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

humanity. It is the third monotheistic religion that God, in his wisdom, revealed to
his Prophet to complete the two others and restore "knowledge" to mankind.
"We must save it from every apocalypse.
"Even if we have to die, Islam must remain!"
She was at this point in her thoughts when she heard a light knocking at
the outer door of the house. She listened, sure that it would be bad news. She was
sure her husband was dead or mortally wounded. In moments, the door was
opened, and she heard a quickly silenced scream.
Lalla Kenza got up and straightened her clothes with slow deliberation.
She was already mentally organizing the details of the funeral: get the shroud he
had brought back from Mecca out of the old chest, empty the side reception room
to lay out the body, call the reciter of the Koran from the local sanctuary. When
Dada got to the top of the stairs, out of breath, she found her mistress standing and
gazing at her with sharp, scrutinizing eyes. Dada burst into tears and gasped the
message: Sharif was dead. A bullet had hit him square in the chest.
Lalla Kenza showed no visible reaction. Not a muscle moved in her frozen
face. Annoyed with the noisy display of emotion, she pushed away her slave and
walked down the stairs one by one, not letting herself touch the wall for support.
She did not wish to go gently on her bad leg. The pain would keep her alert. She
would need to focus her attention in order to miss no detail and ask pertinent
questions about the circumstances of her husband's death. It was only now that
she wanted to understand the man's personality and do him justice.
A tall young man stood on the patio that was partially lit by a lantern
hanging from a faded cupola. Wrapped from head to foot in a black burnoose, he
172