Leaving the Small Town Page #2

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"Maho" means "nothing".

We asked at other houses

but it was again "maho".

The cherries are over

early this year.

Not only the cherries,

you know. Blackberries, too.

I was passing under the

cherry tree yesterday..

and a sound came from above.

- Was it a squirrel.

I thought so too

but it was a snake.

- Snake? What kind of snake?

- A huge grey snake.

What it was doing up

in the tree I can't imagine.

Everything is

strange these days.

Even the walnuts

don't ripen on time.

- The cranes don't come any longer.

- Why?

- Don't know. The

pesticides probably.

What happened then, father?

That damned cough. I can't

get rid of it.

Where was I?

- You had got to Mesopotamia, Baghdad.

Yeah. We came to that plain...

and crossed that

long, desert-like plain...

and reached Kutulenmare...

near Baghdad.

We were there.

We suddenly encountered

the British.

We defeated them even though

we were hungry and thirsty.

And do you know what

happened next?

The English commander committed suicide.

- He couldn't bear the defeat.

But when their reinforcements

arrived, they beat us.

We could have won if

we hadn't been starved.

Then we were taken prisoner.

They put us

on a ship to India.

From Bombay we were taken

by train to Semerpor.

We worked there as building

labourers.

I was so weak that..

I couldn't even carry

two bricks on my back.

Even that was too much.

The English guard kept shouting:

"Come on Joe, come on Joe. "

Actually, if we could feed

ourselves properly we would...

wipe out the English.

But we had no strength.

Most of us died of

starvation or disease.

- Those damned jackals are

down by the stream again.

They're cunning creatures.

They hide during the day.

They must be hungry to

come down to the stream.

Whether it was luck or fate

which brought me back, I don't know.

I came back safely

but I had nothing.

What's there to do?

Perhaps it would have been better

if you hadn't come back.

You returned and then what?

Did you get a reward for it?

It's all in vain.

- Saffet.

I thought you

were asleep.

What a way to talk, Saffet.

How can you think that way?

Homesickness is a

suffering unlike any other.

Even if you starve

it's still your homeland.

Look at Gobak Ismail.

He worked in Germany for years but...

- Aunt. To be buried

in your homeland...

or not, why should

it matter, anyway?

No, you are young

and far from death. That's why

you can talk like that.

What do you mean?

When death approaches you

prepare yourself spiritually.

Otherwise it is unbearable.

You must have faith.

It is so difficult to be far

from home.

and everywhwere you look

are strangers.

- That's true. I don't even

feel at home in the town.

- Who knows how I'd feel?

So why go?

Whereever you go, it is..

the same sky, the same trees.

But still we dream about..

our own sky, our own trees.

Look! That dry tree over there

is dead

but it still

sways in the wind.

I believe that when we die

we remain a part of..

life one way or another,

just like that dry tree.

In India my mother used to

appear and smile at me.

I used to freeze with awe.

I found out she died in those days.

- The thing called telepathy is..

- Some people feel like that..

If your spirit is elsewhere you

don't feel if you have a brother.

Maybe it's better this way.

Why better?

- I don't know.

I don't want to stay here

and rot.

While I was in the army

I thought about that all the time.

People always

discussed these matters.

I think these are all in vain.

- Vain? Vain in what way?

What else is there to do?

- That's the law of nature.

Only the strong survive.

Evolution.

We shouldn't waste our lives.

We should work.

Grandfather has worked for

years and what did he get?

Yes. That's right.

But what

else can we do but work?

And what else do we do

anyway? Look at my hands.

- We are so inadequate, and

there is so much work to do.

It is not likely to finish.

- We should add new things.

Many legends arose from Mesopotamia,

where civilization was born.

You were in some really

important places, father.

Is it raining?

I don't think so.

- I felt a drop on my hand.

- Stone carving.

What?

- It also began in Mesopotamia.

Yes. That's right.

The cradle of civilization.

"La barceau de la

civilisation" in French.

Then, Babylon for instance.

Have you seen Babylon?

- I have heard about it.

Babylon is very important.

That is where Alexander

the Great died.

He conquered the world from

end to end in his youth.

Dad, tell us how did

they cross the river?

- Tell us about the elephants.

- All right. Listen then.

Alexander comes

to the river Hidaspes.

On the other side of the river

is King Poros, with his army.

Alexander first

builds his camp

and later splits

his army into three..

And marches down

the river with one part..

Poros' army was very strong

because of the elephants.

Of course there were plenty

battles. Four are important.

The first one was at..

Granicus in 334 BC.

Then at Pineros, which is

called Delicay now..

somewhere around Iskenderun.

And then the third

on Gaugamela plain...

northeast of Mosul.

Finally there was

the one against Poros.

I met a man from Iskenderun,

and asked him about Delicay.

He was amazed

I had heard of Delicay.

But, didn't he win all the

battles with his army?

No one remembers

their names.

Only Alexander.

- You are wrong.

Of course

he needed his army,

but 2300 years ago

to go on a campaign

and winning all battles under

those circumstances isn't easy.

Do you think it is easy

to lead an army all that

way for 13 years.

Sultan Selim couldn't

even reach Caldiran

because his army

rebelled against him.

- But why did he do it?

Just to make history?

He invaded

peaceful countries.

That's enough

about Alexander.

- What's so special

about this Alexander?

- People who don't know the

past can't see the future.

We have many great commanders too.

Fatih the Conquerer for instance.

Or Urukagina, that

great Mesopotamian king.

Urumachine?

What kind of name is that?

- Urukagina. The king of Lagesh.

He appeared when the priests

were exploiting the people.

And about invasions.

Alexander expanded civilization.

He built new cities, and...

brought cultures together.

The Persians had been

making the Greeks suffer,

constantly attacking them.

First he dealt with the attacks.

He wanted to conquer

Egypt so that...

Mother.

Get down, mother.

Get down.

He reached the Gedrozia

Desert in southern Pakistan.

It was a terrible place

almost impossible to cross.

Only 12.000 men survived

out of 60.000.

Some of them died of thirst

and some of starvation.

They were so hungry

they ate their horses.

Exhausted they struggle

across that endless desert.

Then they saw flocks of crows

flying through the empty sky.

They thought that the crows

were flying to a water source.

After they struggled

for some time...

they saw something like

water.

First they thought it

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