The Feast of the Dead PDF

# Feast of the Dead ## January - The weather is colder - People only go outside for work - The usual places where children play are empty - People go to the fountains to get water - Dursun Agha is dead ## Dursun Agha - Water carrier - Lived with his wife and two children - Owned two water cans a...

# Feast of the Dead ## January - The weather is colder - People only go outside for work - The usual places where children play are empty - People go to the fountains to get water - Dursun Agha is dead ## Dursun Agha - Water carrier - Lived with his wife and two children - Owned two water cans and a pole - Hoisted the cans on his shoulder - Called out "water. Anybody need water?" - One trip = two cans of water - Charged three kurush per trip - The work was very difficult - His wife Gulnaz washed clothes to help them earn money ## Dursun Agha's Death - Slipped on the ice and hit his head on the stone bowl - Wife Gulnaz was distraught ## Traditon - The neighbours bring food to the house after a death - Raif Effendi, a wealthy businessman, sent a meal the day after Dursun Agha died - The food was delicious and a welcome change for Gulnaz and her children - Other neighbours continued to send food for a few days ## After the Food Stoppped - People stopped bringing food after a few days - Gulnaz and her children had to cook again - They ran out of butter, flour, potatoes, and grain - They ate what they could find in the house - onions, garlic, beans - They finally ran out of food - The children were hungry ## The Younger Son - The younger son started crying with hunger - The people of the street were reluctant to call Gulnaz to wash clothes - He had visions of soft and fluffy bread and sweets - He thought it was his fault that they had run out of food ## Gulnaz - Heard her children murmur with hunger - She saw Tahsin Effendi, the barber, walk down the street - She saw the breadman, who comes to the white house daily, with his horse and baskets of bread - She wanted to ask for bread on credit, but she was afraid to approach him - She felt helpless, feeling a deep sense of despair ## The Older Son - The older son was also hungry - He asked to go to the grocer and ask for rice, flour and potatoes, promising to pay later - He tried to trick the grocer by pretending he forgot his money, but the grocer saw through his trick - The boy felt embarrassed and returned home ## The Boy's Illness - He sat by the corner watching the smoke coming out of the white house - He realized how lucky the people in the white house were - His teeth were chattering - He went inside and told his mother he was cold - He got a fever ## Gulnaz - Gulnaz tried to cool her son's fever - She thought about trying to sell the covers to buy food, but she knew the stores were closed - She sat by her son's bedside, watching him, as he cried ## The Younger Son - The younger son asked his mother if his brother was going to die - He said that if his brother died, food from the white house would come,