Everyone laughed. Sitt Maryam, obviously pleased, said what she usually said about Camilla, “Watch out, Zahra—Camilla’s mischieyous!”
There were some light taps on the half-open door. There was a cool, refreshing breeze. Camilla got up to open the door, then shouted happily, “It’s Sitt Lula!”
Sitt Maryam’s face lit up and so did Yvonne’s. Zahra found herself gazing at Sitt Lula, the well-proportioned blonde with a ruddy complexion. She was wearing a green batiste gown with a floral design and green velvet slippers, but nothing on her head. Her hair shone like radiant amber. As she sat down, Lula said, “My old man went out to spend the evening with his friends at the café, using Ramadan as an excuse.”
“Us, too—our men went out,” said Sitt Maryam with a smile “We’re all in the same boat.”
Everyone laughed, including Zahra this time. Camilla turned on the radio and Abd al-Wahhab’s voice flowed from it. It was obvious that Camilla loved him. The song, “His eyelids teach the art of love” made the girl sway her head to its Spanish swing and laugh. Suddenly she shouted, “Chestnuts!”
Everyone fell silent. Zahra was surprised as everyone listened for the muffled voice echoing in the street. It was the voice of the chestnut vendor, whose words were jumbled, but everyone knew that it was he. He was gone for most of the year, then reappeared again with the beginning of winter. Yvonne went down and bought five piasters’ worth, and Camilla quickly set out a large spirit stove and began to roast the chestnuts. Zahra knew what they were; Magd al-Din had often bought them in Tanta. When Lula took a chestnut and placed it in her mouth for a few moments, her mouth looked very beautiful and her teeth very white. Zahra felt she was in front of an extraordinary woman and watched her as she ate the chestnut slowly with great delight.
She closed her eyes for a few moments, then said, “How great it would be to have chocolate-covered chestnuts! They call it marron glacé, Camilla.”
“Oh, I love marron glacé.”
That was the first time that Zahra had heard the word. She did not show any surprise, but kept it inside. She wondered at Camilla being so merry and full of joy, and her sister Yvonne so quiet and poised. The Lord really works in mysterious ways!
Abd al-Wahhab’s song came to an end, and Camilla got up to turn the tuner knob on the radio, saying “I’ll find some more Abd al-Wahhab,” and indeed found him on another station. She recognized the music. “Oh, what a wonderful song! Sitt Lula!”
Zahra surmised that there was familiarity between Lula and Camilla. She did not understand the difficult song. She had often heard ¡t in the village and would move away from the radio or turn it down or off. She never understood the song. Camilla volunteered to explain it to her. All that Zahra got out of the explanation was that Sitt Maryam was happy with her daughter and her boldness. But Zahra herself did not understand Camilla’s explanation, and could only pretend to be impressed, “Really, all of that in the song?”
Everyone laughed, then Camilla shouted “Amm Mahmud!” “Again, even in Ramadan?” Lula said.
Amm Mahmud’s voice rang out from the street, “Latest! Latest! Read all about it!” Camilla took half a piaster from her mother and went out quickly. Yvonne explained to Zahra that Amm Mahmud came around whenever an extraordinary event took place, selling a printed sheet with the details of the incident before the newspapers published it. Zahra made the gesture of warding off evil by pretending to spit down the front of her gallabiya and said, “God protect us!”
Camilla came in silently.
“Read it,” her mother said, smiling.
“It would be better if Yvonne read it,” Camilla answered.
Yvonne held the printed sheet and read silently, then blushed and said with affected nonchalance, “It’s nothing. A lady’s married to two men at the same time.” Lula hit herself on the chest in fear and made the same gesture to ward off evil more than once.
“Tear up the sheet and throw it in the garbage,” was Sitt Maryam’s calm reaction.
Magd al-Din noticed that there were many children who had gone out in the street despite the dark and the absence of streetlights. He walked with Khawaga Dimitri in the other direction toward Karmuz.
“A plague on England and Germany on the same day,” said Khawaga Dimitri. “We get nothing out of it but inflation and darkness.”
The stores were open, doing business by the light of candles or small kerosene lamps. Some owners were bold enough to turn on one or more electric bulbs, but the lights were all inside. What little light escaped outside enabled the children to play and the passers-by to walk. Most people came out to buy food for suhur, the late-night meal of Ramadan, and for the following day. Magd al-Din saw a European-style bakery and thought of buying some bread, but Dimitri told him that the bakery stayed open all night long; they could buy the bread on their way back. For now they should go first to Karmuz Bridge to buy tobacco.
Immediately after the bridge was a store with a white facade and windows of shining glass. The light came from a small white lamp. The salesman had a white, ruddy face and wore a white coat. Magd al-Din noticed that the store carried many brands of cigarettes, molasses-cured tobacco for the narghile, and regular bulk tobacco. Dimitri bought tobacco for a piaster and remarked, “Fresh Turkish tobacco with a refreshing taste.”
Magd al-Din bought the same and decided he would be a regular customer at the store, since bulk tobacco was better than that in packets.
On their way back, Magd al-Din looked from the bridge to the Mahmudiya canal, now dark on both banks. He saw many barges and ships moored there. He realized that there would be many work opportunities for the unemployed the following day. In Ban Street the kids had lit their lanterns in disregard of civil defense instructions and went door to door asking for the customary treats, or sat in small groups chatting and playing. Dimitri did not wish to go back so soon and suggested to Magd al-Din, “How about a cup of coffee? This would give the women the chance to stay up.”
Magd al-Din thought it would be a good opportunity for Zahra to overcome her sorrow. He went into the cafe adjacent to Gazar Pastry Shop. It was filled with patrons drinking tea and coffee and playing backgammon, dominos, and cards by the light of small lamps. Dimyan was playing dominos with another person, while three other men sat with them. As soon as Dimyan saw Magd al-Din and Dimitri he got up to welcome them. Magd al-Din said, “You’re staying up too, Dimyan?”
“Ramadan encourages one to stay up, Sheikh Magd!” was his reply.
As they all sat down, Dimyan shouted, “As of tomorrow, with the beginning of the month of Ramadan, the people’s restaurants will open their doors to the poor to break their fast. That’s the king’s order. So the poor can be guaranteed to eat for a month. Long live the king and long live Ali Mahir too! “
A man sitting in the far corner added his own dedication: “And long live the singer Muhammad Abd al-Muttalib and Sitt Fathiya Ahmad!”
The advent of the month of Ramadan did not cause the Egyptian government to relax the emergency and civil defense measures. On the contrary, they were tightened. Alexandria, like other municipalities, instituted nighttime and daytime air-raid drills. The prices of some commodities, especially fuels such as kerosene, gasoline, and natural gas, were raised. Some commodities, such as cooking oil, were removed from price-control lists, and people complained loudly. Flour mills began to add more than the legal limit of corn meal to wheat flour. As a result of the strict enforcement of civil defense regulations, no permits were issued for the erection of the tents or temporary pavilions for entertainment or religious events that people were used to having in the squares, outside the mosques, or other such places during Ramadan. For city dwellers, this year’s Ramadan was less cheerful than usual.
In the big world outside, the naval war was still raging. The exploits of the legendary German battle cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, which attacked British convoys, filled the world. The two battle cruisers seemed like ghosts; no one knew when they
would appear, and after they had struck, they disappeared in the deep waters of the Atlantic. And so did the two pocket battleships Admiral Graf Spee and Deutschland. During reconnaissance flights, the Luftwaffe launched the first raid over France. French fighter planes chased and shot down some of the German planes. That new development caught the world’s attention; German planes were now capable of going beyond Alsace-Lorraine. Fears increased when German deployments extended from the French to the Dutch borders. The Germans said the French borders were too narrow and that they needed to reinforce their troops. They also said Germany had no designs on the Netherlands. Jaffa oranges appeared in the markets in Alexandria. It was said that the abundant crop in Palestine could not be exported to Europe because of the war, and that was why the fruit was so cheap.
His Majesty King Farouk bestowed the rank of general on His Excellency Baker Pasha, Alexandria’s police superinten-dent. People were cautioned against going beyond the streetcar route in the suburb of Sidi Bishr at night; there had been many murders, strong-arm robberies, and rapes. For the first time, it was decided that army officers would travel on the railroads first class, in recognition of their prominent place in society and to safeguard their dignity. His Royal Highness Prince Muhammad Ali left Alexandria for Cairo at the end of the summer season. The Teatro of Biba Izz al-Din performed the vaudeville play An Aristocratic Thief. The Egyptian gold pound coin was worth 185 piasters, and Craven cigarettes were three piasters for ten and six for a twenty-cigarette pack. It was decided that the officers of the Territorial Army should be recruited from the ranks of physical education graduates, who were always unemployed. The Egyptian film Determination was screened for the first time. The US Neutrality Act, also known as ‘cash-and-carry,’ was passed, removing the ban on arms exports to the Allies. Three German soldiers who had murdered General von Fritsch during the fighting near Warsaw were executed. The king continued to perform the Friday prayers at a different mosque every week; so far, he had prayed at the Kikhya mosque in Cairo and al-Dikhayla in Alexandria. The public safety report was issued, stating that fires had destroyed 858 houses, causing five thousand Egyptian pounds worth of damage. The Border Guard Corps began training on the use of anti-aircraft artillery in Marsa Matruh. Colonel Ali al-Sharif Bey was appointed director-general of the border adminis-tration.
The famous Nazi field marshal Hermann Goering, chief of the Luftwaffe, visited Italy, and the world awaited the outcome of the visit with bated breath. Ismet Inonu, the president of the Turkish Republic, gave a speech in which he declared his country’s neutrality and its intention to stay out of the war. An embargo on foreign theater troupes was enacted, in order to cut down on expenses and to show appreciation for Egyptian troupes. Some cynics commented that international travel routes were already cut off because of the war. Serge Bujolosky, a foreign artist living in Paris, returned Watteau‘s painting L’indiffèrent, which he had stolen from the Louvre the previous June. He said that he loved the French eighteenth-century painter and especially that painting, which he had wanted to restore. The experts said that in fact he had damaged it, which earned him a two-year jail sentence. Memorial services were held at the French cemeteries in Alexandria for the French casualities of the Great War. The Consul General of France and notables of the French community attended the services. It seemed that Hitler was not going to attack the French front before the following spring.
Izz al-Din Abd al-Qadir, who had fired shots at Nahhas Pasha’s car, filed an appeal to overturn the ten-year jail sentence he had received. The appeal was continued. Royal birthdays were celebrated, one for Princess Fawziya upon her reaching nineteen. The celebrations were held simultaneously at the royal palace in Cairo and in the imperial palace in Tehran, since she was the wife of the Iranian crown prince. The sixty-fifth birthday of the Egyptian crown prince, Muhammad Ali, was also celebrated, as was the sixteenth birthday of Princess Fayza. The Romanian embassy celebrated the coming of age of Prince Michael, son of King Carol II and Princess Helena of Greece. The biggest air battle yet between the French and the German forces took place over Alsace. The French shot down nine German planes. King Leopold of Belgium and Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands tried to reconcile the warring powers and made an initiative to that effect. Advertisements for Re-Zex pills announced, “Men of Egypt, science has come to you from faraway America. Perform like a twenty-year-old even if you are fifty. For eleven piasters, the price of one bottle of Re-Zex pills, you can say good-bye to being ashamed of your declining physical ability and vigor.”
Hitler gave a speech at the Munich beer hall where in 1923 he had shouted, “The National Revolution has begun,” and where he had announced that Germany was fighting for her Lebensraum. Then in 1937, he announced that Germany’s Lebensraum was Eastern Europe, and that Poland, White Russia, and the Ukraine should be wiped out of existence, along with their populations, and become part of Germany. That was why, when he invaded Poland, the Russians did not hesitate to invade it from the other side, to safeguard the Ukraine and White Russia, and if Hitler turned on them, the Russians would share Poland with him. After Hitler departed, a bomb exploded in the beer hail and its roof collapsed, but there were no injuries. His Majesty contributed the sum of three hundred Egyptian pounds to the charity fund managed by the ministry of social affairs. Belgium and the Netherlands began to fear that Hitler might violate their neutrality. The price of Egyptian eggs rose from 180 piasters per thousand to 280 piasters. Turkey observed the anniversary of Ataturk’s death. Amsterdam began to flood parts of its borders to slow down any German attack. Belgium declared universal mobilization. Joint maneuvers between the Egyptian and British armies were conducted in the Western desert.
Two automatic telephone exchanges were built in Alexandria, in Ibrahimiya and Glymenopoulo. Owners of match factories complained about the government-imposed prices, which did not take into account the rise in the cost of wood and other raw materials. Near Victoria in Alexandria the body of a young man, about twenty-five years old, was discovered in the well by a water wheel. Laurel and Hardy split. The newspapers showed Hardy acting in a new film with Harry Langdon. People were depressed because of this. The students of the Princess Fayza School for Girls distributed clothing and underwear to the students in girls’ elementary schools in Alexandria on the occasion of the birthday of Her Royal Highness. A poor woman reported to the public prosecutor that her daughter, whom she had introduced to an employment agency seven months earlier, had disappeared. After a search it was discovered that the girl’s first employer had sold her to a woman who ran a brothel in Qina and that the woman in turn had sold her to another brothel in Minya, who in turn had sold her to a brothel in Alexandria. Then she was sold to a brothel in Tanta. For seven months, she had been sold to brothels from south to north.
A city becomes a world
when one loves one of its inhabitants.
Lawrence Durrell
9
During the feast at the end of Ramadan, Magd al-Din found out for sure that he had lost his land. His brother-in-law visited him and learned of Bahi’s death. Magd al-Din told him to spare his mother the trouble of coming to visit her son’s tomb or better still, not to tell her at all. His brother-in-law told him about a project for an expressway that would go through the village and many people’s property, including Magd al-Din’s, and that no one could expect adequate compensation, and the mayor was behind the project. Magd al-Din remembered Bahi telling him to kiss his land good-bye and was silent for a long time, until he heard his cousin and brother-in-law say, “Emergency laws are in effect. The mayor can banish anyone—he can kill anyone, too. The emergency laws give him the right to do whatever he wants. May God protect the country and the people.”
So Magd al-Din can easily be killed. That is what his brother-in-law is suggesting.
“Anyway, if you happen to get any compensation, please send it to me.”
His brother-in-law gave him twenty pounds, his share of the year’s crop. Magd al-Din
realized that that was the last money he would ever see for his land. He also realized that he had to stay in Alexandria for good.
Alexandria was getting colder. Rain had fallen off and on for several nights in a row. The alleys and streets south of the city had become muddy. Zahra did not know how she would spend the feast days in her new city. Camilla and Yvonne promised to take her on a boat ride on the Mahmudiya canal and then to visit the zoo, but Zahra said she could not do that. Sitt Maryam said she would take her to the fish market in the afternoon before the feast to buy fish, and that the fish of Alexandria were irresistible. Zahra agreed to go out with her, especially since Magd al-Din had told her to celebrate the feast as if she were still in their home village, that grief was not called for, was useless even. He used to buy the traditional nuts and raisins from Tanta. This year he bought very little, less than he used to, from the square. Zahra needed to get out of the house one more time. True, her life at home passed quietly, and the two beautiful girls gladdened her heart with their beautiful spirits, as did Sitt Lula with her shapely figure, overpowering beauty, and merry character. But that was not enough. In the village she used to go out with Magd al-Din or by herself in the sun and the breeze in the fields, or into the shade in the heat of the day. Her feet were crying out for a walk, and her body ached for fresh air.
She took the Abu Warda streetcar with Sitt Maryam. They got off at the end of the line and walked a little on Tatwig Street up to the coast. In front of them was the king’s white palace with many windows and the tall palm trees swaying with the wind and the guards with arms at the ready. A few men and many women, their plump bodies wrapped tightly in shawls, were walking along. A few Citroen and Packard cars had stopped with the people in front of the fish market. The fresh smell of the sea dispelled the fishy odor and filled their lungs with a refreshing breeze. The air was cold; dark clouds hung over the sea as the sound of the waves, which they could not see beyond the market and the police station, reached their ears. In front of the fish market, the vendors sat on the sidewalk or stood in their black or white vests and loose Alexandrian pants, also black or white, with hand-woven round, white rimmed hats. On the low tables were fantastic displays of fish in many varieties and colors ranging from silver to white, red, gray, and black. Sitt Maryam pointed to one type of fish and said it was called pigeon fish—-big-bellied red fish that she said was not good, but that the poor bought to make fish soup. Zahra shied away from it; she did not want to be poor and buy it, in spite of its beautiful color. Red snapper was more beautiful and better. She bought some of that. She also bought some striped mullet. Meanwhile, Sitt Maryam was explaining to her the different kinds of fish and what they were good for. Of a particularly small fish she said that even though it was very cheap, it could be used in a delicious stew, which she would teach her how to cook, and would also teach her how to make fish casseroles with red rice. For some inexplicable reason Zahra suddenly thought of the statue of Muhammad Ali on his horse in Manshiya and whether it would be possible for him to get off the pedestal and take her and Magd al-Din back to her village. Sitt Maryam must have guessed that Zahra had been preoccupied for a few moments, so she offered, “How about a little walk on the corniche? It’s still too early for sunset.”
No One Sleeps in Alexandria Page 9
