Children of Gebelaawi (37 page)

- I'll test your skill with this sofa and, p lease God, the next

216

Rifaa

job will be my daughter's trousseau. (Then, to his friends:) I

say it again: if Gebel came back and saw the times we're living

in, he'd go mad.

They shook their heads sadly and went on smoking. Brahoom

the grave-digger asked Shaafiy with a smile:

- Why don' t you wan t to make a coffin? Everything has its

price doesn 't it?

Shaafiy stopped sawing for a moment and chuckled as he

said:

- God forbid! Havi ng a coffin in the shop would scare away

my customers.

Farhaat said:

- Very true! Curse death and all that!

Hijaazi spoke again:

- The trouble with you people is that you 're more afraid of

death than you shou ld be. That's why Dungbeetle can lord it

over you, and Bayoomi can rule, and Ihaab can rake off your

funds.

- Aren't you afraid of death like us?

He spat and said:

- It's the fault of us all. Gebel was strong, and by force he

won us the rights that we've lost by cowardice.

R.ifaa stopped ham mering, took the nails out of his mouth,

and said:

- Gebel wanted to win our rights by fair means. He only

used force in self-defence.

Hijaazi laughed mockingly and said:

- Tell me, my boy, can a nail be knocked in wi thout force?

- Men aren't like wood, sir.

His father gave him a look and he went back to his work.

Hijaazi continued:

- The fact is, Gebel was a strongman, one of the most

powerful the Alley has ever known, and he urged his people to

use strongman methods.

Farhaat backed him up:

2 1 7

Children of Gebelaawi

- He wanted them to be the strongmen of the whole Alley,

not just of Gebel's sector.

- And today we're just mice and rabbits.

Shaafiy wiped his nose on the back of his hand, and asked:

- What color would you like, Hijaazi my friend?

- Choose a color that won't show the dirt. (Then, turning

back to the discussion:) The day Digger put out Triptoe's eye,

Gebel put out Digger's eye, using violence to establish justice.

Rifaa sighed deeply and said:

- Violence gets us nowhere. Every hour of the day and

night we see people hitting or wounding or killing. Even the

women draw blood with their nails. But where's justice? How

horrible all this is!

They were all silent for a time. Then Hanoora spoke for the

first time:

- This young gentleman despises our Alley. He's softer

than he should be, and it's your fault, Mr. Shaafiy.

- Me?!

- Yes ! He's a spoilt child.

Hijaazi turned to Rifaa and said with a laugh:

- You'd better find yourself a wife.

There was laughter. Shaafiy frowned and Rifaa blushed.

Hijaazi said:

- Force .. ! Force .. ! Without it there can be no justice.

Rifaa spoke firmly, in spite of looks from his father:

- The fact is our Alley needs mercy.

Brahoom laughed and said:

____, Do you want to rui n me?

They roared with laughter which led i n turn to fits of

coughing. Hijaazi 's eyes turned the color of glue. He said:

- Long ago Gebel went asking for mercy and justice, and

the Effendi sent Thudclub and his men after him. It was

cudgels - not mercy - that kept Gebel and his people from

being destroyed.

Shaafiy exclaimed:

218

Rifaa

- For goodness' sake! The walls have ears; if they hear you,

you won 't find anybody to speak up for you.

Hanoora said:

- He's right; you're just good-for-nothing dope-heads. If

Dungbeetle walked past now you'd fall at his feet. (Then, to

Rifaa: ) Don't blame us, my boy; a hashish smoker can't help it.

Have you tried hashish, Rifaa?

Shaafiy said laughing:

- He doesn't like hashish parties; if he takes more than two

puffs he gasps for breath or falls asleep.

Farhaat said:

- What a nice boy he is! Some say he's an exorcist because

he sees so much of Mother-at-Heart, and some think he must

be a bard because of his li king for tales.

Hijaazi said with a snigger:

- And he hates hashish parties just as he hates marriage.

Brahoom called for the serving boy from the cafe to take

away the hookahs. Then they stood up and said good-bye, and

the session came to an end. Shaafiy put down his saw and

glared at his son .

- Don ' t let yourself get dragged into the conversations of

such people.

Some urchi ns came and played in front of the shop. Rifaa

went rou nd the bench to his father and led him by the hand

to a corner of the shop where no ear could hear them. He

seemed excited and uneasy, bu t his mouth was set firmly.

There was a strange light in his eyes and Shaafiy wondered

what it could mean. Rifaa said:

- I can ' t keep quiet any longer.

His father was annoyed. What a nuisance he was, this darling

son; wasting his precious time in Mother-at-Heart's home and

mooning arou nd for long hours alone at Hind's Rock. And he

couldn't spend an hour in the shop wi th�ut creating problems

with his argu ments.

- Are you feeling tired?

219

Children of Gebelaawi

Rifaa said with a strange quietness:

- I can 't hide from you what is in my mind.

- What is it?

He drew closer to him and said:

- Yesterday, after I had left the bard's home about midnight, I felt the urge to go off into the desert. I walked through the darkness till I was tired, then I picked a spot under the wall

of the Great House where it overlooks the desert and sat down

wi th my back propped against the wall. ( Shaafiy' s eyes were full

of in terest and urged him to go on.) I heard a strange voice

speaking, as if it was talking to itself in the dark. The feeling

suddenly overwhelmed me that itwas the voice of our Ancestor

Gebelaawi.

Shaafiy gaped at his son's face and murmured in amaze-

ment:

- Gebelaawi 's voice! What gave you that idea?

Rifaa said hotly:

- It's not just an idea, Father; you shall have proof. I stood

up as soon as I heard the voice and turned towards the house,

drawi ng back to be able to see him. Bu t I saw only darkness.

- Thank God !

- Patience, Father! I heard the voice saying: 'Gebel did his

job and gave satisfaction, but thi ngs have become even worse

than before. ' .

Shaafiyfelta burning in his chest and the sweat poured from

his forehead. He said i n a trembling voice:

- So many people have sat where you sat under the wall and

heard nothing!

- But I did hear, Father.

- Perhaps it was somebody talking in his sleep in the desert.

He shook his head vigorously.

- No; the voice came from the house.

- How do you know that?

- I shouted: 'Grandfather, Gebel is dead and others have

taken his place. Stretch out your hand to us. '

220

Rifaa

- I hope to God nobody heard you.

Rifaa's eyes shone.

- My grandfather heard me. His voice came again , saying:

' It's wrong for a young man to ask h is old grandfather to act:

the beloved son is the one who acts. ' I asked: 'What means can

I who am weak use against those strongmen?' and he replied:

'The true weakling is the fool who does not know the secret of

his strength, and I do not like fools. '

Shaafiy asked anxiously:

- Do you really think these words passed between you and

Gebelaawi?

- Yes, by heaven !

Shaafiy moaned:

- Too much imagination can bring disaster.

- Believe me, Father. There's no doubt about what I say.

- Don ' t take away my hope of finding some doubt.

Rifaa's face shone as he said:

- And now I know what's wanted of me.

Shaafiy slapped hi mself on the forehead and exclaimed:

- Is anything wanted of you?

- Yes. I am weak but I am not a fool, and the beloved son

is the one who acts.

Shaafiy felt as if the saw was rasping at his chest. He shouted:

- Your deeds will be dark. You'll be destroyed, and you 'll

drag us down with you to destruction.

Rifaa smiled.

- They on ly kill those who have their eye on the Trust.

- And do you have your eye on anything but the Trust?

Rifaa's voice was full of confidence:

- Ad ham longed for a pure, full life. So did Gebel, and he

only wanted the Trust as a means to a full life. But the idea took

hold of him that such a life wouldn't be possible for anybody

unless the Trust was shared out equally so that everybody

received their due and profited by it, released from toil and

free to live a full life. But what a paltry thing the Trust is if such

221

Children of Gebelaawi

a life can be attained without i t - which is possible to anybody

who wants it. It's in our power to be free from need, starting

this very hour.

Shaafiy sighed, somewhat relieved:

- Did our Ancestor say that to you?

- He said he didn ' t like foolishness, and that the true fool

is the one who doesn't know the secret of his strength. I'd be

the last person to ask for a figh t over the Trust. The Trust is

nothing, Father; the happiness of a full life is everythi ng. Only

the devils hidden deep i nside us come between us and happiness. It's not for nothing that I love the science of spirits and am perfecting it. Perhaps it's the will of God i n Heaven that h as

brought me to it.

Shaafiy was relieved, but the anguish had left him weak. He

gave up trying to saw, stretching out his legs and resti ng his

back against a window frame that was awaiting repair. He asked

his son sarcastically:

- How come we haven't attained the full life when we had

Mother-at-Heart among us before you were born?

Rifaa said confidently:

- Because she waits for well-to-do patients to come to her,

and doesn't go to the poor.

Shaafiy looked round the corners of his shop and said:

- Look how many jobs we're getting; what shall we get

tomorrow thanks to you?

-All that's good, Father; healing the sick will upset only the

devils.

Mirrored by a wardrobe in the doorway, the rays of the

sin king su n flooded the shop with light.

222

Rifaa

5 1 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

There was anxiety that night in Shaafiy's home. Although

the story reached Abda in a peaceful setting, and although she

learnt only that Rifaa had heard their Ancestor's voice and h ad

decided to visi t the poor and cast out spirits from them, she was

greatly troubled and kept turning over i n her mind the

possible consequences. Rifaa was out. From the bottom of the

Alley, far away from Gebel's sector, came the sound of a

wedding feast, drums and pipes and women's whoops of joy.

Abda tried to face up to the truth and said sadly:

- Rifaa doesn't lie.

Shaafiy protested:

- But his imagi nation has played tricks on him. It happens

to all of us.

- What do you th ink abou t what he heard?

- How can I judge?

- It's not impossible as long as our Ancestor is alive.

- God help us if the news gets out!

She said hopefully:

- Let's keep the story secret and thank God that he's fixed

his though ts on people, not on the Trust. As long as he harms

nobody, nobody will harm him.

Shaafiy said helplessly:

- What a lot of people are harmed in our Alley without

having harmed anybody!

The music of the wedding feast was drowned by an outburst

of noise in the passage. They looked out of the window and saw

the passage fu ll of men. By the light of the lamp that one of

them held, the faces ofi-Iijaazi, Brahoom, Farhaat and Hanoora

could be made out, among others. Everyone was talking or

yelling and there was a babble of voices and general confusion.

Someone shou ted: 'The honor of Gebel's people is in the

balance. We shan't allow anybody to tarnish it!' Abda shivered.

She whispered to her husband: