Tree of Misery

Author's name: Taha Hussein

It's as if misery is a tree with roots deep in our souls, feeding on our days, absorbing our vitality and hopes, then bearing fruits of thistles and thorns that we reluctantly eat, for there is no escape from our decreed fate. The novel before you is the tale of a miserable country girl who was not kind to life, which only increased her pain. The man who married her did so out of necessity, out of respect for his elderly father's will, not out of love or dignity. How (by God) could anyone accept to marry a poor, ugly woman like her?! He lives with her in hatred and resentment, and her suffering is increased by the constant mistreatment of her mother-in-law. Then she gives birth to daughters who are no better off than their mother, for they inherited her misery and find no comfort except in the embrace of a grave.