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“Only blood,” he said, “washes dishonor clean.”

These words were spoken by Sayyid in “Mansoura” after his wife, Mansoura, is found dead after falling into a canal to escape Hindawi, Sayyid’s employer, who was trying to convince Mansoura to resume her affair with him. Prior to her death, Hindawi had cunningly employed Sayyid all day and night, and he would sneak into Mansoura’s house while Sayyid was away. Mansoura convinced Sayyid to quit his employment with Hindawi, but Hindawi could not live without her, so he approached Mansoura at the canal. When Mansoura’s body washes up, Sayyid is accused of murdering her in a jealous rage. In the quote above, he is confessing to the crime. The narrator of the story explains that Sayyid confesses out of pride, so that he can serve a short sentence and then find and kill the real murderer.

Even though Sayyid seems to be talking about Mansoura’s blood in this quote, it is Hindawi’s blood that is finally spilled in order to erase the dishonor that has been done against Mansoura and Sayyid. At the close of this legend about the Mansoura Canal, the narrator explains that Hindawi fled the town for fear that Sayyid would kill him. Hindawi joined the narrator, Sheikh Zeidan, as a worker laying pipe in the canal. While Hindawi is working, he sees a vision of Mansoura above a crane that suddenly drops a pipe on him and kills him. Mansoura avenges her death, and Hindawi pays for his dishonor with his blood.

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