Test Your Memory of 'A Handful of Dates' by Tayeb Salih

• The narrator hitchhikes from Beirut to an unknown destination.
• He is picked up by a shared taxi driven by an elderly man and carrying two passengers.
• One of the passengers is a frail, one-legged man who invites the narrator to dinner at his home with his wife.
• The couple is kind and hospitable, offering the narrator tea, dinner, and a place to sleep.
• The narrator reflects on the gentleness and empathy of the couple, contrasting it with the violence of war.
• He eats dinner with the couple, consisting of flatbread and sea urchins, while the wife does not eat.
• The couple's child has a severe squint, and the narrator wonders what became of them.
• The narrator sleeps on the couple's bed while they sleep on the floor behind a curtain.
• In the morning, the narrator is given a bowl of water to wash and coffee to drink before leaving.
• The one-legged man gives the narrator a crutch before parting ways.

"How well do you remember 'A Handful of Dates' by Tayeb Salih?" Test your knowledge of this poignant short story about a hitchhiking narrator's encounter with a kind and hospitable couple in war-torn Beirut. From sea urchin dinners to a gift of a crutch, see if you can recall all the details and themes of this powerful literary work. Keywords: Tayeb Salih, short story, Beirut, war, hospitality, empathy, squint, crutch