A former postal worker recognises the facade of a building that has become a library. Inside, a child asks about the work the stone cannot show.
01Read the Arabic story
الْمَكْتَبَةُ الْجَدِيدَةُ خَلْفَ الْوَاجِهَةِ الْقَدِيمَةِ
عَادَتْ هُدَى إِلَى الْمَبْنَى الَّذِي عَمِلَتْ فِيهِ حِينَ كَانَ مَكْتَبًا لِلْبَرِيدِ. صَارَ الْآنَ مَكْتَبَةً، وَبَقِيَتِ الْوَاجِهَةُ الْحَجَرِيَّةُ وَالْبَابُ الْأَزْرَقُ كَمَا تَذَكَّرَتْهُمَا. وَقَفَ زُوَّارٌ لِيَلْتَقِطُوا صُوَرًا لِلْحُرُوفِ الْقَدِيمَةِ فَوْقَ الْبَابِ، وَكَادَتْ تَقِفُ مَعَهُمْ. حَمَلَتْ بِطَاقَةً بَرِيدِيَّةً، لَكِنَّهَا لَمْ تَعْرِفْ إِنْ كَانَ أَحَدٌ فِي الدَّاخِلِ يَعْرِفُ مَا حَفِظَهُ الْحَجَرُ.
خَلْفَ الْبَابِ، اخْتَفَى الْحَاجِزُ الَّذِي كَانَ يَفْصِلُ الْمُوَظَّفِينَ عَنِ الْجُمْهُورِ. صَارَتْ أَمَاكِنُ الِانْتِظَارِ رُفُوفًا، وَوُضِعَتْ طَاوِلَةٌ قَرِيبَةٌ مِنَ النَّافِذَةِ. سَأَلَتْ أَمِينَةَ الْمَكْتَبَةِ عَنِ الصُّنْدُوقِ الْخَشَبِيِّ الَّذِي كَانَتْ تَضَعُ فِيهِ الرَّسَائِلَ. أَرَتْهَا خِزَانَةً زُجَاجِيَّةً بِبَعْضِ أَدَوَاتِ الْمَكْتَبِ. وَكَانَ الصُّنْدُوقُ هُنَاكَ، لَكِنَّ حِفْظَهُ لَمْ يُعِدْ إِلَيْهَا مَكَانَهَا السَّابِقَ أَمَامَ النَّافِذَةِ.
سَأَلَ طِفْلٌ عَمَّا تَعْنِيهِ الْحُرُوفُ عَلَى الْوَاجِهَةِ. قَالَتْ هُدَى إِنَّهَا كَانَتْ تَعْنِي مَكَانًا يَنْتَظِرُ فِيهِ النَّاسُ خَبَرًا. أَرَادَ أَنْ يَعْرِفَ لِمَاذَا لَا تَظْهَرُ الرَّسَائِلُ فِي الْخِزَانَةِ. شَرَحَتْ أَنَّ الرَّسَائِلَ كَانَتْ تَذْهَبُ إِلَى أَصْحَابِهَا. فَتَحَتْ حَقِيبَتَهَا وَأَرَتْهُ الْبِطَاقَةَ. لَمْ يَكُنْ يَسْأَلُ عَنْ جَمَالِ الْوَاجِهَةِ، بَلْ عَنْ عَمَلٍ لَا يَظْهَرُ فِي صُورَتِهَا.
اقْتَرَحَتِ الْأَمِينَةُ إِضَافَةَ الْبِطَاقَةِ إِلَى الْخِزَانَةِ، فَوَافَقَتْ هُدَى بَعْدَ أَنْ كَتَبَتْ وَصْفًا قَصِيرًا لِمَسَارِهَا. وَطَلَبَتْ أَنْ يَكُونَ الْوَصْفُ فِي مَوْضِعٍ يَقْرَؤُهُ الْأَطْفَالُ أَيْضًا. لَمْ تَكُنِ الْمَكْتَبَةُ هَادِئَةً تَمَامًا؛ كَانَ نِقَاشٌ عِنْدَ الرُّفُوفِ يُقَاطِعُ حَدِيثَهَا. طَلَبَتْ مَوْضِعًا أَهْدَأَ لِتُكْمِلَ الْوَصْفَ، وَجَلَسَتْ فِي غُرْفَةٍ جَانِبِيَّةٍ. لَمْ يُرْضِهَا كُلُّ مَا تَغَيَّرَ، وَلَمْ تَعُدْ تَطْلُبُ عَوْدَةَ الْحَاجِزِ.
عِنْدَ الْخُرُوجِ، عَادَتْ إِلَى الطَّاوِلَةِ قُرْبَ النَّافِذَةِ لِتَأْخُذَ حَقِيبَتَهَا. كَانَ الطِّفْلُ يَقْرَأُ كِتَابًا هُنَاكَ، فَانْتَظَرَتْ أَنْ يَنْتَهِيَ مِنْ فِقْرَتِهِ قَبْلَ أَنْ تَمُدَّ يَدَهَا. فِي الْخَارِجِ، سَأَلَهَا زَائِرٌ إِنْ كَانَ الْمَبْنَى مُجَرَّدَ وَاجِهَةٍ قَدِيمَةٍ. قَالَتْ إِنَّ الْبَابَ لَيْسَ مُغْلَقًا، وَأَشَارَتْ إِلَى الدَّاخِلِ. لَمْ تَصِفِ الْمَكَانَ كُلَّهُ، وَتَرَكَتْ لَهُ أَنْ يَدْخُلَ وَيَرَى الْعَمَلَ الْجَدِيدَ.
Show English translationHide English translation
Huda returned to the building where she had worked when it was a post office. It was now a library, while the stone facade and blue door remained as she remembered them. Visitors stopped to photograph the old lettering above the door, and she almost joined them. She carried a postcard, but did not know whether anyone inside knew what the stone had preserved.
Behind the door, the barrier that had separated staff from the public had disappeared. Waiting areas had become shelves, and a table stood near the window. She asked the librarian about the wooden box where she used to put letters. The librarian showed her a glass cabinet containing some office tools. The box was there, but preserving it had not returned Huda to her old place in front of the window.
A child asked what the facade’s letters meant. Huda said they had meant a place where people waited for news. He wanted to know why no letters appeared in the cabinet. She explained that letters used to go to their recipients. She opened her bag and showed him the postcard. He was not asking about the facade’s beauty, but about work that did not appear in its photograph.
The librarian proposed adding the card to the cabinet. Huda agreed after writing a short description of its route, and asked that the description be placed where children could read it too. The library was not entirely quiet: a discussion at the shelves interrupted her account. She asked for a quieter place to finish the description and sat in a side room. Not every change pleased her, but she no longer asked for the barrier to return.
Before leaving, she went back to the table by the window for her bag. The child was reading there, so she waited for him to finish his paragraph before reaching for it. Outside, a visitor asked whether the building was merely an old facade. She said the door was not closed and pointed inside. She did not describe the entire place, leaving him to enter and see the new work.
02Useful words from the story
| Arabic in the story | Meaning here |
|---|---|
| الْوَاجِهَةُ | the facade |
| الْحَجَرِيَّةُ | stone; made of stone |
| بَرِيدِيَّةً | postal |
| الْحَاجِزُ | the barrier |
| الْجُمْهُورِ | the public |
| زُجَاجِيَّةً | glass; made of glass |
| لِمَسَارِهَا | of its route |
| يُقَاطِعُ | interrupts |
| جَانِبِيَّةٍ | side; adjoining |
| مُجَرَّدَ | merely; just |
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 preserved object does not restore every former role associated with it.
- Huda’s contribution gives the past a readable place within the building’s new work.
Explore the Arabic in this story
Related grammar and vocabularyOpen Araqick guides connected to this story.
Kana in Arabic: Was and Were
لَمْ تَكُنِ الْمَكْتَبَةُ هَادِئَةً تَمَامًا
Identify an accusative description after kanat in a negated past statement about the library.
Laysa in Arabic: Is Not and Is Not Here
الْبَابَ لَيْسَ مُغْلَقًا
Read laysa denying the closed state of the door, rather than a past closing action.
