Meaning of Gifts: Stories from Turkey

ISBN 978-0-19-478927-1

9

I II Ill

780 1 94 789271

THE MEANING OF GIFTS Stories from Turkey Life is full of things to make you smile, and things to make you cry. And they are all here in these stories. In the first story we see how difficult it is, in a small house, to have guests who stay a long time- a very long time ... Then we meet Guldiken, who is telling his mother about his day at school, but how can she understand? City life is very different from life in a village ... In the next story, Unal must stay in bed because he has measles, but across the road is a wonderful toy shop ... And when the little hunters at the lake shoot their first bird, they are very excited- until they learn what kind of bird it is ...

BOOKWORMS WORLD STORIES English has become af! international language, and is used on every continent, in many varieties, for all kinds of purposes. Bookworms World Stories are the latest addition to the Oxford Bookworms Library. Their aim is to bring the best of the world's stories to the English language learner, and to celebrate the use of English for storytelling all around the world. jennifer Bassett Series Editor

OXFORD BOOKWORMS LIBRARY

World Stories

The Meaning of Gifts Stories from Turkey Stage 1 (400 headwords)

Series Editor: Jennifer Bassett Founder Editor: Tricia Hedge Activities Editors: Jennifer Bassett and Christine Lindop

RETOLD BY JENNIFER BASSETT

The Meaning of Gifts Stories from Turkey

Illustrated by

Gay Galsworthy

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne M:exico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand 1\!rkey Ukraine Vietnam OXFORD and OXFORD ENGLISH are registered trade marks of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries

Copyright of original stories: Misafir (The Guests) Cl Hiiseyin Rahmi Giirpmar 1943

iki Bin Y!hn Resmi (The Picture of the Year2ooo) Cl Ayje Kilimci 1989

Ecel Atl (The Horse of Death) Cl Sait Faik Abas1yaruk 1948 Golciigun Kii~iik Avclian (The Little Hunters at the LakB) Cl Yalva~ Ural1992 This simplified edition Cl Oxford University Press 2oo8 The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published in the Oxford Bookworms library in 1996 as Four Turkish Stories

No unauthorized photocopying All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Ell' Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer Any websites referred to in this publication are in the public domain and their addresses are provided by Oxford University Press for information only. Oxford University Press disclaims any responsibility for the content ISBN

978

0

19 478927 1

A complete recording of this Bookworms edition of The Meaning of Gifts: Stories from Turkey is available on audio CD ISBN 978 0 19 478862 5 Printed in Hong Kong ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Translations from Turkish by: Sylvia Seden (The Guests, The Horse ofDeath) Serna Ozkaya (The Picture ofthe Year zooo, The Little Hunters at the Lake) Jllustrated by: Gay Galsworthy

Word count (main text): 5,254 words For more information on the Oxford Bookworms library. vlslt www.oup.com/eltfbookworms

CONTENTS INTRODUCTION

1

The Guests

Huseyin Rahmi Gurpinar The Picture of the Year 2000

11

Ayse Kilimci The Horse of Death

21

Sait Faik The Little Hunters at the Lake

30

Yalvac Ural

41

GLOSSARY ACTIVITIES:

Before Reading

ACTIVITIES:

After Reading

44 46

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

51

ABOUT THE BOOKWORMS LIBRARY

53

1

HUSEYIN RAHMI GURPINAR

Retold by jennifer Bassett

When guests come to stay in your house, it makes a lot of work. There are meals to cook, food to buy, washing to do, beds to make ... It all takes time and money. lzzet Efendi and his family are very happy to have guests to stay. When your friends need help, you must help them, but these friends stay and stay ... and stay.

N

ineteen days and nineteen nights. That was a long time, a very long time, in a small house. There were four people - husband, wife, and two children . . four guests. And they ate. Every day they ate bread, so that was two okkas more bread every day. Bread, meat, vegetables - they all cost money. And of course they needed a room. There were not many rooms in the house. That was difficult for the host family too. But the guests did not understand. Perhaps they did not want to understand. They saw the angry faces of the host family, and they smiled- just smiled and smiled. The husband of the guest family, Halil Efendi, drank

2

The Meaning of Gifts: Stories from Turkey

Every day they ate bread . . Bread, meat, vegetables - they all cost money.

raki every night too. His host, Izzet Efendi, was a religious man and he never drank alcohol. He didn't even like the smell of it, but every evening Halil Efendi came home with a small bottle of raki and some olives in a piece of paper. Then he sat and drank and ate and talked, very happily, until evening prayers. So dinner was always late, because of course Izzet Efendi could not begin to eat without Halil Efendi. Izzet Efendi did not like waiting for his dinner, and every evening he got hungrier- and angrier. After five or six days of this, he spoke very openly to his guest. 'Efendi, every evening you come home with a bottle of raki in your pocket. Is that right?' But his guest understood the question in a very different way.

The Guests

3

'My friend,' he said. 'You are very kind to me and my family. You welcome us into your house, and it is not easy for you. I know that, and I am very grateful to you. But now, what are you saying? Do you want to buy my raki for me? No, no, I cannot take more from you. I must buy my raki, not you. Please.' Izzet Efendi looked at his guest's smiling face. 'But ...

Every evening Halil Efendi sat and drank and ate and talked, very happily.

4

The Meaning of Gifts: Stories from Turkey

but I didn't mean. .'he began. Then he stopped. What could he say? Halil Efendi was just a clerk in a government office in Anadolu Kavagi, but he and his family had very little money. So they came to Istanbul to visit the money-lenders. Money-lenders are expensive. They give you money, but later they want more money back - much more. Every day Halil Efendi went to all the money-lenders and tried to find some cheaper money, but he couldn't. And so he and his family stayed in Izzet Efendi's home- and stayed and stayed.

AAA One day the host family had a meeting. They all went into a room, closed the door carefully, and began to talk. 'I'm afraid to look in the storeroom,' said the oldest lady of the house. 'All our food for the winter - where is it now? Inside those hungry guests! They never stop eating! And they never say thank you! And those children -my God, they eat more than their parents!' 'Ah, my dear lady,' said Zarafet. 'Don't look in the storeroom. There's no more olive oil, no rice or sugar, no beans. There's nothing! The dogs and cats in the street stop eating when they are full, but those children never stop. They come to me in the kitchen and say, "Nanny, is the food ready yet? Can we eat now? We're so hungry." Sometimes I get angry and shout, "Get out of here! I don't like children in the kitchen. Out!" One day I chased them

The Guests

Sometimes I get angry and shout, 'Get out of here! I don't like children in the kitchen. Out!'

5

6

The Meaning of Gifts: Stories from Turkey

with a piece of burning wood from the fire, and their mother was angry with me. Ah! I cannot live with these people! I spend hours cooking my imambayildi, and those children come and put their dirty fingers into it, then put their fingers in their mouths, then back in the food again. And that man - drinking raki all the evening! Then he stands in front of the open window and sings. The man in the next house is very ill, and our guest stands there, singing! And the house, the kitchen, everything, smells of raki all the time. Ugh!' Suddenly Cezalet Hanim, the daughter of the house, looked at the door. 'Sshh, Nanny, talk quietly,' she said. 'There's a noise out there. Perhaps that woman is listening to us.' But Zarafet did not want to talk quietly, and she began to shout. 'She can listen. Why not? I'm not afraid. I tell her these things every day, but she doesn't want to hear. It's a nice life for our guests - food, beds, drinking, singing ... Wonderful!' 'Be quiet, Nanny,' said Cezalet Hanim. 'I want to talk now.' 'Talk, my child, talk,' said Zarafet. 'You can talk for forty days and forty nights, but what can you do about our terrible guests?' 'Listen to this,' Cezalet Hanim said. 'On their second day here the lady said to me, "Oh, I am going out. Please, can I wear your chador and your shoes? My shoes hurt

The Guests

7

my feet, you see." Now why does she want to wear my chador? Why can't she wear her chador?' 'That's easy,' said Zarafet. 'At one time people gave the family money to help them, and she doesn't want those people to see her. So she wears your chador, and nobody knows her when she goes out. Oh yes, she's very clever.' 'She does it all the time,' said Cezalet Hanim. 'When

Zarafet began to shout, 'It's a nice life for our guests- food, beds, drinking, singing ... Wonderful!'

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The Meaning of Gifts: Stories from Turkey

she goes out, she always wears my chador and my shoes. I cry when I see my shoes now - they look so old and tired.' 'She takes your shoes and your chador,' said Zarafet. 'But what does she ask me for? Pants! She comes all the way from Kavaklar with only one pair of underpants? Does she think I have hundreds of pairs of pants? She took a pair of my nice pants, and she wore them and wore them. And when she gave them back - ugh! They were so dirty. I just can't talk about it.' The oldest lady of the house put her head in her hands. 'What are we going to do?' she asked. 'Are they ever going to leave?' 'They came here because they wanted to get money from the money-lenders,' said Zarafet. 'Where is that money now?' Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. 'Who is it?' said the oldest lady of the house. 'It's her, of course,' said Zarafet. 'Our guest.' 'Please open the door,' said the person outside the room. Zarafet opened the door. There, with two big bags and her two children, stood their guest, dressed in her chador. Her face was very unhappy and her eyes were red from cry mg. 'I am here to say goodbye, ladies,' she said. 'I'm so sorry. You are very, very kind to us, and we give you so

The Guests

9

much trouble. Thank you for having us in your house. We are so grateful. Please, don't be angry with us.' Her hosts looked at their guest's unhappy face and her red eyes. What could they say?

'You are always welcome. Our home is your home. For a few weeks -or for forty years.'

10

The Meaning of Gifts: Stories from Turkey

'Ah, my dear,' said the oldest lady of the house. 'You don't give us any trouble. Of course not. You are always welcome. Our home is your home. For a few weeks - or for forty years. What does it matter? Please don't be unhappy.' 'Is something wrong?' said Cezalet Hanim. 'How can you leave us so suddenly? No, no, you must stay. Of course you must stay. Now, take off your chador and sit down. Don't go!' And then Zarafet spoke. 'What do you mean? You can't go now, my dear! No, no, no!' She began to cry a little. 'Aaah! You are our family, too. You can't go away and leave us. No, no.' She put her hands on the children's heads. 'Ah, my dear children. Come to the kitchen with me. Your nanny is going to cook you a wonderful dinner today .. .'

11

-ihe fictUre

of rhe lj-evtr

2_000

AYSE KILIMCI

Retold by jennifer Bassett

City life and village life are very different, and sometimes it is hard to change from one to the other. Perhaps it is easier to make the change when you are young. Guldiken and his mother are now living in the city, and Guldiken comes home from school to tell his mother all about his day. But his mother cannot forget her mountain village, and she finds it hard to understand the strange ways of city people ...

tso

today was the day to take gifts to your teacher,' said the woman. Her voice was not happy, was not unhappy, was not angry, was not pleased. It showed nothing. But she felt angry. She felt angry in her heart. But with what? She did not know. 'Everybody brought something for the teacher,' said the boy. 'Everybody.' 'But you don't know anything about the city yet,' said the woman in her colourless voice. 'Did you tell your teacher that?'

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The Meaning of Gifts: Stories from Turkey

'Your city sky is new to us, your rain is strange, we don't know your birds.'

'No, I didn't,' said the boy. 'We came here to the city only a short time ago. Did you tell her that? We are still looking back to our village. Your city sky is new to us, your rain is strange, we don't know your birds. Did you tell her all these things?' 'No.' 'Did you tell her this? "My mother was afraid when she brought me to the school, because her shoes were old and her clothes were different. She was afraid of the school, of the people, of the crowd, of all that noise, of all those women- they know so much. My mother could not speak because her voice was afraid to come out. Her heart is silent and afraid. In our village my mother was

The Picture of the Year 2000

13

queen of the mountains, she was strong, she understood everything. Here, in your place, she is nothing, she understands nothing, she is queen of nothing." Did you tell her all this?' 'How can these city people know about your village, mother?' said the boy. 'Did you tell her this? "Look, teacher, my mother can shoot well, my mother can cut wood for the winter fires in two minutes. My father can work all day in the fields and he does not get tired." Did you tell her these things?' 'No, I didn't.' 'So today was the day to take gifts to teachers. You can play a flute beautifully. It is more beautiful than a bird

'In our village my mother was queen of the mountains, she was strong, she understood everything.'

14

The Meaning of Gifts: Stories from Turkey

'My mother can cut wood for the winter fires in two minutes. My father can work all day in the fields.'

singing, and all the sheep in the village stop and listen to you. Didn't you tell her that? You can ride a horse, you can find water under the winter snow. Why didn't you tell her these things?' 'What does a city teacher understand about these things?' 'But you must tell her. In the city, you must tell people that we can do these things.' 'Mum, it's OK. I had some money and I bought a gift for the teacher.' 'Where did you find the money?' 'It was my pocket money. I didn't spend it all, so I had a little money for a gift.'

The Picture of the Year 2000

'You can play a flute beautifully. All the sheep in the village stop and Listen to you.'

15

16

The Meaning of Gifts: Stories from Turkey

'What did you buy? For a city teacher, it must be something good.' 'It is. It is something white, white as milk, quiet as the sky above our mountains.' 'Come on, tell me. What is it?' 'No. You tell me. Think about it.' 'Look, here is my hand, and it is coming down on your head now.' 'I bought her a nice piece of parchment.' 'A what?' 'A pie-e-e-ce of parchment!' 'What is that?' 'Paper, Mum, paper. You write on it, with a pen or a pencil. You write letters and send them far away to different places. It's different from the pages in a notebook.' 'Oh, what a wonderful son you are! You are nearly a man, I can see. You save money, and you can go and buy a gift for your teacher. Oh, I'm so happy! What did the teacher say when she got the paper. Was she happy?' 'She said, "Guldiken, what do you want?"' 'What does that mean?' 'She didn't understand, Mum. She looked at me strangely. And then she said, "Sit down, Guldiken. Don't walk around."' 'So ... ?' 'My piece of parchment was my gift, but she didn't

The Picture of the Year 2000

17

'Gifts must be flowers, or something heavy and beautiful. City teachers don't understand other gifts.'

understand that. Gifts must be flowers, or something heavy and beautiful. City teachers don't understand other gifts.' 'So you bought her a gift and she didn't understand it. Oh, these city people! They have big houses and long streets and gardens, but they don't understand a child's gift.' 'It's OK, Mum.' 'It's not OK. With your money, you bought a white piece of parchment for her and she cannot understand this. What gifts can she understand? We can find many good gifts without money - a cup of fresh milk or a flower from the mountain - but city people can never

18

The Meaning of Gifts: Stories from Turkey

1 '