Elmwood School - Samara Yearbook (Ottawa, Ontario Canada)

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24 SAMARA The Lucky Charm Now I do not want you to think that I beheve in Fairy godmothers, but the story of a young Arab boy named Zuhab certainly fascinated me. There was nothing very outstanding about him. His father was poor and his mother had an endless job of keeping their goat-hair tent clean. She was busily engaged with her num- erous children. Nor were the surroundings of their meagre home outstanding. The tent was pitched amongst gypsy tents in a grove of umbrella pine trees. Zuhab ' s father, Shamman, for the sake of his family decided against leading a nomadic life. The family home was, therefore, usually near the Syrian-Lebanese boundary, not far from Damascus. Unfortunately Shamman had to con- descend to begging from the well-to-do. Zuhab, therefore, learned the art of begging at an early age. He used to wander up and down the cobblestone streets, by the mosques and through the noisy bazaars begging from every well-dressed English or American tour- ist he saw. Nothing made him more angry than a parsimonious tourist, with more money in his pockets than Zuhab could ever dream of possessing. The young boy had a special treatment for this type of tourist. He would follow and pester the particular traveller until he would succeed in annoying the poor chap out of a few cents. However, he would never fail to give his best smile of thanks to the tourist. Then the young man of the world, looking every minute of his nine years, would strut down the aisle of bickering money changers to exchange the coins for Syrian currency. He had to be careful to choose a kindly money changer who would not mind exchanging the small sum of money. Then off he would go to the open bazaar to buy some sweetmeats. One day when Zuhab was busily begging, he felt suddenly very sleepy. I guess it was because the sun was especially bright and he had sat the previous night outside the tent, trying to count the stars. Anyway he sat down on the step of a public fountain and began to practise smiling. First he would smile normally, then he would crinkle his eyes and tilt his head, looking up at an imaginary tourist, through the corner of his eyes. This smile seemed to have the most results when he was begging. While he was busily practising his smile, he heard a laugh. Zuhab looked up rather sheepishly as he realized he had been sitting by the fountain for fi ve minutes. His eyes came to rest on an American lady. Somehow Zahub did not feel like begging from such a fine and gentle looking lady. He just could not take his eyes off her. Suddenly he realized her guide was asking him to pose for a picture which the lady wanted to take. Apparently Zuhab ' s favourite smile had won her heart. At first he looked a trifle dubious, but when he saw that the lady had something for him, he promptly obeyed. Anyway, he liked all the attention he was attracting from the people passing by. When the picture was taken, the lady handed Zuhab a small charm on a chain. The guide translated the lady ' s words to him. Keep this, my smiling friend, and some day, in some way, you will be famous . Zuhab did not quite understand the mean- ing of what the kind lady had said, but he always kept the small charm fastened around his wrist. He was still wearing it when he began working on his first job on his fifteenth birthday. If you had looked at Zuhab, it would have been hard to distinguish him amongst such a sea of goats ' heads and backs. Yes, his job was tending goats. Each morning, at sunrise, he would gather the goats from his various employers ' homes and take them to the hills to graze. Some day he hoped to have his own herd of goats which he would walk to market. By the time they vould reach the market some fifteen miles away, his goats would be healthy and fat. (This is a common

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SAMARA ELMWOOD 23 Jennifer tries very hard as a rule, Lynn ' s dog called Darkie comes with her to school, Claire ' s writing ' s improving, I ' m happy to tell, Marilyn loves acting and paints very well; Margot is growing up beautifully tall, Miss Danhof is there to look after them all. Transition and Form I Transition and I is the youngest form With only eleven enrolled; Their ages range from 4 to 8 Excepting Miss Hale, I ' m told. Ann ' s a terrific form captain. Always in a wonderful mood, And Diana is also busy, (But usually at eating the food!) Janet ' s a first class singer. And may some day enter the Met , While Evva ' s a little more shy. And her heart on good marks is set! Georgina ' s our skating champ. And is always in the pink, While Judy of the twinkling eyes Is helping Miss Hale on the rink. Jane is always willing to help And loves to make others smile, While Valerie is beaming bright Or fixing the books in a pile. 6tf f£. (LisiN b eeccf Martha ' s a welcomed addition. Whose reading is certainly good While Linda ' s just as kind as can be And would help everyone if she could. Belinda is quite the youngest. Although she ' s grown so tall; The others just adore her. And Miss Hale loves them all.

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S A A R A 25 practice in Syria. If the market is far enough away, the young goats grow to adult size in the time it takes to reach the market.) The long trek would give Zuhab a chance to ponder over the beauteous things around him. Of course, he could dream about what fame the little charm would bring him. Now, to talk of the present, Zuhab started off merrily one morning on his new job. All the neighbourhood goats were starting the climb up the hills with him. Of course, he would turn around every five or ten minutes to look at the view. There were beautiful green groves of olive trees growing in rich red soil. He could see gypsies picking grapes on the terraced hillsides, and above all he could see and hear the rippling streams making their way down the rocks around him from unknown sources. If he looked hard enough he could make out the border between Syria and Lebanon. It was marked by a customs and immigration office on the narrow winding road. Zuhab was also fascinated by the differ- ent makes of cars he saw passing by on the road below. The majority of cars were Eng- lish and American but none which were made in Syria. Higher and higher they climbed. Finally they reached the grazing grounds. The goats playfully nipped at Zuhab ' s lunch sack. His mother had given him what she could spare. His lunch consisted merely of a salted fish and a piece of bread. (The bread is unleavened. One piece is as large as an ordinary dinner napkin and, in the process of making, is rolled very thinly.) Zuhab ignored their hungry nips and climbed onto a flat-topped rock to eat his lunch. Upon finishing the food, he was going to count the goats to make sure none had strayed en route. Meanwhile he munched on the fish while looking down dreamily at the Caza centre of Quanta. Since he was finished his lunch, he began to count the goats. The young herdsman found the youngest of his herd was missing. By quickly scanning the surroundings, he could make out the shape of a little goat further up the hill. Quickly Zuhab scampered up the rocks, but at the same time wondering how the small creature had managed to climb such difficult terrain. When Zuhab reached the goat, he dis- covered it had its little hoof caught in a small hole. Quickly and gently, he freed the young animal ' s foot. Then he packed the hole with earth so nothing else could get caught in it. Suddenly the earth around him gave way from his weight, and he fell through into a large hole. When he had had time to catch his breath he saw that a short tunnel branched ofl from this hole. Being adventurous, Zuhab could not resist following the tunnel. He could feel the air becoming cooler and damper as h e progressed. Suddenly he beheld a sight far too beautiful and breathtaking to describe. Lit by the sunlight entering by the short tunnel was a cave. There were beautiful frosty spikes rising from the floor of the cave and hanging from the ceiling of the cave, like icicles. AH the walls were covered with beads of milky moisture. There was a glimmering inky pool at one end, fed by a small rushing waterfall. Zuhab could scarcely think of what to do the sight was so magnificent and different. Finally he just sat down and drank in the beauty. He sat there for some time trying to de- cide what he should do. He sat fingering his charm which, he noticed, was wearing thin. Finally he decided that he, of course, could not keep the discovery to himself. Out he scampered onto the hillside, and with the goat under his arms, he ran as quickly as possible to deposit the goat amongst the rest of the herd. Then he continued down the hillside to the road where he ran as fast as his legs could carry him to the border. Once there he told of his discovery, breathlessly. Now Zuhab is twenty-six years old. How often he brings out the newspapers, eleven years old at that, and looks at his picture and reads the headlines. Native Arab boy finds cave . The old grazing ground is no longer there. It is replaced by a road frequented by thousands of tourists each year who visit the