to fall at a late inued till da t reading Ster again and again. I paced in ty room of ty oick; in t of tcense quivering of my beloved’s angry letters, ts turned trying to deceive me and t-to-left progression. Abruptly, tters ured and ripened in my imagination.

    In t I lost myself in dreams of marriage: I s about my love or t it ed—ate of great contentment—but, my imaginary  in a aircase, e o make her heed my words.

    I kneed tion on ts as a bac time, I recalled t tually advice on ts of marriage in t same section, ts: first,  in order (t of self-abuse and of dragging myself—an even deeper sense of guilt—beo titutes.

    t of salvation at te  masturbation to mind.

    ito rid my mind of tired to a corner of t, but after a er twelve years!

    truck sucement and fear into my  t I remble like t to present  tter, e belief into play?  tuttering as I myself did, rying to creak to my every question.

    I looked at ture I’d made years ago,   didn’t

    embarrass me as it  came to mind in subsequent years, nor did it bring back my ouation: By returning ture, Sory cerfully luring me into. I sat in t and e ter of response.

    In ter sleeping for a spell, I  out and reets, carrying tter upon my breast and my ligom, in my sasanbul’s narroreets and freed ty of its croer and slo’d been in my co  Istanbul’s roofs, domes and gardens just as ter days of my youtly, listening to my steps in tced, expecting t my Enised me to visit to be as silent as treets. Before I entered ter, I sent tle street urco Esto deliver my letter to Selling o meet me before time prayers.

    I arrived early at tisans’ en visited my Enisime worked as a cice.

    Follo elderly master binders dazed from te, master miniaturists s  even looking into tove. In a corner, I saiculously painting an ostricically embellisice graciously cnessed young students being reprimanded as t toucried to understand takes tice, ten momentarily about colors, papers and painting, stared into treet I’d just now eagerly walked down.

    e climbed taircase. e ico, udents, obviously trembling from te ting—per beating. I recalled my early youtings given to students

    s, and tinado, il they bled.

    e entered a ers,  and an but merely a largise mountains of t.

    Immediately off to ter, I saor, Master Osman, for t time in fifteen years; ion. emplated illustrating and painting during my travels, t master fit and in te ligs of ticed tled, and I introduced myself. I explained e  t I’d preferred a bureaucratic post and left. I recounted my years on time spent in Eastern cities in treasurer’s secretary. I told  Pas calligrapors in tabriz and produced books;  time in Bagiflis, and tles.

    “Aiflis!” t master said, as  t from tering t snohere now?”

    ted ters istry; ain age, lived ly,  raig e vely and t s sno simply fall to t o t onto memories as ress of tiflis, their pillows for summer.

    “Do tell me ors and painters illustrate in tries you’ve visited,”  do t?”

    A dreamy-eyed young painter  in revery, raised  said, “Let t  answer.”

    Many of tsmen didn’t kno, but t test gossip East of Persia, ies before burning to tested eac verses ten and t illustrations and paintings uries.

    “Say-t years of rating and painting, turned s, illustrators and calligrapo aagonistic nature, so  o-be, bey years.

    As soon as Ismail assumed trangled—some of ed from ted older brot everyone, started to revolt. t after eac Pasial ferocity t all of Persia turned to smoke and dust and  in disarray. Indeed, t s of money and intelligence and  fit to sponsor ting and illustration of illuminated manuscripts. trators of Kazvin and , all ters, along ices, tisans s erflies fluttered off ter binders and calligrap one   itute, . Some migrated to t to India. Otook up different types of ing till otered t princes and provincial governors, all saining at most a feration. Rapidly transcribed, ily painted, ccastes of common soldiers, boorish pashas and spoiled princes.”

    “er Osman.

    “I  t Sadiki Bey illustrated a copy of Strange Creatures, commissioned by an Uzbek spay gold pieces. In tent of a vulgar pasurning from ern campaign to Erzurum, I being of leures including paintings by tuoso Siyavus masters rating  of any story at all. By examining suc tell  represented; rat for its o comment, ”t likeness of a iful,“ and you’d pay tist on this basis.

    Scenes of combat or fucking are quite common. tling battle o terested clients. to sell pieces on to better lure a buyer, some simply draw in black ink on nonsized, unfinisroke of color.”

    “tent as content could be and talented as talent er Osman. “o  o  Effendi.“ But ’s been six days, and  to be found anywhere. he’s plain disappeared.”

    “ such?” I said.

    “Butterfly, Olive, Stork and Elegant, ters ices, no  Our Sultan’s be,” said Master Osman.

    tly came about so tably on tivities ire an  arranged for a special urists in tyard; rat t  occurred to me t te’s book, I fell silent. to er Osman making insinuations?

    “Nuri Effendi,” o a pale and er, “present Our Master Black ual of Our Sultan’s bimonts to turists’ atelier during t exciting time ly folloranspired at the

    reasurer; Lokman, tic Cer Osman, tor, Our Sultan  any given moment: er miniaturists,  alloo accomplis saddened me t t  of trated, to er Osman often disappeared in a cloud of indignation and ers knoterfly, Olive, Stork and Elegant  an no longer ic like a co many miniaturists, Nuri Effendi  er of . Not in vain, able becoming tention to w o we page.

    And so I eagerly be time tivities, an’s prince. ill in Persia, I ories about ty-tanbul, icipated, indeed at a time  event  being prepared.

    In t picture placed before me, fixed in te Ibraan, tivities in t bespoke isfaction.

    so detailed as to permit one to distinguisures alone, ly and  side of ture san on t, tatar, Frankisian ambassadors standing in t sultans, tily and carelessly and focused on noticular besides tion in ter, I noticed in otures t t and page composition repeated—even tation, trees and terra-cotta sed in different styles and colors. Once text ten out by scribes, trations completed and turning pages, ely different activities in completely different colors in tcan and

    s—ically, forever gazing at the same area below.

    t s and birds emerge out of t ox and startle t . I saer coppersmit before Our Sultan, its members  copper but never striking t . I saan in a ioners reciting s poems as ts; and aged locksmity of s and gearlocks as times and new doors.

    Butterfly, Stork and Olive ure t depicted to marc dropping to t of a tambourine played by anotain K?l?? Ali Pasured at sea to make an “infidels’ mountain” out of clay; o t, and an, ain” to demonstrate c tators applauded lion tamers  until its eyes s page, I saing Islam, cian infidel. I indulged my eyes at lengture of a barber suspended upside do onto a cart, as omer , dressed in red, aining fragrant soap, ing for bakser tity of t miniaturist responsible for the piece.

    “It is indeed important t a painting, ts beauty, summon us tooo for ted, and toion and faitity of turist is not important.”