Feast of the Dead
- 2. FEAST OF THE DEAD Cednet Kudret
- 3. "Dursun Agha is dead!" A boy told the first man he saw. Dursun Agha was a familiar figure of the street. He was the water carrier, who barely made both ends meet, with wife and two children in his small, two- story house. His entire capital consistent of two water cans and a pole, with a chain dangling from either end. When Gulnaz heard the news, she froze. What was Gulnaz going to do now? She thought and thought but could make no decision.
- 4. It is Moslem tradition for the neighbors to send food, for a day or two, to the bereaved household. The first meal came to Gulnaz and her two children from the white house at the corner. To tell the truth, no one had thought of eating that day, but soon as the cover was lifted from the tray there was a giving in, a relaxation of feelings. Another neighbor took care of the food for the next day. This went on for three of four days.
- 5. The first day food stopped coming in. They kept their hopes up till noon time, running to the door with the sound of each foot step in the street outside, hoping to see a big tray with a white cloth cover over it. But instead they saw people simply going about their daily lives, merely passing by, their empty hands hanging at the end of their arms. For the next few days they ate whatever they found here and there in the house: two onions, one clove of garlic, a handful of dry lima beans found in the corner of the cupboard. Finally, there came a day when all the pots, baskets, and boxes in the house were empty. That day for the first time, they went to bed on empty stomachs.
- 6. The next day was the same. In the late afternoon, the little boy started crying, "Mother, it hurts inside!" Gulnaz beckoned to the older boy. He got up and both left the room. "We must go to Bodes, the grocer, ask for some rice, flour, and potatoes. Tell him we'll pay him in a few days". The boy's shabby coat was not heavy enough to keep out of cold of th e street. He had to steady himself against the walls as he walked. Finally he reached the store. He let others take their turn. After everyone gone, he ordered a pound of rice, a pound of flour and a pound of potatoes, put his hand in his pocket as if reaching for his money and then pretending to have left it at home, looking annoyed, he said "Oh, I left the money home. How do you like that! I have to go all the way home in this cold and come back again. Write it down, won't you, and I'll bring it when I
- 7. Bodes knew the tricks of the game only too well. Looking over his glasses, he said, "You've become so thin. Someone who has money at home doesn't get so thin." He put the boy's order on one side. "First bring the money and then you take this," he said. "All right,"the boy said embarrassed to see his lie found out."I'll bring it." He hurried out. The boy was finding the iciness of the street more unbearable than he had before he entered the store. He walked toward his own house as quickly as he could, his teeth chattering. Entering the room, he said nothing to his mother and brother. His empty hands spoke for him.
- 8. Before their questioning eyes, he took off his clothes and went to his bed. When he spoke, he said, "I am cold." The blanket rose and fell on his trembling body. The trembling lasted for an hour and a half or more. Then came the fever and exhaustion. The boy lay flat on his back, stretched out motionless, his eyes staring vacantly. The woman paced through the house till evening, desperate. She did not know what to do. She couldn't think. She kept on going into the room and out again, looking with empty, glazed eyes at the walls, the ceiling and the furniture. The boy's fever went up. The woman sat motionless, staring. The younger boy couldn't sleep from hunger. He, too, was watching the sick boy moan slowly.
- 9. When the sick boy started talking again with the fever, the younger boy sat up in his bed and said, in a low, soft voice audible only to his mother,"Mother, will my brother die?" The woman shivered as if touched by a cold wind on her skin. She looked at her son with frightened eyes, "Why do you ask that?" The boy paused for a minute under his mother's graze, then he leaned close to her ear and said softly trying hard to hide his voice from his brother. "Because, then the food will come from the white house"
- 10. Characters • Dursun Agha – A water fetcher, the husband of Gulnaz. • Gulnaz – An infrequent laundress. • Bodes – The grocer • The two sons.
- 11. Activity Time!
- 12. • What is your opinion about the story? • If you were Gulnaz, what would your reaction and response be to your child’s question? • Which part of the story touched you the most? Why?