THE NORTH RIDING PROJECT

In the village square these boys looked slow and ponderous, but out in the open country they suddenly became lithe and fast.  They ran like young gazelles, scrambled up smooth, erect tree trunks like lizards, chased hares and rock partridges like hounds.  Thirteen-year-old Abdullah could kill any living creature, however swift, with a pebble from his sling.  His first catch when Farid went out with them was a rock partridge.  Soon after that he brought down a hare.  The boys fell on his prey, and within a very short time the partridge and the hare had been plucked, skinned, neatly gutted, and washed.  They broiled the meat over a fire near the old elm tree, throwing thyme and other herbs into the flames, and a pleasant aroma rose into the air.

Schami/Dark