An interviewer once asked me what I most like about Lebanon. I answered: the cedar trees. He asked me what else. I answered: the mosquitoes, between JabJennine and Sultan Yacoub. In 1982, they saved my life. Here's the story. 

The evil inclination with its three layers resembles an almond. On the outside, there's a course shell. Once you break through that, there's a thin husk that clings to the meat of the nut. Yet on the inside, there's a fine biochemical – glycoside – that's dangerous, because the body breaks it...