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tales of orontes river
She went into hysterics, she
actually burst out laughing!
And she laughed so hard that
suddenly her waters broke,
and that baby just slipped out
of her belly like a prayer to
the prophet!’
–Yeah, and then what
happened?
–Doctor Mukhtar came out
of the room with his jellabiya
covered in blood, and said
to Abu Ahmed ‘Mabrouk,
brother, you’ve got a son.’
Abu Ahmed drew himself up
and immediately asked the
doctor, ‘Tell me doctor, don’t
take this the wrong way, but
I’m asking you to tell me in
God’s name, did you become
blood kin with my woman
before you delivered the
baby or not?’ Making himself
seem very serious, the doctor
answered, ‘But of course,
Hajji, how could I not have?
What a question! A woman
married to a sweet bloke like
you, well, it’s a chance not to
be missed, to become blood
kin . . . What a question, God
forgive you . . . You and I have
each gained a relation today,
what a bonus!’
‘God bless you, doctor,’
answered Abu Ahmed. ‘In
your honour, I’m going to
name the child Mukhtar.’
The doctor looked at him and
didn’t say anything more. He
didn’t know what to say. He
chuckled, and he left.
Mukhtar, Abu Ahmed’s son, is
about twenty years old now.
He’s taken over his dad’s job
at the wholesale market,
after the poor old thing got
hard of hearing. Whenever
he gets ill he goes to see Dr
Mukhtar, and he always calls
him ‘Uncle.’ And every time
Dr Mukhtar goes through the