第5部分(第5/7 頁)

cared。　I　pitied　him。　But　it　was　too

late　for　that。　I　prayed　to　God　to　give　me　one　more　sign　that　the　man　standing

before　me　was　not　only　a　dim…witted　coward；　but　an　unredeemable　disgrace。

“Count　off　twelve　steps　and　dig；”　I　said。

“Then；　what　will　you　do？”

“I’ll　explain　it　all　to　Enishte　Effendi；　and　he’ll　burn　the　pictures。　What　other

recourse　is　there？　If　one　of　Nusret　Hoja’s　followers　hears　of　such　an　allegation；

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nothing will remain of us or the book…arts workshop。 Are you familiar with

any　of　the　Erzurumis？　Accept　this　money　so　that　we　can　be　certain　you　won’t

inform　on　us。”

“What　is　the　money　contained　in？”

“There are seventy…five Veian gold pieces inside an old ceramic pickle

jar。”

The　Veian　ducats　made　good　sense；　but　where　had　I　e　up　with　the

ceramic　pickle　jar？　It　was　so　foolish　it　was　believable。　I　was　thereby　reassured

that God was with me and had given me a sign。 My old panion

apprentice；　who’d　grown　greedier　with　each　passing　year；　had　already　started

excitedly　counting　off　the　twelve　steps　in　the　direction　I　indicated。

There　were　two　things　on　my　mind　at　that　moment。　First　of　all；　there　were

no Veian coins or anything of the sort buried there！ If I didn’t e up

with some money this buffoon would destroy us。 I suddenly felt like

embracing the oaf and kissing his cheeks as I sometimes did when we were

apprentices； but the years had e between us！ Second； I was preoccupied

with figuring out how we were going to dig。 With our fingernails？ But this

contemplation；　if　you　could　call　it　that；　last