Young, full of youth, and beautiful was Hadra when she came to the moshava.
Have you seen on a crisp, clear morning, on an uncultivated hill, a wildflower before it has opened? The flower is tender and also hard, wet from the night’s dew and lit with the first rays of sun. The flower is as if shy and also proud. It is beautiful and full of charm, as if a sworn secret dwelled within it… Such was Hadra when she came to the moshava.
She was orphaned of her father. She and her mother – an old woman – lived in the tent of Ibrahim, her half-brother son of her father. He tended the moshava’s flock and his property was a white mare.
And Ibrahim gave his sister to be a maid-servant in the home of a wealthy woman farmer.
Hadra was fifteen years old then.
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Have you seen the flower, after the sun has shone on it, beating down on it with its heat? The flower opens, its head drooped as if saddened… Such was Hadra at the end of one year after she had come to the moshava…
At the end of the year there came to the farmer woman’s vineyard a watchman, a young Mughrabi named Gashem.
Gashem was known as a man of valor, heroic and industrious. It was told of him: his gaze was the gaze of an eagle, and his heart the heart of a dove. And it was told of him: in his anger would he kill a man, and out of the goodness of his heart would he give his life for his friends. The Arab men hated him. The Arab women feared him. The former because of his strong arm, the latter because of his smoldering eyes.
And from the day Gashem saw Hadra, his eyes smoldered even more than before.
And Hadra became sad…
One morning, Hadra vanished.
Her landlady looked for her in the kitchen and could not find her. Her old mother looked for her in the tent, but she was not there either. And Ibrahim rode through all the fields and vineyards on his mare and returned dour-faced and angry.
What had happened to Hadra?
Towards evening, when Gashem did not come to watch the vineyard, it became known: Gashem had stolen Hadra away. And there was commotion and trepidation among the Arabs.
All that night they raged. The old woman cried and banged her head against the ground. Ibrahim gritted his teeth, looked for a moment at his gun, and affectionately stroked the mane of his mare…
And halfway through the night, there came from the tents of Ibrahim’s family ten young riders on horses, armed with spears on their hips and guns on their shoulders.
And before dawn had risen, Ibrahim had set off on his mare and his family’s sons followed after him…
And like shadows they hid themselves behind the houses…
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At midnight Gashem and Hadra stole away from the moshava. And all that night they walked and they did not rest the next day either. Only the second night did they spend the night near Shechem – this was their first rest. And again they walked the entire day without standing still for a moment. At night, they sat down to rest near the fence of a garden. Gashem would not travel by the main road and chose narrow paths through the mountains. He dreamed of Damascus: could he manage to reach it safely, he would no longer fear any danger. Happy, joyful, and full of the pride of victory was Gashem. And Hadra too was cheerful on the first day. But she was tired, and her fatigue went and grew, and a shadow of melancholy clouded her gaze.
The night was beautiful. The moon shone down. All around was illuminated as if it were day. She was sad, and he comforted her with soft words and pleasant hopes. And his smoldering kisses covered her face and her eyes.
Suddenly, the sound of galloping hoofbeats was heard…
Hadra’s face grew pale. Gashem’s heart, too, trembled. But in a moment, he recovered.
Not more than a few moments had passed, and a company of riders on horses appeared in the middle of the road.
Gashem knew them. It was Ibrahim and the sons of his family.
“Now we shall die the both of us!” said Gashem calmly. He removed his sword from its scabbard, and took his gun in his hand.
She awoke suddenly as if from a deep sleep, jumped from her place, grabbed his hand and said: follow me, we will go over the fence, we will hide in the garden…
But it was already too late.
Ibrahim knew the shadows from afar. His white mare bore him like a gale. Gashem shot him, and his mare fell beneath him.
And Gashem shot no more.
“Dead or alive!” yelled Ibrahim like a beast of prey, and a bullet from one of his friends crushed Gashem’s leg and he fell over backwards…
The riders took Hadra. Gashem was saved by the watchmen of the garden, who had been alerted by the sound of the gunfire.
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For two months Gashem lay in the garden, and when he was back on his feet, he came to ask for Hadra. Ibrahim brought her no longer to the moshava, but gave her to his relatives in the tents.
Three days and three nights Gashem lingered around the tents and attempted to see Hadra by chance. And in the end, he saw her:
She came out accompanied by some girls to draw water from the well. He ran to her. The girls saw him and began to scream… From the tents came the men with sticks and swords in their hands and beat Gashem brutally.
Hadra cried out bitterly. Her voiced reached the heart of the heavens, and she fell down in a faint. Gashem escaped by the skin of his teeth…
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And Hadra sits alone till this day. She is not given to any man. Many have sought her love. Many were willing to weigh out her price in gold. But each time the groom’s family came to see the bride, she would whisper a terrible secret in their ears. And when they heard her secret, they grew pale and fled.
Much did her family beat her. Sometimes they sent her to far away places, and her old mother died of sorrow… But she is the same: taking refuge in her secret, and giving herself to no man.
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