Istanbul Boy: The Autobiography of Aziz Nesin, Part I

Istanbul Boy: The Autobiography of Aziz Nesin, Part I

Istanbul Boy
Böyle Gelmiş Böyle Gitmez
(That's how it was but not how it's going to be)

The autobiography of Aziz Nesin, Part I

Translated by Joseph S. Jacobson

 

Middle East Monographs, No. 3

Center for Middle Eastern Studies

The University of Texas at Austin

 

Copyright 1977, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, University of Texas at Austin.
Electronically published in 1994 with permission of the author.
This text remains the intellectual property of the Nesin Foundation, all rights reserved.

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If the text on this page appears with unrecognizable characters, reset the text encoding to Unicode (UTF-8). Select "View" from the top menu bar, then "Text" or "Encoding" and choose UTF-8. Mac users will need to use Netscape or Safari (OS X and higher) because IE for Mac does not properly display Unicode. Translator's Note Foreward Table of Contents Translator's Note The Turkish original of this book was first published in 1966 and then reprinted in 1969. The third printing, with some revisions and additions, the source for this translation, was published by the Bilgi Yayınevi in September 1972. Negating the fatalistic Turkish proverb, Böyle Gelmiş Böyle Gider (That's how it was and will always be), Nesin coined his title Böyle Gelmiş Böyle Gitmez (That's how it was but not how it's going to be). This is a challenge for change and the title for this autobiographical series which he plans to write in eight volumes. Istanbul Boy, comprising Part I of Volume I, treats his early boyhood, while Part II covers his life in the new public schools. Volume II, which appeared in 1976, tells of his life in a military high school. I wish Aziz Nesin a long life, and, being two years his senior, optimistically live in hopes of reading Volumes III through VIII one day. I want to express my sincere gratitude to the author and the Nesin Foundation for granting permission to translate and publish this book. Aziz Nesin, a dedicated philanthropist, lives modestly today and by giving all of his copyrights to the Nesin Foundation, grants the considerable royalties from his prolific pen to the welfare and education of a number of poor children. The following notice is found in all of his publications since the Foundation's establishment in 1972: The copyright of this book Belongs to the Nesin Foundation Aziz Nesin has donated, gratis, to the Nesin Foundation his copyrights in their entirety for all his works in Turkey or other countries, including: all of his published books, all plays to be staged, all copyrights for films, and all his works performed or used in radio or television. The purpose of the Nesin Foundation is to take, each year, four poor and destitute children into the Foundation's home and provide every necessity - shelter, education and training, starting from elementary school - until they complete high school, a trade schools, or until they acquire a vocation. In accordance with the Nesin Foundaton's Charter, within its restrictions, and in consonance with the Foundation's aims, every applicant will find every kind of help, free and gratis. I have tried my best to recreate in English the content and flavor of the original. Any success achieved in this respect would have would have been impossible without the loving but critical assistance of my wife, Viola, who spent dozens of hours typing the manuscripts and reviewing the test. Zulal Malm, an old friend and talented native of Istanbul, deserves my sincere thanks for verification of the translation and advice on the elusive Turkish idiom. Last, but not least, a note of appreciation is due my charming daughter, Susan, for the illustrations. Joseph S. Jackson Associate Professor of Languages University of Utah Middle East Center Foreword If you live in Turkey, whether you are a while collar worker, a students, or a highly sophisticated intellectual of Turkey, many a day and many a time you will exclaim with mirth that the situation you observe is "just out of Aziz Nesin." Indeed, Aziz Nesin has today almost reached the point of being a folk "hero" with his satire. He represents an unprecedented victory of the written word in exposing intolerance, absurdity, cruelty and stupidity in our rapidly changing society. Nesin's satire, pouring out in an endless number of short stories, novels, plays, and television serials, deals with so many different types of people and is drawn from such a wide range of life contexts that it is in a class of its own - unique and yet universal. Very few writers have been able to grasp the people - their language, behavior, attitudes, world views, feelings, and thoughts - so thoroughly and with such pointed accuracy. The political system, the ways of earning a living, sex roles, rural-urban migration, and technology: every conceivable aspect of Turkish society has changed radically during the last half-century. This is the material Aziz Nesin has had to come to grips with in his stories for the last thirty-three years. The incongruities produced by such changes, frictions and incompatibilities come up in most unexpected ways, and each reader finds his own life and time in these stories. Aziz Nesin's real genius, however, is in his ability to perceive and discriminate the satirical element, in his incredible capacity to observe the ridiculous and ludicrous in all situations and to describe it without exaggeration. In fact, he himself maintains that no one can really make up such stories. His satire is a direct assault on the cynical censor, the bland but dictatorial bureaucrat, the ruthless social climber. He is merciless toward absurdities, contradictions, and pedantic complacencies in all types of human relations. He ridicules not only the oppressor, the rich, the ruler, but the ordinary people as well. He exposes with great witticism their lack of courage, their double-dealing ways, their imposture and hypocrisy, with the mature self-criticism typical of folk-satire which is so very rich in Turkey. This makes his teasing constructive and optimistic. Among his forty-six books of short stories, eight novels, eight plays, and two books of tales, there is no "best" - all his books display the same brilliance. His books have sold more than one and a half million copies in Turkey (an unheard-of number) and a million more in other countries. His work has been translated into twenty foreign languages and his plays have been produced in seven different countries. This popularity partly stems from the sincerity of his art - the authenticity of the material and the underlying concern for people. With his literary earnings, Aziz Nesin established a foundation to provide for the care and education a foundation to provide for the care and education of destitute children in Turkey. This foundation is the first of its kind instituted by literary income in this country. Nesin's marvelous career in satire began with the publication of a seminal weekly satirical paper in 1946: Marko Paşa. Today everyone acknowledges that its publication marks the beginning of a new era for satire and represents a classic, heroic fight against political oppression. The year 1946 marked the end of six long years of economic deprivation and social disorganization, long periods of martial law and consequent political oppression. Turkey, under national and international pressure, had accepted the multiparty system, and many laws were passed which were respectful of human rights. But under the rule of a traditionally very touchy government, how many such legal changes would become a reality remained to be seen. At that tim, Aziz Nesin, along with Sabahattin Ali, a well-known short story writer, began publishing Marko Paşa. Their aim was simply to satirize life and particularly to expose political oppression through satire. From the beginning the paper was very successful, selling sometimes as many copies as a daily newspaper. As expected, the political circles immediately reacted, and the publication of the weekly was mentioned in the Parliament as the single piece of evidence proving the need for martial law in the country. Thus, after the third issue of Marko Paşa was released, Aziz Nesin and Sabahattin Ali were arrested; they were, however, released after twenty days without a trial. Publication continued. The major writer (Nesin) and the owner (Ali) developed strategies to avoid the arbitrary application of penal law, but in spite of all the planning, both men have been arrested and jailed more than once for their writings in Marko Paşa. They persisted with its publication in the face of this opposition, making modifications in the name, such as Free Marko Paşa, New Marko Paşa, or Well-Known Paşa, or merely giving it the name of its declared owner and responsible director. Aziz Nesin's fight to keep Marko Paşa alive is indeed an example, on an international scale, of the classical struggle for human rights against political oppression. During the period of its publication, no institutionalized rebellion was possible, but satire, particularly of the high quality achieved by Marko Paşa, could and did exert the necessary pressure to change the responsible institutions and networks. Marko Paşa closed down permanently in 1951. The meteoric career of Aziz Nesin continues. He has written in many different genres, with all the same artistry and boundless energy. The story of his childhood which follows in this volume, though not one of his typical works, is a story of Turkey - a story "just out of Aziz Nesin." We recognize the legacy with pride. Mübuccel B. Kiray Istanbul, Turkey January 1977 Table of Contents Section One: Peris and Demons ... The Koran, Sewing Machine and Potty ... Don't You Understand? ... Baby Mice in Olive Oil ... The First Holiday Suit ... The First Female Hand ... The First and Last Mother's Slap ... The Child Promised unto God ... The Wishing Well ... Wild Plum and Pine Needle Remedies ... First Death ... The First Unrequited Love ... Flowers ... I Came to the World to Laugh; I Cry and Don't Know Why ... Fergap Fesini Kap (Fergap, Grab His Fez) ... The Cloth Bag Section Two: Nougat ... Angels ... Day Dreams ... Many Thanks, Lord ... Gymnastics Lessons ... My First Teaching Job ... The Government School ... Mothers Take Beatings ... Close Ties with Blacks ... A Great Discovery ...Annach Village in Vona ... Hanife, the Adopted Child Section Three: Abdulaziz Efendi from Golve ... The Fruit Called Olives ... The Egyptians' Yali ... A Young Man from Golve, from Annach a Maiden ... A Boy Named Mehmet Nusret ... Hair Will Be Cut Number Zero ... Under an English Truck ... A Magician in the Boat ... Who Defeated the Enemy in the War of Liberation ... The Loyalist Forces ... The First Recognition of Injustice ... The Beauty from Shishli, Mediha Section Four: The Women's Bath ... From Where Did We Come? ... A Father's Slap ... Blocking the Fez ... We Licked Much Ink ... A Psychologist in Kasimpasha ... The Bicycle-Man's Happy Home ... The Wagon Clanks and Rattles ... They Found You in the Streets ... Now We're in Heaven ... Baklava (Sweet Pastry) ... Measles ... Tinner's Clay ... While Shaking the Tablecloth Section Five: The Penny Striptease ... Ya Hassan! Ya Hussein! ... The Ghazi Pasha's Army Comes ... Crispy Fresh Simits ... Mansion Opposite, Invalid Below ... The Mansion Children ... Fighting Instruction ... My First Fight Begins ... We'll Climb the Hill under the Whip Section Six: The Last Days of the Lodges ... Galip the Laborer ... Let the Boy's Hifz Not Be Lost ... Mother Half-Pen' ... Wooden Spoon ... Something Shameful ... Basically, He Was Dirty Inside ... Diploma ... The First Separation from Istanbul ... No Father, No Mother, No Brother, No Sister ... Blood Dripped from Feridun Efendi's Pen ... Tango Tango Section Seven: The Women's Hospital ... Bastard ... Arab ... Lunch at the Hospital ... Evidence of Guilt: Olive Pits ... Be a Doctor when You Grow Up ... Freckled Girl ... A Free Ride ... The Five Lira Gold-Piece ... My Beautiful Geese ... "Badi-i Terkim-i Deyn Senedim Oldur Ki" ... A Man Must Know How to Manage Section Eight: I'll Marry This Girl ... A Sack Full of Slippers ... The Money Gone Forever ... I'll Show You ... My Father's Last Muster ... Zat-i Devletleri Ibish Hazretleri (A Man of State His Excellency Ibish) ... Mother Also Makes Loans ... Pork ... The Coffeeman's Apprentice ... The Sorcerer's Shop ... Bird Figs by the Bath Dome ... The First Love Letter ... The Velvet Purse Section Nine: The First "Shaft" ... Aunt Rosy ... My Aunt Zeynep's Ordeal ... Acquaintance with Sharlo ... Treasure Hunting ... No. 3 Cankutaran in Suleymaniye ... The Letter for Emine ... The Sweetseller's Sweet Wife ... Did You See the Moslem Boy ... Sultan Suleyman the Lawgiver Elementary School Section Ten: A Mother in Kurucheshme ... A Black Pervert ... The Artesian Well ... Concerning My Memoirs ... An Observation ... Why I Wrote ... Thus It Was, Thus It Won't Be ... Remarks