- It's bad manners at your age.
There was silence i n the cafe, as though all ears and even the
very walls were listening to Omnibus' words. Saadiq gave his
friend a sympathetic glance, for he knew how sensitive he was.
Hassan hid his look of anger behind his cup of ginger so that
the strongman would not see i t. Taza picked up his rebec and
started playing. Mter saluting Rifaat the Trustee, Guzzler,
Strongman of the Alley, and Omnibus, master of the sector,
the bard began:
Adham i magined he heard footsteps, slow and heavy. Submerged memories flooded back like a wonderful but elusive fragrance. He turned h is head towards the door of the hut and
saw it open. Then the doorway seemed to be filled by a huge
person. He gazed iri astonishment and with a mixture of hope
and despair. He sighed deeply and murmured:
- Father? !
It seemed that he heard the old voice saying:
- Good evening, Ad ham !
His eyes swam with tears and he tried to stand up but could
not. He felt a joy he had not known for over twenty years.
288
Qaasim
6 7 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Sakeena, the maid, said:
- Wait, Qaasim ! I have something for you.
Qaasim stood where he had tethered the ewe to the base of
the palm tree, waiting for the maid, who had gone inside. His
heart pounded, for he told himself that the thing she promised could come only from the generous heart of the mistress of the house. He longed to see her glance or hear h er voice and
for her beauty to soothe his body which had burnt all day long
in the desert. Sakeena came back with a package which she
gave him, saying:
- A pancake; en joy it!
- My than ks to the generous lady!
l-Ie heard her voice from behind the window, saying gently:
- Thanks be to God, my dear boy!
He made a gesture of gratitude with his hand without
looking up, and left. He repeated her words to himselfjoyfu lly:
'my dear boy'. The shepherd had never heard anything like it
before. And who had said it? The most respected lady i n his
wretched sector. He looked with affection at the Alley in the
gathering darkness and thought: 'In spite of our Alley's misery, it is not empty of things that could bring happiness to troubled hearts. '
He was roused from his daydreams by a voice shouting: 'My
money! My money is stolen !' He saw a man in a turban and a
flowing jellaba hurrying towards the top of the Alley, coming
from the Gemalia end. Everyone turned towards the shouting
man; urchins ran after him; peddlers and people sitting i n
their doorways craned their necks. Heads were poked out of
windows, and faces peered up from basements . The customers
came out of the cafes, and the man was soon surrounded on all
sides. Qaasim saw a man standing near to him, scratching his
back with a stick through the neck of his jellaba and watching
the scene with languid eyes. Qaasim asked him who the man
289
Children of Gebelaawi
was, and he answered without ceasing to scratch:
- An upholsterer who has been working in Trustee's
House.
The strongmen of the three sectors arrived on the scene
Omnibus, Pilgrim Grim and Bruiser. They quickly made the
crowd move back a few paces. A woman shouted from a
window i n Rifaa's sector:
- The man's been touched by the Evil Eye.
And another woman's voice came from the first house in
Gebel's sector:
- She's right. There's nobody who didn't envy him the
money he was going to make out of upholstering the Trustee's
furniture. God preserve us from the Evil Eye !
A third woman called from where she stood in a doorway
delousing a boy's head:
- He was laughing as he came out of Trustee's House. He
didn't know he'd soon be screaming and crying. Damn money!
The man was yelling at the top of his voice:
- All the money I had on me: stolen! A week's wages! And
more besides that was in my pocket! Money for the house and
the shop and the children! Twenty-odd pounds! Perish the
bastards!
Bruiser, strongman of Gebel's sector, shouted:
- Sh! Quiet everybody! Quiet you sheep! The good name
of the Alley is in the balance, and any blame will be put on the
strongmen in the end.
Pilgri m Gri m, strongman of Rifaa's sector, said:
- My God ! There had better not be any blaming! But how
do we know he lost the money in our Alley?
The upholsterer shouted hoarsely:
- It was stolen in your Alley: I'll divorce my wife if l lie. I got
it from the gatekeeper of his Honor the Trustee, and when I
felt i n the breast of my jellaba at the other end of the Alley I
found no trace of it.
There was a hubbub of voices. Pilgrim Grim shouted:
290
Qaasim
- Quiet, you cattle! Listen, man; where did you realize your
money was gone?
He pointed to the end of the Desert Rats' sector:
- In front of the tinner's shop, but, to tell the truth, nobody
was near me there.
Omnibus said:
- Then it was stolen before he got to our sector.
Pilgrim Grim said:
- I was in the cafe when he went past, and I didn' t see
anybody in Rifaa's sector go near him.
Bruiser roared:
- There are no thieves among Gebel's people; they're the
lords of this Al ley.
Pilgrim Grim retorted:
- That' ll do, Bruiser, my friend ! You 're wrong about the
lords.
- Only a fool can deny it.
Pilgrim Grim thundered:
- Don 't tempt the devil in me! Damned bad manners!
Bruiser shouted as loudly:
- A thousand curses ! There's no bad man ners like that i n
our sector.
The upholsterer said tearfully:
- Gentlemen, my money was lost in your Alley. You're all
lords I'm sure, bu t where's my money? Poor Fanjari is ruined.
Pilgrim Grim said decisively:
- We must make a search. Let us search every pocket, every
man, every woman, every child, every corner.
Bruiser said contemptuously:
- Search away; you won 't disgrace any of us.
Pilgrim Gri m said:
- The man left Trustee's House and passed first through
Gebel's sector, so let's begin by searching Gebel's people.
Bruiser snorted:
291
Children of Gebelaawi
- Over my dead body! Remember who you are, Pilgrim
Grim, and who I am.
- I have more scars than hairs on my body.
- Scars leave no room for hair on my body.
- God, don't let the devil in me get loose!
- Send me all the devi ls in the world!
Fanjari yelled again:
- Look here! My money - doesn't itworryyou that people
wil l say it was stolen in your Alley?
A woman shouted furiously:
- Careful, owl-face, with your insults !
A voice asked:
-Why should the money not have been stolen in the Desert
Rats' sector, where most of them are thieves and beggars?
Omnibus shouted:
- Our thieves don't steal in their own Alley.
- How do we know that?
Omnibus grew red with rage.
- We don't need any more bad manners; the search will
uncover the thief, or it's goodbye to the Alley.
More than one voice shouted:
- Begin with the Desert Rats.
Omnibus roared:
-Anybody who changes the natural order of the search wi ll
get my cudgel i n his face.
He brandished his cudgel and his men flocked round him.
Pilgrim Grim did likewise, and Bruiser withdrew to his sector
and did the same. The upholsterer took refuge i n a doorway,
crying. Night was about to fall. Everyone expected a bloody
battle. Suddenly Qaasim rushed to the middle of the Alley and
shouted at the top of his voice:
- Stop ! Bloodshed won't bring back the lost money. People
in Gemalia and Derrasa and Otou f will say that anybody who
enters Gebelaawi Alley is robbed, even if it's protected by its
Trustee and its strongmen.
292
Qaasim
One of Gebel's people asked:
- What does the shepherd boy want?
- I have a plan for giving the money back to its owner
without a fight.
The upholsterer ran towards him, shouting his gratitude.
Qaasim addressed the crowd:
- It will give the money back to its owner without exposing
the thief.
There was complete silence. All eyes were fixed on Qaasim.
He continued:
- Let's wai t ti ll it's pitch dark, which it soon wi ll be. Not a
single candle shall be lit. Then we'll all walk from one end of
the Alley to the other, so that suspicion doesn't settle on any
one sector, and while we do that the one who has the money
will be able to throw it down without giving himself away. Then
we'll fi nd the money and avoid a nasty battle.
The upholsterer seized Qaasim's arm in desperate entreaty
and shouted:
- A good solution; accept it for my sake!
Someone echoed this:
- A sensible solution, young man !
Someone else called:
- A chance for the thief to save himself and save the Alley!
A woman whooped wi th joy. The people looked from one to
another of the three strongmen, half hopeful and half afraid.
But each of them was too proud and haughty to be the first to
announce his acceptance. The people waited and wondered
whether reason would prevail or whether the cudgels would
fall and the blood would flow. Then there came a voice they all
knew: 'Look here ! ' Every head jerked rou nd in its direction.
There stood Guzzler, Strongman of the Alley, not far from his
house. Silence fell, and everyone hung on his words. He said
contemptuously:
- Accept the plan, you vagabonds! If you weren't such
idiots you wouldn 't have to be saved by a shepherd boy.
293
Children of Gebelaawi
A murmur of relief ran through the crowd, and there were
more whoops of joy. Qaasim's heart pounded. He looked at
Qamar's house, feeling certain that her dark eyes were gazing
at him from one of the two windows that overlooked the road.
A glow of happiness filled him, and he felt the pleasure of a
great triumph such as he had never known before. Everyone
was waiting for nigh t, looking now towards the sky, now
towards the desert, following the gradual darkening. Landmarks disappeared; faces blurred; people became shapes. The two paths into the desert on either side of the Great House
were swallowed up in the darkness.
At last the figures began to move and walked up to the Great
House and then hurried down towards Gem alia. Then they all
went back to their own sectors. Guzzler shouted: 'Lights on ! '
The first to appear was in Qamar's house, i n the Desert Rats'
sector. Then the lanterns were lit on the barrows, and the
lamps in the cafes, and the Alley came back to life. People
began searching the ground, and soon the cry went up: ' Here's
the wallet! ' Fanjari rushed straight over, seized the wallet and
counted the money, then hurried off to Gemalia, taking no
notice of anyone or anything and leaving in his wake a tumult
of laughter and shouting. Qaasim found himself the focus of
attention, the center for congratu lations, jokes and commentaries.
When Qaasim went with Hassan and Saadiq to the Desert
Rats' cafe that evening, Omnibus greeted him with a smile of
welcome, and called:
- A hookah for Qaasi m on my account!
6 8 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
His face flushed, his eyes shini ng, his expression open and
his heartjoyful, Qaasim went i nto Qamar's courtyard to collect
294
Qaasim
the ewe, calling ou t a warning to wear veils. He was untethering
Grace from the foot of the stair when he heard the door
creaking open, and her voice saying:
- Good morning!
He gave a heartfelt reply:
- A very good morning to you, madam!
- What you did for our Alley yesterday was a great good.
His heart pounded.
- God was my guide.
She spoke in admiring tones:
- You've taught us that wisdom is better than strongman
methods.
'And your affection is better than wisdom,' he thought to
himself. He said:
- You're very kind.
There was a smile in her voice as she said:
- We saw you shepherding the people as you shepherd
your flock. Goodbye and bless you !
He set off with Grace, and, with every tenement-house he
passed, he added a bi lly goat or a nanny goat or a ram or a ewe
to the procession. Everyone greeted him. Even the strongmen,
who had always ignored him, returned his salutations. He
followed the long file of sheep and goats up the p ath by the wall
of the Great House on his way to the desert. He was met by the
burning heat of the sun, which was just up over Muqattam, and
by warm puffs of morning wind. At the foot of the Jebel could
be seen some shepherds. A man i n tattered clothes passed him,
playing a bamboo flute. In the cloudless bowl of sky kites