Read Online Cairo Modern by Naguib Mahfouz - Free Book Online Page B

which his heart aspired. She set fire to his emotions and roused his ambition, even if she did not awaken his lust the way Ihsan did. She also did not awaken any lofty emotions in him, since he was unfamiliar with these. Instead his admiration for her was mixed with resentment, and his desire was blended with defiance. Deep inside he felt a longing to dominate and ravage her. He immediately decided to tarry with them. The three sat down in the magnificent parlor, and he felt certain that his shabby appearance was not lost on them. Even so, he felt only contempt for this fact, since he truly enjoyed an amazing ability to vanquish timidity and discomfort and to arm himself with boundless disdain.
    Smiling, Fadil asked, “Do you really remember us, sir?”
    Mahgub answered calmly, “We lived in the same town fifteen years ago when the bey was an engineer in al-Qanatir. We played together in our house’s garden.”
    The youth said with astonishment, “I don’t remember anything from that time!”
    Tahiya commented in a voice as polished as her appearance, “It’s almost the same for me.”
    That hurt him. Papering over his emotions with a smile, he said, “You were both young, but I was eight.”
    Nodding his head, the beaming Fadil asked, “Have you finished your studies?”
    Was this question customary in aristocratic families? He answered, “I’ll be done in May.”
    “Which faculty?”
    “Humanities.”
    Fadil commented loftily, “We’re happy to discover a relative like you.”
    Mahgub immediately responded, “I’m even happier because I’ve discovered two relatives.”
    Tahiya had been examining him with feminine eyes. Simply to make polite conversation she commented, “We haven’t visited al-Qanatir since we left.”
    Uncharacteristically Mahgub felt at a loss. Should he invite them to visit al-Qanatir to see the house with its “garden” where they had played? Fadil, however, rescued him from his quandary by asking his sister sarcastically, “Have you visited Cairo, where you live? All you know are living rooms and the cinema.”
    Tahiya, blushing, smiled and retorted, “What a sarcastic exaggerator you are! Don’t you realize that I know Cairo overall and have even visited the antiquities museum and the Pyramids like the tourists?”
    An extraordinary idea occurred to Mahgub, who—on being released from his perplexity—immediately suggested, “The antiquities museum and the Pyramids are stale destinations. Have you visited the new excavations?”
    Turning toward the speaker, Tahiya inquired, “New excavations?”
    Pointing toward his chest as if personally responsible for the discoveries, he said, “The university’s excavations—a few minutes’ walk from the Pyramids—a strange world surrounded by barbed wire. All the people involved are my friends and colleagues. So when shall we go together to see them?”
    Delighted, she replied, “I don’t know, but I’ll go some day. Isn’t that so, Fadil?”
    Fadil, who was beginning to feel listless, replied automatically, “Of course, of course.”
    Walking through the villa’s garden after his visit, Mahgub Abd al-Da’im sensed that it was possible that a type of what people call friendship might grow between him and his two cousins. He wondered what he could get out of this friendship if it did arise—or would he emerge from it as empty-handed as from his visit with the bey?

14

    H e found himself once again on al-Fustat Street, buffeted by an unruly, cold wind which caught him by surprise. It shook the branches, making the street hum with their rustling. It blew past walls with a deafening whistle. A shudder passed through his enervated body and pervaded his joints; the month of Amshir was too harsh for a starving weakling to endure. Although distracted from his surroundings by his reflections, half conscious of the weather, he darted along the road. He thought of Fadil, comparing himself with the adolescent who enjoyed health, good