Children of Gebelaawi (30 page)

These events might have been forgotten by next morning if

they had not been repeated in the homes of some important

people. Everyone soon heard how a snake had bitten Hamooda

as he was crossing the entrance passage of the tenement-house

where he lived. He had screamed in spite of himself till his

friends came and helped him. At this point the situation

became the subject of wi ld rumor. People spoke of nothing but

snakes, and the strange events continued. One of the men i n

Barakaat's hashish d e n saw a snake appear between the rafters

for a few seconds and then vanish. They jumped up in a panic

and fled.

News of the snakes eclipsed the tales of the bards in the

cafes. Thi ngs seemed to have gone beyond the bounds of

decency when a big snake appeared in the home of his Honor

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the Trustee. The many servants of the house fanned out and

searched i n every corner for the vanished snake, but they

could find no trace of it. Fear gripped the Trustee and Hudaa,

and she seriously thought ofleaving the house till she could be

quite sure that it was rid of snakes. While the house was turned

upside down, screams and commotion were heard from the

house ofThudclub. The gatekeeper went to find out more and

reported back to his master that a snake had bitten one of

Thudclub's sons and then disappeared. Panic reigned. Screams

for help came from one tenement-house after another. Hudaa

decided fi nally to leave the Alley.

Then Hassanayn, the gatekeeper, said that Gebel was a

conjurer, and that such people knew ways of catching snakes;

Gebel had hunted out a snake from one of the tenementhouses of Hamdaan. The Effendi turned pale and said not a word, bu t Hudaa quickly told the gatekeeper to fetch Gebel.

The man looked at his master for his assent, and the Effendi

muttered a few angry words without making himself clear.

Hudaa gave him the choice between sending for Gebel and

leaving the house, and so, trembling with rage, he let the

gatekeeper go.

A crowd had gathered between Trustee's House and

Strongman 's House. The important people had gone i n as a

deputation to the Trustee, led by the strongmen -Thudclub,

Hamooda, Barakaat, Lionheart and Quicksilver. They could

talk of nothing but the snakes. Qui cksilver said:

- Something i n the Jebel must h ave driven the snakes i nto

our homes.

Thudclub, who seemed to be battling with himself as he

could find no one else to fight, bellowed:

- All our lives we have been neighbors of the jebel and i t

has done u s n o harm.

He was still furious over what had happened to his son, and

Hamooda had not yet recovered from the bite on his foot. Fear

gripped them all. They said their homes were not safe to live

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in; the inhabitants had all gathered i n the road.

Gebel came carrying his empty bag, and greeted everyone,

then stood before the Trustee and Hudaa, polite and confident. The Effendi could not bring himself to look at him, but she said:

- They tell us, Gebel, that you would be able to drive the

snakes out of our houses.

Gebel said calmly:

- That's one of the things I 've learnt.

- I have sent for you to rid the house of snakes.

Gebel looked at the Effendi.

- Does your Honor permit?

Hiding his annoyance, the Trustee muttered:

- Yes !

At this poi nt Lion heart came forward, prompted secretly by

Thudclub.

- And our houses and everybody else's?

- My knowledge is at the service of everybody.

Voices were raised in thanks; and Gebel let his large eyes

rove rou nd their faces for a while, then said:

- But perhaps I don ' t need to remind you that everything

has its price, as usual i n our Alley.

The strongmen looked at him i n surprise. He went on:

- Why be surprised? You guard the sectors in return for

protection money, and his Honor the Trustee manages the

Trust in return for con trol over i ts revenues.

The situation was obviously delicate, and people could not

reveal with their eyeswhat they feltin their hearts, butThudclub

said:

- What do you want for your work?

l-Ie answered calm ly:

- I 'm not aski ng for money. I want your word of honor that

you 'll respect the dignity of Hamdaan 's people and their

rights in the Trust.

Silence fell. The very air seemed charged with hidden

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anger. H udaa' s anxiety increased when the Trustee just stared

at the ground. Gebel spoke again:

- Don't thi nk I'm defying you. The fact is I'm si mply

reminding you of what justice demands for your downtrodden

brothers. The fear that has driven you out of your homes is only

a taste of the bitterness your brothers drin k every day of their

wretched lives.

Angry looks flashed in their eyes and were swiftly hidden,

but Quicksi lver shouted:

- I can send for a Sufi who knows how to handle snakes,

even if it means staying out of our houses for two or three days

till he comes from his village.

H udaa protested:

- I-I ow can the people of a whole alley stay outside for two

or three days?

The Effendi was thi nking furiously, controlling his anger

and hatred as best he could. Then he said to Gebel:

- I give you the word of honor you demand; begin your

work.

The strongmen were horrified, but the situation did not

allow them to express their feelings. Their hearts were filled

wi th murderous thoughts. Gebel however told them to go

right away to the bottom of the garden, so that he had the

whole place to himself. Then he stripped off his clothes and

stood naked as the day when Lady Hudaa had lifted him out of

the pool of rai nwater. He wen t from place to place and room

to room, now whistling softly, now muttering obscure words.

Thudclub came up to the Trustee and said:

- He's the one who sent the snakes into our houses.

The Effendi motioned him to be silent and murmured:

- Let him take his snakes away.

A snake hidden in a light shaft obeyed Gebel, and he coaxed

another out from the Trust office. They twined round his arm,

and he appeared with them on the veranda, where he slipped

them into his bag. Then he put on his clothes and stood

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waiting till everyone came. He said to them:

- Let's go to your houses so that I can clean them out.

He turned to Hudaa and said softly:

- But for my people's misery, I'd never make any condi-

tions for servi ng you.

Then he went up to the Trustee and said boldly:

- The word of a free man is binding.

And he went out, everyone else followi ng i n silence.

4 0 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Gebel succeeded i n ridding the Alley of snakes, in full view

of all its people. Whenever one yielded to him shouts and

cheers went up, and the whole Alley was buzzing, from the

Great House to Gemalia. When he finished his work and wen t

home, youths and urchi ns gathered round h i m singing to an

accompaniment of clappi ng:

Gebel, savior of the paupers!

Gebel, victor over vipers!

The singing and clapping went on even after h e had gon e,

which greatly an noyed the strongmen. Soon Hamooda,

Lionheart, Barakaat and Quicksilver burst on the demonstrators and let fly wi th curses and insults, kicks and punches, till they fled for the shelter of their homes, leaving the road to cats,

dogs and flies. People wondered about the reason for this

attack: how cou ld they reward Gebel's work with an assault on

those who were celebrating it? Would the Effendi keep his

promise to Gebel? Or was this attack the beginning of a savage

campaign of revenge? These questions went round in Gebel's

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head, and he summoned the men of Hamdaan to his place to

p lan thi ngs.

At the same time Thudclub was meeting the Trustee and his

wife and was saying firmly:

- We shan't spare a single one of them.

The Effendi looked p leased, but Hudaa said:

- And the word of honor which the Trustee gave?

Thudclub scowled inhumanly and said:

- People are ruled by force, not honor.

She protested:

- They wi ll say of us .. .

- Let them say what they like ! When d o they ever stop?

They jabber away all night in the hashish dens, gossiping and

joking about us; but when we go up the Alley they jump to their

feet because they're afraid of the stick, not because they care

about honor.

The Effendi looked at her angrily.

- It was Gebel who hatched this plot with the snakes so that

he could dictate his terms to us; everybody knows that. Who

expects me to keep the word I gave to a low, cunning fraud?

To quieten her conscience, Thudclub said, looki ng as ugly

as ever:

- Remember, madam, if Gebel succeeds in winning the

rights of Hamdaan 's people in the Trust, nobody in the Alley

will rest ti ll he has obtained his rights too. So the Trust will be

lost and us with it.

The Effendi squeezed the prayer beads i n his hand till they

crunched, and he yelled:

- Don 't spare a single one of them!

The stro ngmen were summoned to Thudclub's house and

were then joined by their most trusted men. The news spread

that some dire fate was being prepared for Hamdaan 's people.

Women peered out of every window and men crowded in the

Alley. Gebel had already laid his plans. The men of H amdaan

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had assembled i n the courtyard of the middle tenementhouse, armed with sticks and baskets of stones, while the women were dispersed round the tenements and on the roof.

Each of them had a part to play, and any mistake or change of

plan would mean their destruction, so they took up their

positions round Gebel, all extremely tense and anxious. Gebel

could not help seeing the state they were in and he reminded

them of the Founder's support for him and of his promise of

success for the strong. He found them ready to believe him,

some out of faith, others out of despair. Radwaan the bard

leaned over and whispered in Hamdaan's ear:

- I'm afraid our plan won't succeed. I think it'd be better

to barricade the gate and to strike from the roof and the

wi ndows.

Hamdaan shrugged his shoulders i n annoyance and said:

- Then we'd condemn ourselves to be blockaded till we

starved to death.

Hamdaan went over to Gebel and asked him:

- Wouldn 't it be better to leave the gate open?

Gebel said:

- Leave it as it is, otherwise they'll be uncertai n what to do.

A cold, fi erce wi nd was howling, driving the clouds across

the sky. Theywondered whether it wou ld rain. The noise of the

crowd outside grew louder, drowning the caterwauling of cats

and the barki ng of dogs. Then 1-Ienna gave a warning cry: 'The

devils have come ! '

They had indeed come. Thudclub had sallied forth from his

house flanked by the other strongmen and followed by their

henchmen, all carryi ng cudgels. They walked slowly to the

gates of the Great House, then down to Hamdaan's sector. The

crowd greeted them with shouts and cheers. There were varied

motives for this cheering: a few people were delighted at the

prospect of a fight and wanted to see blood spilt; and some

hated Hamdaan 's people for priding themselves on a status

that no one else recognized; but most loathed the strongmen

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and their misdeeds, hiding their hatred and feigning support

only out of fear and hypocrisy. Thudclub did not give a

thought to any of them, but marched straight on till he stood

in front of Hamdaan's tenement-house and shouted:

- If there's a man among you let him come out to me!