betrothed to Hamida
Hussainy to intervene before she sends “fire raging through the whole alley”. She would leave if it were not for her age and the children. Hussainy fails in his mission and Umm Hussain attacks the boy, punching, slapping, and nearly strangling him with his necktie. She returns home under protest. The Kirsha family fights two more pitched battles, the first being when Hussain declares he is leaving home. Umm Hussain begs her only comfort not to leave, but Kirsha declares the boy dead and gone to hell. The second battle is when Hussain returns, married and unemployed. Kirsha insists he is not running an almshouse, but eventually gives in to his wife’s pleadings.
Hussain Kirsha The son of the Kirsha Café’s owner, Hussain is in his twenties, and is slight, delicate, fit, clever, energetic, intelligent, courageous, and aggressive. He dresses well and shows off possessions like a gold wristwatch, frequents cinemas and cabarets, eats meat, drinks wine, loves women, smokes hashish, and entertains friends. His motto is: “live large”. After working both for his father and in a bicycle shop, Hussein becomes a day laborer for the British Army, and convinces his friend Abbas Hilu to abandon his meager existence as a barber and do likewise. Hussain is convinced Germany and Japan will hold out for at least ten more years. World War II is a gift from God to the Egyptians. Hussain is also doing well in the black market. Abbas takes the advice and goes to Tell el-Kebir, having become betrothed to Hamida. Hussain fights with his father and moves to Wayliya, where he marries Sayyida. Laid off like brother-in-law Abdu, penniless, and on the verge of hawking Sayyida’s jewelry, Hussein trudges home. His mother smothers him with hugs and kisses, but his father insists he is not running an almshouse. He lets them stay temporarily and in time suggests Hussein take over running the café. Hussain prefers Vita’s Bar, where he introduces Abbas to red wine. He is with his friend when he is beaten to death by British troops and brings the sorrowful news home to Midaq Alley.
The Poet A senile old man, led about by a boy, “The Poet” is a part of a dying breed, the public reciter. He carries a two-stringed fiddle and a book, and makes a regular nuisance of himself reciting ancient stories in a harsh voice to the patrons of Kirsha’s Café. Kirsha has for some time been trying to ban him from performances in his café and has now installed a secondhand radio to discourage him further. The poet begs to stay, as the other cafés have already thrown him out and he must support himself and the son he is apprenticing.
Sanker The waiter in Kirsha’s Café, Sanker is kept busy all the time.
