1931.07 Мирза-Ахмад и Рузы-Али - Mirza-Ahmad and Ruzy-Ali
(Uzbek legend)
Leonid Solovyov
It’s a pitch-black night. The moon is dimly veiled. Outside, it’s cold, damp, and raining.
It’s warm in the tent. A small fire burns in the wall. It goes out. Occasionally it flares up in a billion sparks.
The reflection of the flame dimly gilds Mamad Ali’s beard.
Mamad-Ali moves his yellow teeth.
He tells a hoary legend. Both he and his legend are covered in the greenish mold of centuries.
Mamad-Ali is 96 years old.
Shadows run from the flames, rise upward and freeze like jelly under the ceiling.
* * *
“There was Tamerlane... The formidable king... Iron. Timur the Iron. The lame khan... Tamerlane—the Iron Lame.”
Mamad-Ali speaks Russian fluently.
“Tamerlane loved no one. If a person’s face didn’t touch the ground while bowing to him, their head would be chopped off.
“Such was Tamerlane. But there was a man who did not fear Timur. That man’s name was Mirza-Ahmad. Mirza-Ahmad’s life was famous. Go, my son, to Samarkand, you will see minarets there, slender as candles. High as an eagle’s flight. Their tops touch the clouds, and from them the muezzin speaks to Allah.
“And know that these minarets were built by Mirza Ahmad.
“He had no equal in this art. His fame spread far and wide.
“He had three students. He taught them, but since he was an envious, ambitious, and proud man, he did not confide in them the main secrets of construction, fearing that his fame would soon be extinguished.
“And he began to notice abilities in one of his students. He was not happy about this.
“One day, when a student made a model of a minaret from bricks the size of a fingernail, Mirza Ahmad trembled.
“The minaret was built, flexible, high and thin as a reed.
“Envy is a snake, my son. Above all, guard your heart from envy.
“Envy began to gnaw at Mirza-Ahmad.
“One day he said to the student who showed promise:
“ ‘Come with me.’
“Mirza Ahmad brought him to the shore of the Zeravshan and threw him into the water. Then he went home happy, saying to himself:
“ ‘Look, I got rid of my rival.’
“But the student did not drown. He was saved.
“Five years have passed.
“Tamerlane decided to build a new minaret, which would surpass all the others in magnificence.
“Mirza Ahmad began to make a plan, being confident that he would be invited as a builder.
“He locked himself in and sat there for two months.
“The plan was ready. And one day, when he went outside for the first time in two months, he sat down.
“A needle-minaret rose up under the clouds, and a builder, like a bug, worked at the top, fitting a crescent moon.
“Oh, I can’t tell you what kind of minaret it was. Did you see the lacy needles, my son? It was thinner.
“Have you seen the ship’s masts? It was slenderer, and its top supported the throne of Allah.
“Mirza Ahmad’s heart sank.
“He asked a passerby:
" ‘Who built the minaret?’
"Ruzy-Ali," he replied.
“It was Mirza-Ahmad's student, whom he thought he had drowned.
“And the builder’s heart froze...
“One dark night, he crept like a tiger up... the minaret.
“He cried out, "Allah!"... and his body began to spin and leap in the air.
“The next morning, a corpse was found near the minaret.
“They identified Mirza-Ahmad by his clothes.
The old man fell silent... We were silent... the night was silent.
A strange legend.
The village of Yainan
[600 words]
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