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Dedication: الى بطرس عنداري، صديقي [To Boutros Andari, my friend]
Epigraph: كلما عظمت حدة التجربة تضاءلت حظوظ التعبير عنها هارولد بنتر [Every time the strength of the experience becomes greater the chances of expressing it become smaller -- Harold Pinter]
كتب جاد الحاج هذه الحكايات خلال السنوات العشرين الفائتة. بعض مسوداتها منشور في الصحف وبعضها الآخر ضمن مجموعة صغيرة صدرت في استراليا سنة ١٩٨٩ بعنوان "عذراء الصخور". [Jad El-Hage wrote these stories during the past twenty years. Some of earlier versions have been published in newspapers and some others within a small collection issued in Australia in 1989 entitled "The Virgin of the Rocks".]
Contents
* Contents derived from the Beirut,
c
Lebanon,
c
Middle East,Asia,:Bissan for Publishing Distribution & Information,2011 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.
After a year of being best friends, the narrator has finally got a chance to freely love his woman who had tried to avoid that moment because of a burn scar on her waist.
The narrator is on a mission with his adventurer cousin and childhood friend. They have to cross a high river to the villages on the other side and the bridge has been planted with deadly explosive mines.
The narrator has gained various skills in theft and has excelled in shootings to the point where he's asking his trainer to bestow his nickname on him.
Following an announcement on the news, the narrator decides to become a regular sperm donor thinking that could save him from his state of unemployment and poverty.
The narrator has to make a wise decision between a fake marriage to a prostitute in order to open a business in the Gulf, or enjoying his promotion as a chief of the public market in Beirut after the success of his militia operation.
The writer is trying to wash his face after he woke up from a deep sleep. In his hungover state, he is describing his untidy house and the struggles to get clean water from its taps.
The narrator's car broke down when he was looking for his missing disabled brother. While he was waiting for his car to be fixed, a woman walks in with two men, ordering the mechanic to make her car into an ambulance in order to attack opposition targets.
The narrator is describing her apartment building and neighborhood before and after the beginning of the war. Also, she is missing her family, her home and her village which leads her to give up everything and return there.
The robot Sweesra has been imported to help the government stop social corruption and the bad habits of the citizens. However, after he discovers a conspiracy within the government, he rebels and tries to recruit other robots to save the city.
The narrator and many others are waiting in front of a militia office to get approval to travel. In the meantime, the chief who is supposed to arrive soon is enjoying his lunch and having a nap at his mistress's house, while her husband is getting them apricots from the garden.
After his escape from the stable, Nakheel, the white horse thinks he has gained all the freedom he dreams of. Soon, he discovers that he has been stuck in another prison.
The narrator is living an emotional conflict. She has to decide to accept an arranged marriage which helps to pay for the medication of her sick mother. In the meantime, she is still suffering the pain caused by her mother's lover who has sexually assaulted her since she was a child.
