Did the Arab people say ‘Thank you’?

The soup was delicious. It made them feel happy again. The Commander also congratulated Shaban.  He was smiling as he was standing by the door. Jamil looked at Shaban for the third time and asked, “Are you a good rider, Shaban?”

“Yes, Sir!”

“Did you have your own horses at your village?”

“I worked at a farm when I was very young; I took care of the horses. For that reason I served in the Cavalry Division. We were lancers.…”

“Where did you serve?”

“I was at Sinai. We fought the British Lancers at Gaza”

“Oh! That means we were together, Shaban! I didn’t know that! Why did you end up here?”

“We were ambushed. The German Commander was not expecting that. We jumped on our horses still wearing our night shirts. In the dark we couldn’t see who was who. An English spear hit my eye in the commotion; a bearded blond guy blinded my eye with his spear. He took my eye. I took his head!  When I was discharged from the hospital  they sent me here!”

Cihat Burak

“How old are you?

“Thirty.”

“Did you grow a beard when you came here?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“ You are a  brave man who fought well and took the enemy’s head. You don’t need a beard. Shave it off! A moustache is enough.”

“I don’t know, Sir. I should ask the Imam. “

“Are you married?”

Shaban smiled.“Yes, Sir!”

“Did you ask your wife? Does she like your beard?”

“No. I haven’t seen her for a long time. The Imam said…”

“Never mind the Imam. He doesn’t have a say in this matter. Muslim men are not allowed to have a beard without asking permission of their wives. Look, even the General doesn’t have one. His wife didn’t allow him. I don’t want to see that beard again!”

“Yes, Sir!”

“I will inspect your rifle. It should be in good condition.”

“I don’t have one, Sir!”

“What do you mean you don’t have a rifle? What kind of a soldier are you?”

“I am in back duty, Sir. We don’t have the privilege of carrying guns”

“You should carry a gun. You are a soldier, regardless”

“The doctor’s report…”

“I said you need a rifle, never mind the doctor.”

“Of course, Sir! What would the doctor know?”

“So, we know about your talent with the spear. Now tell me, are you  good at shooting?”

“I am not bad; better than my friends. Thank God, I still have my right eye.”

“We’ll see. Choose a rifle for yourself and clean it. I am going to inspect it when you are done!” Shaban cleaned the rifle and brought it to the inspection. When Jamil praised it, he was really happy. He grabbed the Mauser angrily and said, “Thank you, Sir! Those guys didn’t respect me because I didn’t have my rifle. That pimp stoned me. If I had my gun; he wouldn’t have dared to challenge me. Never mind that idiot. The people of Akhisar are the ones to blame here. Do you know what they say about us?”

“What do they say?”

“They say that we don’t have families. We don’t have anywhere to go. We are outcasts. We are the misfits. We don’t belong anywhere. That’s why we didn’t go back home. That’s why we are still fighting. They are wondering why we haven’t seen our families and our children for so long. They are wondering why we are not returning to our villages. They say we don’t belong anywhere and they do not respect us for that reason!”

Jamil tried not to look at Shaban’s face. He sounded angry. Shaban sighed. He was licking his lips and tried to hide the emotion in his voice. He was staring straight ahead. Jamil thought his one eye had enough pain for the whole army. Shaban was angry at them not because they were lying; he was angry because there was some truth in their words. He had been fighting for four years at all the borders of the Empire. He was always defending something. While he was defending the things that he didn’t truly understand he had lost his home, his brother, even his wife back in his village, like so many others. When everyone returned home, Shaban stayed. The reason was sad. He said when he got injured he went to his home on leave. He told this part to Jamil without hiding anything. But he never mentioned why he left his village and came to Akhisar and made this place his home. He was trying to scratch the rusty spot on his rifle with his fingernails. When he noticed Jamil was looking at him with sympathy, he smiled. He said, “I think they may be right on one thing, Major.”

“What?”

Sevket Dag

“The war caused us a lot of heartache. There was an orderly here; he was from my home town. He was from Tosya and was blind like me. When he was at the hospital he wrote to his family and they didn’t answer his letters. When he went back to his town he ran into an inn-keeper that he knew. The innkeeper was polite; he let him stay at his inn and sent word to his uncle that the orderly was coming back home. While he was walking around the bazaar to buy some gifts for his wife, he saw his uncle. His uncle welcomed him at first but he was surprized that the Corporal was still alive. He said; ’we got  bad news from the army. They said you were killed in action.”Then the uncle started to cry. When the Corporal asked him about the news from home his uncle didn’t know what to say. The corporal asked after everybody’s health and the uncle still didn’t say anything. Finally he asked him about his wife.  ‘How is my wife doing? Why don’t you answer? Did she do something bad?’ His uncle protested, “what kind of talk is that?’ But the Corporal realized something was wrong. Then he understood the reason why the innkeeper didn’t let him go to the village right away; he learned that when his family received the bad news they encouraged his wife to remarry. She married the Corporal’s younger brother! Worst of all, his wife was pregnant with her second child; he was almost going to lose his mind. He said to his uncle, ‘what kind of a sick business is that. My brother was just a boy when I left. How come you made him marry my wife?’ His uncle said that it was destiny. ‘The young grow old; the old die.’ Then my friend asked him, ‘What are we going to do now?’ He thought that his uncle was going to say something reasonable. He hoped that his brother would divorce her and he would remarry his wife. He was planning this as he talked to his uncle. He thought his brother would go somewhere else and the people of the town would forget the matter later. He thought it was not his wife’s fault; she must have thought he was martyred… As you can see, Major, the Corporal was ready to forget what happened. He just wanted his wife back. He didn’t know what to do. His wife said, ‘I don’t want a blind man. I don’t want him to come back to the village anymore; he should just leave’.  What do you think he should have done, Major? He couldn’t do anything about it. He left his village and never returned.” Shaban sighed and there was silence. Then he asked Jamil, “Why  do people discriminate, Sir? Why are they  not friendly to outsiders?”

Jamil sensed Shaban wanted to change the subject. “Why do you ask that question, Shaban? Based on what?”

“I mean, it is the same for everyone, the Arabs, the Kurts, people here in Akhisar, they are all discriminating against the others.”

“Are they not friendly towards the poor?”

“Yes, they especially discriminate against the soldiers. They don’t like the regular army members. I told them there is conscription for everyone; either they have served once in the army and forget their army days or they haven’t served yet. In  the beginning, when we were going to the fronts, people at least said ‘hello’. If we ever asked for bread, there was someone who gave. But it changed after the defeat. When we were coming back they were merciless. Even though the enemy was chasing us the people didn’t open their doors to us. When we asked for a glass of water they closed the door on our faces. All I know is ‘don’t be defeated no matter what!’ We didn’t want to be defeated. During the Great War the people’s dislike for the army grew. I thought the Arabs were better Muslims then we are because they are the descendants of the Prophet’s people. But even the Arabs didn’t like us. We thought we were fighting so hard so that the English wouldn’t enter the Arab’s desert where there was no water, no shade. We fought until we died. What happened? Did the Arab people say ‘Thank you’? No, I don’t want gratitude from them. They were almost going to kill us on the way back. They tried to kill us down to the last man. Why they were mad at us, Major? Let’s say the Arab’s don’t know anything; they are ignorant. Why do the people of Akhisar not like us?”

Beersheba

The Reluctant Warrior

by Kemal Tahir

Translated by Elif  Mat