ka- present: kaydkhul s-sultan, kayshuf wa7ed sh-shikh, kayqul lih… The audience watches it happen.

Opening: kan ya ma kan; inside the tale, wa7ed n-nhar.

Audience: plural imperatives: qerrbu, sem3u, tsennaw; vocative a l-7adrin.

Suspense: a question to the air: u shnu wqe3?, then a cut: ghedda nkemmlu.

Consistency: once in the present, the whole scene stays there.

The storyteller's voice

Form	Say it	Means
كَانْ يَا مَا كَانْ، وَاحْدْ السُّلْطَانْ…	kan ya ma kan, wa7ed s-sultan…	once upon a time there was a sultan…
كَيْجِي الرَّاجْلْ، كَيْقُولْ لِيهْ…	kayji r-rajel, kayqul lih…	so the man comes and says to him… (narrative present)
جَا الرَّاجْلْ وْ قَالْ لِيهْ…	ja r-rajel u qal lih…	the man came and said to him… (past)
سْمْعُو آ الْحَاضْرِينْ، غَادِي نْحْكِي لِيكُمْ	sem3u a l-7adrin, ghadi n7ki likum	listen, ladies and gentlemen, I'll tell you
وْ فْجْأَة… شْنُو وْقَعْ؟ تْسَنَّاوْ!	u fej'a… shnu wqe3? tsennaw!	and suddenly… what happened? wait!
قْرّْبُو، قْرّْبُو، الْحَلْقَة غَادِي تْبْدَا	qerrbu, qerrbu, l-7alqa ghadi tebda	come closer, the show's starting
اللِّي عَنْدُو شِي بَرَكَة، اللَّهْ يْخْلْفْ	lli 3ndu shi baraka, llah ykhlef	whoever has something, God repay you
غْدَّا نْكْمْلُو، إِنْ شَاءَ اللَّهْ	ghedda nkemmlu, inshallah	tomorrow we'll carry on, God willing

Rows 2 and 3: the same scene; row 2 puts it in front of the audience.

What English gives you, and what it costs

Free: “so this guy walks in and says…”: English jokes use the same historic present.

Free: “once upon a time” = kan ya ma kan.

Costly: plural “you”. English “you” covers the crowd; Darija switches every verb to plural: sem3u, not sme3.

Your mistake, not someone else's

You start in the present and the past slips in mid-sentence. The audience loses the thread.

×كَيْدْخُلْ السُّلْطَانْ وْ شَافْ الشّْيْخْPresent and past mixed in one scene.

✓كَيْدْخُلْ السُّلْطَانْ وْ كَيْشُوفْ الشّْيْخْ“The sultan comes in and sees the old man”.

Switch tense between scenes, not within one.

The seller of words

A halqa opening written for this lesson, in the style of the Jemaa el-Fna storytellers. The halqa is oral and improvised: there are no free transcriptions. Read it aloud as if you had a crowd.

قْرّْبُو، قْرّْبُو آ الْحَاضْرِينْ! صَلِّيوْ عْلَى النّْبِي!

سْمْعُو، غَادِي نْحْكِي لِيكُمْ حْكَايَة مَا سْمْعْتُوهَا عْمّْرْكُمْ.

كَانْ يَا مَا كَانْ، وَاحْدْ السُّلْطَانْ، كَيْخْرُجْ كُلّْ لِيلَة مْبَدّْلْ اللّْبَاسْ، بَاشْ يْسْمَعْ آشْ كَيْقُولُو النَّاسْ.

وَاحْدْ اللِّيلَة كَيْدْخُلْ لْلسُّوقْ، وْ كَيْشُوفْ شِيخْ جَالْسْ كَيْبِيعْ… الْكْلَامْ. نْعَمْ، الْكْلَامْ!

كَيْقُولْ لِيهْ السُّلْطَانْ: بْشْحَالْ الْكْلْمَة؟ كَيْقُولْ لِيهْ الشّْيْخْ: الْكْلْمَة بْأَلْفْ دِينَارْ، وْ مَا كَتْبَانْ قِيمْتْهَا غِيرْ مْنْ بْعْدْ.

وْ السُّلْطَانْ كَيْخْرّْجْ الْفْلُوسْ… وْ شْنُو قَالْ لِيهْ الشّْيْخْ؟ آهْ، آ الْحَاضْرِينْ!

اللِّي عَنْدُو شِي بَرَكَة، يْحْطّْهَا فْالْبْنْدِيرْ، اللَّهْ يْخْلْفْ عْلِيهْ. وْ غْدَّا نْكْمْلُو، إِنْ شَاءَ اللَّهْ!

The seller of words

Did you follow?

What did the sultan do every night?
Show answers
Went out in disguise to hear what people said.
What was the old man selling?
Show answers
Words.
How much was a word?
Show answers
A thousand dinars; its worth only shows later.
How does the storyteller end?
Show answers
He asks for donations and saves the ending for tomorrow.

Check

Two here, three more in the C1 book.

Exercises 1 and 2 are here, with answers. Exercises 3 to 5 are in the C1 book, the PDF this site lives on: you can see the first item of each below.

1Tell it in the present

Put into the narrative present or the audience plural.

دْخَلْ السُّلْطَانْ لْلسُّوقْ (حَاضِرْ حْكَايَة)
شَافْ الشّْيْخْ (حَاضِرْ حْكَايَة)
قَالْ لِيهْ (حَاضِرْ حْكَايَة)
سْمَعْ (لْلْجُّمْهُورْ)

2Fill the gap

With the storyteller's formula.

كان يا ما كانقربوتسناوالبركة

___، واحد الراجل فقير
___ آ الحاضرين، الحلقة بدات
و شنو وقع؟ ___!
اللي عندو ___، يحطها هنا

3True or false?

According to the tale.

The sultan went out in disguise.

The rest is in the C1 book

3 more items, with the answers.

The C1 book

4Put in order

Three halqa lines.

حكايةسمعوليكمغادينحكي

The rest is in the C1 book

2 more items, with the answers.

The C1 book

5Your halqa

Write the opening of a tale in eight sentences, narrative present, with audience and suspense.

كَانْ يَا مَا كَانْكَيْ…آ الْحَاضْرِينْوْ فْجْأَةتْسَنَّاوْ

The rest is in the C1 book

The C1 book

Show answers

1. Tell it in the present	كَيْدْخُلْ السُّلْطَانْ لْلسُّوقْ · كَيْشُوفْ الشّْيْخْ · كَيْقُولْ لِيهْ · سْمْعُو
2. Fill the gap	كان يا ما كان · قربو · تسناو · البركة

The C1 book: In preparation

Write and I will tell you the day it is out. One email, no list.

Tell me when it is out

I can now

Tell a story in the narrative present.
Address a crowd with sem3u, a l-7adrin.
Build suspense and save the ending.
Read a halqa aloud.