G‘afur G‘ulom. O'G'RI O'G'LIM

Many years have passed since our father died. This year, in the spring of 1917, we lost our mother also and became true orphans. My mother’s mother, Roqiyabibi, my grandmother, is the only one to take care of us. We affectionately call her “black grandmother”.

In the evenings, grandmother and we all lie on the open porch, wrapped in dirty blankets and pillows, and sleep on a single piece of Uratepa’s old carpet.

It was one of the autumn evenings in the end of September. The weather was pretty cool. We orphans embraced and warmed each other, and went to sleep. The last one in the row was our black grandmother, as if she was mother sparrow. She was an old woman in her eighties and was a nos* smoker.

That evening, after rooster crowed three times and when the stars of seven pirates* came up to the above us, I awoke to a muffled sound. Our grandmother was talking to someone quite loudly. Our yard, inherited from our grandparents, was large and had a rectangular yard. It was surrounded by buildings all around, and our cousins lived on the north side. But they usually move to the garden in the summer. Therefore, their side was empty.

Oh, look at this, a thief has come to our house. There are people who visit us as human beings too, aren’t there? Tomorrow I can brag to my friends, “A thief has come to our house”. It is worth saying proudly. But do they believe?

The thief had walked slowly through the roof of those cousins and sneezed when he came to our grandmother’s right. At that time our grandmother was laying with her nos under her tongue, putting the pillow on her chest and thinking. Grandmother spat the nos and said:

- “Hey, son, my thief son, you must be on the roof for living. You know your job requires to be cautious. Why do you go for it with such a flu?”

The thief standing on the roof said:

- “Oh, grandmother, why can’t you just take a nap one night and let us do our job?”

I must have woken up when the conversation came to this point. I will write the rest as I hear it.

- “Oh, come on, my thief son, how can I sleep when I’m in such a trouble? You know what? I haven’t slept for an hour for six months. During the day, I wander around. I try to take a nap like a bird. At night thoughts keep me awake”.

- What kind of thoughts, grandmother? – saying this the thief leaned over and folded his tun* and put it under himself as a pillow.

- “Oh, what do I think of? I think of the future of these four orphans, my son. You see the time. Life is harder than stone, a piece of bread is like a hen’s teeth*. They can’t do anything for living now. It is difficult for their poor uncle to feed them too. He can’t afford more than his own livelihood. There is nothing left in the household that is worth something. We are selling from one end and eating. There is a saying, you know, “One may finish even the mountain if they keep eating”. Eh, when these kids grow up and find their own bread! These thoughts, son. Again, only one of these orphans is a boy and three are girls. He is just fifteen now. When will these girls grow and go somewhere? In this time whom they can possibly get married, no one knows. Time is hard, my thief son, time is hard!”

- “You are right, grandmother,” said the thief, “I also have two children, a wife, and an old mother. To find four thin loaves, I drag myself into fire, Ali’s sword*, anything. After all, I am strong enough to work and my mind is all right. Do you think I like what I am doing as a thief now? I am a son of a very good shoemaker. Time has turned upside down. They said that the war would end after Kerinska* became ruler. It looks like it won’t stop anytime soon. Life is simply for the rich now.

- “Can’t you do something else, son,” said grandmother.

- “What can I do? There’s no choice for all workers. Should I make shoes just like my father? First of all, there is no leather, no polish, no nails, no lacquer to make shoes. The material itself is three times more expensive than the finished shoe. There are no people left who used to buy sacks of grains, carrots or turnips as before, if I want to be a carrier in the market. The other day, Buvamat grandfather, one of the great shoemakers of this mahalla*, gave all his tools such as awl, mould and others as a whole for two kilos of corn flour. He did well. Anyway, no Uzbek, Kazakh and Kyrgyz farmers left, who would wear his boots. Only their orphans are filling our city. In each corner, in each street you see fifteen orphans reach out their unwashed hands and say, “Uncle, give me some bread”. Huh, bread! I can’t find bread for myself; how can I give them? Not only me, grandmother, this is the situation of all the shoemakers in the mahalla. Bladesmiths, blacksmiths, tanners, even, schoolteachers, mullahs* are broken. They are all in need of a spoon of water soup. All wandering”.

- “Oh, God, let this war end. It must be a hell, isn’t it, my thief son? Well, yes, these orphans also have something written in their fates. Talk about yourself. After all, out of desperation, you must have entered into this filthy path, why don’t you go to the richer people? For example, there is a salesman named Karim Qori and a contractor named Odilkhojaboy in this neighborhood. Matyoqubboy is also a rich tanner. Their wealth is too much. Even their child in the cradle drinks soup in a porcelain bowl with a pattern drawn on the edge. Why don’t you rob their house?”

- “Oh, my grandmother, you are such a naïve”, said the thief. “Can you go down to the rich man’s house? Their walls are high, the doors are made of iron, and each of them has two or three huge dogs. These dogs bark for a week if a butterfly passes by the yard. And you know, there is a guardian holding a rifle stands in Odilkhojaboy’s entrance. I may die. Even if he doesn’t kill me, he will send me to Siberia”.

- “That’s right, my thief son. But, be careful. Don’t be disgraced among the people”, said our grandmother.

- “You’re right, grandmother. The other day, I stole four chickens and a rooster from Orif stinky’s barn”.

- “Did you say chicken and rooster? Oh, didn’t these creatures expose you by crowing?”

- “It seems every job has its own way, grandmother. I put a bottle of water in my pocket when I go to steal chicken. Then I go to the bottom of the perch, fill my mouth with water and spray it on the chickens. There is no such thing as stupid as chicken in the world. They think it’s raining, and put their heads inside and sleep. Then I grab one by one and put them in the sack”.

- “Oh, my God. So, every job surely has its way of doing”.

- “You know, grandmother, one day my secret was about to be revealed. No, fortunately, I took a rooster to our commander Rahmonkhoja, and he did the job. Rahmonkhoja is a nice person. He is close with me. Last year I sold some things and saved eighty-three soums. I went to him and bribed saying, “This is what I found, commander”. He saved me from going to the work battalion”.

- “Yes, may God bless him and his family. Now listen to me, my thief son, it is almost dawn. Look, that bright star came up to the right. Come down from the mulberry tree next to the kitchen. We have no firewood. There are a couple of big walnut woods in the kitchen that once came from the garden. Take an ax and split some from the edge. I will make tea in the kettle. Two corn loaves left from yesterday that children’s grandfather brought. We’ll have breakfast together”.

- “No, grandmother,” said the thief, “I may make firewood, but I can’t have tea with you, because when it gets bright, you may recognize me. I haven’t lost my face completely yet. It’s embarrassing, I’m ashamed”.

- What a pity, will you leave this blessed house empty-handed, my thief son? Take something. Wait, what can you take? Yes, by the way, there’s a big pot in the kitchen. There were a lot of people in our house back then and we used to cook in that big pot. We must have committed a sin. Son, there are only four orphans left in such a big house. Oh, no one knows when they will use that pot again... Take that. You can buy and make your day, my thief son.

- “No, no, grandmother, don’t be hopeless. Soon these days will also be forgotten. All families will gather together again. Even this pot will be small then. Let these orphans use it. There will be big weddings in this house. Well, grandmother, I’m leaving, it is becoming morning”. 

- Bye, my thief son, come again.

- Yes, mother, yes.

I knew that thief. I haven’t told anyone who he was until now. 

Definitons:

*nos – smoking product which is made of tobacco and some other chemical ingredients. It is usually smoked by putting under one’s tongue for a while and then spitting outside.

*tun – type of coat that is worn by Central Asian men during cold seasons.

*stars of seven pirates - Ursa Major, also known as the Great Bear or Seven Pirates is a constellation in the northern sky. It is consisted of seven bright stars.

*Hen’s teeth – extremely rare, scarce.

*Ali’s sword – is used in speech when one describes their hardships to do something;

*Kerinska - Head of the Provisional Government, which ruled Russia from February to October 1917.

*Mahalla – neighborhood.

*Mullah - Islamic cleric, expert on the Koran and religious rites among Muslims.

Dictionary:

Affectionately – erkalab;

Open porch – ochiq ayvon;

Embrace – quchoqlamoq;

Bo‘g‘iq – g‘o‘ng‘illagan;

Tovuq tishlari – anqoga shapig', anqoning urug'i ma'nosida;

Non (non) - yo'q;

Lak - lok, lak;

Awl - bigiz;

qolip - qolip;

Pudratchi – pudratchi;

Beshik – beshik;

Chinni kosa – chinni kosa;

sodda – sodda;

Miltiq - miltiq;

sassiq – sassiq;

Ombor - ombor;

perch – qoʻndoq;

Qop – xalta, qop;

Reveal – fosh bo‘lmoq;

Tong - qisqich;

tut daraxti – tut daraxti;

o'tin - o'tin;

choynak – qumg‘on;

Qanday achinarli - afsus;

Tarjimon: Respublika ta'lim markazi Xalqaro aloqalar bo'limi rahbari Javlonbek Meliboyev

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