Smaïn and Safti's Summer Day

Name: Smaïn and Safti's Summer Day
Author: Robert Hichens

Smaïn is a young Algerian boy living in a small village in the Atlas Mountains. He is the son of a poor farmer, and his life is filled with hard work and little joy. One day, Smaïn is given the chance to go to the city of Algiers to work as a servant for a wealthy family. He is excited by the prospect of a new life, but soon finds himself in a strange and unfamiliar world. Safti's Summer Day is a story about a young girl named Safti who lives in a small village in the Atlas Mountains. She is the daughter of a poor farmer, and her life is filled with hard work and little joy. One day, Safti is given the chance to go to the city of Algiers to work as a servant for a wealthy family. She is excited by the prospect of a new life, but soon finds herself in a strange and unfamiliar world. As she struggles to adjust to her new life, Safti discovers the beauty of the city and the kindness of its people. Along the way, she learns valuable lessons about friendship, courage, and the power of hope.

By Robert Hichens · First published 1905 · Genre: Fiction, Children's Literature, Adventure · 2 chapters · 3,667 words

First lines

Far away in the desert I heard the sound of a flute, pure sound in the pure air, delicate, sometimes almost comic with the comicality of a child who bends women to kisses and to nonsense-words. We had passed through the sandstorm, Safti and I, over the wastes of saltpetre, and come into a land of palm gardens where there was almost breathless calm. The feet of the camels paddled over the soft brown earth of the narrow alleys between the brown earth walls, and we looked down to right and left into the shady enclosed spaces, seamed with water rills, dotted with little pools of pale yellow water, and saw always giant palms, with wrinkled trunks and tufted, deep green foliage, brooding in their squadrons over the dimness they had made. The activity of man might be discerned here in the regularity of the artificial rills, the ordered placing of the trees, each of which, too, stood on its oval hump. But no man was seen; no flat-roofed huts appeared; no robe, pale blue or white, fluttered among the shadows; no dog blinked in the golden patches of the sun -- only the sound of the flute came to us from some hidden place ceaselessly, wild and romantic, full of an odd coquetry, and of an absurdity that was both uncivilised and touching.

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Smaïn and Safti's Summer Day is listed on Textopian as a short story by Robert Hichens, dated 1905 CE.

This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.

Work type: Short story
Author: Robert Hichens
Date: 1905 CE
Language: English
Genres: Fiction, Children's Literature, Adventure, Romance
Length: 3,667 words
Structure: 2 chapters, 107 paragraphs
Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)

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Similar titles

Genres

Fiction — The book is a work of fiction, as it is a story created by the author, Robert Hichens.
Children's Literature — The book is likely intended for a younger audience, as it is about two children, Smaïn and Safti, and their summer day.
Adventure — The book follows the two children as they embark on an adventure, exploring the world around them.
Romance — The book contains elements of romance, as Smaïn and Safti develop a strong bond throughout the story.