The Desert's Seductive Charm: Part I

"فِتنَة ُ الصَحراءِ "
The Desert's Seductive Charm
A Novella by Aḥmad Abū Khanayjar

(Translated from Arabic by Khalil al-Wafa')

• • •
-1-
Watch!
I will take for you: a thread from the sun, a thread from the air, a thread from the earth, and a thread from the water and fasten them to the tip of my spindle, spinning it thoroughly, until (the four) become a single thread, strong and long, whose beginning is indistinguishable from its end. Then, on my loom I will lay it to weave a unique fabric.
Pay attention!
Stitching now means "plot." So arouse your senses, examine the "texture" of the garment closely, see the brilliance of its colors! I will encourage you to try it on and have it fitted to your size. Pass your fingers over it, feel the surface and its soft, velvet-like quality.
Listen!
You are the only one that the garment will fit, relative to its size. Its length and its width are equivalent to your height and girth. So the garment resembles Cinderella's glass slipper. For what I'm making now is not like magic. Rather, it is magic by its very nature.
Now....
Don't consider me a liar or a cheat like the emperor's tailor, who claimed to weave a garment which only the most intelligent could see. But then a child screamed: "The emperor is naked!" For my garment, all will be able to see and all will be able to touch. What's more, I will promote this manner of dress as suitable for everyone; each according to his or her (own) measurements, and also ....
But....
Let's now begin our story. All you need to do is be patient and kind with me.

(١)
Who does this gentleman think he is? About what threads and garments is he speaking? He must want to trap us in the throws of his alleged "clothes." The story he's telling is only a stratagem. (caveat emptor) I'll be on my guard from the beginning, (when) his game was claiming that it was magic.
But, this gentleman must know that magic only comes about through gullibility, and desiring that, he is trying to mislead (us) by it, with his violation of reality and its rules. All of this in order to make us see it his way and at that very moment, he will control us completely. Many things around us are eclipsed by obscurity, controlling them. So fear and intimidation are talking to us. For this reason, that's why he came; knowledgeable of our own limited experience, pretending that he has the power to reveal what is veiled in mystery in a strange land. And this is just the beginning, oh noble reader!
Guard yourself against his actions. They are actions closest to the jugular. Like stealing kohl from the eye, or turning a rope into a snake, or making a man fly in the air, or walk on water, or cutting a young girl in half with a saw . . . and other such actions. Avoid them!
Before he begins his story, let me make a correction: I read in one of the books, I don't remember where or when, neither the name of the book nor its author – that the naked emperor in that particular story represents a naked truth. So let him tell me, this noble magician, where and when was the truth naked?
Pardon me . . . Have I fallen under the control of his magic?

• • •
-2-
At dawn, the two of them dismounted in the area of the market just as the old shepherd had commissioned them. They walked around a little then stopped at a cafe to drink green tea, but their eyes were fixed on the camel merchant's yard.
Anxiety struck their sides, blowing violently in their beings. Sitting down didn't settle them, prompting the waiter in the joint to ask them, as he offered them the tea of their choice, "What is the reason for your visit?" Indeed, it seemed to him by their dress and their manner of speaking, they must be foreigners. One of them smiled and the other replied: "We were nearby here when we heard the clamor of the market place rising, and we wanted some tea."
The waiter smiled and went away. But his features betrayed his suspicion, and he continued watching them cautiously throughout the period of their sitting there. He said to himself: "You can't believe twins."
The two of them definitely felt the glances of the waiter spying on them. So they stood up after some time and they circled the market without stopping in front of anything in particular until they were no longer given the feeling that someone was spying on them, if indeed someone should be. And when they were walking around only leisurely, the two of them were on guard at the same time of anyone who came in contact with them. (Fearing) his hand might reach the coin purse, while they were inattentive, stealing it without their knowing.
The tour (of the market) took a long time. They passed the camel market during it and they returned cheerfully to the joint where the waiter received them with the same suspicious smile. They asked him for green tea and they sat waiting for it calmly.
They didn't utter a single word throughout the period of their sitting there, seeming to be only concerned with the taste of the green tea, and the heat in the air. And at the same time, they smiled at everyone who entered the cafe. But on account of the great similarity between them and their being strangers, the eyes of those entering the cafe were drawn towards them. Still they smiled to ward of the persistent glances and their astonished looks.
Despite all of this, the waiter didn't fail to notice that their ears were listening to the conversations of passing customers about selling and buying, about the market and its strength. He said to himself: 'I bet they want something, but what is it?'

• • •
-3-
When the market started to disperse, the two of them got up, bought a water skin and two sacks of food which they left in the protection of the waiter at the cafe. Then they went directly to the camel market. The directions of the old man were clearly phrased: "Be present in the market early to become acquainted with its condition, without expressing their intention to buy, because the brokers in the market would come to know their desires, as well as the amount of cash in their possession. So (the brokers) would continue to lay in waiting, trying to sell to them at the highest price. And they, the strangers, would not be able to counter the tricks of the brokers and their little games."
The camel herd broke the camel's chains when the two of them entered. Their eyes passed around the yard, quickly examining all the camels there in order to choose the requested animal. Their vast number and various sizes confused their ability (to choose.) They turned towards each other, were they in a hurry to begin?
Before the one of them who was again tying his headscarf with a trembling hand answered, he caught out of the corner of his eye one of the brokers coming towards them. He grabbed the forearm of his companion to alert him. So his friend became aware (of what was going on) and the two of them decided to move quickly before the broker got to them; for they didn't know how they would escape him. No sooner did one of them move his foot, than a camel rushed up behind them, standing between them as if it was suddenly frozen. The head of the camel was facing the setting sun and his short bridle was dangling from his muzzle. As a result of the one camel's outburst, all the other camels were startled and the two of them separated instinctively out of fear that the camels would trample them in the commotion of the one camel's recalcitrance. But that one (camel) stood between them and they saw the animal's shadow cast behind it. It seemed like that of a legendary, colossal beast. The two calmly approached the camel which stood waiting for them and they grasped its bridle.

• • •
-4-
They didn't debate the price set by the camel herd, who came running after his camel in pursuit of it. The directions said: "Get to know the camel herd and buy from him." The brokers tried to interfere, but the two of them with great firmness kept them at a distance from bidding and profit. They paid the camel herd the price and they led their camel towards the cafe.

• • •
-5-
The waiter, who had been watching them all day, continued guarding their possessions at the end of the day, helping them load the goods and the gifts which they had bought onto the back of the camel. He said: "Excellent! An excellent camel!"
He went up with them until they left the market. One of them took out some cash and gave it to him. The waiter smiled. They said: "A good boy." They passed in front of him, but he called out to them, saying: "Be on guard! Don't let the current tranquility of the beast fool you." He laughed as he returned to the cafe and the two of them set out in the direction of the tribe's camps.

To Be Continued . . .