Kitabı oku: «The Sky Of Nadira», sayfa 3
«Not yet; they talk about tomorrow morning. But the wine has arrived and everyone is waiting for Brother Rabel to celebrate.»
“Frate Rabel”, that's how the entire Norman company, ever since three hundred had crossed the Strait, called the nobleman de Rougeville. Now the wine had arrived and they were asking for everyone.
Although Arab travelers most devoted to social life boasted Sicilian wine, it was a rare thing to find. In fact, given that the Muslims forbade the cultivation of vines on the territories they control, only modest quantities of grapes were seen on these lands. Already at the arrival of Maniakes, in 1038, the Christians had soon replanted the vines to reactivate mass production, but not enough clusters had arisen and large quantities of drink had to be imported if one wanted to toast to good luck.
« And it also brings Conrad; it's time to have fun like men can! »
Rabel stared at his son and shook his head, indicating his annoyance at the other's invitation.
«Willaume e Dreu?»
«The de Hauteville32 brothers have been sitting at the tavern seat for an hour..»
Willhelm de Hauteville, Willaume in their language, would have been nicknamed Iron Arm, as it is said that he killed a Saracen champion who had made a great massacre of Greeks and Nordics during an earlier phase of the siege of Syracuse, with only one hand and brandishing the spear. But it was obvious, despite the legend was already hovering among the troops, that history was false. However, the name of his house acquired more and more prestige among the men of the Norman contingent already under his command.
«It would be wiser to gather in prayer and contemplation. Above all, the help of the good God will be needed. Abd-Allah has gathered the whole forces of Sicily, and others have come from Africa. He believes he will be able to lift the siege of this city, and will do everything he can to drive us back to where we came from. We must repel the counterattack before the Emir comes to crush us against these walls, but this time I fear that the courage of the bravest will not be enough to drag the whole army.»
«If you drank more and prayed less, you would be more optimistic! »
Aware of not being able to convince his friend, Rabel turned to his son, serious that more could not have been done.
«Have you heard? The departure is tomorrow at dawn. You know what to do.»
Then he followed Roul along the way to the tavern.
Conrad knew exactly what he had to do, and it was what he had been doing for two years now: preparing his father's luggage, arranging his armour, giving the last sharp cut to the sword and preparing the banner with the family crest on it, a Danish axe overhung by a green oak leaf inserted in a shield with a red field ... banner that Conrad himself would have supported all the way to the place of the battle, marching on horseback next to his father.
Those speeches about women and wine made a strange and unprecedented glimpse in Conrad - the mystery of the forbidden always tempts kids - so that, as soon as the two knights left the place of the ruined buildings, he also went to the tavern that was actually a meeting place accommodated for such use by a Christian peasant who hoped to speculate on the needs of the troops.
It was barely the fifth hour, as mentioned, and the sun was still beating hard on Conrad's head. He passed between the tents crowded with soldiers of all sorts, with groups to the right and all missing in conversation in their idiom ... and among the preaching priests, standing and in an elevated position, who made the big voice after decades of prayers said to softly. Blessing every soldier who passed under their stools, they also sanctified the boy when he was close to them.
Then Conrad entered the tavern and it was then that he found himself face to face with the sinister vice that dominates adults. Goblets full of wine, dice players at each table and a handful of prostitutes, those who improvised for money and those forced because now the girls of the people had to give themselves to the conquerors. Conrad ran away, fearing that among those men he would run into his father's sight.
Chapter 6
Winter 1060 (452 from Hegira), Rabaḍ by Qasr Yanna
Umar closed the door impatiently. The requests of the poor Christian girl, who also had humiliated herself to the point of kissing his feet, were therefore definitively stopped.
«I don't have time for who bother me! If she comes back, kick her out!» he ordered the servant woman who had opened before.
The desperate sobs of Apollonia's crying on the other side of the door were ignored even more easily than the verbal requests of earlier.
Nadira had been in a dark corner of the entrance room, intent on observing the scene that was taking place on the doorstep, but now that the door had been closed, cutting the voice and hopes of the poor girl from outside, she approached his brother and said angry:
« Wasn't the shame with which you already covered yourself enough? »
At that point Umar, extremely annoyed by the judgment of his sister, threatened:
«Be careful, Nadira ... be careful of what you say, or I’ll send you to your Qā'id on a stretcher!»
«I will go away happy from "my Qā'id", to never see you again!»
«Why didn't you leave when he came to ask for your hand? It seems to me that he wanted to take you to his palace the next day. » Umar replied, pointing upwards towards Qasr Yanna, seat of ibn al-Ḥawwās palace.
«Because I asked to wait for your wife to give birth, so I could see your third child. »
«As if Ghadda needed a girl with a mounted head to help her pregnancy…»
«You didn't even take a hair from our father...» replied Nadira, who then, getting a little closer, pointed her finger at him and continued:
«You are an ungrateful ... with me as with those poor peasants who serve this house from which they were born. If you weren't, you wouldn't have ignored the wretched woman who still cries behind our door. »
The call of the muezzin then rose high throughout Rabaḍ; the last ray of sunshine had disappeared behind the mountain of Qasr Yanna.
«She is a wretch, you said well, and always will be ... Explain to me why you must take this thing to heart. »
«Because if you had been tied to that pole, I would have thrown myself at the foot of your tormentor with even less dignity than the Christian girl. »
Detto questo Nadira scoppiò in lacrime, ma pure continuò, mentre Umar si trovava spiazzato da quell’inaspettata dichiarazione di devozione nei suoi confronti.
«… you ask me why I asked the Qā'id to wait for me for three months? That’s why I waited, because I care about you ...» she said through tears.
However, Umar became serious and gathered in himself all the strength he had to prove himself hard.
« You and your tears, Nadira. You won't be able to pity me! »
« I wonder how sorry you are that we will see each other only if Allah wants from now on. »
«I hope that Allah will receive my request to keep you away.»
Nadira started to cry louder and, beating him on the chest, she shouted:
« You are nothing, Umar ... nothing ... and maybe if you are finally something, it will only be thanks to me!»
Umar, who could not bear those words that hurt his pride like blades, slapped her and said:
«Don't you hear that it's time for the sunset delalāt? Go to clean yourself before the night comes.»
«And you go and wash your soul!»
They hurriedly left each other for their rooms, angry and angry with each other.
When Umar finished his prayer he remained thoughtful and sat on his bed, mulling over that slap in anger.
«What happened a little while ago on the door? I heard you fighting during the adhān33..» Ghadda asked to Umar, sitting next to him while holding his big belly.
«My sister is making me angry! Ever since the Qā'id asked for her hand, she criticizes my actions all the time. »
«And you, Umar, do nothing but provoke it… Since I live under this roof I had never seen anyone tied to the pole of the courtyard. Could it be that since the Qā'id asked for Nadira's hand you have been keen to reiterate who is in charge of this house and the whole village? Everyone talks about your sister, much more than what have they ever done about you. But after all, my beloved, you two are the same ... stubborn and always ready to impose their word on the other. What's more, you've both changed since that day ... she got her head up, but you lost your father's way. I also miss the Umar I knew. »
«Would you like to insinuate that I'm jealous of Nadira? That I fear losing the role of most important person in this house? »
«Not only of the house, but of the whole Rabaḍ.»
«Me?! Jealous of Nadira? What a nonsense!» Umar concluded, laughing nervously in an attempt to hide his discomfort because he knew that his wife was all right.
«Master, the sentry on the terrace asks to speak to you. » interrupted a servant from behind the door of the room.
Umar then got up and thanked the luck, since it was freeing him from that uncomfortable speech.
Ghadda then held him by the arm and said to him:
«Did I disrespect you?»
But he approached her and, softening the expression, kissed her on the forehead.
Covering his head and shoulders with a large camel hair scarf, Umar left the house. He was about to go where the stairs to the terrace left when he saw that the guard in charge of checking the condemned man was hitting the Christian girl. She had been landed on the ground, and now, with his head uncovered, she was parrying his face and shouting, while the other one hit her just like the day before had been hit Corrado. The poor Corrado, now, was in a unconscious state.
Umar stopped and, remembering his wife's words, ordered to the guard:
«Idris, forget about that poor wretch!» as if he wanted to prove to himself that he was not jealous of anyone.
« I have told her three times not to approach the boy ... And a little while ago she took advantage of the sunset ṣalāt to do it again!»
«Okay ... but don't hit her! Rather send her home..»
At this point Apollonia got up a bit, still remaining bent on her legs and sitting on her heels.
«Let me stay in the courtyard at least. I'll be there, quite by the wall..» she begged him full of tears.
«Do what you want!» Umar dismissed her, impatient to still have her in his way.
Umar dismissed it, impatient to still have her in his way.
«Three men on horseback come this way..»
«At this time? It will be wayfarers who have gone the wrong way. They could have spent the night in Qasr Yanna though ... Why go on a journey in the dark and in this cold?»
«The sky is clear tonight, I'm afraid the frost will fall.»
Umar thought for a moment about the prisoner, but then he again turned his attention to those approaching strangers.
«Umar, judging by what seems draped to me, at least one of those knights must be someone important. »
«You did well to warn me, Mezyan. If it is someone important, it is right that he knows my hospitality. »
Umar went down to the courtyard and then, looking at Corrado, asked the guard:
«Idris, after the adhān of the night wait a couple of hours and then let him go. »
The other in response bowed his head, nodding.
After the last meteorological considerations, Umar would have liked to free Corrado already immediately, but he believed that he dared to see a demonstration of storytelling power brought before those strangers felt benefited by his reputation.
The debt collector of Qā’id waited them on the entrance and saw the arriving while the last flashes of light disappeared to the west.
As the sentry on the terrace had seen well, one of the three dressed finely; for sure he was a nobleman. Umar immediately realized that the lineage of the three was not Berber, but perhaps Arab. On the other hand, apart from the appearance, little or nothing distinguished a man of Berber origin from one of Arab descent. Maybe they were different for the use of the Berber language as an idiom spoken in the family alongside Arabic and the remains of an ancient and foreign culture Islamic world imported by the Arabs.
The one that appeared to be a nobleman wore a cloak with a white hood, all finely damasked. Umar had never seen nobody like him. One of the three got off the horse, and said:
«We are looking for Umar ibn Fuad's house. »
«I am Umar. What can I do for you? »
«Do you know who is in front of you, Umar? » he asked referring to the guy they accompanied.
«You will tell me in the heat of the brazier. »
Then he said to his man in the courtyard
«Idris, fix these mounts! »
Umar then invited them to sit inside. He had no idea who was in front of him, but he did not want to give the impression that his hospitality was based on the generality of the guest. Realizing that in any case he was in the presence of a man of a respectable lineage, he thought it well to welcome him into his own home even before that he would have introduced himself.
In the usual well-furnished room with rugs and cushions, and now with a brazier lit on the middle of the room, Umar did the honours of the house by giving the best of what he had. He thought he could trust them, since together with the cloaks and bags they also handed the swords to the servants without anyone suggested it to them.
Now, in the light of the fire and the lights, Umar could observe them better. The man who seemed to be a nobleman was about forty years old, with a well-groomed appearance, a thin face and nose; he also had the air of someone who knows his worth and his importance for the world. He also spoke slowly, often closing his eyes with a knowing face. The other two were dressed in almost the same way, with long black tunics and white trousers, but one of the two wore a large gold medallion around his neck.
They were one in front of the other in silence. Long minutes passed before anyone started to talk. Then Umar wanted to break the ice to understand if he could catch some business:
«You're rich! Are you a pearl merchant? »
And that, smiling, replied:
«My agents have significantly increased my earnings this year through the pearls trade. »
«I would have said that you who were a Qā'id, if it were not that a Qā'id would travel with the escort and with the court. »
«Salim, brother ... my name is Salim. »
«Ok, Salim ... what business has led you to my house? »
Umar wanted to ask why they hadn't stayed at Qasr Yanna for the night instead of going back to the sunset for a few miles, however, he feared that his question could be misinterpreted, almost as if he were asking them why they had not stayed at home.
«That man you had tied to that pole ... is on sale? Because I seemed to see an exceptional physique. »
«You're a slave trader then! »
«I am a man who seeks precious pearls from mankind, brother. »
Umar's mind was immediately touched by the thought of selling Corrado to that man. Then he reflected that the Christians of Rabaḍ were not slaves, even if they served his house, and he could not be master of their life. Then he replied:
«I fear that none of these pearls exist at Rabaḍ. Here everyone cultivates his own land and prays within his own walls ... except for the four servants who govern this house.»
«Yet I know you are hiding a pearl of rare beauty under this roof, and that it is not one of your four servants. »
Umar became serious and, having understood that he was referring to Nadira, replied:
«The pearl you are referring to is not for sale, nor has it ever been. »
«Yet I know that Qasr Yanna's Qā'id was quick to buy it, brother. »
«Then, you'll understand what kind of man protects her ...»
«I am not afraid of anyone ... much less of the Qā'id, and this is because I have no intention of harming anyone. Nonetheless, I have heard of two sapphire gemstones, of a girl with paradisiacal features, of a dream that breaks the chest. The Qā'id can have anything he wants ... and he always gets the best. However, I am a pearl merchant - as you said - and I recognize that other Qā'id and gentlemen would pay a fortune for these pearls. The fame of Nadira's eyes, if this is her real name, has spread throughout central Sicily, but I don't ask you anything ... just to see them. Now that ibn al-Ḥawwās has made such a precious gift the others will certainly want to imitate it and it will be my merit to find such rarity among the girls of the Island and overseas. »
«What do you want therefore? »
«Just to see that blue of which anyone talk. »
Then he closed his eyes and recited with a half mocking smile:
«“Nadira's sky, the boundaries of her eyes”»
Umar turned his hands nervously. The request generated suspicion, even if after all it was not so difficult to satisfy, since there was no violation of modesty or morality. The landlord was thoughtful, divided between jealousy for his sister and fear of disappointing a man more important than he. The other, on the other hand, had understood from the beginning - or perhaps had been told - what Umar's weakness was. With another man with clear merchant skills he would have offered money, however Umar did not consider wealth as he would consider a miser; pride was the real key to making him vulnerable.
«Umar, my brother, now that you are Qā'id's brother-in-law, you will certainly have already thought about how to make your state evident and how to be respected as such…»
Umar looked at him puzzled, after all he thought about it since Ali ibn al-Ḥawwās had visited Rabaḍ.
«My cloak, have you ever seen one like it? » Salim asked, realizing that Umar had stared at him in amazement.
«I guess it's from far away. »
The other laughed, also involving his men in that gesture.
«This says a lot of you, brother. Have you ever set foot outside Rabaḍ?»
«I constantly attend the market of Qasr Yanna. There are many people there: many faithful, but also Christian peasants who work the land within the city walls and even Jewish artisans from Qal’at an-Nisā'34. You can find everything: from the sulphur of the mines to the salt from the deposits, from the sugar extracted from the cane to the rice from the rice fields. And the city gardens and its sources ... it's worth going there.»
«But Qasr Yanna is only half an hour from this village! »
«Maybe uphill, brother! » replied Salim teasing Umar «My dear Umar, the fabric of my cloak comes from the Balarm35 factories. Have you ever been to Balarm? »
Salim successfully exploited the art of haggling; however, he was not selling material goods to Umar, he was selling something that the Qā'id’s debt collector already possessed: the pride.
As a merchant gives birth to his customer the need to have the object he intends to sell him, so Salim was humiliating Umar, making him understand the need to become another person, one who would show his kinship with the Qā'id, who proudly flaunted his new state. Making him weigh on the fact that he had never been to Balarm made him small ... as small as any rural villager, although he was a Qā'id’s official. Now Salim would offer him the solution by prying up on his pride, that pride that he had skilfully dismantled and that needed new life.
«The cloak is yours, brother! You really need a dress that won't go unnoticed. »
«It's something too precious for you to deprive yourself of. »
«Are you joking, Umar? I have hundreds of such fabrics ... that my seamstresses will know how to pack properly. On the other hand, what do I ask you if not the simple look of a girl's eyes ... Think Umar, it is the only thing you have, and that is worth showing ... and you keep it under lock and key…»
Then Umar motioned to the servant who was standing by the door and holding a large jug full of water.
«Let Nadira come. »
The maid therefore left the room.
The four remained silent for long minutes, waiting for the girl who had generated such curiosity in the stranger to appear. Nervously Umar drew a piece of bread from the plate placed in the centre of the room and dipped it in honey, then he brought it to his mouth.
Nadira, who had been in her room all the time since the last outburst with her brother, then arrived in the room. She was still wearing the beautiful green suit with the yellow and blue finishes of the afternoon and, as usual, in the presence of foreign men, she covered his face.
Jala and Ghadda, perplexed and curious, appeared behind the door.
«Is she the girl who captured the heart of ibn al-Ḥawwās» Asked Salim to Umar
«In person… She is my sister Nadira.»
Salim got to his feet, while the other two following him looked at each other, lost in that atmosphere that had suddenly become bewitching.
Nadira stopped in the middle of the room and looked at Umar trying to understand what that guest wanted from her and which role did she have in all this.
«Come on girl, come here near me!» Salim said to her, mimicking the invitation with his hand. Umar nodded and she, recognizing that she could trust him, took two steps forward.
Now Salim's eyes were lost in those of the girl, but he looked at her with such intensity that she had to look down feeling uncomfortable, as if that act could pose a real threat.
After a few seconds Umar intervened:
«It won't be enough all night to satiate your sight. » And then, turning to Nadira: «That may be enough, sister. »
But Salim intervened: «No, dear girl, wait a moment! Umar, would I go crazy if I didn't ask you something»
«Tell me! »
«I don't see black slaves in this house, yet every self-respecting man has at least one. You will come with me to my city, you will bring with you all the men you want, as many as you deem necessary, then I will fill everyone's arms, and I will cover the back of every horse or dromedary that you will have with you of everything that will seem beautiful to your eyes ... and I will also give you a black slave. I am a very wealthy and noble man of blood; don't give up, brother! They will say great things about you, and they will certainly name you a mosque. »
Umar's ears, when he heard that excessive offer, whistled and his head became light, like it was empty, lost in the confusion of what Salim was offering to him. However, Umar thought it well to stop any negotiations in the bud, imagining what the nature of the counterpart could be.
«I will not disrespect my Qā'id by making someone else make me rich. »
Nadira then left the room definitively, even though she stayed with the other women in a place where she would have heard without being seen.
Salim sat down again, humiliated by that refusal. So, smoothing his beard, he said slowly:
«One day, when my son was still a child, I saw him play with some golden robā'i36; he used them as if they were small wooden blocks, making them stacks and dropping them. The servant shouted after him like a madwoman, intent on having them deposed. Finally, I went up to him, pulled some coloured glass coins from my pockets and offered them to him in exchange for the gold ones. The boy readily accepted the exchange. Here, you, my dear Umar, are like that child, you give up a offer rich of gold just to be satisfied with simple coloured glass. »
«People buy bread with colored glass! » Umar exclaimed, annoyed by the turn of words used to offend him.
«But you won't want to remain a man from stained glass forever ... You have something in your house that worth more than gold ... and believe me if I tell you, your Qā'id is not respecting you at all! »
«My sister already belongs to Ali ibn al-Ḥawwās! » Umar raised his tone, standing up and pointing his finger at Salim.
«The" Demagogue ", the one who bewitches his people with simple words ... He has a talent, it is sure ... and I could not do better. But do you understand, brother, that ibn al-Ḥawwās is able to offer only words? Only coloured glass coins! »
«He will pay Nadira's price when he will get her. »
«I offer you more and without even asking you to have her. Honestly, carnal love satisfies me less than gold and the pleasure of spending it. »
Umar found himself displaced; possible that that did not mean what he thought from the beginning of the second proposal?
«Spend it like, in this case?» he therefore asked.
«Don't you think that Nadira's beauty stops in his eyes? And your Qā'id must have understood this too, otherwise he would have just looked. What your sister hides under the veil must certainly be worthy of her eyes, I'm sure. I'm just asking you to let her dancing for me tonight in this room. »
Umar felt a fire rise in his ears. That challenged his jealousy as if his role as protector of the girl was worth nothing.
«Jamal, give the medallion gift you wear around my friend's neck!» commanded Salim to one of his companions, still believing he could convince Umar.
He got up and put the large medallion around his master's neck.
Umar then took it to analyse it: it was a very expensive object, well carved, well engraved and very heavy.
«So everyone will notice you, brother! » Salim commented, smiling.
However, Umar took off the heirloom and dropped it on the bread plate.
«We never played or danced in this house!» he concluded peremptorily.
«Jamal has a mizud37 in his luggage and can play it well. »
Beyond the door, Nadira was appalled by those requests and already imagined, as Jala and Ghadda imagined, that Umar would soon go into hiding.
«Jamal will then be happy to play in the presence of your concubines. » replied the latter.
«I have travelled a lot ... I have met many people ... and even the qā'id have never refused me anything! » Salim became serious.
Umar therefore imitated the other, rising.
«You believe you can buy everything, but the honour cannot be bought or sold off! I am the guarantor of all the women in this house and I do not allow anyone to think that they can treat my sister like a prostitute!!»
And the other one, now grinning: «If the Qā'id hadn't heard of Nadira, sooner or later you would have sold it off to the first bidder ... maybe even who would have treated it as such. Trust the word of someone who knows the world. »
«And you trust me that I know myself. You desecrated my hospitality, so I can't tolerate your presence in this house yet. »
And looking at the usual servant who held the jug, he continued: «Have these men deliver their belongings and horses. »
Umar stared at them all the time when, humiliated beyond belief, they collected their things and left the house. However, Salim's smile never disappeared from his face; nervously he seemed to want to hide the embarrassment. Then, when he came to the door, he said:
«Listen to my warning, Umar: you promised Nadira to the Qā'id, and right before the Qā'id and in front of his guests she will dance without any shame before long!» and he left, disappearing in the dark of the night with the other two.
«Who was the man you made yourself as an enemy? » Jala asked almost anxiously.
«He was the one I don't want to become! » said Umar, retreating to his room and inviting the others to do the same.
