An old bus route once carried a schoolboy’s ambitions. Returning as a shopkeeper, he finds gaps in both his city knowledge and the story he tells about himself.
01Read the Arabic story
خَطُّ الْحَافِلَةِ الَّذِي حَفِظْتُهُ عَنْ ظَهْرِ قَلْبٍ
رَكِبْتُ الْحَافِلَةَ ذَاتَ الرَّقْمِ سَبْعَةَ عَشَرَ لِأَتَأَكَّدَ مِنْ ذَاكِرَتِي، لَا لِأَصِلَ إِلَى مَكَانٍ. فِي جَيْبِي تَذْكِرَةٌ بُرْتُقَالِيَّةٌ احْتَفَظْتُ بِهَا مُنْذُ أَيَّامِ الْمَدْرَسَةِ. كَانَ الْخَطُّ قَصِيرًا آنَذَاكَ، وَلَكِنَّنِي وَزَّعْتُ أَحْلَامِي بَيْنَ مَحَطَّاتِهِ كَأَنَّهَا مُدُنٌ: عِنْدَ الْجِسْرِ سَأَكُونُ مُهَنْدِسًا، وَعِنْدَ الْكُلِّيَّةِ سَأُصْبِحُ شَخْصًا لَا يَعْرِفُهُ زَبَائِنُ مَتْجَرِ أَبِي. لَمْ أَكُنْ أَرَى بَيْنَ الْحُلْمَيْنِ فَرْقًا كَبِيرًا فِي ذَلِكَ الْعُمْرِ.
حِينَ مَرِضَ أَبِي، تَأَجَّلَ دُخُولِي الْكُلِّيَّةَ، ثُمَّ اخْتَفَى ذِكْرُهَا مِنْ أَحَادِيثِنَا. هَكَذَا أَرْوِي الْحِكَايَةَ عَادَةً، مُتَجَاهِلًا أَنَّنِي بَعْدَ شِفَائِهِ رَفَضْتُ فُرْصَةً أُخْرَى. كُنْتُ أَخْشَى الْبِدَايَةَ مَعَ طُلَّابٍ أَصْغَرَ مِنِّي. صَارَ الْمَتْجَرُ عَمَلِي، وَصَارَ مَرَضُهُ جُمْلَةً مُخْتَصَرَةً تُغْنِينِي عَنْ شَرْحِ اخْتِيَارِي. لَمْ أَكْذِبْ، لَكِنَّنِي تَوَقَّفْتُ عِنْدَ الْجُزْءِ الْأَسْهَلِ.
سَأَلَنِي شَابٌّ عَنِ الْمَسْرَحِ. أَجَبْتُ بِثِقَةٍ أَنَّ عَلَيْهِ النُّزُولَ عِنْدَ السِّينَمَا، فَأَشَارَ إِلَى مُخَطَّطٍ أَزْرَقَ فَوْقَ النَّافِذَةِ: الْخَطُّ يَمْتَدُّ الْآنَ إِلَى حَيٍّ جَدِيدٍ، وَالْمَسْرَحُ هُنَاكَ. أَمَّا السِّينَمَا فَأَصْبَحَتْ وَرْشَةً. سَحَبْتُ نَصِيحَتِي، وَتَظَاهَرْتُ بِقِرَاءَةِ الْمُخَطَّطِ، مَعَ أَنَّنِي كُنْتُ أَنْظُرُ إِلَى انْعِكَاسِ وَجْهِي فِي الزُّجَاجِ وَأَتَجَنَّبُ نَظَرَ الشَّابِّ.
عِنْدَ الْجِسْرِ، رَأَيْتُ عُمَّالًا يُصْلِحُونَ الْحَاجِزَ. لَمْ يَخْطُرْ بِبَالِي قَدِيمًا أَنَّ الْجُسُورَ الَّتِي أُرِيدُ بِنَاءَهَا سَتَحْتَاجُ إِلَى إِصْلَاحٍ. كُنْتُ أُحِبُّ لَحْظَةَ افْتِتَاحِهَا الْمُتَخَيَّلَةَ، لَا أَعْرِفُ إِنْ كُنْتُ سَأُحِبُّ الْعَمَلَ نَفْسَهُ. أَزْعَجَنِي هَذَا الشَّكُّ؛ فَالْحُلْمُ الْقَدِيمُ، رَغْمَ مَا يُسَبِّبُهُ مِنْ أَلَمٍ، كَانَ يَمْنَحُنِي صُورَةً وَاضِحَةً عَنْ نَفْسِي.
عِنْدَ الْمَحَطَّةِ الَّتِي كَانَ يَنْتَهِي عِنْدَهَا الْخَطُّ، هَمَمْتُ بِالنُّهُوضِ، ثُمَّ بَقِيتُ جَالِسًا. اتَّصَلَ بِي ابْنِي لِيَسْأَلَ عَنْ مَوْعِدِ فَتْحِ الْمَتْجَرِ. قُلْتُ إِنَّنِي سَأَتَأَخَّرُ قَلِيلًا، وَلَمْ أَشْرَحْ لَهُ السَّبَبَ. سَأَلْتُ الشَّابَّ عَنِ اسْمِ الْمَحَطَّةِ التَّالِيَةِ. أَجَابَنِي، فَكَرَّرْتُ الِاسْمَ بِصَوْتٍ خَافِتٍ، وَأَعَدْتُ التَّذْكِرَةَ الْبُرْتُقَالِيَّةَ إِلَى جَيْبِي دُونَ أَنْ أَطْوِيَهَا مَرَّةً أُخْرَى.
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I boarded bus number seventeen to test my memory, not to reach a destination. In my pocket was an orange ticket I had kept since school. The route was short then, but I distributed my dreams among its stops as though they were cities: at the bridge I would be an engineer; at the college I would become someone unknown to the customers in my father’s shop. At that age I saw little difference between the two dreams.
When my father became ill, my entry to college was postponed; then we stopped mentioning it. That is how I usually tell the story, overlooking the fact that, after he recovered, I turned down another opportunity. I feared starting alongside younger students. The shop became my work, and his illness became a brief sentence that spared me explaining my choice. I had not lied, but I had stopped at the easiest part.
A young man asked me about the theatre. I confidently told him to get off at the cinema, and he pointed to a blue diagram above the window: the route now extended to a new district, and the theatre was there. The cinema had become a workshop. I withdrew my advice and pretended to read the diagram, although I was looking at my reflection in the glass and avoiding his gaze.
At the bridge I saw workers repairing the barrier. It had never occurred to me before that the bridges I wanted to build would need repairs. I had loved their imagined opening ceremony; I do not know whether I would have loved the work itself. That doubt troubled me: despite the pain it caused, the old dream had given me a clear picture of myself.
At the stop where the route used to end, I almost stood up, then remained seated. My son called to ask when I would open the shop. I said I would be a little late and did not explain why. I asked the young man the name of the next stop. He answered, and I repeated the name quietly, putting the orange ticket back into my pocket without folding it again.
02Useful words from the story
| Arabic in the story | Meaning here |
|---|---|
| تَذْكِرَةٌ بُرْتُقَالِيَّةٌ | an orange ticket |
| وَزَّعْتُ أَحْلَامِي | I distributed my dreams |
| مُتَجَاهِلًا | overlooking; choosing not to acknowledge |
| تُغْنِينِي | spares me; saves me from |
| مُخَطَّطٍ أَزْرَقَ | a blue diagram |
| وَتَظَاهَرْتُ | and I pretended |
| انْعِكَاسِ وَجْهِي | my face’s reflection |
| الْحَاجِزَ | the barrier |
| الْمُتَخَيَّلَةَ | imagined |
| هَمَمْتُ بِالنُّهُوضِ | I was about to stand up |
03Check your understanding
Choose one answer. Read for chronology, narrative qualifications and implications supported by the text.
What to remember
- A true event can become a selective explanation when a narrator leaves out his later choices.
- Asking about the next stop suggests less certainty; it does not settle his future career.
Explore the Arabic in this story
Related grammar and vocabularyOpen Araqick guides connected to this story.
Kana in Arabic: Was and Were
كَانَ الْخَطُّ قَصِيرًا آنَذَاكَ
See how kana places the route’s former condition in the past.
Arabic Relative Pronouns: Joining Ideas with Alladhi and Allati
الْمَحَطَّةِ الَّتِي كَانَ يَنْتَهِي عِنْدَهَا الْخَطُّ
Review how allati introduces a description of the feminine noun for the stop.
