A photographer asks a new learner to help with an unfamiliar projector. Making the picture appear is only the first part of preparing the room.
01Read the Arabic story
الْخَبِيرُ الَّذِي طَلَبَ مُسَاعَدَةَ مُبْتَدِئَةٍ
قَبْلَ عَرْضِ الصُّوَرِ فِي الْمَرْكَزِ، طَلَبَ كَمَالٌ مِنْ مُنَى أَنْ تُسَاعِدَهُ. كَانَ مُصَوِّرًا يُدَرِّبُ غَيْرَهُ مُنْذُ سَنَوَاتٍ، وَكَانَتْ قَدْ بَدَأَتْ تَتَعَلَّمُ التَّصْوِيرَ حَدِيثًا. ظَلَّتِ الشَّاشَةُ فَارِغَةً، مَعَ أَنَّ الْمِلَفَّ مَفْتُوحٌ عَلَى حَاسُوبِهِ. أَشَارَ إِلَى جِهَازِ التَّحَكُّمِ وَسَأَلَهَا عَنْهُ. لَمْ تَعْرِفْ هَلْ يُرِيدُ الْمُسَاعَدَةَ فِعْلًا أَمْ يُمَهِّدُ لِاخْتِبَارِهَا أَمَامَ زُمَلَائِهَا.
كَانَتْ مُنَى قَدْ شَغَّلَتْ جِهَازَ الْعَرْضِ سَابِقًا. أَخْرَجَتِ الدَّلِيلَ مِنَ الدُّرْجِ، وَوَجَدَتِ الصَّفْحَةَ الَّتِي طَوَتْ زَاوِيَتَهَا. كَانَ الْجِهَازُ يَنْتَظِرُ مَصْدَرًا آخَرَ لِلصُّورَةِ. اخْتَارَتِ الْمَصْدَرَ الْمُتَّصِلَ بِالْحَاسُوبِ، فَظَهَرَتْ صُورَةُ الْجِسْرِ. طَلَبَ كَمَالٌ أَنْ تُرِيَهُ الزِّرَّ، ثُمَّ أَعَادَ الْخُطْوَةَ بِنَفْسِهِ. لَمْ يُضِفْ سُؤَالًا يَكْشِفُ نَقْصَهَا، وَلَمْ يَدَّعِ أَنَّهُ كَانَ يَعْرِفُ الْجَوَابَ.
قَالَتْ مُنَى إِنَّ الْعَرْضَ صَارَ جَاهِزًا، وَهِيَ تَنْظُرُ مِنَ الصَّفِّ الْأَوَّلِ. حَمَلَ كَمَالٌ الْبِطَاقَةَ الَّتِي تُرَافِقُ الصُّورَةَ، وَجَلَسَ فِي آخِرِ الْقَاعَةِ. كَانَ تَارِيخُ بِنَاءِ الْجِسْرِ مَقْرُوءًا عَلَى الْبِطَاقَةِ، لَكِنَّهُ صَغُرَ عَلَى الشَّاشَةِ بَيْنَ صُورَتَيْنِ. لَمْ يُغَيِّرْ مَصْدَرَ الصُّورَةِ؛ جَعَلَ لِكُلِّ صُورَةٍ صَفْحَةً، وَكَبَّرَ الْكِتَابَةَ. دَعَاهَا لِلْجُلُوسِ مَعَهُ لِتَفْحَصَ وُضُوحَ التَّارِيخِ أَيْضًا.
وَصَلَ الْمُنَظِّمُ وَسَأَلَ عَمَّنْ أَصْلَحَ الْجِهَازَ. قَالَ كَمَالٌ إِنَّ الْجِهَازَ لَمْ يَكُنْ مَكْسُورًا، وَإِنَّ مُنَى وَجَدَتِ الْإِعْدَادَ الْمُنَاسِبَ. أَضَافَتْ أَنَّهَا رَجَعَتْ إِلَى الدَّلِيلِ. اقْتَرَحَ الْمُنَظِّمُ أَنْ تَتَوَلَّى تَجْهِيزَ الْعَرْضِ الْمُقْبِلِ، فَوَافَقَتْ عَلَى فَحْصِ الْجِهَازِ. أَمَّا اخْتِيَارُ الصُّوَرِ وَتَرْتِيبُهَا، فَطَلَبَتْ أَنْ تَعْمَلَ فِيهِمَا مَعَ كَمَالٍ. وَضَعَتِ الدَّلِيلَ عَلَى الطَّاوِلَةِ بَدَلَ إِعَادَتِهِ إِلَى الدُّرْجِ.
بَعْدَ الْعَرْضِ، سَأَلَهَا كَمَالٌ عَنْ مَوْضِعِ حِفْظِ الدَّلِيلِ. كَتَبَتْ عَلَى وَرَقَةٍ رَقْمَ الصَّفْحَةِ، وَأَضَافَ مَلْحُوظَةً عَنْ فَحْصِ الْكِتَابَةِ مِنَ الْخَلْفِ. ثَبَّتَا الْوَرَقَةَ قُرْبَ الْجِهَازِ. بَقِيَ اسْمُ كَمَالٍ عَلَى بَرْنَامَجِ الْأُمْسِيَةِ، وَبَقِيَتْ مُنَى مُتَعَلِّمَةً فِي دَرْسِهِ. لَكِنَّ الْوَرَقَةَ لَمْ تَحْتَجْ إِلَى لَقَبٍ؛ احْتَاجَتْ إِلَى خَطْوَتَيْنِ يَسْتَطِيعُ غَيْرُهُمَا أَنْ يُكَرِّرَهُمَا.
Show English translationHide English translation
Before the photo presentation at the centre, Kamal asked Muna to help him. He was a photographer who had trained others for years; she had begun learning photography recently. The screen remained blank although the file was open on his computer. He pointed to the remote and asked her about it. She did not know whether he truly wanted help or was preparing to test her in front of her colleagues.
Muna had operated the projector before. She took the manual from the drawer and found the page whose corner she had folded. The device was waiting for another image source. She selected the source connected to the computer, and the bridge photograph appeared. Kamal asked her to show him the button, then repeated the step himself. He added no question to expose a gap in her knowledge and did not claim he had known the answer.
Looking from the front row, Muna said the presentation was ready. Kamal carried the card accompanying the photograph and sat at the back of the room. The bridge’s construction date was readable on the card, but too small on the screen between two pictures. He did not change the image source: he gave each picture a separate page and enlarged the lettering. He invited her to sit beside him and check that the date was clear too.
The organiser arrived and asked who had repaired the device. Kamal said it had not been broken and that Muna had found the appropriate setting. She added that she had consulted the manual. The organiser proposed that she prepare the next presentation, and she agreed to check the equipment. For choosing and arranging the pictures, she asked to work with Kamal. She placed the manual on the table rather than returning it to the drawer.
After the presentation, Kamal asked her where to keep the manual. She wrote the page number on a sheet, and he added a note about checking the lettering from the back. They fixed the sheet beside the device. Kamal’s name remained on the evening programme, and Muna remained a learner in his class. But the sheet needed no title of rank: it needed two steps that someone else could repeat.
02Useful words from the story
| Arabic in the story | Meaning here |
|---|---|
| يُمَهِّدُ | prepares the way |
| التَّحَكُّمِ | control |
| الدَّلِيلَ | the manual |
| زَاوِيَتَهَا | its corner |
| مَصْدَرًا | a source |
| الْجِسْرِ | the bridge |
| مَقْرُوءًا | readable |
| الْإِعْدَادَ | the setting |
| تَجْهِيزَ | preparation |
| لَقَبٍ | a title; a designation of rank |
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
- A specific answer can improve an expert’s work without removing the need for wider experience.
- Checking from the audience’s position reveals a problem that a working projector alone does not solve.
Explore the Arabic in this story
Related grammar and vocabularyOpen Araqick guides connected to this story.
Arabic Relative Pronouns: Joining Ideas with Alladhi and Allati
الصَّفْحَةَ الَّتِي طَوَتْ زَاوِيَتَهَا
Follow allati linking the definite singular page to the clause about its folded corner.
Lam in Arabic: How to Say “Did Not”
لَمْ يُغَيِّرْ مَصْدَرَ الصُّورَةِ
Read lam denying a change of image source after the back-row check.
