The House of the Palms

/, Literature, Blesok no. 50/The House of the Palms

The House of the Palms

“I don’t understand.”
“In this town, I have gradually become like the people here. But I can’t trust time and I am always taken by the thought that my position will change in a moment to something unknown to me. Now I live according to the time of the people in this town, and it’s a dangerous time. You know, I come from a place where one makes time go in front of him, like goats. ‘Stop!’ you’ll say, and it will stop, ‘Go on!’ and it will go on. There, people make time go in front of them and they lie to rest under the first tree, without a clock and without measuring the time. When they wake up, they again make time go in front of them until they reach their houses so that they can sleep there again. Here it’s the opposite. The time is behind the people, like a predator, it follows everybody, tears the slow ones apart, eats the weak ones, circles around the people like a hawk. Here one must run and run in front of the time, until he drops. I used to live according to the time of the people there, now I live according to the time of the people here, without having a choice, without knowing what is better. And I am tired with both.”
“This sounds interesting.”
“I’m only joking. These are just fantasies.”
Her voice is as magical as her steps, light and clear, with a nice sound. My curiosity grows. I end the subject, otherwise she might think I’m crazy.
“Would you like some tea?”
“Thank you, I have to go now.”
“I have a very good beverage from Sudan, karkadé2F. It will surely do you good.”
“I don’t want to be any trouble.”
I like her answer. It seems that her curiosity is not smaller than mine.
“It won’t last long.”
“OK, I’ll gladly taste it.”
I quickly prepare a cup of karkadé for her. After the first sip her facial expression slightly changes. In the mirror opposite her I can see her surprise as she checks the cup in detail. I’ always fast when I offer the food and drink that I like and I imagine that other people should have the same taste as mine! Then I say, one should offer something, it is still a kind welcome. It seems that she likes the tea more and more with each sip, but I’m not sure. The clinking of her bracelets awakens childish joy in me, and I can not explain where it comes from. Now Hakiema quietly lies in her lap and it seems that she wants to keep our guest. The young woman interrupts the short silence: “My name is Sandra. What’s your name?”
“Hamza.”
“Hamsa?”
“No, Hamza.”
“Kamza?”
“Hamza, Ha-, Ha-, Hamza.”
She laughs and tried to pronounce my name correctly. She looks nice when she smiles. I can see her regular, shining white teeth above her pink lips. She has a complexion color like wheat in late summer. I cannot define her eye color. The smile on her lips reminds me of the smile of the old Egyptian representations of queen Hachepsut. She also has some of that forgotten magic in her eyes. Silently and agreeing with me, Hakiema supports me in my wish for her to stay. Smiling, Sandra looks at the walls.
“Why are you smiling?”
“I see pictures of palms on all wall paper, even on the ceiling. You have forgotten the floor only.”
She smiles attractively and she immediately apologizes for the joke. I like her remark and I join her laughter.
“Do you like palms so much?”
“When I moved in here, the apartment was empty, the mortar fell from the walls, there was a wall paper that irritated me. Only one look and I already had a cold and sneezed: it was mountains covered with snow. Even the sky above them was almost white. I had a feeling that the temperature in the apartment was like a fridge. I couldn’t stand the cold. Walking around the flee market, I found this wall paper. It was cheap and I bought all of it. I covered the cold that was stuck here for years with them. Since then, I have felt a bit warmer. It makes me feel that I’m closer to the sun. I’m probably imagining, but in time I might believe in it.”
As I pat Hakiema’s back, and she has put her head peacefully on her wrist, she asks me: “Have you ever been in the house of palms?”
“No. Where is it? Is it a museum?”
“The House of Palms is a park in Schürnburn. It’s a glass house for tropical plants that can not stand cold and ice. You might like it there.”
“Is it something recent?’
“No, the House of Palms was made in 1880 upon the order of Emperor Frantz Joseph. It has three pavilions and each of them has a different temperature. One of them had Mediterranean plants, another one tropics, and the third one subtropical.”
“Unusual.”
“Why?”
“How could I not know about that place? If nothing else, I could at least visit my relatives there.”

From the Macedonian translation of Slobodanka Popovska, translated by Elizabeta Bakovska

#b
2. Karkadé – tea made of mallow leaves, favorite beverage in Sudan and Egypt.

AuthorTarek Eltayeb
2018-08-21T17:23:12+00:00 October 7th, 2006|Categories: Prose, Literature, Blesok no. 50|0 Comments