It was time for us to leave. When Badretdin finished playing, we asked permission to pray from the owners. The father rubbed his patched knees, and Badretdin reached for his grandpa and said:
«Grandpa, the shakirds are asking for our blessing.»
The grandpa nodded his head and we raised our hands for a prayer.
The ash grey mare harnessed and we left the «yard» covered with field grass without fence or gate along the even street. Badretdin and his father saw us off, and were standing by the poles. No, not only this: the poorest house at the very back of the village, with its deep secret unhappiness, tragedy, or as we understood it with helpless grand hope and happiness stayed with them.
The sun was setting. And the larks, as if they didn`t get enough of the daytime, went even higher and were singing and singing even more piercing, more rageful songs. The world is big, big, eleleleleuu! The ground and the sky are calm, light, melodious I feel very sad!.. I couldn`t do anything with myself: the mother, sitting behind the samovar and looking at her son comes to my mind, and I start to sob inside I wish I could shout to somebody, shaking my fist: she is not ugly, she is very beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, Badretdin`s mother!
1964
Anthony J. Elia, the J.S. Bridwell Foundation Endowed Librarian and Director of Bridwell Library, has been on the faculty of Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University since 2018. His areas of research include theology and cybersecurity, the history of epic and contemporary literatures, and Islamic-Christian encounters in Central Asia, especially related to Turkic-speaking cultures and societies. He is also a composer of classical and contemporary music with broad representative themes, including his 2013 ballet for full orchestra Damascus at Night, which depicts the tragedies of the Syrian conflict, and the 2019 Mongolian language chamber piece Praise of Mahakala for tenor ensemble. He currently researches the role and influence of 20th century Tatar literature
Tatar literature in translation: a preface
The great tragedy of Tatar literature is that it is not more widely translated, distributed, or known. Its grand history, depth, and breadth demonstrate a superb richness that comes from any great culture, yet by the numbers Tatar literature is sorely underrepresented on the global literary stage. With a worldwide population including those in the Tatar diaspora exceeding six million, one would assume that the extraordinary treasures of its cultures would be more widely represented and known.
Perhaps this shall now change, even if slowly. Upon taking up an interest in this discipline, specifically in Tatar literature and its role in local, national, regional, and global history, I have been profoundly taken by the extent of the cultural treasure that has remained untapped by both the European and American academies. It is actually quite astonishing that with such a deep well of magnificent literary texts that the publishing communities in the United States and elsewhere have not picked up on these materials for translation. That said, whatever the many reasons are for this shortcoming in translational history, there are now more scholars working to change this direction. Indeed, my own entrance into the world of Tatar literature came through both study of Turkic sister languages and Russian. If we were to look at the historical studies and translations of Tatar literature itself, a sizeable number of these works themselves are in Russian. In fact, one could look at a whole list today and find most volumes will have titles such as Tatarskaia literature i vostochnaia klassika: voprosy vzaimosviazei i poetiki (1991), Portrety i problemy: izbrannye stati raznykh let (1985), and Zolotaia epokha tatarskogo renessansa: monografiia (2004). We cannot deny the important undertakings of those scholars, who have labored with great dedication over the decades, and who brought their work into the wider Russian-speaking world and audiences. Yet, perhaps there is some irony in the work of one writer in particular: Amirkhan Eniki (19092001).
Примечания
1
shakirds (шәкерт) [ʃæˈkert] a student at a madrasah-level Muslim school who studies the basics of Islam, Arabic script, religious scholastic disciplines, and calligraphy. The curriculum may include foreign languages, arithmetic, geography, history, etc.
2
madrasah (мәдрәсә) [məˈdrasə] a college for Islamic instruction.
3
verst (верста) [versˈta] a Russian measure of length, equal to 1.06 km.
4
Илдә чыпчык үлми Ildә chypchyk үlmi
5
Ayat al-Kursi is the 255th verse of Surat al-Baqara, the 2nd sura in the Quran. This verse is about the Prophet Muhammad. Because it is the master of the verses in the sense of the largest verse is called Ayat al-Kursi. It was said that reading it in the evening when going to bed and in the morning would have many benefits. Meaning: «Allah! There is no God but He The Living, The Self-subsisting, Eternal. No slumber can seize Him Nor Sleep. His are all things In the heavens and on earth. Who is there can intercede In His presence except As he permitteth? He knoweth What (appeareth to His creatures As) Before or After or Behind them. Nor shall they compass Aught of His knowledge Except as He willeth. His throne doth extend Over the heavens And on earth, and He feeleth No fatigue in guarding And preserving them, For He is the Most High. The Supreme (in glory).»
6
The October Revolution, officially known in Soviet historiography as the Great October Socialist Revolution, and commonly referred to as the October Uprising, the October Coup, the Bolshevik Revolution, the Bolshevik Coup or the Red October, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was instrumental in the larger Russian Revolution of 191723. It took place through an armed insurrection in Petrograd on 7 November (25 October, old style) 1917.
7
Sagit Ramiev (Сәгыйть Рәмиев) Säğit Rämiev, (12 February 1880 16 March 1926), a Tatar poet, educated in the Tatar Husainia Madrasah and in a Russian school in Orenburg. From 1902 to 1906 he worked as a teacher, and then he moved to Kazan, where he began to work in the newspaper «Tan Yoldyzy». Since 1922 he lived in Ufa.Ramiev was also involved in translations he translated into the Tatar language a number of works by L. N. Tolstoy, N. A. Nekrasov, D. Bedniy, as well as the lyrics of Marseillaise.
8
Gabdulla Tukay (Габдулла Тукай) Ğabdulla Tuqay (26 April 1886 15 April 1913), a great national Tatar poet and is referred as the founder of the National Poetry and its classical style. He became considered as the national poet in his lifetime yet.
9
yummy
10
kumgan (кумган) [kumˈğan] is a narrow-necked jug, a water jug with a spout, a handle and a lid, used mainly for washing and washing hands, based on the tradition of sending natural needs in the Islamic East. Kumgans were made of clay or metal (brass, silver).
11
sake (сәке) [sæˈke] bunks, plank-bed, a typical furnishing of a Tatar village house. A bunk of thick planks, half meter up the floor, was used as a bed at night and as a table in the daytime
12
In the folklore heritage of the Turkic peoples there is an image of an eternally living old sage Khizir Ilyas. In numerous legends, fairy tales, rites of the Turkic-speaking peoples, Khizir Ilyas appears as an eternal traveler, an old wanderer, gifting and punishing. There is a legend that every person sees Khizir Ilyas three times in his life, but does not recognize him. He is either disguised as a beggar or disguised as a wanderer. If you recognize him and ask for happiness, he will make you happy for life, but rarely does anyone succeed. In the traditions of the Tatar people the archetypal image of the Old Sage is realized through the concept of father.