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Dimyan was beset by fits of dry coughing. He told Magd al-Din that he was afraid he might have developed asthma, in which case he would undoubtedly die, since a bottle of Mendaco pills cost thirty piasters, and besides there was a shortage since it was usually imported from England, and that was no longer feasible because of the war. Then Dimyan looked sad and told Magd al-Din that he had decided to go to church, confess his sins, and go regularly on Sundays. The Prophet’s birthday had already passed in silence. People listened to the Quran on the radio, but there were no nighttime celebrations with the usual pavilions. Huge amounts of traditional sweets and sugar dolls and horses were still sold, however. Dimyan was observing Lent, which he believed was two weeks too long. He went to church without much thought and came back with tired eyes. “I cried a lot, Sheikh Magd,” he said, “and the reverend father blessed me. I asked Mari Girgis to find a permanent job for you and me. And, as you can see, I am no longer coughing. The reverend gave me oil that got rid of the cough. Faith is sweet, Sheikh Magd. It’s thanks to you that I’ve found faith, even if you didn’t mean for it to happen. I had forgotten that faith, and men of faith, were still around.”
Sitt Maryam gave Zahra a jar of ‘Hazelin Snow,’ a compact of powder and some lipstick and taught her how to use it. She told her, “You’re still young, so why not do this for Magd al-Din’s sake?” Magd al-Din saw her and realized what had happened but did not say anything at first. His wife was going to learn the ways of the big city whether he wanted it or not, and he had to keep quiet about it, otherwise she would seek it even more. He knew that forbidding something only made it more desirable. He even went out of his way to say to Zahra, “You’ve become more beautiful than before.” And he knew he was not lying. He would come home exhausted after making the rounds of the factories along the Mahmudiya canal. He had made it all the way to the warehouses of the credit bank in Kafr Ashri. He had carried heavy sacks on his back all day long or worked at the cotton gi
Shamm al-Nasim (the spring festival) and the other feasts were over. Finally Norway surrendered, and the Allies were beaten. The world waited with bated breath for Germany’s next blow. The German battle cruisers Scharnhorst and Grieisenau attacked the British aircraft carrier Glorious and sank it in less than ninety minutes. The Egyptian minister of national defense issued an order prohibiting marriage for second lieutenants in the Egyptian army so they would not be distracted from military affairs by family obligations. Opening Marsa Matruh as a summer resort was postponed indefinitely this season, in view of the war and because there was no place for people to stay anyway. The United States began exporting to the Allies the fighter jet Bell Airacobra, which flew at a speed of seven hundred kilometers an hour, at a price of twenty thousand pounds apiece. Fishing was ba