A potter sells more at the relocated festival, yet the new display leaves his hands idle. A visitor’s question tests what the wider road makes possible.
01Read the Arabic story
الْمِهْرَجَانُ الَّذِي انْتَقَلَ إِلَى الطَّرِيقِ الرَّئِيسِيِّ
حِينَ نُقِلَ الْمِهْرَجَانُ إِلَى الطَّرِيقِ الرَّئِيسِيِّ، حَمَلَ يُوسُفُ أَوَانِيَهُ إِلَى طَاوِلَةٍ عَلَيْهَا لَافِتَةٌ. فِي الزُّقَاقِ كَانَ الزُّوَّارُ يَقِفُونَ قُرْبَ يَدَيْهِ وَهُوَ يُشَكِّلُ الطِّينَ. هُنَا صَارَ الْمَكَانُ أَوْسَعَ، وَسَارَتْ فِيهِ أُسَرٌ لَمْ يَرَهَا مِنْ قَبْلُ. غَيْرَ أَنَّ الْمُنَظِّمَ وَضَعَ الْأَوَانِيَ فِي الْمُقَدِّمَةِ وَكُتْلَةَ الطِّينِ خَلْفَهَا، كَأَنَّ الْحِرْفَةَ مُنْتَجٌ مُكْتَمِلٌ.
بَاعَ يُوسُفُ وَعَاءَيْنِ قَبْلَ الظُّهْرِ، وَهُوَ أَكْثَرُ مِمَّا بَاعَهُ فِي بَعْضِ الْأَيَّامِ الْقَدِيمَةِ. لَكِنَّ الْمَارَّةَ كَانُوا يَسْأَلُونَ عَنِ السِّعْرِ ثُمَّ يَتَّبِعُونَ الصَّوْتَ مِنَ الْمِنَصَّةِ. سَأَلَهُ الْمُنَظِّمُ إِنْ كَانَ رَاضِيًا عَنِ الْمَوْقِعِ، فَقَالَ إِنَّ الْبَيْعَ جَيِّدٌ. لَمْ يُضِفْ أَنَّهُ لَمْ يَلْمَسِ الطِّينَ مُنْذُ الصَّبَاحِ؛ خَشِيَ أَنْ يَبْدُوَ كَأَنَّهُ يُنْكِرُ فَائِدَةَ الِانْتِقَالِ كُلَّهَا.
مَرَّتْ مُعَلِّمَةٌ وَسَأَلَتْ عَنْ إِمْكَانِ مُشَاهَدَةِ صُنْعِ وَعَاءٍ. أَرَاهَا الْمُنَظِّمُ مَوْعِدًا لِعَرْضٍ عَلَى الْمِنَصَّةِ. قَالَ يُوسُفُ إِنَّ الْحَرَكَةَ الصَّغِيرَةَ الَّتِي تُغَيِّرُ الْحَافَةَ لَا تَظْهَرُ مِنْ آخِرِ الطَّرِيقِ. اقْتَرَحَ أَنْ يَعْمَلَ عِنْدَ الطَّاوِلَةِ، فَاعْتَرَضَ الْمُنَظِّمُ عَلَى تَجَمُّعٍ يُعَطِّلُ الْمَمَرَّ. لَمْ يَكُنْ لِلْمَكَانِ الْأَوْسَعِ، عَلَى الرَّسْمِ، وَقْتٌ مَحْسُوبٌ لِلْوُقُوفِ الطَّوِيلِ أَمَامَ الْعَمَلِ.
نَقَلَا الطَّاوِلَةَ إِلَى جَانِبٍ قُرْبَ مَدْخَلٍ وَاسِعٍ، وَتَرَكَا الْمَمَرَّ خَالِيًا. خَسِرَ يُوسُفُ مَوْقِعَهُ الْوَاضِحَ أَمَامَ الْمِنَصَّةِ، وَبَدَأَ يُشَكِّلُ وَعَاءً صَغِيرًا. تَوَقَّفَتِ الْمُعَلِّمَةُ وَبَعْضُ الزُّوَّارِ. حِينَ انْقَطَعَ صَوْتُ الْمِنَصَّةِ لِدَقِيقَةٍ، لَمْ يَرْفَعُوا رُؤُوسَهُمْ؛ اقْتَرَبُوا مِنَ الْحَافَةِ الَّتِي كَانَ يَضْغَطُهَا بِإِصْبَعِهِ. سَأَلَهُ أَحَدُهُمْ لِمَاذَا يُعِيدُ الْحَرَكَةَ، فَأَفْسَحَ لَهُ مَكَانًا لِيَرَى الْفَرْقَ.
فِي الْمَسَاءِ، جَمَعَ الْمُنَظِّمُ أَرْقَامَ الْبَيْعِ، وَسَأَلَ يُوسُفَ عَنْ نَتِيجَتِهِ. ذَكَرَ الْوَعَاءَيْنِ، ثُمَّ أَشَارَ إِلَى الْوَعَاءِ الصَّغِيرِ الَّذِي لَمْ يَبِعْهُ. لَمْ يَطْلُبِ الْعَوْدَةَ إِلَى الزُّقَاقِ، وَلَمْ يَعُدَّ الْجَانِبَ حَلًّا لِكُلِّ حِرْفِيٍّ. كَانَ يَحْتَاجُ إِلَى مَوْضِعٍ يَسْمَحُ بِالْمُشَاهَدَةِ. وَحِينَ بَدَأَ عَرْضٌ جَدِيدٌ عَلَى الْمِنَصَّةِ، تَابَعَ شَرْحَهُ لِزَائِرٍ بَقِيَ عِنْدَ الطَّاوِلَةِ بَعْدَ إِغْلَاقِ الْأَكْشَاكِ.
Show English translationHide English translation
When the festival moved to the main road, Yusuf carried his pottery to a table bearing a sign. In the alley, visitors stood close to his hands while he shaped clay. Here the space was wider, and families he had never seen before walked through it. Yet the organiser had put the finished pots at the front and the lump of clay behind them, as though the craft were a completed product.
Yusuf sold two bowls before noon, more than he had sold on some days in the old location. But passers-by asked the price and then followed the sound from the stage. The organiser asked whether he liked his position, and he said sales were good. He did not add that he had not touched the clay all morning: he feared seeming to deny every benefit of the move.
A teacher passed and asked whether she could watch a bowl being made. The organiser showed her a time for a stage demonstration. Yusuf said the small movement that changed the rim would not be visible from the far end of the road. He proposed working at the table, but the organiser objected to a gathering that would obstruct the passage. On the drawing, the wider space had no time allowed for standing for long in front of the work.
They moved the table to one side near a wide entrance and kept the passage clear. Yusuf lost his prominent position in front of the stage and began shaping a small bowl. The teacher and some visitors stopped. When the stage sound cut out for a minute, they did not look up; they moved closer to the rim he was pressing with his finger. One asked why he repeated the movement, and he made room for the visitor to see the difference.
In the evening the organiser collected sales figures and asked Yusuf about his result. He mentioned the two bowls, then pointed to the small bowl he had not sold. He did not ask to return to the alley or treat the side position as a solution for every craftsperson. He needed a place that allowed observation. When a new stage performance began, he continued explaining to a visitor who remained at the table after the stalls closed.
02Useful words from the story
| Arabic in the story | Meaning here |
|---|---|
| أَوَانِيَهُ | his pottery vessels |
| لَافِتَةٌ | a sign |
| يُشَكِّلُ | shapes |
| وَكُتْلَةَ | and the lump of |
| الْمَارَّةَ | the passers-by |
| الْمِنَصَّةِ | the stage |
| الْحَافَةَ | the rim |
| يُعَطِّلُ | obstructs |
| الْوَاضِحَ | prominent; clearly visible |
| حِرْفِيٍّ | a craftsperson |
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 move improves access and sales while creating a different problem for showing the craft.
- The unsold demonstration bowl records an outcome that sales figures alone omit.
Explore the Arabic in this story
Related grammar and vocabularyOpen Araqick guides connected to this story.
Lam in Arabic: How to Say “Did Not”
لَمْ يَلْمَسِ الطِّينَ مُنْذُ الصَّبَاحِ
Read lam as denying that Yusuf had touched the clay that morning.
Arabic Relative Pronouns: Joining Ideas with Alladhi and Allati
الْحَرَكَةَ الصَّغِيرَةَ الَّتِي تُغَيِّرُ الْحَافَةَ
Connect the feminine movement to the clause describing its effect on the rim.
