Samir counts borrowed plates before a family meal. A guest’s hesitant hand and two portions left in the kitchen complicate the meaning of that count.
01Read the Arabic story
الْمُضِيفُ الْكَرِيمُ الَّذِي عَدَّ كُلَّ صَحْنٍ
قَبْلَ وُصُولِ الضُّيُوفِ، كُنْتُ أُسَاعِدُ عَمِّي سَمِيرًا فِي تَرْتِيبِ الْمَائِدَةِ. أَخْرَجَ مِنْ صُنْدُوقٍ ثَمَانِيَةَ عَشَرَ صَحْنًا أَبْيَضَ، وَعَدَّهَا مَرَّتَيْنِ، ثُمَّ وَضَعَ اثْنَيْنِ عَلَى رَفٍّ فِي الْمَطْبَخِ. قُلْتُ إِنَّ الْمَائِدَةَ تَتَّسِعُ لَهُمَا، فَقَالَ إِنَّهُمَا لَيْسَا زَائِدَيْنِ. لَمْ أَسْأَلْهُ لِمَنْ؛ كَانَ يَنْقُلُ الْقِدْرَ وَيُعِيدُ طَيَّ الْفُوطَةِ الَّتِي تَحْتَهَا.
جَاءَ صَدِيقُ ابْنِهِ دُونَ أَنْ يَكُونَ مُنْتَظَرًا، فَأَحْضَرَ عَمِّي لَهُ صَحْنًا قَدِيمًا مُزَيَّنًا بِزُهُورٍ. هَمَسَ ابْنُ خَالِي أَنَّ الْكَرَمَ يَنْتَهِي حِينَ يَبْدَأُ الْعَدُّ. ضَحِكْتُ، وَرَأَيْتُ عَمِّي يَنْظُرُ إِلَى الصُّحُونِ الْفَارِغَةِ وَيُحَرِّكُ شَفَتَيْهِ. مَدَّ أَحَدُ الضُّيُوفِ يَدَهُ إِلَى مِلْعَقَةِ التَّقْدِيمِ، ثُمَّ سَحَبَهَا وَقَالَ إِنَّهُ شَبِعَ. لَمْ أَعْرِفْ إِنْ كَانَ قَدْ سَمِعَ الْهَمْسَ.
فِي الْمَطْبَخِ، وَجَدْتُ خَالَتِي وَابْنَتَهَا تُعِدَّانِ الشَّايَ، وَالصَّحْنَيْنِ الْمَحْفُوظَيْنِ مُمْتَلِئَيْنِ. قَالَ عَمِّي إِنَّهُ وَضَعَ طَعَامَهُمَا قَبْلَ أَنْ يُفْتَحَ الْقِدْرُ. أَرَانِي وَرَقَةً مِنْ جَارِهِ، كُتِبَ فِيهَا عَدَدُ الصُّحُونِ الْمُسْتَعَارَةِ. سَأَلْتُهُ إِنْ كَانَ يَعُدُّ مَا أَكَلْنَاهُ، فَهَزَّ رَأْسَهُ وَأَشَارَ إِلَى الصُّنْدُوقِ. أَرَادَ أَنْ يُعِيدَ الصُّحُونَ كُلَّهَا، وَلَكِنَّ عَيْنَيْهِ عَلَى الْمَائِدَةِ لَمْ تَشْرَحَا ذَلِكَ.
أَخْبَرْتُهُ عَنِ الْيَدِ الَّتِي تَرَاجَعَتْ. قَالَ إِنَّ الضَّيْفَ رُبَّمَا شَبِعَ حَقًّا، ثُمَّ سَأَلَنِي أَيْنَ أَضَعُ وَرَقَةَ الْعَدِّ. اقْتَرَحْتُ أَنْ تَبْقَى مَعَ الصُّنْدُوقِ، فَنَقَلَهَا وَعَادَ لِيَعْرِضَ الطَّعَامَ دُونَ نَظَرٍ إِلَى الصُّحُونِ. بَعْدَ تَقْدِيمِ الشَّايِ، جَلَسَتْ خَالَتِي وَابْنَتُهَا لِتَأْكُلَا. كَانَ الطَّعَامُ مَوْجُودًا، لَكِنَّ الْجُلُوسَ مُتَأَخِّرٌ؛ قُلْتُ ذَلِكَ، فَطَلَبَتْ خَالَتِي أَنْ أَحْمِلَ الْأَكْوَابَ.
حَمَلْتُهَا، وَبَقِيَ عَمِّي مَعَهُمَا. بَعْدَ خُرُوجِ آخِرِ ضَيْفٍ، عَدَدْنَا الصُّحُونَ عِنْدَ الْمَغْسَلَةِ، وَأَعَدْنَا الْبَيْضَاءَ إِلَى صُنْدُوقِ الْجَارِ. بَقِيَ الصَّحْنُ الْمُزَيَّنُ خَارِجَهُ، فَضَحِكَ عَمِّي وَقَالَ إِنَّهُ حَسِبَهُ مَرَّةً مَعَ الْبَقِيَّةِ. لَمْ يَتَوَقَّفِ الْعَدُّ، وَلَمْ أَعُدْ أَضْحَكُ مِنْهُ بِالطَّرِيقَةِ نَفْسِهَا. وَحِينَ سَأَلَ عَمِّي عَنْ مَوْعِدِ اللِّقَاءِ التَّالِي، قُلْتُ: مَنْ سَيَحْمِلُ أَكْوَابَ الشَّايِ؟
Show English translationHide English translation
Before the guests arrived, I was helping my uncle Samir arrange the table. He took eighteen white plates from a crate, counted them twice, then placed two on a kitchen shelf. I said there was room for them at the table; he said they were not extra. I did not ask whom they were for: he was moving the pot and refolding the cloth beneath it.
His son’s friend arrived unexpectedly, so my uncle brought him an old plate decorated with flowers. My cousin whispered that generosity ends when counting begins. I laughed and saw my uncle looking at the empty plates and moving his lips. One guest reached for the serving spoon, then withdrew his hand and said he was full. I did not know whether he had heard the whisper.
In the kitchen I found my aunt and her daughter preparing tea, with the two reserved plates full. My uncle said he had put aside their food before the pot was opened. He showed me a note from his neighbour recording the number of borrowed plates. I asked whether he was counting what we had eaten. He shook his head and pointed to the crate. He wanted to return every plate, but his eyes on the table had not explained that.
I told him about the withdrawing hand. He said the guest might really have been full, then asked where I would put the counting note. I suggested keeping it with the crate. He moved it and returned to offer food without looking at the plates. After serving tea, my aunt and her daughter sat down to eat. The food was there, but they were sitting down late. I said so, and my aunt asked me to carry the cups.
I carried them, and my uncle stayed with the two women. After the last guest left, we counted the plates at the sink and returned the white ones to the neighbour’s crate. The decorated plate remained outside it. My uncle laughed and said he had counted it once with the others. The counting did not stop, but I no longer laughed at it in the same way. When my uncle asked about the next gathering, I said, “Who will carry the tea cups?”
02Useful words from the story
| Arabic in the story | Meaning here |
|---|---|
| صُنْدُوقٍ | a crate |
| زَائِدَيْنِ | two extra ones |
| الْقِدْرَ | the cooking pot |
| مُزَيَّنًا | decorated |
| الْهَمْسَ | the whisper |
| الْمَحْفُوظَيْنِ | the two reserved ones |
| الْمُسْتَعَارَةِ | borrowed |
| تَرَاجَعَتْ | withdrew |
| حَقًّا | really; truly |
| الْمَغْسَلَةِ | the sink |
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 practical count can look like scrutiny when its reason remains invisible to guests.
- Setting food aside acknowledges helpers without removing the work that makes them eat late.
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
الْيَدِ الَّتِي تَرَاجَعَتْ
Connect the feminine hand to the clause identifying its movement.
Lam in Arabic: How to Say “Did Not”
لَمْ أَعْرِفْ إِنْ كَانَ قَدْ سَمِعَ الْهَمْسَ
Read lam with a jussive imperfect to deny the narrator’s knowledge at that moment.
