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

of his nephews since he could no longer take care of it personally, and a public
bath the proceeds of which alone would have been sufficient for him to live in
comfort.
When the negafats got to Lalla Kenza's house after a long quest, they let
fly their sarcastic and biting ridicule of the old merchant and others like him,
shouting their laughter, sitting in the kitchen that was crowded with packages
intended for clandestine delivery. They felt comfortable in this house where they
came to eat, drink, joke, laugh, and pour out their streams of gossip to a willing
dada who was glad to have these spicy intermissions in a life of otherwise
unbroken austerity.
"If you had seen him, Marjana, trembling on his skinny legs, a sneer
twisting his mouth!"
"The old monkey! Does he think he will live forever? He will leave his
money to those who won't even pray at his grave."
"He swore these rusty coins were his only fortune. He deserves to have his
treasure stolen in the night."
"You'd have to kill him first, the old bag of bones, to make him let go of it.
He sleeps on his safe to be prepared for any attempt at robbery."
"His greed is legendary. People say he eats meat once a month, drinks tea
only on Fridays, and counts the number of logs burned under the pot."
"Ha ha ha..."
They had put down the bundles they had been balancing on their heads
during their whole expedition, and they had unwrapped their booty before the
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