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

He began to decipher the sky for her: "It is written that we will live one
hundred years. Our days will flow by in sweet expectancy. Our nights will be
swept away in the whirlwinds of our passionate love . . . I see a glowing young
woman, a contented wife, loved and loving . . . We will have children,
grandchildren, many descendants. I see an old woman with children all around her
and an old man trying his best to get her away from them . . ."
They burst out laughing and, arm in arm, returned to their nest.
But the sky had lied, or Moulay Ali had been unable to penetrate the
language of the stars. Their marriage didn't last long. Even so, they had the time
to taste the delights of Eden. After that, everything seemed colorless, in the other's
absence.
"God punished my insolence. Such happiness as ours should have been
silenced, hidden from the others. 'Moderation and modesty' are the only virtues
recognized in our hypocritical society. A young woman of noble birth should be,
if not repulsed by sex, at least indifferent to the impulses of her body. She should
experience love as a pious act, a sacred duty, a rugged path toward procreation."
"Oh no! I reject this lie. In spite of the price I paid. That is the law of men,
not the law of God."
"I was a young woman and I had a body, senses and a heart. I had a man I
loved and I gave him all, without restraint."
"Now, I am once again face to face with my beloved, but I no longer have
a body or senses to offer him, and my heart is lacerated."
Suddenly tired, she waved her hand, chasing away those bothersome
thoughts and forcing herself to think about what had happened that afternoon.
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