Relatives praise their grandmother’s tea service while declining to take it whole. Making tea reveals a less polished memory and new uses for its pieces.
01Read the Arabic story
طَقْمُ الشَّايِ الَّذِي لَمْ يُرِدْ أَحَدٌ أَنْ يَرِثَهُ
بَعْدَ وَفَاةِ جَدَّتِي، وَضَعْنَا طَقْمَ الشَّايِ عَلَى مَائِدَتِهَا لِنُقَرِّرَ مَنْ سَيَحْمِلُهُ. كَانَ الْإِبْرِيقُ وَالْفَنَاجِينُ وَالصِّينِيَّةُ مَا لَا يَخْلُو مِنْهُ حَدِيثُنَا عَنْ ضِيَافَتِهَا. لَكِنَّ أَخِي قَالَ إِنَّ خِزَانَتَهُ مُمْتَلِئَةٌ، وَقَالَتْ خَالَتِي إِنَّ الصِّينِيَّةَ كَبِيرَةٌ عَلَى مَطْبَخِهَا. أَمَّا أَنَا فَكُنْتُ قَدْ طَلَبْتُ صُورَةً صَغِيرَةً لَهَا، وَتَرَكْتُ السُّؤَالَ عَنْ الطَّقْمِ لِغَيْرِي.
اقْتَرَحَ أَخِي أَنْ نَحْفَظَهُ فِي صُنْدُوقٍ، فَقَالَتْ خَالَتِي إِنَّ ذَلِكَ يَنْقُلُ السُّؤَالَ إِلَى زِيَارَةٍ قَادِمَةٍ. لَمْ تَكُنْ تَرْفُضُ الذِّكْرَى؛ كَانَتْ تَسْأَلُ عَنِ الْعَمَلِ الَّذِي سَيَتْبَعُهَا. رَفَعْتُ فِنْجَانًا فَوَجَدْتُ شَقًّا قُرْبَ الْمِقْبَضِ. تَذَكَّرْتُ أَنَّ جَدَّتِي كَانَتْ تَسْتَخْدِمُ كُؤُوسًا عَادِيَّةً أَحْيَانًا، وَأَنَّ الطَّقْمَ الْمُكْتَمِلَ عَاشَ فِي كَلَامِنَا أَكْثَرَ مِمَّا عَاشَ عَلَى مَائِدَتِهَا.
صَنَعْنَا الشَّايَ قَبْلَ أَنْ نُفْرِغَ الْخِزَانَةَ. وَضَعْنَا الْفِنْجَانَ الْمَشْقُوقَ جَانِبًا، وَاسْتَخْدَمْنَا الْأَشْيَاءَ السَّلِيمَةَ الَّتِي بَقِيَتْ. لَمْ يَكُنِ الْإِبْرِيقُ خَفِيفًا، وَطَلَبَ أَخِي مِنِّي أَنْ أُمْسِكَ الصِّينِيَّةَ وَهُوَ يَصُبُّ. تَحَدَّثْنَا عَنْ يَوْمٍ نَسِيَتْ فِيهِ جَدَّتِي السُّكَّرَ، فَضَحِكَتْ خَالَتِي. لَمْ تَكُنْ صُورَةُ الضِّيَافَةِ الْمُتْقَنَةِ هِيَ الْحَدِيثَ الْوَحِيدَ الَّذِي يَسْمَحُ بِذِكْرِهَا بِمَحَبَّةٍ.
طَلَبَ أَخِي الْإِبْرِيقَ، وَاخْتَرْتُ فِنْجَانَيْنِ. قَالَتْ خَالَتِي إِنَّ الصِّينِيَّةَ قَدْ تَصْلُحُ قُرْبَ بَابِهَا، فَقَرَّبَتْهَا وَوَضَعَتْ عَلَيْهَا مَفَاتِيحَهَا. تَرَدَّدْتُ؛ كَأَنَّ الْمَفَاتِيحَ تُخْرِجُ الْأَشْيَاءَ مِنْ مَكَانِهَا الصَّحِيحِ. لَكِنَّنِي لَمْ أَكُنْ قَدْ عَرَضْتُ أَنْ أُبْقِيَ الطَّقْمَ مَعًا فِي بَيْتِي. أَعَدْنَا الْفَنَاجِينَ الْبَاقِيَةَ إِلَى رَفٍّ مَفْتُوحٍ لِيَخْتَارَ مِنْهَا أَبْنَاءُ خَالَتِي حِينَ يَأْتُونَ.
حَمَلْتُ فِنْجَانَيَّ فِي الْحَقِيبَةِ مَعَ الصُّورَةِ، وَسَأَلَنِي أَخِي عَنِ الْفِنْجَانِ الْمَشْقُوقِ. أَبْقَيْنَاهُ لِيَرَاهُ الْآخَرُونَ قَبْلَ أَنْ نُقَرِّرَ مَصِيرَهُ. فِي بَيْتِي، اسْتَخْدَمْتُ أَحَدَ الْفِنْجَانَيْنِ، وَتَرَكْتُ الثَّانِي لِزَائِرٍ. لَمْ تَبْدُ مَائِدَتِي كَمَائِدَةِ جَدَّتِي. وَحِينَ أَرْسَلَتْ خَالَتِي صُورَةَ الصِّينِيَّةِ وَالْمَفَاتِيحِ، نَظَرْتُ إِلَى الشَّايِ قَبْلَ أَنْ أَكْتُبَ جَوَابِي لَهَا عَنِ الصُّورَةِ الْجَدِيدَةِ.
Show English translationHide English translation
After my grandmother died, we put the tea service on her table to decide who would take it. The teapot, cups and tray were never absent from our talk about her hospitality. But my brother said his cupboard was full, and my aunt said the tray was too large for her kitchen. I had already asked for a small photograph of her, leaving the question of the service to someone else.
My brother proposed keeping it in a box. My aunt said that merely moved the question to a future visit. She was not rejecting the memory; she was asking about the work that would follow it. I lifted a cup and found a crack near the handle. I remembered that my grandmother sometimes used ordinary glasses, and that the complete service had lived in our talk more than on her table.
We made tea before emptying the cupboard. We set the cracked cup aside and used the sound pieces that remained. The teapot was heavy, and my brother asked me to hold the tray while he poured. We talked about a day when my grandmother forgot the sugar, and my aunt laughed. Perfect hospitality was not the only account that allowed us to remember her with affection.
My brother asked for the teapot, and I chose two cups. My aunt said the tray might work near her door, brought it closer and put her keys on it. I hesitated, as though the keys took the objects out of their proper place. Yet I had not offered to keep the service together at my house. We returned the remaining cups to an open shelf for my cousins to choose from when they came.
I carried my two cups in the bag with the photograph, and my brother asked about the cracked cup. We left it for the others to see before deciding what to do with it. At home I used one cup and left the other for a visitor. My table did not look like my grandmother’s. When my aunt sent a picture of the tray and keys, I looked at my tea before writing back about the new picture.
02Useful words from the story
| Arabic in the story | Meaning here |
|---|---|
| طَقْمَ الشَّايِ | the tea service |
| ضِيَافَتِهَا | her hospitality |
| شَقًّا | a crack |
| الْمِقْبَضِ | the handle |
| السَّلِيمَةَ | undamaged; usable |
| يَصُبُّ | pours |
| الْمُتْقَنَةِ | accomplished; carefully perfected |
| تَرَدَّدْتُ | I hesitated |
| مَصِيرَهُ | its eventual fate |
| فِنْجَانَيَّ | my two cups |
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
- Declining the whole service does not establish that someone rejects the memory.
- The narrator’s own use changes the arrangement she initially wanted others to preserve.
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 أَكُنْ قَدْ عَرَضْتُ
Read lam as denying the narrator’s earlier offer to keep the whole set.
Kana in Arabic: Was and Were
لَمْ يَكُنِ الْإِبْرِيقُ خَفِيفًا
Identify the nominative teapot and accusative adjective in a negated past description.
