Un jardin sur l'Oronte

Set against the sweltering heat of a June day in 1914, the story opens beside the Orontes in the ancient Syrian town of Hamah. A French narrator, weary from travel, finds refuge in a modest café where an Irish scholar reads aloud a mysterious Arabic manuscript. Their chance meeting sparks a partnership that blends curiosity, humor, and the palpable poetry of desert life, as they wander through winding bazaars and sun‑baked gardens, trying to decipher the hidden histories of the region.

Together they are drawn into a hidden courtyard where a local Jewish collector displays relics—ancient busts, glittering coins, and the enigmatic manuscript itself. The narrator is enchanted by the mingling of cultures, the echo of forgotten crusader legacies, and the promise of uncovering the secret lives of “Poulains,” mixed‑heritage figures who once bridged East and West. As the evening settles over the river, the two explorers feel the pull of the oasis and the allure of untold stories waiting to be unearthed.