Oud El-Sanabel: عود السنابل E

By Afaf Tobala and عفاف طبالة

تحكى قصة زينة، الإبنة الصغرى للملك زين الدين، وتمردها على الطريقة التعسفية التى يحددها الملك لإختيار أزواج بناته الثلاثة. عقاب الأب على هذا التمرد يدخل زينة فى معركة غير متوقعة مع الساحرة الشريرة مراشار، التى حاولت توظيف زينة فى إحكام خطتها لتزويج إبنتها من عود السنابل. فى هذه المواجهة تعتمد زينة على إصرارها وذكائها، كما تعتمد على المساعدة الخفية التى يقدمها لها شاب مسحور أحبها -كما تمنت دوماً- لخصالها.
Zina's story, the youngest daughter of King Zainuddin, and her rebellion in the arbitrary way that the king determines to choose the pairs of his three daughters. The father's punishment for this rebellion enters Zina in an unexpected battle with the evil witch, Marshar, who tried to employ Zina in tightening her plan to marry her daughter from the stick of Al -Sanabel. In this confrontation, Zeina depends on her insistence and intelligence, as she depends on the hidden assistance provided by a young man who loves her - as she always wished for her characteristics.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nahdet Misr
• Release date: Jan 1, 2015
• ISBN: 9789771452614

Book preview

OUD EL-SANABEL

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Written by: Affaf Tobbala

Translation by: Nahdet Misr Publishing House

Illustrations: Hanady Sileet

General Supervision: Dalia Mohamed Ibrahim

All rights reserved © Nahdet Misr Publishing House

No part of this book, whether text or images, may be reproduced, photocopied, or stored, in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

ISBN: 978-977-14-5261-4

Legal Deposit No.: 3442/2015

1st ed.: Feb. 2015

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OUD EL-SANABEL

copyright

Dedication

The Kingdom

The Anticipated Day

The Punishment

The Fountain

Regret

The Broom

The Pitcher

The Matchbox

The Cauldron

The Chariot

One More Time

Landmarks

Cover

Dedication

In loyalty to my childhood, I revive this story, even though I don’t really remember who used to narrate it to me when I was a kid.

Only fragments of memory are what remain of this story and a mysterious portray of a personality named

Oud El-Sanabel.

I gathered those scattered fragments, filled the gaps in between, and wove them all together into a novel adrift from the original story, wherein I cannot really define the relation between the original story inspired by the memory and the story of Oud El-Sanabel that I narrate today!

The Section00005.xhtml Kingdom

KingZain El-Din had three daughters, unequaled in their beauty and civility.

The eldest daughter, Zomoroda, was slender, with a long braid of blond hair that reached her waist. She was a quiet girl who excelled in needle work, and would, every now and then, give her father a little handmade gift; sometimes an embroidered cloak, a bonnet or socks to protect his feet from the cold. The king was always delighted with her gifts.

As for the middle daughter, Zahra, she was rather short. She used to let her long silky fine black hair loose at her back, blowing gently in the breeze as she stepped on the porch or strolled in the palace garden. Zahra was merry and talkative. She fancied cooking and excelled in inventing new dishes, in which she surpassed all the palace cooks. Her father used to identify her savory delicious dishes amidst all that was served on the table.

As for Zeina, the youngest of the three, she wore her chestnut hair a different way every day. Zeina had a mind of her own and always stuck to her point of view to an extent that she was sometimes regarded as headstrong. She spent most of her time reading, losing herself in the pages of the books she read; or singing, filling the palace gardens with the echo of her melodious voice. Sometimes her father used to summon her to read for him in her delightful style, which he so favored and enjoyed. At other times, he would ask her to sing to him in her beautiful voice so that he could forget all the troubles of the kingdom and enjoy a deep quiet sleep to her tender voice.

Words spread at home and in neighboring kingdoms of the girls’ beauty and grace. All youths aspired to win the hand of one of them. However, and before the king could allow suitors to present themselves, he had to settle a critical issue he knew he would face. He knew that if he approves the marriage of one of his daughters to the son of the minister, the chief trader will be enraged; and if he chooses the son of the senior judge, the chief commander of the army will be outraged; and if he accepts the marriage of one of his daughters to the prince of the eastern kingdom, then the king of the western kingdom will consider it an insult and might even consider this a pretext to attack his kingdom.

The king could find no way to get his daughters married while offending no one. He sought the advice of one of the state elders, known for his wisdom. The old man recommended that the best way to avoid trouble is for the king to abstain from intervening in choosing his daughters’ spouses and to leave the matter to luck and destiny. He proposed to him a plan to implement that advice. The king would assemble all suitors of his daughters at a specified date in front of the palace, and each of his daughters would throw her scarf in the direction of their gathering. Whoever catches the scarf would then be given an audience with the king to introduce himself and his lineage, and propose to marry the princess who threw the scarf he had caught.

The king was convinced that this plan would save him from lots of trouble, so he ordered its implementation. At once, heralds announced to the public that Monday would be the day suitors were to gather in the palace yard, below the balcony of the princesses’ wing, and that the following Thursday would be the day of the big celebration of the three princesses’ weddings to those who were lucky enough to seize their scarves.

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The announcement awoke the dream of all those who wished to get married in the Section00005.xhtml kingdom, and raised the hopes of every one of them, young or old, rich or poor, to be the lucky one to catch the scarf.

However, the queen didn’t seem comfortable with the method accepted by the king to choose her