a known purpose.

It was her son's due to marry...

That was her one absorbing concern, that her cherished wish: let her spend every effort she possessed until she had money enough to serve as a bride's dowry, together with what follows it — the costs of the wedding festivities.

Her mind would not rest until her son enjoyed the blessing of marriage, and had a companion-able wife who would grant him good offspring...

Life would not be sweet to her until her son was happy in the shelter of a family wrapped in serenity and harmony...

It was decreed that her son should be blessed with every-thing the fates had denied her...

Her son was in truth nothing but her own true image — nay, her pure essence — nay, he

was her very self, beyond doubt or dispute... Every comfort and luxury he felt, she felt whole and undiminished.

She ate his food and relished it, though its taste never touched her lips.

She lived his life, tossing on his soft bed colored with the hues of flowers and sweet basil, riding in his car with its ringing horn — even while she stayed on in her ruined burrow, never setting foot in the luxurious flat except by stealth, fearing that eyes might fall on her, and catching only a flashing glimpse of the car as it devoured the ground at the bends of the road.

She felt all the pride and dignity her son felt, though she remained at the doors of mosques and shrines, her palm outstretched to beg, stooping over the treading-places of feet to wipe the shoes.

No pleasure was left her in

life to yearn for, save to feel the greatest joy of all: "the joy of the wedding."

Let her son marry before long, and let his wedding be a splendid celebration, its tables gathering the great men, the notables, and the rulers; let the music ring out from mighty instruments in sweet melodies; and let the policemen stand ranged at the doors, raising their hands in salute to the arriving guests and keeping order!

The celebration would surely be a magnificent one, of which the city would talk as it talks of the most splendid weddings and the fairest of nights!

And Umm Sahloul got what she wanted. Her son became engaged to a "good family's daughter," a girl of noble stock, and soon a near date was fixed for the wedding celebration.

The great day arrived — the day Umm Sahloul