Selected Poetry / Избранное (англ.)

I will also never forget how I chased clumps of goose down with the other boys on the green meadow between the two quarters, and how, exhausted, I relaxed on the grass, facing the Khan Mosque[8 - The Suyumbike Tower in the Kazan Kremlin.].

After about two years of living with my adopted parents, they both suddenly fell ill. Concerned that they might not survive and thinking: В«What will happen to the poor child if we should die? We should at least have someone take him back to his native villageВ», they sought out the driver who brought me to Kazan and asked him to take me to Uchile.

It is not hard to imagine the greeting I received from the family which believed that they had gotten rid of me for good.

Sometime later, losing hope that they might find someone in the city, my grandparents began to consider how they could give me away to someone in another village.

They told everyone who would come from other villages about the orphan whom they must give away to be cared after.

As the result of all their inquiries, a man named Sagdi, who didn’t have a son, came from the village of Kyrlai, only seven miles away from us, and took me along with him.

From this point in my narrative I will relate the story of my life not from the words of other people but as I myself recall what happened.

II

We walked out of my grandfather’s house and I climbed into uncle Sagdi’s cart. Apparently feeling somewhat embarrassed in front of uncle Sagdi, grandfather and grandmother came out to see me off.

The cart took off. Uncle Sagdi and I sat side by side. While we were on the road he tried to comfort me: «We’ll soon get to Kyrlai. Your mom there probably went out to meet you already. Allah willing, we have milk, katyk[9 - Tatar dairy product of sour milk somewhat similar to yogurt.] and lots of bread, you can eat your fill.» He consoled me with these words, promising that happiness awaits me in another two, or three miles.

Such kind words I hadn’t heard in a very long time and they made me very happy.

It was the best time of summer, with forests and green grass all around. The sun wasn’t yet too hot and its caressing rays also delighted me.

We finally arrived in Kyrlai. Uncle Sagdi’s yard turned out to be near the gates leading into the field. A little while later we stopped at a low house with a thatched roof and wattle fence.