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

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

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He had lived without regret or shame, satisfied with his disgrace, until this<br />

day, this <strong>in</strong>stant. As he stood face to face with this human mass <strong>in</strong> a state of trance<br />

chant<strong>in</strong>g words of liberty, honor, and dignity, his past life flashed before him,<br />

empty of glory, and it humiliated him.<br />

S<strong>in</strong>ce he had arrived <strong>in</strong> Fez, with no other wealth than his belong<strong>in</strong>g to the<br />

"family of the Prophet," he had never known poverty. He had been respectfully<br />

received everywhere, fed and lodged at the expense of the community and<br />

honored for his noble ancestors. He sometimes worked with craftsmen <strong>in</strong> the<br />

conceal<strong>in</strong>g half-light at the back of a workshop, but he refused to do demean<strong>in</strong>g<br />

tasks that would have tarnished the grandeur he wished to project.<br />

Still, he felt his future was precarious. He lived from day to day <strong>in</strong><br />

grow<strong>in</strong>g uncerta<strong>in</strong>ty that his peace would last, until the splendid day when<br />

Moulay <strong>La</strong>rbi, God have mercy on his soul, proposed to give Sharif his daughter's<br />

hand <strong>in</strong> marriage and his fortune.<br />

The meet<strong>in</strong>g had been arranged by a mutual friend, <strong>in</strong> an <strong>in</strong>n, away from<br />

pry<strong>in</strong>g eyes. Moulay <strong>La</strong>rbi had peered at him suspiciously before speak<strong>in</strong>g to him.<br />

"I have come to offer you my daughter's hand <strong>in</strong> marriage, consider<strong>in</strong>g<br />

your noble l<strong>in</strong>eage and because I have been told you are a good man."<br />

These last words had been pronounced <strong>in</strong> a severe tone, imply<strong>in</strong>g, "Woe<br />

betide you if I've been misled!"<br />

"You will not need to give the bride price or the customary gifts," the<br />

patriarch had added. "I will take care of everyth<strong>in</strong>g. You will live <strong>in</strong> my house<br />

with your wife and children, if God grants you offspr<strong>in</strong>g. I will pay your<br />

expenses. However, I warn you. <strong>La</strong>lla Kenza has . . . well . . . shall we say . . . an<br />

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