Table of Contents

Foreword: Circles in the Jemaa el Fna xiii
Author’s Note
Acknowledgements

Introduction

The Red Lantern
The King and His Prime Minister
The Gazelle with the Golden Horns
The Imam and the Wager
The Girl Who Fell in Love with the Hermit
The Birth of the Sahara
The Trials of Noureddine
The Sultan and His Vizier’s Wife
The Queen and the King, the Son of Amelkani
Nour and the Sultan
The Laundryman and the Fountain
The Man Who Went Against His Father’s Wishes
The Vizier and the Chicken
The Fakir and the Frog
The Two Hunchbacks
El-Ghaliya Bent Mansour
The Land and the Treasure
The Statue and the Robber
The Tailor, the Princess and the Eagle
The Sultan and the Thief
The Eyes of Ben’Adi
The Shoemaker and the Bird
The Vizier and the Barber
Seven Coins and a Donkey
The Sultan’s Daughter and the Leper
The Nobleman and His Three Sons
The Vengeance of Allah
The Woman and the Black Cat
Aicha Rmada
The Traveller and the Pasha’s Daughter
The Girl from Fes
One Hundred and One Beheadings
The Three Figs
Suleiman, the Stork and the City of Gold
The Woman and the Devil
The Bird from the Land of Gabour
The Pomegranate and the Talking Drum
The Date Gatherers
The Rich Woman and the Sacks of Corn

Postscript

Promotional Information

Marrakech is the heart and lifeblood of Morocco's ancient storytelling tradition. For nearly a thousand years, storytellers have gathered in the Jemaa el Fna, the legendary square of the city, to recount ancient folktales and fables to rapt audiences.

About the Author

Richard Hamilton has worked for the BBC World Service as a broadcast journalist since 1998, including being a correspondent in Morocco, South Africa and Madagascar. He also reports for BBC TV, radio and online. Whilst living in Morocco, he co-authored the Time Out Guide to Marrakech and has written throughout his career for magazines and newspapers such as Conde Nast Traveller and The Times. He has an MA in African Studies from SOAS.

Reviews

Inspiring . . . brilliantly illustrates an ancient oral tradition in my country. I cannot but commend your untiring, meticulous work. Building on stories gathered directly from some of our most renowned storytellers, you have introduced readers to a time-honoured Moroccan tradition.
*Mohammed VI, King of Morocco*

Charming, fantastical and lively collection. Like a genie emerging from a flask, The Last Storytellers produces a startling amount of pleasure from some very small packages.... Both men [author and interpreter] deserve much praise for the successful outcome of this endeavour.
*Times Literary Supplement*

Hamilton presents readers with a precious gift: a collection of content not quite like anything we have ever heard or seen before. Readers who might never reach Marrakech can find their own oasis by making a cup of mint tea and giving thanks for these enchanting stories rescued from oblivion.
*New York Journal of Books*

Think of this as a collection of Grimm’s fairy tales with plenty of added North African charm.
*Lonely Planet*

Hamilton does not only offer his readers a valuable, enchanting, interesting and entertaining read but also launches a cri de coeur to rescue this vanishing and traditional form of storytelling as it slowly falls into the abyss of forgetfulness.
*North South Magazine*

This is addictive material.
*The National*

A truly remarkable piece of literature.
*Essential Travel Blog*