Janan demonstrated her knowledge of cup-bearing impeccably, as if she had been serving as a cupbearer at drinking gatherings for forty years. She would keep filling Josephine’s glass by the piano and performed the same service for her master. Her master would sip from the glass that he took from Janan’s hands as if he were sipping fire.
Have you noticed how our drinking gatherings usually go? If you did, then you’ve probably realized that after some serious drinking, people always start showing and professing their love for each other. This happened at Râkım’s gathering as well; however, the love between Râkım and Josephine was already confirmed, and Janan wasn’t even remotely drunk, so it was Josephine who couldn’t stop talking about how fond she was of Janan.
Finally it was time for dinner. The table was set in this same living room. After placing everything on the dinner table, they all sat down to eat. Although Nanny felt very content about seeing such a gathering in the house, she was a bit bothered by the presence of alcohol. But would she let her dear Râkım, her son and master, know about her discontent? Nanny had already prepared feasts at larger events and the food she cooked received particular attention from Josephine. They ate and drank with great appetite. They remained seated, and Janan served coffee at the dinner table. After an hour or so of eating fruits and chatting about this and that, Josephine eventually retired to sleep in Râkım’s bed, which had been prepared for her, and Râkım went to sleep in the bed that had been laid out in his nanny’s room.
Of course, Janan went to her room.
But wait, we can’t confirm that yet.
Hold on, what happened?
Here is what happened:
Isn’t it clear that Janan would remain with Josephine until she had helped her undress and get into bed? How could someone in Josephine’s condition—in other words, as a woman who was able to disregard her past adventure with Râkım and loved Janan dearly, not ask Janan a thousand questions? Accordingly, while she got undressed, she asked Janan:
JOSEPHINE: Janan, my dear!
JANAN: Madame!
JOSEPHINE: You help your master undress like this, don’t you?
JANAN: My master? Yes, of course I do.
JOSEPHINE: Does he at least behave himself while undressing?
JANAN: Oh! Why shouldn’t he? Is he a child?
JOSEPHINE: Men are worse than children. When children are undressing, they stamp and sweat. Children with moustaches, on the other hand, hug your neck.
JANAN (embarrassed): For goodness sake, Madame! Listen to what you are saying!
JOSEPHINE: What am I saying? Am I saying something inappropriate?
JANAN: It is inappropriate indeed!
JOSEPHINE: Oh, then it surely means that he doesn’t behave himself while undressing. If he did, you wouldn’t find anything inappropriate in this conversation.
JANAN: My dear mistress, don’t say such words to me.
JOSEPHINE: Oh, you crazy girl! What are you embarrassed about? Isn’t he your master? What’s so wrong it? You’re both young and beautiful. It’d be more inappropriate if he behaved himself while undressing.
JANAN: Not at all! Our master is very well behaved and modest.
JOSEPHINE: Come on, tell me, do you think you can you fool me? You are acting as if I don’t know. Oh, my dear child! Your master told me all about it. He never keeps any secrets from me. How much you both cried the other night.
Janan was on the verge of believing these words and revealing her secret to Josephine. However, since she wasn’t familiar with the adventures between her master and Josephine and suspected that Josephine might be trying to sound her out, she resolved to keep her secret since she thought it dishonorable to reveal her encounters with her master to somebody other than Nanny. Yes, this is how reserved our Janan was. She said:
JANAN: Master loves me like his sister. He never teases me. He told you whatever he told you. How can I know what he said?
JOSEPHINE: Oh, my dear Janan. Here is a lover trying hard to keep her feelings to herself! It’s all right, my dear, it’s all right! Young people like you who don’t know the rules of love always act this way. I’d like to congratulate both of you. Honestly, you deserve each other. May God bless you and keep you together. Do you understand me, my dear? Râkım is a sentimental man. You should handle him well. If you handle him well, you can easily get him to commit himself to you.
Now, after this interrogation, they chatted a while longer, then Josephine got into bed and dismissed Janan. But in what state did she leave the girl? Janan was wide awake with all the emotions of a couple nights ago racing through her heart.
There came a “knock, knock” on the front door sometime early the next morning while everyone was still asleep. Nanny woke up first, and then woke Râkım. It turned out to be the rower, Old Osman. They looked at the time; it was around five. Râkım said, “All right, it’s time, we should start getting ready,” and he went downstairs with his nanny to give Old Osman the equipment that was to be placed on the boat. Afterwards, he went to wake Janan.
Oh, how this thing called love makes people feel revitalized! After watching Janan, who was lying sprawled on the bed, for quite some time, he put his right hand on the girl’s heart and then made a little sound. He noticed how her heart woke up even before she did. Have you ever noticed this? We certainly have. And we know how sweet it is. The heart that beats so softly and steadily while one sleeps starts beating with excitement when one wakes up. Especially if it is the heart of a lover like Janan! Try it and see for yourself!
Janan was startled when she woke up in the dark and saw her master standing in the faint light of the weakly lit oil lamp. She managed to say, “What happened, Sir, what can I do for you?” Râkım said, “Did you forget? We are going to Kağıthane. Come on, wake up. Light the fire and get ready. Wake Josephine up so we can enjoy the morning together. In the meantime we can arrange things.” Janan jumped out of bed and got to her feet.
Why should we lie? It’s surely better to tell the truth. It’s not anything inappropriate anyway. The poor girl hugged her master’s neck while getting out of bed. If you wish, you can regard this as impertinence. Her master excused her.
Everyone was up within half an hour. As the fire hadn’t burned itself out yet, Janan brought a huge brazier into the living room, which cheered everyone up.
A coffee pot was set on one side of the fire, a teapot on another, and a pot containing freshly delivered cow’s milk on yet another. The coals burned.
Josephine, in line with alafranga custom, wouldn’t normally appear in front of a man in her nightclothes. However, she saw Râkım in the living room in his nightclothes with only a thin, fur coat thrown over his shoulders and he told her not to worry about formalities and to come join them. Hence they all sat groggily in their nightclothes. Coffee was made. They decided to start by drinking coffee, and then for their second cup people chose between coffee or tea with or without milk, according to their own tastes.
JOSEPHINE (enjoying this Ottoman morning pleasure): This is really marvelous!
RKIM: What is?
JOSEPHINE: Waking up early in the morning and seizing these pleasures.
RKIM: Do you like it, Madame?
JOSEPHINE: I really do, I can easily say that I’ve never woken up before sunrise in my life. How nice! Now we know that in an hour the sun will appear and we’ll get to see it. Isn’t that right?
RKIM: What’s more, we’ll see the sunrise on the water.
JOSEPHINE: Won’t we be chilly?
RKIM: We have fur coats, woolen blankets, shawls, and coats. We won’t be chilly. Especially since we’ll have rum.
JOSEPHINE: I am really enjoying this. Râkım, can I tell you the truth? Everything about the Turks is better than the Europeans.
RKIM: No, Madame, not quite! Well, yes, we do enjoy winter mornings this way . . . however, can you deny that Europe also offers many entertainments?
JOSEPHINE: I am not lying, Râkım. I really mean it
. Well, Europe does have many entertainments but they are monotone and always regulated. For one thing, when winter nights are long, people don’t go to sleep before twelve o’clock in alafranga time, I mean, midnight. People even stay up until two sometimes! Thus, when we wake up we see that morning has already arrived. What I’m trying to say is that we only enjoy nighttime and deprive ourselves of sunrise, when nature awakes from her sleep.
RKIM: That’s true.
JOSEPHINE: I wouldn’t say it if I wasn’t sure. I know what I’m talking about. For one thing, you can’t find this Turkish hospitality in Europe. I’m not saying that they don’t visit each other’s homes. Yet, their balls and dinners are always formal affairs. Everyone spends time with their own family when they go to someone else’s place. It’s very unusual for someone to spend time with another family.
As Josephine liked taking full advantage of the world, she paid particular attention to those things that sweeten our existence. She proved her point regarding Europe’s disagreeable aspects but couldn’t find such disadvantages in the way Ottomans lived. This little get-together lasted for more than half an hour.
Since they had decided to be on the water before sunrise, everyone got up to get dressed. It was the last days of March and sunrise was around six, so they dressed quickly and hurried to the port.
Old Osman’s new boat had two pairs of oars and was wide and beautiful. Râkım had Josephine and his nanny sit in the back, while he sat in the front with his Janan. Since everyone was wearing a fur coat and had a woolen blanket stretched over their legs, there was no need to complain about the morning chill.
They pushed off the Salıpazarı pier. As they put out to sea, the day was newly breaking over Üskudar. Rowing slowly, they had already passed the two bridges and found themselves at the Bay of Tersane as the first light of day was shooting from the horizon into the vastness of the sky. Full light of day caught this happy and joyful party as they neared Sütlüce.
Oh, what a splendid morning it was! Oh, how happy this splendor made Josephine feel! And Janan, how it made Janan feel! Râkım continued to respond tenderly to the hundreds of questions that Janan had continuously been asking since leaving Salıpazarı, and to her and everyone else’s delight, he peppered his answers with terms of endearment like, “My dear!” “Honey!” and “Sweetheart!”
JOSEPHINE: Râkım, you have such a good nature! You are humane, fortunate and happy!
RKIM: Thank God, I am fortunate and happy. Yet I don’t consider my humanity to deserve such praise.
JOSEPHINE: Your humanity is enhanced by your happiness. Your good nature allows for such happiness.
RKIM: More compliments! But what’s the reason?
JOSEPHINE: The reason is this: I can attest that this delightful trip couldn’t happen anywhere in Europe. Even one in a hundred residents of Istanbul wouldn’t have thought of arranging a trip like this.
RKIM: Very true. Yet I don’t think we deserve such praise for this. The morning, the sea, and this beautiful place . . . these are all God’s creations. We owe our boat to the civilizational progress of mankind. These are all blessings that one should appreciate. Let’s concentrate on our journey now. God has given me an intimate companion like you, a friend like Janan and a mother like Nanny. In addition to all of these blessings, He gave me the strength to earn enough in two hours to provide for this delight, this journey, and these amusements. It would be a shame if I didn’t enjoy these blessings to the fullest now that I’ve been offered them.
JOSEPHINE: I congratulate you for this achievement! And especially the way you reason! Râkım, God knows, I’d stand up and kiss you on your mouth if I weren’t ashamed to do so in front of everyone else.
When she heard what Josephine said, Janan immediately glanced at her face, though she quickly collected herself and didn’t reveal her thoughts. Nevertheless, after hearing her master’s reasoning, her love for him grew to the point where she snuggled against Râkım and got into his arms. As a result, the boat became unbalanced, so Old Osman said, “Little lady, little lady! Can you please recline a little?” and Janan regained her equilibrium.
Just as the morning breeze brought the musky smell of the surroundings to our ensemble, they arrived at Çoban Çeşmesi. Can you guess what crossed Râkım’s mind? Let’s see. He told Josephine,
RKIM: Hey, listen! The lady who has never taken a morning trip, who hasn’t tasted the pleasures of Istanbul! Do you know what just occurred to me?
JOSEPHINE: It must be something good.
RKIM: I think it’s good; I’m not sure what you’ll think.
JOSEPHINE: Come on, tell me, what is it?
RKIM: I have a craving for fresh sheep’s milk. Would you like some?
JOSEPHINE: Is that even possible?
RKIM: Why shouldn’t it be possible? Do you also have a craving for it? Just tell me!
JOSEPHINE: Sure, why not?
RKIM (to the rower): Old Osman, do you know what just crossed my mind?
OLD OSMAN: What, Sir?
RKIM: I was wondering if we could find a dairy around here and drink some fresh milk. I mean further down, near the Alibey Stream, but any place will do.
You probably think that this request was bothersome for the rowers! To be honest, it really was bothersome to turn back after having come all the way to Çoban Çeşmesi. But not for Old Osman. Because he was Râkım’s neighbor and knew this young man well. So, without any hesitation, Old Osman said,
OLD OSMAN: Very well, Sir, why not? We’re already in the boat. Our arms aren’t tired yet. We can keep wandering and if we get bored, we’ll go to Eyüp Sultan.
RKIM: Bravo, Old Osman!
OLD OSMAN: Just because you see some grey in his beard, do you think that Old Osman has become an old man? If I start rowing from here, I’ll get to Beykoz in no time at all.
RKIM: May God give strength to your arms, Old Osman!
While saying these words, Old Osman began to pull back the right oars and push the left ones and turned the boat around. They found a dairy at the mouth of the Alibeyköy stream and the flock of sheep was still there, having just been milked. Janan and Josephine gazed at the sheep and lambs from afar with pleasure. Râkım called the dairyman over and had him bring a couple bowls of fresh milk. They drank it thirstily. We should also mention that each rower drank as much as two or three men would have.
After this, they pushed off, passed Çoban Çeşmesi, and this time put ashore near the waterfalls. They put their things ashore and spread their blanket under a tree.
Now, we can cut the rest of this story of the Kağıthane outing short by saying, “They enjoyed themselves greatly and then returned home.” However, is there any need for that? If we were to cut everything short, we could’ve told this story in a single page rather than in an entire volume. Besides, those who go to Kağıthane for an entire day don’t just sit there the entire time. As Old Osman was accustomed to drinking coffee, he quickly rustled up a fire. Coffee was set on the fire, heated, and drunk. Later, Râkım and Josephine took Janan along and began wandering around under the trees near the water and up into the meadows. Poor Janan, isn’t she still a child after all? When she saw herself in this meadow, as wide as a poet’s imagination, her enthusiasm and merriment grew just as wide and she leapt and ran about ardently. She came up with excuses for her playfulness, and Josephine understood:
JOSEPHINE: Janan, can you catch me?
JANAN (rejoiced): Of course I can.
RKIM (realizing what was going on): No, you can’t catch her. Go on then, run!
Josephine began to run. Janan ran after her. With zigzags and twists, Josephine made the girl run pretty well. So much so that they both turned red and were out of breath. Later, when they came back and reunited with Râkım, Josephine said slowly, “I entertained the child but now I’m exhausted!”
This trip to the meadows lasted for nearly an hour. Then they returned to their original spot. It was already a couple hours after sunrise. They were
famished, as they had woken up early that day, so they had some breakfast. During breakfast they continued to talk about the beauty of Kağıthane and how splendid it was to watch the sunrise on the sea. Later on, they listened to Janan express her delight.
There was almost no one at Kağıthane that day. Even by midmorning, only an Armenian family had settled in the upper meadows. Josephine voiced her regret at not having remembered to bring her guitar along. She sang a few songs but without a guitar the audience didn’t take as much pleasure in it. If one were to make a proper effort to contemplate the surroundings of such a strikingly beautiful place, one could surely find enough beauty in nature to ponder until nightfall, or even an entire week. Yet, it’s human nature to keep looking for additional entertainment, which our people did. Their first entertainment was to resettle themselves on the other side of the tree away from the sun, which had invaded their location and was becoming bothersome. At Nanny’s suggestion, each of them gripped one side of their blanket and carried it into the shade. Their next entertainment was to have Janan memorize the lyrics to some French songs. What a smart girl! She would learn a song of fifteen to twenty couplets in as many minutes, and she would never forget it.
This entertainment lasted for another hour or so, and then they set down to eat their late morning meal. At Râkım’s suggestion and with Josephine’s consent, they drank two glasses of rakı. Later, they took out the cold meat, stuffed grape leaves, halva, and grilled beef patties, which had been prepared by Nanny, and set aside shares for the rowers. They ate joyfully for about an hour. During this time, another boat passed by and a group of people disembarked near the waterfalls and walked up to the center of the meadows, where they settled.
After the meal, sleep, which had begun to overwhelm them in the growing warmth of the day, finally got the better of them. With the exception of Nanny, the three others moved to the shady side of the tree and lay down on the blanket and slept. Oh, dear Nanny! Was there any greater pleasure in this world than seeing Râkım Efendi having fun? She was enlivened by the delight these youngsters were taking in that day.
Felâtun Bey and Râkim Efendi Page 11