Mud City Travels, Part Two

Section: Arabic Novels

Number of pages: 864 pages

The Book of the City of Clay, two parts... Part One: The Book of the Cloak, Part Two: The Book of the Mound

If a stranger were to look out from the roofs of the mud houses after sunrise today, he would imagine that a flock of sparrows had landed on the wet sands of the coast. Necks stretched towards the blue horizon, and eyes watching for someone approaching from afar. But the country knows of no crows except singly, not in flocks. They sneak onto the merchant ships anchored in the ports of India, and hide among the sacks of spices, grains and tea. They travel with the ships on their return to the country, and find themselves sneaking in, a stranger in a strange land. They stay on the eastern coast for months, watching for the sailing ships to sail again to India.