Profit by Others' Experience (A One-Act Play)

(A One-Act Play)

Najla — (entering): What am I to do, Auntie Umm Hasan? The first signs of summer are here, and I am not ready for it.

Umm Hasan — What do you mean? I cannot believe you have not yet bought your summer clothes.

Najla — Summer clothes? Oh, of course — I have bought all the dresses and accessories I need for the new season.

Umm Hasan — I have no doubt your husband has begun borrowing to cover the deficit your needs for the new season have brought upon him!

Najla — But it is not clothes I mean this time; that is a subject I know by heart and always prepare for. I mean the furnishings of the house.

Umm Hasan — The furnishings of the house? Do they too need accessories for the summer season?

Najla — No; but I want to keep them in their present trim, for I have noticed that my husband grumbles about the air of our house and its heat.

Umm Hasan — Never mind, that is only temporary, so long as you go up to the mountain, where the air is pure and the weather bright.

Najla — But I have not put my house in Beirut in proper order. The carpets are still spread in the rooms, giving off a disagreeable smell from the traces of winter shoes and their mud.

Umm Hasan — Then clean them and put them away in their places, sprinkled with naphthalene.

Najla — I did try to clean them: I brought the porter and he beat them with a stick to get the dust out; but it seems part of them is still dirty, especially the carpet spread in the children's room.

Umm Hasan — If you want to clean it well, here is the method I use with success. Listen: put the carpet in a room empty of furniture, or in the bathroom if possible, and pour over it lukewarm water mixed with six spoonfuls of cream of tartar until it is soaked through.

Najla — The task is getting harder: chemical preparations have entered the field!

Umm Hasan — Very well, very well. If you cannot find cream of tartar, grate a piece of soap and mix it with four spoonfuls each of Persil soap and washing soda. Then rub the carpet on the pile side with the edge of a piece of wood, and pour plenty of lukewarm or cold water over it. Afterward spread it over the top of the wall or over the railing, in the open air and the heat of the sun, for three days.

Najla — Fine, fine. And after that I shall fold it and put naphthalene in with it.

Umm Hasan — Patience! The task is not finished yet. When the carpet is dry, dip a rag in a little benzine or kerosene and wipe it, and it will be as good as new.

Najla — Umm Hasan, can I use the same method to clean the oil painting hanging in the reception hall?

Umm Hasan — You mean the picture of that sheepish-faced creature who feels no shame carrying her jar naked?

Najla — (trying to hide her laughter): Yes, that is the very one. Dust has piled up on it and I am afraid of tampering with it.

Umm Hasan — I clean our pictures this way — though of course they are nothing like your picture: I clean the dust off them with a feather duster. After that I moisten a piece of cotton with lukewarm water and pass it quickly and lightly over the picture. And at once I dry it with a piece of leather or with soft cloth.

Najla — (shyly): I want one more piece of advice from you.

Umm Hasan — May it be good, God willing.

Najla — And how do I clean...

Umm Hasan — (interrupting her): I commend you to God for today, my daughter. The needs of a house are many, and I fear you are not previously acquainted with the cleaning and management of a good number of them. Until another day!

Najla — You are right; we shall put off the lesson to another day — especially as I now have an appointment with the dressmaker!