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“It was also then that the women of Akçah started a new custom. Underneath their garments they wrapped cloth bands around their waists to squeeze them tight. They were so awed by Zekiye's thin waist that, for a while, they ignored Atiye when she reminded them that this waist-thinning method wouldn't work unless they had started very young. But the women kept their waistbands on until the sheep-mating season to see what would happeend. Then they all began to wheeze. They found that in their zeal for having thin waists they had afflicted themselves with shortness of breath, coughing, flushes and sweating. A few had sores on their hands, faces and other parts of their bodies. Three women had problems with their eyes and speech. And when their waists started to swell up like logs, they all took off the cloth bands. "We're well past the age of waist-thinning," they said. All the same, they considered it their duty as mothers to raise their daughters to be as slender as Zekiye. They took lessons in the art of waist-thinning from Atiye and soon discovered that plastic bags were more effective than cloth bands. Thereafter, whenever they had girl babies, they would wash them with three bowls of water as soon as the umbilical cord was cut and then wrap plastic bags around their waists, blowing prayers on them all the while.”
“Water pump, water pump, I've got some good news for you." "What's your good nes, Dirmit girl?" "There's a teacher in the village." "He's here for you, then." "Guess what he said to me." "What did he say, what did he say?" "He said I didn't look like a peasant." "Were you pleased?" "I was pleased.”
“The stray, ageing donkeys hadn't the slightest idea why they hadn't been stoned at Akçali. They had been pelted and driven away from all the other villages as soon as they were released into the field. They made the most of what they took to be a welcome and accepted Akçali as their home the morning after Sarɪkɪz had ridden them through the village. From that day on, any donkeys who were liberated from the saddles came, one by one, to settle in Akçali.”
“The djinn Kepse was invisible at first but later it appeared as a fever, followed by sweating and shivering. Finally it pounced on your chest and sat there, a black ball with neither hands nor feet, and with eyes like lentils. If, just at that moment, you were quick enough to reach out and grab Kepse, it immediately became your faithful servant. But if you missed, and it escaped, you never got another chance.”
“Happy that the illness had left no trace on Dirmit, Atiye let her go outside that very day. But Atiye was wrong. The illness had marked her daughter in other ways. After the notch disease, Dirmit was left with certain traits that passed unnoticed. She kept everything she did as secred, and started to take pity on odd things.”
“From then on Dirmit wrapped herself up in a quilt made of words. She slept on a bed of words and sat on a chair of words. Atiye became thousands of words whos days were numbered. Nuğber sat waiting for words. Zekiye wept words. Seyit smiled with his gleaming white teeth made of false words. Mahmut pressed his tongue against his teeth and whistled words. Halit banged words on the wall.”
“Dressed up sharply, Seyit kissed his mother's hand, stepped down the stairs and ventured forth to become a rich man. After he had left, Dirmit spread out her books on top of the sewing machine and started to study.”
“Dirmit perched on a huge rock and stared out at the sea, her eyes darting back and forth between the birds and the choppy water. First she took the sea into herself and then she let the sea take her into it. Her heart leapt into her mouth in elation as the sea rose inside her, and shivered in fear as the sea swallowed her up.”
“Dirmit looked at the spot left by her mother's finger. Then she ran her eyes across the four walls and counted all the marks that had been stamped there to predict that they would be abandoned, they would go mad, they would be left to starve without a roof over their heads, or they would fall into evil ways. 'We've made so many markes for one another!' she reflected. Then she got up and started to scratch off all the spots.”
“But the more Dirmit listened to her mother, the more panic-stricken she became. She started to tremble and shake and thought she might faint dead away. But Atiye was set upon giving her advice. She went to great lengths to explain how young girls shouldn't talk too much and how it was improper for them to stretch out their legs when they sat down. Dirmit felt a hot flush as Atiya ticked each item off on her list. First she turned red, then her hands and feet grew icy. Twitching and panting, she lost her color entirely and turned pale as ash. From that day on, Dirmit withdrew into herself. Obeying Atiye's warnings, she dared not ask questions or approach her brotehrs or her father. Her voice and breath were lost inside her.”
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Book Keywords:
djinns, donkeys, puberty, predictions, beauty-standards, poverty, period, education, turkey, class, peasant, thinness, sea, hope, ambition, illness, words, village-life, poetry, adolescence
