[ book tip by Mahmoud Kamel ] This is a wonderful short story for those who like to have a highly intense story and a condensed form of characterization. I like this story very much due to its tackling of one of the major problems that disturb the poor in this country (Egypt); namely the housing problem. Such a crisis started in the early seventies, when the open door policy was adopted by late President Sadat after signing a peace treaty with Israel. Although peace and market economy heralded prosperity and welfare, the poor grew poorer and the rich richer.

The story has only one main character. The protagonist is not named. He is introduced on the first page of the story standing behind bars and asking the judges to allow him to defend himself. He says, 'I need no lawyers. I'm gonna defend myself.'

The defendant is accused of killing his aunt. He confesses killing her despite not having been arrested by the police. He went to the police himself and confessed.

What prompted the protagonist to kill his aunt?

The speaker used to visit his spinster aunt Tawheeda in her flat in Shubra (one of the old districts of Cairo) where she lived with her younger unmarried sister Farida. Tawheeda has been very kind to her nephew since he was a child. She gave him money, sweets, clothes and every thing he liked. In return, he used to buy her things from the market. She used to say to him 'You're our man'. After finishing his high school diploma, he found a low-paid job, and decided to marry. After the engagement, his family-in-law asked him to furnish a flat for marriage. He toured all the capital and suburbs, but failed to find a flat with the few pounds he was paid every month. His bride said to him, 'If you don't get a flat soon, my parents will break the engagement and accept another suiter'.

After deep thinking, the man decided to ask his aunt to give him one room of her three-room-flat to marry in. She refused and let him down. He kept searching for a flat in vain. His aunt fell seriously ill. She suffered from terminall cancer. Doctors said she wouldn't live for long. The protagonist and his family-in-law waited for her death. But she didn't die. One day he visited his aunt. He was very quiet. He entered her bedroom and explained to her his own problem. He asked her for the last time to allow him to live in the flat. She refused again. In fact she was suffering very badly and crying out of pain. He took the pillow and put it over her face for some time until she became motionless. He asked the maid to quickly call the doctor. The doctor did not suspect anything and said that death was much better for her. So said the maid too. The aunt was buried and nothing wrong happened.

The protagonist went home and imprisoned himself in his room for one week. Unable to bear his sense of guilt, he surrendered to the police and confessed his crime. In the court he asks the judges to consider him innocent. He asks them to consider the crisis he has been in. He asks the judges to go themselves in the streets and look for a flat. If they find one easily, he would be ready to be hanged.

The story is a wonderful read for lovers of light style of writing. It is a purely local story because it highlights one of the problems faced by young people who want to marry.

[ book info ] Ihsan Abdel Koddous, : Bent el-Sultan. el-Ahram Publishing Company, Cairo, Egypt . ISBN: 3269/98.