TO BE BORN AGAIN AND KNOW THE ESSENCE OF THINGS (Fragments of the story) FATUMA GERRARY BENABDENBY (Morocco) Know that the world is a mirror of life And in every drop - the whole ocean... M. Shabestari, 14th-century Iranian Sufi poet Twenty years old. A wonderful age. You have new ideas about a married couple now. They are two pigeons in one nest. Just like in the song, you, all filled with its sweet melody, begin your journey through life together. One spring day, you and Ali decided to get married. Your family was startled, but they didn't stop you. And now, in the large, old-fashioned house of your uncle, a rich spice merchant, the wedding ceremony began, although rather modest. Numerous relatives who came to the festival page 72 relatives were treated to mint tea with almond tubes to their heart's content. These people were always invited here when something significant was happening in the family: the circumcision of your cousin, the wake after your father's funeral, the return from the pilgrimage of your eldest aunt Hlima... The women were celebrating in a separate hall, singing and dancing, letting out loud trills of joy. Some swayed their hips gracefully, while others stamped their feet vigorously, beating out the rhythm of the melody. You watched their merriment from under thickly smeared lashes, smiled back at their smiles, caught their tender and admiring glances. She looked down at herself. You're wearing a wedding coat, even though it's not yours. It belongs to your cousin. Around her neck is a necklace of large, jagged pearls, which is also not yours, but that of your uncle Tahar's wife... In the seventies, it wasn't shameful to borrow a wedding outfit. It is today that the consuming contagion of consumption condemns everyone to show-off, simply unrealistic in its pretentiousness and falsehood. At weddings, the invited guests sit at tables like in restaurants, devour the rich dishes-sometimes sweet, sometimes salty-drink milk rivers a ... Читать далее