38 edmund spencer Travels in Circassia, Krim Tartary, &c. (XIII) 40 aziz ahmet crimea Photoshop: Crimea, Chameleon Cape That Changes Its Color During the Day
BAŞ KABÎMÎZDA ON THE COVER
Mausoleum of poet Ferdowsi(940 - 1020) in Tus, Mashaad, Iran Photo: Nimavojdani
NAZAR LOOK Attitude and culture magazine of Dobrudja’s Crimean Tatars Tomrîğa Kîrîm Tatarlarîñ turuşmamuriyet meğmuwasî ISSN: 2069-4784 www.nazar-look.com nazar.look@mail.com Constanta, Romania FOUNDER & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF BAŞ-NAŞIR Taner Murat EDITORS NAŞIRLER Emine Ómer Uyar Polat Jason Stocks COMPUTER GRAPHICS SAYAR SÎZGAĞÎSÎ Elif Abdul Hakaan Kalila (Hakan Calila) CREATIVE CONSULTANTS ESER KEÑEŞÇÍSÍ M. Islamov Copyright reverts back to contributors upon publication. The full issue is available for viewing online from the Nazar - Look website. For submission guidelines and further information, please stop by www.nazar-look.com
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2 rudyard kipling If… - Eger… 5 book launch Looking Back - Short Stories of Our Time 6 mikayil múşfik Úyrendím 8 miftahettin akmulla Başkurtlarîm, okîmak kerek! 10 taner murat scythia minor (little crimea) Kókten sesler - Temúçin (XIX) 12 james s. dorr indiana, usa Moons of Saturn 24 ferdowsi Alas for Youth 28 tu fu The Winding River 30 yen nguyen france Too True to Be Good 34 hal o’leary west virginia, usa From Whence There’s Something Else The Struggle
CONTRIBUTORS MEMBALAR Aziz Ahmet James S. Dorr Suzana Huseyn Yen Nguyen Nimavojdani Hal O'Leary QHA
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rudyard kipling
(1865 - 1936)
2 Nazar Look
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(1865 - 1936)
If... If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don't deal in lies, Or being hated, don't give way to hating, And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise: If you can dream - and not make dreams your master; If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim; If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same; If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools: If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, And lose, and start again at your beginnings And never breathe a word about your loss; If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew To serve your turn long after they are gone, And so hold on when there is nothing in you Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!' If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, ' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch, if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, If all men count with you, but none too much; If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds' worth of distance run, Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it, And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!
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(1865 - 1936)
Eger… Herkez ğoldan sabîp taksiratlî sení tutkanda Sen akîlîbaşînda eger kala-alsañ; Saga bírewníñ îşanuwî kalmaganda Sen olarîñ şúphesín de hesapka koşîp ózíñe eger gúwene-alsañ; Beklep turup sen beklemekten yorîlmay eger kalsañ, Ya da seníñ hakkîñda yalan aytîlganda yalan eger kullanmasañ, Ya da sení bírew şeg-almaganda sen ğúrekke eger ğatsañ, Allegím bolmasañ, şalîm eger satmasañ; Túş kulî bolmadan túş eger kóre-alsañ, Túşúnğeleríñní maksat etmeden túşúnúp eger kala-alsañ Kelíp Zafer men Felaket ekí yalanğînîñ karşîsîna Ne kazandîm dep kuwansañ, ne de kaybettím dep ğîlansañ; Ğetímsízlerní aldatmaga deñíştírílgen aytkanlarîñnî Eşítmegen kíşí eger bola-alsañ, Ya da ómírğe kurgan şiyleríñ mîraganîn kórgende Íşíñní baştan alîp olarnî eskí alatlarîñ man bírtaa eger yarata-alsañ, Kaybetíp te herşiyní baştan alîp Kayîplarîñnî heşbírwakît sóz eger etmeseñ; Meğalsîz kalganda ğúregíñní, asabîñnî, akîlîñnî Zorlap eger kullana-alsañ, “Dayan” degen kararîñ tîşînda íşíñde bírşiy kalmaganda Tíreníp kókírep eger bere-alsañ. El-álemge koşîlîp namuslî eger kala-alsañ Ya da kîrallar man gezíp insanlîknî eger unutmasañ, Ne dúşmanga, ne dostîña darîlsañ, Ne bírewní alşak túşúrúp, ne bírewní kóklerge şîgarsañ ; Ağîmasîz her dakkaga Altmîş emgek saniyesí eger koşsañ Demekk ke bo dúnya señkí Bondan da ayîrî, ulum, Insan boldîñ demektír. (Taner Murat’îñ terğúmesínde)
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BOOK
Looking Back Featuring: Tantra Bensko Carly Berg Ute Carson Rudy Ch. Garcia Margaret Karmazin James D. Reed
Anthology of Short Stories
W. Jack Savage Tom Sheehan Bhadauria Manish Singh Hollis Whitlock Samuel K. Wilkes Abigail Wyatt
mikayil múşfik
(1908–1939)
6 Nazar Look
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Úyrendím Hayat nedír, suwal berdím ózíme, Manasîn şeşeklerden úyrendím. Yaşap-yaşap kagîşmaknî, súymekní Kaálbímdekí tíleklerden úyrendím. Bír ğay aldîm şîkmak úşún şikáarga, Rastkeldím bír gúzel kózlí nikáarga. Níşan alîp ok atmaknî, ne şáre, Taş ğúreklí meleklerden úyrendím. Suwlar gibí kópíkleníp taşmaknî, Eller gibí yúksek daklar aşmaknî, Biñ bír emel arkasîndan kuwmaknî Túrlí-túrlí ğúreklerden úyrendím. Kaber bolsîn her tazege, her ğaşka Insan bala, hayat oga eglenğe... Men gúdúrtí koparmaktan eñ başta Alew kózlí ğalkînlardan úyrendím. Hayat nedír, ólím nedír, boş suwal, Sewda nedír, hiğran nedír, bír hayal, Men bolarnîñ esasîn, mína, al, Hep şekken emgegímden úyrendím.
(Taner Murat’îñ kelíştírmesínde)
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miftahettin akmulla
(1831 - 1895)
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(1831 - 1895)
Başkurtlarîm, okîmak kerek! Başkurtlarîm, okîmak kerek, okîmak kerek! Aramîzda ğahiller kóp, okîgan siyrek. Ural’dakî ókírgen ayuwdan korkanşîk, Ey, tuwganlar, ğehaletten korkmak kerek! Iltifat et: okîmaktandîr şerefler, Ğahillíkten kelíp turar zor afetler, Okîganlar kókte uşar, suwda yúzer, Yoktîr onda evliyadakî kerametler. Okîganlar bo dúnyada ğelal bolîr Haram degen kóp şiyler helal bolîr Yîkpal, dewlet kutugun aşayîm deseñ, Ílím, húner bírden-bírge temel bolîr. Altîga bírní koşîp, sayî on bolmay. Sáátní aldga beríp, tún kún bolmay. Bílím arslandan kúşlí batîr, Şoga atlanmay seníñ túşúñ heş oñ bolmay. (Taner Murat’îñ kelíştírmesínde)
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Nazar Look 9
scythia minor (little crimea) www.tanermurat.com
Kókten sesler - Temúçin (XIX)
ekení bellí kala mî? Kaydan? Onîñ ğúregí, korkîsîzlîgî, ğaşlîgînda síptí katîlîp bargan sogîşmalarîndan suw ústúne may şîkkanday bellí bolîp miydanga şîgawuydî. Barim Şîgîratuw Kabuwğî Batîr dedíler oga.
Kesím 33 Barim Şîgîratuw Kabuwğî Batîr
Kesím 34 Zewúriyt îrgî
Ázír awulga, ázír tóşelgen mañlay şadîrnîñ bosagasîn íş betíne, yarîsînda bír toy man, nikáalî ğaş kelínníñ atî zamannîñ íşínde íríp kettí, onîñ atîn akîlana akelgen, yaşagan kíşí kalmadî. Şo atî unutulup kalgan kelín, mañlay yeríne kelíp kongan senesí tolayatîrganda, Bodonğarga bír ul taptî. O balanîñ ğutuk ekení taa kíşkenelígínden bellí bolgan. Anasî emízdíreğekte ekí kolî man anasîn kókíregíne ğabîşawuya eken. Kurutsa da, kolîndan ğíbermiy. Óskende de şo, taa. - "Nedret kap, kóp şayna" derler, balam! - diytan eken anasî man babasî oga, sîpîraga otîrganda. - Bíraz yawaş aşa, obîr bolma! - diytan ekenler. O gene seslemiy, onday tuwgan ke. Awuzuna kabîp, şaynamay ğutawuya. O man bír sîpîraga otîrganlar sîpîradan toymay tura ekenler. - Bo ğutuk bízge aş kaldîra mî? Şaynamay ğutawuya da. Ka-típ toyayîk? - diy ekenler. Sîpîraga salîngan aşlarnî bír ğelmawuz gibí kabawuya da, başka kíşíge toymak sîrasî kele mí? - diy ekenler. Ána, bonday etíp, onîñ aşaganîna hergez taağúplene- taağúplene, oga Kabuwğî namî kalgan. Ğúrmege başlaganda da Kabuwğunuñ bír ayagî óteberí kesík bolganî da bellí boldî. Bír yakka bíraz sallanîp, topallaganday ğúrgeníne, "Kesík Bağaklî" diy edíler oga. Şo man atî Barim Şîgîratuw Kabuwğî boldî. Lákin ğígítlík, bağaknîñ uzunlugunakesíklîgîna karamay eken. Ğígít bolganî, ğígíttír. Batîr bolganî, batîrdîr. Soñra, atka míngen soñ, bír ayagîñ bír parşakay kesík
Atî unutulup kalgan Barim Şîgîratuw Kabuwğî Batîrnîñ nenesí, ğaş kelín bolîp úynúñ mañlay yeríne konayatîrganda, nikáasî kîyîlîp, şo yarîsînda bolsa da gene yasalgan toyî sîrasînda, Bodonğar man Adañkan Úriyañgağin ázírlep salgan bakşîşlarîn da kabul etken edí. Hep şo wakît, ádetlerníñ taptalmasîna yer kaldîrmay, kelínní alîp kelgen kíşílerge kaysî bírsí kímge salînganîn añlata-añlata, kayînana-kayînata alarî úşún ázírlengen bakşîşlar da beríldí. Şo kíşílerní de kuwandîrmaga unutmadîlar. Onlar da bakşîşlarîn kabul etken soñ, barlî bír îrktan bolmasalar da, ádetke uyup, kayînanakayînata alarîndan kíyewúne ğíberílgen bakşîşnî alîp kelgenlerín ayttîlar. Şo kíşílerníñ mañlaylarînda kelgen, kelínníñ akasî konîştî: - Bodonğar, babam-nenem alar bek begeníp kaldîlar, kíyewún. Bíz de, kelínníñ akalarî, tatalarî bolîp, sení bek súydúk. Kelíp azbarîmîzdan, úyúmúzden kelín saylap alganîña, aytkanîmday, bílgeníñdiy, bek barlî bolmasak ta, saga karşî saygîmîznî kóstereğek bolamîz. Bízím de saga akelgen bakşîşîmîz bar. - dedí o. Soñra, katînda bolgan ekí ğaşka aylanîp karap: - Babam alarnîñ Bodonğarga ğíbergen bakşîşnî akelíñíz! - dedí. Ğaşlar, kelínní alîp kelgen mógedekke ğuwurawuyup, bakşîşnî túşúrúp, kolîndan tutup akeldíler. Ğap-ğaş bír kîz, kelín men akran, kelínníñ tatasîn kîzî, kelín men barabar ósken ekenler. Bírsí úyleníp keteğekke, ekewnúñ kózlerí bozlanîp kalgan eken. Herkezní kuwantağak bír şáre tabîlgan. Hem onday boldî. Bodonğar man Adañkan Úriyañgağin ziyade kuwandîlar. Bodonğar onî kabul etíp, oga şoyerde Adañkan Úriyañgağin
10 Nazar Look
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scythia minor (little crimea)
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şadîrnîñ katîna bír şadîr taa kurdurtawuyup, ğaydîrtawuyup-tóşettírewuydî. Bo kîznîñ atî da zamannîñ íşíne batîp kettí. Lákin ízí ketmedí. Onîñ ízíne, tuwganda, kelínníñ tatasîn kîzîndan bolganîna, Zewreday dedíler. Zewreday, Barim Şîgîratuw Kabuwğî Batîrdan soñra tuwdî, ondan kíşkene, Zewredaynîñ bírkaş tatasî ekí ulnuñ arasîn baya keñiytkenler. Dórt ulun bírdiy etíp súye edí Bodonğar. Íster Adañkan Úriyañgağinden ekí ulî Zadarday man Bagariyday bolsîn, íster Barim Şîgîratuw Kabuwğî bolsîn, íster Zewreday bolsîn, ayîrmaytan, bírdiy súyer edí. - Alayñîz mením ulumsuñuz. Men ketken soñ, paylarîñîznî bírdiy etíp bólíşírsíñíz, añladîñîz mî? - dep, ólímínden soñra ne bolağagîn da aytîp taşladî. Zewreday kíşkene ekende, eñ kíşkene bala tuwul mî? Ózeginní herkez başka túrlí súyer. Zadarday man Bagariyday delíkanlî bolîp başka şiyler men ogîraşîp turganda Barim Şîgîratuw Kabuwğunuñ ekí kózí babasînda, "Way, way, babam Zewredaynî taa kóp súye!" dep. Zamanînda ózí de tîpkî şonday súyúlgenín unutkan. Óseğek, batîr bolağak, ğiwan Barim Şîgîratuw Kabuwğunuñ, Zewreday ínísí men, arasî bonday edí, yîldîzlarî uzak kalîp tabîşmaytan, kíşkenekíy Zewredaynîñ anasî, bír tuwumda, bír namurnuñ soñ kúnlerínde, ğok bolîp ketkenínde. Barim Şîgîratuw Kabuwğunuñ nenesí men, kartayîp túşken Adañkan Úriyañgağin, Zewredaynîñ anasîn artîndan tókken kózyaşlarî kurur-kurumaz, helwasîn kawurup kokîsîn şîgarîr-şîgarmaz, Bodonğar bír kúnlúk yergeşík şakîrîldî. Kîş, taygalak mî, taygalak. Ne men karşîlağagîn bílmeden, tolîyday buznuñ ústúnden kettí. Ketúwí, şo! Ólím şakîrgan eken! Ğolda, ayagî ayna gibí buznuñ ústúnde tayîp, ayagîn sîndîrîp atî túşken. Ondan tutup, şuwurga kakkan, ekí boylîk kar baskan. Balta man kazîp ayîrdîlar Bodonğarnî buzlarnîñ arasîndan. Baárge karşî... Her yaşam başka bír ğoldan keter amma soñî gene aşşî-aşşî. Of, of! Bodonğar ğok bolgan soñ, kíşkenekíy
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Zewredaynî Barim Şîgîratuw Kabuwğunuñ anasî alîp karadî. Kayet kesík bír ara úşún, kîrlî ketmedí. Barim Şîgîratuw Kabuwğî hergún kawga şîgarîp, anasîna bakîra başladî: - Saga ne, neniy? Lázîm bolmagan zahmetke ózíñní atkanîñ ne? - dep. - Kerek-kerekmiy, bo bala da babañnîñ ulî. Sení óstírgen soñ, kuyruguñdakî bír súrúw kîz kardaşlarîñnî óstíriyatîrganda, endí, koğamnîñ uluna kelgende zahmetíne karayğakman mî? Kírewuysun şo da kîz kardaşlarîñ arasîna. Bírşiy bolmaz. Adañkan Úriyañgağin karawuysun. Ne karamay? Bútún kún úyde de. Başka ne íşí bar? - Ay, Adañkanga atkanîmîz ne? O kart ta, balam. Kartaydî, endí yappalmaz. Ekí dúniya bír kelse de yappalmaz. Onda bala hewesí kaldî mî? Yapp-almaz, yapp-almaz! Yapmaytan mî, endí? Yapar, yapar! Ne? Seníñ hewesíñ bar mî? Sende başkalarnîñ balasîn karaganday hewes bar mî? - Şonday etíp konîşma, ulum! Ayîp tuwul mî? Íníñdír, bíz kararmîz, taa. Ínlíkní-mínlíkní ğebíne tîgîp ózí men alîp ketken eken, Bodonğar, soñgî ğolîna şîkkanînda. Barim Şîgîratuw Kabuwğunuñ awuzuna túşken balaşîk, kutulmadî. Şo-bo degenşík, Kabuwğî kaptî ğíberdí. Zewreday Adañkan Úriyañgağinge beríldí, başka şáre yok. Kóp ketmeden, oba hakklarîndan da şîgarîldî. Bodonğardan kalganlar, arasînda bólíştí, úş akasî. Zewredayga bírşiy yok, sañkem yabanğî. Zewreday, ósíp bólígínden ayîrîlmak kararîna bardî. Bólígínden boş kolî man ayîrîlsa da, yawaş-yawaş óz şáresíne ózí karap, úyleníp balasî, torînî boldî. Onîñ ballarîndan, torînlarîndan, Zewrit alar keñiydí. Mína, Zewrit îrknîñ atasî şo baladîr, şo Zewreday. Anasîndan-atasîndan óksíz kalgan, şo bala.
(dewamî keleğekke)
Nazar Look 11
james s. dorr
indiana, usa
http://jamesdorrwriter.wordpress.com
12 Nazar Look
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http://jamesdorrwriter.wordpress.com James S. Dorr is a short story writer and poet working primarily in the dark fantasy and horror genres with occasional diversions into mystery and science fiction, with nearly four hundred appearances from Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine to The Yellow Bat Review. Dorr's collections include Strange Mistresses: Tales of Wonder and Romance and Darker Loves: Tales of Mystery and Regret from Dark Regions Press and the all-poetry Vamps (A Retrospective) from Sam's Dot Publishing.
Moons of Saturn
Mimas' pictures were broadcast – "you next to the brooding bulk of Saturn, the god-devourer of his children, and me the outermost moon of them all."
Phoebe, with her retrograde motion...
"And you with your retrograde motion," I
We laughed about that when the Voyager
said. "Withershins to the others' orbits."
photographs were on TV. Her real name was Phoebe, named for the mother of the Sun. Or that's what she said.
Discovered in 1898, the TV continued, flashing back to the Voyager pictures. Phoebe circles more than eight million miles from
"You must be Enceladus," she said on a
Saturn, one of only two of the moons with its
different night, when the news showed the
orbital plane tilted at an angle to that of the
space probe closer to Saturn. Never mind my
rings...
real name or background. "Enceladus was the most powerful of the storm giants. Savage, yet noble. And, according to the Greek legends, he
"Another
"The creator of man? Or, more to the point, the moon whose orbit is closest to Phoebe's?" she
said.
"Between
us,
we
encompass all the moons" – that was before
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out-of-
We laughed again, Phoebe and I. Phoebe, with her passion for ancient legends
"Shouldn't I be Iapetus instead?" I asked.
"No,"
Another
stepness," I said.
was born not in the usual way, but from the spilling of his father's blood."
difference.
and myths; her fascination not so much with science, as with the fantasies that could be spun from it. As for me, as I say, never mind my name or my background. You may have known me.
Nazar Look 13
http://jamesdorrwriter.wordpress.com Suffice it to say I had money enough, willed to
siblings who freed Earth's volcanoes. And now
me by an aunt, that I needn't work unless it held
they say there are other, tiny moons even closer
my interest. That I had had a good education.
to Saturn than he is. But last night I had a
That Phoebe and I loved each other deeply.
dream about Mimas. And you and me. The two of you are bound together same year
*** Discovered in 1789...the TV news said. This was for Mimas.
– discovered the
– and thus, somehow, Mimas is
bound to me also." "I heard you scream last night," I said. "While you were sleeping. It was only once, so I didn't wake you."
"The Year of the Guillotine," Phoebe broke in, as if the announcer were talking to her. "Of revolution and blood in France."
"I haven't been feeling well," she said. "It's probably nothing."
"Shhhh," I said as the voice went
I kissed her again, harder this time, and
on...discovered the same year as Enceladus –
she kissed me back. That night we made love in
there was a shift as a picture of my moon
front of the TV while Voyager's arc swung it
formed on the TV so they could be compared –
closer to Saturn. We watched, in each other's
Mimas orbits less than 120,000 miles from its
arms, as the pictures formed on the screen.
parent, while Enceladus, the next moon out...
Saturn. In some cultures, called the
"No," Phoebe said. "Saturn was never
"Death Planet." Phoebe started, then kissed me
our father. You, Mimas, the storm giants, I, were
quickly. To astrologers, said to be the ruler of
all born of Gaea and Uranus. Saturn, too, was a
Capricorn, lord of winter. Saturn was known
son of Uranus."
from ancient times...
"I know, Phoebe," I whispered. I kissed
We watched. An orange globe appeared, strikingly oblate.
her. "Wait," she said. "Before, I'd forgotten
...with a diameter 9.4 times that of the
Mimas, the innermost moon. The one of our
Earth, and yet a day on Saturn's surface lasts less than eleven hours here on Earth...
14 Nazar Look
www.nazar-look.com
http://jamesdorrwriter.wordpress.com "That explains the flattened poles," I said. "That fast a rotation. Centrifugal forces would..."
around Saturn... ...what scientists call Cassini's Division,
"Maybe," she said. "But look at those
forming a wide gap between what we now call
swollen stripes and patterns. It moves too fast.
the A Ring and B Ring. But look. Now we can
And see – Enceladus, think of what it would
see there are more. A C Ring, possibly D and E
look like from your orbit. From my moon, it
Rings. And, outside the A Ring, a narrower
seems like just a jewel in the sky, but from
pattern is coming in focus. It isn't smooth-looking
where you are, it must be enormous."
like the rings we've seen, but looks almost as
I tried to imagine it filling my vision. Rising over a rock strewn plain, over so huge an
though it were made from two long, separate strands and braided...
arc it looked as though it must crush, of
I laughed out loud. Phoebe had braided
necessity, any object that dared stand beneath
her hair that evening. I nuzzled the back of her
it. But then, the TV picture pulled back...
neck and kissed her. She didn't respond.
...the rings...
"Phoebe?" I whispered.
Phoebe gasped. We hugged each other.
I saw she was sleeping.
...believed by some scientists to have once been an asteroid, sucked, vampire-like, from its proper orbit when it came too close. In time, gravitational forces destroyed it...
*** I carried her up to bed that night, and the following night too. Then, at her request, I made her a new bed – a sort of a nest – on the living
I stood again on Enceladus' surface,
room floor in front of the TV. I went out during
seeing the rings now shoot from the huge disk
the day and left her watching the pictures, then
like two immense arrows. In my mind, I saw
joined her afterward to watch the news and the
them on edge, because only Phoebe and
evening specials.
Iapetus have orbits that deviate from the rings' plane to any appreciable degree. Here, though, the space probe approached from an angle, slightly below, as it wove its complex path
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Sometimes the pictures we'd see would be new ones, broadcast by Voyager as we sat, arms around each other. More often they'd be
Nazar Look 15
http://jamesdorrwriter.wordpress.com ones received already already
– that she'd seen
ice from what the scientists said on TV.
– but half the time she couldn't
Enceladus, my moon, mostly ice too, scarcely
remember. And sometimes she'd say she did remember...a picture being sent for the first time.
more than 30,000 miles farther out than the orbit of Mimas. "I dreamed of you and Mimas again last night," she said. "How you – and I, too – are
"Perhaps it was in a dream," she would say. "Or something I read – I just thought I saw it."
bound together. I dreamed of Rhea, its mineral surface sparkling with jewels." Rhea was still just a dot in the distance
I worried about her. On the third day I called a doctor to come and see her. She protested – "I just feel faint sometimes" – but I insisted. He gave her a thorough examination, but found nothing wrong. He gave her a tonic. He thought that she might use a bit more fresh air. She laughed when he'd left us. "You know I prefer the indoors," she said. "I just – I don't know. Since I was a girl, I've always enjoyed the feeling of waking while still in a dream. I just feel more tired now." She took her tonic. I tried it too at her insistence, at night when we watched the Voyager probe start its long ascent back through the moons of Saturn. Mimas, a ball of
16 Nazar Look
on the TV. Yet Phoebe went on. "I dreamed of the mining colony there. Oh, maybe not right now, but in the future they'll go there for gem stones. You'll see, Enceladus." I almost could see it when I closed my eyes. The pressure domes. The space-suited men digging into the rock. But then, when I opened my eyes again and gazed at Phoebe, I saw she was paler. I called a new doctor. We lived on a back road, outside the city, and soon there was a succession of doctors plying their way across the countryside to our home. They gave her tests of various sorts, but none could find anything wrong with Phoebe, at least not physically. Some prescribed pills. On my way back from work – oh yes, I still worked then. Never mind what I did. But
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http://jamesdorrwriter.wordpress.com one afternoon, on my way home, I drove
I explained my problem. About Phoebe's
through a different part of the city than I usually
sickness. He asked to know more and I told him
went through. On an impulse, I stopped and got
about how we watched together as Voyager's
out of my car.
pictures formed on the TV. He held up his hand
I'd already stopped once before at a
then.
drugstore for Phoebe's pills, although I was
"You are Enceladus?" he asked.
convinced they were doing her no good. But now, as I looked at the stores around me, I had an odd feeling of having once stood in this very
I nodded, startled. "I haven't told you my name yet," I blurted.
same part of the city before. It couldn't be true, unless years ago
"Perhaps I guessed it," he said. "Or
– it was near the city
perhaps I had reason to expect you. We are like
university, in what once had been a student
brothers, you and I, although maybe not in the
residential section but since had degraded to
usual blood way." He handed me a dust-covered
one of those over-the-hill hippy neighborhoods,
bottle, about the size of a whisky bottle, and
rife with herbalists and Tarot readers, "New Age"
then he smiled up at me. "I once knew Phoebe."
gear and shops advertising magic stones and "What is this?" I asked.
"Pyramid Power." And yet, I knew when I turned the corner, I'd find still another doctor for Phoebe.
"Another tonic for Phoebe," he said, his face again serious. "It's artemisia
– oil of
His sign was a three-by-five index card
wormwood. As a tincture, sometimes called
pasted onto a doorframe. I knew where to find it.
absinthe. In its true form it's not exactly legal
I knew I would find it.
these days, but it won't do her harm and, if you try it with her, it may help you to relax as well."
It said Dr. Mimas. I looked at it dubiously. "How much?" I I raced up the stairs to a dingy hallway
asked.
He
named
a
price
that
seemed
and, without looking, I knew to open the door to
surprisingly low to me and told me to come back
my left. Inside was an elderly, tired-looking man,
if Phoebe got worse. I paid him and left and,
his beard – somehow I knew it once had been
when I got home, Phoebe and I tried a spoonful
fire red – the color of old, much-trampled snow.
together.
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http://jamesdorrwriter.wordpress.com It seemed to perk her up a little, at least
the hillside. The sun had set, but in the
for a while. I turned on the TV and we watched
moonlight I saw, near the top, a jumble of stone
together as pictures of Tethys, then Dione
that cropped out through the underbrush. Some
appeared.
of it sparkled – gneiss, most likely – yet, in the
...both discovered by Cassini in 1684, nine years after his observation that Saturn's
pale light, it flashed, multi-colored, as if it were studded with precious jewels.
rings were divided in two. And now we have proof there's a second moon in Dione's orbit, a
That night, I dreamed of Phoebe's cabin too.
"Dione B," that circles the planet sixty degrees
***
ahead of its namesake. Cassini had already discovered the moons Iapetus and Rhea... "I had a dream while you were away," Phoebe said when the announcer had finished. "It was about the stone of Rhea. Once, when the universe was young, some fell to Earth. It fell on the hillside, in the forest behind where we live now..." "Yes?" I prompted when she became silent.
In spite of the absinthe, Phoebe's condition worsened nightly. I called more doctors, many whose theories lay in less than traditional medicines, yet, like the others, all were baffled. I sought out Dr. Mimas again and told him, were she to die, I wished to die too. But all he would tell me was "Share everything with your love, Enceladus. Share in her dreams that you may both be free." I thought, then, of the cabin we dreamed
"A moment," she said. She closed her eyes.
of. I quit my work and had plans drawn up. I hired men to build it.
"I dreamed of a cabin, built in the
During the days I supervised the cabin's
woods." Her voice was chantlike. "A steepled
construction to make sure all details were done
roof, with openings to let light in..."
right. I had the men work fast – within a day,
She fell silent again and I saw she was sleeping. Quietly, I put on my shoes and crept out of the house and into the forest. I climbed
18 Nazar Look
the first of the massive rock walls was standing and, by the week's end, the jeweled peak of its pyramid-shaped roof was set in its place. Although I was unused to physical labor, I did
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http://jamesdorrwriter.wordpress.com this last with my very own hands. I had not
Next on Voyager's journey, the TV said,
exaggerated when I told Dr. Mimas that, if it
we'll come to Titan, discovered in 1655 by the
must be that Phoebe would die, I wished to die
Dutch astronomer Huygens...
with her. And throughout all this frantic activity, Voyager continued its measured path out through the moons. Tethys, the Diones, all fell behind in the wake of the space probe. Phoebe – my Phoebe – slept most of the day now, waking only for the nightly reports on its progress. A sparkling jewel appeared on the TV – another ice moon, the announcer said. But this was Rhea. Phoebe started, visibly shaken. "Hush," I told her. "I've built your cabin, just as we dreamed it." I gave her her tonic, and took some with her, a half cup for each of us. "I've had it built in the woods, like we saw it within our minds. The tall, pointed arches, the peak of the roof, the cut stone of the floor. I've put in a couch for you so, if you wish to, you can lie out there..." She half rose to kiss me, to show her thanks, and I sat by her side as the pictures continued.
"Titan," she whispered, "the namesake of all of us. The first discovered." "Yes," I whispered back. "But this is Rhea. See. On the screen now. The cratered surface..." So the nights went on. Titan now filled Voyager's sky while Phoebe dozed fitfully in my arms. I half-dreamed with her, seeing not just the globe on the screen, but its surface as well – its methane fountains vaporizing in orange haze, filling the air, its sparkling liquid nitrogen pools, its view of Saturn, peeking through clouds, like the moon of our own Earth seen after a storm. And still she worsened. She didn't even wake when Hyperion filled the screen. Twofaced Iapetus, black rock on one side and ice on the other, passed silently too, with Phoebe only stirring slightly. Then Phoebe, the moon – my Phoebe's namesake – appeared, a glowing red point on the screen. My Phoebe half-opened one of her eyes. I gazed at her lips as she tried to part them. "See," I whispered
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– I shouldn't have
Nazar Look 19
http://jamesdorrwriter.wordpress.com said it, but seeing her paleness next to the
Rhea. A meteorite has struck their colony,
image drove the words from my lips.
breaking its dome. The air is rushing in..."
"See," I told her. "Even your moon has more color than you do." "No!" she screamed. "All I see is blood color."
"Out," I corrected. "Rhea is airless. They said on the TV..." "They lied, Enceladus. Don't you see? The miners are there now, not just in the future.
She sat bolt upright. I tried to calm her. Held her close to me. Shared her medicine – a half cup for each of us – just as before when she'd started at the passing of Rhea. "It's all right," I told her. I kissed her cheek, startled myself at its coldness. "No," she said again. "Look at the blood." I closed my eyes, trying to imagine, but saw only darkness.
But the air of Rhea is poison." "What can we do then?" I felt her push from me. Felt more than saw her fade into the distance. "I am bound with Rhea. We both are. Not just with Rhea, but all of the moons, and all who live on them. But I cannot help them – I'm too weak already. You must go to Titan..." I strained to listen as her voice faded, then came back again, like a radio signal in the far distance.
"Again, Enceladus. Let your mind reach
"...must journey to the surface of Titan
out. Turn where you're standing and look behind
without me, Enceladus. There is a Wizard who
you."
has a serum. A brilliant alchemist. Only with that can you save the miners. Only with that can you I did so. I felt her standing beside me. I
save my life with theirs..."
turned as she did and suddenly saw the sky fill with redness.
I no longer heard her. Instead I heard a ringing of chimes and a rushing of winds. I
"What is it?" I whispered. "Disaster," she said. "The miners of
20 Nazar Look
opened my eyes and saw I was hurtling through orange clouds, my ship's rockets blazing.
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http://jamesdorrwriter.wordpress.com Below me was rock. Rock, and nitrogen pools, and fountains. I knew, somehow, where the ship's controls were, and I steered to a landing. I disembarked. I felt the wind whistling around my spacesuit, wondering how I could hear through its plastic coated metal. I strode
his name now! – "the Wizard Iapetus, maker of humankind." "Then you seek your own brother," the figure said, turning slowly. I realized as he said the words that I was a giant too. "You come to save Phoebe, our mutual sister, but you are too late. The serum is used up."
through jagged, red colored mountains, across
"No!" I shouted. I stopped as Iapetus
yellow plains. I swam frozen, brilliant blue rivers
pushed back his hood. I gazed at a face as
– I don't know how, in my heavy clothing. Suffice
double-sided as the moon that bore his name,
that I did it.
one half the white of the purest snow and the
I saw the animals. Dinosaur-like, green scaled creatures that munched on crystal. I came to a cave. I threaded my way between two huge boulders and descended a twisting passage, my way lit by a red-orange glow. I came to a vast, level-floored hollow, domed over with purple and brown and gray rock. And I saw, his back to me, a giant clothed in robes as black as the empty space Saturn and its moons whirled through. I wondered what to say. Then words came to me and, even though my faceplate was closed, I heard my voice echo as if in challenge. "I am Enceladus, he who was born of his father's lost blood. I seek the Wizard" – I knew
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other dead black – the black of his clothing. "No," I said again, now in a whisper. "I come for the miners. The serum is for them. Through them I'll save Phoebe." Iapetus laughed. "Don't you see, my brother, that in my power is both death and life. I am the father of Prometheus, bringer of fire. The father of Atlas, who holds up the sky. The father of man, yes. But, just as I preside at birth, the death of all mankind is also mine to withhold or bestow." "I understand only that I need the serum." I lunged at Iapetus, striking with both fists. I forced him backward. Iapetus raised his own hands to defend himself. "Wait my brother. You don't understand
Nazar Look 21
http://jamesdorrwriter.wordpress.com yet. Don't you know that death is needed – for
strongest of all my brothers, are doomed to live
in death is new life?"
on..."
I found myself armed now with sword
***
and shield, while my adversary counterattacked with net and trident. The net of his words. I found myself tangled, then, with a shout, I shook them from me. "If I must destroy you, so be it, Iapetus. I will have the serum. Or, if I cannot and Phoebe
...I woke to the memory of clashing chimes. To a rushing of air. I woke at Phoebe's side, clutching her coldness within my arms. I, the youngest of the sons of Uranus and Gaea, formed when my father's life splashed onto the ground of my mother.
is doomed, then you must kill me too."
I knew what I must do.
I rushed at Iapetus, striking blindly, pushing him backward once again. Without his net he was helpless before me. I lunged. I twisted. I opened his chest, his shoulder, his belly. I laughed in my triumph.
Slowly, painfully, feeling my wound stiffen with each step, I carried her body out into the woods, to the cabin I'd had built. I laid her gently on the couch I had furnished it with when I'd still hoped she might use it in her recovery.
But still he struck back at me – one final blow.
I loosened her clothing, then kissed her softly.
"You don't understand yet. She's dead already." I felt the trident's points tear the inner part of my thigh. I felt myself falling. I heard my brother's voice, far away. "It is
The following morning I went to the city. I sought Dr. Mimas, but, when I arrived at the building where his office should be, I found it boarded up. It didn't matter. I knew, if I looked, I could find a new source of absinthe elsewhere. More
important,
I
searched
out
a
not for you to attack me, Enceladus. For that I
slaughterhouse that would sell me cows' blood
curse you: That you will recover. That you, the
and ask no questions. That became my new tonic. I found a medical supplier who sold me
22 Nazar Look
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http://jamesdorrwriter.wordpress.com catheters and needles, tube arms, pressure
Saturn.
bulbs and bottles. I bought a second recovery couch to set next to Phoebe's. I knew our blood types matched. We had been tested some years in the past. And I had
In the fourth year, I built a telescope with a mirror so we could watch the moons together during our lovemaking. Happy enough her condition was stable.
had a good education, including a smattering of medical knowledge. Enough to do what I knew I had to. That evening I began the first of
Oh, you wouldn't know me if you were to see me on the street now, even though we might once have been the best of friends. The nights, the transfusions, the love take their toll.
Phoebe's transfusions. Her pulse, when I felt it,
I've paled and I've lost weight. My skin
was still nonexistent, but now, at least, when I
peels
looked at her cheeks I saw traces of color.
slaughterhouse – I need more and more now –
When the transfusion was done, we made love,
I scarcely eat otherwise
my stroking as gentle as it had been the first
strength now than when I first started.
time we'd done so. Of course she didn't respond that night,
in
sunlight.
The
blood
from
the
– brings me less
My wound, after all this time, has not yet healed.
or the next, or the next. But still, every evening, I
But Phoebe, ah, Phoebe...
gave her my blood, mixed with a tablespoon of absinthe bled into the catheter, then, every
***
morning, renewed my own strength with the Phoebe, of late, has shown signs of
blood from the slaughterhouse. Blood and absinthe – Dr. Mimas' tonic. Semen. Life fluid.
improvement.
Just as my father had granted to me. At least
(First published in the July 1993 issue of Tomorrow)
her disease was now in remission. ` And every evening, winter or summer, I opened the louvers in the roof of our pyramid cabin to show her the stars. I took to reading ephemerides so I could point out the position of
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Nazar Look 23
ferdowsi
(940 - 1020)
24 Nazar Look
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(940 - 1020)
Mausoleum of poet Ferdowsi in Tus, Mashaad, Iran.
Photo: Nimavojdani
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(940 - 1020)
Mausoleum of poet Ferdowsi in Tus, Mashaad, Iran.
Photo: Nimavojdani
26 Nazar Look
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(940 - 1020)
Alas for Youth Much have I labored, much read o'er Of Arabic and Persian lore, Collecting tales unknown and known; Now two and sixty years are flown. Regret, and deeper woe of sin, 'Tis all that youth has ended in, And I with mournful thoughts rehearse Bu Tรกhir Khusrawรกni's verse: "I mind me of my youth and sigh, Alas for youth, for youth gone by!" (translated by R. A. Nicholson)
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tu fu
(712 - 770)
28 Nazar Look
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(712 - 770)
The Winding River Returning every day from court, I pawn spring clothes. The river sees my drunken mien; my boozing debts mount up all over town. Men do not often live three score and ten. The butterflies go deep into the flowers, the dragonflies on wing among the drops. The passing time is always rushing hours; no time to know you: separation stops. (Translated from Chinese by Simon M. Hunter)
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Nazar Look 29
yen nguyen
france
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france Yen Nguyen writes mostly short stories. Her work has been published at The Miskatonic Herald, Fiction 365, and The Stone Hobo. Yen Nguyen currently lives in France and regularly travels to Southern California in the summer.
Too True to Be Good Translated from French by Andy Pham The ringing of his cell phone resounded like a response to his black thoughts. He hesitated, then with a resigned sigh, fumbled in his pocket. As feared, the call was from Jaclyn, the editor-in-chief of the weekly news The Challenge. “Anthony,” she roared into the unit, “you're supposed to send me your... ” “You'll have it by this evening”, he hastened to answer. “I just need to make some corrections.” “Six pm at the latest. I won't tolerate any more delays.” Anthony understood what she meant. He could not blame her. In recent weeks, he felt more and more difficult to submit his weekly page. Yet this section, he had obtained it indefatigably three years ago. He remembered how everything was easy then. He laid short story after short story, without any incident, private or professional, that could dry up the flow of his writing. Jaclyn had nicknamed him her golden eggs' goose. He began to be known for his style, direct and abrupt, and his way to get to the heart of the subject and the psychology of hi]\s characters. His name, slowly but surely made its
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way into the narrow circle of established short story writers. Then suddenly, his brain was as if wrapped in fog even more compact than butter. His last piece was only a tasteless copy of one of his former stories. Mechanically, he thrust the phone into his pocket and headed uptown, insensitive to the hatching of spring around him. Pedestrians were numerous on this luminous day. Smiling and focused, middleaged tourists with I love New York t-shirts photographed The Empire State Building while listening to the tour guide describing the legendary skyscraper. A group of youths walked before Anthony, and their carefree and enthusiastic look reminded him of his lost zest. A few snatches of conversation reached him. "I don't like him", a high-pitched voice said. Then someone else added: "He has a face of a murderer." Is it possible to have a face of a murderer? He had rather heard more about a particular skull.
He
rummaged his hand in the mass of his tousled hair and palpated his head. What did his skull look like? An empty shell or a shell loaded with darkness. A black screen recently overshadowed his
memories
and
thoughts.
He
would
be
incapable of saying where he had been, what he
Nazar Look 31
france had done lately, besides being harassed by Jaclyn
No, it was not true. In his current state, he had no
who absolutely wanted his text within the
desire except to be left alone. He shrugged,
deadline. Uh! for example, on Sunday, March 8,
dismissed from his mind the bloodied image of a
his mother had attempted to contact him all day.
Jaclyn succumbing to his blows. Come on, he
Where was he? What was he doing? But did it
thought, I could write about a man who killed a
matter? Wouldn’t it be better trying to fill this page
woman because she deceived him. Commonplace
right here and now? He doubted he could make it.
but still appealing topic. Anthony closed his eyes
Some stress was necessary for his imagination to
and let his imagination work: the woman was
start. But he only felt a kind of lethargy, like the
blossomed and ripe and appetizing, all in flesh,
one that followed an intense activity or violent
flexible, undulated, insatiable and the man madly
feeling.
in love with her. But she saw other people behind his back. The man unmasked her one day. She
Street performers drew crowds in front of the
insulted him and called him a loser. He rushed at
library on Forty-Second Street. Without paying
her, grabbed her by the hair - she had it long,
real attention, Anthony continued to listen to the
smooth and shimmering - he pulled her towards
youths who marched in ranks in front of him. They
him, approached his face close to hers and
crossed the Bethesda Terrace in Central Park
whispered "I'll kill you" before making her fall and
where a fountain threw its water jets, which when
striking her skull with the baseball bat which, by
falling back, broke into bubbles and foam in the
chance, was there. Then, to be sure that his work
pond. A woman in a red dress was leaning on a
was well finished, he dragged her up the stairs
boy whose shirt dripped water. She shook him and
and gave her a kick. She rolled down the steps.
shouted, "I'll kill you."
Her body twitched like a dislocated doll before coming to rest on the landing. She was lying at the
"I'll kill you" repeated Anthony and the phrase
end of her fall on her back, her right leg folded
trotted in his head as he turned the corner of East
under the body. The blood had spurted from the
Drive and Seventy-Ninth Street and lost sight of
head; one of her low-fronted shoes had flown to
the group of youths. It is true that everyone
the middle of the living room...
experiences at some point in his life the desire to kill. It can overwhelm you for a multitude of
The image he had created in his mind was so
reasons. Look, this morning, he had also a fierce
vivid that Anthony had to open his eyes. He had
desire to rush to the newspaper office, throw
stopped without realizing in front of a kiosk where
himself on Jaclyn and beat her black and blue to
a newspaper front page headline displayed Police
death.
Actively Searching for Joanna’s Assassin followed by an article about a young woman murdered in
32 Nazar Look
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france her home. The culprit is still on the loose, the
her long ago. He felt light, as if the fact of pouring
journalist concluded, adding that several motives,
his aggressiveness on paper had erased the
including crime of passion, were considered by the
numbness of his brain. They smiled at each other.
police. Anthony laughed: "What was I saying? I
Her, thinking what a strange boy he was; him,
just need to add some details. For example, a blue
thinking to himself, she was perhaps his Muse.
shark tattoo on the woman’s right thigh, a souvenir of her love with a sailor. A gold necklace without
When the article appeared, the police captain
pendant, half torn during the collapse. A house in
Clarkson in his office in the sixth precinct frowned,
rather modern style. Yes, that should work.” He
thinking he held his killer in a very singular way.
opened his laptop. As the words appeared on the
Descriptions and details of the crime, unknown to
screen, his ideas clarified. He found the setting
the
evoked by the woman. He took particular care to
accuracy. Who, apart from the police, could be
describe the bedroom. Occupying half of the room,
aware of the blue shark, baseball bat, closet or
the bed was covered with a swelling quilt, dark red
shoe flown to the center of the living room? No
in the middle of which laid a large fringe of white
doubt remained when the fingerprints found on the
lace that went tapering to the foot of the bed. A
crime scene proved to be those of Anthony. The
thick carpet, soft where we wallowed well. On the
police retrieved clothes that belonged to him,
dresser, a statue of a nude couple in a scabrous
curled up in his basement, dirty, stained with the
position; on the walls, portraits of women with
victim’s blood.
press,
were
reported
with
astounding
lascivious curves, and in the closet … in the closet ... tramp! Oh but what a tramp! No wonder that her
For Anthony, everything became clear. Rejected
man was about to burst out in anger! Ultimately,
lover, he had acted in anger on this Sunday, March
she had it coming! His fingers taped away
8th, precisely when his mother had tried to reach
incessantly.
other
him. A veil had descended over his brain, creating
smoothly and effortlessly. He seemed to live
this transient partial amnesia that would later allow
himself the time of the crime.
his lawyer to argue temporary insanity. “Is my skull
Sentences
followed
each
the one of an assassin?” he wondered, and this Jaclyn’s eyelashes fluttered when Anthony jumped
concern enabled him to turn away from his
to her office and gave her his work. Jaclyn’s
overwhelming memory.
eyelashes always fluttered when she was happy. They fluttered even harder when she went through
***
the entire text. “Hey, I didn't know you were so well versed in the dark side," she said as an excuse for her bad mood this morning. Anthony had forgiven
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Nazar Look 33
hal o’leary
west virginia, usa
34 Nazar Look
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west virginia, usa
From Whence We have a universe… from whence and where? Must we conclude beginning without end, Defying reason, turning to a prayer? We’re left a puzzle we cannot transcend. Must we conclude beginning without end? It’s not a thought that we can tolerate. We’re left a puzzle we cannot transcend. But yet the need to know will not abate. It’s not a thought that we can tolerate. The tendency is, just to let it lie. But yet the need to know will not abate. Our better nature will insist we try. The tendency is just to let it lie. The quest for answer will not go away. Our better nature will insist we try. That’s what we’re left with much to our dismay. The quest for answer will not go away, Defying reason, turning to a prayer. That’s what we’re left with, much to our dismay, We have a universe. From whence and where?
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Nazar Look 35
west virginia, usa
There’s Something Else With both an open mouth and open mind, There being naught of which I could conceive, I came into this crazy place to find, The answer to life’s riddle is BELIEVE There being naught of which I could conceive, The only choice was just accepting this. The answer to life’s riddle is BELIEVE Could there not be a choice we should not miss? The only choice was just accepting this? Dismiss the word BELIEVE. It is untrue. Could there not be a choice we should not miss? There is a choice, there’s reason. Think anew. Dismiss the word BELIEVE. It is untrue, A fault an honest man cannot ignore. There is a choice, there’s reason. Think anew. Belief’s a superstition .to abhor, A fault an honest man cannot ignore. I came into this crazy place to find Belief’s a superstition to abhor, With both an open mouth and open mind.
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west virginia, usa
The Struggle Let’s halt man’s inhumanity to man. Our history will make it understood, Though we’ve had evils since it all began, They stand in sharpest contrast to the good. Our history will make it understood, While evil deeds can never be denied, They stand in sharpest contrast to the good. The evidence that’s there, we cannot hide. While evil deeds can never be denied, We’ve empathy asleep within the heart. The evidence that’s there we cannot hide. While evil boldly amplifies it’s part. We’ve empathy asleep within the heart, The empathy lies struggling with the greed While evil boldly amplifies it’s part. A victory to them, we can’t concede. The empathy lies struggling with the greed. Though we’ve had evils since it all began. A victory to them, we can’t concede. Let’s halt man’s inhumanity to man.
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Nazar Look 37
Travels in Circassia, Krim Tartary, &c. (XIII)
of the river: here the latter erected the fortified castle of Golubacs, perched on the summit of a stupendous rock; now only remarkable as a picturesque ruin, and for the singularity of its architecture, with its nine towers, some square, others round and triangular. the
Near this place we found a range of
Hungarian mountains in the upper Banate,
caverns, famous for producing the poisonous
approached nearly in conjunction with those
fly, too well known in Servia and Hungary
of Servia on the opposite bank, and gradually
under the name of the Golubacser fly. These
contracting the bed of the river, from about
singular and venomous insects, somewhat
two English miles in breadth to little more
resembling musquitoes, generally make their
than a hundred paces, converted the majestic
appearance, during the first great heat of
stream into a tempestuous torrent. The
summer, in such numbers as to seem like vast
impetuosity of the river continued to increase
volumes of smoke; their attacks are always
in violence till we came to the famous rock
directed
called Babakaly, rising out of the centre of the
quadruped, and so potent is the poison they
river. Here the roaring of the waters as they
communicate, that even an ox is unable to
lashed its flinty sides, the ' romantic ruins
withstand its influence, for he always expires
perched on the summits of the rocks, the
in less than two hours. This results, not so
multitude of eagles hovering around, and the
much from the virulence of the poison, as that
wild character of the country, combined to
every
form a scene of singular beauty and grandeur
covered with these most destructive insects;
far superior to any, even the most sublime, of
when the wretched animals, frenzied with
the upper Danube.
pain, rush wild through the fields till death
A
short
distance
below
Palanka,
against
vulnerable
every
part
description
is
of
simultaneously
During the wars between the Austrians
puts a period to their sufferings, or they
and Turks, this was the most formidable pass
accelerate dissolution by plunging headlong into the rivers.
38 Nazar Look
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The shepherds of these countries,
their flight as far as his estates in the
taught by experience the time of their
neighbourhood of Presburg, when their attacks
approach, anoint every part of their flocks and
were fatal to numbers of his cattle. The
herds, unprotected by nature, with a strong
peasants
decoction of wormwood; to which, it appears,
phenomenon, have resorted to a miracle for
these flies have a great antipathy. In addition
explanation; and tell us that in these caverns
to this, the shepherds keep immense fires
the renowned champion, St. George, killed the
constantly blazing; around which the poor
dragon, whose decomposed remains have
animals, aware of their danger, tremblingly
continued to generate these insects down to
and patiently congregate. Kind nature has,
the present day. The probable supposition
however,
their
however is, that when the Danube rises, which
existence shall be most ephemeral; for the
it always does in the early part of summer, the
slightest variation in the weather is sufficient
caverns are flooded, and the water remaining
to destroy the whole swarm; hence they
in them becomes putrid, and produces, during
seldom live beyond a few days. Indeed their
the heat of summer, this most noxious fly. The
very production seems to depend upon the
inhabitants of the country, many years since,
state of the weather: for in those summers
closed up the mouths of* the caverns with
when the thermometer continues low, they
stone walls, for the purpose of preventing their
never make their appearance, except in
egress; but the expedient availed nothing, and
diminished numbers; whereas, when great
the rushing of the waters against the sides of
heat and drought prevail during the whole of
the rocks, in process of time, destroyed the
that season, they have been known to swarm
useless defence: so that it must be evident,
two, or even three times, although even then
either that the insects are not generated here,
their existence is always extremely brief.
or
mercifully
ordained
that
Their ravages are principally confined to the surrounding countries of Servia and the Hungarian
Banate:
but
Count
that
for
the
this,
caverns
as
for
have
every
other
subterraneous
communications with some other outlets at present unknown.
Esterhazy
informed me, that on some occasions they (or
(to be continued)
at least a similar species of fly) have extended
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Nazar Look 39