"No, just answer my questions. When did the Kurds come?"
"Two days ago; it was at night, and everybody in the village was asleep. There were not many of the Kurds; hardly one hundred horsemen came to our village, the rest had gone to other places. But even ten horsemen are enough to pillage. an Armenian village. Why are not the Armenians wide awake and on the alert, master?—that is not well; that is a very, very bad thing. Weeping and cries of fear began to rise when the Kurds broke into the houses. 'Eh, "khana-kharabs,"'[1] I used to tell to the Armenians, 'you are not women, you are men! If you have not guns and swords, take sticks, stones and hatchets and turn those dogs out of your houses.' But who listened to Musdo? The Kurds first put aside all they wanted to carry away,—fine furniture, girls and women. But they left the less desirable articles, togather[errata 1] with the old people and babies, in the house shut the doors and set them on fire. As for the men, they pursued and massacred them."
"Did nobody escape?"
"Only those who had had warning beforehand, and had fled and hidden among the mountains. But the majority of the people did not believe that the Kurds would behave so, for the Kaymakam was always writing to the people to remain quiet and have no fears. The cursed pig was deceiving them."
"What happened at our house?"
"Your father was not at home; he had gone to Bash-Kala. But before he went he said to me: 'Musdo, protect the house until I get back.' I was awake when the Kurds came, standing on the roof with my gun. But what could Musdo do alone? If I had had ten brave men with me I would not have let the Kurds even enter the village; but I was alone. I did not fire a shot, for the simple reason that I know too well the nature of the Kurd. If I had killed even one of them, they would not have left a single person alive in the village. I
- ↑ The exact meaning of this word is: "That whose house has been ruined." It is a Turkish expression, signifying a friendly reproach, nearly in the same sense as when a person here is called "miserable," "wretched" or "unhappy." (Tr.)
- ↑ Correction: togather should be amended to together
