with trembling hands. He worked on, in despair, till his fingers
touched Humaam 's head. He fumbled his way to the sides of
the corpse and lifted it gently. He fell on his knees beside i t,
placing his hands on its head, his eyes closed in hopeless
misery, moaning fro m the depth of his being. He murmured:
- My forty years of life seem li ke a long illness as I kneel
beside your body, my son.
Qadri was standing on the other side of the corpse. Suddenly Adham stood up, looki ng at him with blind hatred, and said in a savage voice:
- Humaam wi ll go home on your shoulders.
Qadri was horrified and began to retreat, but Adham
rushed rou nd the corpse, caught him by the shoulder and
yelled:
- Carry your brother !
Qadri groaned:
- I can't.
- You were able to ki Ll him ...
- I can 't, Father.
- Don't call me 'father'; a man who kills his brother has no
father, no mother, no brothers.
- I can ' t.
He tightened his grip on him and said:
- A murderer must carry his victim.
Qadri tried to twist out of his grip, but Adham would not let
him. In a frenzy, Adham rai ned blows on his face, bu t he
nei ther dodged th em nor gave voice to the pain. Adham
stopped, then said:
- Don ' t lose any ti me; your mother is waiting.
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Children of Gebelaawi
Qadri shuddered at the mention of his mother and said:
- Let me disappear.
Adham pulled him towards the corpse saying:
- Come, let's carry him together.
Adham turned to the corpse and placed his hands u nder
Humaam's armpits whi le Qadri bent down and took his legs.
They lifted the body together and went slowly into Derrasa
Desert. Adham was so deep in painful thoughts that he lost all
sensati on, bu t Qadri went on suffering from a palpitati ng
heart and trembling limbs. His nose was filled by a pungent,
earthy smell, whi le the feel of the corpse crept up through his
arms and into his heart. The darkness around them was thick,
while on the horizon glimmered the lights of the unsleeping
town. Qadri felt that his despair was taking his breath away. He
stopped and said:
- I'll carry the body alone.
He put one arm under its back and one under i ts thighs, and
walked on with Ad ham following.
2 2 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
When they neared the hut they heard Umayma's voice
aski ng anxiously:
- Have you found him?
Adham ordered her:
- Go inside ah ead of me.
He wen t before Qadri to the hut to make sure she was out
of sight. At the door Qadri stopped dead. His father motioned
him to go in but he refused, sayi ng in a whisper:
- I can ' t face her.
His father whispered angrily:
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Adham
- You were able to do something much worse.
But Qadri stayed where he was.
- No, this is worse.
Adham pushed him firmly i n front of him, forcing him to
move into the outer room. Then Adham sprang on Umayma
and with his hand stifled the scream that was about to break
from her lips. He said harshly:
- Don't scream, woman. We mustn't attract any attention
till we've sorted thi ngs out. Let's bear our fate patiently and
suffer in si lence. The evi l was born ofyour womb and my loins.
The curse lies on us all.
He held her mouth tight. She tried in vain to free herself
from his hand. She attempted to bite him, but could not. Her
breathing became irregu lar, her strength left her and she
fainted. Qadri stood holding the body, silent and ashamed,
staring at the lamp to avoid looking at her. Adham turned to
him and helped him to lay the body on the bed, then covered
it tenderly. Qadri loo ked at his brother's corpse lyi ng under its
sheet on the bed they had shared all their lives, and he knew
that there was no longer any place for him in this house.
Umayma moved her head and opened her eyes. Adham
hurried over to her, saying firmly:
- Mind you don ' t scream.
She made to get up and he helped her, warning her not to
make any noise. She tri ed to throw herself on the bed, but he
prevented her. She stood, defeated. Then she began relieving
her feeli ngs by teari ng out her hair, handful after handfu l.
Adham did not care what she did, but said roughly:
- Do what you like, but do it silently.
She said hoarsely:
- My son ! My son !
Adham said qui etly:
- This is his body; it is no longer your son nor my son. And
this is his murderer; ki ll him if you like.
Umayma beat her cheeks and said to Qadri savagely:
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Children of Gebelaawi
- The vilest ani mal doesn ' t do what you have done.
Qadri hung his head in silence, and Adham said:
- Is his life to be lost for nothing? In justice, you should not
live.
Umayma cried out:
- Yesterday hope dawned. We told him to go but he
refused. If only he'd gone ! If he hadn't been kin d and noble
and generous he wou ld have gone. Is this murder his reward?
How could you do it, you stone-hearted brute? You aren 't my
son any more, and I ' m not your mother.
Qadri uttered not a word, bu t he said to himself: ' I killed
him once but he is killing me every second. I'm not alive. Who
says I'm alive?'
Adham asked him rough ly:
- What shall I do with you?
Qadri said calm ly:
- You said I should not live.
Umayma cried:
- How could you bring yourself to kill him?
Qadri said hopelessly:
- It's no use bei ng sorry. I 'm ready to be punished. Death
will be easier than what I'm suffering.
Adham said angrily:
- But you've made our life worse than death too.
Umayma beat her cheeks and exclaimed:
- 1 hate this life. Bury me with my son. Why don 'tyou let me
howl?
Adham said with scorn and bitterness:
- Its not your vocal chords I'm worried about; I'm afraid
devil might hear us.
Qadri said:
- Let him hear what he likes; I don't care for life any more.
At that moment Idrees's voice came from near the front
door:
- Brother Adham ! Come here you poor thing.
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Adham
They all shuddered and Adham shouted:
- Go home, and mind you don 't provoke me!
Idrees replied in a loud voice:
- What a dreadful business! Your trouble has saved you
from my anger. But let's not talk like this. We're both afflicted.
You've lost your dearest, most precious son, and I've seen my
only daughter vanish. Our children were our comfort in our
exile, and they've gone. Come, my poor brother, let's comfort
one another.
So the secret was ou t! How? All at once Umayma was afraid
for Qadri. Adham said:
- Your gloati ng doesn't bother me. It's nothing beside my
agony.
Idrees protested:
-Gloati ng! Don ' t you know I cried when I saw you pull the
body out of the grave Qadri had dug for it?
Adham shouted furiously:
- Lousy spy!
- I didn't only cry for the victim bu t for the murderer too,
and I said to myself: ' Poor, poor Adham; you've lost two sons
in one night'.
Umayma began to howl, taki ng no notice of anyone, and
Qadri rushed suddenly out of the hut. Adham ran after him,
and Umayma wai led:
- I don 't want to lose both.
Qadri tried to attack ldrees, but Adham pushed him away,
then faced his brother defian tly and said:
- Don ' t provoke us!
ldrees said calm ly:
'
- You're a fool, Ad ham; you can 't tell a friend from an
enemy. You attack your brother to defend your son 's murderer.
- Get away from me!
ldrees laughed.
- As you wish. Accept my condolences; and goodbye!
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Children of Gebelaawi
l drees disappeared into the night. Adham turned to find
Qadri, and there was U mayma asking where he was. Adham
was alarmed and started peering i nto the darkness and calling
at the top of his voice:
- Qadri ! Qadri ! Where are you?
He heard ldrees echoing loudly:
- Qadri ! Qadri ! Where are you?
2 3 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Humaam was buried i n a tomb belongi ng to the Trust at Bab
ei-Nasr. His fu neral was attended by many acquaintances of
Ad ham, most of them fellow traders, a few of them customers
who liked his gentle character and straight dealing. ldrees
took it upon himself to attend the funeral; more than that: he
stood receiving condolences as uncle of the deceased. Adham
disapproved in si lence. The funeral procession i ncluded many
strongmen, procurers, thugs, thieves and bandits. At the
burial, ldrees stood over the tomb, encouraging Adham with
words of comfort which he endured patiently, making no
answer, the tears rolling down his cheeks. Umayma gave ven t
to her grief by wai ling and beating herself and rolling in the
dust.
When the people had gone, Adham turned to ldrees and
said angrily:
- Is there no limit to your cruelty?
ldrees pretended to be taken aback and asked:
- What are you talking about, my poor brother?
Adham said sharply:
- I never imagi ned you could be as cruel as this, however
badly I thought of you . Death is the end for each of us; how can
you gloat over it?
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Ad ham
ldrees struck his hands together i n a gesture of disbelief.
- Grief has made you forget your manners, but I ' ll forgive
you.
- When will you realize that we're no longer joined by any
tie?
- Merciful heavens! Aren't you my brother? That's a tie
that can't be broken.
- ldrees! You've tormented me enough.
- Griefis ugly, bu t we're both afflicted. You 've lost Humaam
and Qadri, and I've lost Hind. The great Gebelaawi's got a
fornicating granddaughLer and a killer grandson. Anyway,
you're better off than me; you have other children to make up
for what's happened.
Adham asked miserably:
- Are you sti ll jealous of me?
- ldrees jealous of Adham? !