6 The Exodus
Two days later, the chief merchant ran into the jenny master at the sword dunes, which the wind had shifted forward to split the oasis in half. The chief merchant said jokingly, “All the homes lost their roofs, except the stranger’s.”
The strategist replied slyly, “Winds don’t carry away the roofs of roofless homes.”
When Amghar looked at him askance, he added, “Tomb vaults lack roofs.”
The chief merchant, however, leapt to a different subject: “Didn’t the demon wind throw you to the ground?”
“The demon wind would have to dig into the earth for a long time to reach a creature whose fortress is the tombs.”
Amghar stared at him suspiciously and remarked mischievously, “But I went to check on you and found the vault vacant.”
“The vault’s a place. The jenny master does not dwell in physical space.”
“You don’t live in physical space?”
“It’s inconceivable that one who lives for wayfaring should live in a physical location.”
The head merchant smiled as he drew closer, his head bowed to examine the great changes the storm had made to the earth’s crust. Without looking up, he said, “I’m fairly certain that the wind was your handiwork.”
The strategist asked nonchalantly, “What would make you think that?”
“You’re definitely a wind demon that can polish off the remaining debris of the oasis.”
“I’ve never resorted to magical practices.”
He stared at him suspiciously once more and said in a tone with a concealed barb, “How can you avoid recourse to magic when your powers of metamorphosis far outstrip those of the most cunning sorcerers?”
“Now you’re repeating your leader Ewar’s conspiracy theory.”
“It’s not a theory. He said as much in the assembly during his final attempt to save his darling fool.”
“Did he really try that?”
“He confessed everything, even though his confession served no purpose.”
The strategist retreated into silence. After a while, he said, “Did he also admit he was the wretch’s father?”
Amghar glanced stealthily at him. Then he muttered: “Yes.”
“Did he claim I was the wretch’s father, too?”
The chief merchant gazed at him from behind his veil and their eyes met. He signaled yes. So the strategist asked, “What else did he say in his summation for the defense?”
“He told a tale of metamorphosis.”
“Rubbish.”
“But Edahi is your lost child; isn’t that so?”
“We only recover what we lose.”
“What does that mean?”
“I mean I have fulfilled my task and have definitely reconciled you to a life of wandering.”
“Is this your farewell?”
“Tomorrow I shall mount my jenny and once again become a wandering wayfarer.”
Amghar drew a deep breath and said regretfully, “I’ll miss you a lot. I’ll miss you more than I shall ever miss anyone in this ill-fated oasis.”
“You won’t miss me, because you will soon catch up with me.”
The chief merchant groaned with pain and said, “You’re right. We’ll meet during our migrations, sooner or later.”
“No, sooner.”
He was silent but then added, “Have you forgotten what the wind did to the spring?”
“We complained because the water was contaminated. Now we’re complaining because there’s no water anymore.”
Raising his head toward the distant horizon, the strategist said: “I’ll just allow my jenny to say what the jenny of all generations said when she quenched her physical thirst from a well the way the Law quenches our spiritual thirst: “‘Now let the leather bucket be slashed, let the winch be smashed, and let the well be dashed.’ Did I get that right?”
Hünibach, the Swiss Alps San Remo, Italy Tripoli, Libya 2003 C.E.
Notes
1 Michelangelo, The Letters of Michelangelo, trans. by E.H. Ramsden, 2 vols. (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1963), Letter no. 160, vol. I, p. 151. An alternative translation of (presumably) the same sentence is: “I don’t know which is better, evil which helps or good that harms.” See Robert J. Clements, The Poetry of Michelangelo (New York: New York University Press, 1965), p. 51.
2 Mikhail Artsybashev, Sanin: a novel, translated by Michael R. Katz, Introduction by Otto Boele, Afterword by Nicholas Luker (Ithaca & London: Cornell University Press, 2001), pp. 262, 266.
3 In Tamasheq in the original Arabic edition.
4 In Tamasheq in the original Arabic edition.
5 Al-insan lisan
GlossaryIsan Tamasheq for a man who is wise, knowing, and sagacious
Law the Torah-like, lost but normative law of the Tuareg people
Tahala Tamasheq for weeping and wailing
Tamalla in Tamasheq: compassion
Tenekert Tamasheq for a flighty, flirtatious, and lustful woman
Wantahet Tamasheq for the jenny master
Waw the legendary, lost, Eden-like oasis of the Tuareg people