Martoons

Before leaving for Egypt, a wise friend warned a tourist, “Avoid entering a papyrus shop. You will get ripped off.”

Day 1: Cairo. The tourist commences his first walk around Tahrir Square. No crosswalks here. To cross the road while walking you zig-zag and weave your way through zooming honking blobs of traffic and it’s constant.

Our tourist makes it across — barely — when he encounters a nice gentleman. (After-the-fact warning: Beware of a nice gentleman.) A pleasant conversation ensues as the two happen to be walking in the same direction. The nice gent is a university professor and the tourist shows a genuine interest in the professor’s subject matter.

Tourist is kindly invited to the art studio of the professor’s daughter, just around the corner. It is a papyrus shop, although Tourist doesn’t know that yet.

Professor: “Please sir, can you do me a big favour.” (Warning: Be aware of this situation.) “My daughter is getting married tomorrow and you could really help her out…”

The professor shows Tourist a stack of his daughter’s papyrus artworks. All very competently done however nothing truly outstanding. A reflection of the daughter’s personality perhaps: Somewhat dull and uninspired. Mass producing by hand stereotypical Egyptian art for tourists couldn’t be all that rewarding.

Anyway, ignoring the little red lights going off, Tourist feels obliged to say he sort of likes “that one” and “this one.” (Mistake. Also not honest. He doesn’t really like any of them. Not his style.) Expediently the professor shuffles the two selected pieces over to the daughter who promptly writes Tourist’s name along the bottom in hieroglyphics.

More red lights and Tourist senses he’s passed a point of no return. Professor tells him the artworks cannot be sold to anyone else now because nobody would buy one with someone else’s name on it. Tourist is given a generous range of price options, all too high because he has no desire to buy any of the pieces. Something snaps.After tempering his feelings through a diplomatic filter, Tourist tells the professor: “You tricked me”.

In his own defence, Professor insists that he “was not walking the streets” with a hidden sales plan. “We had a chance encounter.” Tourist shakes his head in disbelief, recalling that previous warning about don’t go into a papyrus shop.

To prevent bloodshed, he reluctantly hands over 200 Egyptian pounds (only about $10) but is irked by the principle of this thing and scolds the professor: “You didn’t ask me at the outset if I wanted to buy the art.”

“It was my mistake,” says the professor, “and I am sorry about that.” He reaffirms an invitation from earlier in the conversation to visit his lotus farm. “We will drive there in my car without any charge to you for gas.”

Tourist can only defer his decision. “I will have to wait a few days to see if my bad feeling goes away.”

(Cairo, March 23, 2022)