فما الذي أخذه من الناس غير الهَمِّ والخُذلان، وإن كانوا يمقتونه فهو يمقتهم، وإذا كانوا يلعنونه هو الآخر يلعنهم ويلعن البطون التي أتت بهم.

What had he ever got from people but worry and betrayal? If they loathed him, he loathed them; if they cursed him, he cursed them back, and cursed the wombs that bore them.

أُمُّه التي لم يعرف أن الدنيا خائنة وبلا خُلقٍ، إلا بعد أن قضت.. أمه التي كانت سِرَّه وهو سِرّها..

His mother: only after she was gone did he learn that the world is treacherous and without decency. His mother, who was his secret, as he was hers.

وانهدَّتِ القهوة.. غير أنها بقيت في ذاكرة الناس، عمرٌ وهم يرتادونها، تفاصيلُها حيَّةٌ في صدورهم رغم أن المالك الجديد أزالها من فوق وجه الأرض وشيَّدَ مكانها قهوةً جديدةً أسماها (قهوة الأكْتَع).

And the café was pulled down. Yet it stayed in people's memory; they had frequented it a lifetime and its details lived on in their hearts, though the new owner wiped it off the face of the earth and built in its place a new café he called the One-Armed Man's Café.