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

she had heard. They were accustomed to these uncomfortable and dangerous
positions. They had often tossed a bundle from one rooftop to another or lifted a
basket of treasures from below. They sometimes lifted a baby, suspended for a
moment between sky and earth, while the mothers chatted.
They would run up the stairs two by two, their white calves molded in
pantalets of lacy embroidery, followed by scrawny cats and squalling children.
They often let themselves go in the joy of cavorting within reach of the sky, free
of all constraints.
But when the people went out into the street, defying the forces of order
and waving hundreds of copies of the Manifesto that had been recopied and
passed around by school children, when the ruthless havoc began and the
demonstrators began to fall under vengeful bullets, the women came down from
their refuge and joined the men in the same unfettered agitation.
They shouted, called to each other and ran barefoot, their feet slapping
sharply on the tile floor, and covered their ears when a scream brought visions of
a new victim. They hid small objects in hiding places prepared in advance. They
tried to hide those whose names were known to be on the occupier's black list, but
their efforts were in vain. The mezzanine, the attic and the storage room are the
places they search most carefully when they want to find a fugitive. Women who
were used to seeing their men leave were already packing the suitcase, throwing
in warm clothes and sweets, books--faithful companions in long months of
solitude--and a lucky charm that held the promise of reunion.
H'nia told anyone who would listen that they should be careful of roosters;
they were true traitors. Her distrust of this fowl was justified. Her husband, Si
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