"Beneath the Sheltering Sky"
Over the weekend I happened to discover the origin of the story behind The Police song, "Tea in the Sahara." I've long been fascinated by the story told through these lyrics, as it's unusual as to seem unique, rich with imagery and metaphor, and filled with longing and passion. Turns out that it's taken from a novel, Paul Bowles' 1949 publication, The Sheltering Sky. As you Police fans out there can guess, it was the novel's title which caught my attention as those words are echoed in a passing description in the song lyrics. It appears, however, that the story which forms the basis of the song isn't significant within the novel. It looks to be a random tale told between characters, a cautionary tale about letting the brambles catch your gown.
You can read the passage on Google books here, if you like. I'll give you a recap: Three sisters come down from their mountain village to wait tables in a more urban settlement, hoping to make enough money to fulfill their lifelong (and unexplained) dream of drinking tea in the Sahara Desert. They find disappointment in the general ugliness of men in the village. One day a handsome stranger from a village in the Sahara itself visits them, and seduces each of the three sisters in turn. He gives them each a silver piece -- it's unclear to me whether they're prostitutes, or this is more like cutting out the middle man in giving a girl flowers. I suspect the latter. He leaves, and the girls cling to their silver pieces as the only relic they have of his memory. They have a hard time saving money for their trip, however. One day, one of the sisters points out that this is a little silly. She suggests that they pool their money, including their silver gifts, and buy a tea set and passage through the Sahara. They do. Everyone's happy! They arrive late at night, and are so excited about the realization of their dream that they want to get started drinking their tea in the Sahara immediately. They head out to climb a dune so they can get the full view of the Sahara. Once there, however, they think that another dune is even higher, and will have a better view. Wash, rinse, repeat. Finally they spot what they think is the highest dune of all, from which surely they can see the village where Dude is from, that's clearly the best spot for their tea party. By the time they stop this nit-picking, waiting for the perfect spot, it's already noon, however. The exhausted sisters decide to set up for their tea, and then take a little nap. Weeks later, another caravan finds them there dead, with their cups full of sand....
It's an interesting lesson in not letting the moment slip by you, missing out what's wonderful in life while in pursuit of what's ideal. I like the tale itself. The Police song takes it in some directions that I didn't notice in the original work, for instance the "with you" part of drinking Tea in the Sahara. The girls love the handsome stranger who seduced them and left them, although it seems that their dream to drink tea in the Sahara was always their own, independent of him.
I thought this was pretty interesting. I hope you enjoyed a little backstory here!
Trace
You can read the passage on Google books here, if you like. I'll give you a recap: Three sisters come down from their mountain village to wait tables in a more urban settlement, hoping to make enough money to fulfill their lifelong (and unexplained) dream of drinking tea in the Sahara Desert. They find disappointment in the general ugliness of men in the village. One day a handsome stranger from a village in the Sahara itself visits them, and seduces each of the three sisters in turn. He gives them each a silver piece -- it's unclear to me whether they're prostitutes, or this is more like cutting out the middle man in giving a girl flowers. I suspect the latter. He leaves, and the girls cling to their silver pieces as the only relic they have of his memory. They have a hard time saving money for their trip, however. One day, one of the sisters points out that this is a little silly. She suggests that they pool their money, including their silver gifts, and buy a tea set and passage through the Sahara. They do. Everyone's happy! They arrive late at night, and are so excited about the realization of their dream that they want to get started drinking their tea in the Sahara immediately. They head out to climb a dune so they can get the full view of the Sahara. Once there, however, they think that another dune is even higher, and will have a better view. Wash, rinse, repeat. Finally they spot what they think is the highest dune of all, from which surely they can see the village where Dude is from, that's clearly the best spot for their tea party. By the time they stop this nit-picking, waiting for the perfect spot, it's already noon, however. The exhausted sisters decide to set up for their tea, and then take a little nap. Weeks later, another caravan finds them there dead, with their cups full of sand....
It's an interesting lesson in not letting the moment slip by you, missing out what's wonderful in life while in pursuit of what's ideal. I like the tale itself. The Police song takes it in some directions that I didn't notice in the original work, for instance the "with you" part of drinking Tea in the Sahara. The girls love the handsome stranger who seduced them and left them, although it seems that their dream to drink tea in the Sahara was always their own, independent of him.
I thought this was pretty interesting. I hope you enjoyed a little backstory here!
Trace