A new computer unsettles a carpenter’s son. A wooden template and a costing sheet reveal what the change actually asks them to notice.
01Read the Arabic story
النَّجَّارُ الَّذِي اشْتَرَى حَاسُوبًا
وَضَعَ أَبِي الْحَاسُوبَ الْجَدِيدَ بِجَانِبِ مِسْحَاجِهِ الْخَشَبِيِّ، فَظَنَنْتُ أَنَّهُ يَسْتَعِدُّ لِتَرْكِ الطَّرِيقَةِ الَّتِي عَلَّمَنِيهَا. كَانَ يَرْسُمُ الْخَزَائِنَ عَلَى ظُهُورِ الْأَظْرِفِ، وَيَحْفَظُ مَقَاسَاتِ بَعْضِ الْبُيُوتِ دُونَ دَفْتَرٍ. أَمَّا الْآنَ فَكَانَ يَنْتَظِرُ أَنْ يُفْتَحَ الْبَرْنَامَجُ. سَأَلْتُهُ إِنْ كَانَ الزَّبَائِنُ يَطْلُبُونَ صُوَرًا أَجْمَلَ، فَقَالَ إِنَّهُمْ يَطْلُبُونَ سِعْرًا لَا يَتَغَيَّرُ بَعْدَ بَدْءِ الْعَمَلِ.
أَرَانِي رَسْمًا لِخِزَانَةٍ سَتَدْخُلُ تَحْتَ دَرَجٍ قَدِيمٍ. كَانَتِ الْخُطُوطُ مُسْتَقِيمَةً وَالْأَرْقَامُ وَاضِحَةً، غَيْرَ أَنَّ زَاوِيَةَ الْجِدَارِ فِي الْبَيْتِ لَمْ تَكُنْ كَذَلِكَ. قُلْتُ إِنَّ الرَّسْمَ لَيْسَ مُطَابِقًا لِلْمَكَانِ. فَأَخْرَجَ قَالَبًا رَقِيقًا مِنَ الْخَشَبِ، قَصَّهُ بَعْدَ زِيَارَةِ الْبَيْتِ، وَوَضَعَهُ أَمَامَ الشَّاشَةِ. لَمْ يَكُنْ قَدْ أَدْخَلَ انْحِنَاءَ الْجِدَارِ إِلَى الرَّسْمِ بَعْدُ.
فَتَحَ جَدْوَلَ التَّكْلِفَةِ، فَوَجَدْنَا أَنَّهُ حَسَبَ الْخَشَبَ وَنَسِيَ وَقْتَ تَعْدِيلِ الْقَالَبِ. ضَحِكْتُ، وَكَدْتُ أَعُدُّ النِّسْيَانَ دَلِيلًا عَلَى عَجْزِ الْحَاسُوبِ. لَكِنَّهُ قَالَ إِنَّهُ كَانَ يَنْسَى هَذَا الْوَقْتَ عَلَى الْوَرَقِ أَيْضًا، ثُمَّ يَدْفَعُ ثَمَنَهُ مِنْ مَسَائِهِ. لَمْ يُصَلِّحِ الْجَدْوَلُ عَادَتَهُ؛ جَعَلَ الْفَرَاغَ الَّذِي يَتْرُكُهُ قَابِلًا لِلرُّؤْيَةِ، وَطَلَبَ مِنِّي أَنْ نُسَمِّيَهُ قَبْلَ إِرْسَالِ السِّعْرِ.
حِينَ جَاءَتْ صَاحِبَةُ الْبَيْتِ، أَعْجَبَهَا اللَّوْنُ عَلَى الشَّاشَةِ، ثُمَّ سَأَلَتْ عَنْ فَتْحِ الْبَابِ قُرْبَ الدَّرَجِ. حَمَلَ أَبِي الْقَالَبَ وَشَرَحَ الْمَسَافَةَ. احْتَاجَ الشَّرْحُ إِلَى يَدِهِ وَإِلَى الرَّسْمِ مَعًا. اتَّفَقَا عَلَى تَعْدِيلٍ يَزِيدُ التَّكْلِفَةَ قَلِيلًا، وَأَعَادَ طِبَاعَةَ الْوَرَقَةِ. بَقِيَتْ صُورَةُ الْخِزَانَةِ أَنِيقَةً، وَلَكِنَّ السِّعْرَ لَمْ يَعُدْ يَعِدُ بِسُهُولَةٍ غَيْرِ مَوْجُودَةٍ.
بَعْدَ خُرُوجِهَا، أَدَارَ الشَّاشَةَ نَحْوِي وَطَلَبَ أَنْ أُضِيفَ وَقْتَ التَّرْكِيبِ. لَمْ يَسْأَلْنِي عَنْ أَجْمَلِ لَوْنٍ. وَضَعْتُ يَدِي عَلَى الْفَأْرَةِ، وَبَقِيَ الْقَالَبُ بَيْنَنَا. فِي الْيَوْمِ التَّالِي بَدَأْنَا الْقَطْعَ، بَعْدَ مُرَاجَعَةِ الْمَقَاسِ فِي الْبَيْتِ. لَمْ يَخْتَفِ صَوْتُ الْمِسْحَاجِ؛ صَارَ يَبْدَأُ بَعْدَ حَدِيثٍ أَطْوَلَ عَمَّا سَنَصْنَعُهُ وَمَا سَنَحْسِبُهُ.
Show English translationHide English translation
My father put the new computer beside his wooden plane, and I thought he was preparing to abandon the method he had taught me. He drew cupboards on the backs of envelopes and remembered the measurements of some houses without a notebook. Now he was waiting for the program to open. I asked whether customers wanted prettier pictures. He said they wanted a price that would not change once work began.
He showed me a drawing of a cupboard that would fit beneath an old staircase. Its lines were straight and its numbers clear, but the wall’s angle in the house was not. I said the drawing did not match the space. He took out a thin wooden template he had cut after visiting the house and placed it in front of the screen. He had not yet entered the wall’s curve into the drawing.
He opened the costing sheet, and we found that he had counted the wood but forgotten the time needed to adjust the template. I laughed and almost treated the omission as evidence of the computer’s inadequacy. But he said he used to forget that time on paper too, then pay for it out of his evenings. The sheet had not corrected his habit; it had made the gap he left visible. He asked me to name it before sending the price.
When the homeowner came, she liked the colour on the screen, then asked about opening the door beside the stairs. My father held up the template and explained the clearance. His explanation needed both his hand and the drawing. They agreed on an adjustment that slightly increased the cost, and he printed the sheet again. The cupboard’s image remained elegant, but the price no longer promised an ease that did not exist.
After she left, he turned the screen towards me and asked me to add the installation time. He did not ask me about the prettiest colour. I put my hand on the mouse, with the template still between us. The next day we began cutting, after checking the measurement at the house. The sound of the plane had not disappeared; it now began after a longer conversation about what we would make and what we would count.
02Useful words from the story
| Arabic in the story | Meaning here |
|---|---|
| مِسْحَاجِهِ | his woodworking plane |
| الْأَظْرِفِ | the envelopes |
| مَقَاسَاتِ | measurements of |
| مُطَابِقًا | matching |
| قَالَبًا | a template |
| انْحِنَاءَ | the curve of |
| عَجْزِ | inadequacy of |
| مَسَائِهِ | his evenings |
| طِبَاعَةَ | printing |
| التَّرْكِيبِ | installation |
03Check your understanding
Choose one answer per question. Follow the changing perspectives and distinguish what the text shows from what its characters assume.
What to remember
- The computer makes an omitted cost visible but does not supply the missing judgement.
- The template, site measurement and screen contribute different parts of the same work.
Explore the Arabic in this story
Related grammar and vocabularyOpen Araqick guides connected to this story.
Laysa in Arabic: Is Not and Is Not Here
الرَّسْمَ لَيْسَ مُطَابِقًا لِلْمَكَانِ
Read laysa as denying that the drawing matches the space.
Arabic Relative Pronouns: Joining Ideas with Alladhi and Allati
الطَّرِيقَةِ الَّتِي عَلَّمَنِيهَا
Use allati to connect the feminine method to the clause describing what the father taught.
