short story by Najeeb Mahfouz Translated to English by: Hisham Al Nahham
The demolition was completed. Only the rubbles were left.
Now the land of the old house can be seen clearly, an almost square-shaped space, blank from any meaning or symbols. I spoke to the engineer who is also my friend:
- “Look how small it is”.
He said, while observing the land and thinking:
- “It was good enough to accommodate a big family, Mashallah”! (1)
He went into deep thoughts, then later recommenced talking:
- “There is no economic feasibility from constructing a house or a small building here”.
- “I told you, I am not thinking of that!”.
- “Regardless. What you are thinking of is an absolute fantasy, here is an idea for you for an interesting and useful project, we can build a candy and refreshments shop, it will be down here in this historical place, thousands of people will step in line to rent the shop, if we offer it for lease”.
I smiled and said:
- “Good idea, but I only approached you to execute the idea that is in my head”.
- “it is a fantasy, more of a game”.
I said in a determined tone:
- “I want to reconstruct the old house, just exactly like it was without any change. I will ignore the time factor from existence”.
I sat with him in his office, listening carefully to what he has to say while his hands didn’t stop drawing and designing. We had a number of arguments. When I described the entrance and the stairs to him, he said:
- “It is an unrefined style. And it shocks the comer with its presence that lacks a proper introduction to the house, let me….
I interrupted him with a persistent attitude and said:
- “I only want the house to become what it originally was”!
In another heated moment he said:
- “the house will be no more than two rooms, even the bigger one will still be tiny”.
- “I reckon”!
- “and you will lose half of the space for building a bathroom that has a tank inside for washing the flowers and roses, and also fix a traditional oven, what is up with the flowers and the roses and the bread “!
- “This is what I want, and don’t forget the rooftop, there will be a small summer room up there, and also hutches for housing the rabbits and chicks”.
And my friend laughed at length, but his hands didn’t stop sketching. He knows now that I am not thinking of investment. All I wanted was to construct an old-fashioned rest house with walls made of memories and dreams, a house that can be used as a refuge from life’s stress and adversities, and when the house is furnished and decorated from (Khan Al Khalili shop) (2), it is going to be a masterpiece, but to be used in a way different from what my engineer friend was intending, which is to make it a refreshment shop targeted to tourists. I assume my friend has also misunderstood my intentions, he said:
- “you will be in the heart of a well-known place; you better not cross the conducts”.
I laughed and said to him:
- “If I wanted any of what you are hinting to, I would have managed to do it, without the need to demolish and construct the house”!
And the construction of the house – or should we say re-construction of the house – was competed according to what we agreed, and I was keeping a close follow up on the construction at the beginning, then I stopped because I wanted to have the pleasure of seeing how the house will look like once it is completed, like it was a pleasant surprise! and the engineer told me:
- “everything is completed exactly how you wanted it, I hope you won’t regret it…”.
And I went with him to take a final look and receive the keys. And when I came down from the road, the two Mashrabiyas (3) appeared, just like they used to look in the old times. Like two eyes staring, they invited me to come in, the house stood among the old houses on both sides, the houses that stayed the same with no change to the exterior. As for its old inhabitants – the neighbors of the old times-, they vanished in the midst of the city, no mention was made of them, except on the death page in the newspapers. And my heart started to pound. And I saw the door knocker, and I saw the dear hands holding it. The engineer said in a manner of apology:
- “I should have made arrangements for electricity and water”.
So I told him:
- “It is in my intention to use the floor lamp “.
- “It will be available if you needed it, whenever you wake up from your fantasy”.
But I indulged in my fantasy, while climbing up the stairs. And as soon as I reached the floor, I was pulled back to the past mightily. I could no longer hear the engineer’s voice, I almost forgot it completely. Here is the oven, but where is the heat of the warmth and flame and the happy gathering. I longed to the aroma of the bread, and here is the bathroom with its mottled light and its’ big tank and its’ tub covered with flowers and roses, and here are the drip tubes almost overflown with the pleasant scent. And I sat watching the two hands with their delightful energy, and listening to the reciting. And I rushed running in the corridor between the two rooms surrounded by cautioned voices. And the threatening was blended with loud laughs, and we bumped into him who puts a cartoon mask on his face with the devil image painted on it. And the voice came blaming: “Don’t scare him! for fear does not go away”, and I went up to the roof top and I was terrified to see the summer room unfilled with ivy and jasmine cover, and to see that the roof top ground was vacant from the wooden ladder and the laundry ropes, and I was distracted by the rooster crow and I rushed to the chicken hutch. And I lifted my Jilbab (4) from its’ bottom to collect the eggs in it.
And I called to my company: “look”! and I pointed to the color of the evening that started to fall on the neighborhood behind the domes and the minarets. And the full moon arose with pride behind the ancient houses and I watched it passionately. At that moment I was lifted from the ground to sit onto the shoulders, and the affectionate voice whispered to me: “grab it if you can”, so I extended my arms with the greatest love and hope to the shining full moon.
(1) An Arabic term that means: with Good’s grace.
(2) An old shop in Cairo that sells home antiques.
(3) wooden or stone lattice-work screen that features in traditional Egyptian architecture.
(4) A traditional Egyptian night gown.
