Khadija Bent Ahmed! Meeluda Bent Al-bacheer!” At this resounding call, two old women in the waiting room gathered up the voluminous folds of heir veils with their designs of blooming red roses. They rushed to the courtroom and stood in front of the judge. He was turning over some papers on his desk. “Khadija Bent Ahmed!”
“Yes, Sir!”
“Did you leave your house of your own free will?”
“I didn’t, Sir! This Meeluda told me I could come back. She swore by Mecca that I could come back as soon as her ceiling was repaired. Her ceiling is the floor of my house, Sir. So I left everything there. I only took my clothes, because she said the repairs would just take a month. But she broke the landing and demolished the stairs. Now, my two rooms are like they are suspended in the air. I can’t get to them, Sir. It has been two years. And because my rooms are suspended, I go to my brother’s for a while and then to my sister’s. It’s just two rooms, true, but it’s my little home.” She burst into tears, wiped her eyes with the hem of her veil, and began to sob like a child. “I entered that house as a bride,” she went on, “and I intended to stay there till the end of my days. Haven’t we paid for it? Yes, we have, more than its worth, in the thirty years we have been living there.”
“Big deal,” snorted the defendant. “Forty dirhams a month. What’s that? It wouldn’t buy even a kilogram of meat.”
“Stop it!” shouted Khadija. “What about the blood? Your blood from childbirth that I cleaned with my own hands? What about the meals I cooked for your feasts and your mourning ceremonies?
What about your children, who grew up on my back? It’s thirty years, six hundred and sixty monthly rents, two million centimes, perhaps more.
Couldn’t that amount have bought us your house and mine? Couldn’t it? If it weren’t for my late husband’s carelessness and extravagance. They call it generosity! He wasted his money feeding his ungrateful, so –called friends.
Meat was brought to our house seven kilos at a time. If he…”
“Forget your late husband now, will you?” ordered the judge. “Was it your husband who told you to lock the house and give the key to the defendant?” “I didn’t give her the key, Sir. The key is still with me.” She raised her skirts, bent over, and pulled from the pocket of her bloomers a big black key. “There! But what good is it? The house has no stairs and no landing. It’s suspended in the air.”
“You mean you just locked the door and walked away?”
“Well, she’s my neighbor and she swore by Mecca. Wouldn’t a good Muslim lock the door and walk away? I believed her.?
“What do you want now?”
“My home!” Tears overwhelmed her again and she murmured as if to herself:
“I can’t stop crying when I pronounce that word.” And to the judge: “I am frightened of moving, very anxious, as if I was being expatriated or was dying. It’s my little home, Sir.” She started to cry again.
“Where have you been all this time? Why haven’t you submitted your case to the court before?”
“I had it in the hands of saints, Sir.”
“And you took it back, I guess,” said the judge, smiling. The audience smiled, too. Then he asked the defendant: “What’s your statement?” “Two years ago, bless you, Sir, dirt started coming down from my ceiling. So, I asked this person to evacuate her house above it, so we could repair the ceiling. But when the worker touched it, the landing collapsed, and carried the staircase with it. Were it not for God’s grace, the poor man could have lost his life. That’s the whole story.”
“What are you saying?” cried Khadija. “You swore by Mecca, Meeluda! You said to leave for a month! You said you’d do the repairs and I could come back!”
“Stop wailing! There’s no way to fix it. The whole house is collapsing, for heaven’s sake!”
“Enough!” ordered the judge, then pronounced the following sentence: “Tomorrow morning, if God wills it, at ten sharp, local firemen will bring
Khadija Bent Ahmed’s belongings from the house located in number 3 Baker Street. She will take her possessions, in the presence of the police, and return the key to its proprietor. Case closed. Next.”
That day Khadija Bent Ahmed learned that a divorced old woman was renting a room in the house she had once lived in. The old woman now lived in a wooden hut on the roof. On the ground floor, an old man occupied another room with his wife, a rough country girl hardly twenty years old, baked by the sun from work in the fields.
Khadija Bent Ahmed told her story to the old woman on the roof.
“Oh! My neigh… I was going to say my neighbor. Excuse me, but I called someone by that name and I am a dummy to honour her so.”
“Tell me about it,” said the old lady. “There’s no good neighbor in this world, no grateful people, no faithful husbands. You say that Meeluda was your neighbor for thirty years and threw you out. Well, my story is worse.” She gestured to the ground floor with one earring. “I’ve been married to the old man down there for forty years, but after he saw that country bumpkin he ignored me completely.”
“And who sent him the country bumpkin?”
“I did. I brought her to him myself. I found her shedding tears in the shrine. She was pregnant. She was scared of her brothers and was hiding there. So I said to myself: “Well, there’s an unborn she’s carrying with terror while you have no children at all. Why don’t you take her home and when she delivers, she’ll go away and you will have the baby.”
“That woman said to me: ‘This shrine is a witness between you and me.’ And we concluded a pact on the saint’s tomb, according to which I would hide her shame and she would leave me the baby. She stayed with me till she gave birth, with God’s omnipotence, to twin boys. The old man registered them in our family booklet at once.”
“I took care of her as if she were my own child. It was out of the question to let her go right after she gave birth. I said to myself: ‘Wait one week,’ and at the end of the week I said: ‘Wait another week!’ Then the old man said: ‘You’ve accomplished a good deed, carry it to the end. Keep her a bit longer. She’ll breast feed the babies and she’ll finish her forty days. God will reward you.’ Amen!’ said I.”
“And at the end of the forty days,” said Khadija Bent Ahmed in a teasing tone, “you said you’d keep her until the babies were weaned?”
“No. At the end of the forty, I took her to the public bath, dyed her hands and feet with henna, gave her some money and presents, and said to her: ‘It’s time for you to go.’ ‘Oh no,’ she retorted. ‘It’s rather time for you to go. I’m here in my own house, with my children.’ And she pulled out a marriage contract.”
“The old man married her?”
“And repudiated me.”
“What a fool! But it’s your fault. You let her stay. She has breast fed her children and got attached to them.”
“Well, when she waved that marriage contract at me, I ran to my chest, got out my family booklet, and shoved it in her face, saying: ‘You can have the old man but you will never have the babies.’ I slipped the booklet in my shirt, took the twins in my arms, rushed up to my hut and locked it.”
“But why do you stay in the same house?”
“Where would I go? I have no family, and the life savings I earned with my sweat are in that house. You say that Meeluda swore by Mecca? Well my country bumpkin concluded a pact with me on the saint’s tomb.” The twins are three years old now. When the old woman goes out, she slides a sheet of tin over the grillwork that covers the patio opening and then she locks the roof door. As soon as she has gone, the country girl takes a long reed pole and pushes the tin sheet away with it. She calls out: “ Hassan!
Hussein!” And when the boys’ faces show up at the opening, she stretches the reed out to them and there are sweets tied at the end of it.
Understanding and appreciating the story
- Where do the events of Khadija Bent Ahmed’s story occur?
- How was Khadija tricked by Meeluda?
- How long has it been since Khadija lost her house? Where does she live?
- Why is she so attached to the house?
- Besides paying rent, what else has she done that makes her believe the house is hers?
- Describe the character of her late husband.
- What is the judge’s verdict? Is it fair or not? Why?
- Identify humour in the story and discuss its role.
Discuss questions
- “There is no good neighbor in this world, no grateful people, no faithful husbands.” What makes the old lady so cynical? Do you agree with her? Explain.
- Traditions form a large part of our life. Study the story and pick out instances of traditions common to the people in the story.
- Discuss what this story reveals about women’s lives?
The story “Two Stories of a House” by Leila Abouzeid is set in Morocco, where the events take place in a courtroom.
- The events of Khadija Bent Ahmed’s story occur in a courtroom in Morocco.
- Khadija was tricked by Meeluda when the latter asked her to leave her house temporarily, promising that she could come back once the ceiling of Meeluda’s house (which served as the floor for Khadija’s house) was repaired. However, Meeluda did not keep her promise and made significant changes to the house, including breaking the landing and demolishing the stairs, making it impossible for Khadija to access her rooms.
- It has been two years since Khadija lost her house. She currently moves between her brother’s and sister’s houses because her own two rooms are inaccessible due to the changes made by Meeluda.
- Khadija is attached to the house because it holds sentimental value to her. She entered that house as a bride and intended to live there until the end of her days. The house holds memories of her marriage, raising her children, and caring for her late husband, making it an integral part of her life.
- Besides paying rent, Khadija has done many things that make her believe the house is hers. She has taken care of the house, cleaned it, and cooked meals for various occasions, including feasts and mourning ceremonies. She also mentions the blood from childbirth that she cleaned with her own hands, which further deepens her emotional connection to the house.
- The character of her late husband is portrayed as careless and extravagant. He was generous to the point of wastefulness, spending money on his so-called friends and feeding them large quantities of meat. His extravagant spending contributed to their financial difficulties and prevented them from purchasing their own house.
- The judge’s verdict is that Khadija Bent Ahmed should be allowed to take her belongings from the house and return the key to its proprietor, effectively evicting her from the house she considered her home. Whether the verdict is fair or not is subjective and open to interpretation. On one hand, Khadija has not been able to access her rooms for two years, and Meeluda made changes to the house without her consent, making it uninhabitable for Khadija. On the other hand, Meeluda claims that the house was collapsing and needed repairs, and Khadija did lock the door and leave it in Meeluda’s care. The judge’s decision to evict Khadija might seem harsh, but it could be seen as an attempt to resolve the dispute quickly and maintain some sense of fairness between the parties involved.
- Humor can be found in the dialogue between Khadija and the judge. For instance, when Khadija mentions the quantity of meat her husband used to buy, the defendant snorts and dismisses it as insignificant. The judge also makes a lighthearted comment about Khadija taking back the case from the “saints” after she had entrusted it to them, which elicits smiles from the audience. The role of humor in the story is to add a touch of lightness to an otherwise serious and emotional situation, breaking the tension and providing some relief to the readers.
Discuss questions:
- The old lady’s cynicism stems from her own personal experience with people, including her husband and the country girl. She feels betrayed and abandoned by those she trusted, which has made her cynical about the goodness of people. Whether one agrees with her or not depends on individual experiences and perspectives. While there are undoubtedly good neighbors, grateful people, and faithful spouses in the world, there are also instances of betrayal and ungratefulness, as shown in the story.
- The story portrays several traditions common to the people in the story. These traditions include the importance of swearing by Mecca to give an assurance, the significance of saints and shrines in seeking blessings and making pacts, and the emphasis on family booklets and marriage contracts to establish relationships and legitimacy.
- The story provides insights into the lives of women in the Moroccan society depicted. It showcases the challenges and vulnerabilities faced by women, particularly in relation to property rights and marriage. Khadija’s attachment to the house and her struggles to reclaim it highlight how women’s rights to property can be easily disregarded. Additionally, the old lady’s story about being abandoned by her husband for a younger woman reflects the societal expectations and pressures faced by women in marriages. The story also depicts the hardships faced by women without family support, as seen in the old lady’s situation. These elements shed light on the complex and sometimes difficult realities of women’s lives in the context of traditional Moroccan society.
Two Stories of a House by Leila Abouzeid (Morocco)
1. Setting
This is story is set in a Moroccan town. It is told in two parts. The first part is set in a courthouse while the second part is set in the roof house of an old woman. The first setting is a very formal one with a government officer presiding and passing judgment. The second one is very informal and the two old women pass their own judgment.
- The plot
Khadija Bent Ahmed has lost the house she has lived in for over thirty years and has therefore taken the matter to court. The defendant is Meeluda Bent Albacheer, her land lady. Khadija feels that she has paid rent all those years and been of help socially to the defendant and this ought to give her ownership of the house. Meeluda on the other hand thinks that the rent was insignificant and it does not make Khadija an owner. She therefore convinced Khadija to vacate the house for renovation upon which she would return. This was not to be. Khadija‟s house was the first floor and to get there she had to use the stairs. Meeluda gets the repair man to destroy the stairs and the landing. Subsequently she says they cannot be repaired and that the whole house is coming down. The judge‟s verdict: Khadija should go
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and take her belongings and cease to lay any claim on the property. In her devastated mood, Khadija learns of an old woman with a story similar to hers. She goes there to share her story. The woman tells her about her own tribulations which she feels are even more devastating than Khadija‟s. Her husband of over forty years had divorced her and married a girl below twenty years old. What annoys her is that she was the girl‟s benefactor. The girl was pregnant out of wedlock and was hiding from her brothers. Since the old woman was barren she gets into a deal with the girl that she will hide her shame and in return she would leave the child she was carrying to her. Her husband takes to the girl and marries her and then divorces the old woman. Although she keeps the two children (twins) their mother secretly meets them every day when the old woman is out of the house.
- Conflict
The first conflict is between Khadija and Meeluda Kahdija feels that she should own the property she has lived in for over thirty years. Her claim does not make sense. She has been a tenant and therefore she was paying for a service. This is Meeluda‟s argument which the judge upholds.
This conflict however reveals some very important facts. Khadija also had a conflict with her husband. She feels that her husband squandered the family wealth through his generosity. He was hospitable at the expense of his family.
This also brings us to another very important fact: women have no right to own property. It appears that it is the men who handle family finances. So even though Khadija knew how best to spend the family‟s resources in order to secure her future, she was not allowed to make financial decisions. This can be confirmed through the second case in which the old woman is thrown out of the house she says her sweat is in and now has nowhere to go.
The second conflict is developed by the divorcee She is in conflict both with her husband and his new wife.
She feels that the new wife has ruined her marriage. They had made a deal and the girl swore on the saint‟s tomb that she would only give birth in the old woman‟s house and then leave for her the child. Instead she made herself comfortable as a wife.
The other conflict she develops is with her husband. She acknowledges that she has not been able to bear any children for him. However, during the period she was married to him she worked hard and they got to own a house. Now he has thrown her out of it and she is destitute. What is more is that she is in her sunshine years and does not have the strength to start all over again. Therefore she feels that her husband has treated her very unfairly.
Both women develop conflict with religion. Khadija says that Meeluda swore to Mecca, and the divorcee says that the young girl swore on the saint‟s tomb. None of these people honoured their pledges. In khadija‟s case, she tells the judge that the reason she has taken long before bringing the case to his court is that she had still left the case with the saints.
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It therefore means that her disillusionment with her religion is what finally makes her bring the case before the judge. She feels that her faith was misplaced.
This is the same reaction that we get from the divorcee. She had hoped for God‟s reward for helping the girl but suffers a divorce instead. This makes her a very cynical woman: she says that there is no good neighbour in this world, no grateful people, and no faithful husbands. 4. Character and characterisation Khadija- unrealistic, religious
Meeluda –cruel
Divorcee-hard working, religious
Please supply illustrations that confirm these traits.
- Themes
Place of the woman in society
This is the major theme in this story. This is brought to us through the experiences of two women. Khadija has a husband who is pleasure loving. She dutifully serves him as a wife but when he dies her future is not secure and there is no law to protect her from the harsh reality of life. This is why the urban setting is extremely important. Men cannot hope to carry on as if they are in the village and forget their obligation to their families.
The divorcee too develops this theme. She swears that she worked hard as a wife and attributes the house she and her husband lived in and all the good things in it to her efforts, at least partly. Now in her sunshine years she is thrown out and becomes destitute. She seems to understand that justice will not be served anywhere so unlike Khadija, she does not report the matter for arbitration to any authority but simply becomes cynical of human nature.
So for both women society has failed to protect them from the ill wind of the world despite their devotion to their religion and men.
- Pov
The story is told from a third person point of view. This is appropriate because it gives us an objective view of the goings on in women‟s lives in this society.
- a)Appropriateness of title
Two Stories of a House is an interesting title. It leads us to believe that we are going to look at one house and hear two stories about it. This however is not what obtains. There are actually two houses and two stories. So why is the house in the title singular? The pains and the resulting misery to the women is the same. The author implies that take any two women in this society and you will find that they identify with each other‟s suffering. The title is therefore appropriate in the cry for equity.
- Significant event
Khadija‟s going to court and the divorcee becoming the village girls‟ benefactor.
- Aim of the author
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The author is appealing for gender parity. This is a patriarchic community in which women have little or no say about their own affairs. The author thinks that this state of affairs should change.