The Bottom of the Jar (26 page)

“What we feared has come to pass,” he said. “The soldiers have taken over the city. They have been posted to each square, each souk, and each road. They ask you who you are and where you are going before they let you through. If your hands are in your pockets, they order you to take them out. Make sure to walk slowly, even if you're in a hurry. They have ‘red eyes,' oh Latif, and their fingers are on the trigger. I don't know what our leaders are going to do, but there is talk that they're planning to respond in a way that matches the gravity of this provocation. They didn't want to tell me more, their secrets needed to be kept. Now you've heard me and have understood what I've said. When you go out into the street, make your way slowly, as if nothing were wrong. Avoid running and don't make eye contact with the soldiers. You won't find anything in those troubling faces.”

We stepped in line and organized our lives accordingly. Fez was occupied! Nothing of the sort had been witnessed in living memory. Our instincts warned us that such a situation wasn't made to last. No army had ever been able to control our labyrinthine Medina. What about the hanging labyrinth? Everyone knew that you could move across town by cutting through one terrace after the other. Our fedayeen had no qualms about traveling in such a manner, and as far as giving orders or advising precautionary measures, Radio Medina was up to the task, without antennas.

Little by little, this bleak, topsy-turvy sort of life became routine. The soldiers on sentry duty in front of our house were visibly bored. They even started knocking on our door asking for a glass of water or for a can opener for their tins of preserved meat. This situation became ridiculous. Ghita broke the all-time record for contradictions. We heard
her say, “Those poor men, forced to stay outside as if they were dogs. Without any sleep or real nourishment. He who is a true Muslim has compassion in his heart.”

She therefore decided to send a plate of couscous, only on Fridays, that she had prepared.

Once the initial shock wore away, nobody resisted this new state of affairs, especially since the men who had been posted to keep an eye on us comported themselves discreetly. Driss even had a highly moral reflection filled with optimism: “As long as they're believers, those who break bread with you can't do you any harm.”

Our tolerant outlook was not exceptional. It was only in neighborhoods where the soldiers arrogantly and shamelessly demanded to be fed by the local inhabitants that relations turned sour. In these cases, the initial hostility toward the soldiers blossomed into outright hatred.

The leaders of the nationalist movement struck back in the midst of this poisonous atmosphere. Watchword: a general strike. The Fezzis turned out in force. Once all the shops had been shut, they filed into the mosques and recited the Latif once again in between prayers. The sanctuaries of Moulay Idriss and Qarawiyyin were particularly sought out. People felt safer there because the army couldn't come too close. The arm-wrestling contest with the colonial authorities had reached its apex.

The particulars of those days were glossed over by the tragic outcome that severely affected us. The predators had made their move under the cover of night. Unable to break the strike, they resorted to attacking the properties of the strikers. We learned the news early in the morning. My father almost rushed out of the house barefoot. He ran to the Sekkatine souk and discovered that the shop had been broken into and its contents looted. Every shop in the souk – as well as those in neighboring souks – had met with the same fate.

On his return, and after he had given his account of the disaster that had befallen us, we felt the ground was being yanked from under our feet. The door of the future was slammed in our faces. How could we comfort one another? Each of us retreated into silence, and Driss's was by far the loudest.

T
HE SKY WAS
never quiet for long in Fez. You only had to bother looking at it. Why did it fascinate me so much, since I had never even heard the word “poetry” and could only muster “stars” to describe the myriad celestial bodies glittering in the night heavens?

My word-hoard was a meager, meager affair. The inability to pin down the objects in my mind and say “you are called this, and you that” infuriated me. And since I have recognized you and named you with my own mouth, come now, stop being so mysterious, follow me. Jump into my pocket and let's go! You will be companions during my journey, my confidantes, and should we encounter danger along the road, you will become the tongue of my cry and the instruments of my courage.

The terrace of our home in the Siaj neighborhood was gargantuan in comparison to the Lilliputian one of our Egyptian in the Spring of Horses. The tiny theater of my first reveries had given way to a vast hanging amphitheater. From there I could behold the entire Medina,
from the top of its head to the tip of its toes. Did the Medina reflect the sky, or was it the other way around? My eyes couldn't make up their mind. They lost themselves in that mirror game and reveled in the feeling of loss. My city knew how to leave its mark on its patch of sky and my sky was the most eloquent poet of its city. I was the passive, diligent scribe of this learned discourse. I transcribed its music and gave myself over to it so as to get to know myself. My body rid itself of the ballast of its weight and for a while I felt I was capable of flying without wings.

A good thing no one ever saw me or heard the rosary of my ramblings click its beads inside my head. Because of the nature of the time we were living in, I would have been accused of being indifferent to the suffering that was being inflicted on us and labeled a defeatist. Ideas needed to be clear, practical, and put to the service of a decisive battle. That said, I had no idea the sky was about to deliver a wholly different message.

It was toward the end of July and there was a full moon on the rise. It had been a year since the king of the country had been forced to abdicate the throne and sent into exile. He was now living under house arrest in a distant African island that Driss insisted on calling Madame Cascar. Alongside everyone else in the family who was educated, I was amused by this eccentric way of pronouncing it. We had long since located the big island on the map of the dark continent and started to study it. We were less interested in Antananarivo, the capital, than we were in the more modestly sized city of Antsiranana, where Ben Youssef had been banished. There were numerous parallels between the histories of our countries. Both were protectorates. Once upon a time, the queen of the empire had also been made to abdicate and sent into exile. It was clear that our colonial masters didn't like monarchs. It's to be expected, one of the more erudite among us said, it's been quite a while since they cut off their own king's head.

“Who rules them then?”

“A leader that they choose every seven years. At which point it's someone else's turn.”

“Who picks him?”

“Everyone, men and women.”

“Even porters?”

“If they lived over there even Aâssala, Mikou, or Chiki Laqraâ would be able to choose.”

“And what do the ulama
¹⁸
think about that?”

“The ulama in France don't concern themselves with these matters.”

“Who concerns himself with these matters then?”

“People like Belhassan Ouazzani.”

“Does he agree with the people who cut the kings' heads off?”

“Not at all. He and the sultan go hand in hand.”

“What about Allal?”

“Him too. Even more so.”

“More than what?”

“You're making my head ache with all your questions. Wait until you've grown up, then you'll understand.”

It can't be said that I didn't make an effort.

B
EN
Y
OUSSEF HAD
come back!

The rumor swept over our city like a gigantic wave rising from a raging inner sea. Since we weren't experienced mariners, we were dragged to its depths and swept away by the current. We didn't know what to clutch on to in order to welcome the good tidings without losing our minds. From the four corners of the city, clusters of human beings in every house formed chains to buffer the shock and begin to react. When we had finally recovered the ability to speak, all we could do was stutter our way through questions like excited birds: What, what, what? When?
Where? With whom? How? By sea or by air? By a car or on horseback? Is it really him or is it a clone? Has he given a speech? Has anyone seen him with their own eyes or heard him with their own ears? What is the radio saying? Where can we find out more?

The wave continued to sweep over us and little by little Fez transformed into a sort of Noah's ark. Belief won out and soothed our hearts. Having remained blue throughout the storm, the sky comes to mind as a happy memory. It saw to it that the sun offered us a glorious sunset. Its face blushed a deep crimson, with gentle fire. When the muezzins sang their call to prayer, their voices had such a sweet languor it was as if the words had transformed. All of a sudden, the swell receded. We continued floating in our ark, rocked by the lyrical call to prayer and the graceful light.

Did we dine that evening? There's no way to be sure. We needed to talk, to pay visits to one another, to touch one another, to add to one another's happiness, and to plan, to plan for our future with our pens and our ink, our own colors.

We rediscovered our hands, hands that had never stopped painting, writing, drawing, sculpting, engraving, illustrating, weaving, braiding, embroidering, hammering, sewing, gluing, paving, grinding, plastering, distilling, molding clay, iron, silver, leather, bronze, feeding children, the poor, orphans, guests, and God's madmen. Our hands that we had doubted and that were now opening up, palms to the sky, so that it could bless them and bestow its manna upon them.

Upon that, night fell. We felt happiness glow within to the point that we didn't need to switch on many lights. That was when we heard the first ululations. Others rose up in reply, then the trilling intensified, amplifying to the point that the walls began to tremble. Ghita gave vent to her frustration and joined the fray. My sister Zhor immediately replied in kind. At that moment, someone knocked on our door
and gave this astonishing piece of news: Ben Youssef appeared on the moon!

“Let's go up to the terrace!” Driss yelled.

We rushed up the stairs. The farther we climbed, the more the concert tore at our hearts. Once in the open air, we bumped into our first-floor neighbors. In the rush, none of the women had slipped into their djellabas or covered their faces. They were in house clothes. The men didn't notice anything amiss. They were distracted, their necks craned toward the sky. The neighboring terraces were also crowded with people. It seemed like all of the city's inhabitants were gathered on the rooftops to observe the phenomenon. Wave after wave of ululations rose, punctuated by invocations that had some trouble finding their tempo at first, before melting into a single mold and agreeing on a common slogan:

As this was happening around me, the moon-gazing produced several wholly different interpretations. Ghita, whose sight was deteriorating, asked whether the sultan was standing up or on horseback.

“What horse?” Driss scoffed. “Open your eyes, you can only see his face.”

“Don't tell me you're going to teach me how to look? I tell you there's a horse up there. I'm absolutely certain of it.”

“Return to God woman. It's just the shadow of his djellaba's hood. Can't you see the sultan's eyes, his nose?”

“What about his mouth, where is that then?”

“Where do you think it is? On his forehead?”

Employing her renowned gift for pedagogy, Zhor cut in and pointed at the moon.

“Let me show you, dear Mother. The face is right in the middle. Follow my finger.”

“Where is your finger? Think I've got cat's eyes?”

“Here it is, hold on to it, and follow me as I show you. There, that's the outline of the djellaba's hood. There's his round face, and here are his lips.”

“Ah yes, dear, it seems you're right. Now I can see his mouth, and it's as if it were getting ready to talk.”

While everyone was reaching a consensus, I tried my best to determine what I was looking at. Alas, even though I really applied myself – the moon as my witness – the results were hardly conclusive. It was certainly shining more than usual and some unrecognizable shapes could be glimpsed. Yet I could see nothing resembling a clearly defined face, regardless of whether it looked anything like the sultan's. In any case, the portrait of his that I was familiar with – which my father had destroyed in his moment of panic – depicted him in profile, with a
watani
on his head, and everyone around me was speaking of a head rather than a face, and that it was covered with a hood. That said, how could I possibly doubt, even for a single moment, the reality of what everyone unanimously agreed they could see, a vision that was becoming increasingly detailed, and which they were waving at with great joy and devotion? I could only put my inability to see the sultan down to poor eyesight and other infirmities connected to my age. Adults had faculties that I clearly lacked. The simplest option was to blindly believe them. From there I'd be only a step away from a true leap of faith, and wanting to dispel my doubts, I took the plunge. I surprised myself by
poking fun at Ghita, who was guilty of having dragged her feet before accepting the official interpretation.