At the dinner table, I asked Halit Ayarcı, “What about the others? The little people?”
Suddenly his face flushed.
“Well, that’s why I’ve done what I’ve done,” he said. “But as for those working at the regulation stations, there’s nothing we can do. You will have to work with them.”
“But you, why don’t you work with them?” I asked.
He looked at me, astonished.
“I . . . I can see now how I was deceived.”
And with that, he began devouring his food.
Later that evening, after the crowd had broken up, we met again in my office. But there was a strange tension between us. In fact he seemed even more remote than that first time I met him in the coffeehouse in Sehzadebası. We played a round of backgammon. And when the game finished, we parted with a “good-bye and Godspeed.” The next time I saw Halit Ayarcı, he was laid out on his bed at home, following his terrible car accident.
Appendix
A GUIDE TO TURKISH PRONUNCIATION
a as in “father”
e as in “pet”
o as in “oh”
u like the oo in “boot”
ı like the u in “but”
ü like the u in “mute”
ö as in German: schön
c like the j in “jam”
ç sounds like ch
g is almost silent, lengthening the preceding vowel
j as in French: jamais
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF TURKISH NAMES AND HONORIFICS
Ottoman Turks did not generally have surnames. But they had a great wealth of first names, most of which carried lyrical, even ethereal, meanings. The surnames that Atatürk obliged all Turks to adopt almost overnight in 1934 also carried clear meanings. By and large, they reflected the new range of secular virtues and attitudes. Tanpınar has great fun with this cultural disconnect, and never more so than with Halit Ayarcı: translated literally, he becomes the “Timeless Regulator.” He and his sidekick, the “Blessed” Hayri, are similarly playful in their use of honorifics. This, too, is a time-honored tradition, and yet another double game: even as they and their associates defer to social hierarchies, they can savor the irony, and even the veiled insult, in the use of an overly elevated term.
It would be misleading to suggest that all Tanpınar’s characters carry hidden jokes in their names. But it would be shame to lose them all in translation. Below we translate a few of the most significant names, along with a list of honorifics.
Names
Abdüsselam: the pacifist, a servant of God; also mandrake.
Aristidi: the best (interesting considering his struggles with Lutfullah).
Asaf: vizier, one of great insight.
Aselban: caretaker of one of the four waters in heaven.
Ayarcı: the regulator.
Cemal: one with the beautiful countenance (deliberately ironic: Hayri rearranges his face).
Çesminigâr: an Ottoman winter soup made with egg and flour; the beloved’s eye.
Halit: lasting, constant, eternal.
Hayri: blessed, auspicious, fortunate.
Lutfullah: blessed or loved by God (equivalent to Amadeus)
Nasit: the reciter of poetry (as he proves a smooth talker at the trial and in his newly elevated position after marrying the aunt).
Nuri: pertaining to light, the one lit by the spiritual light of saintliness (it is “nur” in our “honor”).
Pakize: clean, pure, innocent.
Honorifics
Aziz: saint; dear, as in “my dear friend.”
Aga: lord, master, gentleman, village headman (sometimes spelled “agha”).
Bey: gentleman, sir.
Beyefendi: gentleman, sir but of a higher status or degree than “bey.”
Baldız: sister-in-law.
Efendi: master; also commonly added to a first name to lend a sense of higher standing or social rank.
Hanım: madam, lady.
Hanımefendi: madam or lady but of a higher status than “hanım.”
Hoca: an imam, a teacher; used generally with first names to elevate the sense of status or importance.
Hoca efendi: same as “hoca” but with even higher status; that is, esteemed hoca.
Usta: master, specialist; also added to names to stress the individual’s importance and/or capabilities.
Notes
3 A Parrot’s Tale: the Tuiname or Tutinama (also translated as Tales of a Parrot), a fourteenth-century Persian series of fifty-two stories.
4 Emsile and Avamil: books of basic Arabic grammar and model language.
4 muvakkit: religious timekeeper and clock repairman, the official keeper of time in the Ottoman Empire, a learned man involved in the study of philosophy and astronomy.
4 Mehmed IV: sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1648 to 1687.
6 kalfa: an apprentice, master builder, foreman.
10 Turgot: most likely Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot, French economist and statesman born 1727.
10 Necker: a French statesman of Swiss birth and finance minister under Louis XVI.
10 Schacht: German banker born 1877.
11 Abdülhamid II: Ottoman sultan.
14 Aziz: literally refers to a saint but is aslo used as a term of endearment meaning “beloved” or “my good friend.”
20 Receb: the seventh month of the Arabic calendar; considered one of the three holy months.
21 karagöz: one of the lead characters in traditional Turkish shadow-puppet theater.
21 Efendi: literally “master” but commonly used for “sir.”
21 iftar: the breaking of the fast at sunset during the holy month of Ramadan.
21 sahur: predawn meal before the day of fasting during Ramadan.
21 bismillah: a common oath meaning “dear God” or “in the name of God.”
23 Egyptian Affair: either the first Egyptian-Ottoman War (1831–33) or the second (1839–41).
26 makamsher: a mode in Turkish classical music; each makam has its own particular mood.
26 alaturca: in the Turkish or Eastern style.
26 alafranga: in the French or Western style.
30 in that era: after the rebellion of the Young Turks brought about the reestablishment of the constitution in 1908.
35 medrese: a college for Islamic instruction; in English often spelled “madrassa” or “madrasah.”
37 Armistice years: The Mudros Armistice, signed on October 31, 1918, called for total and unconditional surrender of Ottoman forces at the end of the First World War. A large allied fleet reached Istanbul on November 13, 1918. The allied occupation of Istanbul lasted until the departure of the final attachment of British troops on October 2, 1923.
37 Declaration of Independence: the birth of the Turkish Republic in 1923.
39 Arab Mosque: A former thirteenth-century Roman Catholic chapel dedicated to St. Paul. The only example of Gothic religious architecture in Istanbul. Renamed the Arab Mosque, after the Muslims expelled from Spain during the Inquisition. Located in Istanbul’s historic Galata neighborhood.
40 the emperor Andronikos: Andronikos I Komnenos, Byzantine emperor born c. 1118.
42 baglama: a stringed instrument also known as the saz.
46 Mahmud I: sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1730 to 1754.
46 kahvecıbası: the imperial coffee maker.
47 oya: needlework flower chains often used to decorate the edge of a headscarf.
47 saray: palace.
53 oud: a pear-shaped stringed instrument commonly used in Arabic, Hebrew, and Greek music.
55 Kahvecıbası Cemetery: cemetery of the imperial coffee maker.
60 han: an Ottoman inn for commercial travelers, with a closed inner courtyard for animals.
&n
bsp; 61 Ramadan: the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, during which Muslims observe a fast.
61 Kandil: one of the five Islamic holy nights when minarets are illuminated.
61 Saban: the eighth month of the Arabic calendar, which precedes the month of Ramadan.
69 ahretlik: from ahret, meaning the afterlife; a pious man; an adopted maid committed to a lifetime of service.
70 mehdi: prophet.
71 Mahmud Sevket Pasa: Ottoman soldier and statesman who played a role in the overthrow of Abdülhamid II. Assassinated in 1913.
72 hoca efendi: an esteemed instructor.
75 kusdili: a bird language that people use to communicate with one another.
83 Tünel: funicular going from the Galata Bridge to Beyoglu.
85 Seker Bayram: the festival of sweets following the feast of Ramadan.
86 Kurban Bayram: Eid ul-Adha, the sacrificial religious holiday celebrating Abraham’s obedience to God.
86 Burmalı Mescit: Built in 1540 in the Vefa neighborhood of Istanbul. Literally, the Spiral Mosque, for the spirals on its single minaret.
90 war in Anatolia: the War of Independence (May 19, 1919–July 24, 1923) was waged by nationalists following the Allies’ occupation of the land now known as Turkey in the aftermath of World War I.
94 meyhane: a tavern serving alcohol and meze.
98 Saliha Sultan: the mother of Ottoman sultan Mahmud I and the wife of the sultan Mustafa II.
126 onomancy: divinations based on a person’s name.
126 numerology: the study of the purported divine or mystical relationship between numbers and perceived events.
126 alchemy: the medieval precursor of modern chemistry, the effort to turn other solids into gold.
135 Bergson: Henri-Louis Bergson, French philosopher active in the first half of the twentieth century.
135 Kantian imperative: or categorical imperative, the ethical system devised by Immanuel Kant, which describes a moral law that applies to all rational beings and is independent of any personal motives or desires.
135 ortaoyunu: a kind of improvisational theater common in coffeehouses in the Ottoman Empire.
136 meddah: a coffeehouse storyteller or stand-up comedian.
137 bedesten: a market where antiques, jewelry, and works of art are sold; a covered bazaar; can be used to refer to the Grand Bazaar.
138 banu: a common name, used to refer to a beautiful woman, a lady.
138 cadu: a derivation of the Turkish word cadı meaning “witch” or “sorceress.”
145 battle of Holy Ali: either the Battle of Badr, in which Ali, successor of the prophet Muhammad according to Shia Muslims, defeated the Umayyad leader; or the Battle of Karbala’, again with the Umayyad, at which Ali was killed and his succession put to an end.
180 Taflan Deva Bey: a name meaning “the cherry laurel cure.”
215 Balıkpazarı: a lively street market in the historical Beyoglu neighborhood of Istanbul.
223 Bukagılı Dede: an Istanbul saint; literally, the Hobbling Saint.
223 Elekçi Baba: An Istanbul saint; literally, the Garbler.
223 Uryan Dede: an Istanbul saint; literally, the Naked Ancestor.
223 Tezveren Sultan: a legendary saint some say was a woman.
223 Yilanlı Dede: an Istanbul saint; literally, the Ancestor of Snakes. People believed praying at his tomb gave them children.
223 Karpuz Hoca: literally, Master Watermelon.
223 Sheikh Mustafa of Altıparmak: literally, Sheikh Mustafa of Goldfinger.
223 Deli Hafiz: an Istanbul saint; literally, the Crazy, who has memorized the Koran.
223 Sheikh Virani: literally, the Sheikh in Ruins.
223 Gömleksiz Dede: An Istanbul saint; literally, the Saint Shirtless.
226 masallah: praise God, wonderful.
230 baldız: sister-in-law.
230 Mahur: a makam in Turkish classical music, known for its lively and soothing properties.
230 Isfahan: both a city in Iran and a makam in Turkish classical music.
230 Rast: a makam in Turkish classical music.
278 Graham: Benjamin Graham, an American economist and professional inventor.
278 rabia: split seconds, famous female mystic, the fourth.
281 Çelebi: honorific meaning “gentleman.”
286 Spengler: Oswald Spengler, German historian of philosophy born 1880.
301 Committee of Union and Progress: A revolutionary political organization that aligned with the Young Turks in 1906 and oversaw the reinstatement of the constitution in 1908. After a brief flirtation with democracy, its leaders moved back to authoritarian rule and are thought by some to have orchestrated the mass slaughter and deportation of Anatolia’s Armenians. Having taken the Ottomans into World War I on the side of the Germans, the committee was disbanded, and in some cases its members court-martialed, at the war’s end.
342 Osman Hamdi: Ottoman archeologist, painter, and curator born in Istanbul in 1842.
346 Bektasi ceremony: the Bektasi Sufi order was founded in the thirteenth century, active throughout the Ottoman Empire, and linked with the janissaries until both were banned by Mahmud II in 1826.
350 estagfurullah: of Arabic origin, meaning “don’t mention it” or “don’t so think so badly of yourself.”
353 semaiye: a style of poem in folk literature.
354 maya: a traditional folk song.
354 Satan’s Mountain: a legendary mountain in southeast Turkey.
358 zeybek: a traditional dance from the Aegean region of Turkey, which calls for slow and high knee steps and arms swinging widely through the air.
378 Üç Serefli Mosque: Built in Edirne in 1410 by Müslihiddin Aga, master to the famous architect Mimar Sinan, the mosque has four minarets, one rising from each corner of a large courtyard. The highest minaret has three balconies, and each balcony (seref) is accessible by a different set of stairs.
Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar, The Time Regulation Institute
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