Together tea de Marjan
Kamali, acheté en ligne pour son titre, s'est révélé plein de thé,
iranien de surcroît. Depuis le salon des parents émigrés aux Etats-Unis
qui reçoivent les bons partis pour leur fille de 25 ans
He
nodded and looked again at the Persian miniatures on the wall. Mina
studied the tablecloth.
“Here
is tea!” Darya bounced in holding a tray with four estekan,
small hourglass-shaped glasses, filled with dark tea. Baba carried a
silver bowl of sugar cubes in one hand and a platter of baklava cut
into diamonds in the other.
jusqu'au thé que prennent la mère et sa fille dans un salon de
thé d'Isfahan car elles sont retournées en Iran quinze ans après leur
fuite,
She took her to a teahouse that she remembered from
years ago near the Bridge of Thirty-three Arches. The door was tucked
away under the bridge and steps led down to a cozy room where tea was
served. Darya was delighted to find the teahouse as she remembered
it. People sat shoeless on Persian rugs, leaning against crimson and
burgundy carpeted cushions. Men smoked ghalyoon, women relaxed
drinking. Darya showed Mina where to stow her shoes. She motioned to
the waiter and they sat. How many tea bags bobbing in lukewarm water
had she put up with in the States? But here, they would have real tea
with leaves meticulously selected and mixed in just the right
proportion. The brewing, the dam-avardan, would be supervised
with care. At the right time, the tea would be poured into estekan
and served with hacked-off pieces of sugar. Darya couldn't wait to
put the sugar between her teeth, to feel it slowly dissolve and melt
in her mouth as she sipped.
le thé se retrouve dans les rêves de la gamine,
That night Mina dreamed that she was sitting by the
beach with John Travolta, enjoying a cup of tea. The crown prince
was flailing in the waves, trying to get her attention, but Mina was
too busy chatting with Mr. Travolta. She could hear the crown prince
screaming for help, yelling about sharks, but she found herself
unable to help him. “Let him drown,” John Travolta said. “He's
useless, just selfish. Greedy too.” Mina could only nod. “Be a
doll and get me another cup of tea,” John Travolta said. And Mina
got up and poured him a fresh hot cup from the samovar that was on a
Persian carpet on the sand. They sat together looking at the horizon,
she and John, and sipped their tea through thick chunks of sugar that
they had placed between their teeth.
dans les souvenirs de l'adolescente,
Mina's knees weakened and she found herself sinking
to the floor. She could feel the softness of the upper part of
Mamani's arm against her head. She could smell the tea brewing on the
samovar, the sound of her grandfather's voice. The living room in
Queens with its TV set and coffee-table books melted away.
dans le quotidien de la jeune femme,
She boiled water and then brewed
tea the way Darya had taught her, balancing the teapot on top of the
open kettle so that steam from the boiled water underneath would
gently simmer the leaves. She covered the teapot with a cloth so no
heat could escape. Half Earl Grey, half mystery leaves. Darya's brew.
dans les cours du soir de sa mère,
He
ordered Darya some tea, and she pretended not to be disgusted by the
leaf-filled bag floating in lukewarm water. They sat by the window,
and part of Darya felt as if she were in a movie. It's just
coffee. It's just tea. It's just time after class with a classmate.
Parviz is picking me up soon.
dans l'accueil qui leur est fait à leur descente d'avion.
When Darya was cleared, they went to the baggage
claim and then to the arrival gate. There Mina saw a group of people
holding yellow and white flowers, some red carnations, a bouquet of
pink roses. They drank from Styrofoam cups. A stainless steel thermos
was being passed around. It was four in the morning and there they
were, craning their heads, searching the faces of the arriving
passengers.
[...]
With the wet hanky in one hand, she started to clap,
and the rest of the group – Leila and her two children, Aunt Nikki
and Uncle Jafar, the small collection of young cousins, and all the
rest who had come there to greet them – broke out into applause
even if a few of them had to clap against their thigh, due to their
other hand being occupied, resolutely and expertly, with that perfect
cup of tea.
Ce livre a été traduit en
italien. Peut-être en français un jour.