Sidi Fadl was a young cavalryman from the Army of King Muhamad. One day, he was riding his white precious horse by the wall of the Royal Palace when he noticed that the beautiful princess was carefully looking at him from her window. Their eyes met for a second and for that same moment, the princess felt in her heart that she had to meet at once that handsome young cavalryman.
She sent one of her maids with a message to the young man saying: “ for the next party held in the Royal Palace, you should dress as a woman and join the group of my ladyservants ; in this way you will have access to my private chamber and we will be able to be together alone”.
The young man did what was told and when he got into the princess´chamber , she came close to him and greeted him in this way: “ God has sent you to me”. The young rider answered: “ All I want in my life is your love”
The two lovers spent three days and nights locked in the chamber, loving each other passionately. On the third day, Sidi Fadl abandoned the chamber furtively, leaving behind his sword.
The same King, walking along the palace, found this sword and fearing the worst with his daughter, had an urgent meeting with his noble warriors to identify the owner of the sword.
All of them denied the ownership of the sword but one of them informed the King that Sidi Fadl had recently bought a new arm. He was called in the King´s presence.
- “ Do you know whose sword is this?”- he asked to Sidi Fadl.
- “ I ignore it, my Lord”- he answered.
But the King insisted on.
- “ Why did you have a new sword made for you?”.
- “ My Lord, the old one broke one day and I had to get a new one”.
The King let him go with these words: - “ Go in peace till God send you to me again”.
Next day, the King went to visit his daughter into her chamber and he noticed an unusual smell in the room.
- “ Why does your chamber smell so nice, my daughter?”- the King asked the princess.
- “ I had precious incences burnt in the place, father”- the princess answered with a blush in her face.
- “ Have you met anyone here in your chamber?”- he went on questioning her.
And seeing how the princess denied this vehemently, he lef her trying to calm her with these words: “ I did not want to offend you, my daughter”.
Some days later, the King was having a walk in the royal garden when he noticed a rose of strange beauty. After admiring the rose for a long time, he asked his noble councellors:
- “What do you think this rose resemble to?”.
- “ It looks like your face, my Lord”- one of the nobleman answered.
- “ It looks like your costumes, my King “- other nobleman replied.
The third nobleman compared it to his shining sword and when the it came the turn to Sidi Fadl, he said: “ Only the face of your daughter can be compared to the perfection of this rose, my Lord”.
Infuriated with this answer, the King had Sidi Fadl captured and beheaded. The princess was at her window and could see the execution of her lover and cried to her father: “ You have killed him without the possibility of a fair trial with judges or wisemen” . And she thew herself from the window.
The King ordered to bury the corpes of the two lover in the furthest opposite sides of the city. Short after, two tall , graceful palm trees grew up from their tombs and their leaves bound together over the buldings and walls of the city. The King ordered to cut down these palm tress but it was of no use. Their palm leaves grew up again and again to meet and enlace together.
Desperate, the King offered a fortune to the one who could destroy such an offensive and defying sign of love.
Only a Jew could come with a solution to undo the enchantment: he asked for a quantity of tar and after cutting down again the palm trees, he poured the boiling liquid over the tombs. Suddenly, two streams of pure and crystal-clear water came out from their tombs running in opposite directions to meet together in the center of the city, where they stayed forever and ever.
Note: this tale is one of the favourite ones among bereber couples and it is well-known in all the Atlas lands.
