A Thousand Splendid Suns

Except for a handful of days, Rasheed didn't observe the fast. The few
times he did, he came home in a sour mood. Hunger made him curt,
irritable, impatient. One night, Mariam was a few minutes late with
dinner, and he started eating bread with radishes. Even after Mariam put
the rice and the lamb and okra qurma in front of him, he wouldn't touch
it. He said nothing, and went on chewing the bread, his temples working,
the vein on his forehead, full and angry. He went on chewing and staring
ahead, and when Mariam spoke to him he looked at her without seeing
her face and put another piece of bread into his mouth.
Mariam was relieved when Ramadan ended.
Back at the kolba, on the first of three days of Eid-ul-Fitr celebration
that followed Ramadan, Jalil would visit Mariam and Nana. Dressed in
suit and tie, he would come bearing Eid presents. One year, he gave
Mariam a wool scarf. The three of them would sit for tea and then Jalil
would excuse himself "Off to celebrate Eid with his real family," Nana
would say as he crossed the stream and waved-Mullah Faizullah would
come too. He would bring Mariam chocolate candy wrapped in foil, a
basketful of dyed boiled eggs, cookies. After he was gone, Mariam would
climb one of the willows with her treats. Perched on a high branch, she
would eat Mullah Faizullah's chocolates and drop the foil wrappers until
they lay scattered about the trunk of the tree like silver blossoms. When
the chocolate was gone, she would start in on the cookies, and, with a
pencil, she would draw faces on the eggs he had brought her now. But
there was little pleasure in this for her. Mariam dreaded Eid, this time of
hospitality and ceremony, when families dressed in their best and visited
each other. She would imagine the air in Herat crackling with merriness,
and high-spirited, bright-eyed people showering each other with
endearments and goodwill. A forlornness would descend on her like a