A familiar ticking sound returns, but the repair gives two brothers different reasons to listen.
01Read the Arabic story
السَّاعَةُ الْمَوْرُوثَةُ الَّتِي أُصْلِحَتْ بِقِطْعَةٍ حَدِيثَةٍ
حَمَلْتُ سَاعَةَ جَدِّي إِلَى الْمُصَلِّحِ بَعْدَ شَهْرٍ مِنَ الصَّمْتِ. لَمْ أَكُنْ أَطْلُبُ وَقْتًا أَدَقَّ؛ فَهَاتِفِي يَكْفِي لِذَلِكَ. كَانَ صَوْتُهَا حَاضِرًا فِي ذَاكِرَتِي، يَقْطَعُ أَحَادِيثَ الْمَسَاءِ بِانْتِظَامٍ. وَحِينَ سَأَلَنِي الرَّجُلُ عَمَّا أُرِيدُ الْحِفَاظَ عَلَيْهِ، أَشَرْتُ إِلَى الصُّنْدُوقِ الْخَشَبِيِّ. تَأَخَّرَتْ يَدِي عِنْدَ الزُّجَاجِ، كَأَنَّ الْجَوَابَ كُلَّهُ هُنَاكَ.
أَرَانِي تُرْسًا تَآكَلَتْ أَسْنَانُهُ، ثُمَّ وَضَعَ بِجَانِبِهِ بَدِيلًا حَدِيثًا. أَدَارَ الْقَدِيمَ فِي الْآلَةِ بِإِصْبَعِهِ؛ تَحَرَّكَ وَحْدَهُ، وَلَمْ تَتَقَدَّمِ الْعَقَارِبُ. قَالَ إِنَّ الْقِطْعَةَ الْجَدِيدَةَ تُنْزَعُ بِلَا تَغْيِيرٍ فِي بَقِيَّةِ الْآلَةِ. لَمْ يَعِدْنِي بِعُودَةِ الْمَاضِي، وَأَحْرَجَنِي أَنَّنِي كُنْتُ أَنْتَظِرُ وَعْدًا أَقْرَبَ إِلَى ذَلِكَ. وَافَقْتُ، وَطَلَبْتُ أَنْ يُحْفَظَ التُّرْسُ الْقَدِيمُ. وَأَعَادَ الْمُصَلِّحُ أَمَامِي الْوَصْفَ قَبْلَ أَنْ يَبْدَأَ.
حَضَرَ أَخِي وَالسَّاعَةُ تَدُقُّ. قَالَ: «هَذَا الْوَجْهُ الَّذِي نَعْرِفُهُ، وَلَكِنَّ الْآلَةَ مُخْتَلِفَةٌ». كَانَ يُفَضِّلُ أَنْ تَبْقَى سَاكِتَةً بِأَجْزَائِهَا الْقَدِيمَةِ. ذَكَّرْتُهُ بِالصَّوْتِ الَّذِي كُنَّا نَسْمَعُهُ فِي بَيْتِ جَدِّنَا، فَقَالَ إِنَّ ذَلِكَ الصَّوْتَ لَا يُثْبِتُ عُمْرَ مَا يَصْنَعُهُ. لَمْ أَجِدْ فِي كَلَامِهِ اتِّهَامًا لِلْمُصَلِّحِ؛ كَانَ يَعْتَرِضُ عَلَى مَا أُسَمِّيهِ حِفَاظًا.
أَعْطَانِي الْمُصَلِّحُ بَطَاقَةً كَتَبَ عَلَيْهَا: «عَادَتْ كَمَا كَانَتْ». لَمْ يَبْدُ أَنَّهُ يُخْفِي شَيْئًا؛ فَقَدْ شَرَحَ الْعَمَلَ أَمَامَنَا. مَعَ ذَلِكَ، طَلَبْتُ أَنْ يَكْتُبَ بَدَلًا مِنْهَا: «عَادَتْ إِلَى الْعَمَلِ بِتُرْسٍ حَدِيثٍ». ضَحِكَ مِنْ طُولِ الْعِبَارَةِ، ثُمَّ نَسَخَهَا. وَضَعَ الْقِطْعَةَ الْمَنْزُوعَةَ فِي ظَرْفٍ وَكَتَبَ اسْمَ جَدِّي عَلَيْهِ، دُونَ أَنْ يَصِفَهَا بِالْعُطْلِ.
عَلَّقْتُ السَّاعَةَ فِي مَكَانِهَا، وَأَبْقَيْتُ الْبَطَاقَةَ قُرْبَ الْمِفْتَاحِ. وَضَعَ أَخِي الظَّرْفَ فِي الدُّرْجِ، وَنَقَلَ كُرْسِيَّهُ إِلَى النَّافِذَةِ. لَمْ أَسْأَلْهُ إِنْ كَانَ يُرِيدُ الْبُعْدَ عَنِ الصَّوْتِ؛ كُنْتُ قَدْ سَأَلْتُهُ كَثِيرًا. فِي الْمَسَاءِ، سَمِعْتُ الدَّقَّاتِ وَأَنَا أَقْرَأُ. رَفَعْتُ رَأْسِي مَرَّةً نَحْوَ السَّاعَةِ، ثُمَّ مَرَّةً نَحْوَ الدُّرْجِ، وَلَمْ أُزِلِ الْبَطَاقَةَ.
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I took my grandfather's clock to the repairer after a month of silence. I was not asking for more accurate time; my phone was enough for that. Its sound had been present in my memory, regularly punctuating evening conversations. When the man asked what I wanted to preserve, I pointed to the wooden case. My hand lingered at the glass, as though the whole answer were there.
He showed me a gear whose teeth had worn away, then placed a modern replacement beside it. He turned the old gear in the mechanism with his finger; it moved alone, and the hands did not advance. He said the new part could be removed without altering the rest of the mechanism. He did not promise to bring back the past, and I was embarrassed that I had been expecting a promise closer to that. I agreed and asked for the old gear to be kept. Before starting, the repairer repeated his description to me.
My brother arrived while the clock was ticking. He said, 'This is the face we know, but the mechanism is different.' He preferred it to remain silent with its old parts. I reminded him of the sound we used to hear in our grandfather's house. He said that sound did not establish the age of what produced it. I found no accusation against the repairer in his words; he was objecting to what I called preservation.
The repairer gave me a card on which he had written, 'Back as it was.' He did not appear to be hiding anything; he had explained the work in front of us. Even so, I asked him to write instead, 'Back in operation with a modern gear.' He laughed at the length of the phrase, then copied it. He put the removed part in an envelope and wrote my grandfather's name on it, without describing it as faulty.
I hung the clock in its place and kept the card near the key. My brother put the envelope in the drawer and moved his chair to the window. I did not ask whether he wanted to be farther from the sound; I had already asked him a great deal. That evening I heard the ticking as I read. I raised my head once toward the clock, then once toward the drawer, and did not remove the card.
02Useful words from the story
| Arabic in the story | Meaning here |
|---|---|
| الْمُصَلِّحِ | the repairer |
| الصَّمْتِ | silence |
| تُرْسًا | a gear |
| تَآكَلَتْ | had worn away |
| الْعَقَارِبُ | the clock hands |
| تُنْزَعُ | can be removed |
| الْآلَةِ | the mechanism |
| سَاكِتَةً | silent |
| الْقِطْعَةَ الْمَنْزُوعَةَ | the removed part |
| الدَّقَّاتِ | the ticking sounds |
03Check your understanding
Choose one answer per question. Track voices, omissions and competing accounts. Choose the reading best supported by the Arabic text.
What to remember
- The narrator admits expecting more than the repairer promised; his longing is not evidence of deception.
- The card records restored operation and a changed component; the brother's movement does not establish his motive.
Explore the Arabic in this story
Related grammar and vocabularyOpen Araqick guides connected to this story.
Kana in Arabic: Was and Were
كَانَ صَوْتُهَا حَاضِرًا
Read a past state with kana: its noun remains nominative and the adjectival predicate is accusative.
Arabic Relative Pronouns: Joining Ideas with Alladhi and Allati
الْوَجْهُ الَّذِي نَعْرِفُهُ
Follow alladhi with a definite masculine singular noun; the attached hu in the clause refers back to the face.
