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emember a friend of my son's", the narrator continues, "a fellow-
student at school, whom my son invited to stay with us a year ago at
this time of year. His people come from the town. He stayed one night
with us and got up the next day, feverish, with a running nose and
swollen face: he swore he wouldn't spend another night with us".
(lines 9-12 of the ST) The same meaning is carried through the
'preacher' episode (lines 37-61 of the ST); the 'agricultural scheme'
episode (lines 71-83); and the 'stopping place for the steamer' episode
(lines 149-181). Furthermore, the recurrence of the narrator's
statement: "Tomorrow you will depart from our village, of this I am
sure, and you will be right to do so." is a clear indication that life
in the village was totally unbearable, intolerable and practically
impossible for any outsider. Any outsider, on a tourist or a casual
visit to the village, should depart as soon as possible if he wanted to
save his skin. The narrator's admonition is strong, unequivocal, and
emphatic. No one could put up with the monotony, stagnation,
immobility and the poverty-stricken life of the village, to which
peasants have grown accustomed.
The power which the doum tree has over every single soul in the
village is reinforced through a series of extended meanings. The doum
tree is "like some mythical eagle spreading its wings over the village
and every one in it". (lines 70-71) "It is lofty, proud and haughty as
though - as though it were some ancient idol". (lines 88-89) "No one
remembers how the doum tree came to grow in a patch of rocky ground by
the river, standing above it like a sentinel". (lines 257-258) The
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