that house in which it was believed that
the mere fact of being married did not absolve a woman of the
shame and dishonour that results from the knowledge that she
sleeps regularly with a man; which was why Bariamma had
devised, without once discussing it, the idea of the forty thieves.
And of course all the women denied that anything of'that nature'
ever took place, so that when pregnancies occurred they did so as
if by magic, as if all conceptions were immaculate and all births
virgin. The idea of parthenogenesis had been accepted in this
house in order to keep out certain other, unpleasantly physical
notions.
Bilquis, the girl with the dream of queenhood, thought but did
not say; 'O God. Ignoramuses from somewhere. Backward types,
Shame ? 72
village idiots, unsophisticated completely, and I am stuck with
them.' Aloud, she told Raza meekly: 'Much to be said for the old
traditions.' Raza nodded seriously in simple agreement; her heart
sank further after that.
In the empire of Bariamma, Bilquis, the newest arrival, the
junior member, was of course not treated like a queen.
'See if we don't have sons,' Raza told Bilquis, 'In my mother's
family boys grow on trees.'
Lost in the forest of new relatives, wandering in the blood-
jungle of the matriarchal home, Bilquis consulted the family
Quran in search of these family trees, and found them there, in
their traditional place, monkey-puzzle groves of genealogy
inscribed in the back of the holy book. She discovered that since
the generation of Bariamma, who had two sisters, Raza's maternal
great-aunts, both widowed, as well as three brothers � a landlord,
a wastrel and a mental-case fool - since that sexually-balanced
generation, only two girls had been born in the entire family. One
of these was Raza's deceased mother; the other, Rani Humayun,
who could not wait to escape from that house which was never
left by its sons, who imported their wives to live and breed in bat-
tery conditions, like shaver chickens. On his mother's side, Raza
had a total of eleven legitimate uncles and, it was believed, at least
nine illegitimate ones, the brood of the wastrel, philandering
great-uncle. Besides Rani, he could point to a grand total of
thirty-two male cousins born in wedlock. (The putative offspring
of the bastard uncles did not rate a mention in the Quran.) Of this
enormous stock of relatives, a sizeable percentage was in residence
under Bariamma's short but omnipotent shadow; wastrel and fool
were unmarried, but when the landlord came to stay his wife
occupied one of the beds in Bariamma's zenana wing. At the time
of which I am speaking, landlord and wife were present; also eight
of the eleven legitimate uncles, plus wives; and (Bilquis had diffi-
culty with her counting) around twenty-nine male cousins, and
Rani Humayun. Twenty-six cousinly wives stuffed the wicked
The Duellists � 73
bedchamber, and Bilquis herself made forty, once the three sisters
of the oldest generation were included.
Bilquis Hyder's head whirled. Trapped in a language which
contained a quite specific name for each conceivable relative, so
that the bewildered newcomer was unable to hide behind such
generic appellations as 'uncle', 'cousin', 'aunt', but was continually
caught out in all her insulting ignorance, Bilquis's tongue was
silenced by the in-law mob. She virtually never spoke except
when alone with Rani or Raza; and thus acquired the triple repu-
tation of sweet-innocent-child, doormat and fool. Because Raza
was often away for days at a time, depriving her of the protection
and flattery the other women got from their husbands on a daily
basis, she also attained the status of poor-thing, which her lack of
eyebrows (that no amount of pencilled artistry could disguise) did
nothing to diminish. Thanks to this she was given slightly more
than her fair share of household duties and also slightly more than
her fair share of the rough edge of
the mere fact of being married did not absolve a woman of the
shame and dishonour that results from the knowledge that she
sleeps regularly with a man; which was why Bariamma had
devised, without once discussing it, the idea of the forty thieves.
And of course all the women denied that anything of'that nature'
ever took place, so that when pregnancies occurred they did so as
if by magic, as if all conceptions were immaculate and all births
virgin. The idea of parthenogenesis had been accepted in this
house in order to keep out certain other, unpleasantly physical
notions.
Bilquis, the girl with the dream of queenhood, thought but did
not say; 'O God. Ignoramuses from somewhere. Backward types,
Shame ? 72
village idiots, unsophisticated completely, and I am stuck with
them.' Aloud, she told Raza meekly: 'Much to be said for the old
traditions.' Raza nodded seriously in simple agreement; her heart
sank further after that.
In the empire of Bariamma, Bilquis, the newest arrival, the
junior member, was of course not treated like a queen.
'See if we don't have sons,' Raza told Bilquis, 'In my mother's
family boys grow on trees.'
Lost in the forest of new relatives, wandering in the blood-
jungle of the matriarchal home, Bilquis consulted the family
Quran in search of these family trees, and found them there, in
their traditional place, monkey-puzzle groves of genealogy
inscribed in the back of the holy book. She discovered that since
the generation of Bariamma, who had two sisters, Raza's maternal
great-aunts, both widowed, as well as three brothers � a landlord,
a wastrel and a mental-case fool - since that sexually-balanced
generation, only two girls had been born in the entire family. One
of these was Raza's deceased mother; the other, Rani Humayun,
who could not wait to escape from that house which was never
left by its sons, who imported their wives to live and breed in bat-
tery conditions, like shaver chickens. On his mother's side, Raza
had a total of eleven legitimate uncles and, it was believed, at least
nine illegitimate ones, the brood of the wastrel, philandering
great-uncle. Besides Rani, he could point to a grand total of
thirty-two male cousins born in wedlock. (The putative offspring
of the bastard uncles did not rate a mention in the Quran.) Of this
enormous stock of relatives, a sizeable percentage was in residence
under Bariamma's short but omnipotent shadow; wastrel and fool
were unmarried, but when the landlord came to stay his wife
occupied one of the beds in Bariamma's zenana wing. At the time
of which I am speaking, landlord and wife were present; also eight
of the eleven legitimate uncles, plus wives; and (Bilquis had diffi-
culty with her counting) around twenty-nine male cousins, and
Rani Humayun. Twenty-six cousinly wives stuffed the wicked
The Duellists � 73
bedchamber, and Bilquis herself made forty, once the three sisters
of the oldest generation were included.
Bilquis Hyder's head whirled. Trapped in a language which
contained a quite specific name for each conceivable relative, so
that the bewildered newcomer was unable to hide behind such
generic appellations as 'uncle', 'cousin', 'aunt', but was continually
caught out in all her insulting ignorance, Bilquis's tongue was
silenced by the in-law mob. She virtually never spoke except
when alone with Rani or Raza; and thus acquired the triple repu-
tation of sweet-innocent-child, doormat and fool. Because Raza
was often away for days at a time, depriving her of the protection
and flattery the other women got from their husbands on a daily
basis, she also attained the status of poor-thing, which her lack of
eyebrows (that no amount of pencilled artistry could disguise) did
nothing to diminish. Thanks to this she was given slightly more
than her fair share of household duties and also slightly more than
her fair share of the rough edge of
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