Children of Gebelaawi (7 page)

Read Children of Gebelaawi Online

Authors: Naguib Mahfouz

Tags: #Fiction

begin? What was it all about? Who were these sons of our Alley?

4

AD HAM

1 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

In the begi nning the place of our Alley was wasteland. It was

a fri nge of Muqauam Desert, which now lurks on the edge of

our world. Alone stood here the Great House that Gebelaawi

had created as if to defy fear and desolation and banditry. I ts

long, high wall enclosed a large area with the three-story

building in the eastern half and the garden to i ts west.

One day the Founder of the Trust summoned his sons to

attend him in the lower drawing room, which opened on to the

veranda. They all came: ldrees, Abbaas, Radwaan, Jaleel and

Adham, dressed in silkjellabas. They stood in front of him, so

respectful that they hardly dared look at him directly. He made

them sit down on chairs arranged round him. For a while he

fixed them, hawk-like, wi th his piercing eyes, then stood up,

crossed to the great door to the veranda and stood there

gazing out at the huge garden, crowded with mulberry and fig

and palm trees, up which were trained henna and jasmine, and

in whose branches singing birds thronged. The garden was

bursting with life and song, but in the room there was silence.

It seemed to the brothers that the Strongman of the Desert

had forgotten them. Wi th his great height and breadth he

seemed superhu man, a being from another world. They ex-

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Children of Gebelaawi

changed enquiri ng glances; this was how he was when he had

made an important decision. They were worried, because he

was as despotic at home as he was outside, and compared to

him they were nothi ng. He turned towards them without

movi ng from the spot where he stood, and he spoke i n a deep,

raucous voice that fi lled the great room, with i ts tapestried

walls.

- I 've decided it wi ll be best if somebody else manages the

Trust.

He examined their faces again, but their expressions betrayed nothing. Managi ng the Trust was not a prospect to please those who loved leisure and freedom and youthful

rowdiness. However that might be, ldrees, the eldest, was the

natural choice for the job; none of them could question that.

ldrees said to himself: 'What a bore ! All those ground-rents

and those dreadful tenants ! '

Gebelaawi went on:

- I've chosen your brother Adham to manage the Trust

u nder my supervision.

Their faces changed at this sudden shock, and they exchanged furtive glances of consternation, except for Adham who looked down in shame and confusion. Gebelaawi turned

his back on them and said impassively:

- That's why I sen t for you.

ldrees felt a burst of rage, as if he were drunk with hostility.

His brothers looked at him miserably. Each of them - except

Adham, of course - hid his anger over his own honor, silently

resenting the way that each had been passed over at the same

time as the eldest. ldrees spoke in a voice so calm that i t might

have been someone else 's:

- But Father. ..

His father cut in, spi nning rou nd to face them.

- But? !

They all looked down, in case h e should read their thoughts,

except ldrees, who said wi th determination:

6

Adham

- But I'm the eldest.

Gebelaawi said indignan tly:

- I'm aware of that; I am your father.

Idrees went on, his anger mounting:

- The eldest has rights that can ' t be set aside without good

reason.

Gebelaawi gave him a long look, as if to leave him a chance

to change his mind, then said:

- I assure you I've made my choice for everybody's good.

This blow exhausted Idrees's patience. He knew that opposition enraged his father and that he must expect worse to come if he persisted , bu t he was so furious that he did not give

a though t to the consequences. He strode across to Adham til l

he was almost o n Lop of h i m , puffed himself u p like a cock i n

ful l display, to point up the contrast between himself a n d his

brother in stature and complexion and beauty, and spat out

his words wi th the violence of a sneeze:

- Me and my fu ll brothers are sons of a real lady, the best

of women. As for this creature, he's the son of a black slave.

Ad ham's brown face paled, but he sat qui te still. Gebelaawi

shook his fist and warned:

- Behave yourselC Idrees!

But Idrees was wi ld wi th fury. He roared:

- He's the you ngest of us, too; give me one reason why you

should prefer him to me, or is this the age of servants and

slaves?

- Hold your tongue, you idiot, for your own sake !

- I'd rather die than be humiliated.

Radwaan looked up and said very gently:

- We're all your sons, and we have a right to be upset if we

lose your favor. You have the last word in any case. We just wan t

to know the reaso n.

Gebelaawi turned lo Radwaan, keeping calm for some

reason of his own, and said:

- Adham is fami liar wi th the tenants and knows most of

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Children of Gebelaawi

them by name. He's also learnt writing and arithmetic.

Idrees and his brothers were amazed by their father's words.

Since when had knowing the masses been a distinction for

which a man was preferred? And going to school - was that

too a distinction? Would Adham's mother have sent him to

school if she had not despaired of him succeeding in the world

of strongmen? Idrees asked bi tterly:

- Are those the reasons for humiliating me?

Gebelaawi waved this aside angrily.

- It's my decision, all you have to do is to hear and obey.

(He turned sharply towards ldrees's brothers.) What do you

say?

Abbaas could not bear his father's gaze; he spoke thickly:

- I hear and obey.

Jaleel said hastily, looking away:

- It's your decision , Father.

Radwaan swallowed hard and said:

- At your servi ce !

ldrees's angry laugh twisted his face horribly. He thundered:

- Cowards! All I could expect of you was a miserable defeat.

Because of your cowardice, this son of a black slave wil l push

you around.

Gebelaawi thu ndered:

- ldrees!

But ldrees was out of his mind and shouted:

- What sort of a father are you? You were born a bullying

strongman, and all you know is how to be a bullying strongman.

You deal wi th us, your sons, the same way as with all your other

victims.

Gebelaawi took two ponderous steps forward and said

quietly, his contorted features warning of the worst:

- Hold your tongue!

But ldrees went on shouting:

- You 're not going to frighten me; you know I can't be

8

Adham

frightened. And if you want to raise that son of a slave above

me, I shan ' t give you any sweet nonsense about hearing and

obeying.

- Don't you know what impudence leads to, you damned

idiot?

- The real damned idiot is that son of a slave.

The father's voice grew louder and more rasping.

- She's my wife, you fool. Now behave yourself or I'll floor

you.

The other brothers were terrified, Adham as much as any of

them, for they knew the violence of their despotic father. Bu t

ldrees thought no more of danger than would a madman

plungi ng into a ragi ng fire. He shouted:

- You hate me. I didn't realize it, but there's no doubt that

you hate me. Perhaps it was that slave girl who made you hate

us; you 're master of the desert, Founder of the Trust, the

dreaded strongman, bu t a slave girl can play with you. Tomprrow people wi ll be saying all sorts of amazing things about you, lord of the desert!

- I told you to hold your tongue, damn you !

- Don't insult me for blacky Adham's sake; even the rocks

will protest agai nst that and curse him. Your crazy decision is

going to make us the laughing-stock of all the neighborhood.

Gebelaawi shouted in a voice so loud that it was heard all

over the garden and in the women's quarters:

- Get out of my sigh t!

- This is my home and my mother's home, and she is i ts

true mistress.

- You shan' t be seen here again - ever.

His great face darkened like the Nile in flood, and he moved

forward, stately as a ship, clenching a fist of granite. They all

knew ldrees was fi nished. IL would be just one more of the

tragedies that the house had witnessed silen tly. How many fine

ladies had been turned by a single word into miserable beggars! How many men had reeled out after long service, carry-9

Children of Gebelaawi

ing on their bare backs the weals made by leaded whips,

bleeding from nose and mouth ! The respect that protects

everyone when all is well avails no one, however important,

when tempers are lost. And so theywere all certain the end had

come for Idrees - of all people, the eldest, his father's equal

in strength and good looks! Gebelaawi took two more steps

towards him, sayi ng:

- You are not my son and I am not your father. This is not

your home, and you have here no mother, no brothers and no

servants. In fronl of you is the wide world. Go, with my anger

and my curse! Ti me wi II teach you your true importance as you

wander aimlessly, stripped of my love and my care.

Idrees stamped his foot on the Persian carpet:

- This is my home, and I'm not leaving it.

His father was upon him before he could defend hi mself

and seized his shoulder in an iron grip. He forced Idrees

backwards, stumbli ng, through the door on to the veranda

and down the steps, then hustled him along the path, roofed

over with roses, henna and jasmine, to the great gate. He thrust

him out, locked the gate and roared in a voice that reached

everyone in the house:

- Death to any man who helps him or allows him to come

back! (Then, raisi ng his eyes to the shuttered windows of the

women 's quarters:) Im mediate divorce for any woman who

helps him!

2 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

From that sad day on, Ad ham went every morning to work

in the Trust office, in the garden-house to the right of the gate

of the Great House. He worked hard, collecting the rents for

the holdings, payi ng out to beneficiaries and presenting the

10

Adham

accounts to his father. In his dealings with the tenants he

showed discretion and tact, and they liked him although they

were notoriously rude and quarrelsome.

The Clauses accordi ng to which the Trust was run were a

secret known only to his father. By choosing Ad ham to manage

i t, Gebelaawi aroused the fear that he was preparing to prefer

him i n his wi ll. In fact he had never before shown any favoritism between his sons. The brothers had lived i n peace and harmony thanks to their father's fairness and their respect for

him. Even Idrees, in spite of his strength and beauty and his

occasional excesses, had never been unpleasant to any of his

brothers before that day. He was a generous, good-tempered

fellow, loved and admired.

The four older brothers may perhaps have had a secret

sense of the distance between themselves and their halfbrother

Adham, but none of them showed it, and there had never been

any hint of insulting words or behavior on their part. Adham

may have felt this distance more than they, and may have

compared their light complexion with his, which was dark,

their strength with his weakness, or the nobility of their

mother with the lowliness of his. He may have suffered on

account of this some sorrow, some i nward pain. But the

atmosphere of the house, sweetened by aromatic herbs, submissive to the father's power and wisdom, had not allowed him to have any persistent feeling of unhappi ness, and he had

grown up pure in heart and mind.

Adham said to his mother before he first went to the Trust

office:

- Give me your blessing, Mother. This work isjust a difficu lt

test for you and me.

She replied hum bly:

- May success go with you, my child; you're a good son, and

good people succeed in the end.

So Ad ham went to the garden house, followed by many pairs

of eyes on the veranda, in the garden and behind the windows.

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Children of Gebelaawi

He sat down on the Trustee's seat and began his work. His was

the most responsible position held by anyone i n that desert

area between jebel Muqattam in the east and Old Cairo in the

west. Adham made reliabi lity his motto, and wrote down every

millieme i n the ledger for the first time i n the history of the

Trust. He used to give his brothers their allowances with a tact

that made them forget their resentment. Then he would take

his father the money he had collected.

One day his father asked him:

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