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incere
regret I felt at that moment because I hadn’t read the Koran for so long; or the
horror of the crime I’d seen at the coffeehouse that night; but when my turn
came to speak; I grew confused; my heart quickened as if I’d e under the
threat of some danger; and as nothing else came to mind; I simply said the
following:
“You remember those verses at the end of ”The Cow‘ chapter? I’d want
most of all to depict them: “Oh God; judge us not by what we’ve forgotten
and by our mistakes。 Oh God; burden us not with a weight we cannot bear; as
with those who have gone before us。 Forgive and absolve us of our
transgressions and sins! Treat us with mercy; my dear God。”“ My voice broke
and I was embarrassed by the tears I shed unexpectedly—perhaps because I
was wary of the sarcasm that we always kept at the ready during our
apprenticeships to protect ourselves and to avoid exposing our sensitivities。
I thought my tears would quickly abate; but unable to restrain myself; I
began to cry in great sobs。 As I wept; I could sense that each of the others was
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overe by feelings of fraternity; devastation and sorrow。 From now on; the
European style would be preeminent in Our Sultan’s workshop; the styles and
books to which we’d devoted our entire lives would slowly be forgotten—yes;
in fact; the whole venture would e to an end; and if the Erzurumis didn’t
throttle us and finish us off; the Sultan’s torturers would leave us
maimed…But as I cried; sobbed and sighed—even though I continued to
listen to the sad pa
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