Naguib Mahfouz - Palace of Desire

"I was with my usual group and stayed with them until I set out for home. I have a witness you know. Can you guess who he is?" He laughed out loud.

But she answered coldly, "Don't change the topic."

Still laughing, he said, "My companion tonight was my brother Kamal."

Contrary to his expectations, she was not surprised. Her patience exhausted, she asked, "And who's testifying for the girl?"

"Don't be difficult. My innocence is as obvious as the sun". Then he grumbled, "By God, it makes me sad that you're suspicious of my behavior. I've had more than my fill of playing around. All I want now is a quiet life. The bar's simply an innocent pastime. There's nothing objectionable about that. A man has got to see people…."

In a passionate voice she replied, "Shame on you! You know I'm not a child. Putting something over on me is a difficult feat. It would be better for both of us if there were no room for suspicion."

"A sermon or a threat?" Yasin asked himself. "Why can't I have a model life like my father's? The man does what he wants and finds stability, love, and obedience when he returns home. I wasn't able to realize this dream with Zaynab or Maryam, and it seems unlikely I will with Zanuba either. This beautiful lute player must find nothing to regret while she's in my care."

He declared firmly, "If I'd wanted to violate God's laws any further, I wouldn't have married you."

She yelled sharply, "But you'd been married twice before, and marriage didn't prevent you from doing forbidden things then."

He exhaled a puff of breath reeking of alcohol and said, "You're in a different situation from my other wives, dummy. My first wife was chosen by my father, who imposed her on me. My second wouldn't let me touch her unless I married her. So I did. But no one imposed you on me. You didn't lock me out before we got inarried. Marrying you brought no promise of any novelty I hadn't experienced before. So, dummy, why did I marry you, unless marriage itself- in other words, a settled, stable life — was my goal? By God, if you had a speck of sense, you'd never doubt me."

"Not even when you return at dawn?"

"Not even if I come home in the morning."

She cried out sharply, "Stop! If that's all you have to say, then a most cordial goodbye."

Frowning nervously, he snapped back, "A thousand goodbyes!"

"I'm leaving. God's earth is vast, and God will provide me a living."

With deliberate scorn he commented, "Do what you like."

In a threatening voice she countered, "I'll leave, but you'll find I'm a thorn that's not easily removed."

Still trying to sound scornful, he said, "Nonsense! Ridding myself of you would be like taking off a pair of shoes."

Changing her tune from defiant challenge to complaint, she yelled, "Should I jump out the window so we'll both feel better?"

He shrugged his shoulders. Then, standing up, he said in a lighter tone, "There's a better solution. That's for you to jump in bed. Let's go to sleep and send the devil packing."

He went to the bed and stretched out, sighing as if he'd been wanting to lie down for a long time. She commented to herself, "Anyone living with you is destined to have trouble."

"I'm destined to have trouble too," Yasin complained to himself. "Your sex is responsible. There's not a single one of you who can keep me from wanting others. You're all powerless to conquer boredom. But I won't voluntarily resume a bachelor's life, and I can't sell a store every year for a new marriage. So let Zanuba stay as long as she doesn't try to control me. A crazy man needs a clever wife … clever like Zanuba."

"Are you going to stay on the sofa till morning?"

"I won't close my eyes. Leave me alone and enjoy your sleep."

"Some things are so necessary they're inevitable," he reflected. Stretching out his arms, he took hold of her shoulder. Then he drew her to him as he murmured, "Your bed!"

She resisted a little before yielding. As she climbed in bed she said plaintively, "When will I be granted the peace of mind other women enjoy?"

"Relax. You must have complete confidence in me. I deserve your trust. A man like me isn't happy unlesshe goes out at night. You won't find any happiness by making me unhappy and giving me a headache. All you need to do is to believe that my evening was spent innocently. Trust me. You won't regret it. I'm not a coward or a liar. Didn't I bring you to this house one night when my wife was here? Would a coward or a liar do that? I've played around enough. You're all I've got left in life."

She sighed audibly as though wishing to say, "If only you were telling die truth…."

He stretched his hand out playfully and remarked, "My goodness! That sigh broke my heart. May God strike me dead."

Responding to the touch of his hand ever so gradually she said prayerfully, "If only our Lord would guide you."

"Who'd believe a lute player would make a wish like that?" Yasin asked himself.

"Don't ever quarrel with me. Quarreling drains our energy."

"The cure is working," he congratulated himself. "But it won't in all sit uations. If I'd had Ayusha tonight, it wouldn't have been so easy."

"Don't you see that your suspicions were misplaced?"

When Yasin entered the store and approached the desk, al-Sayyid Ahmad Abd al-Jawad was absorbed in his work. An examination of his son's face revealed immediately that Yasin had come to ask for help. There was a distracted, glazed look in the eyes of the young man, who smiled politely and leaned down to kiss his father's hand but seemed to perform these ceremonies unconsciously as his mind strayed God only knew where. When al-Sayyid Ahmad gestured for him to have a seat, he moved the chair close to his father's desk before sitting down. He looked at his father, lowered his eyes, and smiled palely. Al-Sayyid Ahmad wondered what had motivated this visit. Concerned about his son's silence, he asked curiously, "Good news? What's come over you? You're not your normal self."

Yasin looked at him for a long time as if appealing for sympathy. Then, lowering his eyes, he said, "They're going to transfer me to the farthest reaches of Upper Egypt."

"The Ministry?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

Shaking his head in protest, Yasin answered, "I asked the headmaster, and he mentioned things with no bearing on my work. It's unfair."

The father asked suspiciously, "What things? Explain."

"Vile slander…". After some hesitation he added, "About my wife Al-Sayyid Ahmad's interest was heightened. He asked his son apprehensively, "What did they say?"

Yasin's discomfort was visible in his face as he replied, "Some fools said I'd married… a professional entertainer."

Al-Sayyid Ahmad looked around his store anxiously. He saw Jamil al-Hamzawi waiting on customers a man standing on one side and a woman seated on the other. They were only a few feet away. Suppressing his rage, the father responded in a low voice not without a tremor of anger, "Perhaps they are fools, but I warned you about this. You do anything you want, never considering how scandalous it is, but then the consequences always catch up with you. What can I say? You're a school official, and your reputation ought to be beyond reproach. I've told you this time and again. There's no power or might save God's. It seems I must neglect all my other responsibilities in the world to care for you."

With apparent bewilderment Yasin observed, "But she's my legal wife. How can a man be blamed for obeying religious law? And why is it the Ministry's business?"

Restraining his fury, al-Sayyid Ahmad replied, "The Ministry must be solicitous of the reputations of its employees."

"Shouldn't you leave talk about reputations to someone else?" Yasin asked silently.

"But this is an unfair and unjust way to treat a married man."