ABSTRACT
Sadly, the children at play beneath Averroes’ window remain more a distraction than an epiphany. Our translator returns to Aristotle’s text, scouring page after page for any hints that might lead to a further elucidation of those strange and ever-elusive words: “tragedy” and “comedy.” Dusk arrives and with it a reprieve from such study. Averroes has been invited to his friend Faraj’s house where the great merchant/explorer Abu-al-Hasan is the guest of honor. Abu-al-Hasan has the singular distinction of returning from the far-off kingdom of the Sin (China) and Averroes is eager to hear of his adventures. It is with this encounter that Averroes is, unknowingly, given his second clue into the potential meaning of Aristotle’s elliptical theatrical nomenclature. Abu-al-Hasan tells the following story to Averroes and the other assembled guests of the party. He speaks of having been invited to a strange “house of painted wood” where many people seemed to live. It is difficult for Abu-al-Hasan to describe the house, which was more like a single expansive room with row after row of cabinet-like contrivances that resembled balconies, one atop another. In these strange cabinets one discovered people eating, drinking, and looking down at a strangely suspended terrace.
