| ASKAR:
|
Thank
you. Goodbye! |
| GULCHOHRA:
|
(going
in) Thank you, too. Goodbye! |
| ASKAR: |
(alone).
Frankly speaking, I haven’t seen à better
girl than this one. Perhaps, I’ll never
see. Come on Askar. Say, she is your
fortune! Marry her! Sultan bay hasn’t
seen me, but he has heard about me.
Hå knows that I am à rich fellow merchant.
If I ask, he' ll agree to our marriage.
But if the girl knows that I am really
à cloth peddler, will she marry me then?
May God help, if the girl came out again,
if I could see her once again, I would
speak to her again! Stop... (Hå is
looking at the door). I think somebody
is coming. Let me hide and see who it
is. |
|
Hå
hides himself, the door opens and
Gulchohra comes out
|
| GULCHOHRA: |
As
Asya says, the cloth peddler is really
à handsome guy. Hårå now, if we ask
Asya to marry him, she will commit such
à disgrace, saying, "is Arshin
Malchi my equal"? But to my opinion
to be à cloth peddler is not à bad profession
at all. Hå is the same as à merchant.
By God, if father agreed, I’d marry
him. Because I have seen his face after
all. I know that he is neither blind,
nor bald and cripple, and his face is
also lovely. His face resembles à gentleman’s.
By God, if you dress him in fashion,
he will be as à nice guy, as à bayzadeh*...
Hå says to me my hand is abundant. And
he was looking at me so, as if there
was nobody besides me around. If I could
see him again, I’d look at him attentively.
Oh, look, what I'm saying, who knows,
may be he has a wife and kids. |
|
(She
ponders in thoughts)
(Askar appears with the Arshin under
his arm).
|
| ASKAR: |
Excuse
me, khanim! |
| GULCHOHRA: |
(started)
Oh my God, I was frightened. |
| ASKAR: |
Don’t
be afraid, Khanim. It seems to me I’ve
forgotten my Arshin here. |
| GULCHOHRA: |
If
you had, it would be here. |
| ASKAR: |
Never
mind. I have another at home. |
| GULCHOHRA:
|
(aside)
Hå is looking at me in the same way.
When our glances meet as if I’m struck
by thunder. |
| ASKAR:
|
Khanim,
I wish Sultan bay had 10 such daughters
as you are... |
| GULCHOHRA: |
So,
what do you mean? |
| ASKAR: |
I
mean he would marry each of his daughter
to à bay, to à khan, to à merchant,
to à mullah, to à seyyid, finally one
of them he would give to me... |
| GULCHOHRA: |
Màó
be... |
| ASKAR: |
But
he would not, of course, not. Hå is
à bay, but I’m à simple cloth peddler.
Hå will not agree to give his daughter
to me... (Hå says ironically). Besides,
even if he agrees, the girl will not... |
| GULCHOHRA: |
Are
you à bachelor? |
| ASKAR:
|
Yes,
I’m quite à bachelor. By God’s abundance,
my business is quite well. I have à
piece of bread. I don’t starve. |
| GULCHOHRA:
|
But
why haven’t you married yet? |
| ASKAR: |
How
can I marry? I won’t marry the girl
whom I haven’t seen. There is only one
girl which I saw and whom I liked among
the girls and who is close to my heart.
But she will not be given to me. |
| GULCHOHRA: |
Won’t
the girl herself agree to marry you? |
| ASKAR: |
Probably
she will not. She is the daughter of
à bay. |
| GULCHOHRA:
|
First
you must ask the girl. How do you know
she will not agree? |
| ASKAR: |
You
are right, khanim, in that case, tell
me please, will you marry me? |
| GULCHOHRA: |
(in
surprise) Who? I? |
| ASKAR:
|
Yes,
you. You are the girl whom I like! |
| GULCHOHRA: |
I
thought she was another one... |
| ASKAR:
|
There
can’t be another one except you. |
| GULCHOHRA: |
Did
you like me from the first sight? |
| ASKAR: |
Certainly
khanim, love transfers from vision to
the bottom of one’s heart. As soon as
I saw you, my heart began to beat quickly
with joy. |
| GULCHOHRA:
|
By
God, it happened with me so, too. |
