Atatürk, Kemal, 1881-1938; Turkey -- Description and travel; Turkey -- Politics and government -- 1918-1960
There is no thought here of payment for service. Money is firmly
refused; and from those who have, and seek, absolutely nothing for
themselves, such a welcome could not fail to touch the most callous of
human beings. How is it that all Europe declares no one can “manage”
these simple folk? My own receipt for life with the Moslem—of mere
courteous consideration and unquestioning trust—has been repaid with
compound interest a thousand times!
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CHAPTER X
A JOURNEY ON FOOT—A COUNTRY MADE BY GOD, UNTOUCHED BY MAN
IT is not given to many in this enlightened twentieth century to travel
in a country as God made it, almost untouched by man. Upon the road from
Gunhani I saw no signs of man’s handiwork, save a few miles of
Deacoville, a tunnel, and the primitive carts of Anatolia. These are
made from a few logs nailed together, and fastened to two wheels, cut
solidly out of a block of wood. Their continuous squeak does not seem
out of keeping with the primitive surroundings, and may be regarded as
an “accompaniment” to the peasant’s songs.
The story is told of a “benevolent” American whose imagination was fired
by the project of turning this land into a “new America.” He would
subject the fertile soil to “intensive” cultivation and smother it with
sky-scrapers. So he persuaded a Turk to come over to “God’s own country”
(as man has made it) and study the United States.
His guest, however, refused to admire, took passage for home at the
earliest possible opportunity, and informed his friends that, “having
now seen man’s ‘best’ country, he would never again leave God’s.”
Nevertheless, in the Western mind these wide stretches of waste land
among the beautiful mountains, beneath a cloudless sky, cannot fail to
rouse a longing to break the silence by a “little emptying of our
crowded towns.” The women and old men _are_ digging, sowing, and
cultivating, with but slight return for their heavy labour; now that the
young are all “wanted” for defence.
“One day we _shall_ have peace,” said I to our carriers, and they
murmured “_Inch Allah!_” Turning my wish to prayer, I could only repeat,
“We _shall_ have peace.”
As often as I can persuade them to rest, I seize the chance of telling
them about England. When I mention our great Moslem King George they
naturally confuse him with Lloyd George. And, later, “if your King loves
his Moslem subjects, as you say he does, why does he permit his Minister
to remain?” I assure them that he will not, and their faces brighten as
they cry: “There will be peace, then.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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