Palace of Desire tct-2

by Naguib Mahfouz

  Determined to overcome all obstacles, he said with an innocent smile, "My name's Kamal."

  Staring at him in astonishment, she replied, "We're honored."

  "Call to me. Say, 'Kamal.'"

  All the more amazed, she answered, "Why should I call you when you're staring me in the face like a calamity?"

  "I take refuge in God!" he exclaimed to himself Was she making fun of him?

  Ever more resolved to rescue the situation, he said, "You told me to wait. What am I waiting for?"

  "You're right to ask that," she said. Then she removed her dress with a theatrical gesture and leaped onto the bed, which creaked from her weight. She stretched out on her back and began to caress her belly with hennaed fingers. His eyes opened wide with disapproval. He had not been expecting this acrobatic performance and sensed they were on different sides of a mountain. What a distance there was between the valley of pleasure and that of work. In one moment everything he had built up in his imagination over the past few days was demolished. There was a bitter taste of resentment in his mouth, but his curiosity was still intense. So he overcame his dismay and ran his eyes down the naked body until they reached their target. For a moment it seemed he could not believe his eyes. With uneasy aversion he looked more closely, but in the end experienced something close to alarm. Was this what women really looked like or had he picked a poor example? But even if he had chosen poorly, would that affect the essential characteristics?

  "We claim to love the truth," he told himself. "People have been terribly unfair about your head and nose."

  His soul instructed him to flee, and he was on the verge of obeying. But he suddenly wondered why the man before him had not fled and what Isma'il would say if Kamal returned right away. No, he would not flee. He would proceed with the ordeal.

  "Why are you standing there like a statue?"

  "This voice shook your heart," he reminded himself. "Our ears don't mislead us, but our ignorance may. You'll have a good time laughing at yourself later, but you're a winner not a deserter. Suppose life is a tragedy; still, it's a duty to play your role in it."

  "Are you going to stand like that till dawn?"

  In a curiously calm voice he answered, "Let's turn out the lights."

  Sitting up in bed, she said coarsely and cautiously, "On condition that I see you first in the light."

  He asked disapprovingly, "Why?"

  "So I can be sure you're healthy."

  He stripped for this medical examination. The sight seemed ludicrous to him in the extreme. Then it was pitch-black.

  When he returned to the street, he took with him a dreary heart filled with sorrow. He imagined that he and everyone else were suffering from a painful decline and that their salvation was remote. He saw Isma'il coming toward him. His friend, who looked satisfied, tired, and sarcastic, asked, "How's philosophy?"

  Kamal took his arm and walked off with him, asking earnestly, "Are all women alike?"

  The young man cast a questioning glance at him. After Kamal had revealed his doubts and fears in a concise fashion to Isma'il, the latter smilingly said, "In general the essential traits are the same, even if some of the accidental ones differ. You're so laughable, you deserve pity. Should I assume from your state of mind that you'll not be returning here again?"

  "To the contrary, I'll come back here more often than you think. Let's have another drink". Then he continued as though to himself: "Beauty… beauty! What is beauty?"

  At that moment his soul yearned for purification, isolation, and meditation. He longed to remember the tormented life he had lived in the shadow of his beloved. He seemed to believe that truth would always be cruel. Should he adopt the avoidance of truth as his creed? He walked along the road to the bar, so lost in thought that he scarcely paid any attention to Isma'il's chatter. If truth was cruel, lies were ugly.

  "The problem's not that the truth is harsh but that liberation from ignorance is as painful as being born. Run after truth until you're breathless. Accept the pain involved in re-creating yourself afresh. These ideas will take a life to comprehend, a hard one interspersed with drunken moments."

  107

  Kamal had come to the alley by himself this evening. Inebriated, he was singing under his breath as he made his way boldly through the boisterous tide of humanity. Finding Rose's door vacant, he did not hesitate as he would have when first getting to know the alley. Instead, he headed straight for the house and entered without knocking. He climbed the stairs to the hallway and once there glanced at the closed door, where light was visible through the keyhole. He went to the waiting room, which fortunately was empty. He sat down in a wooden chair and stretched his legs out with satisfaction. A few minutes later he heard the door creak open and prepared to stand up. The other man's movements as he left the bedroom and headed for the stairs were revealed by his footsteps. Kamal tarried a few moments before rising to go into the hall. Through the open door of her room he saw Rose, who was remaking the bed. When she noticed him, she smiled and called for him to sit back down a minute. He retraced his steps, smiling with the confidence of a regular customer. He soon heard someone come up the stairs, and that upset him. He hated to have to wait with other clients, but the new arrival headed for Rose's room.

  Kamal heard the woman tell this man gently, "I have a customer. Go to the parlor and wait". Then she raised her voice to summon Kamal: "Please come in."

  He rose without any hesitation and ran into the new arrival in the hall, He found himself face to face with Yasin. Their stunned eyes met. Kamal immediately looked down, seething with shame, confusion, and discomfort. He was about to run off as fast as he could, but Yasin forestalled that with a laugh so loud it reverberated strangely against the hall ceiling. The youth looked up at his brother, whose arms were opened wide as he yelled delightedly, "A thousand magnificent evenings! A thousand days of imperial splendor!" He roared with laughter as the dazed Kamal stared at him. When life started to flow through the youth again, he emerged from his stupor and a quizzical smile appeared on his lips. He regained his composure but did not lose his embarrassment.

  In an oratorical tone, Yasin burst out, "This is a happy night: Thursday, October 28, 1926, a truly joyous evening. We'll have to celebrate it every year, for on this night two brothers discovered each other and it was demonstrated that the baby of the family's grown up. He's bearing aloft the banner of our glorious traditions in the world of pleasures."

  Rose walked up and asked Yasin, "Your friend?"

  Laughing, Yasin replied, "No, my brother. The son of my father and… No, my father's son. That says it all. So you see, you're the darling of the whole family, you nobody."

  She murmured, "Swell". Then she told Kamal, "Etiquette dictates that you yield your turn to your older brother, kid."

  Yasin roared his mighty laugh and said, "Etiquette dictates'! Who taught you the manners of sex? Can you imagine a brother waiting outside the door? Ha-ha…"

  Giving him a warning look, she said, "If you laugh in that alarming way, drunkard, the police will hear. But you're excused, since your kid brother's always tipsy when he getshere."

  Yasin looked at Kamal with astonished admiration. "You've learned that too!" he exclaimed. "My Lord, we really are blood brothers, in every way. Bring your mouth up close so I can smell it. But what's the use? A drunk can't detect the smell of liquor on anyone else's breath. Tell me now: What's your opinion of this wisdom you've gained from life instead of from books?" Then he pointed toward Rose and exclaimed, "One visit to this hussy's equivalent to reading ten banned books. So, you get drunk, Kamal…. A thousand bright days! We've been friends from the beginning. I'm the one who tau …"

  "God, God! Am I going to have to wait till daybreak?"

  Yasin gave Kamal a shove and said, "You go with her, and I'll wait."

  But Kamal fell back, shaking his head in vehement rejection. Then he spoke for the first time: "No way! Not… not tonight". Putting his hand in his pocket, he took out ten pias
ters, which he gave to the woman.

  Yasin cried out admiringly, "Long live gallantry! But I won't let you go off alone…". Giving Rose's shoulder a goodbye pat, he took Kamal's arm, and they left the building together.

  Yasiti was saying, "We must celebrate this evening. So let's spend some time in a bar. I usually do my drinking on Muhammad Ali Street with a group of civil servants and some others, but it's not an appropriate place for you, and besides, it's far. Let's choose somewhere nearby, so we can get home in good time. Since my latest marriage, I'm as eager as you to return home early. Where did you get drunk tonight, hero?"

  Kamal stammered with embarrassment, "The Finish."

  "Great! Let's go there. Take advantage of this moment and make the most of it. Tomorrow when you're a teacher, visiting this district with its brothels and taverns will be difficult for you". Then, laughing, he continued: "Imagine one of your pupils running into you here…. Even so, the field of pleasure's wide open, and you'll soon advance in it to ever more beautiful experiences."

  They continued on to the Finish Bar in silence. Fortunately the bond between Yasin and Kamal had not been affected by Yasin's exodus from the old house, and there was no artificial reserve between them. It was typical of Yasin to overlook his prerogatives as the eldest brother. What Kamal knew from firsthand observation of his brother's conduct as well as from other people's comments gave him every reason to believe that Yasin was addicted to women and easily influenced by passion. Even so, meeting his brother at Rose's was a violent shock, for his imagination had never pictured Yasin intoxicated or loitering down this alley. As time passed, Kamal began to recover gradually from the shock, and his alarm began to give way to confidence and even relief. When the brothers reached the Finish, they found it packed. So Yasin suggested they take a table outside, choosing one toward the edge of the sidewalk at the corner of the street, to be as far as possible from other people. Smiling, they sat down opposite each other.

  Yasin asked, "How much have you had to drink?"

  Kamal answered hesitantly, "Two glasses."

  "No doubt our unexpected meeting destroyed their effect. Let's start all over. I only have a few, seven or eight…."

  "You don't say! Is that a few?"

  "Skip the naive astonishment, because you're not naive anymore."

  "By the way, two months ago I didn't even know what it tasted like."

  Yasin observed disapprovingly, "It seems I've given you more credit than you deserve."

  They laughed together, and Yasin ordered a couple of drinks. Then he renewed his questioning: "When did you meet Rose?"

  "I was introduced to Rose and whiskey the same night."

  "What other experiences have you had with women?"

  "None."

  Yasin bowed his head slightly and looked at Kamal from beneath eyebrows contracted in a smiling frown as if to protest: "Come on now!" Then he said, "Don't play the fool. I had many opportunities to observe your flirtations with the daughter of Abu Sari', who grills snacks. At times it was a glance, then a gesture. Remember? Pimp, these matters can't be hidden from an expert. No doubt you were content to play with her, so you wouldn't find yourself obliged to make Abu Sari' your father-in-law unlike my former mother-in-law, who got involved in a marriage with Bayumi the drinks seller. Yes? Now he's a man of property and your next-door neighbor. I wonder where Maryam's hiding. No one's heard anything about her. Her father was a good man. Don't you remember Mr. Muhammad Ridwan? See what's become of his household. But it's all a question of manners. Any woman who neglects them will find herself despised."

  Kamal could not help laughing as he asked, "What about men? Can they neglect their manners without getting in trouble?"

  Yasin laughed in his forceful way and replied, "Men and women are two different things, smart aleck. Tell me, how's your mother? Is that good woman still angry at me, even after I've divorced Maryam?"

  "I think she's forgotten the whole affair. She has a fine heart, as you know."

  Yasin endorsed his brother's words and then shook his head sadly. The waiter brought the drinks and the appetizers. Yasin immediately raised his glass and said, "To the health of al-Sayyid Ahmad's family."

  Kamal raised his too and drank half, hoping to regain his lost mirth. His mouth full of black bread and cheese, Yasin commented, "I imagined that, like our late brother, you resembled your mother in temperament. I thought you'd be a straight arrow, but you, but we …"

  Kamal cast his brother a questioning look. Yasin smilingly continued: "But we're both created from our father's mold."

  "Our father! He's so serious it's hardly possible to live with him."

  Yasin roared with laughter. He hesitated a little before saying, "You don't know your father. I didn't either, but then an entirely different man was disclosed to me, an extraordinary one". He stopped speaking.

  With great curiosity and interest Kamal asked, "What do you know that I don't?"

  "I know he's a princely wit with a deep appreciation of music. Don't stare at me like an idiot. Don't think I'm drunk. Your father's a master of jests, music, and love."

  "My father?"

  "I learned that for the first time in the home of the singer Zubayda."

  "Zubayda! What are you saying? … Ha-ha…"

  But since Yasin's expression was anything but joking, Kamal stopped laughing even before his face could regain its serious look. His mouth closed gradually, until his lips were pressed together. He gazed silently at his brother's face as Yasin related in exhaustive detail what he had seen and heard of their father.

  Was Yasin fabricating lies about his father? How could that be? What motive would justify it? No, he was only telling what he knew. So this was what Kamal's father was like.

  "My Lord!" Kamal exclaimed to himself. "The seriousness, dignity, and gravity what are they? If you hear tomorrow that the earth's flat or that mankind really did spring from Adam, don't be surprised or alarmed."

  Finally Kamal asked, "Does my mother know about this?"

  Yasin laughingly replied, "She's no doubt aware of the drinking at least."

  "I wonder what effect that's had on her," Kamal brooded. "She becomes alarmed for no reason at all. Is my mother like me in presenting a happy front while feeling wretched inside?"

  As though marshaling excuseshe did not believe in, Kamal observed, "People love to exaggerate. Don't believe everything they say. Besides, his health showshe's a temperate man."

  Gesturing for the waiter to bring another round, Yasin said admiringly, "He's a marvel! His body's a miracle. His spirit's another. Everything about him's miraculous, even his glib tongue". They both laughed. Then Yasin continued: "Imagine, in spite of all this, he rules his family with the firm hand you know and maintains his dignity as you can plainly see. How come I'm such a failure?"

  "Consider these wonders," Kamal advised himself. "You're drinking with Yasin. Your father's a shameless old man. What's genuine and what's not? Is there any relationship between reality and what's in our heads? What value does history have? What connection is there between the beloved A'ida and the pregnant A'ida? I myself who am I? Why did you suffer this savage pain from which you've yet to recover? Laugh till you're exhausted."

  "What would happen if he saw us sitting here?"

  Yasin snapped his fingers and exclaimed, "I take refuge in God!"

  "Is Zubayda really beautiful?"

  Yasin whistled and wriggled his eyebrows.

  "Surely it's unfair that our father gets to enjoy such a sumptuous treat while all we can find are skinny girls."

  "Wait your turn. You're still a beginner."

  "Hasn't your relationship with him changed since you discovered his secret?"

  "Anything but that!"

  There was a dreamy look in Kamal's eyes as he said, "If only he had bestowed some of his charm on us…."

  "If only…."

  "We couldn't be much worse off than we are."

  "What's so bad about loving women and
drinking? …"

  "How can you reconcile his conduct with his deep faith?"

  "Am I an atheist? Are you? Were those caliphs who indulged their carnal appetites pagans? God's merciful and forgiving."

  Kamal asked himself, "What would my father say? I really wish I could discuss these issues with him. Any thing's possible, but I can't believe he's a hypocrite. No, he's not that. The only new dimension of his character revealed is love."

  Kamal's final swallow left him in a jesting mood. He commented, "It's too bad he didn't go into acting."

  Yasin laughed loudly and replied, "If he'd known the opportunities life offers actors to enjoy women and wine, he would have dedicated his life to this art."

  "Is al-Sayyid Ahmad Abd al-Jawad really the butt of this joke?" Kamal wondered. "But is he any more exalted than Adam? And even so., you learned the truth of man's origin by accident. Chance occurrences have played a most significant role in your life. If I had not met Yasin by accident in the alley, the veil of ignorance would not have been lifted from my eyes. If Yasin, ignorant though he is, had not gotten me interested in reading, today I'd be in the Medical School, as my father hoped. If I'd enrolled in a different secondary school, like al-Sa'idiya, I wouldn't have met Aida. In that case, I would be a different person now. I'd see existence in some other fashion. People like to fault Darwin for his reliance on chance in the explanation of the mechanics of his system…."

  Yasin observed sagely, "Time will teach you what you haven't learned yet". Of himself he said sarcastically, "It's taught me to get my enjoyment early in the evening, so I don't awaken my wife's doubts." Then he added, "She's the most forceful of my three wives. I imagine I'll never get rid of her."

  Pointing toward the alley, Kamal asked with considerable interest, "What takes you there, now that you're on your third marriage?"

  Yasin repeated a famous phrase from the song Kamal had first heard at Aisha's wedding: "Because … because … because …" Then, smiling uneasily, he continued: "Zanuba told me once, 'You've never been married. You've always considered marriage a love affair. It's time for you to start taking it seriously.' Isn't it strange that a woman entertainer should say such things? But she seems more dedicated to married life than either of my two previous spouses. She's determined to remain my wife until I die. But I can't resist women. I fall in love quickly and get bored quickly. For this reason, I repair to alleys like this one to satisfy my desires immediately without any need to get involved in a long affair. If it weren't for boredom, I wouldn't look for women in Massage Alley."