visions dwindled and people dropped dead of starvation, and their empty stomachs prevented them from running and playing. Even the sour grapes, which they delighted in stealing and whose sharp pungency they once sa vored, were now repugnant to them as their acidity tore away at their insides.
His father refuses to slaughter his horse. His mother sobs: "The children will starve to death."
He yells back, fully aware of his own lying: "Who said I'm starving? I swear to Almighty God I am not starving. " Yet he cries in hunger and in fear for the horse.
His father refuses to slaughter the horse. His mother picks vine leaves, boils them in water, and feeds the children. She pounds palm fronds until they turn mealy, like flour. She kneads it with water, flattens it out, . . . they eat.
The fading dusk light did not obscure Saad's face from Saleema, yet she couldn't understand his nervous fidgeting nor the restrained anxiety that manifested itself on his twitching face. At the same time she felt a profound sadness deeply embedded within him but was at a loss as to why it was there. When she noticed the tear stealthily trickling from the corner of his eye, she held out her hand and took hold of his.
Saad had succeeded in bringing Hasan and Saleema home safely and then headed toward the shop. I'll wait for him there awhile, he thought, and if he doesn't return, I'll go back to the parade site and look for him. Then he noticed the light of the lantern creeping in from underneath the door of the shop, and he knew that Naeem had finally come home.
"What happened? Where were you?"
Naeem mumbled something underneath his breath and looked as though he were upset, then he answered sheepishly: "I marched in the parade."
"Why would you do something like that, and why didn't you tell us?" Saad was shouting at the top of his lungs, and all too aware that he would pounce on Naeem at any moment if he didn't get a satisfactory explanation for his conduct.
"What happened?"
"Calm down, Saad. I can't answer unless you calm down. I'm just as upset and depressed, and I'm at my wit's end."
"What happened?"
Naeem stood up and started to prepare something for supper. They ate in silence, without a word. When they finished Naeem spoke.
"I've fallen in love with the young girl."
"What young girl?"
"The one in the parade, the one in the white robe."
"And, so?"
"She's stolen my heart, and I'm frightened, and I don't even know her name. I ran after the procession and tried to catch up with her. I began to make noises to attract her attention. She looked in my direction, and I felt she noticed me too, but the guards pushed me away. I fell down. She was watching, and she smiled. Then the guards moved her to the other side of the procession so I couldn't see her. I marched along keeping pace in the hopes of seeing her again, but I didn't. Now what can I do?"
"Blow out the lantern and go to sleep!"
Saleema came to the shop looking for Abu Jaafar, but he wasn't there. "Tell him when he comes that Grandmother . . ." Saad didn't hear a word she said. It happened faster than a flash of lightning. He averted his eyes, unable to look at the face he saw a thousand times but could only see when the blindness fell from his eyes. When he glanced up and the butterflies gathered in his stomach, he looked down again. That night, Saad couldn't fall asleep. He lay awake, tossing and turning as though he were consumed with fever. The next few days he stopped going to Abu Jaafar's house and asked Naeem to go instead whenever the need arose. He concocted one excuse after the other. Whenever the urge to divulge his secret to Naeem overcame him, he became tongue-tied. The more he tried to cure whatever was gnawing at his heart, the stronger it kindled with the flames of passion.
Two months later he told his friend everything. Naeem jumped for joy when he heard Saad utter the words, "I'm in love," but when Saad continued, "with Abu Jaafar's granddaughter, Saleema,"
His father refuses to slaughter his horse. His mother sobs: "The children will starve to death."
He yells back, fully aware of his own lying: "Who said I'm starving? I swear to Almighty God I am not starving. " Yet he cries in hunger and in fear for the horse.
His father refuses to slaughter the horse. His mother picks vine leaves, boils them in water, and feeds the children. She pounds palm fronds until they turn mealy, like flour. She kneads it with water, flattens it out, . . . they eat.
The fading dusk light did not obscure Saad's face from Saleema, yet she couldn't understand his nervous fidgeting nor the restrained anxiety that manifested itself on his twitching face. At the same time she felt a profound sadness deeply embedded within him but was at a loss as to why it was there. When she noticed the tear stealthily trickling from the corner of his eye, she held out her hand and took hold of his.
Saad had succeeded in bringing Hasan and Saleema home safely and then headed toward the shop. I'll wait for him there awhile, he thought, and if he doesn't return, I'll go back to the parade site and look for him. Then he noticed the light of the lantern creeping in from underneath the door of the shop, and he knew that Naeem had finally come home.
"What happened? Where were you?"
Naeem mumbled something underneath his breath and looked as though he were upset, then he answered sheepishly: "I marched in the parade."
"Why would you do something like that, and why didn't you tell us?" Saad was shouting at the top of his lungs, and all too aware that he would pounce on Naeem at any moment if he didn't get a satisfactory explanation for his conduct.
"What happened?"
"Calm down, Saad. I can't answer unless you calm down. I'm just as upset and depressed, and I'm at my wit's end."
"What happened?"
Naeem stood up and started to prepare something for supper. They ate in silence, without a word. When they finished Naeem spoke.
"I've fallen in love with the young girl."
"What young girl?"
"The one in the parade, the one in the white robe."
"And, so?"
"She's stolen my heart, and I'm frightened, and I don't even know her name. I ran after the procession and tried to catch up with her. I began to make noises to attract her attention. She looked in my direction, and I felt she noticed me too, but the guards pushed me away. I fell down. She was watching, and she smiled. Then the guards moved her to the other side of the procession so I couldn't see her. I marched along keeping pace in the hopes of seeing her again, but I didn't. Now what can I do?"
"Blow out the lantern and go to sleep!"
Saleema came to the shop looking for Abu Jaafar, but he wasn't there. "Tell him when he comes that Grandmother . . ." Saad didn't hear a word she said. It happened faster than a flash of lightning. He averted his eyes, unable to look at the face he saw a thousand times but could only see when the blindness fell from his eyes. When he glanced up and the butterflies gathered in his stomach, he looked down again. That night, Saad couldn't fall asleep. He lay awake, tossing and turning as though he were consumed with fever. The next few days he stopped going to Abu Jaafar's house and asked Naeem to go instead whenever the need arose. He concocted one excuse after the other. Whenever the urge to divulge his secret to Naeem overcame him, he became tongue-tied. The more he tried to cure whatever was gnawing at his heart, the stronger it kindled with the flames of passion.
Two months later he told his friend everything. Naeem jumped for joy when he heard Saad utter the words, "I'm in love," but when Saad continued, "with Abu Jaafar's granddaughter, Saleema,"
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