It was noon of the third Tuesday of Ramadan when the
Qadi arrived at the southern bank of the wadi. All five young men flocked round
him as he slowly made his way towards the terebinth-tree. The tree gave little
shade at this time of day, but the young men seemed so filled with concern they
would not shy away from sitting on a brazier.
Within moments of their sitting there,
the Qadi looked up at one of the young men. Innocent as his look was, it only
sparked envy, suspicion and anxiety. But that man the Qadi had looked at just
now exuded a charm which would captivate even cats and dogs, let alone a
thoughtful, sixty-year-old Qadi. Besides, at that very moment, that very young
man had just winked a tear back.
“You look
sad,” said the Qadi to that young man, grinning at the other four.
“We are all
sad, Qadi,” protested one of those rather quaveringly.
“I know. I
know,” said the Qadi, looking as if he had made a blunder. “I know. That’s why
I am here. I want to help you. I don’t want you to be sad. I want you to be
happy. But, you know, it’s hard –if not impossible– to make you happy all of
you. Because you all want the same thing. You all want the same woman, but only
one of you can marry her. Each of you says he loves her. Each of you says he
deserves her. No one of you is prepared to choose another woman. You said you’d
lay down your lives if you don’t get her. Her father has threatened to marry
her off on the same day as all the other village girls, and that day is only
months away. I have thought and thought about your problem. I have spoken to so
many sensible people and they all repeat that I should not have agreed to help
you. I agreed and I’m not sorry I did so, but please help me to help you.”
“How can we
help you?” said one of the young men ungraciously.
“You can help
me by being a little bit more sensible. I’m going to make a suggestion, right?
Think about it. If you agree to it, we’ll go ahead. Otherwise, I shall not be
able to help.”
Nobody spoke, but all eyes were on the Qadi’s lips.
“My
suggestion,” said the Qadi, stroking his white beard, “is this. I will give the
woman you all covet to the one amongst you who resembles her most in her
goodness or wickedness. If she is a good woman she will get a good man; if she
is a wicked woman she will get a wicked man.”
There was a chuckle, after which one of the young men
asked, raising his eyebrows:
“Who would
decide who of us is good and who’s wicked?”
“I’ll find
four men who’ll be spying on you,” said the Qadi gravely. “They’ll be watching
each of you without your knowledge. And they’ll be monitoring the woman at the
same time. It’s they who’ll decide who should marry the woman. They’ll make
their decision within the next few months. Now let me hear from you. What do
you say to that?”
“And what
about our weekly meetings with the girls down the valley?” said the charming
man. “Shall we be allowed to meet up with Zina during that period of time?”
The Qadi could
not help sighing as he turned to that man, and said with a knowing smile:
“You can see
her, no problem. But, remember, Tahar, only one man will marry that woman.”
“And that man
might not be me,” said Tahar in a muffled voice. “I’ve got it!”
“So let me
leave you now,” said the Qadi, rising to his feet. “See you soon!”
The five young
men looked at one another. Each seemed to use the other’s eyes as a mirror to
find out whether he was “good” or “wicked”.
Suddenly,
Tahar turned his gaze to the opposite bank. He sighed. Then he looked down and
moved away.
“Where are you
going?” said one of the other four.
“I’m going
home,” said Tahar simply.
At home, Tahar’s mother was preparing a
tajeen, and a little way from her, on the right side of the courtyard, her
twenty-year-old daughter-in-law was baking bread in an earthen oven. Between
them stood a huge tree that shaded the whole place. The mud hut that served as
a kitchen in the rainy season stood further away and no smoke was coming from it
now. So the chickens roaming about the house could pop in and out of the
kitchen without fear of being scared away. The only nuisance to the chickens,
though, was Tahar’s three-year-old nephew, who was after the hen with chicks.
So Tahar, who was sitting on a wooden stool on the other side of the courtyard,
hailed him gently and the little boy ran to him and swung round and stood
between his knees.
“What were you
doing?” said Tahar, throwing his voice.
“I was playing
with the chicks,” said the little boy.
“No, Salem,
don’t do that! You are a kid, not a chick. And kids play with kids, and chicks
play with chicks…”
Tahar talked
on and on, first with his nephew, then with his elder brother, then with his
father, and at foutour, with everybody. But only his tongue was talking with
all those. His true talk was with himself, and it was in silence.
His heart was full of questions and his
mind could not afford answers, or rather answers that would quench the fire
that was raging in his heart.
“Am I good?”
the questions went on endlessly. “How much of a good man am I? Am I wicked? How
much of a wicked man am I? I have not put these questions before. But now I
must know. The problem is that I don’t know what I should know. Should I go
around and ask people what they think of me? Please tell me: Am I good? Please
tell me: Am I wicked? Or should I sit back and count all the good deeds and
misdeeds I did in the past? I might count the good deeds, but the misdeeds–
there’s no counting them! I don’t say my prayers, to begin with. From time to
time I drink with the boys. I spend hours and hours playing on my utar, and I
keep on playing on it even when I hear the muezzin call for prayer.
“But is Zina any different? I don’t think she drinks,
but I don’t think she says her prayers, either. I can’t say she’s a woman of
easy virtue, but I can’t say she’s any more pious than her mates, either.
“But, Tahar,
why are you thinking of Zina now? No, no, no. I love Zina. I can’t bear seeing
her go to someone else. I was the first to talk to her, and she liked me so
much– although she’s never told me she loves me. But I could see it in her
eyes, on her lips, on her shivering hands. All those boys came down us simply
because they were jealous of me. They know that Zina is the most beautiful
girl. They just don’t want me to marry her, and that’s it!... But now, Tahar,
just tell me: suppose Zina is a wicked woman, would you– No, no, no. I can’t– I
can’t think of that. I love Zina. Stop this folly! Get out of here!...”
It was dark when Tahar left the house.
He did not go to the berraka, where the village boys would meet up to have tea
and play cards or listen to the utar. He went to the riverbank instead. He sat
down under the terebinth-tree and went on musing until it was time for souhour.
Two days after Ramadan two strange men
came up to Tahar while he was working on his family fields.
“Hi, kid!”
said one of the strangers.
Surprised at
the sudden warmth of the greeting, Tahar dropped the sickle, and mumbled:
“Hi!”
All three men
shook hands and bandied words, then, all of a sudden, the strangers introduced
themselves:
“I am Issa.
This is Mussa. We want a word with you about Zina.”
“Zina?” Tahar
muttered, his eyes sparkling suddenly.
“Yes,” Issa
hastened to add. “But not here and not now. We don’t want anybody else to
know.”
“If not here,
where? If not now, when?”
“Look here,”
said Mussa, clutching Tahar’s hands, “we’ll be waiting for you at the Sidi Ali
Crossroads just after dawn tomorrow. Don’t tell anybody. Now, goodbye!”
The next dawn found Tahar at the Sidi
Ali Crossroads. Issa and Mussa joined him presently. They took him into a
nearby vineyard and served him dates and boiled eggs.
“Now, what’s the matter?” said Tahar eagerly.
Issa and Mussa exchanged glances as if both waited for
the other to speak first. Tahar was about to repeat his question when Mussa
said:
“Calm down,
man! And listen well. Qadi Allal (You know him?)– well, he has asked us to be
his eyes and ears. Now, I think you know the rest of the story. What you don’t
know, however, is that this meeting might prove very decisive indeed, and we
hope earnestly you’ll not miss out on this golden opportunity.”
“Am I to
understand that I should do something or other so that you’ll be saying
something in my favour?”
“You’ve
guessed it!” said Issa enthusiastically.
“Something
such as what, I wonder?” said Tahar, whose face was beginning to tense up.
Once again
Issa and Mussa looked at one another, before the latter said with a little smile:
“Well, we know
you love Zina, but we also know that love alone is not enough. Yet, we can help
you. But first you have to pay us.”
“Pay you? Pay
you what?”
“Yes, you must
pay us. Give us a yearling calf or three sheep or seven goats. It’s up to you
to choose!”
Tahar sprang
to his feet and shouted, tossing away the egg he had been peeling:
“You brought
me over here to bribe you!”
“Shhh! Calm
down! Lower your voice! Shut up! Get out of here!...”
But Tahar gave
free rein to his anger so that the two men had to use a big stick to chase him
out of the vineyard.
On his way back home, Tahar was more
confused than angry.
“Was this part
of a scheme?” he thought perplexedly. “Or were they actually trying to swindle
money out of me? What should I do now? Should I go and tell the Qadi? Would the
Qadi believe me if he trusted these men? And what would be the result? Would he
give me Zina? What about the other boys, then? No. I should wait. I must wait and
see how they’ll behave in the coming days.
“And what if those men were genuine? What if I had to
bribe them in order to get Zina? Bribe them? I, bribe somebody? And especially
those two men? Should I bribe them in order to get Zina? And what about the love
that has kindled my heart? Should I love her and, on top of that, bribe people
in order to marry her? If her father asked me for a big dowry, I wouldn’t
hesitate to sell everything I have to please him. But bribe, no! No, no, this
would be a humiliation. I love Zina and I want to marry her. But if– No, no,
no. I can’t think of this. Please stop this. Wait! Wait!...”
Wednesday came and the boys and girls
from both villages met again, after five weeks of separation, because of
Ramadan. Now they were down there humming, shrieking with laughter, clapping
their hands, singing. There was no kissing, no necking– never. Nonetheless,
some parents and coltish young men and women, who had not yet met partners from
the opposite village– all were there, sitting on the higher parts of the
slopes. They were up there sitting and watching in silence. Tahar, too,
remained seated under the terebinth-tree, just a few yards from the southern
bank. And from there he could see Zina and the other four lovers.
Zina was smiling to everybody. Tahar
sighed again and again. Zina was listening to the boys, who were speaking all
at a time. Tahar watched in silence. Suddenly, there was a cough and then a
shadow. Tahar turned round in surprise and was on his feet.
“Oh, what a
surprise, Qadi!” he yelled with a fetching smile.
The Qadi
smiled too, and said in a kindly voice:
“You look sad,
my son! Why all this gloom? Take it easy!
Don’t worry!”
“What! Do you
mean–”
“I just said
don’t worry,” said the Qadi, moving away.
“Where are you
going, Qadi?” Tahar panted out.
“I’m going
down,” said the Qadi without glancing back.
“Won’t you come along?”
“No, sir, I’ll
stay here.”
And there he
stayed, sitting under the terebinth-tree and watching in silence.
In the evening he was with the boys at
the berraka. He had not brought with him his own utar, but someone served him a
cup of tea and egged on him to play on the utar that was lying on the mat.
Tahar put the cup of tea aside and picked up the utar and began to play on it.
And while he played he now and then stole glances at his four rivals, those who
vied with him for Zina’s heart.
Surprisingly enough, all those looked
at him with gleaming eyes. They all broke into song and clapped their hands and
rocked, and encored the utar player. But the utar player, having seen how
gleeful his rivals were, was now beginning to feel a pang of anguish. He began
to lose his grip on the utar. And before tears gathered in his eyes he dropped
the instrument suddenly and left the berraka.
"Oh, my
God!" he cried, flinging his arms up in exasperation. Above him was a sky studded with stars, in
front of him a dark, winding pathway.
"What's
the matter, Tahar?" asked an unseen passer-by.
Tahar composed
himself, and said:
"There's
nothing the matter with me!"
"But I
heard you say 'Oh, my God!'?" said the voice, which turned out to be that
of a close neighbour of Tahar's.
"Yes,
that's right!" Tahar conceded with an embarrassed smile. "You know,
we all go mad sometimes! Where were you going?"
"I was
going to the berraka."
"Alright.
See you! Good night!"
"Good
night!"
That night was
long, long, and horrendous. "Why, why didn't I agree to bribe them?"
Tahar thought ruefully. "All those guys were cheerful tonight. At least
one of them must have done it. Maybe they all gave generous gifts. And perhaps
each thought he had paid the biggest price for Zina. Zina, my love. But how can
she be your love when you were mean to her? Instead of jettisoning just one
principle just one time, what you did was chuck out your love. It's too late
now! It's a caddish thing to do what you did, my poor Tahar! Yes, sigh again
and again, and weep! Your sighs and tears won't help you now…"
It was prize-day now. Tahar and his
four rivals sat in a half circle in front of the Qadi under the terebinth-tree.
All eyes were on the Qadi's lips. The Qadi spoke for some length of time of
friendship and brotherhood, of fate, and of marriage. Then, he said:
"I am
sorry to say that at this stage, at this point in time, one of you is going to
be weeded out. The other four will have to be subjected to more tests."
Then the Qadi
dropped his eyes and fell silent. Tahar's heart throbbed. But no one dared
speak to the Qadi now. The silence was unbearably long. And then there was a
murmur. Tahar's rivals were looking to their right. Dumbfounded, they looked at
a flock of camels, cattle, sheep, and goats– all led by four men, two of whom
were easily recognizable to Tahar. They were the ones that had called
themselves Issa and Mussa.
When the cortège came to a halt just a
few feet from where the uncomprehending young men were sitting, the Qadi looked
up at Tahar, and said:
"Tahar,
you gave us nothing, so you'll get nothing. Your time is up!"
Tahar cast a
puzzled look at his hitherto rivals and at the cortège and took his leave. His
legs took him down the valley, through which flowed a brook unsteadily as it
sometimes would at this time of year. He trudged along the pebbly edge of the
brook. "…So I'm not going to marry Zina," he went on speaking to
himself like a madman. "Zina's going to marry one of the bunch… one of the
wicked." (He burst into laughter.) "So Zina is a wicked woman? All
those are wicked men? So I was the only good man? If Zina is a wicked woman,
who is a good woman and where could I find her?" (Suddenly, Tahar went
berserk.) "No! I must go back and tell the Qadi that I am just as wicked
as those, and that only I and nobody else love Zina, and that I must marry
Zina, otherwise I will actually kill someone or kill myself…"
Just at that
moment a voice called out to him:
"Tahar!
Tahar! Wait!"
Tahar turned
round. His pulse began to beat quicker.
"Wait!" Issa panted out. "The Qadi has sent me to you. He
wants to speak to you."
Tahar just
looked on speechless while Issa pointed at a palm-tree up the southern back of
the wadi.
"Qadi
Allal will be there in a moment," Issa said. "Go and await him
there!"
Both Tahar and
the Qadi were panting when they sat down under the palm-tree. It was the Qadi
who spoke first.
"I
thought you were a good man," he said. "I knew you were really hooked
on that girl. But I had a feeling that you were good, though. Now, I am
disillusioned."
"What
more do you want of me now after having torn my love from me?"
"Would
you marry a woman who loves someone else?"
"What do
you mean?"
"Well,
Zina liked your good looks, but she loved another man, I'm afraid."
"What do
you mean?"
"Zina
hated shy men."
"That's
no news to me! I know I am a shy person, but why don't you want to tell me her
lover's name?"
"Tahar,
you were not her man, and she was not your woman."
"But my
heart is full of her!"
"She did
not deserve you. She does not deserve you."
"Who then
deserves me? Just tell me!"
"How old
are you, Tahar?"
Tahar sighed
and cooled down a bit, then mumbled:
"I'm
twenty-one years old. Why?"
"Well,
you asked me a question, didn't you? You said: who deserves me? So–"
"So
what?"
Their eyes
met. The Qadi smiled. Tahar shivered.
"Tahar," said the Qadi suddenly, "there's a woman who, I
think, deserves to be your wife."
"Where is
she?"
"There!" The Qadi pointed towards the opposite village.
"Are you
mocking at me?"
"No!"
"So who
is she?"
"I can't
tell you who she is."
"Qadi,
you know I got such a shock when you weeded me out, and now you're yet
tormenting me–"
The Qadi
laughed, then said:
"Listen,
Tahar. I am not mocking at you. There's actually a woman who, I think, deserves
to be your wife. She lives in that village. I'm afraid I can't tell you who she
is. But if you know some religious songs, do sing them and the woman who
deserves your love will come into view!"
"But
where will this woman spring from?"
"I said
just come here and sit down and sing religious songs and your true love will
spring into view! This time I am in earnest."
"But I
know all the girls, all the young women who live in that village. I saw them
all, and I never lost my heart but to the one you've snatched from me with your
ruling!"
"That's
right," said the Qadi. "You know them all but one!"
"Are you
sure this one lives in that village?"
"Yes!
Sing religious songs and she'll spring into view and you'll see her with your
own eyes!"
"Alright!" said Tahar. "We will see. I don't know
religious songs right now, but I'll go and learn some and I'll come back to
sing them."
"That's
good!" said the Qadi, tapping Tahar on the shoulder. "But if you want your love to hear you,
come to this tree and sing. But, tell me, Tahar, where are you going to learn
religious songs?"
"I don't
know, really. Do you have any idea?"
"Yes, go
to Marrakesh. There is a man in Djemaâ-el-Fna called Saeed El-Bahi. He keeps a
bookstore there…"
A week later, Saeed El-Bahi was
unraveling to Tahar the mysteries of Marrakesh. Their trip started at
Djemaâ-el-Fna, where they roamed amongst snake charmers, monkey masters,
story-tellers, musicians, acrobat dancers. And from there they went to the Koutoubia
Mosque.
"Do you
pray?" said El Bahi suddenly.
"Yes,
sometimes."
But Tahar knew
that he was quite new to this world. He had never performed a prayer in a
mosque.
The prayers were over, and El Bahi said
they had yet more to see of the city. They went down Agnaou Street, they had a
look at Bab-Agnaou, then went on south to Kasba Street, which took them to the
Agdal Garden. And there Tahar lost his tongue for a moment. At a glance he
could see olive-trees, fig-trees, pear-trees, pomegranate-trees, apple-trees,
vines; and other trees he saw for the first time in his life. Never before had
he seen orange-trees or peach-trees. Now he saw them, and burst out:
"This is Heaven,
isn't it?"
"No, my
son," said El Bahi. "This is a beautiful garden. But Heaven is quite another matter. Now, come!
Let's move on!"
"Where?"
"Let's
move on to another garden!"
That other
garden was a long way away. "Now, we're going to see the Menara,"
said El Bahi on the way. "But tell me, what led you to Marrakesh?"
"I think
I told you," said Tahar in surprise.
"Oh, yes,
you told me. I'm sorry. You said you wanted to learn some religious songs. Is
that right?"
"Yes,
that's right."
"Are you
a singer?"
"No, I'm
not. But I like singing."
"What
kind of songs do you sing?"
"Well,
you know, I sing of love– that sort of thing."
"And now
you want to sing religious songs. I'm not going to ask you why, but tell me: do
you know something of the Koran?"
"Very
little, to be honest."
"Can you
recite what you know of the Koran?"
"No, not
really."
"Then,
I'm afraid, I can't teach you any religious songs or lyrics unless you have
learned by heart some Suras of the Koran."
"I wish I
could! But I can't read and write, you know."
"That's
not a problem. I'll teach you how to read and write. And I'll teach you Suras and songs,
right?"
"Thank
you! That's why I came to you. But I'm here only for two weeks, no more."
"You're
welcome. Look, now we're heading straight to the Menara. I think you'll like
it…"
When he went
to bed that night, Tahar did not think of the Agdal Garden or the Menara or the
Koutoubia mosque, but of the young women who, from behind their veils, had
devoured him with their eyes.
Now, he was back to his village. He
told his family that he had learnt to write his name and read Souras from the
Koran. Like a school-boy, he recited all the Suras he had learned by heart. And
his mother served him a memorable tajeen.
Then he went to mosque. He performed
his prayers and had a chat with the Imam. Then he went back home, fetched his
utar and made for the palm-tree by the river-bank.
He sat down, facing towards the river.
He tuned up his utar and soon the music stroke.
Tahar went from tune to tune, now
raising now lowering his voice. He looked as if he were singing to a spirit,
hoping it would spring into view and fulfil his most cherished dream. But what
he saw now blurred his eyes. It was beyond belief. The young woman the Qadi had
told him about seemed to have been spirited out into the open. She seemed to
have heard some spirited music throbbing in the distance. She seemed to have
heard Tahar's stirring songs– songs that glorified the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).
She was now sitting up there, on the trunk of a tree lying across the lane.
Tahar could not see her face, because she was veiled. But he had seen her shape
and graceful gait before she sat down. He felt like crying, "Oh, you
sitting over there, come and stand by me!" But all he could do was sing
more songs and raise his voice high enough for her to feel his heartbeat.
But now she stood up and began to go
away. Tahar was taken aback. He dropped the utar and struggled to his feet. The
muezzin was calling for Dusk prayers. The birds were returning to their roosts.
The young woman vanished behind a cluster of houses. Three young men came over,
and one of them said:
"Tahar,
what's the matter?"
Tahar gave no
reply, so another voice said:
"Is this
another love-story?"
"You
could say that," said the third. "I saw him gazing at the young woman
in white who had been sitting up there."
"Is that
right, Tahar?"
"I don't
know," said Tahar, looking down. "I'm sorry, I have to go."
"No, not
before you sing us something!" said one of the three.
"Some
other time!" said Tahar, picking up his utar. "I must go to
mosque."
"What!"
Tahar did not
wait to explain himself. He hurried up towards the mosque. He hung his utar on
a tree on the way, and joined the few worshippers.
Night fell, but, to Tahar, it was just
a continuation of the day. The only difference was that he was now in bed in a
dark room. Now again he was going to have a sleepless night. He could not sleep
because he could not stop thinking. This had happened to him before. What was
new –and hard to grasp– was that he now thought of a featureless woman.
The next day Tahar did a whole day's
work in just a few hours so that he could go in the mid-afternoon to the
palm-tree and sing his new songs to spirit his new beloved out of her home. He
went there and sang soulfully but his beloved did not seem to have heard him
this time round. He came back at the same time the next day and the day after
and belted out his best new songs, but the woman he was after did not turn up
again.
"So was
the Qadi beguiling me with promises when he spoke to me about that ghost of a
woman?" Tahar thought gloomily at the end of that day. "The Qadi
himself has simply departed from our land! But when he comes back, I'll make it
clear to him that I don't want this ghost of a woman anymore!..."
When Tahar
learned that the Qadi was somewhere around, he
left everything behind and ran to him.
"Oh,
Tahar, how are you?" said the Qadi.
"A lot
you care!" said Tahar with a nasty look in his eye.
"Oh,
Tahar, is this the right way to speak to a Qadi? Last time I said nothing, but
try to be a little more polite. Now then, what's the problem?"
"The
problem," said Tahar in a broken voice, "is that you beguiled me with
vague promises."
"You love
her, then!" said the Qadi, rubbing his neck. "I expected that, and
maybe she'll soon be all in all to you!"
"I don't
want her to be all in all to me."
"Why
not?"
"Because
I don't know her. I can't love a ghost."
"So what
do you want now?"
"I want
to see her and meet up with her every week as I used to do with Zina."
"I don't
think that would be possible," said the Qadi, shaking his head. "This
young woman is not like Zina, nor like anyone you have seen before. But if you
have something to say to her, I will be pleased to be your carrier pigeon.
That's all I can do for you."
Tahar mellowed
suddenly.
"Yes,
Qadi," he said sheepishly. "I have something to say to her. If you,
Qadi, think she deserves my love, then I want to marry her."
"Alright,"
said the Qadi with a merry smile. "I shall tell her and bring you the news
as soon as I can."
"Thank
you, Qadi!" said Tahar, leaning forward to kiss the Qadi's hand. "
Hours later,
Tahar appeared to have come in from the cold. His beloved turned up again. She
sat down in her usual place and listened patiently while Tahar sang to her with
all his heart.
At sunset the young woman returned home
and Tahar went to mosque. The mystery remained whole. To unlock it, Tahar
mounted his horse two days later and rode to the Qadi. He found him in a
tearoom in a nearby market.
"Qadi," he said coyly, "I am troubled about something. I
didn't get a wink of sleep last night."
"What's
the problem?" said the Qadi, pouring tea in green cups beautifully arranged
on a silver tray.
"Qadi,
before you tell me whether she agreed or not, I would like to know two
things."
"One?"
"Well, I
want to know her name."
"And
two?"
"I also
want to know whether she's beautiful, because, you know, it would be hard for
me to marry a woman with a plain face."
The Qadi
sighed. Tahar's heart throbbed.
"Tahar," said the Qadi suddenly, "by coming to me now
you've relieved me of a burden, because, you know, I couldn't come to you. I'm
sorry, but I only have depressing news for you."
"What do
you mean?"
The Qadi
sighed again, and said:
"The
woman is not going to marry you unless you meet certain demands."
"Of
course her father won't give her to me for free, but first answer my questions.
Tell me her name."
"I can't
tell you her name."
"Is she
beautiful?"
"I can't
tell you that, either."
"Why
not?"
"Well, I
doubt whether you'll be able to meet her demands. In fact, I was going to ask
you to forget all about her."
Now Tahar had a wild look in his eyes. He swallowed
hard.
"You let
me down last time," he muttered, "and now again–"
The Qadi cut
him short.
"Can you
satisfy her conditions?" he said defiantly.
Tahar sobered
down, then said in a mumble:
"What on
earth does she want?"
"Well,
she says to you: make me two dresses: a dfina and a tahtiya. Make them with
your own hands and send them to me. I will try them on, and if they suit me
beautifully, I will yet ask you to make me seven more dresses, so that I can
have a dress to wear everyday of the week. If you do that, then that would be
my dowry, and I'll marry you then."
The Qadi's words had the effect of a spell on Tahar.
His eyes now glittered. Having noticed that, the Qadi went on charming away
Tahar's cares:
"Let me
tell you something, Tahar. You know, with all your goods and chattel, you will
never marry this woman unless she believes that you are the right man for
her!"
For a moment, Tahar had his head in the clouds. Then,
he came round, and said:
"Why
shan't I buy her as many good dresses as she would like? I could order for her
the best dresses from the best tailors in the country! I am not a tailor, you
know. It would take me years and years to become a dressmaker. Would she be
willing and able to wait until I have learnt all about sewing and
dressmaking?"
"I'll put
that question to her and bring you her answer," said the Qadi, lifting
another cup of tea to his mouth.
Tahar saw his beloved twice after that
meeting with the Qadi, for she came to her usual place by the riverbank and listened
patiently to his singing. But all Tahar could see of her was a white piece of
cloth wrapped round a human body. She was still a featureless woman.
"Would
the Qadi choose her for me if she hadn't a pleasant face?" Tahar asked
himself yet again when he was having dinner with his family at home that night.
"But whatever her face is like, does she think of me? Does she think of me
as much as I think of her now? I saw her yesterday and today. Does it mean that
she cares?..."
"Tahar," said the Qadi on his return to the village two days
later, "I put your questions to your beloved."
"Really?" said Tahar, sitting up in front of the Qadi in the
shade of the terebinth-tree.
"Well,
she says to you: Make the first dresses as I told you. If you can't make a
dfina and a tahtiya at this stage, then make me two dresses of your own choice,
but then these must be ravishing dresses. I'll be waiting for you to finish
them. I give you this pledge. The Qadi, who is a very special person to me,
bears witness to this. As to my name, I am called Zahiya. I am only eighteen
years old. So I can wait until you have made all the dresses. But don't try to
look for me before then. If you do try to look for me before I send for you,
then make sure you'll never see me again. That's what she said."
Tahar bowed
his head, lost in thought.
"How does
it sound to you?" said the Qadi suddenly.
"Honestly," said Tahar, raising his eyes, "I am
intrigued. I am bewitched."
"What are
you going to do?"
"I don't
know, really."
"Tahar,
you have no choice but to make dresses for your beloved. You see, she has
already tried to help you by giving you a pledge. And she says if you can't
make a dfina and a tahtiya, just make me good dresses of your own choice. What
more could you expect of her?"
"What if
someone else came in my absence and asked for her hand from her father, would
she resist?"
"Look
here, don't worry about that! As long as I live no one but you will marry her
if you remain faithful to her and make all the dresses she's asked for."
"I'll
make them!" said Tahar, rising to his feet. "So help me God! Do say a
prayer for me, Qadi!"
The Qadi
prayed for him, and both walked slowly along the riverbank, from the
terebinth-tree to the palm-tree.
