Laziness in the Fertile Valley by Albert Cossery

Author:Albert Cossery [Cossery, Albert]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: New Directions
Published: 2013-11-19T00:00:00+00:00

The sudden glare of the electric lamp fell on him like cold water. He gave a start and sat up in the bed.

“You must be crazy to turn on the light without even warning me.”

“Excuse me, I couldn’t find my pajamas.”

It was Rafik who had just come in and was undressing nervously.

“Well, did you kill her?”

“Kill who?”

“Good heavens, have you forgotten? Weren’t you supposed to kill Haga Zohra? What a fool I was to count on you.”

“I haven’t forgotten a thing. Don’t do anything, I’ll kill her one day.”

“Where were you? Uncle Mustapha was worried about you. He was in here bothering me about it.”

Galal kept his eyes shut while he talked; he couldn’t bear the hard glare of the electric light. He seemed like a blind man, his hands twitching in the void.

“Turn off that light, I beg you!”

Rafik had finished undressing and tied his pajamas. He turned out the light and lay down on his bed. He seemed determined to sleep.

Galal’s voice rose in the darkness:

“Listen: Uncle Mustapha just gave me some wonderful news.”

“What news?” asked Rafik.

“It’s news of the greatest importance for all of us,” said Galal feverishly. “Father has a hernia.”

Rafik stirred, then leaned over the bed.

“You’re sure Uncle Mustapha wasn’t lying?”

“I don’t think so. He told me he’d seen it. The marriage won’t take place.”

“It’s a good thing,” said Rafik in a dreamy voice. “Is it big?”

“It seems that it’s enormous! We can relax.”

“Not entirely,” said Rafik. “I’ll still have to wait for Haga Zohra. She’s a damned good go-between. She could marry off a corpse.”

They slept with peace in their souls, thinking of their father’s hernia that had saved them from disaster.

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