Traders welcome Rana’s festival route. A walk through an alley reveals whose needs were missing from the plan.
01Read the Arabic story
مَسَارُ الْمِهْرَجَانِ الَّذِي قَسَمَ الشَّارِعَ
كَانَتْ رَنَا تَظُنُّ أَنَّ أَصْعَبَ مَا فِي تَنْظِيمِ الْمِهْرَجَانِ هُوَ إِقْنَاعُ التُّجَّارِ بِدَفْعِ نَصِيبِهِمْ. لَكِنَّهُمْ رَحَّبُوا بِالْمَسَارِ الْجَدِيدِ، لِأَنَّهُ يَمُرُّ أَمَامَ مَحَلَّاتِهِمْ. كَانَتْ قَدْ وَعَدَتْهُمْ بِيَوْمٍ يَعُودُ فِيهِ النَّاسُ إِلَى شَارِعِهِمْ بَعْدَ أَشْهُرٍ مِنَ الرُّكُودِ. بَعْدَ طَبْعِ الْخَرَائِطِ، جَاءَهَا يُوسُفُ وَسَأَلَهَا أَيْنَ سَيَمُرُّ سُكَّانُ الْبُيُوتِ الْخَلْفِيَّةِ. أَشَارَتْ إِلَى زُقَاقٍ عَلَى الْوَرَقِ، فَطَلَبَ مِنْهَا أَنْ تَمْشِيَ مَعَهُ فِيهِ قَبْلَ أَنْ تُجِيبَ.
وَجَدَتْ فِي نِهَايَةِ الزُّقَاقِ دَرَجًا ضَيِّقًا لَا يَصْلُحُ لِنَقْلِ عَرَبَةِ بَضَائِعَ. شَرَحَ يُوسُفُ أَنَّ أُسْرَتَهُ تُعِدُّ الْخُبْزَ فِي الْبَيْتِ، وَتُرْسِلُهُ إِلَى الْمَحَلَّاتِ فِي الْوَقْتِ الْمُقَرَّرِ لِلْمَوْكِبِ. وَأَرَتْهَا جَارَةٌ بَابَهَا الَّذِي سَتَحْجُبُهُ مَنَصَّةٌ صَغِيرَةٌ. قَالَتْ رَنَا إِنَّ الْجَمِيعَ كَانَ مَدْعُوًّا إِلَى اجْتِمَاعِ التَّنْظِيمِ، فَسَأَلَ يُوسُفُ: وَأَيْنَ وَضَعْتُمْ الدَّعَوَاتِ؟
تَذَكَّرَتْ رَنَا أَنَّ الْأَوْرَاقَ وُزِّعَتْ دَاخِلَ الْمَحَلَّاتِ فَقَطْ. لَمْ يَصِلْ شَيْءٌ إِلَى الْبُيُوتِ الْخَلْفِيَّةِ. عَادَتْ إِلَى فَرِيقِهَا بِخَرِيطَةٍ عَلَيْهَا عَلَامَاتٌ عِنْدَ الْأَبْوَابِ. اقْتَرَحَ زَمِيلٌ تَأْخِيرَ تَوْزِيعِ الْخُبْزِ، لَكِنَّ يُوسُفَ قَالَ إِنَّ الْمَحَلَّاتِ تَنْتَظِرُ طَلَبَاتِهَا. أَمَّا نَقْلُ الْمَوْكِبِ كُلِّهِ فَسَيَحْرِمُ التُّجَّارَ مِنَ الزُّوَّارِ الَّذِينَ دَفَعَ التُّجَّارُ الْمَالَ لِجَذْبِهِمْ.
بَعْدَ زِيَارَاتٍ لِلْبُيُوتِ، نَقَلَ الْفَرِيقُ الْمَنَصَّةَ إِلَى سَاحَةٍ، وَجَعَلَ الْمَوْكِبَ يَدْخُلُ الشَّارِعَ مِنْ جِهَةٍ أُخْرَى. أَتَاحَ ذَلِكَ تَرْكَ مَمَرٍّ مَفْتُوحٍ لِلسُّكَّانِ، إِلَّا أَنَّهُ أَلْغَى الْوُقُوفَ أَمَامَ مَحَلَّيْنِ. اعْتَرَضَ صَاحِبَاهُمَا، وَطَالَبَا بِاسْتِرْدَادِ جُزْءٍ مِنْ مُسَاهَمَتِهِمَا. وَافَقَ الْفَرِيقُ، فَاضْطُرَّ إِلَى تَقْلِيلِ الزِّينَةِ. قَضَتْ رَنَا الْمَسَاءَ تُصَحِّحُ الْخَرَائِطَ الْمَطْبُوعَةَ بِيَدِهَا.
صَبَاحَ الْمِهْرَجَانِ، وَقَفَتْ رَنَا عِنْدَ مَدْخَلِ الْمَمَرِّ. مَرَّ يُوسُفُ بِالْعَرَبَةِ، بَيْنَمَا أَدَارَ أَحَدُ التَّاجِرَيْنِ وَجْهَهُ عَنْهَا. لَمْ تَطْلُبْ مِنْهُ أَنْ يَفْرَحَ بِالتَّغْيِيرِ. فِي دَفْتَرِ الْعَامِ الْمُقْبِلِ، كَتَبَتْ أَسْمَاءَ أَهْلِ الْبُيُوتِ قَبْلَ أَسْمَاءِ الْمَحَلَّاتِ، وَتَرَكَتْ بَعْضَ السُّطُورِ فَارِغَةً لِأَسْمَاءٍ لَمْ تَتَعَرَّفْ إِلَيْهَا بَعْدُ.
Show English translationHide English translation
Rana thought the hardest part of organising the festival would be persuading traders to pay their share. Yet they welcomed the new route because it passed their shops. She had promised them a day when people would return to their street after months of slow business. After the maps were printed, Youssef came and asked where residents of the houses at the back would pass. She pointed to an alley on paper, and he asked her to walk through it with him before answering.
At the end of the alley, she found narrow steps unsuitable for moving a goods cart. Youssef explained that his family made bread at home and sent it to shops at the time scheduled for the procession. A neighbour also showed Rana her door, which a small platform would block. Rana said everyone had been invited to the planning meeting. Youssef asked, “Where did you put the invitations?”
Rana remembered that the notices had only been distributed inside shops. Nothing had reached the houses at the back. She returned to her team with a map marked at the doors. A colleague suggested delaying the bread deliveries, but Youssef said the shops were waiting for their orders. Moving the entire procession, however, would deprive the traders of the visitors they had paid to attract.
After visits to the houses, the team moved the platform to a square and arranged for the procession to enter the street from another direction. This made it possible to leave a passage open for residents, but removed the stops outside two shops. Their owners objected and requested part of their contributions back. The team agreed and consequently had to reduce the decorations. Rana spent the evening correcting the printed maps by hand.
On the festival morning, Rana stood at the entrance to the passage. Youssef passed with the cart, while one of the two traders turned his face away from her. She did not ask him to be happy about the change. In her notebook for the following year, she wrote the residents’ names before the shops’ names and left some lines empty for names she had not yet learned.
02Useful words from the story
| Arabic in the story | Meaning here |
|---|---|
| نَصِيبِهِمْ | their share |
| بَعْدَ طَبْعِ الْخَرَائِطِ | after printing the maps |
| الرُّكُودِ | slow business; stagnation |
| دَرَجًا ضَيِّقًا | narrow steps |
| لِلْمَوْكِبِ | for the procession |
| الدَّعَوَاتِ | the invitations |
| تَأْخِيرَ تَوْزِيعِ الْخُبْزِ | delaying the bread deliveries |
| مَمَرٍّ مَفْتُوحٍ | an open passage |
| بِاسْتِرْدَادِ جُزْءٍ | for the return of part |
| مُسَاهَمَتِهِمَا | the two owners’ contributions |
03Check your understanding
Choose one answer for each question. Use the Arabic text to distinguish facts, motives and supported inferences. Open the English support when needed.
What to remember
- An open invitation is ineffective when its distribution misses the people affected by a decision.
- The revised route improves access while costing money and goodwill; the final notebook points to wider consultation.
Explore the Arabic in this story
Related grammar and vocabularyOpen Araqick guides connected to this story.
Because in Arabic: Give a Reason with Lianna
لِأَنَّهُ يَمُرُّ أَمَامَ مَحَلَّاتِهِمْ
Use liannahu to identify the benefit behind the traders’ initial enthusiasm.
Lam in Arabic: How to Say “Did Not”
لَمْ يَصِلْ شَيْءٌ إِلَى الْبُيُوتِ الْخَلْفِيَّةِ
Observe the jussive after lam when the narrator reveals whom the invitations missed.
