••••Marriage without the dowry is like an animal without a pack saddle••••He who says that a wedding is easy [to pay for] should only serve water••••Marry a short one, when you cut clothes for her it won’t be a problem••••She is like a needle that sews clothes for others but is herself naked••••
-Wit and Wisdom in Morocco (1930), proverbs collected by Edward Westermarck
We were told to get in touch with Amal when we arrived in Fez. She would take David to the shops and artisans in the medina where he would take photographs for the magazine, to illustrate an article on the marriage regalia- wedding kaftans, head-coverings, pillow cases, bed throws- custom-ordered for a Fassi bride’s trousseau.
Amal was a teacher at the American Center and a very striking person- tall, clad in tight jeans, her hair honey-colored and uncovered, and in a hurry. She rushed us through the medina’s low-stepped and cobble-stoned streets swarming with shoppers, deliverymen, and pack mules.
••••Don’t marry a rich woman, she will treat you arrogantly and say, Fetch water••••The wife of a poor man is despised even though she dresses in silver and gold.••••Don’t marry an old woman even if you will eat with her pigeon and lamb••••Marry a woman of noble birth [even if poor] and sleep on a mat••••
Passementerie is a French word, for the passements sewn by 16th C. Parisian artists trained in a seven year apprenticeship to make the wardrobe for king and court, but today the word springs to life in the hands of Moroccan needle artisans, especially those in Fez. Threaded round buttons, tassels, fringes, borders, trimmings and edgings, galloons, rosettes, gimps, and pompons- these are the passements that beautify a Fassi bride.
Walking through the medina heading for the needle workers souk, Amal did not slow down. There were silk thread bobbins and folded satin base fabrics in all colors. Custom dyers unwound the bobbins and stretched out the hundred meters of thread to hang from overhead hooks along the souk’s winding passageways- as if guiding the rescue and return of a bride like Ariadne from her dark dungeon.
••••Don’t marry a tall woman, her clothes and underwear will embarrass you••••Not even a dog runs away from a house where there is a wedding••••The native of Fez when he swears is like a donkey when it feeds••••
Amal got us to where she had to go, not once losing herself in all the twists and culs-de-sac. But she must have heard an imprecation from the shadow- why was an uncovered woman running through the souk trailed by two Americans? From her mouth poured a volcanic retort of the foulest proverbs and most guttural curses to ever shame Westermarck in all his field research. She was hurried in both word and deed, and now all the world knew it. Fassi brides bow to no man.
