A reunion recording restores a pause, a whisper and a stuck scenery door to a school performance one actor remembers as his own triumph.
01Read the Arabic story
الْمَسْرَحِيَّةُ الْمَدْرَسِيَّةُ الَّتِي تَذَكَّرْتُهَا كَانْتِصَارٍ
كُنْتُ أَرْوِي مَسْرَحِيَّتَنَا الْمَدْرَسِيَّةَ كَأَنَّهَا اِنْتِصَارِي وَحْدِي. أَذْكُرُ صَوْتِي وَالتَّصْفِيقَ، وَأَتْرُكُ لِزُمَلَائِي مَا بَيْنَهُمَا مِنْ حَرَكَاتٍ. فِي لِقَاءِ قُدَمَاءِ الطُّلَّابِ، أَحْضَرَ سَلِيمٌ بَرْنَامَجَ الْعَرْضِ وَتَسْجِيلَهُ. كَانَ اسْمِي مُحَاطًا بِدَائِرَةٍ رَسَمْتُهَا يَوْمَئِذٍ، وَتَحْتَهُ أَسْمَاءُ الْمُمَثِّلِينَ الْخَمْسَةِ الْآخَرِينَ. طَلَبْتُ تَشْغِيلَ الشَّرِيطِ، مُسْتَعِدًّا لِسَمَاعِ الدَّلِيلِ الَّذِي لَا أَحْتَاجُ إِلَيْهِ فِي رِوَايَتِي.
بَعْدَ رَنَّةِ الْجَرَسِ، طَالَ الصَّمْتُ. كُنْتُ قَدْ نَسِيتُ أَوَّلَ جُمْلَةٍ، ثُمَّ سَمِعْتُ هَمْسَةَ سَلِيمٍ: اسْمَ الْمَدِينَةِ الَّتِي يَجْرِي فِيهَا الْحَدَثُ. سَأَلْتُ عَنِ الطَّرِيقِ إِلَيْهَا بِجُمْلَةٍ لَيْسَتْ فِي النَّصِّ، وَأَكْمَلْتُ الْحِوَارَ. كُنْتُ أَتَذَكَّرُ السُّؤَالَ بَوَصْفِهِ دَلِيلَ شَجَاعَةٍ، أَمَّا الصَّمْتُ السَّابِقُ فَلَمْ أَمْنَحْهُ مَكَانًا. أَعَدْتُ الشَّرِيطَ لِأَسْمَعَ مَا كَانَ يَسْبِقُ صَوْتِي.
قَالَ سَلِيمٌ إِنَّ بَابَ الدِّيكُورِ عَلِقَ، وَإِنَّ زَمِيلَيْنِ كَانَا يُحَرِّكَانِهِ مِنَ الْخَلْفِ. أَتَاحَ لَهُمَا سُؤَالِي وَقْتًا، حَتَّى لَوْ لَمْ أَقْصِدْ ذَلِكَ. كَانَ يَتَذَكَّرُ خَوْفَهُ مِنْ أَنْ يَبْلُغَ هَمْسُهُ الْجُمْهُورَ؛ أَنَا كُنْتُ أَتَذَكَّرُ قُوَّةَ صَوْتِي. لَمْ يَطْلُبْ مِنِّي اِعْتِذَارًا، وَأَشَارَ إِلَى اسْمِهِ فِي الْبَرْنَامَجِ: دَوْرُ الْمُسَافِرِ، لَا دَوْرُ الْمُلَقِّنِ.
فِي نِهَايَةِ التَّسْجِيلِ، سَمِعْنَا خُطُوَاتِنَا وَنَحْنُ نَنْحَنِي مَعًا، ثُمَّ التَّصْفِيقَ. لَمْ يُصْبِحْ فَرَحِي الْقَدِيمُ وَهْمًا، لَكِنَّ الصَّوْتَ لَمْ يَكُنْ يَحْمِلُ أَسْمَاءَ مَنْ صَفَّقَ لِمَنْ. وَالْبَابُ الَّذِي لَمْ يَظْهَرْ فِي حِكَايَتِي كَانَ، فِي حِكَايَةِ سَلِيمٍ، يُصْلَحُ وَنَحْنُ نُؤَدِّي الْحِوَارَ. سَأَلْتُهُ عَنْ زَمِيلَيْنَا، فَأَخْرَجَ صُورَةً لِلْفَرِيقِ بَدَلًا مِنْ أَنْ يُحْصِيَ أَخْطَائِي.
عِنْدَ إِعْدَادِ صَفْحَةِ اللِّقَاءِ، وَضَعْتُ الصُّورَةَ وَأَسْمَاءَنَا السِّتَّةَ. كَتَبْتُ أَنَّنِي اِرْتَجَلْتُ سُؤَالًا بَعْدَ هَمْسَةٍ، وَأَنَّ الْعَرْضَ اسْتَمَرَّ. لَمْ أَمْحُ الدَّائِرَةَ حَوْلَ اسْمِي فِي الْبَرْنَامَجِ؛ هِيَ أَيْضًا أَثَرٌ مِنْ ذَلِكَ الْيَوْمِ، وَلَكِنَّهَا لَيْسَتْ مِقْيَاسًا لِحَجْمِ أَدْوَارِنَا. أَعَدْتُ الْبَرْنَامَجَ إِلَى سَلِيمٍ وَطَلَبْتُ نُسْخَةً. أَرَدْتُ أَنْ أَحْفَظَ تَصْفِيقَنَا، بِدَائِرَتِي وَبِالْأَسْمَاءِ الَّتِي تَحْتَهَا.
Show English translationHide English translation
I used to tell the story of our school play as though it were my triumph alone. I remember my voice and the applause, leaving my classmates the movements between them. At a reunion of former pupils, Salim brought the programme and a recording. My name was surrounded by a circle I had drawn that day, with the names of the other five actors underneath. I asked him to play the tape, ready to hear the evidence I did not need in my own account.
After the bell rang, the silence lasted a long time. I had forgotten the first sentence, then I heard Salim’s whisper: the name of the city where the action took place. I asked about the road to it in a sentence that was not in the script and carried on with the dialogue. I used to remember the question as evidence of courage, but gave the preceding silence no place. I rewound the tape to hear what had come before my voice.
Salim said that the scenery door had jammed and two classmates were moving it from behind. My question gave them time, even if I had not intended that. He remembered his fear that his whisper would reach the audience; I remembered the strength of my voice. He did not ask me for an apology and pointed to his name in the programme: the traveller’s role, not the prompter’s.
At the end of the recording we heard our footsteps as we bowed together, then the applause. My old delight did not become an illusion, but the sound did not carry the names of who had applauded whom. The door that had not appeared in my story was being repaired, in Salim’s story, while we were performing the dialogue. I asked about our two classmates, and he produced a team photograph instead of counting my mistakes.
When preparing the reunion page, I included the photograph and our six names. I wrote that I had improvised a question after a whisper and that the performance had continued. I did not erase the circle around my name in the programme; it too was a trace of that day, but not a measure of the size of our roles. I returned the programme to Salim and asked for a copy. I wanted to preserve our applause, with my circle and the names below it.
02Useful words from the story
| Arabic in the story | Meaning here |
|---|---|
| قُدَمَاءِ | former; old, in former pupils |
| مُحَاطًا | surrounded |
| رَنَّةِ | the ring of |
| هَمْسَةَ | the whisper of |
| الدِّيكُورِ | the stage scenery |
| عَلِقَ | became stuck; jammed |
| الْمُلَقِّنِ | the prompter |
| نَنْحَنِي | we bow |
| اِرْتَجَلْتُ | I improvised |
| مِقْيَاسًا | a measure; yardstick |
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
- A recording can restore omitted contributions without invalidating the remembered delight.
- Keeping a child’s circle around one name preserves a perspective; including all six names changes its later framing.
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
الْمَدِينَةِ الَّتِي يَجْرِي فِيهَا الْحَدَثُ
Follow the feminine singular city into the clause describing where the action takes place.
Arabic Prepositions with Pronouns: To Me, On Me and With Us
لَمْ يَطْلُبْ مِنِّي اِعْتِذَارًا
Read minni as from me: Salim does not request an apology from the narrator.
