a single man able to stand agai nst them. ( He kissed Qaasim's
bleeding chin.) Your cleverness has saved us.
Qaasi m ordered two men to stay on guard at the top of the
path and sent two others after the fleeing enemy to obtai n
news. Then he, Saadiq and Hassan limped their painful and
weary way back to the battlefield, where only the corpses of the
dead remai ned. It had been a bloodbath - and what a
bloodbath! Eight of his men had been killed and ten of the
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enemy, besides Guzzler. Not one of his surviving men was
without a fracture or a wound. They retired to their huts and
the women began tending their injuries, while the huts of the
dead resounded with crying and wailing. Badria came up sadly
and i nvited them to go to the hut for their wounds to be
washed. Then Sakeena came, carrying lhsaan who was crying
loudly. The sun was pouring down its heat from the zenith, and
in the sky kites and crows circled or hovered and swooped. The
air was heavy with the smell ofblood and dust. Ihsaan could not
stop crying, but no one took any notice of her. Even the
gigantic Hassan seemed to be reeling. Saadiq murmured:
- May God have mercy on our dead!
Qaasi m said:
- May God have mercy on both the living and the dead!
Hassan's spirits began to revive and he said:
- Soon we shall win our victory, and the Alley wil l say
goodbye to the age of blood and terror.
Qaasim said:
To hell with terror and blood!
8 9 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Never before had the Alley witnessed such a disaster. The
men came back silent, dazed, exhausted and with eyes downcast behind leaden eyelids. They found that news of the defeat had gone before them and the tenements throbbed with the
sound of wai ling and breast-beating. The story spread round
neighboring alleys, and the terrible reputation of our Alley
became the talk of malicious tongues. It became clear that all
the Desert Rat families had fled their sector, fearing reprisals.
Their houses and shops were empty, and no one doubted that
they wou ldjoi n the victorious son of their sector, adding to his
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numbers and his strength. Grief hung over the mourning
Alley, but it was a grief that breathed out hatred and resentment and a longing for revenge.
Some men from Gebel's sector began talki ng about who
should be Strongman of the Alley, and soon the same question
was being asked in Rifaa's sector. Bad feeling spread like dust
in a sandstorm. Trustee Rifaat heard what ideas were spawning
and sent for Pi lgrim Grim and Bruiser to meet him. They
arrived, each surrounded by his strongest men, so that the
Trustee's drawi ng room was packed. Each party occupied one
side of the room, as if it were no longer safe for them to mix
with their neighbors. The Trustee saw the meaning of this and
grew still more worried. He said:
- You know a disaster has struck us, but we're not dead yet,
we're not finished yet. We still have the strength to win, as long
as we stay united. Otherwise it's goodbye to us.
One of the Gebelite men said:
- We shall strike the last blow, as sure as day follows night.
Pilgrim Grim complained:
- If they weren't in their stronghold on the jebel they'd all
be dead.
A third man spoke:
- Guzzler faced them after a long, hard march that was
enough to bri ng a camel to its knees.
The Trustee asked impatiently:
- Tell me how united you are.
Bruiser replied:
- We're brothers, than k God, and we'll stay that way.
- That's what you say, but if you come in such numbers it
shows how you mistrust each other.
Pilgrim Grim said:
- No, it's because of everybody's thirst for revenge.
The Trustee stood tensely, his eyes darting from face to grim
face, and said:
- Be honest! You have one eye on each other and one eye
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on Guzzler's vacant post of Chief Strongman. The Alley will
know no peace as long as this lasts. What I'm most afraid of is
that cudgels will come into it and you'll all be destroyed - a
tasty morsel for Qaasim to gobble up.
Several voices exclaimed together:
- God forbid!
The Trustee said i n a loud, clear voice:
- There are now only two sectors: Gebel's and Rifaa's.
There 's no need for one strongman over both. Let us agree on
that and be one force against the emigrants.
For a few moments there was an awed silence; then several
voices said wi thout enthusiasm:
- Yes ! Yes!
Bruiser said:
- We'll be content with that, though we have always been
the lords of the Alley.
Pilgri m Grim said truculently:
- Let's accept but without any than ks. There are no lords
and commoners here, especially since the Desert Rats wen t
away. Who can deny that Rifaa was the noblest man our Alley
has known?
Bruiser retorted furiously:
- Pilgrim Grim ! I know what's going on in your mind.
One of the Rifaaites was about to speak, bu t the Trustee
thundered:
- Tell me whether or not you're going to be men. If any
news of your weakness gets out, the Desert Rats will sweep
down from thejebel like wolves. Tell me, can you stand united,
or must I look somewhere else?
Several men, scattered about the room, shouted:
- Qu iet! Shame on you all! Our Alley is on the brink of
losi ng everything!
They looked submissively at the Trustee. He said:
- You 're sti ll superior in numbers and strength, but don' t
attack the jebel again. (They looked puzzled. He went on:) We
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Qaasim
must besiege them on the jebel. We'll mount a guard on the
two paths leading up, and either they'll die of hunger or they'll
be forced to come down to you and you' ll destroy them.
Bruiser said:
- That's the answer. That's what I told poor Guzzler but he
thought a siege wou ld be cowardice and refused to do anything but attack.
Pilgrim Grim said:
- That's the answer all right. But we must put it off till our
men have rested.
The Trustee called on them to make a pact of brotherhood
and cooperation and they shook hands and swore oaths.
It was plai n to everyone in the following days that Bruiser
and Pilgrim Grim were treating their followers more harshly,
to cover up the traces of their defeat. They spread the word i n
the Alley that, but for Guzzler's stupidity, Qaasim would have
been destroyed without difficulty; Guzzler's i nsistence on
climbing the jebel had upset his men and sapped their strength
and courage, so that they had met the enemy in the worst
possible condition. People believed what they were told, and
anyone who showed any doubt was insulted and cursed and
beaten. As for who should be Strongman of the Alley, no one
was allowed to talk about it at all, at least not openly; but many
discussed in the hashish dens who would succeed Guzzler after
victory.
I n spite of the agreement and the oath, an atmosphere of
mistrust developed. Each strongman was on his guard, and
neither would move from his headquarters wi thout a crowd of
followers. However, preparations for the day of vengeance did
not stop for a single moment. They agreed that Bruiser and his
men should camp by the path from Muqattam Bazaar and that
Pilgri m Gri m should camp with his men by the Citadel path.
They would stick to their positions - a lifetime if need be ! The
women would do all the buying and selling and wou ld bring
them food.
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Children of Gebelaawi
The evening before they were to set out, they gathered in
the various hashish dens, bringing jugs of ale and wine, and
they went on smoking hashish and getting drunk till late in the
night. Pilgrim Grim 's men said goodnight to him in front ofhis
tenement-house in Rifaa's sector, leaving him in a high state of
merriment and exultation. He pushed open the door and
staggered down the passage humming: 'What is my first-oh .. . '
But he did not finish. A figure leapt at him from behind, put
one hand over his mouth, and plunged a knife into his heart
with the other. The body shuddered in his arms and he
lowered itwithou t a sound and laid it ou tgently on the ground,
motion less in the pitch darkness.
9 0 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
A terrible uproar woke the Alley very early next morni ng.
Wi ndows opened and heads appeared, turning quickly towards the tenement-house in which lived Pilgrim Grim, strongman of Rifaa's people. A large crowd had gathered,
shouting and wailing. The entry passage of the house was
packed with men and women. There was much asking of
questions and giving of explanations, but from the many eyes
red with crying it was clear that the news was very bad. People
hurried over from every tenement-house and every hovel, and
soon Bruiser arrived with his retinue. The crowd parted for
them and they reached the passageway. Bruiser shouted:
- What a disaster ! Oh Pilgrim Grim! If only I could have
been your ransom!
The cryi ng and the wai ling and the questions stopped, but
he didn't hear a single friendly word. He spoke again:
- A foul plot! No strongman would be guilty of such
treachery, but Qaasim, the shepherd, he's a beggar, not a
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Qaasim
strongman. I shan't be happy till I've thrown his body to the
dogs.
A woman shouted sarcastically:
- Congratulations, Bruiser, Strongman of the Alley!
He scowled. Those nearest to him were silent, but there was
a murmuring from further back. He bellowed:
- Women had better keep their mouths shut on this dark
day.
The woman spoke again:
- Let those who have ears hear!
There was uproar. When it had died down Bruiser said:
- A cunning plot! Hatched in the dark to drive a wedge
between us!
Another woman shouted:
- Plot indeed! Qaasi m and his Desert Rats are on the jebel,
and Pilbrrim Grim was murdered here in the midst of his own
people and his ambitious neighbors.
Bruiser yelled:
- A mad woman ! Anybody who listens to her is mad. Ifyou
go on like this we'll soon be killi ng each other as Qaasim has
planned.
A jug smashed at Bruiser's feet. As he and his men retreated,
he said:
- The bastard knew how to spoil things between us.
He went off at once to Trustee's House. The uproar grew
worse after he had gone. Two men - a Rifaaite and a Gebeli te
- started a violent quarrel, two women followed sui t, and
urchins from the two sectors began fighti ng. A war of words
broke out, with torrents of abuse pouring from the windows.
Confusion ruled the Alley till the men of each sector had
regrouped, brandishing their cudgels. The Trustee left his
house, surrounded by servants and henchmen, and made his
way to the poi nt between the two sectors. He shouted at the top
of his voice:
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Children of Gebelaawi
- Come to your senses! Anger is going to blind you to your
real enemy, Pilgrim Grim's murderer.
One of the Rifaaites shouted:
- How do you know that? Which of the Desert Rats would
have dared come into the Alley?
Rifaat yelled:
- Why would the Gebelites have killed Pilgrim Grim today
when they most need him?
- Ask the culprits, don' t ask us.
- The Rifaaites will never submit to a Gebelite strongman.
- They'll pay dearly for his blood.
The Trustee shouted again:
- Don'tfitin with the plot, or you 'll see Qaasim descending
on you like the plague.
- Let Qaasim come if he wants to, but Bruiser isn 't going
to be strongman over us.
The Trustee was in despair.
- We're fin ished. We'll be ruined.
There were shouts of:
- Ruin is better than Bruiser.
A stone was flung from Rifaa's sector and landed among the
men of Gebel's sector, who replied in kind. The Trustee
retreated hastily. Stones flew in both directions. In no time the
two sectors were involved in a bloody battle, extending even to
the rooftops, where women pelted each other with bits of brick
and stone and clay and wood. The battle lasted a long time,
although the Rifaaites were fighting without their strongman
and many of them fell before Bruiser's unerring blows.
Women began shouting from the windows, but their cries
were lost i n the noise of the battle. However, they could be seen
pointing in horror, now to the east and now to the west. People
turned to look, and saw Qaasim in front of the Great House
bearing down with a party of his men brandishing their
cudgels, while Hassan approached from the opposite direction with another party. Warning shouts rang out, and events 394