Children of Gebelaawi Read Online Free Page A

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    replaces] in the names Gebel and Gebelaawi, i n order to avoid
    confusion in the many puns on Gebel and the jebel. Narjis has
    been spelt Narciss to recall the corresponding flower name.
    Most nicknames have been translated, with a great deal of
    freedom. They constitu te almost the only comic element i n an
    otherwise serious book (though it is often sinister comedy) ,
    and to fail to translate them would be a loss for the reader,
    besides depriving the translator of a rare opportu nity for some
    amusement. Note that the spelling of 'Bullrush' is deliberate;
    XX
    Introduction
    the Arabic has the meani ng of impetuosity as well as a botanical sense. The name 'Omnibus' is particularly interesting; the obsolete colloquial word 'Swaars' is from Herr Schwartz, who
    gave his name to the horse-drawn omnibus service that he
    established i n Cairo in the mid-Nineteenth Century.
    The most difficult problem is posed by the names of the
    main heroes and heroi nes, all of which have meanings and
    overtones. It would be possible to translate them, in the style
    of Pilgrim's Progress, but all semblance of realism would be lost.
    The solution adopted has been where possible to supply
    nicknames, spari ngly used usually by an enemy or a neutral
    figure: 'Blacky' Adh am; 'Little Mother' Umayma; 'Master Upi n-the-Air' Rifaa; 'Mr Know-All' Arafa; 'Passion-Flower' Awaatif.
    Others have defeated me: 1-Iumaam (noble) ; Qadri (fateful) ;
    Qaasim (distributor, alotter of fates, decider) , which also
    echoes the parenting-name of the Prophet Muhammad, Abu
    Qaasim, after his deceased infantson Qaasim ; Qamar ( ' moon ' ) ;
    Bad ria (from badr, 'full moon ' and name of the first victory of
    the Muslims over the polytheists). ldrees rhymes with lblees
    (Diabolus) , the Islamic name of the Fallen Angel Lucifer, and
    Qindeel withjibreel (Gabriel) , the name of the archangel who
    transmitted the Holy Koran.
    I have retai ned the 'continental' punctuation of dialogue
    favoured by Mahfouz (and before him by English-speaking
    writers such as james joyce) . It makes clear on the page the
    structure and dramatic vividness of the dialogue, and it does
    away with the usual sandstorm of inverted commas.
    .x.xi

    From the AI Abram edition, episode 55,
    printed on 14th November 1959 (Chapter 66)
    Words missing from the other edition are underlined: words differ-
    ent from the other edition are circled .
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    xxii

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