to make Khadija disinclined to let her sister escape from her grasp so
soon, after she had enjoyed dominating her for a long time. She
shouted at her, "Don't think you're off the hook. My tongue won't
be still unless you do a good job of entertaining it."
Aisha asked her cheerfully, "What do you mean?"
"Don't neglect it. Otherwise it might yield to a malicious urge.
Divert it with some candy so it'll be occupied with that and not you,
a box of bonbons from Shangarly, for example."
Naguib MaAfou
"You can have all you want and more."
Silence reigned while each of them was busy with her own
thoughts. Khadija's heart, as it had been from the beginning of the
encounter, was a breeding ground for all sorts of different emotions..,
jealousy, anger, sympathy, and affection.
Mrs. Amina was busy getting ready for the traditional family coffee
hour when Umm Hanafi rushed up to her. The gleam in her eyes
suggested that she was bringing good news. She announced importantly,
"Three ladies I've never seen before wish to call on you."
The mother set everything down and straightened up quickly in a
way that showed the impact of the news on her. She stared at the
servant with a look of intense interest, as though it was likely the
visitors were from the royal family or even from heaven. Then, seeking
confirmation, she stammered, "Strangers?"
Umm Hanafi replied in a tone that had a happy, triumphant ring
to it, "Yes, my lady. They knocked on the door and I opened
it. They asked me, 'Isn't this the home of al-Sayyid Ahmad
Abd al-Jawad?' I said, 'Yes, indeed.' They said, 'Are the ladies in?'
I replied, 'Yes.' They said, 'We would like to have the honor of
calling on them.' I asked them, 'Shall I say who the visitors are?'
One of them told me with a laugh, 'Leave that to us. All the messenger
needs to do is carry the message.' So I flew to you, my lady.
I've been saying to myself, 'May our Lord make our dreams come
true.'"
Her interest still showing in her eyes, the mother said quickly,
"Invite them to the parlor.., hurry."
lor a few seconds Amina did not move. She was sunk in these
new thoughts, in a happy dream world that suddenly revealed its
riches to her, after she had worked for nothing else all these past
years. Then she snapped out of her reverie and called Khadija in a
voice that made it clear she would not tolerate any delay. The girl
came at once. The moment their eyes met she smiled and, unahle to
restrain her joy, told her daughter, "Three ladies we've never seen
before are in the parlor Put on your hest clothes and get yourself
ready."
When Khadija blushed, Amina blushed too, as though she had
caught this contagious embarrassment from her daughter. Then she
left the sitting room to retire to her room on the top floor to prepare
t44
Naguib Mahfou,
herself as well to receive the visitors. Khadiia was looking vacantly
at the door through which her mother had vanished. Her heart was
pounding so much it almost hurt. She asked herself, "What's behind
this visit?" Then she pulled herself together. Her mind immediately
resumed functioning. She summoned Kamal from Fahmy's room and
told him, "Go to Miss Maryam and give her my greetings. Tell her
that Khadiia asks her to send some powder, kohl, and rouge."
The boy jumped at the chance to obey this order and rushed
out of the house. Khadiia hastened to her room and proceeded to
remove her housedress. Aisha looked at her with inquiring eyes.
Khadija told her, "Pick out the best dress for me... absolutely the
best one."
Aisha asked her, "Why are you in such a state?... Is there a
visitor? Who?"
Khadija replied in a faint voice, "Three ladies.... " With special
emphasis, she added, "Strangers.... "
Aisha drew back her head in astonishment. Then her beautiful eyes
grew wide with delight. She cried out, "Oh!... Should we understand
from this that... Oh, what news!"
"Don't get your hopes up... for who knows what it really
means."
Aisha headed for the armoire to selee.t an appropriate dress. She
was laughing and saying, "There's something in the air A wedding
smells like pure perfume."
Khadija laughed to hide her uneasiness. She went to the mirror
and looked carefully at herself. She covered her nose with her hand
and said ironically, "There's nothing wrong with my face now." Removing
her hand from her face, she commented, "Now, like this, only
God can save me."
While helping her sister put on a white dress embroidered with
lavender flowers, Aisha laughingly remarked, "Don't be so hard
on yourself. Can't your tongue spare anything? There's more to a
bride than her nose. What about your eyes, long hair, and quick
wit?"
Khadiia wrinkled her nose as she answered, "All people see are
the defects."
"That's true for people with your temperament, but not everyone
is like you, thank God."
"I'll answer you when I can find the time."
As Aisha smoothed her sister's dress, she patted her waist and said,
PALACE WALK x4f
"And don't forget your soft, plump body What a great body
you've got."
Khadiia laughed happily and said, "If the bridegroom was blind I
wouldn't worry about anything.... I wouldn't mind a blind one, even
if he was a religious scholar from a]-Azbar Mosque."
"What's wrong with the religious scholars from al-Azhar? Don't
some of them have treasures as boundless as the ocean?"
When they were done with the dress, a murmur of displeasure
escaped from Aisha. Khadiia asked her, "What's the matter?"
She grumbled, "There isn't a bit of powder, kohl, or rouge in our
house, as though there weren't any women living here."
"The best thing would be to take this complaint to Father."
"Isn't Mother a lady? Doesn't she have a right to use cosmetics?"
"She's beautiful just the way she is, without any need for them."
"What about you? Are you going to meet the visitors like this?"
Khadija laughed and replied, "I sent Kamal to Maryam to get the
powder, kohl, and rouge. Is my face one to leave bare when I meet
matchmakers?"
Since there was not enough time to waste even a minute, Khadija
removed bet scarf and began to take down her two long, thick braids.
Aisha started combing the flowing hair. She remarked, "What long,
straight hair you have. What do you think? I'll plait it into a single
braid. Wouldn't that be the more beautiful?"
"No, two braids.... But tell me: Should I leave on my stockings
or have bare legs when I meet them?"
"It's winter and people would normally wear wool stockings,
but I'm afraid if you leave them on they'll think there's something
wrong with your foot or leg that you're deliberately trying to
hide."
"You're right. A court of law is more merciful than the room of
women waiting for me now."
"Be brave. Our Lord has promised us..."
At that moment Kamal hurried into the room He was panting. He
gave his sister the containers of cosmetics and told her, "I ran all the
way and even up the stairs."
Khadija smiled and said, "Bravo! Bravo! What did Maryam say?"
"She asked me if we had company.., and who they were. I told
her I didn't know."
Concern was visible in Khadija's eyes when she asked him, "Was
she satisfied with that answer?"
Naguib mahfou
"She asked me to swear by al-Husayn to tell her everything I
knew. I swore I'd told her everything."
Aisha laughed. Her hands kept on with their work as she observed,
"She'll guess what's happening."
Khadija was spreading powder on her face and said, "She wasn't
born yesterday. It's not likely that anything will escape her. I bet you
she'll come visit us tomorrow at the latest to conduct a thorough
investigation."
Kamal should have left the room then, but he did not want to, and
perhaps could not, he was so interested in the scene unfolding before
his eyes. For the first time in his life he witnessed his sister's face
undergo this transformation into a new face altogether, boasting
white skin, pink cheeks, and eyelids with delicate black lines along
their edges that enhanced her eyes and made them look splendidly
clear. His heart rejoiced at this new face. He shouted with excitement,
"Sister, now you're just like those beautiful candy bride dolls Papa
buys for the festival of the Prophet's Birthday."
The two girls laughed. Khadija asked him, "Do you like the way
I look now?"
He rushed up to her and put his hand out to the tip of her nose,
saying, "If only this would go away."
She evaded his hand and told her sister, "Throw out this slanderer."
Although
he resisted, Aisha seized his hand, dragged him outside,
and bolted the door. Then she went back to her beautifying task. The
sisters proceeded with their endeavors seriously and silently. Although
it was understood in the family that matchmakers would be
allowed to meet only Khadija, she told Aisha mischievously, "You
need to prepare yourself to meet the visitors too."
Aisha replied as slyly as her sister, "That won't be until you've
been escorted to your bridegroom." Then she corrected herself before
Khadija could speak: "Now that the moon is rising how can little
stars be seen?"
Her sister cast her a skeptical look and asked, "Which of us is the
moon?"
Laughing, Aisha replied, "Me of course."
Khadija gave her a poke with her elbow and sighed: "I wish you
could lend me your nose the way Maryam lent me her powder."
"Forget your nose, even if only for this one evening. A nose is
like a sore that grows larger every time you think about it."
By then they had practically finished their work as beauticians.
PALACE WALK
I47
Khadiia's interest in her appearance waned. Her thoughts shifted fearfully
to her pending examination. She was afraid in a new way, not
simply because it was a novel situation but because of its serious
consequences.
She soon complained, "What's this meeting that's being inflicted
on me? Picture yourself in my place, surrounded by strangers. You
don't know the least thing about them or their background. Have
they come with good intentions or am I just an amusing spectacle for
them? What will become of me if they are abusive faultfinders, like
me... huh?" She laughed briefly. "What can I do but sit beside them
politely and submissively while they stare at me from left and right,
front and back? I'll have to obey their orders without the slightest
hesitation. If they ask me to stand, I stand. 'Walk'--I walk. 'Sit'--I
sit. Nothing will slip by them: the way I sit or stand, if I'm silent or
speak, my limbs and features. In addition to putting up with all this
abuse, we must be nice to them and lavishly praise their kindness
and generosity. Afterward we still won't know whether we've won
their approval or displeasure. My, oh my... I could curse the man
who sent them."
Aisha quickly replied in a tone that revealed her personal interest
in the subject: "May no evil harm him."
"Don't pray for him till we're sure he's ours.... Oh, how my heart
is pounding.... "
Aisha stepped back to be out of range of her sister's elbow before
she replied, "Be patient.... You'll find many opportunities in the
future to get your revenge for today's frightful meeting. How often
they'll be roasted by the fire of your tongue once you're the mistress
of the house. Perhaps they'll recall today's inspection and say to
themselves, 'I wish that had never happened.'"
Khadiia confined her response to a smile. There was no time for a
counterattack. In any case, she would not have gotten the salutary
delight from it she usually derived, or any pleasure at all, because
she was dominated by her terror and anxiously wavering between
hope and fear.
When they had finished their work, Khadiia paused to give her
reflection in the mirror a thorough examination. Aisha, who was two
steps behind her, looked back and forth from the reflection to the
original.
Khadiia began to murmur, "Bless your hands. I look good, don't
I? This is the true Khadija. Never mind my nose now. O Lord, may
Your wisdom be exalted, It took a little effort, but everything turned
Naguib Mahfou
out all right. So why..." Then she realized she had said too much
and quickly added, "I ask God's forgiveness. May Your wisdom prevail
in everything."
She moved a few steps farther away from the mirror, still examining
her image carefully. She recited the opening prayer of the
Qur'an to herself. She turned toward Aisha and said, "Pray for me,
girl." Then she left the room.
With the advent of winter, the coffee hour acquired a new aspect
represented by the large stove placed in the center of the room. The
family clustered around it, the men in their overcoats and the women
wrapped up in their shawls. The coffee hour offered them, in addition
to the appetizing refreshments and pleasant conversation, a chance to
get warm.
Although Fahmy had been sad and silent for the past few days, he
seemed ready to spring some important news on the family. His hesitation
and reflection only served to show how momentous and important
the news was. After giving the matter a little more thought
he decided to reveal it and transfer the burden to his parents and the
fates. He said, "I've got some important news for you. Listen."
All eyes were fixed on him attentively. He was known to be such
a sensible young man that everyone expected his news would be as
important as he claimed. He continued: "Mr. Hasan Ibrahim, an ofricer
in the Gamaliya police station, who is one of my acquaintances,
as you all know, came to see me and asked me to tell my father of
his wish to become engaged to Aisha."
Just as Fahmy had expected, the news affected people in extremely
different ways. That was the reason he had hesitated and thought for
so long before revealing it. His mother looked at him with intense
interest. Yasin whistled, gazed at Aisha flirtatiously, and shook his
head. The young girl bowed her head out of embarrassment and to
hide her face from prying eyes that might detect the turmoil of her
throbbing heart. Khadija's first reaction was surprise, which soon
turned to fear and foreboding. There was no clear reason for either,
but she felt like a pupil waiting impatiently for examination results
who hears privately of a comrade's success.
The mother asked with an anxiety inappropriate for the topic of a
joyous wedding, "Is that all he said?"
Taking care to avoid looking at Khadija, Fahmy replied, "He began
by stating he wished to have the honor of asking for the hand of my
younger sister."
"What did you tell him?"
"I naturally thanked him for his good intentions."
His mother was not questioning him to find out something. She
was attempting to conceal her uneasiness and wished time to mull
things over. She began to wonder if there might be a connection
between this request and the ladies who had called on them a few
days before. She remembered then that one had observed before
Khadija had appeared, in the context of a general conversation about
the family of al-Sayyid Ahmad, that they had heard the gentleman
had two daughters. She had understood then that they had come to
see both daughters but had turned a deaf ear to the suggestion. Those
ladies bad been related to the family of a merchant in al-Darb alAhmar.
Fahmy had said once that the father of the officer, on the
other hand, was an employee in the Ministry of Works. This fact did
not decisively rule out the possibility of some link between the two
families. It was customary for a family to send marriage scouts selected
from one of its branches, not from the bridegroom's immediate
family, as a precaution. She dearly wished to ask Fahmy about this
point but seemed afraid his answer would confirm her fears, thereby
putting an end to the hopes of her elder daughter and bringing her a
new disappointment.
It so happened that Khadiia posed the question for her mother. She
veiled her frustration with a listless laugh as the issue troubling her
breast emerged in these words: "Perhaps he's the one who sent those
ladies to visit us a few days ago?"
Fahmy replied at once, "Of course not. He told me he'd send his
mother to us if his request is approved."
Although he spoke in a way that inspired trust, he was not telling
the truth. He had gathered from his conversation with the officer that
the ladies were his relatives. Although he loved Aisha and was convinced
that his friend the officer was worthy of her, he was unwilling
to cause pain to his older sister. He felt a brotherly affection for her
and was very upset at her bad luck. Perhaps the disappointment he
had suffered played a powerful role in strengthening this affection.
Yasin guffawed and remarked with childish glee, "It seems we'll
soon have two weddings."
The mother cried out with heartfelt joy, "May our Lord answer
you.... "
"Will you speak to Daddy for me?" When the question escaped
from Fahmy, he was preoccupied with this engagement, but after
ward his words sounded odd to him, as though they came not from
his tongue but from his memories. These words plunged into his
PALACE WALK II
inner depths, before floating to consciousness again with memories
clinging to them. He remembered the comparable question he had
addressed to his mother in similar circumstances. His heart became
dispirited, and his pains were inflamed. He felt once more the tyranny
that had buried his hopes. He began to tell himself, as he had done
repeatedly during the preceding days, how happy he would have felt
about the present, how hopeful he would have been about the future,
how content he would have been with life as a whole, had it not been
for his father's stern will. This memory made it impossible for him
to be concerned about anything but himself. He surrendered himself
to the sorrow gnawing at his heart.
The mother thought for a time and then asked, "Wouldn't it be a
good idea for us to think about what I can say to your father if he
asks me why the officer requested Aisha specifically and didn't ask
for Khadija's hand? Since he hasn't seen either one..."
The two girls both focused their attention on their mother's remark.
They both remembered their scene at the window. The annoyance
Khadija felt at that memory doubled her unhappiness about the
current situation. Her heart protested against blind fate, which refused
to reward reckless frivolity with anything but good. Aisha felt her
flow of delight obstructed by her mother's observation, as if a throat
happily swallowing a tasty and delicious morsel had been obstructed
by a sharp thorn stuck in the food. Fear quickly sucked the heart out
of the happiness that had been making her spirit quiver.
Only Fahmy rebelled against his mother's words. He was not defending
Aisha, as it might have seemed, since on such a delicate issue
he could not defend Aisha in Khadija's presence. He was angry because
of his suppressed sorrow, about which he could not speak
openly with his father. Unconsciously addressing his father in the
person of his mother, he remarked angrily, "This would be unjust
and arbitrary. Reason and intellect provide no support for such an
objection. Don't men learn a lot of things about decent women kept
secluded from the street by talking to female relatives, whose only
goal is the formation of a legal union between a man and a woman?"
Their mother had meant nothing by her remark. She was merely
trying to hide behind her husband until she could discover some way
out of the bind she found herself in with Aisha and Khadija. When
Fahmy voiced his objections to her so frankly, she found herself
forced to answer with similar frankness: "Don't you think it would
be best for us to wait till we hear something from those women who
visited us?"
r
Naguib Mahfou
Khadija could not bear to remain silent. Driven by her pride, which
forced her to declare that she cared nothing about the matter at all,
despite the anxiety and forebodings struggling inside her, she said,
"This is one thing and that's quite another. So there's no reason to
postpone one because of the other."
Their mother remarked in a calm but forceful way, "We're all
agreed that Aisha's wedding will be delayed until after Khadija's."
Aisha could only say, gently and submissively, "The matter's not
open to discussion."
Khadija's breast filled with resentment when she heard the gentle
tone of Aisha's voice. Perhaps it was this gentleness that angered her
most of all. It may have suggested to her that she deserved to be
pitied, which she absolutely rejected. It may also have been that she
would have liked for Aisha to declare her opposition openly so she
could attack her sister and find some outlet for her anger. Aisha had
armed herself with that hateful fake sympathy to defend herself from
harm, thus doubling Khadija's resentment, which was lying in ambush,
waiting for a chance to pop out. Finally she found herself
obliged to say, if a bit sharply, "I don't agree that this matter's not
open to debate. It's not fair that someone's bad luck should cause you
to destroy another person's good luck."
Fahmy noticed the angry sorrow concealed behind the altruism of
Khadija's words. He wrenched himself free from his personal grief.
He regretted what he had said in a moment of anger, fearful that
Khadija would interpret it to mean he sided openly with her sister.
Addressing Khadija, he said, "Telling Papa about Hasan Effendi's
request doesn't mean we agree Aisha should marry before you. There
would be no harm in our making acceptance of the engagement conditional
on postponement of its announcement to an appropriate
time."
Yasin was not convinced it was right to require one marriage to
precede the other, but he could not muster enough courage to express
his opinion. He found some comfort in making a general statement
that could be understood in different ways. He said, "Marriage is the
fate of every living creature. Anyone not getting married today will
marry tomorrow."
Kamal had been following the conversation with interest and at
this point his shrill voice rang out, asking unexpectedly, "Mother,
why is marriage the fate of every creature?"
His mother ignored his question. The only response he received
was a loud laugh from Yasin, who made no other comment. Then
PALACE WALK
the mother observed, "I know every girl will marry today or tomorrow,
but there are considerations not to be overlooked.... "
Kamal tried asking his mother another question: "And will you be
getting married too, Mother?"
They all roared with laughter, and this relieved the tension. Yasin
seized the favorable opportunity and found the courage to say, "Present
the matter to Father. Whatever he says will be final in any case."
With a curious insistence, Khadija said, "That's the only way.
That's the way it has to be."
She meant what she said, because she knew how impossible it was
to conceal a matter like this from her father and firmly believed her
father would not allow Aisha to marry first. In addition to these reasons,
she also wished to continue pretending indifference to the issue.
Although she did not know of the connection between the officer and
the visitors, her anxious forebodings had not left her for a moment.
Although Mrs. Amina had encountered more than one cause for unhappiness
during her life, she had had no experience with this unforeseen
problem and its unique character, since it seemed to pertain
to one of the essential foundations of happiness in this world. Even
so, in her household and in her heart in particular, it had turned into
a cause for anxiety and distress. How right she was when she asked
herself, "Who would have suspected that the arrival of a bridegroom,
something we have been avidly awaiting, would cause us all this
trouble?" Yet that was what had happened.
Several views struggled for control of her mind without her being
comfortable about any of them. For a time she thought that agreeing
to let Aisha marry before Khadija would destroy her elder daughter's
future. On other occasions she thought that stubborn opposition to
destiny would create an extremely dangerous situation, with sinister
repercussions for both girls. It also troubled her a great deal to close
the door in the face of a bridegroom as splendid as the young officer.
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