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my name is red-我的名字叫红-第137章

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But I pay no mind to any of this because I find him repulsive besides; and he’s 
so old。 His teeth have fallen out and as the young boys who get close to him 
say; his mouth stinks; excuse the expression; like a bear’s ass。 
All right then; I’m holding off on the hearsay to return to the real issue at 
hand: As soon as I saw how beautiful I was; I no longer wanted to wash clothes 
and  dishes  and  parade  about  the  streets  like  a  slave。  Poverty;  tears;  sorrow; 
gazing  forlornly  at  a  mirror  of  disappointment  and  crying  are  the  lot  of  sad 
and ugly women。 I must find a husband who’ll put me on a pedestal; but who 
might that be? 
That was why I began spying through a peephole on the sons of pashas and 
notables;  whom  my  late  father  had  invited  to  our  house  under  various 
pretexts。  I  wanted  my  predicament  to  resemble  that  of  the  petite…mouthed 
beauty with two children whom all the miniaturists love。 Perhaps it’d be best 
for  me  to  describe  to  you  poor  Shekure’s  story。  But  wait  a  minute;  I’d 
promised to recount the following story tonight: 
 
383 
 
The Love Story Told by a Woman Prompted by the Devil 
 
It’s quite simple actually。 The story takes place in Kemerüstü; one of the poorer 
neighborhoods  of  Istanbul。  A  prominent  inhabitant  of  the  neighborhood; 
Chelebi  Ahmet;  secretary  to  Vas?f  Pasha;  was  a  married  gentleman  with  two 
children who kept to himself。 One day; through an open window; he catches 
sight of a black…haired; black…eyed; silver…skinned; tall and thin Bosnian beauty; 
and is smitten。 But; the woman is married; has no interest whatsoever in the 
Chelebi; and is devoted to her handsome husband。 The hapless Chelebi refuses 
to confide his woes to anybody; and reduced by love to skin and bone; takes to 
wine he’s bought from a Greek; yet ultimately he cannot hide his love from the 
neighborhood。  At  first;  because  the  neighbors  adore  such  love  stories  and 
admire and respect the Chelebi; they honor his love; making a passing joke or 
two about it and letting life take its course。 But the Chelebi; who can’t control 
his incurable agony; begins to get drunk each night and sit at the doorstep of 
the  house  wherein  the  silver…skinned  beauty  lives  happily  with  her  husband; 
crying for hours on end like a child。 In the end this alarms the neighbors。 Each 
night as the lover cries in agony; they are able neither to beat him and drive 
him  away  nor  to  fort  him。  The  Chelebi;  as  suited  a  gentleman;  learns  to 
cry  inwardly  without  lashing  out  or  annoying  anybody。  But  gradually;  his 
hopeless grief works its way into the neighborhood; being the sorrow and 
grief of all; the residents lose their sense of well…being; and like the fountain 
which  flows  mournfully  in  the  square;  the  Chelebi  himself  became  a  font  of 
sorrow。  Initially;  the  talk  of  misery  spreads  throughout  the  neighborhood; 
being  in  turn  the  rumor  of  ill…fortune  and  later  the  certainty  of  doom。 
Some move away; some experience a spate of bad luck and some are unable to 
practice   their   craft;   because   they’ve   lost   the   will   to   work。   After   the 
neighborhood empties out; one day the lovelorn Chelebi also moves away with 
his  wife  and  children;  leaving  the  silver…skinned  beauty  and  her  husband  all 
alone。 This misfortune; of which they are the focus; douses the flames of their 
love and causes them to drift apart。 Though they live together for the rest of 
their lives; they’re never again able to be happy。 
 
 
I was on the verge of saying how much I liked this story because it showed 
the pitfulls of love and women; when for Heaven’s sake; I’d forgotten that I’d 
lost  my  capacity  to  reason。  Since  I’m  now  a  woman;  I’m  going  to  say 
something else entirely。 All right then; it’s something like this: 
384 
 
Oh; how wonderful love is! 
Now then; who are those strangers bursting through the door? 
 
 
   
385 
 
I AM CALLED “BUTTERFLY” 
 
I  saw  the  mob  and  knew  the  Erzurumis  had  begun  slaying  us  witty 
miniaturists。 
Black was also in the crowd watching the attack。 I saw him holding a dagger 
acpanied  by  a  group  of  odd…looking  men;  the  well…known  Esther  the 
clothier  and  other  women  carrying  cloth  sacks。  I  had  an  urge  to  flee  after 
seeing  the  establishment  cruelly  wrecked  and  the  coffeehouse…goers  beaten 
mercilessly as they tried to leave。 Later; another mob; perhaps the Janissaries; 
arrived。 The Erzurumis snuffed out their torches and fled。 
There was nobody at the dark entrance of the coffeehouse; and no one was 
looking。  I  walked  inside。  Everything  was  in  shambles。  I  stepped  on  the 
shattered cups; plates; glasses and bowls。 An oil lamp hanging from a nail high 
on the wall hadn’t died out during the turmoil but only illuminated the soot 
marks on the ceiling; leaving in darkness the floor strewn with the boards of 
wrecked wood benches; broken low tables and other debris。 
Stacking long cushions atop one another; I reached up and grabbed hold of 
the  oil  lamp。  Within  its  circle  of  light;  I  noticed  bodies  lying  on  the  floor。 
When I saw that one face was covered in blood; I turned away; and went to the 
next。  The  second  body  was  moaning;  and  upon  seeing  my  lamp;  made  a 
childlike noise。 
Someone else entered。 At first I was alarmed; though I could sense it was 
Black。  The  both  of  us  leaned  over  the  third  body  sprawled  on  the  floor。  As  I 
lowered the lamp to his head; we saw what we’d suspected: They’d killed the 
storyteller。 
There was no trace of blood on his face; which was made up like a woman’s; 
but his chin; brow and rouge…covered mouth were battered; and judging by his 
neck;  covered  in  bruises;  he’d  been  throttled。  His  hands  were  cast  backward 
over his head on either side。 It wasn’t difficult to figure out that one of them 
held the old man’s arms behind his back while the others beat him in the face 
before strangling him。 I wonder; had they said; “Cut out his tongue so he never 
again  slanders  his  Excellency  the  Preacher  Hoja  Effendi;”  and  then  set  about 
doing so? 
“Bring  the  lamp  here;”  said  Black。  Near  the  stove;  the  light  of  the  lamp 
struck  broken  coffee  grinders;  sieves;  scales  and  pieces  of  broken  coffee  cups 
lying in the mud of spilled coffee。 In the corner where the storyteller hung his 
pictures  each  night;  Black  was  searching  for  the  performer’s  props;  sash; 
386 
 
magician’s handkerchief and popping stick。 Black said he was after the pictures 
and held the lamp he’d taken from me to my face: Yes; of course I’d drawn 
two of them out of a sense of fraternity。 We could find nothing but the Persian 
skullcap that the deceased wore over his perfectly shaved head。 
Seeing no one else; we exited into the blackness of night through a narrow 
passageway  that  led  away  from  the  back  door。  During  the  raid  much  of  the 
crowd  and  the  artists  within  probably
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