Chapter4:

After days of traveling, Wadda and the servant, who had become a lady of a distant village far from their own, descended. As soon as they arrived, they began questioning the people of the village about seven men - brothers - strangers to the village. They had come from a certain year, and the answer they received was different from what they had heard in the previous villages. The response was affirmative, as they were directed to seven brothers who had seven dogs, seven horses, seven rifles, seven plots of land, and seven wives. They were strangers to the village and had come from many years ago. Upon hearing this response, they hurried to meet them, hoping they might be the ones they were seeking.

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Seven women welcomed Wada'a and the maid with the warmest reception in the house where the seven brothers lived together. Then, the brothers and their wives gathered around these two unfamiliar women to them. They came seeking the men of the house by name and describing each of them with their attributes, as if they knew them through and through. Wada'a scrutinized their faces, comparing them to her own face, her mother's, and the faces of those she knew in the village among relatives. She tried to anticipate events and ensure that those standing before her were undoubtedly her brothers, even though her intuition assured her of their identity without needing to confirm it. For her...

As for the brothers, their attention was focused on the maid with her fair face and elegant attire. Just like everyone in that era, Wada'a was perceived as a servant with her weary, dusky face and shabby clothes, while the maid, now elevated to a mistress in front of her own sisters, held their attention. She was the one who addressed them by their names and attributes, she instructed them, and with emotions filling her eyes, tears streaming down her cheeks, her voice quivering and body trembling, she revealed to them that she was Wada'a, their sister. And the true Wada'a, a new servant acquired after the brothers had left the village.

I cannot adequately describe the emotional scene that reunited the brothers with the fake Wada'a. Even the devil himself would have shed a tear if he had witnessed it. And on that night, sheep were slaughtered, and a feast was held in honor of their sister. They spent the first night in merriment, luxury, and storytelling. Fake Wada'a sometimes spoke to them about their mother, their village, and what happened after they left. She recounted the story of Wada'a's life that they knew so well and how she traveled to where they were. Other times, the brothers shared tales and anecdotes from their lives before Wada'a joined them, when they lived with their parents in the village, and afterward, when they decided to migrate.

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Days went by, and the brothers' concern for who they believed to be their sister didn't change from the first day. The maid enjoyed comfort and luxury, while Wad'ah slept in the stable, waking up early to tend to the camels until evening. However, in a strange manner, since Wad'ah started tending to the camels, she gradually weakened, except for one camel that maintained its health. This raised suspicion among the brothers, who were determined to uncover the secret. They thought that Wad'ah might be harming the camels or leading them to barren land, possibly acting out of revenge. They considered that she might be rebelling against their authority.

So, they decided to send one of them to follow her during her camel-tending journey in the hope of discovering the truth. The task fell to the youngest brother, who executed it the next morning, following her discreetly without her awareness. He watched her from a distance, concealed behind thick bushes near the camel grazing area. Here came the surprise: the camels gathered around Wad'ah, who shared a part of her story with them every day in detail, occasionally revealing her internal sorrows and turmoil, shedding tears and expressing pain. However, that one camel continued to thrive, grazing contently, as if it was completely unaffected.

The younger brother realized that the camels' weakened state was due to their grief for Wad'ah, their sister. He hurriedly left his hiding spot and ran to his siblings to recount what he had witnessed. The brothers found it difficult to believe what they heard, not because they doubted their younger brother's honesty, but because they were uncertain about the authenticity of Wad'ah's narrative. Therefore, they decided to verify the truth of her story.