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

future. But can you prevent the young from making liberty their religion and the
fight to gain it their purpose in life?
Certainly they did their best to cajole "the masters." They received them in
their sumptuous homes and prepared places like the garden of Eden for them,
under flower-laden cupolas that evoked the lost paradise, Muslim Andalusia,
where opulence rivaled refinement. In the light of the setting sun, these
Europeans, who had abolished all signs of feudal, lordly rights in their own lands,
enjoyed lounging on cushions here, served by silent slaves with bare, hennaed feet
who responded "Yes, Sidi, Yes," eyes lowered. They delighted also in the
simmered dishes, so different from the fried steak their dear wives hardly took the
time to prepare, too busy playing grand dame in fancy receptions. They stuffed
themselves with savory meat pie and roast lamb, eating by the fistful, ignoring the
rules of etiquette that govern a meal served in a communal dish without forks, all
the while scorning their hosts for this very abundance that they saw as a lack of
cultural refinement.
Even as they regaled their guests, these distinguished gentlemen, wrapped
in their arrogance, were telling themselves that their scatter-brained children must
be among the demonstrators whose passionate voices could be heard echoing
along the ancient walls, shouting patriotic slogans. They prayed to God the All
Powerful that their children might be spared.
At the news of the arrests, their wives slipped away to the rooftop terraces,
this heaven-blessed place where the authority of men did not pursue them and
they could express their emotion with restraint. They leaned far over the terrace
walls and passed on to the neighbor and friend the news each one thought only
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