Salem Zenia (Algeria/Spain), born in 1962 in Fréha, Tizi-Ouzou, is an Amazigh writer, poet, and novelist. He studied in Fréha, later attending Azazga High School before pursuing journalism at the Université Libre de Liège, Belgium. He has worked as a journalist for several publications and has been actively involved in Amazigh cultural and political movements. In 1998, he founded Racines/Izuran, a French/Tamazight bilingual biweekly newspaper dedicated to the promotion of Berber culture and literature, earning him an honorary diploma from the Tamazgha Association in Paris. Zenia has published the poetry collections Les Rêves de Yidir / Tirga n Yidir (The Dreams of Yidir, 1993) and Printemps / Tifeswin (Spring, 2004), both in French-Tamazight bilingual editions, as well as the novels Tafrara (Dawn, 1995) and Iɣil d Wefru (Power and Sword, 2003). All of his works were published in Paris by L’Harmattan.

 

 

 

English

 

…The lions went in search of the jackal. When they look for him in the forest, they tell them thatthe jackal has been seen in the plain. When they look for him on the plain, they tell them that he has just returned to the forest. Some swear they have even seen him flying through the air in the company of the stork. The jackal is nowhere to be seen, and no one knows where he is hiding. What they don't know is that he spied on them and watched them during all the searches organised to locate him. He saw everything, he knew everything. He was scared. He knows himself, he's a criminal, he's a killer and a scavenger. He thought that if they were looking for him,
it was to put an end to his existence.One day, the lions went hunting and left their game behind. They hid behind the bushes. Thejackal, whose belly was bigger than his body, slowly approached the unattended game without
making a sound. Suddenly, to his great surprise, he found himself in the middle of the lions who were waiting for him. After all the running and hiding to save his skin, he finally found himself inthe middle of the lions, his belly suddenly empty. -Don't be afraid, jackal! We've come in peace and for peace's sake, we're not going to hurt you.
As you well know, you were also present, like all the other animals, on the day when the Lion Kingwas appointed to reign over the Land (Taferka).

-That's right! I was there too....And then...?

-And then... Reigning is done with paws and brains... The King is asking you to join him with your
ideas and cunning, he needs it badly.

-Why don't you offer him the fox, the cockerel, the hedgehog, the greyhound... They're cleverer
than me, even more cunning than me. What's more, they're clean, they haven't committed any
crime. Whereas I'm a killer, a scavenger...

-The king chose you, he's wise and clever... he knows what he's doing!
-And if I decline the invitation..., I refuse?

-If you refuse... The lion king's claws are like bayonets... What's more, you're the only winner if
you join him: if he kills, you'll eat with him, if he's killed, you'll eat from him.

The jackal is very worried, he bows his head, silent. It's true, the lion's claws are like bayonets...

He who loves freedom more than life bows down, accepting the offer in spite of himself. He
started walking ahead of them in the middle of the path towards the big tree where the lion king
has his habits.

 

 

In this text, animals speak instead of human beings. In a clannish society where force rules instead of law, and reason is always that of the strongest. In this text, the roles are reversed: the savage is not always who you think he is. The protagonists follow a cyclical path to survival. Fierce attempts aremade to break out of the closed circle, only to return desperately return to the starting point. The big question is: resistance or resignation, which is the right way?

 

Translated  by the Author.

 

 

 

 

Berber

 

 

Ffɣen yizmawen ad nadin ɣef uccen. Mi t-nudan di teẓgi ad sen-d-inin yeffeɣ s azaɣar, mi t-nudan deg uzaɣar ad sen-d-inin yudef tiẓgi. Kra nnan-asen walant maḍi di tegnaw kra n wass yuffeg netta d ibellirej. Uccen ur iban anida yedreg. Ziɣen kra ttnadin fell-as ɣef tiṭ-is. Yuggad-iten. Yessen imanis d bu tmegraḍ yerna d bu iɣerrusen. Yiɣill imi ttnadin fell-as yewweḍ-d wass-is. Yiwen wass rẓan yizmawen, sersen ɣer tama tagemmart nsen, ffren iman-nsen. Uccen tugar-it tadist-is, ittaẓ, ittaẓ, s uxatel, ar almi i d-yufa iman-is di tlemmast nsen. Kra yerwel, kra yeffer, yaf-diman-is di tlemmast n terkeft n yizmawn, imir imir ẓẓmen-d iẓerman-is. —Ur ttaggad ay uccen! Nusa-d ɣur-k s tin n talwit… am akken teẓriḍ, tḥedreḍ telliḍ, ibedd-dugellid ad igelled ɣef Tferka…

—S tidet! Ḥedreɣ lliɣ…imir…?

—Imir…tagelda s iɣallen d wallaɣen…isuter-ik-id ugellid ad s-tiliḍ ɣer tama ama s tektiwin-ik,
ama s txidas-ik.

—Innet-as i ubareɣ, innet-as i uyaziḍ, innet-as i inisi, innet-as i wuccay… ifen-iyi tiktiwin, ifeniyi
tixidas yerna d izedganen. Wama nekkini d bu-iɣerrusen, d bu-tmegraḍ….

—D keččini i d-isuter ugellid, netta yessen…

—I ma ggummaɣ?
—Ma tugiḍ… accaren n yizem am tefrut…yerna keččini teffeɣ fell-ak ma teddiḍ d yizem: mayenɣa ad teččeḍ yid-s ma nɣan-t ad t-teččeḍ deg-s.Uccen innuɣna, yebra i tmeẓẓuɣin-is, isusem. S tidet accaren n yizem am tefrut… netta irantudert yerna ira tilelli, yunez-asen. Yezwar s dat-sen d abrid ɣer tasaft anida iteẓẓel ugellid, ad yuɣald amṛayi ɣas yugi wul-is. Gar-as d yiman-is yeggul ar d ad yuɣal d amciṭni.