Arabic short stories

The Chair Carrier
Yusif Idris
This short piece narrated in first person depicts a modern day scene in the popular Opera Square in Cairo. The narrator describes a typical day except for the appearence of a large ornate chair making its way slowly through the crowd. There is a man carrying the chair who is described as an ancient Egyptian from the time of the pharrohs. His timeless journey with this chair continues because he is seeking an official command from someone who is descended from Ptah Ra. The storyteller finds a note on the chair, out of sight of the carrier, that gives him permission to release his burden. However, the carrier is from a time when those who ruled had absolute power over the people and would not accept the word of a man man on the street who did not possess a "token of authorization". This story describes through a tale of irony the patriotism and the respect for history that is prevelant in Egypt. I wonder if the internal debate of the narrator regarding helping the man, forcibly removing the chair or ending the long trek is a reflection of struggle moderm day Egyptians have with honoring the past and embracing the modernization of theior nation.

The Gap in Kaltouma's Fence
Ibrahim Ishaq Ibrahim

This is humorous story about reluctant older Sudenese people who are seeking life partners but are bound by customs in their society. They live close and she is widowed, but they are expected to act like young people preparing to wed. One incident where she walks between the houses and her groom to be is standing outside and she pauses in conflict on how to procede describes how nuch custom and tradition plays a part in all aspects of their lives. She could have simply continued walking between the yards, uncovered, a widow and not a virginal maid. However it is still considered unacceptable for any woman to walk uncovered in the presence of a male. When another woman came along and covered her she appeared to be in agreement with honoroing those customs. The narrator listens to the story and notes that she has always been one to laugh off or ignore some rituals of propriety. But faced with the proscect of not living alone and having a partner for life she chose to obey society and its strict standards. This short story made me appreciate how free we are to move in our house, among neighbors and frineds without having to obey such severe rules and expectations.

My Brother
Mohamed El-Bisatie

Sad story of an elder brother who describes living with his widowed mother and his retarded brother. It is never clear if there is an event that caused this or if it was that way since birth. The description of the run down house and the walks at night shows the family has been shunned by the other villagers. He works for the family and takes his brother out, at the insistence of their mom, only at night. to play and explore. He watches his mother try and placate a growing boy who does not know his own strengths and hurts both his mother and his brother without realizing it. The older brother talks about his father and the condition of the house before he died, but he does not mention how his father interacted with his brother. It gives the reader the idea that their father had nothing to do with his other, different son. Their mother's protective behavior towards the challenged child suggests that she was the only parent he has ever known. His walk at the end of the story with his brother on his back despite the pain illustartes how much he loves him.

At a Woman's house
Mohammed Ahmed Abdul Wali
This story strays away from the strict social conscious members of Arabic society and features characters whose focus in life are secret trysts and doing drugs. The narrator is a man looking after a woman's crying child while wishing he was sleeping with her neighbor. The child is decscribed as fatherless, skinny and sickly; the setting is a filthy apartment with minimal comforts. The man is resentful because her neighbor, Saadiyya was supposed to meet him for a date. However there is another neighbor man who is also chewing qat leaves on his door while his wife is noisily having sex with another man. She cast him and his drugs out of the house and his loitering is preventing the man from meeting the other girl without conflict. The characters actions are mostly illegal, immoral and are done with a nonapologetic attitude. The man is resenting watching the child until he realizes that the mother will most likely reward him with a sexual favor. His attitude changes and he is no longer mad about missing his previous tryst because he will simply meet his needs with the mother of the child he is watching. Disregard for human connections and emotions and a focus on satisfying the baser needs of life is well illustrated in this piece.