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ne day, Binta and her two friends
were returning to camp with their
goats when they spotted a tafaka,
an unusually beautiful lizard, sunning
itself on a rock. The tafaka was
heavily pregnant. Taking pity on the
lizard, Binta offered to help with the
birth. A few weeks later, a stranger
appeared at Binta’s tent and told her
that Tafaka was ready to give birth
and had summoned her. Binta did not
know anyone called Tafaka, but she
followed the stranger. Instantly, the
two arrived at a luxurious tent. Inside
was a very beautiful, pregnant woman.
Binta did not recognize her. It was,
in fact, a djinn that had shown itself as the pregnant lizard sunning itself on
a rock. Binta helped care for Tafaka and stayed with the djinns for 40 days,
learning much about their powers. When she returned to her camp, word
spread about her adventures. One day a handsome young man appeared at
Binta’s tent looking for a wife. For a bride, Binta knew there could be no human
more beautiful than a djinn. She summoned one to be the stranger’s wife, and
peace was declared between man and djinn. That is why, to this day, the women
of Aïr are as lovely as fairies, with hair as long and black as crow’s wings.
They are all the children of djinns.
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