استحوتْ الشاة المزريّة موعد راعيتها؛ فاستحبت بفمها القرنب، وانفتح المراح؛ اسربت الغنم وراها؛ خروف العيد، وعنز وشاتين مع البهم، وبقيت البقرة وحسيلتها، ومع نزول (بركة الحمديّة) بحلّة المواص، لمحت باب المراح، فانتخت كعادتها (آنا بنت آبي) وشلّها الراقف؛ خوفاً على غنمها التي لا شك أنها نزلت في ركيب (شبّاب الهواوي) ورُعباً من زوجها (حُمران) زلقت بها الزنوبة؛ ففقدتْ توازنها، فطاحت، وانثنت قدمها اليسرى، فانخفعت؛ وانكبّ المواص على شرشفها وكرتتها؛ فقالت؛ عندكم يا ذا النهار.
تحاملت على نفسها، وقدّمت الحلّة بما بقي فيها قدام البقرة؛ تولّف الديك والدجاج، طردته وقالت؛ ما عد عليك إلا هي يا بقان القفا؛ تشاركون النفاس فالها؛ فخرج الديك هارباً للساحات والدجاج من وراءه؛ إلا دجاجتها البيّاضة الأثيرة، عادت لترقد على بيضها فوق العلف الذي يملأ الجزء الأيمن من السفل؛ ويمتد عمقه على مساحة مظلمة، ما حد يسكن يدخلها، إلا وقت شحاحة وإلا لسلسة، دنّقت على الحلّة، لتحت من حافتها، بقايا عجينة يابسة للدجاجة، وما أمداها استوت واقفة؛ حتى ناض عليها ظهرها، فصاحت «يا ظهرك يا عبادة».
ردّت باب السفل، خشيةً على الحسيلة من الكلبة المِجْرِيَة؛ المفرّخة في الخربة؛ وتفقدت شرشفها وملابسها، ثم ارتدت طرف الشرشف على فمها، وما غير شرّفت على الوادي، إلا هذا (شبّاب) مستاق غنمها، ويحذفها بالحصى، غيّرت مسارها من طريق الجمّالة، واعترضت طريقه قبل ما يصل ساحة بيته؛ شاورت له على البيت، ففهم أن زوجته بتسمع وربما تخرج عليه وتوطّي فيه ما وطّى السلقة في خاله؛ فآثر الصمت، فمدّت له باللبانة، فشافها خاتمة وكسوة، هدأ و حط اللبانة بين ضروسه وبدأ يعلك، قال؛ ما ودك تعدين تشربين معي فنجال، لم تردّ؛ واحترفت غنمها، فعلّق؛ والله لو ما تخلّي في الركيب زِنه؛ لكن معي حثمة على (حمران) سقط عليّه؛ وسبقني عليك، أعمى آبوك الطماع، إلا والله ما حقّك إلا هذا الصدر، وخبط بيده على صدره الدالع البارزة ضلوعه؛ فردّت عليه؛ أبشر بالعوض، إن كان ودّك تأخذ (مِفرحة) لولدك (فرحان) فأعجبته الفكرة، طمعاً في شوفتها ويصير له عذر يغدي ويجي.
حاول يقنع (فرحان) هو وأمه بمفرحة، وأمّ فرحان صدّاقة بني زريرة، تجتهد يا غافل لك الله علّام النوايا. طلّق من ظهر أمه؛ لو ما وافق؛ ليظهره من البيت والوادي، وقال مستهزئاً؛ يا فرخان؛ مراحمة (حمران) شكالة ونكالة، ما تدري أن (حمران) سمّاه جدّه (خوطان) باسم جمل من جمال الهجاهجة؛ ردّ عليه؛ مفرحة ما تفرّح يابه تخرع طايفه من الجنّ؛ علّق؛ من هيالتك انت وامك؛ بغت تردّ؛ فقاطعها؛ جدك (حوتان) قد باعوه رفاقته في سوق المخواة بعشرة ريال، وما اعتقله إلا جدي، فصمتتْ.
عاد (حمران) من سوق السبت، بعد الظهر، وطلب من ابنته (مفرحة) تنزّل خُرج الحمارة من فوقها، وتحط الحلس، وتسقيها، كعادة أم مفرحة، تناولت الخرج من بنتها، وحطته قدام أبو مفرحة، أخرج السفرة، وقال؛ ألزمي ملّحي اللحمة وانشريها فوق الحمّالة، ومن فتحة الخرج الثانية، أخرج القسبة، وزبيب رازقي، ولُباب من عند صاحبه علي فقس؛ نشدته؛ كن بيجينا ضيوف، ردّ؛ ضيفي وضيفك الله؛ هذي وُثاقة؛ يمرّنا شابر والا عابر، إلا وفي بيتنا ما نقطع به الشرهة.
ما غربت شمس النهار، إلا ولد آخوها (شِرْكان) في الساحة، رحّبت ومازحته؛ من حصّب لك الطريق يا زفران، بيجي المطر؟ فقبّل رأسها؛ وقال آبي يسلّم عليك وتراه له كم يوم ما يذوق الذُّوق؛ وما على لسانه إلا أخته (بركة) أدخلته، وقالت له؛ عدّ تعشّ معنا ونسري، ردّ؛ إلا نتعشى ونسمر وبكرة يحلّها الحلّال؛ وفوق العشاء؛ قال؛ يا عم حمران، زوجني مفرحة، فقال؛ والله انك وعشرة أنعام يا زفران، لك مفرحة متعافية وانت جلد ومشاش، أخاف ما تقدر فيها؛ علّق؛ والله لا احوسها واحوس أبوها! ردّ عليه؛ تهبى وتخسى آبوها ما قدروا فيه شمطان اللحى يا بو صنّه كما صنّة اللّحام، وبدع (عادتك تقبل توالي الليل يا بو الليول؛ شدّتْ وسارت جِمال البدو باحمالها).
ما أمدى أم مفرحة تصل هي وزفران، إلا والجماعة فوق المقبرة، صاحت وناحت (يا آخي آخياه) وشاركتهم أحزانهم، وعوّدت لبيتها؛ خاطرها متكدر، وحالها يرْحِم، وما به بطى إلا و(شباب الهواوي) وولده (فرحان) هذا مبداهم؛ قال وعينه على أم مفرحة؛ علمنا وسلامتكم؛ جينا مصهّرة في (مفرحة) لفرحان؛ فقال أبوها؛ ردّي عليه يا مرة! استنكر وقال؛ تعقب ما تردّ عليّه حرمة يا الناقص؛ قال؛ همّنك تعلّمني بعلمك، وعينك قاطعة فيها.
امتص غضبهم؛ لأنه ميّس بهم يبدون ما معه عوين إلا الله؛ فقال تقهووا الله يحييكم لحاجة ولغير؛ وانتم فصّلوا وانحن نلبس؛ لكن المرواح حول الليلة، انفرجت الأسارير؛ ومن تالي يوم؛ وشبّاب وثيرانه؛ ومرته وولده في خدمة حمران وبلاده؛ يا شباب معنا محرثة نهار.. ابشر يا الرحيم، معنا سوق سرّح فرحان بالثيران.. ابشر يالرحيم.. معنا دمنة بنرحلها، ودنا بالحمار والحفص.. ابشر يالرحيم.. وذات ظهيرة؛ وصلت معه كيس التنباك؛ فقال يا فرحان؛ المثل يا ولدي يقول (قال لا شربت مرقتها عرفت سنّها؛ قال لا إذا فرّيتها عرفت سنّها) والله ما يحول الحول إلا وهذا الرجّال قد قطّع ظهري وظهر أمك وظهرك، وصرم حالنا وحلالنا؛ ما ينقرب لا ذِكر بخير، وأضاف؛ اختار الله وأنا أبوك؛ بغينا نركب الجمل وطاح فوقنا.
The miserable sheep awaited its shepherdess; it nibbled at the grass with its mouth, and the pen opened; the sheep scattered, and it followed them; the Eid lamb, a goat, and two sheep with the young ones remained, while the cow and its calf stayed behind. As (Barakat Al-Hamdiya) descended in the attire of the shepherdess, she caught sight of the pen door, and as usual, she called out (I am the daughter of my father) and her voice trembled; fearing for her sheep, which had surely gone to the flock (Shabab Al-Hawawi), and terrified of her husband (Humran), she slipped on the mud; she lost her balance, fell, and twisted her left foot, causing her to stumble; and the shepherdess fell onto her blanket and her mat; she exclaimed, “You have it, O day.”
She gathered herself, and brought the attire that remained before the cow; the rooster and the hens gathered, she chased them away and said, “You have nothing but this, O cow of the back; you share in the birthing.” The rooster fled to the yards with the hens behind it; except for her favorite laying hen, which returned to sit on its eggs atop the feed that filled the right side of the bottom; its depth extended into a dark area, where no one could enter, except during times of scarcity or for a series of events, she leaned on the attire to remove from its edge the remnants of dry dough for the hen, and before she could stand up, her back ached, and she cried out, “O your back, O Abadah.”
She closed the bottom door, fearing for the calf from the stray dog; the one that had nested in the ruin; she checked her blanket and clothes, then wrapped the edge of the blanket around her mouth, and as she turned to the valley, she saw this (Shabab) leading her sheep, and he threw stones at her, changing her path from the way of the merchants, and she intercepted his path before he reached his house; she gestured to him about the house, so he understood that his wife might hear and perhaps come out to confront him, just as she had confronted the situation with her uncle; he preferred silence, so she extended the chewing gum to him, and he accepted it as a final gesture and clothing, he calmed down, placed the gum between his teeth, and began to chew, saying, “Would you like to come and drink a cup with me?” She did not respond; and she focused on her sheep, he remarked, “By God, if you don’t let it in the flock, it will weigh down; but I have a burden on (Humran) that fell on me; and he got ahead of me, blind is your greedy father, but by God, you deserve only this chest,” and he slapped his hand on his protruding chest, highlighting his ribs; she replied, “Good news of compensation, if you want to take (Mufriha) for your son (Farhan), the idea pleased him, hoping to see her and having an excuse to feed and come back.”
He tried to convince (Farhan) and his mother about Mufriha, and Farhan’s mother, a generous woman from Bani Zarira, worked hard, saying, “O heedless one, may God guide you, He knows the intentions.” He divorced her from her mother’s back; if she did not agree; to take him out of the house and the valley, and he said mockingly, “O Farhan; the shepherd of (Humran) is a burden and a trial, do you not know that (Humran) was named by his grandfather (Khotan) after a camel from the camels of the Hijaj?” He replied, “Mufriha does not bring joy, O you who frightens a passing ghost;” he commented, “From your lineage, you and your mother; she wanted to respond; but he interrupted her; your grandfather (Houtan) sold him to his companions in the market of Al-Mukhwa for ten riyals, and only my grandfather freed him,” and she fell silent.
(Humran) returned from the Saturday market in the afternoon, and asked his daughter (Mufriha) to take down the donkey’s saddle from her, and put the mat down, and water it, as was the custom of Mufriha’s mother. She took the saddle from her daughter and placed it in front of Abu Mufriha, who took out the meal and said, “You must salt the meat and spread it over the saddle, and from the other opening of the saddle, he took out the sugarcane, and raisin, and some pulp from his friend Ali Faqas; he asked her, “Are we expecting guests?” He replied, “My guest and your guest is God; this is a bond; whether a passerby or a traveler, we do not cut off the hospitality.”
The sun had not set yet when her brother’s son (Shirkan) was in the yard, she welcomed him and joked, “Who paved the way for you, O Zafran, is the rain coming?” He kissed her head and said, “My father sends his regards to you, and he hasn’t tasted food for a few days; and on his tongue is only his sister (Barakat).” She welcomed him and said, “Come, have dinner with us and we will enjoy,” he replied, “We will have dinner and chat, and tomorrow the solution will come; and during dinner, he said, “O uncle Humran, marry me to Mufriha,” he said, “By God, you and your ten animals, O Zafran, you have Mufriha, who is healthy, and you are skin and bones, I fear you cannot handle her;” he commented, “By God, I will take care of her and her father!” He replied, “You will be humbled and your father will not be able to handle the burdens of the beard, O son of the one who is like a butcher, and you have a habit of accepting the night, O son of the nights; the camels of the Bedouins moved with their loads.”
Mufriha’s mother had not reached with Zafran when the group was at the cemetery, she cried and lamented (O my brother, O my brother) and shared their sorrows, then returned to her home; her thoughts were troubled, and her condition was pitiful, and there was no delay except that (Shabab Al-Hawawi) and his son (Farhan) were at their beginning; he said, with his eyes on Mufriha’s mother, “We have come to seek (Mufriha) for Farhan;” her father said, “Respond to him, O woman!” He was astonished and said, “You do not respond to me, a woman, O incomplete one;” he said, “You are concerned about teaching me your knowledge, and your eye is cutting through it.”
He absorbed their anger; because he was easy-going, they seemed to have no one but God; he said, “Have some coffee, may God greet you for a need or otherwise; and you all sit down while we dress; but the evening is around tonight, the faces brightened; and the next day; Shabab and his cattle; and his wife and son were in the service of Humran and his people; O youth, we have a plow for the day.. good news, O Rahim, we have a market to send Farhan with the cattle.. good news, O Rahim.. we have a place to go, and we have the donkey and the cart.. good news, O Rahim.. and one afternoon; he arrived with a bag of tobacco; he said, “O Farhan; the proverb, my son, says (If you drink its broth, you will know its age; if you run it, you will know its age); by God, a year will not pass except this man has broken my back and your mother’s back and your back, and our situation and our livestock; no mention of good will come, and he added, “God chose, and I am your father; we wanted to ride the camel, and it fell on us.”
