The Artillery Captain Jamil
Istanbul 1919
Aftermath of the First World War
The city is under Occupation
The Artillery Captain Jamil who was nicknamed ‘Jehennem’ by his Officer friends in the
Palestine Front, laughed while still peering through the binoculars. His cousin
Neriman took her eyes away from her knitting and looked out of the window as
well.
“What are you laughing
at?”
“It is nothing.”
“Come on darling, tell me. Why did you laugh?”
“Would you get scared if I yelled all of a sudden, ‘Charge’?”
“I would get very scared.”
“I was just reminiscing”, he explained as he put his binoculars
down, “I thought our boys were on the offensive towards the hills and I was supposed
to give the order ‘defensive fire’ to
protect them.”
“What is defensive
fire?”
“It is bombarding the enemy trenches with gunfire so that
they duck and can’t find an opportunity to fire.”
Neriman remembered the March 31st incident. “You
positioned your guns over those hills on March 31st. Do you remember?”
She quickly glanced at the portrait of a young officer on
the wall and said, “I asked Nazmi if they fired, would the bullets pass over
our heads”.
“They would.” Jamil responded. He started to fumble for his cigarettes
in his pockets, while trying to avoid looking at the portrait. “Nazmi’s cannons
were to the left and mine were to the right. Poor Nazmi was worrying about the
enemy. He was saying, ‘What if Abdulhamid’s
soldiers won’t fight back?’”
“Did he want them to fight back?” Neriman asked.
“Of course he wanted them to fight back so that he could
fire at the palace and Abdulhamid would watch his palace being demolished
around him.”
“Could he have destroyed the palace?”
“I don’t think so. We became artillery men without even
firing one shot. We didn’t participate in any manoeuvres before being sent to
the war. A novice artillery man likes to brag, even if he doesn’t have any real
experience, he just talks nonsense.” he explained as he took a long drag from
his cigarette. “It has been 10 years since March 31st when Nazmi was
22 and I was 23.”
“How old was I?”
“How old were you?” He put his binoculars down and put his
hand under her chin as he gently tilted her face towards him.
“Let’s see! You were just turning sixteen and beautiful as
always,” he pulled her face closer to his.
“Don’t do that.” Neriman protested at first, but then she
eventually gave in and let him kiss her. As the kiss progressed, Neriman held
her breath and stepped back. “Have you lost your mind, Cousin Jamil? Let me go.”
“Don’t call me cousin!”
“What if someone comes into the room? My mother is getting suspicious.
She already asked why I am taking showers so often, in this cold weather.”
“You should have said, ‘Cleanliness
is next to Godliness,’ or you could have announced that we were getting
married!”
“Let go of me.” she poked him with her knitting needle gently.
“My mother was talking to Sarayli Hanim yesterday. The veterinarian Salih’s
son-in-law finally came back; he was a prisoner of war. There was a lot of excitement
in their home. His son, Enver was still a baby when he left and now the boy is
turning five. He didn’t recognize his dad and he was saying ‘I don’t want this man in my house; I want
him to go away.’ My mom took the opportunity to warn me by saying, ‘it is hard for the boy, they should have
given him some time to adjust and they should have prepared him.’ Did you
know what Enver said? He said, ‘why
doesn’t my mom cover her hair in the presence of Jamil? Is it appropriate?’”
“What a boy!”
“He is used to sleeping in my room. He is afraid you will be
sleeping in my room instead of him.”
“He is a smart kid and already understands how marriage
works. I think he is just joking around.” His hands were caressing Neriman’s face, then
down to her chest and from there down to her legs. “I am thinking about
something else.”
“What is that?”
“I am thinking about my friend who will come today. He will
be staying for a couple of nights.”
“Will he be staying here?”
“Yes, what should we do for sleeping arrangements?”
“Let go of me.” Neriman was closing her legs reluctantly
while saying, “Take your hands off me. Never mind your friend; you should be
worrying about us.”
“What is there to worry about?”
“I’m worried that I’ll get pregnant, Jamil. I can hardly sleep at night worrying about it.”
“I would like that, because if it happens we will get
married right away. You should tell your mom. Tell her we need to get married
soon. If she asks why, then tell her, it is God’s will.”
“Don’t joke about it. You should be thinking about me.”
“Why don’t you do the thinking?”Jamil teased her.
“Me? You are the man!
You are the strong one. You are the one
who is supposed to think of our future!” she paused for a moment and then said,
“Wait. I want to ask you something. Is your friend an officer as well?”
“No, he isn’t.”
“So, why isn’t he here yet? You said, he would come around nine
o’clock. It is nine thirty already. I will be upset if he doesn’t show up. I worked
so hard, preparing food. Please don’t drink when he comes, it is only lunch
time.”
From the novel The Tired Warrior
by Kemal Tahir
Translation Elif Mat Erkmen
