Translator's IntroductionThe Wastelands3At the Roadside7Wild Mulberries14My Grandfather16A Last Glass of Tea25On the Brink35The Hill41Drought44A Weak Light Revealing Nothing47The Bend of the River55The Girl Washes58Death Has Its Time61The Floating Sack69A Conversation at Night76The Prisoner83The Condemned Man87A Conversation from the Third Floor90Confrontation96Uncle Zeydan103That's How It Was112The Trap116Meeting120Hagg Abd Rabbuh124War Widows134Sources139About the Author141