Die Leute aus der Kahramangasse

THE BIOGRAPHY Resat Karakuyu was born in Izmir, Türkey, in 1928. Already as a small boy he worked during school holidays as a helper for many Professional craftsmen , and sold newspapers, fruit, vegetables in the streets as well. While still in junior high school, he joined at the Izmir City Theatre, and continued working there after graduating from high school. After the City Theatre burned down, he toured Turkey with travelling theatre troups. Following his military service he decided to get to know the world and signed on as a steward on the national shipping company’s passenger liners. He made the acquaintance of all of Europe’s harbours and even rose to the rank of Second Cabin Officer. In time his curiosity grew to encompass the whole world. As Provisions Officer, he travelled all over the globe for several years on freighters. In 1954 he landed in London and began studying English, but was forced to interrupt his studies repeatedly for want of money. He got a job at a small factory. As a little boy, he had often helped in the production of Turkish sweets, and at his instigation this English company began producing “Turkish Delight”. This candy was a big success for the company, And in no time Resat Karakuyu become company’s general manager and finally partner. Some years later the factory was destroyed by the fire. He sold his knowledge and production recipe to another company, for which he also worked as general manager for a year. Then he left England and found employment in Germany, working at blast furnaces in steelworks and hammer mills, but decided to learn a proper profession at last. He specialized in poultry breeding and worked in Israel, Australia and other countries as a poultry expert. In 1972 he returned to Germany and sought employment as a social worker in Neuss , where he saw to the needs of his Turkish compatriots for ten years. In 1977 he has written his first novel in 2 bands “ The People of Kahraman Lane.” In 1984 he returned to his country Izmir/Turkey, after having lived in England, Australia, Germany and Israel for 30 years. And since than he has written the novel of“Utopia-The World of Mystic Tale”, “Copur Hasibe” ( this 367 paged novel is continuation of “The People of Kahraman Lane”. And it tells the stories about miserable life of poor people during merciless Second World War.), “Running After Adventure” (This 556 paged novel tells agonised and nostalgic stories and the adventures of a young man in Europe’s harbours during 1949-1954). “The Cursed Fog of London”(this novel is over 600 page and describes the typical British life and the lonely life of a young man in London.during the years of 1954- 1959) - He wrote lately So Was His Fate—A novel in 3 bands :“Seeking in Hope” “Fight to Survive” “The Poisonous Snake” and other novels, plays and short stories. THE RESİDENTS OF KAHRAMANLANE CHAPTER – 1 T H E E X E C U T I O N A mouse came out of its hole and waited fearfully on the other side of the street. It was immediately noticed by Stinker Mustafa one of children playing on the street. “ A rat’s running away. Catch it!” he began to shout. “ Where?” asked Köse. “ Look, there it is!” Mazlum : “ Let’s throw stones and kill it.” The children quickly picked up stones from ground and throw them at the mouse. Not a single one of them hit it. When even the last stone thrown by the Stinker Mustafa did not hit it. “ Ha, ha, you didn’t catch it!”, Mazlum said to him. “ Did you? You didn’t either.” “ It crept into the hole. Let’s drill a stick into the hole.” suggested Mazlum. The children looked for a stick in the street. On finding one they pushed it into the hole. Old bath attendant Ali Aga wanting to find out what the children were doing came to them. “ What are you doing?” he asked. “ There’s a rat in the hole, Uncle Ali.” replied Stinker Mustafa. “ Leave it alone boys, its a sin to torment the animal.” Ali Aga told them off and went away. 1 Mazlum turned to Stinker Mustafa : “ Stupid! There’s no rat in the hole, but a mouse.” “ Mouse or rat is the same thing. And I’m not stupid, You are!” Mehmet insisted: “ The animal which ran into the hole wasn’t a mouse. It was a rat.” Köse : “ I saw it with my own eyes, it was as big as a cat.” While the children were quarrelling whether the animal which had fled into the hole was a rat or a mouse, a boy came running up. He was the most forward and unin-hibited of all the children in Kahraman Lane, was the first to find out all the events in the neighbourhood and to pass the news on the adults and children as quick as lightening. A ‘Walking News Agency’. Consumptive Osman panting, with excitement he said: “ Did you hear? Tomorrow at dawn they are hanging two people in Konak-Squ-are!” When the children heard this news they gathered round him and asked curiously. Köse : “ Who are they hanging?” Consumptive Osman, noticing that his friends were getting curious began doing his well known tricks to make them even more curious. “ Ah, I’m tired from running. I can hardly breathe. I am out of breath,” he said. “ Tell us, boy!” Mazlum said. “ Wait a minute. I’ve got to get my breath back. I’m exhausted.” Mazlum threatened: “ Tell us, son of an ass or we’ll beat you up on the spot.” And Köse said angrily: “ Listen, Consumptive! Tell us if you want to, but if you don’t bugger off!” 2 Seeing that his friends were getting cross, he stopped panting. “ A young woman from the country and her lover killed her husband with an axe in the night while he was asleep. They were both taken prisoner and turned over the law. The murderer’s are to be executed in Konak-Square at dawn.” he said and asked his friends excitedly “I’m going to watch the execution. Is anyone coming with me?” Nobody had ever watched a hanging. Therefore they were all agog to watch. But nobody really believed that Osman, the consumptive had told the truth. If he had lied..? To make sure this Köse said: “ Listen consumptive if you’re lying we’ll all beat you up. Tell us the truth, then.” “ God, honestly I’ve told the truth.”, Osman, the consumptive answered “I swear by the dead body of my father, my mother , my brothers and sisters.” Then he got out of his pocket a newspaper which he’d hidden.” Take it and read for yourself if I’ve told the truth or not.” The children pulled the newspaper out of Osman, the consumptive hands. On reading this news on front page they believed it. The newspaper was passed from hand to hand and the news of the execution was spread in the street in a short time. Every-body was discussing this subject. “ Hey, have you heard what’s happened?”, Ayse asked her woman neighbours. “ No, what has happened ?” asked Saime. “ A woman has gone to live with her boyfriend and killed her husband with an axe.” Yıldız : “ Oh, I hope she gets blind. Someone like that has really deserved to be put to death.” “ They are to be hanged tonight. So, if you ask me anything, this woman who has deceived and killed her husband should be put on a glowing ivon .” said a third. Other women heard what they were saying in loud voices in the middle of the street and joined them. “ Hey neighbours, what’s happened ?”, Lea, the Jew asked. “ What do you think? A woman has gone to live with her boyfriend and murdered her husband.”, explained her Saime. “ What a wretched woman. Do you kill a husband whose bread you’ve eaten?” Ayse : “ She killed him with an axe.” Pockmarked Hasibe: ” Of course, they’ll hang her. No injustice goes unpunished. And everyone get’s punishment for his deeds, if not in this world, in the next one.” Aunt Bade, lifted up her hands to heaven: “ Alas, what times we’re living in. If you ask me, its all a sign that the end of the world is near. Children, may great God forgive us our sins and wickednesses.” “ Amen!” said all the women. While the women were exhausting this interesting topic, Osman, the consumptive and his riends were talking on the marble staircase of the house of the Jewish egg vendor, Bohor Efendi. “ Does somebody who is hanged die at once?” Stinker Mustafa asked his friends. “ Why not? Of course”, answered Osman, the consumptive. Mazlum turned to Osman, the consumptive. “ Who is going to hang them tomorrow morning?” “ The famous Kara Ali.. He’s the best one in the world. There’s no other hangman like him.” Then in the corner of the staircase he saw a cat who was asleep and he had a wicked idea. “ Hey , let’s hang this cat!” he said. The boys liked this idea very much. “ Hang it , Hang it !” they shouted with one voice. And they seized the sleeping animal. “ Who’ll be Kara Ali ?” asked Mazlum. “ Osman, the consumptive”, suggested Köse. Osman, the consumptive took the belt off his hips and made a sling by putting the end of the belt through the buckle. He put this sling over the cat’s head. After holding the end of the strap he shouted: “ Set the cat free!”. Then children set the cat which they had been holding up to now free, it had no idea of what it was in for. The belt squeezed its throat together. It began struggling in the air and uttering pitiful cries. Osman, the consumptive held the end of the belt secu-rely and his friends laughed at its unfortunate situation. Some housewives hearing the cries the animal uttered fearing for its life, went up to the boys. Ayse : “ Set the cat free . May God curse you all !” Yıldız took a slipper off her foot. “ Set it free otherwise I’ll come and beat you all up with this slipper!” Aunt Bade : “ It’s a sin. Don’t do it, its a great sin to kill a cat. Once it rescued our prophet’s life.” A passer by , also seeing the boys torturing the animal ran up to them. “ You bastards , wretches ! I suppose you couldn’t find any other game ?” he told them off and gave Osman, the consumptive a strong slap in his face. Osman ,the consumptive dropped the belt from his hand on to the ground. The cat who was now set free fled with the belt round her neck. Osman , the consumptive seeing his belt disappearing chased the cat , to rescue the belt despite the hard clout he had received. A little later he returned to his friend in a bad mood. “ I couldn’t catch the cat. My belt’s gone. And I’ve been hit. All because of you, he reproached his friends. But after a short time the clout and lost belt were forgotten. The children dis-cussed excitedly when they should set off to see the execution. They decided that Os-man . the consumptive should wake them all and they would all go to the scene of the execution. As it was gra-dually growing dark they heard the mothers shouting for their children. When Osman , the consumptive heard his mother shouting: “ Osmaaan, Osmaaan, where are you ? It’s evening and you’re still on the street!” He said : “ Oh dear my mother’s calling . I’ll go. I’ll come and wake you all up tomorrow. You can’t get out of it, you know !” He went home. As it was supper time the other children went home too. After washing his hands and feet under the tap Köse went into the room where all sitting. His mother Pockmarked Hasibe was busy , preparing the table for supper. Köse turned to his father: “ Dad, have you heard , tonight at dawn they’re hanging two people !” “ Yes , son I have.” “ Dad, can I go and see the execution ?” “ It’s not right for children to see such things.” “ Why not , Dad , please , let me see it ? I’ve promised my friends I’ll go with them.” Pockmarked Hasibe was angry that her son wanted to go. “ You and your friends I hope the ground swallows you all up. Execution , .. … execution. I've heard that so often today that my head aches !” she grumbled. Köse asked his mother: “ Mum, all my friends are going. I’ve promised to go as well. I’ve got to keep my word. “ Sükrü, his father, gave way : “Alright ,as you’re given your word go, watch carefully and learn a lesson from what you see.”, he told his son. After he’d got permission from his father Köse sat down to the table which was laid in the middle of room satisfied. The others also sat down to the supper which had been prepared. “ Are you coming as well ?” Köse asked his big brother Dilo. “ You go alone. I’m not coming with. Mum , don’t wake him up tonight. If he wants to wake up let him do it by himself. The silly fool will oversleep and stay here,” he mocked Köse. The other younger brothers and sister laughed because they also thought he would oversleep. Pockmarked Hasibe agreed: “ I won’t wake you up. If you can wake up by yourself , do so.” Köse was very angry with his brother , Dilo who was making fun of him. “ Coward! You’re afraid , that’s why you’re not coming. You’ll see me getting up alone. Nobody needs to wake me up.” he said. “ Quiet , it’s a sin to talk while you eat !” the father chid and the children stopped making a noise and ended their meal in silence. After the meal Pockmarked Hasibe spread the mattresses on the ground. The little children crept into their beds. According to an old childish belief Köse whispered into his little brother’s ear who was sleeping next to him. “ So that I don’t oversleep and wake up early tomorrow”. Then he closed his eyes and fell asleep. He saw in his sleep gendarmeries, hanged people and his uncle Yusuf, who had