The school gate is open before Nabil arrives, and muddy footprints lead inside. He checks the clues before deciding who entered and why.
01Read the Arabic story
آثَارُ الْأَقْدَامِ بِجَانِبِ بَوَّابَةِ الْمَدْرَسَةِ
وَصَلَ نَبِيلٌ، حَارِسُ الْمَدْرَسَةِ، قَبْلَ السَّابِعَةِ صَبَاحًا. كَانَ الْمَطَرُ قَدْ تَوَقَّفَ، لَكِنَّ الطَّرِيقَ أَمَامَ الْبَوَّابَةِ كَانَ مُبْتَلًّا. رَأَى الْبَوَّابَةَ مَفْتُوحَةً وَآثَارَ أَقْدَامٍ كَبِيرَةٍ عَلَى الْأَرْضِ. تَوَقَّفَ؛ فَهُوَ يُغْلِقُهَا كُلَّ مَسَاءٍ وَيَفْتَحُهَا بِنَفْسِهِ عَادَةً. نَظَرَ إِلَى الْقُفْلِ، فَلَمْ يَجِدْ فِيهِ كَسْرًا. وَلَمْ يَكُنْ أَحَدٌ قُرْبَ الْمَدْخَلِ فِي تِلْكَ اللَّحْظَةِ.
فَكَّرَ نَبِيلٌ فِي الِاتِّصَالِ بِالْمُدِيرَةِ، لَكِنَّهُ أَرَادَ أَوَّلًا أَنْ يَفْهَمَ مَا يَرَاهُ. كَانَتِ الْآثَارُ تَتَّجِهُ نَحْوَ الْحَدِيقَةِ، لَا نَحْوَ الْفُصُولِ. وَبِجَانِبِهَا خَطَّانِ رَفِيعَانِ مُتَوَازِيَانِ. لَاحَظَ أَيْضًا شَكْلًا مُثَلَّثًا يَتَكَرَّرُ فِي كُلِّ أَثَرٍ. قَالَ لِنَفْسِهِ: «هَذِهِ عَلَامَةُ حِذَاءٍ، وَلَكِنَّهَا لَا تُخْبِرُنِي وَحْدَهَا مَنْ دَخَلَ».
عِنْدَ الْحَدِيقَةِ، وَجَدَ صُنْدُوقَيْنِ مِنَ الشَّتَلَاتِ وَعَرَبَةً صَغِيرَةً لِنَقْلِ الْأَشْيَاءِ. كَانَ سَعِيدٌ، الَّذِي يَعْتَنِي بِنَبَاتَاتِ الْمَدْرَسَةِ، يَغْسِلُ يَدَيْهِ عِنْدَ الصُّنْبُورِ. سَأَلَهُ نَبِيلٌ بِهُدُوءٍ عَنْ وَقْتِ وُصُولِهِ. قَالَ سَعِيدٌ إِنَّهُ فَتَحَ الْبَوَّابَةَ فِي السَّادِسَةِ وَالنِّصْفِ لِيَسْتَقْبِلَ سَائِقًا يَحْمِلُ شَتَلَاتٍ جَدِيدَةً لِلْحَدِيقَةِ، ثُمَّ نَقَلَهَا بِالْعَرَبَةِ.
رَفَعَ سَعِيدٌ حِذَاءَهُ فَظَهَرَ الشَّكْلُ الْمُثَلَّثُ تَحْتَهُ. وَكَانَتْ عَجَلَتَا الْعَرَبَةِ تَتْرُكَانِ الْخَطَّيْنِ الرَّفِيعَيْنِ. أَخْبَرَهُ أَنَّ الْمُدِيرَةَ أَعْطَتْهُ مِفْتَاحًا فِي الْيَوْمِ السَّابِقِ. اِتَّصَلَ نَبِيلٌ بِهَا، فَأَكَّدَتْ ذَلِكَ وَاعْتَذَرَتْ لِأَنَّهَا نَسِيَتْ إِخْبَارَهُ. وَضَّحَ سَعِيدٌ أَنَّ التَّسْلِيمَ كَانَ مُبَكِّرًا لِأَنَّ السَّائِقَ سَيُسَافِرُ إِلَى مَدِينَةٍ أُخْرَى بَعْدَهُ.
سَاعَدَ نَبِيلٌ سَعِيدًا فِي وَضْعِ الشَّتَلَاتِ بِجَانِبِ الْأَشْجَارِ، ثُمَّ نَظَّفَا الْمَمَرَّ قَبْلَ وُصُولِ الطُّلَّابِ. وَاتَّفَقَتِ الْمُدِيرَةُ مَعَهُمَا عَلَى كِتَابَةِ مَوَاعِيدِ التَّسْلِيمِ الْمُبَكِّرَةِ فِي سِجِلٍّ عِنْدَ الْبَوَّابَةِ. بَقِيَتْ عَلَامَةٌ صَغِيرَةٌ فِي الطِّينِ، فَابْتَسَمَ نَبِيلٌ. لَقَدْ سَاعَدَتْهُ الْآثَارُ عَلَى طَرْحِ السُّؤَالِ الصَّحِيحِ، وَأَكْمَلَ الْحِوَارُ بَقِيَّةَ الْقِصَّةِ.
Show English translationHide English translation
Nabil, the school caretaker, arrived before seven in the morning. The rain had stopped, but the road in front of the gate was wet. He saw the gate open and large footprints on the ground. He stopped: he closed it every evening and usually opened it himself. He looked at the lock and found no damage. Nobody was near the entrance at that moment.
Nabil considered calling the headteacher, but first he wanted to understand what he was seeing. The prints led towards the garden, not the classrooms. Beside them were two thin parallel lines. He also noticed a triangular shape repeated in each print. He said to himself, “This is a shoe mark, but on its own it does not tell me who came in.”
At the garden, he found two boxes of seedlings and a small trolley for moving things. Said, who looked after the school plants, was washing his hands at the tap. Nabil calmly asked him when he had arrived. Said said he had opened the gate at half past six to meet a driver bringing new seedlings for the garden, then moved them with the trolley.
Said lifted his shoe, revealing the triangular shape underneath. The trolley’s two wheels made the thin lines. He told Nabil that the headteacher had given him a key the previous day. Nabil called her, and she confirmed this and apologised because she had forgotten to tell him. Said explained that the delivery had been early because the driver would travel to another town afterwards.
Nabil helped Said put the seedlings beside the trees, and then they cleaned the path before the pupils arrived. The headteacher agreed with them to write early delivery times in a record kept at the gate. A small mark remained in the mud, and Nabil smiled. The tracks had helped him ask the right question, and the conversation had completed the rest of the story.
02Useful words from the story
| Arabic in the story | Meaning here |
|---|---|
| حَارِسُ الْمَدْرَسَةِ | the school caretaker |
| مُبْتَلًّا | wet |
| آثَارَ أَقْدَامٍ | footprints |
| الْقُفْلِ | the lock |
| مُتَوَازِيَانِ | parallel |
| شَكْلًا مُثَلَّثًا | a triangular shape |
| الشَّتَلَاتِ | the seedlings |
| عَرَبَةً صَغِيرَةً | a small trolley |
| الصُّنْبُورِ | the tap |
| مَوَاعِيدِ التَّسْلِيمِ | delivery times |
03Check your understanding
Choose one answer for each question. Look back at the Arabic story for evidence. Open the English support if you need help understanding a question.
What to remember
- Track separate evidence: footprints indicate a route, wheel marks suggest a trolley, and the headteacher confirms permission.
- Notice how questions and conversation supply information that physical clues alone cannot establish.
Explore the Arabic in this story
Related grammar and vocabularyOpen Araqick guides connected to this story.
Arabic Time and Place Adverbs: Before, After, In Front and Behind
أَمَامَ الْبَوَّابَةِ
Locate the first clue with a place adverb and its reference point.
Because in Arabic: Give a Reason with Lianna
لِأَنَّ السَّائِقَ سَيُسَافِرُ إِلَى مَدِينَةٍ أُخْرَى بَعْدَهُ
Understand the reason for the early delivery.
Kana in Arabic: Was and Were
كَانَ مُبْتَلًّا
Read a past description of the wet road.
