Leg over Leg. Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq

allure.” She therefore sent an old woman to him to invite him to visit her, and the young man obeyed her invitation, for the enmity between the Market-men and the Bag-men is limited to the market traders, the people who connive to drive up prices, and the professionals, and has no impact on ordinary men and women. She talked to him at length and eventually told him, “If you follow our path, I will give you the freedom of my body and forbid you nothing.” The young man replied, “As to going to your church, nothing could be easier for me, for it is close to my house, and as to your creed, leave that to my conscience, for I reject that ‘confession’ that the priests of your church force on you. Lying and cheating are not in my nature that I should confess to the priest my peccadilloes and suppress my major transgressions, as do many Market-men, or tell him what I haven’t done and hide from him what I have.” At this the woman sighed and bowed her head, pondering and nodding. Then she said, “So be it. It will be enough for us if you conform outwardly, or so my priest informs me.” Then they embraced and made love, and he started paying visits to her and the church together. Even wantons on this island are obsessed with religion, and you’ll see in their houses numerous statues and pictures of the saints, male and female, whom they worship, and when some lecher goes in to see one of them and perform debauchery with her, she turns the faces of the statuettes toward the wall so they can’t see what she’s doing and testify against her on the Day of Resurrection that she was a debauchee.

      2.3.15

      قال ومن خصائص اهل هذه الجزيرة انَهم يبغضون الغريب ويحبون ماله وهو غريب * فان مال الانسان عبارة عن حياته ودمه وذاته * حتى ان الانكليز اذا سالوا عن كمية ما يملكه الانسان من المال قالوا كم قيمة هذا الرجل * فيقال قيمته مثلًا الف ذهب * فكيف يتاتَّى لاحد ان يبغض آخر ويحب حياته * وانهم يتجاذبون كل غريب قدم اليهم * فياخذه واحد منهم بيده اليمنى ليريه النسآ * ويمسكه الآخر بالاخرى ليريه الكنائس والدولة لمن غلب *