...
He didn't order the coffee immediately. First he went to work on a hefty, fragrant dish of pasta al forno that lifted him out of the gloom into which the culinary art of Signora Giulia had plunged him. By the time Rahman arrived, Montalbano had already done away with all trace of the pasta and had only an innocent, empty demitasse of coffee in front of him. They headed off to the Arab quarter.
"How many of you are there in Mazara?"
"We're now more than a third of the local population."
"Have there been many incidents between the Arabs and the Mazarese?"
"No, very few, practically nothing compared to other cities. I think we're sort of a historical memory for the Mazarese, almost a genetic fact. We're family. Al-Imam al-Mazari, the founder of the Maghrebin juridical school, was born in Mazara, as was the philologist Ibn al-Birr, who was expelled from the city in 1068 because he liked wine too much. But the basic fact is that the Mazarese are seafaring people. And the man of the sea has a great deal of common sense; he understands what it means to have ones feet on the ground. And speaking of the sea: did you know that the motor trawlers around here have mixed crews, half Sicilian, half Tunisian?"
"Do you have an official position here?"
"No, God save us from officialdom. Here everything works out for the best because it's all done unofficially. I'm an elementary-school teacher, but I also act as a liaison between my people and the local authorities. Here's another example of good, common sense: when a school principal gave our community some classrooms to use, we instructors came over from Tunis and created our school. But the superintendency is officially unaware of this situation."
The Arab quarter was a piece of Tunis that had been picked up and carried, unaltered, to Sicily. The shops were closed because it was Friday, the day of rest, but life in the narrow little streets was still colorful and animated. First, Rahman showed Montalbano the large public baths, the social meeting place for Arabs from time immemorial; then he took him to a smoking den, a cafith hookahs. They passed by a sort of empty storefront, inside of which an old man with a grave expression sat on the floor, legs folded under him, reading from a book and offering commentary. In front of him, sitting the same way, were some twenty boys listening attentively.
"That's one of our imams, explaining the Koran," said Rahman, who made as if to keep walking.
Montalbano stopped him, resting a hand on his arm. He was struck by the truly religious absorption of those kids, who once outside of the empty store would again let loose, shouting and scuffling as always.
"What's he reading to them?"
"The eighteenth sura, the one about the cave."
Montalbano, without knowing the cause, felt a slight tremor in his backbone.
"The cave?"
"Yes, al-kahf, the cave. The sura says that when some young people prayed to God not to let them be corrupted and led astray from the path of the true religion, He made them fall into a deep sleep inside a cave. And so that there would always be total darkness inside the cave, God reversed the course of the sun. They slept for about three hundred and nine years. Also with them was a dog, who slept in front of the entrance, but on guard, with his front legs extended"
He broke off, having noticed that Montalbano had turned very pale and was opening and closing his mouth as if gasping for air.
"What's wrong, signore? Do you feel ill, signore? Do you want me to call a doctor? Signore!"
Frightened by his own reaction, Montalbano felt faint, his head spinning, legs buckling. Apparently he was still feeling the effects of the wound and the operation. A small crowd, meanwhile, had gathered around Rahman and the inspector. The teacher gave a few orders, and an Arab ran off and quickly returned with a glass of water. Another arrived with a wicker chair in which he forced Montalbano, who felt ridiculous, to sit. The water revived him.
"How do you say in your language: God is great and merciful?"
Rahman told him, and Montalbano did his best to imitate the sounds of the words. The small crowd laughed at his pronunciation, but repeated them in chorus.
Rahman shared an apartment with an older colleague named El Madani, who was at home at that moment. Rahman made tea while Montalbano explained the reasons for his malaise. Rahman was entirely unaware of the discovery of the two young murder victims in the Crasticeddru, whereas El Madani had heard mention of it.
"What I'd like to know, if you'd be so kind," said the inspector, "is to what extent the objects placed inside the cave correspond to what the sura says. As far as the dog is concerned, there's no doubt whatsoever."
"The dogs name is Kytmyr," said El Madani, "but he's also called Quotmour. Among the Persians, you know, that dog, the one in the cave, became the guardian of written communication."
"Does the sura say anything about a bowl with money inside?"
"No, there's no bowl, for the simple reason that the sleepers have money in their pockets. When they awake, one of them will be given money to go buy the best food there is. They're hungry. But the one sent on this mission is betrayed by the fact that the coins are not only no longer current, but are now worth a fortune. People follow him back to the cave, hoping to find a treasure, and that is how the sleepers come to be discovered."
"But in the case that concerns me," Montalbano said to Rahman, "the bowl can be explained by the fact that the boy and girl were naked when placed inside the cave, and therefore the money had to be put somewhere."
"Agreed," said El Madani, "but it is not written in the Koran that they were thirsty. The water receptacle has no connection to the sura."
"I know many legends about sleepers," Rahman added, "but none of them says anything about water."
"How many sleepers were there in the cave?"
"The sura is vague about this, the number is probably not important, three, four, five, six, not counting the dog. But it has become common belief that there were seven sleepers, eight with the dog."
"If it's of any use to you, "said El Madani, "you should know that the sura is a retelling of an old Christian legend, the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus."
"There's also a modern Egyptian drama, Ahl al-kahf, which means The People of the Cave, by the writer Taufik al-Hakim. In it the young Christians, persecuted by the emperor Decius, fall into a deep sleep and re-awaken in the time of Theodosius the Second. There are three of them, as well as the dog."
Therefore, Montalbano concluded, whoever put the bodies in the cave must have known the Koran, and perhaps even the play by this Egyptian.
...
"Mr. Burgio? Montalbano here. I'm calling you from Mazara del Vallo. I'm about to leave for Marsala. Sorry to be in such a rush, but I have to ask you something very important. Did Lillo Rizzitano know Arabic?"
"Lillo? Not a chance."
"He couldn't perhaps have studied it at university?"
"Impossible."
"What was his degree in?"
"In Italian, with Professor Aurelio Cotroneo. He may have even told me what his thesis was about, but I can't re
member."
"Did he have any Arab friends?"
"Not that I know of."
"Were there any Arabs in Vig around 42-43?"
"Inspector, the Arabs were here at the time of their domination, and now they've returned, poor things, but not as dominators. No, during that period there werent any. But what are the Arabs to you?"
...
It was already dark outside when they left for Marsala. Livia was cheerful and animated. She was very happy to have met Valente's wife. At the first intersection, instead of turning right, Montalbano turned left. Livia noticed immediately, and the inspector was forced to make a difficult U-turn. At the second intersection, Montalbano did the exact opposite: instead of going left, he turned right, and this time Livia was too engrossed in what she was saying to realize it. To their great astonishment, they found themselves back in Mazara. Livia exploded.