A sound interrupts two students on a quiet school corridor. They ask a teacher for help and discover why their first explanation does not fit.
01Read the Arabic story
الصَّوْتُ خَلْفَ بَابِ الْفَصْلِ الْمُغْلَقِ
بَعْدَ انْتِهَاءِ الدُّرُوسِ، بَقِيتُ مَعَ صَدِيقِي حَسَنٍ لِنُسَاعِدَ فِي تَرْتِيبِ مَكْتَبَةِ الْمَدْرَسَةِ. بَيْنَمَا كُنَّا نَحْمِلُ صُنْدُوقَ كُتُبٍ فِي الْمَمَرِّ، سَمِعْنَا صَوْتًا قَصِيرًا يَتَكَرَّرُ خَلْفَ بَابِ فَصْلٍ مُغْلَقٍ. تَوَقَّفْنَا وَوَضَعْنَا الصُّنْدُوقَ عَلَى الْأَرْضِ. قَالَ حَسَنٌ: «رُبَّمَا بَقِيَ أَحَدٌ فِي الدَّاخِلِ». نَادَيْتُ بِصَوْتٍ وَاضِحٍ، لَكِنَّ أَحَدًا لَمْ يُجِبْ.
ذَهَبْنَا إِلَى غُرْفَةِ الْمُعَلِّمِينَ وَأَخْبَرْنَا الْمُعَلِّمَةَ لَيْلَى بِمَا سَمِعْنَا. أَخَذَتْ مِفْتَاحَ الْفَصْلِ وَجَاءَتْ مَعَنَا. أَثْنَاءَ سَيْرِنَا، قَالَ حَسَنٌ إِنَّ الصَّوْتَ يُشْبِهُ طَرْقًا خَفِيفًا. أَمَّا أَنَا فَلَاحَظْتُ أَنَّهُ يَتَكَرَّرُ بِالطَّرِيقَةِ نَفْسِهَا، مِنْ دُونِ أَنْ يَتَغَيَّرَ بَعْدَ نِدَائِنَا. قَالَتِ الْمُعَلِّمَةُ: «سَنَفْتَحُ الْبَابَ وَنَعْرِفُ، فَلَا نَحْتَاجُ إِلَى التَّخْمِينِ طَوِيلًا».
فَتَحَتِ الْمُعَلِّمَةُ الْبَابَ، وَكَانَ الْفَصْلُ خَالِيًا مِنَ الطُّلَّابِ. لَمْ يَأْتِ الصَّوْتُ مِنَ النَّافِذَةِ كَمَا تَوَقَّعَ حَسَنٌ بَعْدَ دُخُولِنَا، بَلْ مِنْ جِهَةِ مَكْتَبِ الْمُعَلِّمِ. وَجَدْنَا حَقِيبَةً صَغِيرَةً تَحْتَ الْمَكْتَبِ، وَكَانَ الصَّوْتُ أَعْلَى كُلَّمَا اقْتَرَبْنَا مِنْهَا. اِبْتَسَمَتِ الْمُعَلِّمَةُ وَقَالَتْ: «هَذِهِ حَقِيبَتِي. أَعْرِفُ الْآنَ مَا الَّذِي تَرَكْتُهُ هُنَا».
أَخْرَجَتْ مُنَبِّهًا صَغِيرًا وَأَوْقَفَتْهُ، فَسَكَتَ الصَّوْتُ فَوْرًا. كَانَتْ قَدِ اسْتَخْدَمَتْهُ فِي نَشَاطٍ لِتَدْرِيبِ الطُّلَّابِ عَلَى قِرَاءَةِ الْوَقْتِ. وَضَعَتْهُ فِي حَقِيبَتِهَا بَعْدَ الدَّرْسِ وَنَسِيَتْ إِلْغَاءَ مَوْعِدِ الرَّنِينِ. شَرَحَتْ لَنَا أَنَّهُ يَرِنُّ عِنْدَ السَّاعَةِ الثَّالِثَةِ، ثُمَّ يَتَوَقَّفُ تِلْقَائِيًّا بَعْدَ دَقَائِقَ. كَانَ هُدُوءُ الْمَمَرِّ قَدْ جَعَلَ صَوْتَهُ أَوْضَحَ مِنَ الْمُعْتَادِ.
ضَحِكَ حَسَنٌ وَقَالَ إِنَّهُ تَخَيَّلَ قِصَّةً أَطْوَلَ بِكَثِيرٍ. شَكَرَتْنَا الْمُعَلِّمَةُ لِأَنَّنَا طَلَبْنَا الْمُسَاعَدَةَ، ثُمَّ حَمَلَتْ حَقِيبَتَهَا وَأَغْلَقَتِ الْفَصْلَ. عُدْنَا إِلَى صُنْدُوقِ الْكُتُبِ وَأَكْمَلْنَا طَرِيقَنَا إِلَى الْمَكْتَبَةِ. لَمْ يَكُنْ خَلْفَ الْبَابِ شَخْصٌ يَنْتَظِرُنَا، وَلَا نَافِذَةٌ تَتَحَرَّكُ مَعَ الرِّيحِ. كَانَ شَيْئًا صَغِيرًا مَأْلُوفًا سَمِعْنَاهُ فِي مَكَانٍ لَمْ نَتَوَقَّعْهُ.
Show English translationHide English translation
After lessons ended, I stayed with my friend Hasan to help organise the school library. While we were carrying a box of books along the corridor, we heard a short sound repeating behind a closed classroom door. We stopped and put the box on the floor. Hasan said, “Perhaps someone is still inside.” I called out clearly, but nobody answered.
We went to the staffroom and told the teacher, Layla, what we had heard. She took the classroom key and came with us. As we walked, Hasan said the sound resembled a light knock. I, however, had noticed that it repeated in the same way, without changing after we called out. The teacher said, “We’ll open the door and find out, so we don’t need to keep guessing for long.”
The teacher opened the door, and there were no students in the classroom. The sound did not come from the window, as Hasan expected after we entered, but from the direction of the teacher’s desk. We found a small bag under the desk, and the sound grew louder as we approached it. The teacher smiled and said, “This is my bag. Now I know what I left here.”
She took out a small alarm clock and switched it off, and the sound stopped immediately. She had used it in an activity to teach the students to tell the time. She put it in her bag after the lesson and forgot to cancel the alarm setting. She explained that it rang at three o’clock, then stopped automatically after a few minutes. The quiet corridor had made its sound clearer than usual.
Hasan laughed and said he had imagined a much longer story. The teacher thanked us for asking for help, then picked up her bag and locked the classroom. We returned to the box of books and continued to the library. Behind the door there had been no person waiting for us and no window moving in the wind. It had been a small, familiar object that we heard somewhere we did not expect it.
02Useful words from the story
| Arabic in the story | Meaning here |
|---|---|
| الْمَمَرِّ | the corridor |
| يَتَكَرَّرُ | repeats |
| طَرْقًا خَفِيفًا | a light knocking sound |
| التَّخْمِينِ | guessing |
| خَالِيًا مِنَ الطُّلَّابِ | empty of students |
| مُنَبِّهًا صَغِيرًا | a small alarm clock |
| فَوْرًا | immediately |
| إِلْغَاءَ مَوْعِدِ الرَّنِينِ | cancelling the alarm setting |
| تِلْقَائِيًّا | automatically |
| مَأْلُوفًا | familiar |
03Check your understanding
Choose one answer for each question. Look back at the Arabic story when you need a clue. Open the English support if you need help understanding a question.
What to remember
- The sound’s steady repetition is a useful clue, and switching off the alarm clock confirms the explanation.
- The students ask for help and revise their first idea when they observe what is actually inside.
Explore the Arabic in this story
Related grammar and vocabularyOpen Araqick guides connected to this story.
Arabic Prepositions: In, On, Under and Next To
عَلَى الْأَرْضِ
Follow the place expressions that locate the box and the teacher’s bag.
What I Did Yesterday in Arabic: 6 Simple Past-Tense Sentences
نَادَيْتُ بِصَوْتٍ وَاضِحٍ
Notice a first-person completed action when the narrator calls into the classroom.
