Heart of the Night by Naguib Mahfouz Read Free Book Online Page A

devils,’ I said.
    “‘Tell me, I beg you, what exactly do you want?’ asked Shakroun.
    “We finally saw the herd enter the campground of Eshash al-Turguman, as the sun’s rays were withdrawing from that eerie open space and disappearing at the horizon. The rays were bidding good-bye to the metal-roofed huts and their wild inhabitants, with their nomadiclife so different from that of city dwellers. Muhammad Shakroun stopped and grabbed my arm.
    “‘Not a single step farther,’ he said. ‘There is no place for a stranger here.’ He added, ‘You have bloodied our feet.’
    “I was floating in a distant sphere, the world of emotions, as I said to Shakroun, ‘She bid me good-bye with a fiery look before disappearing.’
    “‘Congratulations!’
    “He begged me to hire a carriage for the return trip.
    “Shakroun did not leave me that evening, staying till midnight and watching me in disbelief. ‘What happened to you?’
    “I said in distress, ‘You see with your own eyes.’
    “‘I don’t understand.’
    “‘I am crazy about the girl,’ I said.
    “‘So fast?’
    “‘It happened.’
    “‘But she is a shepherdess and belongs to an evil group of people!’ he exclaimed.
    “‘It is destiny and there is no escaping it,’ I replied.
    “He went on, wondering, ‘How can she be seduced? Would she be inclined to that? How can we arrange matters without causing a scandal? What can you do if none of that is possible?’
    “I insisted, saying, ‘No matter what, I must have her.’
    “From that day on I spent sunsets at the edge of al-Darrasa, with my friend or alone, sitting on a rock and surrounded by grazing sheep and goats, with the book of logic open on my lap. I caught glimpses of her as she sat close to her mother, weaving. The place was practically empty, frequented only by vagrants returning to the Muqattam neighborhood. When the sun set, the herd and its herders went on their daily return journey, leaving me with a gloomy and empty heart. I would leave and go to the mosque for the evening prayer, and then attend my lesson on the subject of logic.
    “One day I hid a glass in my caftan pocket, and as they reached the place where I sat, I walked to the mother and gave her the glass,asking for some milk. Marwana, as I heard her mother call her, jumped immediately to her feet, went to a goat, and milked it. She handed me the glass full of foaming milk. I took it and thanked her, saying, ‘May your hands be safe, Marwana.’ She smiled with her eyes. Her mother looked at me suspiciously as I drank the milk and said, ‘To your health.’ When I thanked her, she replied in a tone that carried a specific message, ‘You sheikhs are God’s people.’ I said, grateful, ‘Thanks be to God.’
    “I was delighted to have established this contact and struck up a conversation with them. I was overcome with a tremendous feeling of happiness that lasted until the moment of separation.
    “Shakroun, who was investigating possible solutions, reached the following conclusion: ‘I inquired enough to know that this group commits every kind of evil except the one that you are drooling about.’
    “I said scornfully, ‘A giant will come out of the lamp one day and you will not recognize him no matter how strongly you claim to have been his friend.’
    “Shakroun was not aware of the revolutionary nature of my words. He didn’t know that I had become the king of kings and could do whatever I wanted. I was intoxicated with an outpouring of red madness.
    “The glass of milk established a silken but fatal link between Marwana and me. When I again asked for milk, I accidentally touched her fingertips as I took the glass from her and said, ‘You are generous, Marwana!’
    “She gathered her veil around her head and glanced at me mischievously. I said to her very softly, ‘Your eyes are so beautiful!’ As she was turning away, I added, ‘I come here for you only.’
    “The mother stopped weaving and stood up.