Granada Read Online Free Page A

agreement is evil, there's no doubt about it. Our leader was in a difficult situation, and the resistance that Ibn Abi Ghassan wanted to launch was doomed from the start. So what could he do, and what can we do in the face of their awesome army and their new Italian artillery?"

    "We can fight them. I swear by the God of the Kaaba, 1 we can fight them," responded Abu Jaafar. .
    Saad was following the conversation, straining to listen since he wasn't able to see who was speaking because he was seated facing his master, and all that was in his view was the wall and the water heater to his left.
    "Why should we fight them? Aren't ten years of war enough? Do you want us to end up like the people of Malaga eating our own mules and the leaves off the trees?"
    "After submission, they'll teach us a lesson we'll never forget. The treaty is nothing but a worthless piece of paper. If we surrender Granada to them, they'll force us to drop to our knees whenever a clerical procession passes by. They'll force us to live in separate quarters with only one gate, and they'll put the sword of expulsion to our throats. What will prevent them from doing all of this once they take control of our country?"
    The master stretched out on his back while Saad worked on his knees. He massaged his upper body, stomach, and legs before the master turned over and Saad massaged his back.
    "Surrender will prevent them from doing any further damage to us, and it will allow us to maintain some of our rights."
    "How so?"
    Other voices followed in repetition, in piercing tones that came close to screeching. The master pulled away his hand and sat upright.
    "The treaty stipulates that we be treated honorably, and that our religion, customs, and traditions be respected, and that we be free to buy and sell, and that we preserve our rights to our property, our arms and horses, and that we have legal recourse to our judges in arbitrating matters of dispute. Even our prisoners shall be returned to us, pardoned and free."
    "Merely ink on paper," retorted Abu Jaafar.
    Saad went back to work grooming his master, and when he fin ished he stretched out his hand to show him the dirt stains that came from his body, the living proof that Saad had done a thorough job in scrubbing him clean. Saad then took the basin and ladled out hot water and poured it over his master's head as he soaped and rinsed.
    1. The Kaaba, a place of veneration at the Grand Mosque in Mecca.

    "If we reject the treaty and hold our ground, then help will come to us from the shores of North Africa, from Egypt, and even from the Ottoman Turks."
    "Nothing of the sort will come!"
    "Never! They won't leave us alone to defend ourselves."
    "I agree with Abu Jaafar, and Ibn Abi Ghassan did not die as the gossip-mongers are claiming. The Castilians will not have their way. We will stand up to them while Ibn Abi Ghassan's men are breathing down their backs. The Egyptian, North African, and Ottoman fleets have them blockaded, and their only way out is to die."
    The master motioned him to stop pouring the hot water on his head, and he continued to speak, enunciating every word with the utmost emphasis. "Granada has fallen, there's no doubt about it. Ibn Abi Ghassan was a fool who wanted us to plunge into a battle we couldn't sustain. Thank God he's dead! And now we can relax and he can rest in peace."
    Saad was at a loss as to what happened next when his master suddenly jumped up and hurriedly dashed away. He looked around and in a Mash caught sight of Abu Mansour with a thick stick in his hand and running amok. When had Abu Mansour come inside the bath, he wondered, and where did the stick come from? All he could think was, What happened? Abu Mansour was howling one threat after another.
    "Ibn Abi Ghassan s riding mule is more honorable than you and a thousand like you put together, you dog, you son of a dog!"
    The master's loincloth fell off as he ran away, terrified of the stick Abu Mansour was brandishing as he