Nemet Metin - A New World

‘The places to which human feet didn’t touch after the Chernobyl Disaster turned green. The nature returned to itself. The wild animals, birds live their life freely. All the places where there aren’t human beings become more beautiful,’’ my uncle said.

I was listening to my uncle attentively. I couldn’t finish counting the wrinkles on his forehead. He isn’t tired of worrying. Maybe it is his only hobby.

‘A war is inevitable in the island where two people live. A peace is just a period between two wars. To overthrow the state, policy, meetings, risings, prison, a nuclear weapon, crimes, the smoke of the transports that damage ozone layer, elections. A koala bear on the branch of a tree never thought about such ugliness. Or the lion which hunts the ill fawn in order to protect the cleanness of the nature didn’t think any of these…Human beings…’

My uncle wiped the sweat on his forehead. Though I was his only listener he didn’t look at my face. As if he was talking the angels flapping their wings in the air. He was lost in thoughts. From one side I enjoyed from listening to him, from other side I mused whether he had gone mad or not.

‘Why did we come to life? Horrible diseases spread all over the world. People rotten and are dead within some days. All what you gained during your life was in vain. The money, gold-jewelry you collected all your life is distributed among the relatives,’ my uncle said and I felt his throat became dry, I poured him tea.

‘After copper was discovered they got blue color from its corrosion. Till that time the artists drew the sky in green color.  Ah, what things we discovered as we developed. The taste of the fruit you bite for the first time is written on your memory. You can’t escape from it. I wonder whether the people think about it or not?’

I wanted to answer his question. Then I understood that my uncle addressed his question to the invisible angels on the sky. Who knows maybe he had addressed the question to himself. I don’t know.

‘We live in difficult time. Some days ago a middle aged man fell down in the centre of the street. All the people gathered around him. Imagine, the accident happened in the time when coronavirus is main problem. I thought so at that time. A woman began to grumble.

‘Help him. He is dying,’ she said.

‘Don’t worry. I called 103. They are coming,’ somebody replied.

‘I also called,’ the other man said.

But I called 102,’ one of the people said.

All the people who had been gathered around the man who lost his consciousness said some words. A doctor from the  Children’s hospital situated nearby approached the man slowly as if he was accustomed to see such incidents. He knelt down the man and checked his pulse. Then he helped the man to smell ammonium chloride. The man whose face reddened a little began to wake up slowly and then fainted again. When the doctor was going to leave the people began to grumble. The doctor got angry.

‘I did my best. What must I do?’

The voice of a man was heard from a distance.

‘Please, hurry up. He is dying here.’

The man was talking on the mobile phone. It is strange, when the people see unusual incident they are afraid of giving reaction. They wait for something. The policemen arrived. They slapped the man and he woke up. It appeared that the man was drunk. In such a time even it is dangerous to be drunk. As soon as the police arrived the people began to disperse. The man who had just been woken up approached me stumbling and asked in Russian.

‘My friend, is it worth to live in this life?’

‘Well, to live is difficult. But it is necessary to live.’

The drunk man waved his hand and then he turned his face and continued walking. At that time I realized that when the deadly diseases are spread the people are terrified and try to help one another. They are afraid the virus might spread broadly. Once I asked myself such a question:’ Which one is better? To live hundred years without doing anything for the sake of humanity or to die when you are young, thirty years old, after helping not only some persons even a number of citizens of the country?’

I felt a rough hand on my shoulder and winced.

‘Listen to me,’ my uncle said.’ I want to tell you an instructive story. Then you will understand everything. One day a pupil came to his master. The master was a clever man.

‘Ey, guy, I see you want to say something. Please, tell me, why you have come.’

‘Master, why do the cats land on their paws? Though you drop them on their back they go round in the air and fall on the ground easily. Is it the miracle of the God?’

‘The God don’t have enough time to be engaged in such small things. The God is your thoughts. It appears you need to tidy up your thoughts.’

‘My master, you didn’t answer my question.’

‘You must learn yourself. Go and examine carefully, then come and inform me about the result.’

So, the pupil said good-bye to his master and began to look for a cat.  At last, he could be able to catch a cat. He smoothed the cat and gave him small pieces of meat until they reached a small mound in knee-height. He started to carry out his experiment. At least 20 times the pupil dropped the cat on its back through the mound, each time the cat rotated in the air and landed on its feet. The pupil scratched his bald head. He couldn’t understand anything. Then he made his way to his master. As the master saw the pupil he smiled.

‘Hey, round-headed, did you learn anything?’

‘No, master, I learned nothing.’

‘I knew it will be so. Follow me.’

The master stood up quickly and headed outside. Saying nothing to the pupil he set out towards the hill. The pupil asked him anything seeing that he kept silence. When the master reached the hill in the height of a human body the master put his right hand on his pupil and stood face to face with him. And saying nothing he pushed the pupil from the hill. The pupil didn’t lose himself, did acrobatic acts, rotated and landed on his feet.’

‘Well, did you understand?’ the master asked his pupil and without waiting his answer he continued his talk.

‘You are open-eyed, watchful. In order to land on your feet you rotated in the air.  You couldn’t learn it by carrying out experiment with cats, because their ancestors who landed on their back and broke their spinal column, died hundreds years ago. In the struggle only the strong ones can be survived. It isn’t a miracle. It is to be accustomed, to struggle and to survive.’

My uncle was sweating profusely. His shirt had become wet. He was speaking about to struggle, but he couldn’t win over his sweat. Since that day I also became as thoughtful as my uncle. I don’t know whether it is entertainment or torture. Maybe it is entertaining torture.

Fifteen years passed. Now I am waiting for my brother’s son to grow up , then I shall teach him to think. For example, I shall tell my brother’s son as following.

‘In the films they demonstrate us nonsense. Terminator can cry. But Robot can’t cry. Even it can’t invade the world. Robot doesn’t have the feeling of hatred, the wish of conquering the entire world, altogether, it doesn’t have any purpose. It can simply work instead of people. The future will be so. Human beings aren’t slave. The robots will work instead of people. You are welcome to the new world.’