Read Online Earth and Ashes by Atiq Rahimi - Free Book Online Page A

out.
    “Brother …”
    “What do you want now, old man?”
    He can speak, thank goodness. He’s alive. But he’s still motionless, his eyes closed under his cap … Your tongue moves, preparing to say something. Don’t interrupt him!
    “… You’re killing me. I told you a hundred times. When a car comes past, I’ll throw myself in its path, I’ll beg them to take you to the mine. What else do you want? Till now have you seen any cars? No? You want someone else’s word?”
    “I wouldn’t dream of it, my good brother. I know there’s been no car. But you never know … What if you were to forget us …”
    “How on earth do you expect me to forget, old man? If you want I can recite your life story. You told it to me enough times. Your son works at the mine, you are here with his son to see him.”
    “My God, you remember everything … It’s me who’s losing my memory. I thought I hadn’t told you. Sometimes I think others forget the way I do. I’m sorry I’ve bothered you …”
    The truth is, your heart is burdened. It’s been a long time since a friend or even a stranger listened to you. Along time since a friend or stranger warmed your heart with their words. You want to talk and to listen. Go on, speak to him! But you’re unlikely to get a response. The guard won’t listen to you. He is deep in his own thoughts. Preoccupied with himself. Let him be.
    You stand silently in front of the hut, gazing away from it at the pitch and roll of the valley. The valley is dried out, covered in thorn bushes—silent. And at the end of the valley is Murad, your son.
    You turn away from the valley and stare back inside the hut. You want to tell the guard that you’re only waiting here like this for a vehicle to pass because of your grandson Yassin. If you were alone, you’d have set out on foot a long time ago. For you, walking four or five hours is nothing. Each and every day you’re on your feet working for ten hours, or longer, working your land. You’re a courageous man … So what? Why tell the guard all this? What’s it to him? Nothing. Then let him be. Sleep in peace, brother … We’re off. We won’t bother you again.
    But you don’t go. You stand there quietly.

    The click of colliding stones at your feet draws your attention to Yassin. He is squatting down, crushing a piece of apple between two stones.
    “What are you doing? For God’s sake! Eat your apple!”
    You grab Yassin by the shoulders and pull him to his feet. The child shouts:
    “Don’t! Let me go … Why don’t these stones make any noise?”
    The smell of smoke escaping from the hut mingles with the roar of the guard’s voice:
    “You’re killing me! Can’t you keep your grandson quiet for one minute?”
    You don’t have the chance to apologize, or rather, you can’t face it. You take hold of Yassin’s hand and drag him to the bridge. You drop back down to the ground against the iron railings, put the bundle by your side, and, wrapping your arms around the little boy, scold him:
    “Will you behave!”
    To whom are you speaking? To Yassin? He can’t even hear the sound of stones, let alone your feeble voice.Yassin’s world is now another world, one of silence. He wasn’t deaf. He became deaf. He doesn’t realize this. He’s surprised that nothing makes a sound anymore. Until a few days ago it wasn’t this way.
    Just imagine. You’re a child, Yassin, who heard perfectly well just a short time ago, a child who didn’t even know what deafness was. And then, one day, suddenly you can’t hear a sound. Why? It would be idiotic to try and tell you it was deafness. You don’t hear, you don’t understand. You don’t think it’s you who can’t hear; you think others have become mute. People have lost their voices; stones have lost their sound. The world is silent … So then, why are people moving their mouths?
    Yassin hides his small, question-filled face under your clothes.
    Your gaze is drawn over the side of the