The story opens with news of Zein’s wedding that comes as a surprise to everyone; the villagers all marvel at how an ugly person like Zein, who has only two remaining teeth, could marry the village belle Ni’ma.Through a flashback, Zein’s childhood is exposed. Immediately after his birth, it is said, the infant Zein did not cry as every child is expected to do at birth, but burst out into laughter, and lost almost all his teeth at the age of six. He had a strange natural charm t(...)