Translating Nouzha Fassi Fihri's La Baroudeuse: A Case Study in ...

verdict without appeal. Moulay Ali would remember to the day he died his
confrontation with this inflexible man on whom prayers, pleading, and angry
protest had no effect. "You have chosen to leave, so be it. But my daughter shall
be freed at once. I have sent for the witnesses to come after the afternoon prayer.
This affair should take place in total discretion; it is strictly a family matter! We
don't know how long you will be gone. Five, ten, twenty years? Only God
foresees what is to be. My daughter will rebuild her life. She would not be able to
wait for you so long. And you will find another wife where you are. The women
of Tetuan make good wives and cook well. They are thrifty, though as far as
beauty is concerned, man-to-man...ho! ho!"
Moulay Ali had thrown himself at his father's feet, begging him to save
their marriage. But what could a younger brother do when his elder stood by his
decision? The elder brother traditionally inherited the role as head of the family,
and his word was law. He held the destiny of all the family members in his hand.
How many couples were destroyed by the will of a powerful and despotic male;
how many marriages were prevented, to the great displeasure of girls badly in
need of husbands; how many dreams dispersed and feelings crushed under foot.
In the hierarchy of this society, the interests of the group were stronger than those
of the individual. To save the patrimony and protect it from disintegration, to
preserve the family union through new blood ties, personal happiness was
scorned. The structure was built on the wreckage of lives.
Kenza had cried, screamed, and shouted her pain. She had clawed her
cheeks and torn out her hair. She had refused to eat and vowed to set the house on
fire, to kill herself, but her father had remained imperturbable. She was stubborn,
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