Palace Walk tct-1
Page 60
He found himself in front of the door and stretched his hand toward the knocker. Then he remembered the key in his pocket. He took it out and opened the door. When he entered, he heard Kamal’s voice singing melodiously:
Visit me once each year,
For it’s wrong to abandon people forever.
THE END
Acknowledgments
I want to thank Mary Ann Carroll for being the first reader, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis for her sensitive editing, Riyad N. Dels had for assistance with some obscure vocabulary and expressions, and Sarah and Franya Hutchins for their patience. Although others have contributed to this translation, I am happy to bear responsibility for it.
William Maynard Hutchins
About the Author
Naguib Mahfouz was born in Cairo in 1911 and began writing when he was seventeen. A student of philosophy and an avid reader, he has been influenced by many Western writers, including Flaubert, Balzac, Zola, Camus, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and, above all, Proust. He has more than thirty novels to his credit, ranging from his earliest historical romances to his most recent experimental novels. In 1988, Mr. Mahfouz was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. He lives in the Cairo suburb of Agouza with his wife and two daughters.
Main Characters
al-Sayyid Ahmad Abd al-Jawad — father and family patriarch (45), shop owner
Aisha — daughter, 16; blond beauty, but useless
Amina — wife and mother of four plus one stepson
Fahmy — son, tall and slim
Kamal — youngest son, 9, prankster
Khadija — daughter, 20, second eldest, strong and plump, brunette
Yasin — oldest son, 21, stocky-large like father, Amina’s stepson
Haniya — Yasin’s mother
Umm Hanafi — family servant
al-Sayyid Muhammad Ridwan — their next-door neighbor
Bahija Ridwan — Maryam’s mother
Hasan Ibrahim — police officer interested in marrying Aisha
Jalila — performer al-Sayyid had loved for such a long time
Jaljal — Zubayda’s servant
Jamil al-Hamzawi — father’s shop assistant
Madam Nafusa — the widow of al-Hajj Ali al-Dasuqi, owns seven stores
Maryam — next-door neighbor’s daughter; Ridwan. Fahmy wishes to marry her
Mrs. Shawkat — the oldest friend of the parents
Sadiqa — Amina’s mother’s servant
Shaykh Mutawalli Abd al-Samad — blind religious guide and friend
Umm Ali — matchmaker
Zanuba — Zubayda’s foster daughter
Zubayda — a nightclub singer
A book about the center of a universe. A look inside a family from a different society. The place of people in the world and the individuals in that family. Written in the words of a great poet. A true understanding of people and one’s self.
Critical acclaim for "Palace Walk":
'lt is Mahfouz’s wonderful ability to delineate human beings from their outer appearances which gives "Palace Walk" its universal appeal. I shall read it again and again'
Alice Thomas Ellis, "Guardian"
'A masterpiece of character-drawing… Like all great writers, Mahfouz combines humour with irony and pathos, and undermines time-honoured judgements with subtlety and wit'
Nessim Dawood, "The Times"
'With "Palace Walk"… Mahfouz established himself as the Arab world’s leading realist, importing the methods he had learned from Flaubert and the Russians and applying them to the lives of the Cairene middle classes'
"Sunday Times"
'Nobel prizewinner Naguib Mahfouz’s wonderfully readable family saga "Palace Walk" provides a riveting and accurate portrait of Egyptian society at the beginning of the 20th century'
"Bookseller"
'There is nothing in world literature quite like "Palace Walk". In it Mahfouz created characters who are larger than life and yet perfectly credible, and he has explored their inner life with marvellous psychological penetration… This is writing worthy of a Tolstoy, a Flaubert or a Proust'
Philip Stewart, "Independent"
'…faced with the superbly translated first volume of his Cairo Trilogy… we find ourselves in the presence of a master… Mahfouz offers a romantic but naughtily detached insight into the toils of Egyptian domesticity'
"Mail on Sunday"
'The alleys, the houses, the palaces and mosques and the people who live among them are evoked as vividly in [Mahfouz's] work as the streets of London were conjured up by Dickens'
"Newsweek"
'A magnificent work'
"Chicago Sun-Times"
'"Palace Walk" is a feast indeed'
"Chicago Tribune"
'Rich in psychological insight and cultural observation… A majestic and capacious accomplishment'
"Boston Globe"
'The simple truth is that "Palace Walk" is a wonderful story'
"Seattle Times"
'A tale told with great affection, humor and sensitivity, in a style… that in this translation, is always accessible and elegant'
"New York Times" Book Review
Примечания
1
Shiraz — Persian
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2
fez — a brimless cone-shaped flat-crowned hat that usually has a tassel, is usually made of red felt
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3
caftan — a usually cotton or silk ankle-length garment with long sleeves that is common throughout the Levant
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4
ennui — a feeling of weariness and dissatisfaction
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5
ablutions — the washing of one’s body or part of it (as in a religious rite)
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6
chanteuse — a woman who is a concert or nightclub singer
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7
shaykh — a religion guide
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8
kohl — a preparation used especially in Arabia and Egypt to darken the edges of the eyelids
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9
qanun — a zitherlike musical instrument
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10
ululation — howl or wail
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11
bey — a provincial governor
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12
mihrab — a niche or chamber in a mosque indicating the direction of Mecca
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13
Kunya name:
… an honorific name. "Umm" means mother…. Amina’s Kunya name would be Umm Fahmy; Yasin is older, but he is not her son.
A kunya (Arabic) is a name which is honorably given to the mother or father of an Arabic child. Kunya is pronounced koon-ya. A married person (especially ladies) are called by their kunya name, which is abu (father) or umm (mother) plus the name of their first son. Their whole name is their name plus their kunya. For example, Umm Ja'far Aminah is the mother of Ja'far. The kunya precedes the personal name.
A kunya (Arabic) or Kunyat is an honorific widely used in place of given names through the Arab world and the medieval Muslim world. It is a component of an Arabic name, a type of epithet referring to the bearer’s first-born son or daughter.
Abu (father) or umm (mother) precedes the son’s name, in a genitive (idafa) construction. The English equivalent would be to call someone whose eldest son is named John "Father of John". Use of the kunya normally signifies some closeness between the speaker and the person so addressed, but is more polite than use of the first name. The kunya is also frequently used with reference to politicians and other celebrities to indicate respect.
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FB2 document info
Document ID: 247805a5-f4b5-48d4-b308-62f3c6178f89
Document version: 1
Document creation date: 2012-07-29
Created using: doc2fb, FictionBook Editor Release 2.6 software
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Document history:
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