I felt a deep sympathy for these kind, simple-hearted people living in this unknown part of Turkey. They never bothered or disturbed me. When they saw I had a headache, they kept their distance and spoke quietly. When I told them I was feeling better, they were genuinely happy. They lit the fire again, and the guitar started playing cheerfully. We drank coffee, and more coffee, and even more coffee.
The Power of Coffee
Drinking coffee constantly—twenty or thirty cups a day—makes the Turks slow and tired. For centuries, they have been drinking large amounts of coffee. Every little Turk grows up with a sluggish liver. When people ask me how to help the Turkish nation become more energetic, I say: “The first step is to stop drinking so much coffee. Fix the livers of the Turks before you try to fix their minds Socialist Museum.”
Sharing Stories of Europe
None of my friends had seen anything beyond the city of Adrianople. Some hadn’t even been there. When I told them about London, they listened carefully, like children hearing a fairy tale. Everything had to be translated by my dragoman, but they didn’t laugh at my strange speech. I told them about the streets, the buses, the fast trains, the underground subway, and the telephone. The Europeans were amazing, and very rich! They believed that if Turkey was as rich, they could do the same things. I tried to explain that it was these things that made England rich, but they didn’t agree. They thought that with wealth, anything was possible.
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