The Arfaj Bird- by: Naser Aljasem

The Arfaj Bird 

By:Nasser Al Jasem- Translated by: Abdallah Altaiyeb

النص للأديب القدير ناصر الجاسم. ناصر خلق أسطورة رائعة في هذا النص، تستحق القراءة والاحتفاء. وشكلت في ذات الوقت تحديا جديدا في ترجمة كلماتها وتعابيرها الاسطورية. أدعوكم للقراءة والتعليق.

The beautiful roving oracle took her bundle off her head, unwrapped it, revealing a book, which she opened before the girls who were sitting in front of her, much like students listening to a lecture. She addressed them, saying:

“The Arfaj bird will come for you, my Girls; I can see its gorgeous image in the book now, and very soon, it will come for you during the night. The color of its eyes changes every spring, going from black to hazel or blue. In this book, I now can see that it has settled for hazel, this spring!”

“It’s a bird; every spring night, wild flowers edge from your land to its body, adorning it with their fragrance; Every inch of its body will exude that scent on the night it shares with one of you her bed. I can see in the book that it has already aromatized itself with the fragrance of some Arfaj flowers, which have stolen toward it and did not return back to their springhead in your wilderness that is laden with all types of wild flowers”.

“It is a bird; if it deep kisses you while you’re thirsty, hail water will flow from its mouth to yours, quenching your thirst. And I could see in the book that it’s had its fill of melted hailstones that have channeled their way into your creek”.

“And it’s a bird, with cheeks, the color of white girls’ thighs, and thighs, the color of white girls’ cheeks; I now see in the book its cheeks, having the color of your thighs, and its thighs having the color of your cheeks”.

“It’s a bird; every spring night, it romances a beautiful girl and replaces the hair of its gorgeous head with her hair. I see in the book that it has already selected the hair of one of you, aiming to romance her as well”.

“It’s a bird; whenever its body touches the body of a beautiful girl, it will cast its fragrance about her navel and leave; but the fragrance will remain on the girl’s body for eternity. I now see in the book that tonight it will bestow its fragrance upon the navel of a beautiful girl, a girl who is not so tall and not so short, neither fat nor skinny; the bird will impress its fragrance while the girl is slumbering in the floral wilderness with her lovely navel exposed under the light of a shimmering star”.

“It’s a bird; if it enjoys a long intimate relation with a beautiful girl, it may reward her for such great relation by adorning her hair with a fragrant flower that will never fade, lasting a lifetime. It might decorate her hair while she is sleeping, intoxicated with the delight of lovemaking. And I can see in the book that it had tucked a red carnation flower under its left wing, flying with it toward a beautiful girl; but the book didn’t mention which country the flower came from; it may, however, show the name of the country in about three days”.

“It’s a bird; if it admires a girls’ bosom, it will hold her close and take her gliding in a joyful ride above the clouds. I can see in the book that it’s very fond of the bosom of one of you girls, but I won’t name her; I wouldn’t want the bird to get mad at me for letting out its secrets!”.

“It’s a bird; every other bird should feel jealous of it, but it hates for girls to get jealous of each other over it. It would never seduce young girls or lie to them to get them pregnant and then leave them behind along with its offspring.

“It’s the only bird that ants wouldn’t dare to sting, flies would shy away from perching on its nose, and men would let their shotguns fall from their hands if ever they saw it flying with one of their girls, wishing their wives were as pretty as the bird.

“And you need to know girls, that the bird would never appear in a place should there be two or more girls. It would only visit a girl, if she were alone; and you must know that if the bird felt that any of you was trying to see the girl in its company, it would fly away before nourishing her with its saliva that would have a great lasting taste all day long, or might fly before casting floral fragrance on her navel, or might even leave before adorning her hair with a flower, carnation flower, narcissus flower, or any other flower… so beware of that…”.

“Have you ever been visited by the bird, auntie?” asked one girl, tilting her head, bringing her long beautiful hair over one shoulder to her lap, playing with it provocatively.

“No, my girl” the oracle answered with brevity, throwing a glance at the girl’s hair.

“But auntie… you’re just more beautiful than all of us, why did the bird not visit you till now?!” remarked one girl, leaning down on the book, flaunting her ample cleavage and beautiful bosom to the oracle.

“I work as an oracle the whole year, women need me in all seasons, but their needs multiply in spring, since it is the mating season in every land. So, mostly I’m never alone” the oracle responded with transparent honesty, dreaming to have a bosom like that of the girl. “Therefore, I lose the chance of having the bird visit me!” she added.

“You’re my guest tonight auntie…” spoke the third girl, standing up so that the girls could see that she was neither short, nor long, nor fat, nor skinny.

“Tonight, I am basking in the hospitality of the Girls’ Creek. I will bathe there to get rid of the travel fatigue, then sleep among the trees that women hang their cloths on when they go swimming in the nude” replied the oracle, while praising in her mind the girl’s proportional, symmetrical and harmonious body. She took the book and stuffed it in the bundle, wrapped it, and put it back on her head.

“Get ready girls to meet the Arfaj bird” she added while standing, “wax your armpits and lady parts, wash and bathe in the Girls’ Creek, and wear the perfume of sweet basil or other floral scents. You don’t want the bird to catch any of you not ready for meeting and romancing it; otherwise, it would leave you and move to another girl. Tomorrow, I shall visit you girls before I move to the next land, to know which one of you, girls, the bird has chosen for tonight.

The beautiful oracle walked away, heading toward the Girls’ Creek. There, she took off her clothes, hung them on the thick growing trees around the creek, opened her bag, taking out her book, hiding it inside a hollow in the trunk of an old tree that had lost its fight with bacteria and decay. She went swimming in the creek, thinking of her upcoming journey to the next land. Once she finished bathing, she splashed on her floral perfume, and put on her clothes. She then surrendered to sleep, leaving the creek for the girls to continue their secret plans of getting ready for romancing the bird.  

She returned back to them the next morning, only to realize that they have become more beautiful and more radiant, and they noticed that she looked much younger and more dazzling, after getting rid of the travel fatigue. She opened the book before them and inquired about the girl who had been visited by the bird last night.

“Me, auntie... and it placed this flower in my hair after we spent the night together” said the first girl.

“No, it visited me last night… here, the floral scent is still there on my navel” the second girl said.

“No, no auntie, it was me; the bird deep kissed me and hail water flowed into my mouth” said the third girl.

“I swear by the One who created the Girls’ Creek and ran water into it, I have hosted the bird last night” spoke the fourth girl with passion, showing them her thighs. Placing two fingers on her cheek, she added, “I saw with my own eyes its cheeks, they were the color of my thighs, and its thighs had the same color as my cheeks”.

“No…no…I swear by the Almighty who created the bird’s eyes with three colors, the bird wanted me, desired me, and only me. It didn’t want or desire any other… and this is its hair which it exchanged for mine!!” said the fifth girl, catching them by surprise with her long hair, dyed with henna.

The oracle then began examining her book thoroughly. Shortly after, her reading was disturbed when she noticed that the girls were going at each other, fighting, kicking, face slapping, and hair pulling. When they were all done with the slapping, kicking, and hair pulling, the oracle responded to her own question, “the bird spent the night with me last night, under a star that lit up the Girls’ Creek. He nourished me with hail water from its mouth, cast the fragrance of Arfaj about my navel, placed a carnation flower in my hair after swapping it with its own… it embraced me and took me flying around, reaching the white clouds. He brought me back the book you stole from the tree. Oh…I forgot to let you know that the Arfaj bird does not romance girls who lie and steal!”.

*Rhanterium epapposum is a plant of the Asteraceae family, known locally as the Arfaj plant.

December 2017