Next morning, there were two thousand armed men scattered throughout the palm trees at Al-Fayoum. Before the sun had reached its high point, five hundred tribesmen appeared on the horizon. The mounted troops entered the oasis from the north; it appeared to be a peaceful expedition, but they all carried arms hidden in their robes. When they reached the white tent at the center of Al-Fayoum, they withdrew their scimitars and rifles. And they attacked an empty tent.
The men of the oasis surrounded the horsemen from the desert and within half an hour all but one of the intruders were dead. The children had been kept at the other side of a grove of palm trees, and saw nothing of what had happened. The women had remained in their tents, praying for the safekeeping of their husbands, and saw nothing of the battle, either. Were it not for the bodies there on the ground, it would have appeared to be a normal day at the oasis.
The only tribesman spared was the commander of the battalion. That afternoon, he was brought before the tribal chieftains, who asked him why he had violated the Tradition. The commander said that his men had been starving and thirsty, exhausted from many days of battle, and had decided to take the oasis so as to be able to return to the war.
The tribal chieftain said that he felt sorry for the tribesmen, but that the Tradition was sacred. He condemned the commander to death without honor. Rather than being killed by a blade or a bullet, he was hanged from a dead palm tree, where his body twisted in the desert wind.
The tribal chieftain called for the boy, and presented him with fifty pieces of gold. He repeated his story about Joseph of Egypt, and asked the boy to become the counselor of the oasis.
Replies
New words for me.
These words were new for me when I was reading this part.
(I used 4 different dictionaries for writing them)
Expedition
ex·pe·di·tion
noun \ˌek-spə-ˈdi-shən\
Definition of EXPEDITION
1.a : a journey or excursion undertaken for a specific purpose
b : the group of persons making such a journey
2: efficient promptness :speed
3: a sending or setting forth
Examples of EXPEDITION
1.a scientific expedition to Antarctica
2.<an avid mountain climber, always on an expedition to some far-off corner of the world>
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Robe
noun \rōb\
Definition of ROBE
1a : a long flowing outer garment; especially : one used for ceremonial occasions or as a symbol of office or profession b : a loose garment (as a bathrobe) for informal wear especially at home
2: covering, matle <peaks on the axis of the range in their robes of snow and light — John Muir>
3: a covering of pelts or fabric for the lower body used while driving or at outdoor events
Examples of ROBE
1.The priest wore a purple robe.
2.<with the coming of spring the hills will once again don their robes of green>
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Scimitar
scim·i·tar ['sımıtər]
n.
A curved Asian sword with the edge on the convex side.
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Intruder
in·trude
/ɪnˈtrud/ Spelled [in-trood] verb, -trud·ed, -trud·ing.
–verb (used with object)
1. to thrust or bring in without invitation, permission, or welcome.
2. Geology . to thrust or force into.
3. to install (a cleric) in a church contrary to the wishes of its members.
–verb (used without object)
4. to thrust oneself without permission or welcome: to intrude upon their privacy.
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Tribesmen
tribes·man
/ˈtraɪbz mən/ Spelled[trahybz-muh n]
–noun, plural -men.
a member of a tribe.
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grove
noun \ˈgrōv\
Definition of GROVE
1: a small wood without underbrush <a picnic grove>
2: a planting of fruit or nut trees
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Battalion
bat·tal·ion [bə'tæljən]n.
1. a. An army unit typically consisting of a headquarters and two or more companies, batteries, or similar subunits.
b. A large body of organized troops.
2. A great number: battalions of ants.
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Chieftain
chief·tain
/ˈtʃif tən, -tɪn/ Spelled[cheef-tuh n, -tin]
–noun
1. the chief of a clan or a tribe.
2. a leader of a group, band, etc.: the robbers' chieftain.
3. ( initial capital letter ) Military . Britain's main battle tank since 1969, fitted with a 120mm gun and two machine guns and weighing 55 tons (50 m tons).
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Tribal
trib·al
adj \ˈtrī-bəl\
Definition of TRIBAL
: of, relating to, or characteristic of a tribe <tribal customs>
Examples of TRIBAL
1.<a tribal solidarity that transcends all other loyalties or bonds>
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starve
verb \ˈstärv\
starved ,starv·ing
Definition of STARVE
intransitive verb
1.a : to perish from lack of food b : to suffer extreme hunger
2.a archaic : to die of cold b British : to suffer greatly from cold
3: to suffer or perish from deprivation <starved for affection>
transitive verb
1.a : to kill with hunger b : to deprive of nourishment c : to cause to capitulate by or as if by depriving of nourishment
2: to destroy by or cause to suffer from deprivation
3.archaic : to kill with cold
Examples of STARVE
1.Without food they would starve.
2.They left him to starve out in the desert.
3.providing food for starving children
4.They tried to starve their enemies into submission.
5.It was clear that the dog had been starved.
6.You don't have to starve yourself to lose weight.
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Condemn
[kən'dem]
con·demn
tr.v. con·demned, con·demn·ing, con·demns
1. To express strong disapproval of: condemned the needless waste of food.
2. To pronounce judgment against; sentence: condemned the felons to prison.
3. To judge or declare to be unfit for use or consumption, usually by official order: condemn an old building.
4. To lend credence to or provide evidence for an adverse judgment against: were condemned by their actions.
5. Law To appropriate (property) for public use.
Wow !! Thank you Sahar !
I usually try not to write all those words which their meanings have came before in previous parts.
You are welcome. And thanks.
Well… It means that if I had read all of the pervious parts, now, I would have written only 5 new words instead of 11!
The moral result:
If we read more we will learn more.
Oh!! Sahar! It’s CLEAR!
The tribal chieftain said that he felt sorry for the tribesmen, but that the Tradition was sacred. The hills are the only thing that will be changed in the desert during wind’s blowing. He condemned the commander to death without honor.
My book has that line too.
Of course yours is much better .
Thank you !
You are welcome
But…
Do you want to say your book doesn’t have that line?
How is it possible?
I think it’s one of the most important lines there.
I sent a letter to Quelho about that .
Really?
Khabisly :->
Your smiles were better in the past because they had some signs so that I could understand them. But now, I’m seeing that they don’t have any signs even an exclamation mark like this: "!"
But…
Why do I think this line is one of the most important lines?
Let me explain about its reason please.
What is desert made of?
It’s made of thousands hills full of dust. If we get dusts from the desert, there won’t be remains anything.
So, I think hills are the main part of a desert.
There is a beautiful paradox in this line. The writer is saying that nothing changes in the desert except hills. When we change the main part of a thing in fact we are able to change everything about it. Namely, this line is saying that every thing will be changed in the desert.
And what is the reason for this change?
Coelho (The writer) believes that wind is the factor of change. I think it can be true about human too. Maybe we need some winds for change.
Nevertheless, you still want to say your book doesn’t have this line?
Then I must thank Arash Hejazi (The translator of Paulo’s book in Farsi published by Caravan) for his honesty in translating. I’m sure that this line is written by Coelho.