‘A small paper?’
‘Yes, a small paper on the chair near the bed.’
‘That’s right, on the chair near the bed. I know that.’
‘How do you know?’
A deathly silence fell. All that could be heard was the hum of the fan, and the heavy breathing of the pair of them. Then the voice of one of them came faintly from afar as if from the bowels of the earth.
‘What did she write to you on the paper?’
‘Nothing important. Just that she had gone on holiday. That’s all there is to it.’
‘Is it really?’
‘Yes, that’s all there is to it.’
‘I also found a paper.’
A deathly silence fell once again. The air stopped moving. The fan also stopped humming. Even their breathing seemed to stop.
She moved her head from on the pillow. The man was lying down with his eyes open. Suddenly laughter rang out in the darkness of the night. He was definitely the man who was laughing, definitely. Perhaps by his laughter he was concealing something else. He was facing the wall, and she did not know what he was thinking. But when she heard him laughing, she laughed as well, and life seemed to be better than it had been previously.
As long as he has the ability to laugh, there is no call to run away, at least not tonight. She can go on sleeping and tomorrow she will try again.
1. Sarwal: light baggy trousers worn by Arab men and women.
2. Abayas: cloak-like woollen wraps worn by Arab women.
3. Jallaba: a long loose shirtlike garment, commonly worn in the Arab world.
4. Keffiyeh: the square cloth of the Arab headdress.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 0 86356 337 6 (pb)
eISBN 978-0-86356-733-9 (ePub)
© Nawal El-Saadawi, 2001
Translation copyright: © Basil Hatim & Malcolm Williams
This edition first published 2001
Saqi Books
26 Westbourne Grove
London W2 5RH
www.saqibooks.com
Love in the Kingdom of Oil Page 14
