The Dark Valley Read Online Free PDF Page B

anyone and told her that he would be back the next day.
    The incident at the meeting had a negative effect on Vands’ Badi. He was outraged at those who had dared raise their hands against his son in broad daylight in a crowd. From that day on, the Isans’ son became an eyesore for Vands’ Badi.
    On the following day, as he was driving the cattle to the pasture, Badi was tempted to separate the cows of his son’s enemies from the rest of the herd, but his conscience would not let him. How could a tongueless beast be guilty of sin?
    On his way to the pasture Badi was lost in deep thought about why Habud had gone to the city, what the papers were that he had brought with him from distant places, why he was dissatisfied with the way things were in the village, and why he opposed Minas-the-Teacher.
    The following day, Habud came home, had a few bites to eat, and began to write.
    “Habud, you have written enough. Your eyes will be ruined,” his mother said to him in the middle of the night. But Habud continued to frantically write and erase. Dawn was close when Habud folded the papers, pressed them against his chest, and was on his way out.
    “Where to, my child?”
    “I’ll be back soon. I’m going to the city. I have some work to take care of. I’ll be back in the evening.”
    Badi pleaded with him that it was too dark outside, that it was an evil hour, that there were thousands of wicked spirits. He pleaded with Habud to wait until the sun was up, but Habud would not listen.
    “I’ll be all right. I’m not a virgin to these roads,” he said, closing the door behind him.
    On the next day, close to evening, news spread in the village that the city had experienced upheavals. The Bolsheviks, together with their troops, had attacked the city and knocked down the committee’s office. The people had looted shops. After the attack, the Bolsheviks had been surrounded and those who had knocked down the committee’s office were arrested.
    Vands’ Badi and Hatam’s daughter impatiently waited for Habud’s return. There was deafening silence in the hut. Had they been struck by misfortune?
    Habud did not return that evening. Early the next morning, they learned that he had also been arrested.
    “Can you believe that cretin? No one in our entire province is smarter than Minas-the-Teacher, but Badi’s son Habud, the son of a cowherd, is not satisfied!” the Isans’ conceited son was gloating to the crowd that had gathered in front of his shop that morning.
    “Now look who’s playing around with high prices: me or him? He never liked us, dear people, you be the judge,” he implored the villagers, feigning innocence.
    That day the price of cotton went up from one to two coins.
    * * *
    That day Vands’ Badi did not drive the cattle to the pasture. Instead he headed to the village and sadly announced that he was going to the city to find out what happened to his son.
    “He’s locked up in the fort. What are you mourning for, old man?” Zaki-the-Messenger said.
    Some of the villagers felt for him and drove the village cattle to the pasture themselves.
    It had been many years since Badi had been to the city. He remembered Master Khachi’s caravansary at the edge of the city. He told himself that he would go there, ask around, and find out what happened to his son.
    But no sooner had Badi set foot outside the village than he was told that the caravansary had also been burned down, because the Bolsheviks had tied up their horses there.
    To whom was he to go? Why not straight to Minas-the-Teacher? He was an important man with a committee in the city and all. He would plead with him, kiss his hands and feet, and hope that that would be enough to free Habud.
    The closer Badi came to the city, the more his knees shook, and the more he shuffled his feet. He stopped a few times, wiped the sweat off his brow with his hat, caught his breath, and continued on the road.
    He finally reached the caravansary. The beams were still