Halima And The Scorpions

'Halima And The Scorpions' is a short story written by Robert Hichens, best remembered today as a satirist of the «Naughty Nineties». The story follows the life of Mohammed El Aïd Ben Ali Tidjani, marabout of Tamacine, who is a great man in the Sahara Desert. His reputation for piety reaches as far as Tunis and Algiers, to the north of Africa, and to the uttermost parts of the Southern Desert, even to the land of the Touaregs. He dwells in a sacred village of dried mud and brick, surrounded by a high wall, pierced with loopholes, and ornamented with gates made of palm wood, and covered with sheets of iron. In his mansion, above the entrance of which is written «L'Entrée de Sidi Laïd,» are innumerable clocks, musical boxes, tables, chairs, sofas, and even framed photographs.