Children of Gebelaawi (48 page)

circled. Every breath of air he took was pure and clean. He

imagined the great jebel must contain hidden treasures, hopes

and promises. His gaze roamed over the desert with a strange

satisfaction and his heart was light with joy. He began to sing:

Dear love from Upper Egypt's land,

Your name is tattooed on my hand.

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His gaze wandered over the rock of Qadri and Hind, and the

p laces where Humaam and Rifaa had been killed, and where

Gebelaawi and Gebel had met. Here were the sun and the

Jebel and the sands, majesty and love and death, and a heart

in which love was dawning. But he wondered about the

meaning of all this, about what had passed and what was to

pass, about the Alley with its warring factions and its feuding

strongmen, and about the stories that each cafe heard in a

different form.

A little before noon he drove his flock to Muqattam Bazaar,

and sat down in Yahiaa's hut. The old man asked:

- What's this about what you did yesterday in the Alley?

Qaasi m sipped his tea to hide his embarrassment. The old

man went on:

- It would have been better to let them fight it out and all

kill each other.

Qaasim said, without raising his eyes:

- You 're only saying that.

- Avoid your admirers or you'll provoke the strongmen.

- Could somebody like me provoke them?

The old man sighed:

- Who could have imagined that anybody wou ld betray

Rifaa?

Qaasim was amazed.

- What do I have in common with the great Rifaa?

When he stood to go, the old man's parting words were:

- Always keep my amulet.

In the afternoon he was sitting in the shade of Hind's Rock,

when he heard Sakeena's voice calling 'Grace! ' He leapt up

and went round the rock to find Qamar's maid standing by the

ewe's head, fondling its wool. He greeted her with a smile and

she said in her husky voice:

- I've been on an errand to Derrasaand I took this short cut

home.

- But it's a hot way to come.

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Qaasim

She laughed.

- And that's why I'm going to rest a little in the shade of the

rock.

They sat down together in the shade where he had left his

staff. Sakeena said:

- When I saw what you did yesterday I was sure your mother

must have prayed for you before she died.

He asked with a smile:

- And you, don't you pray for me?

She dissembled a cun ning glance.

- For a man like you I pray for a wife from a good family.

He laughed.

- Whoever would be satisfied wi th a shepherd boy?

- Good fortu ne works wonders. Today you are looked up

to like the strongmen without having shed any blood.

- I swear your words are sweet as honey.

She looked at him with her languid eyes.

- Shall I show you a wonderful path?

A sudden agitation overcame him.

- Please!

With a maid's simplicity she said:

- Try your luck and propose to the lady of our sector.

Everything looked suddenly different.

- Who do you mean, Sakeena?

- Don ' t pretend you don't know who I mean; there's only

one lady in our sector.

- Madam Qamar? !

- Who else? !

His voice trembled.

- Her husband was an important man, and I'm just a

shepherd .

- But when fortune smi les everythi ng smiles with i t, even

poverty.

He sai d, almost to hi mself:

- Won't my proposal annoy her?

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Sakeena stood up.

- Nobody knows when women will be pleased and when

they wil l be annoyed; trust i n God. (Then, as she was going: )

Take care of yourselfl

He turned his face towards the sky and shut his eyes as

though overcome by fatigue.

6 9 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Zakaria stared at Qaasim 's face i n amazement, as did his wife

and Hassan. They were resting i n the corridor i n front of their

flat after supper. The uncle said:

- Don't talk like that. I thought you were a model of sense

and honor in spite of your poverty - of our poverty. What's

happened to your common sense?

His aunt's eyes were filled with a hungry desire for i nformation. Qaasim said:

- I've been encouraged; her maid's the one who opened

the door for me.

- Her maid? !

The words burst from his aunt and her eyes begged for

more. His uncle let out a short laugh that betrayed his confusion.

- Perhaps you've misunderstood.

Qaasim spoke quietly to hide his emotion:

- Oh no, Uncle!

His aun t cried out:

- I see! If the maid has said it the mistress has said it.

Hassan spoke out of his great love for his cousin:

- There's no man like Qaasim.

Zakaria shook his head and muttered to himself: 'Best sweet

potatoes! Roast sweet potatoes! ' Then he said:

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Qaasim

- But you don't possess a single piaster!

His wife said:

- He grazed her ewe, as she very wel l knows. (Then,

laughing: ) Mind you never kill a ewe, Qaasim, in honor of

Grace!

Hassan said thoughtfully:

- Mr Uwayss the grocer is Madam Qamar's u ncle and the

richest man in our sector. He'll be our in-law, just as Omnibus

is our relative. How splendid!

His mother said:

- Madam Qamar has connections with Lady Ameena, the

Trustee's wife. Her late husband was Ameena's relative.

Qaasim said uneasily:

- That wil l make thi ngs more difficult.

Zakaria spoke with sudden enthusiasm, realizing the status

he wou ld get from the proposed match:

- Talk as you did on the day of that busi ness with the

upholsterer. You're bold and sensible. We' II go along together

to the lady lo take up the matter with her, and then we must tal k

to Uwayss. I f we began with Uwayss he'd send u s to the

madhouse.

Things went as Zakaria had planned. And so Uwayss sat

down in the parlor in Qamar's house, waiting for her and

playing with his huge moustache to hide his confusion. Qamar

came in, wearing a modest dress, with a brown scarf over her

head. She shook hands graciously with him and sat down, a

look of calm determination in her eyes. Uwayss said:

- You bewilder me, my girl ! Not long ago you refused the

hand of my manager Mr Mursi, on the grounds that he was not

good enough for you ; and now you 're satisfied with a shepherd

boy!

She blushed.

- Uncle, he is indeed a poor man, but everybody in the

sector can witness to his goodness and his family's.

Uwayss frowned.

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- Yes, just as we say a servant is trustworthy or clean. Being

eligible is something quite different.

Qamar said politely:

- Show me one man in our Alley as courteous as him; show

me just one man who doesn' t boast of some act of trickery or

meanness or brutality.

The grocer nearly burst with rage, but he remembered that

he was talking not just to his n iece but to the woman who had

i nvested so much money in his business, so he said:

-Qamar, if you wanted I could marry you to any strongman

in the Alley. Guzzler himself would have you if you agreed to

share him with his three other wives.

- I don't like those strongmen, nor that kind of man. My

father was a good man, like you. He suffered so much from

their cruelty that I i nherited his hatred of them. But Qaasim

has a good character. He only lacks money, of which I have

plenty.

Uwayss sighed and looked at her for a long time, then said

as a last resort:

- I have a message from Lady Ameena, the Trustee's wife.

She said to me: 'Tell Qamar to be sensible; she's heading for

a mistake that would make us the gossip of the whole Alley. '

Qamar said sharply:

- I don't care about her advi ce. It's a pity she doesn't know

who it is that gets talked about!

- My dear niece, she's concerned for your reputation.

- Don't you believe it, Uncle; she doesn't care about us or

even remember us. Since my husband died ten years ago, she's

never given me a thought.

Her u ncle hesi tated a while in obvious embarrassment, then

spoke wi th annoyance:

- She also said it's foolish for a woman to marry beneath

her, especially if for some reason he's been visiting her house.

Qamar jumped up, livid with rage, and shouted:

- Let her hold her tongue! I was born and bred i n this Alley

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Qaasim

and married and widowed here; everybody knows me and

speaks well of me.

,

- Of course, my girl, of course; she's only poin ting outwhat

might be said.

- Uncle, let's forget about her ladyship; she ' ll only give us

a headache. I tell you as my u ncle that I 've agreed to marry

Qaasi m, and it'll be with your approval and i n your presence.

Uwayss was silent, deep in thought. It was impossible to stop

her, and it would be dreadfu l to anger her to the poin t of her

withdrawing her money from his business. He just stared at the

floor in misery and confusion. He opened his mouth to say

something, but all that came out was an indisti nct mumble.

Qamar watched him with a steady, patient gaze.

7 0 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Zakaria gave his nephew some money - mostly borrowed

- to prepare for the wedding. He told him:

- If only I could cover you with money, Qaasim ! Your father

was a generous brother; I'll never forget how good he was to

me on my wedding day.

Qaasim bought a jellaba, some underclothes, a brocaded

turban, some bright yellow pumps, a cane and a snuff-box.

Soon after · dawn he wen t to the bath house and steamed

himself, then plunged into the cold pool and had a massage.

Then he washed and perfumed himself, and finally stretched

out in his cubicle sipping tea and dreaming of bliss.

Qamar undertook to provide the wedding feast. She got the

roof of her house ready to receive the women guests, booked

a famous woman singer and hired the best cook in the

neighborhood. A marquee was erected in the courtyard for

the male guests and the musicians. Qaasim'sfamily and friends

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came, and the men of the sector led by Omnibus. The ale

flowed freely, and twenty hookahs went round, so that the

smoke dim med the lights and the air was heavy with the scent

of the very best hashish. Every corner echoed the whoops of joy

and the cheering and laughter.

Zakaria was the worse for drink and began boasting:

- We 're a noble family, and we go back a long way.

Uwayss hid his annoyance. He was sitting between Omnibus

and Zakaria. He said tersely:

- It's enough that you 're related to Omnibus.

Zakaria shouted drunkenly:

- A thousand greetings to Omnibus!

The band at once played for Omnibus who smiled smugly

and waved his hand. In the past he had been annoyed by

Zakaria harping on his distant relationship to him, but his