Shabanu: Chapters 4–8

by Suzanne Fisher Staples
Growing up in a nomadic community in Pakistan, Shabanu must make difficult choices between her own desires and her obligations to her family.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–3, Chapters 4–8, Chapters 9–13, Chapters 14–18, Chapters 19–23
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. bangle
    jewelry worn around the wrist for decoration
    The other camels—fifteen in all—wear bright yellow, red, and green tassels, bells on leather harnesses around their necks, and bangles on their legs.
  2. whorl
    a round shape formed by a series of concentric circles
    Dadi and Grandfather have clipped the fur on the camels’ flanks and sides into whorls and chevrons.
  3. plait
    weave into a braided hairdo
    I push back my clean and newly plaited hair and make no effort to adjust the chadr.
  4. opalescent
    having a play of lustrous rainbow colors
    They sail over a dry toba, delicate legs tucked up under them, their horns perpendicular to the earth in the magical, opalescent moment before sunrise.
  5. knave
    a deceitful and unreliable scoundrel
    Sell me your camel strong and brave?
    Not for a million rupees, knave!
  6. gait
    an animal's manner of moving
    We slow our pace, and Guluband’s rocking gait lulls me.
  7. lull
    make calm or still
    We slow our pace, and Guluband’s rocking gait lulls me.
  8. mange
    a skin disease causing inflammation, itching, and hair loss
    We keep our camels clean and well fed. None of them has a trace of mange.
  9. deferential
    showing courteous regard for people's feelings
    Dadi, who has been deferential and extremely polite with the Rangers, throws back his head and laughs loudly.
  10. consort
    the spouse or companion of a reigning monarch
    Standing outside the sagging wooden gate, I look into the now overgrown garden and imagine dozens of jeweled consorts laughing and singing under the trees, pulling silken veils over mysterious smiles.
  11. dank
    unpleasantly cool and humid
    During the next days my mind is blank as the sky. The scrub and dunes give way to the dank, green irrigated area.
  12. acrid
    strong and sharp, as a taste or smell
    Mist rises from the canal, and the acrid smoke of cow dung fires from the nearby village burns my eyes and throat.
  13. filigree
    delicate and intricate ornamentation
    Dadi embraces them, and we sit under a tree where the oldest, a crooked, sinewy man, lights an old brass filigree hookah pipe filled with tobacco and brown sugar.
  14. plunder
    steal goods; take as spoils
    In Grandfather’s time the Bugtis and Marris and other tribes of Baluchistan lived in the barren hills and earned their living by plundering in the fertile Punjabi plains.
  15. unrest
    a state of turbulent change or agitation
    But in times of unrest no outsider is welcome in the tribal lands, where the only law is God’s.
  16. loom
    appear very large or occupy a commanding position
    The sun is fierce, heating the rocks that loom over the track like a bread oven.
  17. humble
    marked by meekness or modesty; not arrogant or prideful
    Dadi and one of our new companions climb slowly up the rocks, their hands open, palms up in humble greeting.
  18. elope
    run away secretly with one's beloved
    “We are looking for my brother’s daughter. She has eloped with a Marri tribesman. If you are not protecting her, then you can go in peace, and God go with you.”
  19. haggle
    wrangle, as over a price or terms of an agreement
    A small boy in bare feet runs along beside us, leading us to the place where we will camp and buyers will inspect our animals and haggle over prices.
  20. fodder
    coarse food composed of plants or leaves and stalks
    Here and there men with rough wooden scales surrounded by mounds of green weigh fodder for sale.
  21. prospective
    of or concerned with or related to the future
    After Guluband and I return with the fodder, I feed the animals, all the while running back to be sure that the tea kettle is full and that the prospective buyers have tea.
  22. hub
    central part of a car wheel through which the axle passes
    A man climbs the scaffolding to the hub of the wheel six times his height from the ground.
  23. demure
    suggestive of modesty or reserve
    I am shocked, though her scarf is draped demurely over her face.
  24. undulate
    move in a wavy pattern or with a rising and falling motion
    ...his hips and shoulders undulating to a rhythm played by two musicians pumping at tuneless instruments.
  25. gritty
    composed of or covered with small particles
    My teeth are gritty, and I open my eyes just wide enough to keep from tripping as I struggle to secure the tarpaulin to protect us and our belongings.
  26. tarpaulin
    waterproofed canvas
    My teeth are gritty, and I open my eyes just wide enough to keep from tripping as I struggle to secure the tarpaulin to protect us and our belongings.
  27. ruminate
    chew the cuds
    They continue to ruminate with their eyes shut, content as old women in front of a fire.
  28. rivet
    direct one's attention on something
    My eyes are riveted on Wardak, who lifts his tunic and reaches into a canvas pouch hanging at his waist.
  29. patter
    a quick succession of light rapid sounds
    The wind dies, and the rain is now a gentle patter on the tarpaulin.
  30. portend
    indicate by signs
    Word spreads among the people of our caravan of Dadi’s great sales, and each comes, bringing what he can to help celebrate, and also in the hope that our good fortune portends his own.
  31. halting
    proceeding in a fragmentary, hesitant, or ineffective way
    Several men form a circle around the fire, smiling and swaying at first, then dipping and turning to clap their hands overhead, their steps a halting beat behind the drum in a traditional desert dance.
  32. staccato
    marked by or composed of disconnected parts or sounds
    He lifts his arms gracefully and strikes at the air with his hands to staccato whistles through the reed, swaying like a mesmerized cobra.
  33. monotonous
    tediously repetitious or lacking in variety
    The day passes in a long, monotonous shuffle. Both of us walk in silence.
  34. tawny
    having the color of tanned leather
    I haven’t thought of it, but Phulan’s eyes are a tawny color like liquid gold.
  35. trellis
    latticework used to support climbing plants
    The embroidery at the ends is like the flowers on the trellises in the landowners’ gardens—deep, dark red like desert roses, and delicate pink like the blossoms of kharin.
  36. gnarled
    old and twisted and covered in lines
    His hands are gnarled and his beard wispy.
  37. wispy
    thin and weak
    His hands are gnarled and his beard wispy.
  38. exquisite
    delicately beautiful
    He folds back the last piece of paper and pulls out an exquisite gray-colored piece of cloth as light as a spider’s web.
  39. gossamer
    a gauze fabric with an extremely fine texture
    Pale pink and green embroidery so fine I can’t see the stitches curls along the edges of the gossamer shawl.
  40. shroud
    burial garment in which a corpse is wrapped
    I’ll never wrap it around me like a shroud, the way Phulan does.
Created on Tue Aug 03 20:24:29 EDT 2021 (updated Thu Aug 19 09:38:21 EDT 2021)

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