did not want to le v'
else could equal. He loved
Seeing them gave him a pleasure nothing
his mother more than anything in the world. He could not imagine
existing without her even for a moment. Khadija played the role of a
's life, despite the impudence of her tongue and
second mother i.n^hr Aisha, although she never went out of her
the bite of her t¢,,.t
way to help anyone, loved him deeply, and he reciprocated her love
totally. He would not take a drink of water from the jug without
asking her to drink first. Then he would put his lips on the place she
had drunk from.
As it did every evening, this gathering lasted until about eight,
when the two girls rose, said good night to their mother, and went
to their bedroom. At that, the boy hurried to finish reading his lesson.
Then he took his religion textbook and moved next to his mother on
her sofa. He told her temptingly, "Today we heard a commentary on
a fantastic sura you'll really like."
The woman sat up and replied reverently and devoutly, "All the
words of our Lord are fantastic."
He was pleased by her interest. A feeling of bliss and power he
experienced only during this final lesson of the day coursed through
him. Indeed he found in this religion lesson more than one reason to
be happy. For at least half of it he had the role of teacher. So far as
he was able, he would attempt to recall whatever he could about his
teacher's bearing and gestures and the feeling of power and superiority
he projected. In the other half of the lesson he would find enjoyment
in the memories and legends she related to him. Throughout
it all he would have his mother completely to himself.
Kamal looked in the book almost conceitedly. Then he recited, "in
the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Say: It has been
revealed to me that a group of the jinn listened in. They said, 'We
have heard a wondrous Qur'an. It provides guidance to correct decisions.
We declare our belief in it and shall worship our Lord exclutively."
(72:1-2.) He recited "The ]inn" through the twenty-eighth
His mother's eyes had an apprehensive and anxious look. She had
warned him against uttering the words "jinn" and "afreet" as a precaution
against dangers, some of which she mentioned in order to
frighten him and others she withheld out of concern and circumspec
Naguib Mahfou
tion. She did not know what to do when he reeited one of
dangerous names in a holy sura. Indeed, she did not even know
to do to prevent him from memorizing this sura or what she
do if, as usual, he invited her to memorize it with hiva.
detected this anxiety in her face. He was overcome by a eraf
sure. He recited the passage several times, emphatically
the dangerous word while he observed her anxiety. He
would ultimately express her concern apologetically, but her
was so intense that she took refuge in silence.
He began to repeat the commentary to her the way he had
it until he suggested, "So you see that some of the jinn
the Qur'an and believed in it; perhaps the ones living in our
are some of these Muslim jinn. Otherwise, why have they
all this time?"
The woman replied rather uneasily, "Perhaps they are, bu
possible some others are mixed in with them. So it would be best
us not to repeat their names."
"There's nothing to fear in repeating the word. That's wht
teacher said."
His mother stared at him critically and said, "The teacher d
know everything."
"Even if the name is in a sacred verse?"
Confronted by his question she felt upset but found hersdf for
to respond, "The word of our Lord is a blessing in its entirety."
Kamal was satisfied and continued with his account of the
mentary: "Our shaykh also says their bodies are made of fire!"
Her anxiety became extreme. She implored God's protection
invoked His name a number of times.
Kamal continued talking: "I asked the shaykh if the Musl
among them would enter paradise. He said, 'Yes.' I also asked
how they could, if their bodies are made of fire. He replied shar[
that God can do anything."
"May His might be exalted."
He gazed at her with concern and then asked, "If we meet them
paradise, won't their fire burn us?"
The woman smiled and said confidently and devoudy, "There
no harm or fear there."
The boy's eyes wandered dreamily. Then he changed the cout.
of the conversation suddenly by asking, "Will we see God in the ne
world with our eyes?"
pALACE wALK
answered with the same confidence and devotion,
"is mother
-, be no doubt of it."
r*.. --,e. There.". lance like rays of light smmng
"ya.ShrnWeesds til:slamslf when hoocOsUlodnemGo°red
t,,t'uht, the da.., "a,.ar. Abruptly shifting t p
,hat form would lie Fe
afraid of God?"
ske¢l his mother, "Is my father
She was astonished and said incredulously, "What a strange ques
man, a believer who fears his Lord."
n Son, your father is a pious.
' "
't
n°prplexed, he shook his head and said in a subdued voice, I can
imagine my father being afraid of anything."
His moth,e,r shouted in censure: "May god forgive you God
forgive you. He
apologized for what he had said with a tender smile. Then he
invited her to memorize the new sura. They proceeded to recite it
together, verse by verse, and repeat it. When they thought they had
accomlflished as much as they could, the boy rose to go to his bed
She stayed with him until he had slipped under the covers of his
little bed. Placing her hand on his forehead, she recited the Throne
Verse from the Qur'an about God's all-encompassing, watchful care
(2:255). She leaned over and kissed his cheek. He put his arms
around her neck and gave her a long kiss that came from the depths
of his small heart.
She always had trouble getting away from him when she said good night. He would use every trick he knew to keep her beside him for
the longest time possible, even if he did not get her to stay till he fell
asleep in her arms. He had found that the best way to attain his goal was to ask her to recite, when she finished the Throne Verse, a second
and a third verse with her hand on his head. If he perceived she
was excusing herself with a smile, he would implore her to continue,
citing his fear of being alone in the room or the bad dreams he would
have unless there was a lengthy recitation of sacred verses. He might
go so far in trying to retain her as to pretend to be sick. He found
nothing wrong in these stratagems. He was certain that they did not
even compensate for a sacred right which had been violated in the
most atrocious way the day he was unjustly and forcibly separated
from his mother and brought to this solitary bed in his brother's
room.
How often he remembered with sorrow the time not so far distant
when he and his mother shared a bed. He would fall asleep, his head
Naguib Mahfou{
resting on her arm, while she filled his ear with the
gentle voice recounting stories of the prophets and saints. I'I
be asleep before his father returned from his night out and wa
after the man had risen to bathe. He would not seen anyone e
his mother. The world belonged to him and he had no rival,
blind decree that made no sense had separated them. He had
to her to see what impact his banishment had made on her.
How startled he had been by her encouragement, which,
that she agreed with the decision. She had congratulated hi
"Now you've become a man. You have a right to a bed of you Who said it would make him happy to become a man or
craved a bed of his own? Although he had soaked his first
pillow with his tears and warned his mother he would never
her so long as he lived, he had never dared slip back into his
bed. He knew that behind that treacherous, tyrannical action e
his father's unalterable will. How sad he had been. The
sorrow embittered his dreams How furious he had been
mother, not just because it was impossible for him to be fu
his father but because she was the last person he thoughl
disappoint his hopes. She knew, though, how to appease him
gradually cheer him up.
At first she took care not to leave him until sleep made er
him. She would tell him, "We haven't been separated the
claim. Don't you see that we're together? We'll
Nothing but sleep will separate us. It did that even when we
one bed."
Now the sorrow had sunk below the surface of" his emotions.
had accepted his new life, although he would not allow her to lea
until he had used up all- his tricks to make her stay the longest
sible time. He held her hand as avidly as a child grasping hi
when other children,are trying to snatch it away. She kept on verses from the Qur an with a hand on his head until sleep took
by surprise.
he
She bade him good night with a tender smile and went to t
room. She opened the door gently and looked toward the
shape of the bed on the right. She asked softly, "Are o, "
asleep?"
She could hear Khadiia's voice reply, "How can I fall asleep
Miss Aisha's snoring fills the room?"
one
Then Asha's voice was heard, orotesting sleepily, No.
ever heard me snore. She keeps me "awake with her constant
pALACE WALK
Their mother said critically, "Have you forgotten my advice to
cease your banter when it's time to go to sleep?"
She closed the door again and went to the study. She knocked on
the door gently. Then she opened it and poked her head in to ask
¢itb a smile, "Do you need anything, sir?"
Fahmy raised his head from the book and thanked her, his face
aglow with a charming smile. She closed the door and crossed the
sitting room to the outer hall, before climbing the stairs to the top
floor, where her husband's bedroom was. The Qur'an verses she was
reciting preceded her.
When Yasin left the house he naturally knew where he was'
since he went there every evening. He appeared, however
no idea where he was heading. He was always like this when,
in the street. He went along slowly in a friendly, complaisant m
He strutted vainly and proudly, as though never forgetting for
ment his enormous body, his face radiating vitality and
his elegant garments that received more than their fair share of
tion, the fly whisk with its ivory handle that never left his
winter or summer, and his tall fez tilted to the right so it 1
touched his eyebrows.
As he walked, he was also in the habit of lifting his eyes b
his head to spy out what might just possibly be hiding behil
windows. By the time he got to the end of a street he wou
dizzy from moving his eyes around so much. His passion f,
women he encountered was an incurable malady. He ' "
as they approached and gazed after their bodies as they drew
He would get as agitated as a raging bull and then forget hims
could no longer conceal his intentions discreetly. In time Unch
anayn, the barber, Hajj Darwish, who sold beans, al-Fuli, the
man, al-Bayumi, the drinks vendor, Abu Sari', who roasted
snacks, and others like them noticed what was happening. S¢
them joked about it, and others criticized him. The fact that t
Abd al-Jawad was a neighbor and highly regarded by them gave m=
a reason to close their eyes and pardon Yasin.
The young man's vital forces were so powerful that they doT
nated him if he was otherwise at liberty At no time did they
him any relief from their proddings. He continually felt their tongue,
burning against his senses and consciousness They were like a ji
on his back, guiding him wherever it wished. All the same it was
a jinni that frightened or upset him. He did not wish to be freed fr0tt
it. In fact, he might even have desired more like it.
His iinni quickly disappeared and chaned into a gentle angel wh°s
he approached his father's store. There e kept his eyes to.hi..
walked
and walked normally. He was pohte and modest. He
pALACE wALK
the door of.tge---s et those of his father, who.sat.beh-i.nd his desk.
swered his.gr gc smile as though he had received an unparalleled
as delighted with.....
boon.
The fact was that his father's accustomed violence, even though
it had undergone a noticeable change since the youth joined the corps
of government employees, still remained in Yasin's opinion a form
of violence moderated by civility. The bureaucrat had not freed
himself from his former fear, which had filled his heart when he
was a schoolboy. He had never outgrown his feeling that he was
the son and the other man the father. Huge as he was, he could
not help feeling tiny in his father's presence, like a sparrow that
would tremble if a pebble fell. As soon as he got past his father's
store and safely out of sight, Yasin's airs returned. His eyes began
to flutter about again, not discriminating between fine ladies and
women who sold down palm fruit and oranges on the street. The
jinni controlling him was wild about women in general. It was unassuming
and equally fond of refined and humble women. Although
they resembled the ground on which they sat in their color and filth,
even the women who sold down palm fruit and oranges occasionally
possessed some beautiful feature. They might have rounded breasts
or eyes decorated with kohl. What more could his jinni wish for
than that?
He headed toward the Goldsmiths Bazaar and then to al-Ghuriya.
He turned into ai-Sayyid Ali's coffee shop on the corner of al-Sanadiqiya.
It resembed a store of medium size and had a door on al
Sanadiqiya and a window with bars overlooking ai-Ghuriya. There
were some padded benches arranged in the corners. Yasin took his
place on the bench under the window. It had been his favorite for
weeks. He ordered tea. He sat where he could look out the window
easily without arousing suspicion. He could glance up whenever he
wished at a small window of a house on the other side of the street.
It was quite possibly the only shuttered window that had not been
carefully closed. This oversight was not surprising since the window
belonged to the residence of Zubayda the chanteuse. Yasin was not
ready for the chanteuse herself. He would need to pass patiently and
persistently through many more stages of wantonness before he
could aspire to her. He was watching for Zanuba to appear. She was
Naguib Mahfou
Zubayda's foster daughter. She played the lute and was a
star in the troupe.
The period of his employment with the government was a ti!g,
full of memories and came to him after the long, obligatory asceticisln
he had endured out of respect for his father and the frighteni
shadow he cast on his life. Thereafter, he had plunged into the.F.°
kiya entertainment district like water down the falls, in spite of
harassment of the soldiers brought to Cairo by the winds of wa
Then the Australians appeared on the field, and Y asin had b
obliged to forsake his places of amusement to escape their brutality.
He had been at his wits' eld and had begun to roam the alleys of
neighborhood like a madman. The greatest pleasure he could..ho
for was a woman selling oranges or a gypsy fortuneteller.
Then one day he had seen Zanuba and, dumbfounded, had f4
lowed her home. lie had confronted her time after time but had
most nothing to show for it. She was a woman, and to him eve
woman was desirable. Moreover, she was beautiful and so he
wild about her. Even when his eyes were wide open, love for hi
was nothing but blind desire. It was the most elevated form of low
he knew.
He looked out between the bars at the empty window with su
apprehension and anxiety that he forgot what he was doing and
hot tea without waiting for it to cool. He swallowed some
himself. He started to breathe out and put the glass back on the
tray. He glanced about at the other patrons as though implying
their loud voices had disturbed him so much they were
for his accident and the reason that Zanuba had not appeared
window.
"Where could that cursed woman be?" he wondered. "Is she
on purpose? She must certainly know I'm here. She may even
seen me arrive. If she continues to play the coquette right to the
end she'll make today one more day of torture."
He resumed his stealthy looks at the other men sitting there
whether any of them had noticed. He found they were all
in their endless conversations. He was relieved and looked back at
his targeted site, but the train of his thoughts was interrupted
memories of the troubles he had encountered during the day at
school. The headmaster had questioned the honesty of a meat distributor
and had undertaken an investigation in which Yasin, as
school secretary, had participated. Then he had appeared a little slack.
in his work, and the headmaster had scolded him. That had spoiled
PALACE WALK
the remainder of the day for him and made him think of complaining
about the man to his father, for the two men were old friends. The
only problem was he feared his father might be rougher on him than
his boss.
"Get rid of these stupid ideas," he advised himself. "We're done
with the school and the headmaster, curses on them. What I'm being
put through by that smart-ass bitch, who's too stingy to let me see
her, is enough for now."
Dreams of naked women began to swarm through his mind. Such
visions frequently played on the stage of his imagination when he
was looking at a woman or trying to remember her. They were created
by a rash emotion that stripped bodies of their coverings and
revealed them naked the way God created them. This emotion did
not make an exception for his body either. His visions would progress
through all types of fun and games with nothing held back.
He had just sunk into these dreams when the voice of a driver
crying "whoa" to his donkey roused him. He looked in that direction
and saw a donkey cart standing in front of the singer's house. He
asked himself if the wagon might have come to carry the members
of the troupe to some wedding. He summoned the waiter and paid
him to be ready to leave at a moment's notice. Time passed while he
waited and watched.
Then the door of the house opened and one of the women from
the troupe emerged, leading a blind man. He was wearing a long
shirt, an overcoat, and dark glasses and carried a zitherlike qanun
under his arm. The woman climbed into the cart and took the qanun.
She grasped the blind man's hand while the driver helped him from
the other side till he reached the woman. They sat next to each other
at the front of the wagon. They were followed immediately by a
second woman carrying a tambourine and a third with a parcel under
her arm. The women were concealed in their wraps but their faces
were visible. In place of long veils they were wearing short ones
embellished with brilliant colors that made them look like the candy
bride dolls sold at festivals. And then what?... With yearning eyes
and throbbing heart he saw the lute emerging from the door in its
red case.
Finally Zanuba appeared. The edge of her wrap was placed far
back on her head to reveal a crimson kerchief with little tassels. Beneath
it there gleamed laughing black eyes with glances full of merriment
and deviltry. She approached the wagon and held out the lute
to a Woman who took it. Zanuba raised a foot over the wheel. Yasin
Naguib Mahfou
craned his neck and gulped. He caught a glimpse of her
where it was fastened above her knee, and of a stretch of
leg. The pleasantly clear skin showed through the fringes of n
ange dress.
"If only this bench would sink into the ground with me about
meter. My Lord, her face is brown, but where it doesn't shol
skin is white, really white. So what do her thighs look like?
belly? Oh my goodness..."
Zanuba placed her hands on the top of the wagon and brace
self so she could get her knees on the edge. Then she began
onto the wagon on all fours. I
"Good God, good gracious... Oh, if only I were at the
her house or even in the shop of Muhammad the fez maker. Look
that son of a bitch staring at her ass with both eyes. After today I
ought to call himself Muhammad the Conqueror. O God... 0
liverer."
Her back started to straighten and she stood up on the
opened her wrap and, taking the two ends in her hands, sh0oki
repeatedly as though she were a bird flapping its wings. She
the black cloth around her skillfully to reveal the details of
features and articulations. It especially highlighted her full,
rump. Then she sat down at the rear of the wagon. Under the
sure of her weight, her buttocks were compressed and
to the right and left, making a fine cushion.
Yasin rose and left the coffee shop. He found that the wagoa
moved off. He followed after it clowly, gasping and
teeth in his excitement. The wagon proceeded on its way
dragging and swaying. The women on board were rocking back
forth. The young man trained his eyes on the lute player's
He followed her motions so closely that after a while he
she was dancing. Darkness was engulfing the narrow street.
the shops had begun to close their doors. Most of the people
street were workers returning to their homes, drained of
Between the weary crowds and the darkness Yasin found ample
portunity to devote himself to looking and dreaming in peace
quiet.
"O God, may this street never end. May this dancing
never cease. What a royal rump combining both arrogance and
ciousness. A wretch like me can almost feel its softness and its
hess both, merely by looking. This wonderful crack separating
two halves--you can almost hear the cloth covering it talk
PALACE WALK
p.nd what can't be seen is even better.... Now 1 understand why
some men pray four prostrations before bedding a bride. Isn't this a
dome? Why, yes, and under the dome lies the shaykh in his tomb.
I'm certainly a devotee of this shaykh. Hear me, Shaykh Adawi!"
Yasin cleared his throat as the wagon approached Mutawalli Gate,
known as Bab al-Zuwayla. Zanuba turned around. He saw her, and
she saw him. It seemed to him he could detect the hint of a smile on
her lips when she turned her head away. His heart beat violently,
and an intoxicating, fiery pleasure penetrated his consciousness. The
wagon went through Mutawalli Gate and then turned left. At that
point the young man was forced to stop, since nearby he saw telltale
decorations, lights, and a cheering crowd. He drew back a little, his
eyes never leaving the lute player. He watched her avidly as she
descended to the ground. She tossed a playful look his way and
headed for the wedding party. She disappeared through the door in
a clamor of joyous ululation. He sighed passionately and was overcome
by a furious perplexity. He seemed anxious, as though he did
not know which way to turn.
"God curse the Austra[ians! Where are you, Ezbekiya, for me to
disperse my care and sorrow in you and draw a little patience from
you?"
He turned on his heels, muttering, "To the only consolation left
... to Costaki." No sooner had he mentioned the name of the Greek
grocer than his head began to perspire, longing for the intoxication
of drink. Wine and women in his life were inseparable and complementary.
It was in the company of a woman that he had first gotten
a taste for wine. By force of habit it had become one of the valued
ingredients and sources of" pleasure for him. All the same, it was not
always granted that the two, wine and women, came together. Many
nights were devoid of women, and he had no choice but to relieve
his anguish with drink. Over the course of time as the habit became
established he seemed almost to have fallen in love with wine for its
own sake.
He returned by the route he had come and made his way to the
grocery store of Costaki at the head of New Street. [t was a large
saloon. The front was a grocery store and the inner room a bar; a
Small door connected the two. He stopped at the entrance, mixing
with the customers, while examining the street to see if his father was
in the vicinity. Then he headed for the small interior door, but he
had scarcely taken a step when he noticed in front of him a man
Standing by the scales while Mr. Costaki himself weighed a large
Naguib Mahfou
parcel for him. Involuntarily he turned his head toward the
Yasin's face immediately became gloomy. A rude tremor
through his body, making his heart contract with fear and disg
There was nothing in the man's appearance to inspire these
emotions. He was in his sixth decade and was wearing a loose
and a turban. His mustache was white and gave him a noble, g
Дата добавления: 2015-09-29; просмотров: 24 | Нарушение авторских прав
| <== предыдущая лекция | | | следующая лекция ==> |