It was significant that Abdulla’s novel began not with the miraculous discovery of the bunch of grapes, but with the game of bozkashi over the carcass of a goat.

Абдулланинг ўз қиссасини кеч кузда ғайбдан пайдо бўлган бир бошча узумдан эмас, улоқдан бошлаганича ҳам бор экан.

On 31 December, they had broken into his house, ignoring the shrieks and cries of his children and wife who had gathered round the dinner-table for the New Year’s feast. The NKVD men overturned the dinner table and stormed through the house, ransacking everything, rummaging through Abdulla’s books and papers: just then, the spectacle of that game of bozkashi passed through Abdulla’s mind.

Янги йил арафаси, 31-нчи декабр куни уйига бостириб кела, Янги йил кутамиз деб турган бола-чақанинг доду-войию оби-дийдасига қарамай, ўртадаги байрам дастурхонини ағдар-тўнтар қилиб, Абдулланинг китобу-қоғозларини тинтувига киришишганида, ана ўша улоқ саҳнаси бир кечиб ўтди Абдулла хаёлидан.

This wise woman described the girl so vividly that the Emir suspected it could not be true. When the other guests had left, he questioned Oftob, and the cunning princess replied, ‘My lord, I have been lucky enough to see this girl: her face is as smooth as porcelain, her eyes are like two evening stars when night falls, her waist is as small as a wasp’s, her buttocks are as heavy as rounded sacks of sand…’ Oftob resorted to the language of A Thousand and One Nights, which she and the Emir had so loved to listen to when they were children: Umar’s heart was conquered. 

Ул қилвир хотин қизнинг таърифини зиёда қилдики, Амирул-мўминийн орада таъмами ё ғараз бор деган гумонга борди, бироқ барча тарқагач, Умархон ўз сингли Офтоб-ойим билан қолганида, ул маликаи айёр негадир янгидан ўрганган Шаҳрихон шевасида: “Ҳа, тузук, бу қизди мен ҳам кўрғонман-да, бети - синмаган сопол ой, кўзлари – тун бошида ярақлаган Чўлпон, бели - болчи арининг белидек ингичка, думбаси қум уюмидек оғир”, - деб болалигида бирга тинглаган “Минг бир кеча” тавсифларидан келтирган заҳоти, Амирнинг юраклари дарз кетди. Эртак айтмиш, энди чегачига эҳтиёж унинг бутун вужудини қамради...

Several times he sent matchmakers to G’ozi-xo’ja’s house, but the reply was always ‘no’. The pretext was that Oyxon was betrothed to a relative, that their marriage was imminent, after which G’ozi-xo’ja gave a detailed account of his poverty and complained that he was being unjustly punished and that Umar’s actions contradicted the laws of Islam; but, if his Lordship wished to force a marriage, then that was in his power and on his conscience. G’ozi-xo’ja added that his wife hadn’t stopped weeping since the
matchmakers started pestering their household. Then he sent the matchmakers away. And yet…

Бир эмас икки дафъа Ғози-хожанинг уйига совчи юборди, иккала сафар ҳам йўқ жавобини эшитди. Бирида: “Бу мастурамизни қариндошлардан бирига унаштириб қўйганмиз, яқин орада тўй қилишга умунганмиз” - деган эса, иккинчи кез Ғози-хожа ўз аламини очиқроқ ифода этибди. “Мен ғурбатда юрган бир айбаки ғариб бўлсам. Амирул-мўминийннинг бу саъи-корлари на адолат юзасидан, на дину-диёнат жиҳатидан ақлга тўғри келади. Агар зўрлик билан олмоқчи бўлсалар, яна ўзлари биладилар!” - деб хотинларнинг йиғи-сиғисини қўшиб, совчиларни қайтарган экан. Лекин...

It was dark when the car came to a sudden halt and Abdulla lost the thread of his thoughts. They must have arrived at the prison. What had he been thinking about? Oh yes, the five bright-red oranges he hadn’t been able to give his children, now left in a house where the lights were out. When he was still very young, he’d written a story called ‘Devils’ Dance’ about something terrible that had happened to his father. Could Abdulla have been taken captive by devils, as his father was?

Шу пайт ичи қоронғи машина таққа тўҳтаб, Абдулланинг хаёлини узди. Манзилига етиб келишибди-да... Нималарни ўйлаётган эди боягинда. Ҳа, қандили ўчган уйдаги болаларига улашилмаган бешта қуёшранг норинж ҳақида... Аттанг-а! Йўқ, навқирон ёшлигида ёзган бир ҳикояси бўлгич эди. Отасининг бир ваҳимали саргузашти ҳақида. “Жинлар базми” деган... Отасига ўхшаб Абдулланиям жин босдими?

Hands cuffed, elbows gripped, Abdulla was taken down a dark staircase into the building’s basement. In one of the niches, by the dim light of the caged paraffin lamp, a swarthy Russian stuck his hands under Abdulla’s gown and poked in all his pockets, pulling out everything to the last penny, and then, after feeling his trousers, removed his thick leather belt. ‘Sign this!’ he barked, holding out a piece of paper. Abdulla gestured to his handcuffed wrists. ‘Well, scribbler,’ the guard laughed, ‘you’ve had your itchy little
hands put out of action!’ He kicked Abdulla in the knee so hard that the latter curled up in agony. ‘Hold the pen with your teeth,’ the Russian demanded.

Қўлида кишани билан Абдуллани қоронғу бинонинг қоронғу зиналари бўйлаб қоронғу ертўласига судрашди. Ертўланинг бир хонасида темир катакка илинган жинчироқ остида пешанаси кетга кетган бир барзангидек ўрис Абдулланинг чопони остига қўлини тиқиб, чўнтакларини кавлаб, сариқ чақагача бор пулини йиғиб олди-да, сўнг иштонига ёпишиб, ултон қамарини ечди. “Мана бунга имзо чек!” – деб бир парча қоғозни узатар экан, Абдулла қўлидаги кишанга имо қилган эди: “Ҳа, ёзувчишка, қичиган қўлларинг қисқарибди-да!” - деб тиззасига оғир ўтиги билан тепган эди, қимтилаб Абдулла чидаб бўлмас оғриқдан икки эгилди. “Тишла энди ручкани!” - деб ўшқирди бу бандибон жаллод.

You get used to physical pain: you synchronise your breathing to its throbbing waves, you are ready for the waves to surge up and you can wait for the waves to die down. But the pains of humiliation are unbearable, and it is impossible to endure the suffering caused by your own helplessness. At first Abdulla attributed Vinokurov’s brutality to the fact that he was a Russian, but he then recalled that among the men who searched his house there had been an interrogator who spoke Uzbek like a Tatar, replacing all his ‘j’s with ‘y’s.

Лўққиллаган оғриққа ҳам кўникса бўларкан: нафасингни оғриқ тўлқинларига мослайсан-да, бу мавжнинг авжини атайин кутасан, лекин адолатсизлик аламига чидаб бўлмайди, кучсизлик азобига бардош бериш қийин. Абдулла аввалига анавининг бағритошлигинию юрагини анор қилиб эзган бу оғриқни унинг ўрислигига йўйди, бироқ уйидан чиқаверишида афтидан андироқ татар терговчининг “ий”лаганроқ талаффузидаги гаплари эсига тушди: “Сини биз билябиз. Уртақларинг барлиғини бизгя йеткургянляр...”

In prison you can’t avoid getting a kicking. In 1926, too, Abdulla had been beaten within an inch of his life. What made his blood boil was not the physical pain so much as the treachery of his own people, black-eyed blood relatives whom he had trusted and considered to be friends. Back then he’d begged for death’s release: that would have been easier to bear than the company of his own black-eyed friends. He’d been too young then: he hadn’t thought of his children, nor of Rahbar.

Қамоқ борки қамоқда тепки емасдан қолмайсан. 26-нчи йили ҳам Абдуллани ўлардек тепкилашган. Унда ўзининг эгиз ўзбеклари. Лекин унда ҳам юрагини қон қилгани бу тепкилару муштлар эмас, ўзи ишонган, ўзи дўст деб тутинган қора кўзларнинг хиёнати бўлган эди. Ўшанда шу қора кўзларга қайта қараш ўрнига маҳкамадан тузукроғи уни отиб ташлашни сўраган эди. Ўшанда бебок ёшлик ғурурида на бола-чақасини, на Раҳбарини ўйлаган экан...

Less than a week after the bozkashi game, another message came from Chief Minister Hakim in Bukhara to Nasrullo in Qarshi. ‘Your father, our benefactor, has ended his journey on earth and set off for the true world. We keep the fortress’s high gates locked, and we have not yet announced this news to anyone else. Take this opportunity: bring your troops at a gallop to holy Bukhara and occupy the place that befits you.’ Since all the preparations for this outcome had been made, Nasrullo set off for Bukhara that same day with three hundred warriors.

Ўлоқдан бирор ҳафта ўтар-ўтмас Ҳаким-қушбегидан яна чопар келди: “Падари бузрукворингизнинг жон қуши дорул фанодан дорул бақога риҳлат қилди. Аркнинг ундур дарвозасини берк тутгандек бу хабарни ҳам ҳануз сир тутяпмиз. Фурсатни ғанимат билиб, черик ила Бухорои шарифга чобук қатъи манозил айлагайсиз!” - дея. Тадорик кўрилган эмасми, уч юз навкар ила Насруллоҳ Бухоро томон юзланди.