The daughters of the camels

Radwan told me a nice story yesterday. Veteran horse expert and merchant ‘Abd al-Qadir Hammami once asked the Shammar Bedouin breeder Bardan Ibn Jlaidan why the younger generations of his Kuhaylat ‘Ajuz were smaller in size and scope than the older generation. Bardan Ibn Jlaidan replied, with a Bedouin accent that Hammami loved to imitate: Hadink banat al-bil: “The others were the daughters of the camels“, meaning that they were raised on camel milk. The story is from fifty years ago at least.