كلاب ولقيت رِمَّة مُلقاة بعُرْضِ الطريق، فما الذي تفعله؟ لن تتوقف عن الشَّمْشَّمةِ والنُّبَاحِ حتى يظهر لها صاحب.
Dogs that have found a carcass lying across the road; what do they do? They will not stop sniffing and barking until an owner turns up.
From the novel Habashi’s Café · Chapter 17
Words of a narrator or a character belong to the novel's world, not to the author's personal views.
Habashi’s Café
Habashi’s Caféلم يكُنْ حُبًّا وإن شُبِّه له ذلك، كان شيئًا مختلفًا، شيء أعمَق وربما أوسَع وأرحَب من الحب الذي نعرفه، كان احتياجًا، ولعلَّ الاحتياج إذا دام واتصل تولَّدت عنه محبَّةٌ كبيرة، والعكس ليس دائمًا صحيحًا.
It was not love, though it seemed so to him; it was something different, deeper and perhaps wider and more spacious than the love we know. It was need, and need, if it lasts and goes on, may give birth to a great affection; the reverse is not always true.
Habashi’s Caféإذ لم يكُنْ يتجرَّأ على الجلوس أمام تربة لها أصحاب في البلدة، ستكون مُلْفتةً ويعتبرها أصحابها تطفلًا منه، فاختار تربة هذا الرجل الغريب يتذكر أحبابًا له رحلوا ويُخرج طاقة الحزن التي تؤلمه.
He would not dare sit before a grave that had owners in the village; it would draw attention and they would take it as intrusion, so he chose the grave of this stranger to remember loved ones who had gone and let out the grief that hurt him.
Habashi’s Caféومع ذلك كانت صُلبَة عفيَّة، وتعرف أن ثلاثة أرواح معلقة في رقبتها، وإن قصرت سوف يموتون منها.
And yet she was hard and strong, and she knew that three lives hung from her neck, and that if she fell short they would die on her.