Chapter XLV
As it came closer to Christ's Mass our busy-ness increased and the next time I saw Trudy was when the whole household rode together to the church in Bethlehem where the prophet Jesus, peace be upon him, was born. Brother Hildebrandt was there and greeted me, but we four Musselmen stayed outside the church until the chanting was finished.
When we went in Sid Guy gave to all of us a present of money - I only got a dinar, but those who had served longer received more. Guy wished us all "Joyeux Noel" and shook our hands. Sitt Trudy, who stood by his side, also wished us "Joyeux Noel", but she kissed us one by one and I received two kisses and a wink.
Afterwards we returned to Jerusalem and there was a feast in which we all sat, even the serving men and women, and Guy and Trudy served us amid much laughter and joy. We four sat at a separate table because the main table held a dead pig with an apple in its mouth and jugs of wine and both these things are abhorrent to a True Believer. We four, together with Fatima - who was as bold as any Frankish girl - ate mansaf and drank dibbis, and though the the laughter was not as loud at our table, neither did we stumble and giggle foolishly when we rose to go to bed.
"Al-hamdu-lillah!" I exclaimed as I made ready for bed. "A whole year until this Christ's Mass comes again."
"Don't think you can rest now," Hilmi warned me. "In twelve days time it is the Greek feast of the Nativity and we have it all to do again."
"The Greeks keep a different feast?" I asked, surprised.
"There is hardly one thing on which these infidels agree," Babrak growled. "They hate each other even more than they hate us and if it were not that they feared the Sultan they would be fighting each other even now."
He spoke the truth, for crowds of Greek pilgrims came flocking into Jerusalem and all required to be escorted to Bethlehem or to the other holy places - and kept from fighting with the Franks. Then the Franks started arriving for Easter, a few at first and then, as winter gave way to spring, a flood of foreigners from the lands beyond the sea, gawping and gazing with amazement as we told them the stories of each place, getting drunk in the evenings - and fighting with the Greeks.
The Franks also kept a feast called Twelfth Night when we gave presents to Guy and Trudy - small trinkets purchased in the bazaar amid much anxiety lest our gifts should be too large or too small and expose us to shame. After consulting with Hamed I bought Sid Guy some incense from Egypt and for Trudy I bought a silk ribbon for her hair.
"Have you bought a mask?" Hamed asked as we walked back from the bazaar.
"What?" I asked.
Without further words Hamed took me to a shop where a Frank sold many kinds of masks, some which covered the whole face and others which covered only the eyes, some which made you look like an animal and others which gave you the appearance of an afrit or djinn.
"Choose one," he told me.
"What is this for?" I asked, gazing at these strange objects.
"After the feast of Twelfth Night there is dancing and singing and it is the custom that all must wear such a mask so that they cannot be known." Hamed grinned suddenly. "It is also the custom that the men and women may kiss as often as they wish."
"That is true," Hilmi confirmed when I questioned him about this matter. "However it is not as easy as you might think. Because of these masks it can be difficult to know whom you are kissing. Last year Babrak thought he was kissing Fredegund, the laundry girl, and was most pleased at the enthusiasm with which she received him. When it came time to remove the masks at the end of the evening he discovered that he had been kissing the cook!"
"Hildegarde?" I exclaimed and laughed, for while Fredegund was ravishingly beautiful, the cook was old and ugly.
"Well, they are both as fat as any houri," Hilmi chuckled.
"By the Prophet!" I said, making the sign of the evil eye. "I shall take care that I do not kiss the cook."
At noon of Twelfth Night we presented our gifts to Sid Guy and Sitt Trudy and then went in to the feast. This time the servants served us as normal before sitting down themselves, and again we four Musselmen and Fatima ate apart. When the meal was over Babrak said "Bismillah" and we rose and returned to our room.
"Fredegund is wearing blue," Hamed whispered to Babrak.
"I know," Babrak replied. "Allah grant that she doesn't change her dress along with her mask."
Soon we heard music - someone playing a lute accompanied by a drum - and we all went back to the refectory where the tables had been pushed back against the walls and the first comers were already dancing. By Allah these Franks are strange folk, for once their faces were hidden they behaved without shame, and men and women embraced and kissed openly.
Amid much laughter two fat females dressed in blue came towards Babrak, both so masked and veiled that it was impossible to tell who they were and Babrak had to kiss them both in order to enjoy Fredegund or kiss neither in order to avoid the cook. He kissed them both.
Hilmi and Hamed soon left me to go and dance with some of the girls, but the dances were so complicated with such skipping and leaping and turning from one side to the other that I dared not join in but sat quietly on a bench and watched. Suddenly several girls came at once and surrounded me, laughing loudly. They all fell upon me and kissed me and one put her tongue between my lips, to my great astonishment.
When they finally left me alone another girl wearing a blue mask that covered her eyes completely came and sat quietly beside me and took my arm. I could think of nothing to say and she also said nothing and so we sat in silence while the others danced and made merry.
"Don't you want to dance?" I asked.
The girl squeezed my arm and shook her head and as she did so I caught a glimpse of a lock of red hair and guessed that my companion was Sitt Trudy, but not knowing the customs of the Franks I did not know whether to say that I recognised her or not. However the knowledge did embolden me to kiss her and when she appeared to enjoy it I kissed her some more.
At midnight, to my surprise, everyone stood up and removed their masks. There was much laughter when Babrak discovered that he had again been kissing the cook, but at least this time he had shared his kisses with the other girl in blue, so at least some of the time he had been kissing Fredegund. Trudy lifted her mask and smiled at me, then while everyone laughed at Babrak she slipped away and I didn't see her again.
