Children of Gebelaawi (8 page)

- Adham, how do you find the work?

- As long as you entrust it to me, it will remain the most

important thing in my life.

A smile spread across his father's broad face, for in spite of

his harsh nature, he was softened by flattery. Adham used to

love beingwith him, and would sit lookingup at him admiringly.

He used to enjoy it when his father told him and his brothers

of the old days and of his youthful adventures as a strongman:

how he had gone rou nd in these parts, brandishing his terrible

cudgel and mastering every spot he trod on.

Mter ldrees was driven out, Abbaas, Radwaan and jaleel

kept up their old practice of meeting on the roof of the house,

eating and drinking and gambling, but Adham only liked

sitting in the garden and playing on his bamboo flute. He

continued this after he took over the affairs of the Trust,

although it no longer fi lled most of his time. Mter he had

finished the day's work he used to spread out a rug beside a

stream, lean his back agai nst the trunk of a palm or fig tree or

lie down beneath a can opy ofjasmine, and watch the doves and

the song birds. Then he would play his flute, imitating their

trilling and twittering and cooing, or he would gaze up through

the branches at the sky.

His brother Radwaan once came upon him when he was

lying there like this, eyed him scornfully and said:

- What a waste of ti me, all those hours you spend m anaging

the Trust!

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Adham

Adham smiled.

- Ifl wasn 't afraid of annoying my father I might complain .

- We can thank God for our leisure.

Adham said candidly:

- I hope you enjoy i t.

Radwaan smiled to hide his annoyance and said:

- Wouldn't you love to be like us again?

- I prefer bei ng in the garden with my flute.

Radwaan said bi tterly:

- Idrees would have loved to work.

Adham looked down.

- Idrees had no time for work; it was for other reasons that

he was furious. As for real happiness, you fi nd that here in the

garden.

When Radwaan had gone, Adham said to himself: 'The

garden, with i ts song birds, the flowing water and the sky

casting its spell on me - that's the real life. But i t's as if I was

looking for somethi ng. What can it be? The bamboo flute

almost tells me sometimes; bu t I sti ll don' t know the answer. If

only the birds spoke my language, they would surely tell me.

And the stars too must have something to say. As for collecting

the rent, it clashes with the music. '

Adham stood one day looking at his shadow on the path by

the roses when suddenly another shadow grew out of the side

of his own, announcing that someone had come round the

corner behind him. He turned and saw a brown girl about to

retreat on discoveri ng him. He signalled her to stop, which she

did. He took a good look at her, then asked gently:

- Who are you?

She answered hesitantly:

- Umayma.

He rem em be red the name; she was a servant, a relative of his

mother's, who must have been just like this before she married. He felt a desire to talk to her and asked: 13

Children of Gebelaawi

- What has brought you to the garden?

Her eyelids dropped as she replied:

- I thought it was empty.

- But you're not allowed.

Her voice was almost inaudible:

- I've done wrong, sir.

She retreated round the corner. Then he heard her running away. He murmured with feeling: 'You lovely girl! ' He felt that he had never been more truly one of the creatures of the

garden than he was now, and that the roses, the jasmine, the

carnations, the song birds, the doves and he himself were part

of one great melody. He said to hi mself: ' Umayma is lovely even her thick lips. All my brothers are married, except proud ldrees. She is the same color as me, and how beautiful it was to

see her shadow grow out of mine, as if she was part of my body

with its confusion of desires. My father will not disapprove of

my choice, or how could he have married my mother?'

3 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Adham went back to work still enraptured by a beauty as

precious as perfume. He tried hard to concentrate on the day's

accounts, but all he cou ld see was the image of the brown girl.

It was not surprising that he had not seen her before, as the

women's quarters in this house were like a man's heart, of

whose existence he knows and by virtue of which he lives but

which he never sees. Ad ham gave himself over completely to

rosy daydrea.ms, ti ll he was wrenched out of them by a thunderous voice so loud that it seemed to be coming from the garden house itself.

- Here I am in the desert, Gebelaawi, cursing everybody.

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Adham

Damn all your men and your women ! I defy anybody to

disapprove my words. Do you hear me, Gebelaawi?

Adham shouted 'ldrees ! ' and shot out into the garden.

Radwaan was coming towards him, looking distraught, and

burst out:

- ldrees is drunk. I saw him from the window, staggering

about. What further scandals can fate have in store for our

fami ly?

Adham closed his eyes with pain:

- It breaks my heart, Radwaan.

- What's to be done? Disaster threatens.

- Don't you think we should talk to our father about it?

Radwaan frowned.

- Your father never changes his mind. Idrees's present

state would only anger him even more.

Adham groaned.

- As if we hadn't already had enough trouble!

- Yes! The wom en are crying in their quarters. Abbaas and

Jaleel are so upset that they've shut themselves away. Our

father's alone in his room and nobody dares go near him.

Adham asked anxiously, feeling that the circumstances

were pushing him into a tight corner:

- Don't you think we should do something?

- Of course, we all wan t peace, but the surest way to lose it

is to want it at any price. I ' m risking nothing, not even if the

heavens fall. As for the family's good name, ldrees is already

dragging it in the dust.

Adham asked himself: 'Then why did you come to me? '

Overnight he had been turned i nto a bird of ill omen. He

moaned:

- I'm in nocent in all this, but I shan't enjoy life any more

if I say nothing.

Radwaan said as he was about to go:

- There are plenty of reasons why you should do something.

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Children of Gebelaawi

He left Adham on his own with the phrase echoing i n his

ears: 'There are plenty of reasons .. . ' Yes. The blame fell on him

though he was innocent. Whenever people were sorry for

ldrees, they cursed Adham. He wen t to the gate, opened i t

quietly, and slipped out. He saw ldrees n o t far off, reeling

round in circles and rolling his eyes. His h air was tangled, and

the front of his jellaba was open showing his hairy chest. When

h is eye fell on Adham he sprang to the attack, like a cat that has

sighted a mouse; but dri nk had weakened him and he bent

down, filled his hand wi Lh soi l and threw it at Adham, hitting

him on the chest and dirtyi ng his coat. Adham called gently to

him:

- Brother !

ldrees raved as he swayed.

- Shut up, you dog, you son of a bitc h ! You 're not my

brother, and your father's not my father, and I'm goi ng to

bring down this house over your heads.

Adham said with si ncere affection:

- You are the finest and noblest son of this house.

Idrees guffawed mirth lessly and shouted:

- What have you come for, son of a slave girl? Run back to

mummy and take her down to the servants' quarters !

Adham spoke as warm ly as ever:

- Don 'tget carried away by anger, and don ' t close the door

to your friends.

ldrees shook his fist and said:

- Damned house! Only cowards can be happy in it -

people who accept scraps humbly and worship the one who

humbles them. I'll never return to a house in which you are

master. Tell your father I'm living in the desert he came from,

and that I've become a bandit like he was, and a bad, quarrelsome crook like he is. Wherever I go, smashing things up, people point to me and say 'Gebelaawi 's son'. And so I ' ll drag

you through the mud, you who thi nk you're lords when you're

really thieves.

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Adham

Adham implored him:

- Stop, dear brother ! Don't say things you ' ll regret. The

way wil l not be closed to you unless you close it with your own

hands. I swear all the good thi ngs will come back.

Idrees came one step towards him, as slowly as if he were

walking against a gale:

- What will you swear by, son of a slave?,

Adham looked at him carefully.

- By brotherhood!

- Brotherhood ! I stuffed that down the first lavatory I came

across.

- Until now I never heard anything but good from you.

- Your father's tyranny has taught me to speak the truth.

- I hope nobody sees you i n this state.

Idrees let out a drunken laugh.

-They wi ll see me in a worse state every day. Shame and evil

and scandal wi ll hau nt you because of me. Your father chased

me out shamelessly and he must bear the consequences.

He flu ng himself at Ad ham, who side-stepped, so that idrees

almost fell to the ground bu t managed to catch hold of the

wall. He stood there choking with rage and searching the

ground for stones. Adham retreated quietly to the gate and

wen t i n. His eyes swam with tears. Idrees's shouts were still

ringing out. Adham happened to turn towards the veranda

and saw his father through the door, crossing the drawing

room. Without knowing why, he went to him, too sad to be

afraid. Gebelaawi looked at him with expressionless eyes. He

was standing, tall and broad-shouldered, i n front of a picture

pain ted on the wall. Adham bowed his head and greeted him.

Gebelaawi probed him with a deep look, then said, i n a voice

that pierced him to the heart:

- Explain why you've come.

Adham almost whispered:

- Father, my brother ldrees .. .

His father cut h i m short with a voice like iron o n flint:

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Children of Gebelaawi

- Don't ever mention his name in front of me! Get back to

your work.

4 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

With every day and nigh t that passed i n the desert, ldrees

fell deeper into disgrace, adding some new antic to his record.

He wou ld circle round the house, hurling the foulest i nsults at

it; or he would sit near the gate, as naked as the day he was born,

pretending to sunbathe and singing the lewdest songs. He

would swagger about the nearby districts with the haughtiness

of the strongmen, provoking passers-by with offensive stares

and picking a quarrel with anyone who got in his way, while

people whispered to one another, 'Gebelaawi 's son'. He had

no worries abou t meals; he would simply grab the food where

he found it, in a restaurant or on a barrow, eat his fill, then go

off without thanks or payment. When he felt like revelling he

would go i nto the first tavern he came across, and the ale would

come to him ti l l he was drunk. Then his tongue would be

loosened and he wou ld pour forth his family's secrets, i ts

unheard of behavior, its idiotic tradi tions and its despicable

cowardliness, winding up to his rebellion against his father,

the greatest tyrant in all these parts. Then he would startjoking

and laughing helplessly, or singing and dancing. His happiness was complete if the night's entertainment ended with a fight. Then off he would go, shouting greetings at everyone.

He became wel l known everywhere for this way of life, and

people avoided him if they cou ld, but they accepted him like

a natural disaster. The family suffered pai n and sorrow from all

this. Misery consumed ldrees's mother and she sickened and

lay dying. Gebelaawi came to take leave of her, and she pointed

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Adham

at him an accusi ng hand, which showed no sign of disease. She

died of grief and resentment, and mourni ng entangled the

family in i ts nel. The brothers' eveni ngs on the roof came to an

end, and Adham 's bamboo flute was silent in the garden.

One day their father burst out agai n. The victim this time

was a woman. l-Ie raised his great voice to curse a maid called

N arciss, and he chased her out oft he house. He had learnt that

the girl was pregnant and she was interrogated till she confessed that Idrees had seduced her before his expulsion. So Narciss left the house, wai ling and beati ng her cheeks, and

wandered abou t all day long till ldrees came across her. l-Ie

took her in tow wi thou t ei ther welcome or rebuff, treating her

like an object that migh t come in useful later.