gathering them up and weaving dreams from their fabric... Yes, a maker of dreams I was... making great dreams that nothing could fulfill but God's help and the mercy of the days... How happy my life was, Hayat, and how wretched... How happy in my dreams and how wretched in their cruelty... My mother once took me by surprise, asking:

“'Is this what you will do to earn your bread?'

“I said, looking at my brush: 'Yes, I have chosen drawing as my trade... It will feed me bread at any rate. I don't care about eating meat'...

“She cried: 'You are spiteful and resentful, and you do not care about us'...

“'Mother, for God's sake, do not say that — you are hurting me'...

“She shook her head, then let it fall upon my shoulder, her eyes closed... I threw down my brush and put my arms around her and said in a whisper:

“'I love you, mother, and I love my father and my brothers, and God is witness to what I say.'

“She cried, her eyes filling with tears: 'God keep you, my son, and bless you'...

“I cried: 'Mother, say, “God bless your brush”'...

“And she cried: 'God bless your brush'...”

“Hayat. You are crying! Why?”

“Your mother — I wish I had seen her, if only once”...

“The picture of her face was the first canvas of mine ever exhibited... the first rung of the ladder, the first step on the road... People looked at it a long while, and some wept with feeling... 'A Mother's Face' I called it... A rich man who loves to buy beauty bought it, and I carried the price to her — carried it running, and laid it at her feet; and she did not look at

it, but looked at my face, smiling, laughing... I cried:

“'Look what they have written about me here'... And she did not look at the newspapers but at my face, smiling, laughing... And

I cried: 'Would my father have smiled like you, if he had stayed alive with us?'

“And she nodded, then smiled and laughed...

“Poor mother — and poor me! 'A

BESTFORM

Charm — softness — durability!..

Bestform

• Strapless brassieres made of nylon marquisette and satin — the unrivaled “Bestform.” Designed especially for evening wear. They lift the bust and separate the breasts with softness and charm. Magnificently embroidered.

Agents and importer: Halim Hanna & Co. — Beirut