El segon dia a Fes i encara no us he parlat de l'Alaui; un personatge important en aquesta història. No, no ha estat un descuit. He volgut respectar -ni que només fos per un temps- la seva voluntat de passar desapercebut, de no esdevenir mai protagonista, de ser-hi sense que es noti. Però ell hi ha estat de bon principi i ara, amb el seu permís, us el vull presentar.
Rera el seu posat seriós, misteriós i fins i tot tristoi, que molts interpretarien com a poc amable i maleducat, s'hi amaga un personatge singular, que a petites pinzellades deixa entreveure el seu caràcter bonhomiós i servicial. Ens va acompanyar en arribar a la medina des d'una de les seves 7 portes fins al riad, amb el cap cot, una mà a la butxaca, una cigarreta a l'altra, i a certa distància de nosaltres., que seguíem el guia de la jellaba marró i ni ens adonàvem de la seva existència. I un cop al riad, acabada la seva missió, es va fer fonedís. A voltes el tornàvem a veure a la cuina, assegut en una cadira amb la mirada perduda, potser fent companyia a la cuinera -la noia del somriure tímid- o simplement esperant que algú li fes algun encàrrec; altres vegades apareixia a la terrassa per amansir el gos que bordava en sentir la nostra presència: es quedava al seu costat, mirant-lo, com si xerrés amb ell, com si s'entenguessin amb la mirada i es quedava allà, immòbil d'esquena a nosaltres, i desapareixia quan el gos callava. I sempre amb la seva cigarreta als llavis. Tenia l'encàrrec de cuidar de nosaltres, d'estar a la nostra disposició, i ho feia amb la major discreció possible.
Vivia al riad, n'era el vigilant i un dels homes de confiança de la mestressa, però gairebé mai no el veies ni el senties. Quan sortíem a deshores ens acompanyava, sempre en silenci i un xic allunyat de nosaltres. Uns cops havíem de seguir-lo, altres cops era ell qui ens seguia. Ens observava, i si creia que algú podia molestar-nos ens adelantava i ens feia caminar més ràpid o s'aturava i esperava que passéssim. Segurament semblava més vell del que realment era, però estava fort i àgil. Ens donava seguretat i esdevenia el garant de preservar el fil que ens permetia tornar a casa sense perdre'ns. L'ombra del nostre errant invisible era la nostra escorta; sabíem que hi era i, fins i tot quan no el vèiem, sentíem la seva presència i ens recomfortava.
Inglish version
Second day in Fes and I still haven’t said anything about *Alaui; an important character in this story. No, it has not been that I forgot him. I have wanted to respect –at least for a while- his will to go unnoticed, of never becoming a protagonist, of being there without being aware of his presence. But he has been close to us from the very beginning and now, with his permission, I want to introduce him to you.
Behind his serious, mysterious and even sad demeanour, that many would interpret as unkind and impolite, a singular character hides, that with just a few stokes of the brush leaves to glimpse his helpful, good-natured character. In reaching the Medina in one of its magnificent doors, he accompanied us head bowed, a hand in one pocket and a cigarette on the other, to the riad. As we were following the guide of the brown djellaba we didn’t even realise that he was there, too. Once in the riad, after finishing his mission, he melt. From time to time, we saw him again in the kitchen, sitting on a chair with lost look, perhaps keeping the cook -the girl of the shy smile- company or simply expecting that someone asked him to get a few things from the market; other times he was in the terrace to calm down the dog that barked in feeling our presence: he stayed by its side, looking at it, as if he could chat to it, as if they understood each other just with the look, and he remained there, motionless, giving his back to us, and disappeared when the dog was quiet. And always with a cigarette in mouth. He has been commissioned to take care of us, to be at our disposal, and he did it with the greater possible discretion.
He lived in the riad, he was the watchman and the hostess’ right-hand man, but you hardly ever see or felt him. When we went out at odd hours, he came with us, always in silence and a bit far away from us. Sometimes we had to follow him; other times he was the one who closed the group. He always observed us, and if he thought that somebody could bother us, he overtook and made us walk faster or stopped and waited until we were in front of him. Surely he seemed older than what he really was, but he was strong and agile. He made us feel secure and became the guarantor to preserve the thread that allowed us to go back home without getting lost. The shadow of our invisible wander was our escort; we knew that he was there and, even when we didn’t see him, we could feel his reassuring presence.
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