The Egyptian Courtesans

I went with Plango

to the Egyptian courtesans,

way up at the top of the old city.

They have earthenware amphorae,

copper platters and yellow mats

where they squat without effort.

Their bedrooms are quiet,

without angles or corners,

so much have the successive layers of blue stucco

blunted the capitals

and rounded the base of the walls.

They stand motionless,

their hands resting on their knees.

When they offer the soup,

they murmur: "Happiness."

And when you thank them,

they say: "Thanks to you."

They understand Hellenic and pretend to speak it badly

in order to make fun of us in their language;

but we, tooth for tooth, we speak Lydian

and suddenly they become uneasy.