In Xanadu Read Online Free PDF Page B

clearance. Most of us end up washing dishes or working as manual labourers; if you are lucky you can become a garbage collector.'
He laughed and sent a boy off to go and get some more tea.
    You see this shop? It belonged to my father before 1948, yet now I have to pay rent to the town council for it. If I was a Jew I would be given it, free. The taxes for us are very high. Many of the young - they are very angry. If this was their government they would not mind. But they do not want to pay the tax which will buy the tank which will kill their brother Arabs. It all means we cannot compete with the Jewish shopkeepers. They do not pay rents for their property so they can sell everything cheaper than us. The Israeli government does nothing for our people.'
What do you think will happen?' asked Laura.
    How do I know? Some Arabs say: this is Palestine we must kick the Jews out. Also there are many Jews who call us dogs, animals. They say: we must clear the land of the Arabs. Both are wrong. We are both human. We both need to live. We must live together.'
    The boy returned and handed round the cups. It was mint tea. When he was ready the terzi continued:
    'Every morning I think that there could be peace. When I open the shop up in the morning Jews will drink coffee with me. Sometimes if I have problem with my telephone, my Jewish friend will say: use mine. Many of them are such lovely people. If only we could live in peace with them and there were no fighting, no killing. . . .'
     
     
    Laura and I sat on a tower on the Cape of Storms in the old Pisan Quarter. It was a beautiful night and we sat in silence looking out over the sea, mulling over what the terzi had said. Then the peace was broken by two visitors.
 
Arab 1:                     Where are you from?

    WD:    Shshsh.
    Arabs 1 and 2:
    Shshshshshshshsh.
{Silence, then:)
Arab I (to Laura):     You wanna buy carpet? I give you good price.

Laura (dignified):
    Please. Not today. We're watching the sea.
    (Another pause, then:) Arab 2 (in whisper):
    That is nice watch. You sell?
    WD (abrupt):
    Shut up! Or go away
    Arab 2 (annoyed):
    How long you stay in Acre?
    WD (repentant):
    We're off tomorrow.
    Arab 2: Where to?
    WD: Where to
    Arab 2: Where?
    WD:  Peking. In China.
     
    Arab 2 (furious):   You think me fool? You think me
animal? I tell you. Arab man very clever. We invent astronomy! We invent mathematics! Arab man finest artists in world. (Pause. Then:) Where are you really going?
    WD: Peking.
    Arab 2:
    You are crazy man. (Exit Arabs 1 and 2.)
    After supper we returned to our room. Hamoudi was out on the prowl but his father was still sprawled on the bed with his hookah bubbling away. The soft porn which had been thrown out of the room by Laura had reappeared; otherwise, to our surprise, our room did not look as if it had been tampered with nor our luggage ransacked. The only sign of life was one of Hamoudi's cats noisily crunching a mouse on my mattress. Laura went to bed, while I sat in the corridor scribbling in the logbook. A few mosquitos wheeled around a light bulb; many more wheeled around me, nibbling on my ankles and forearms. After an hour, I gave up. I felt very tired.
    I got out the maps and drew a black line between Jerusalem and Acre. It was about a quarter of an inch long. Lahore was three feet away at the edge of the map. Peking lay halfway across the room on an entirely different sheet. It seemed a very long way indeed.
     
    TWO

    Latakia is a filthy hole; I had forgotten how bad it was.
    The town smells of dead fish: you can smell it three miles into the Mediterranean. At the first whiff the passengers finish ed their drinks at the bar, and closed their tawla (backgammon) boards. They gathered their luggage into piles, collected their wives, and wiped their children's faces. By the time the lights of the town became visible on the horizon, the gang-planks were already clogged with excited Arabs jostling to be the first ashore.