for his fellow inmates to the local Russian girls, in light of
the camp officials' awareness and prohibition. Otherwise,
relationships with his friends are foremost in Fuad Bey's
mind.//
15 August 1916 Tuesday
The weather is very bad. Late in the
afternoon there was rain and fog
that covered everything. Today I sent Halis to the market and he
brought news that lining that we have been looking for for two months
will arrive tomorrow. Later
he bought sugar, cake and a comb. We
worked on French together. I got a lot of infinitives
from Osman.
Osman: he is a good man, with a French education. He is a gentleman
but there’s
one thing lacking and that is if he wasn’t so reluctant to teach
us what he knows he could set up a
small school here based on his
excellent knowledge of French. That way he could do an
unforgettable
favor to us young fellows here in captivity. And although such a
proposal has been made to
him he has not warmed to it and makes
excuses not to do it…he just occupies himself with his
favorite games.
Halis and I commiserated once again today. At night we sat for quite a
while.
Later I joined in a conversation that included Salah, Saffet and
Osman. After that, Saffet and I
chatted. Still later, Zühdü, Salah and I
spoke together. The conversation was mostly about girls and the
people
of Vetluga. I didn’t sleep until morning when the sun was rising.
Twelve Bulgarian Divisions are Waiting on
the Romanian Border
16 August 1916 Wednesday
Toward sunrise I sat on the windowsill and
wrote a long letter to Kazim
and Hasan. The contents were as follows: henceforth I won’t bother
myself with writing letters for you to the girls…because that Russian
sergeant in the Command is
keeping track of these flirtations and I
heard that there could be an uproar in Vetluga if this
sergeant stirs the
pot. Were such a thing to happen I would be punished for something
I have nothing to
do with and I must keep my distance from something
that is very likely to have serious
consequences both for my being and
my self-respect…
A bit after sunrise I woke Halis up and we went
to the bath. After
getting cleaned up we came back and had tea together. After tea I went
to sleep
but only for three hours. In the afternoon I went to see Şerif
and we talked. News: Austria has
pulled back from the German-Russian
front and Austria has also withdrawn from the Italian
front…possibly
12 Bulgarian divisions comprised of 300,000 men are waiting on the
Romanian border. The
Turks have taken Hemedan and a small area to
the west of Trabzon. There is fierce fighting on the
Van, Bitlis and Muş
fronts.
Today we got the lining that a Tatar merchant in Vetluga obtained
for us
from Moscow. The price is 18.5 rubles, although it’s not worth
three mecidiye (60 piasters). I
ate watermelon today for the first time in
two years. I went to bed early.
17 August 1916 Thursday
I got up early this morning. I woke Halis
up and we had tea. Ethem fell
sick today and had to lie down. The reason was said to be a remark
made
against him. The fellows went to his side to comfort him. Even though
I have no kind
feelings toward him I wanted to go to ask about his health
but there was a consideration that
prevented me from doing so. And that
was that although previously he didn’t neglect to
make fun of me, over
the past few weeks he has shown seriousness, dignity, arrogance and
pride
(all of which are fake). So the consideration was that, given that I have
this strong distrust
of him, were I to go and say ‘how are you?’ to him
would I be met with impoliteness and
would my self-respect be wounded.
I’m right about this consideration because although I’m a
good-natured
person with a good sense of humor, I am first and foremost a man of
dignity when
it comes to self-respect. The weather is neither very bad nor
very good. Today we didn’t
have any lessons. Our time was all wasted.
In the evening I went to see Şerif. We talked
about the leather of a fur hat
he bought. Later Kör Mehmet talked at length about his past
life. We
listened. At night we sat for
quite a while. Zühdü and I chatted. He told
me the reasons
for his mood over the previous days. I agreed with him.
18 August 1916 Friday
This morning I didn’t get up either early
or late. The weather is mostly
clear. In the morning I spoke a bit with Selahaddin and told him
that I
was going to go to Ethem and ask about his health but regrettably a
consideration
prevented me. I understood from Erzurumlu Hasan’s face
that he was a bit angry with
me about the matter of the letters the other
day because although his friend Kazim had now
and then approached
me in an effort to get me to reconsider, Hasan had not. Again
today we
didn’t work on French. Halis, in particular, is neglecting it. I went to see
Şerif for a
while and we chatted. Tonight six of us got together and Salah
explained a number of things
about the sociology of raising children in
Turkey. We listened. He then went on to talk about our
villages and the
state they’re in and what is necessary to find solutions for remedying
these
unfortunate circumstances. He added quite a bit more concerning
the development of the country
and the nation. Later four of us talked
at Zühdü’s bed.
19 August 1916 Saturday
In the morning something comical in a dream
apparently made me laugh
out loud heartily. When I woke up a little later the fellows asked
me why
I had laughed. The weather is nice today, quite clear. I went to see Şerif
in the morning
and we chatted. While I was there, Muştak (Gendarmerie
First Lieutenant), who is the brother of
Captain (Gendarmerie) Şevket,
came here upon a request from the other city where some fellows are
(Kologriv). A bit later the two brothers came to our house and settled in.
But there was a lot
of noise as a few people changed their places. Halis
came out from the interior room and I gave my
spot to him. I moved next
to him, settling into a bed in the same room. While this was happening
Zühdü said something that bothered me. As the result of the negative
effect this had on me Halis
and I had a talk. He was upset, as well. I was
mad that I had said some foolish thig that had the
effect of making him
upset and I was sorry for it. Today Passed distressfully. I tried to console
Halis and was partially successful. Today Halis got a paper from his
fellow townsman and friend Bekir
Turgut and wrote him a letter.
20 August 1916 Sunday
The weather is nice…at night, just as I was
falling asleep Selahuddin and
Kazim were talking. Salah was trying to persuade Kazim to give up the
effort to court and woo these Russian girls. Since I fell asleep I didn’t hear
how their chat
ended.
//END of PART XXXIX//
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