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Fiction

The Bird on the Balcony

By Petre Dimovski
Translated from Macedonian by Will Firth
Petre Dimovski looks back at a turning point in a leader's youth.
Listen to Petre Dimovski read "The Bird on the Balcony" in the original Macedonian.
 
 

The young man walked with his usual calm over the cobblestones of the Shirok Sokak promenade in Bitola, the city famous throughout the Ottoman Empire. He came from Salonika and felt he was ever closer to his goal of obtaining an education, now that he had been accepted as a cadet at the Military Academy here. At the same moment, the beautiful Bitola girl Eleni Karinte came out onto the balcony, aflutter and in the flower of her youth, with a gentle restlessness in her soul, which created the sense of being high in the air and having a view distinctive of a bird, not of an earth-bound human. But the young man who walked over the cobbles had the sky in his eye. He sought there for the star that would guide his way into the future.

The beautiful bird looked down. Its destiny is to forever conceal the sky in the span of its wings, and yet to have its eye on life on earth.

There was absolutely no telling what would happen next, although the moment that had just entered the present was so close.

Nothing would have happened if the young woman had let herself be carried away on the little white clouds, which she now banished to the corner of her eye and let their shadows fly on. Or if the man who paced the cobbles had walked with his gaze on the ground to maintain a steady step. But just now the young man raised his head. He lifted his gaze in search of the star that was already wandering through his mind. The young woman felt a breath of air, which created the illusion that she really was a bird flying in the sky, and she lowered her eyes to the ground.

Destiny took its course when their gazes met. Heaven and earth lost their connecting border. Their thoughts then also conjoined, a quality of those who attempt to tame their restiveness and—as a result—electrify the surroundings with their elemental drive.

The young man was completely captivated by the beauty of the young woman. She left the sky and gently descended to earth.

“I feel my life is changing,” Kemal admitted sincerely to the beautiful Eleni, inebriated by the first drop of amorous wine. She only gave a heart-warming smile. But the shine in her eyes rounded out that dialogue of love. They were gazing at each other, that was plain, and they realized they could not stop. They already knew each other well enough to be the most intimate beings on earth. Elegant and well-mannered, the young woman received him at the piano in her drawing room and played him one of the pieces that the French governesses in Bitola had taught her. She chose the song “Frère Jacques,” the first for which her teachers had praised her. The strains of the piano followed the words with infatuation:

Frère Jacques, frère Jacques,

Dormez-vous? Dormez-vous?

Sonnez les matines! Sonnez les matines!

Ding, dang, dong. Ding, dang, dong.

And Kemal applauded long and loud. Eleni had noticed that he simply melted to the sounds of the piano. The young cadet bore his musicality in his ear but had no skill with his fingers, so he said he could only offer his love. Eleni’s enchanting laughter resounded and was conveyed by the ebony and ivory with a melodic richness. The keys struck straight at their hearts; the melody rang through their veins and made its way out into the world around.

It seems the keys recognized their two hearts as being of the same note, and in that instant their union occurred, their fusion into one whole, with the same sound and the same melody that could no longer be separated.

After that encounter, the happy young couple realized that the love flaring up in their hearts could conquer the world in a single day. And they immediately set out on their campaign.

Eleni knew the hard stance of the successful Bitola merchant Eftim Karinte, her father. She knew how he would react when he heard of their love: a young woman from a respectable Christian home and a cadet from a poor Mohammedan family . . . Their love therefore inspired them to flee.

“I will take you to meet my mother in Salonika,” the young cadet declared. “It is not hard to choose between the Academy and this beautiful young woman.”

“I will go with you wherever you take me, even to the ends of the earth,” the beautiful Eleni averred.

Soon afterward the long train roared and whistled as it raced across the land toward Salonika, bearing their great love. Kemal and Eleni spent the whole of the journey in each other’s arms. Naturally they were afraid to let go of their love, which could be seized and shut away in a prison with high stone walls.

The young man took his joy to meet his mother. But she sent the young couple straight back to Bitola so that her son would continue the chosen schooling, and so he could ask the young woman’s parents for her hand in marriage. Eftim Karinte was very strict on matters of class and religion. The young couple had no choice other than to go into hiding in Bitola in order to save their great love. But the forces of separation were more powerful than their bond, and that great love was thrown into the dungeon of a stone fortress. Then they were forcibly separated: the boy was sent away to Istanbul and the beautiful girl to Florina so that they would never see each other again. Eleni withdrew into the prison of her soul.

But such a love could not be wrenched from their hearts. Nothing could remove it from there. It filled them completely, leaving no room for any other. So it was that their great love prompted Kemal to perform great deeds. Beautiful Eleni, in turn, waited for an opening in time, when their captive love would be set free and the two separated hearts could beat together once more. She waited like this until her eightieth year, when all the times had changed and life and death had merged fully into one. And on her last journey she took with her one single token.

 

“Ptica na balkonot,” from Zora vo slikata. © Petre Dimovski. By arrangement with the author. Translation © 2017 by Will Firth. All rights reserved.

English Macedonian (Original)

The young man walked with his usual calm over the cobblestones of the Shirok Sokak promenade in Bitola, the city famous throughout the Ottoman Empire. He came from Salonika and felt he was ever closer to his goal of obtaining an education, now that he had been accepted as a cadet at the Military Academy here. At the same moment, the beautiful Bitola girl Eleni Karinte came out onto the balcony, aflutter and in the flower of her youth, with a gentle restlessness in her soul, which created the sense of being high in the air and having a view distinctive of a bird, not of an earth-bound human. But the young man who walked over the cobbles had the sky in his eye. He sought there for the star that would guide his way into the future.

The beautiful bird looked down. Its destiny is to forever conceal the sky in the span of its wings, and yet to have its eye on life on earth.

There was absolutely no telling what would happen next, although the moment that had just entered the present was so close.

Nothing would have happened if the young woman had let herself be carried away on the little white clouds, which she now banished to the corner of her eye and let their shadows fly on. Or if the man who paced the cobbles had walked with his gaze on the ground to maintain a steady step. But just now the young man raised his head. He lifted his gaze in search of the star that was already wandering through his mind. The young woman felt a breath of air, which created the illusion that she really was a bird flying in the sky, and she lowered her eyes to the ground.

Destiny took its course when their gazes met. Heaven and earth lost their connecting border. Their thoughts then also conjoined, a quality of those who attempt to tame their restiveness and—as a result—electrify the surroundings with their elemental drive.

The young man was completely captivated by the beauty of the young woman. She left the sky and gently descended to earth.

“I feel my life is changing,” Kemal admitted sincerely to the beautiful Eleni, inebriated by the first drop of amorous wine. She only gave a heart-warming smile. But the shine in her eyes rounded out that dialogue of love. They were gazing at each other, that was plain, and they realized they could not stop. They already knew each other well enough to be the most intimate beings on earth. Elegant and well-mannered, the young woman received him at the piano in her drawing room and played him one of the pieces that the French governesses in Bitola had taught her. She chose the song “Frère Jacques,” the first for which her teachers had praised her. The strains of the piano followed the words with infatuation:

Frère Jacques, frère Jacques,

Dormez-vous? Dormez-vous?

Sonnez les matines! Sonnez les matines!

Ding, dang, dong. Ding, dang, dong.

And Kemal applauded long and loud. Eleni had noticed that he simply melted to the sounds of the piano. The young cadet bore his musicality in his ear but had no skill with his fingers, so he said he could only offer his love. Eleni’s enchanting laughter resounded and was conveyed by the ebony and ivory with a melodic richness. The keys struck straight at their hearts; the melody rang through their veins and made its way out into the world around.

It seems the keys recognized their two hearts as being of the same note, and in that instant their union occurred, their fusion into one whole, with the same sound and the same melody that could no longer be separated.

After that encounter, the happy young couple realized that the love flaring up in their hearts could conquer the world in a single day. And they immediately set out on their campaign.

Eleni knew the hard stance of the successful Bitola merchant Eftim Karinte, her father. She knew how he would react when he heard of their love: a young woman from a respectable Christian home and a cadet from a poor Mohammedan family . . . Their love therefore inspired them to flee.

“I will take you to meet my mother in Salonika,” the young cadet declared. “It is not hard to choose between the Academy and this beautiful young woman.”

“I will go with you wherever you take me, even to the ends of the earth,” the beautiful Eleni averred.

Soon afterward the long train roared and whistled as it raced across the land toward Salonika, bearing their great love. Kemal and Eleni spent the whole of the journey in each other’s arms. Naturally they were afraid to let go of their love, which could be seized and shut away in a prison with high stone walls.

The young man took his joy to meet his mother. But she sent the young couple straight back to Bitola so that her son would continue the chosen schooling, and so he could ask the young woman’s parents for her hand in marriage. Eftim Karinte was very strict on matters of class and religion. The young couple had no choice other than to go into hiding in Bitola in order to save their great love. But the forces of separation were more powerful than their bond, and that great love was thrown into the dungeon of a stone fortress. Then they were forcibly separated: the boy was sent away to Istanbul and the beautiful girl to Florina so that they would never see each other again. Eleni withdrew into the prison of her soul.

But such a love could not be wrenched from their hearts. Nothing could remove it from there. It filled them completely, leaving no room for any other. So it was that their great love prompted Kemal to perform great deeds. Beautiful Eleni, in turn, waited for an opening in time, when their captive love would be set free and the two separated hearts could beat together once more. She waited like this until her eightieth year, when all the times had changed and life and death had merged fully into one. And on her last journey she took with her one single token.

 

“Ptica na balkonot,” from Zora vo slikata. © Petre Dimovski. By arrangement with the author. Translation © 2017 by Will Firth. All rights reserved.

Птица На Балконот

Младиот човек одеше вообичаено спокојно по калдрмата на Широк Сокак во Битола, надалеку прочуениот град низ Османлиската империја. Дојден од Солун, чувствуваше колку е поблиску до целта да ја оствари желбата за школување откако тука стана питомец на Воената академија. Во тој ист миг на балконот се појави убавата битолчанка Елени Каринте, првната во својата младост, со благ немир во душата што го остава сознанието дека искачена високо горе во воздухот, пред себе ја има глетката што е својственост само на птица, а не на човека што лази по земјата. Но човекот кој одеше по калдрмата го имаше небото во окото. Во небото ја бараше ѕвездата што ќе му го отвори патот низ иднината.

Птицата гледаше долу. Нејзината судбина е да го остава сокриено небото во распонот на сопствените крилја, а во окото да го има животот по земјата.

Остануваше целосно непознато што ќе се случи во следниот миг, иако беше толку кратко времето до мигот кој штотуку влегуваше во сегашноста.

Можеше никогаш ништо да не се случи ако девојката одлеташе со белите облачиња, кои предмалку ги постави во аголот на окото, губејќи ја нивната сенка. Или, ако човекот што лазеше по калдрмата го оставеше и погледот да лази, паднат пред него, за да ја одржува сигурноста на одот. Но, младиот човек штотуку ја подигна главата. Погледот го насочи во потрага по ѕвездата која веќе му шеташе низ мислата. Девојката, примајќи го здивот на ветрот што ја создаваше илузијата дека сепак е птица што лета по небото, го пушти погледот да легне на земјата.

Судбината се случи кога се сретнаа двата погледа. И кога небото и земјата ја изгубија границата на спојувањето. Тогаш и мислата се соедини, особина на тие што во обид да го скротат својот неспокој, го возбудуваат просторот со надојден предизвик.

Младиот човек се фати заробен во убавината. Девојката го остави небото и тивко слезе на земјата.

„Имам чувство дека ми се менува животот“, опоен од првата капка на љубовното вино искрено се исповеда Кемал пред убавата Елени Каринте. Девојката само топло се насмевна. Но блесокот во очите го дополни дијалогот на љубовта. Се открија дека гледаат еден во друг и дека тоа не можат да го сопрат. Тие веќе се познаваа доволно да бидат најблиски суштества на светот. Елегантна, и добро воспитана, девојката прифати на клавирот во својот салон да му отсвири нешто од тоа што ја научија француските учителки во Битола. Изборот беше песната „Брате Жак“ како прва нејзина пофалба од учителките. Звуците на клавирот занесно озвучуваа по стиховите:

Frère Jacques, frère Jacques,

Dormez-vous? Dormez-vous?

Sonnez les matines! Sonnez les matines!

Ding, dang, dong. Ding, dang, dong

а Кемал долго аплаудираше. Елени Каринте забележа дека тој се стопил со звуците од клавирот. Младиот кадет чувството за музиката го носеше во слухот, но ја немаше вештината во прстите, па кажа дека може да ја понуди само љубовта. Смеата на Елени Каринте одгласи заносно како што ја пренесоа пипките на клавирот со мелодичната звучност. Клавишите удираа директно во нивните срца и мелодијата одзвучуваше низ протекот на крвта ослободувајќи се во просторот.

Се претпоставува дека клавишите двете срца ги препознале како иста нота и во тој миг се случило соединувањето и слевањето во едно, со ист звук и иста мелодија што повеќе не можело да биде раздвоено.

По таа средба младите среќници сфатија дека со љубовта што бликна во нивните срца светот можат да го освојат за еден ден. И веднаш тргнаа во поход.

Елени Каринте знаеше за тврдиот став на Ефтим Каринте, големиот битолски трговец, нејзин татко, и односот што ќе го има кон нивната љубов. Угледна христијанска девојка и сиромав муслимански кадет. Затоа љубовта ѝ ги отвори крилјата за бегство.

„Ќе те носам кај мајка ми во Солун“, беше категоричен младиот кадет. „Лесно е да се направи избор меѓу Академијата и убавата девојка.“

„Со тебе ќе дојдам и на крајот на светот да ме носиш“, беше убедлива убавата девојка.

Набргу потоа татнеше и исвируваше долгата композиција на возот, летајќи по полето кон Солун, носејќи ја големата љубов. Кемал и Елени Каринте за сето време од патувањето не се одвоија од прегратката. Секако дека се плашеа да ја остават сама љубовта која можеше да биде заробена во затвор од камени кули.

Младиот човек ја однесе радоста кај мајка си. Но Мајката набргу ги врати младите назад, во Битола, синот да ја продолжи избраната школа, и од родителите на девојката да побара дозвола за нејзина свршувачка. Ефтим Каринте бил построг во врската на различни класи и различни религии. На младите им останувало да се кријат во Битола за да ја спасат својата голема љубов. Но силите на раздвојувањето биле помоќни од љубовта на спојувањето и големата љубов била ставена во занданата на камената тврдина. Следувала принудна разделба и младото момче заминало во Истанбул, а убавата девојка во Лерин, да не можат никогаш повеќе да се сретнат и видат. Елени Каринте таму се сместила во затворот на својата душа.

Љубовта од срцата не им ја извлекле. Ништо не можело да ја извлече од таму. Целосно ги исполнувала и никогаш повеќе во нив не се населила друга љубов. Кемал големата љубов го мотивирала за создавање големи дела. А убавата Елени го чекала времето да се отвори и од него да се ослободи заробената љубов во која повторно со ист ритам ќе зачукаат двете разделени срца. Чекала така до осумдесеттата години од својот живот, кога сите времиња биле изместени и кога животот и смртта биле целосно помешани. Таа и на последното патување со себе го имала единствениот спомен.

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