"The Diary of a Turk" by Çerkesseyhizade Halil Halit. Published by Good Press. Good Press publishes a wide range of titles that encompasses every genre. From well-known classics & literary fiction and non-fiction to forgotten−or yet undiscovered gems−of world literature, we issue the books that need to be read. Each Good Press edition has been meticulously edited and formatted to boost readability for all e-readers and devices. Our goal is to produce eBooks that are user-friendly and accessible to everyone in a high-quality digital format.
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Çerkesseyhizade Halil Halit. The Diary of a Turk
The Diary of a Turk
Table of Contents
PREFACE
ILLUSTRATIONS
CHAPTER I. MY HOME IN ASIA MINOR
CHAPTER II. AT SCHOOL AND IN THE HAREM
CHAPTER III. THE HAREM AND WOMEN IN THE EAST
CHAPTER IV. I GO TO CONSTANTINOPLE AND PURSUE MY STUDIES
CHAPTER V. A NEW PROFESSION AND THE QUESTION OF CONSCRIPTION
CHAPTER VI. TURKEY'S INTERNAL DANGERS
CHAPTER VII. A NEW COSTUME AND A NEW CAREER
CHAPTER VIII. THE SUBLIME PORTE AND YILDIZ KIOSK
CHAPTER IX. THE CEREMONY OF THE SELAMLIK
CHAPTER X. THE SULTAN'S POLICY
CHAPTER XI. THE STRUGGLE WITH YOUNG-TURKEY
CHAPTER XII. ENGLAND AND THE CALIPHATE
CHAPTER XIII. A LAST VISIT TO ASIA MINOR
CHAPTER XIV. A SPY IN A PUBLIC BATH
CHAPTER XV. FLIGHT TO ENGLAND
CHAPTER XVI. A RETURN AND A SECOND FLIGHT
FOOTNOTES:
Отрывок из книги
Çerkesseyhizade Halil Halit
Published by Good Press, 2019
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"Paradise is beneath the ground over which mothers walk," said Prophet Mohammed. This saying is to be thus construed: "If any man desires to gain paradise, let him obey and respect his mother." This precept I was taught to follow from my earliest childhood. But I fear I must be destined for some place other than paradise, for when I was a boy I frequently gave my mother much trouble and caused her great and many anxieties, for I found my conduct free from masculine control after my father's death, and made good, or bad, use of my opportunities. I was a child of unthinking and reckless nature. I had an intense horror of going to any school. At our summer residence I owned a flock of geese, and I loved to spend my time looking after them. I was therefore given the nickname of 'goose-herd,' which is tantamount in Turkish to 'idiot'. In our town-house I trained and reared pigeons, and I must say I had some excuse for this, as I have never seen such beautiful birds elsewhere. They were very small, and of a pure white hue. They would fly to an extraordinary altitude, and would remain out of sight for several hours. At other times they would suddenly let themselves fall, swooping and wheeling in mid-air, and then shoot upwards once more. Birds of this most intelligent and trainable breed have been frequently taken to Constantinople, but they cannot live in the climate of that town.
While I was wasting my time with dumb companions, my eldest brother and cousins were quite able to read and write, things which to my mind were absolutely past comprehension and belief. Unable to compel me to attend any school, my mother at last applied to an old negro servant of my grandfather's, who was then living close to us with his white wife and tawny children. When a boy he had been bought by my grandfather from the slave-dealers, and as the emancipation of slaves is considered the most pious act a Mohammedan can perform, my grandfather freed him soon after buying him, gave him some property, and arranged a marriage for him. This old man did not approve of my undutiful conduct towards my mother. In accordance with a promise which he willingly made to her, one morning he came to our house and gravely asked me to go with him to school. I excused myself on the plea that the books and papers previously procured for me had been eaten by rats. He said he would buy new ones for me in the school, and I told him it was no use buying them, because I did not understand them. Then the big black man, showing his white teeth angrily, moved towards me, and caught me by the ear with his rough, hard hand, and practically dragged me as far as the school, amidst the malicious chuckling of my brother and cousins. During lesson-times my thoughts flew after my geese and pigeons. Many a time was I led to school most unwillingly in the same fashion, and it took several months for the master to persuade me, by much corporal chastisement, to take the slightest interest in my lessons.
