Darwish was a man who had no skill in life other than teaching reading and writing to the young, but he hated his profession and hated children: he saw them as dissemblers who had enough cunning to appear innocent. He fell in love with a dancer, in front of whom he would falter in his speech like a child trying to speak his first words. His love increased when he saw how modest she was when she appeared in public fully dressed. He asked for help from his friends, who made fun of him behind his back and vied with each other in offering a steady stream of advice. One such piece of advice was that a woman likes to be given roses. Darwish thought over his friends’ words, but their advice did not appeal to him. He gave the dancer a revolver of the most up-to-date design. She took it and contemplated it in silence, then suddenly said to Darwish, “Do you know what I would do if I knew how to use this revolver?” He shook his head. She said, “I would shoot you. Then you’d be at rest, and so would I.”
He told his friends what happened, but they quickly drew his attention to the fact that her concern for his rest was a sign that she loved him but was too embarrassed to admit it. They said a woman loves a forceful and tough man, and he must now convince her he was forceful and tough. And no sooner did Darwish see the dancer in the lounge where she worked than he slapped her without provocation, but he came away with his head bloody from the blows it had received from a shoe with a stiletto heel. He complained to his friends, but they expressed surprise at his simple-mindedness: it was obvious she loved him because for his sake she had sacrificed an expensive heel. They encouraged him to keep after her, reminding him that a woman loves an honorable man who wants to get married and start a family. Darwish followed their advice and insisted that the dancer marry him. She had had enough of his nagging and agreed. She enticed him into abandoning teaching and taking up another profession which required hardly any capital, was not dangerous, and whose profits were guaranteed.