Sawt al-Mara — English edition, page 20

... The doctor shook his head in despair, then called the goddesses to whom the sick man's care had been entrusted, and said angrily:

"Is this how you leave him to suffer these pains all this time? Old age has shown upon him while he is still young. Look, look at his face, on which the bitter yellowness of death has appeared... What have you done? And what a sin you are committing! Poor, poor young man."

Words the doctor spoke as he turned toward the door; but the goddess of the Earth hurried after him and caught hold of him, imploring:

"For God's sake, sir. For God's sake do not leave us. Mercy on him... mercy on us... mercy on souls that have so long suffered at the sight of the struggle between death and this young man." And she turned her face away to wipe tears that had begun to fill her tender eyes.

The doctor came back, deeply moved by the sight, and sat down on a chair, great weariness showing on his wrinkled face... In a calm voice he said:

"If I must set to work, then I tell you that this young man's cure depends on you, and on you alone." Then he added, moving his gaze from one to the next: "And now, since it is imperative that I know something of this young man's past life, I ask each of you to answer faithfully the questions I shall put..."

He turned to the goddess of Reform and addressed her: "It is known that this young man's care

was entrusted to you long ago. What then, madam, are the services you have rendered to nourish his wasted body?"

She grew flustered and answered, after baring her teeth: "Nothing, nothing, sir. Rather, quite the contrary. Ruin upon ruin!... Parties and revolts!... Discord and strife! Chaos, chaos wherever a man's eye falls. Every member looks to his own ambitions and his own self. Himself before everything. And how should he sacrifice it? Nay, how should he prefer anything above it? Paralysis nearly fell upon the young man, but he escaped... escaped, thank God."

And she threw herself back upon her chair, her eyes brimming with tears... After a moment the doctor turned to the goddess of Literature, to ask her about her services in nourishing his mind and his spirit. The red of shame rose in her face, and she answered in a voice that was almost a whisper:

"Nothing worth mentioning. Fragments here and there, and the good among them few, very few. The gifts given to me were meager. And you know full well that we goddesses live and give in the measure of what man grants us and offers. And then... I am sorry to say it, but I will speak, for it is the truth: superficial ideas. Counterfeit feelings. Opinions that the days pass around, and then bring to life again. A spirit grown used to harsh stagnation. Chaos — yes, chaos in expression and in production."

"Where do you stand beside the goddess of the literature of the West?" the doctor answered, as if in a dream. "I beg you — I beg you," she cut in earnestly, "kindly do not forget that the goddess of the West's literature is free, while we are bound with strong chains."

"That is no excuse," the man answered with regret. "Many an oppression has had creative genius for its offspring. And then, what is your opinion of those who work only under the beacon of the saying: Give first, and I shall give second?"... But the goddess did not answer him; she sat in her place, trailing the skirts of bitter disappointment...

He turned his face toward the goddess of Art, that she might tell him what she had done to nourish his spirit and his feelings. She trembled, then answered in a quavering voice: "Spare me — spare me the answer, sir. And what would you have me answer? Several figures have begun to do their duty, but we lack encouragement and sincere work. We do not break our worn-out traditions; rather we cling to them as a child clings to its mother's clothes when some fear comes over it. And if we do leave them and move away from them, we smash everything, to reach a freedom without bounds. Chaos — chaos, sir; negligence and want of sincerity."

The doctor turned to the goddess of Life. But before he could put a question to her, she began