Isa’s mother entered the conversation. “There’s nothing to be worried about,” she said enthusiastically, “that’s what I always say. Why do these people abandon their leaders and then take vengeance on their sons?”

Isa was a little nonplussed by Hasan’s sympathy. “We’re quite used to being imprisoned and beaten,” he said proudly. “Today’s afflictions are nothing…”

Hasan smiled and went on sipping his tea. “That’s right,” he said with traces of aggression in his voice, “you’re imprisoned and beaten while the other people do a little bargaining.”

Isa realized full well whom he meant by “other people” and got ready for battle, while his mother left the room to perform the sunset prayer. “You know very well what I think of the others personally,” he said by way of warning, “so be careful!”

“Everything’s collapsing so fast,” said Hasan with a provocative grin. “It’s best to let it happen. The old way of doing things must be torn up by the roots!”

“And what about the problems our nation faces?” Isa retorted. “Who’ll be left to deal with them?”

“Do you think that those corrupt idiots in Parliament are the ones to solve them?”

“You don’t see them as they really are.”

“The truth is that I do see them as they really are.”

“You keep on repeating exactly the things that the opposition press is saying!”

“I only believe in the truth,” Hasan replied with a confidence that was exasperating. “Young people have to rely on themselves.”

Isa stifled his own irritation. “A call for total destruction is very dangerous,” he said. “If it weren’t for this treachery, we could have kept the King within his constitutional limits and got our independence.”

Hasan finished his glass and smiled, trying to clear the atmosphere. “You’re a loyal man,” he said amiably, “and that leads you to respect certain people who don’t deserve it. There’s widespread corruption, believe me. Nobody in a position of authority today thinks about anything but the rotten game of getting rich quick. We inhale corruption in the very air we breathe! How can any of our genuine hopes emerge from this quagmire?”

They could both hear the sound of Isa’s mother praying. For the sake of hospitality, Isa controlled his temper. Nothing could make him admit that what his rival was saying was right: sheer obstinacy would hold him back. But he felt extremely depressed: the world was changing and his gods were crumbling before his very eyes. For his part, Hasan changed the subject and began talking about the property lost in the fire, the estimates of compensation, the position of the British, and the continual arrests. Before long, however, he came back to the point: “Just show me a single sector that doesn’t ooze with corruption!”