Death - “I am a Corpse”
Master Elegant Effendi narrates, “am dead, but I have not been buried, and therefore my soul has not completely left my body. This extraordinary situation, although naturally my case isn’t the first, has inflicted horrible suffering upon the immortal part of me. Though I cannot feel my crushed skull or my decomposing body covered in wounds, full of broken bones and partially submerge in ice-cold water, I do feel the deep torment of my soul struggling desperately to escape its mortal coil….I instantly understood that the wretch wanted to kill me when he unexpectedly struck me with a stone and cracked my skull, but I didn’t believe he’d follow through.” Master Effendi’s demise is attributed to murder. According to him, humans espouse an immortal soul which does not cease to exist after death. He gives a precise imagery of the aftermath of death which is characterized by disintegrating body parts.
Love - “I am Called Black”
The narrator recounts, “It was in Istanbul, twelve years ago, that I fell helplessly in love with my young cousin. Four years after I first left Istanbul, while travelling through the endless steppes, snow-covered mountains and melancholy cities of Persia, carrying letters and collecting taxes, I admitted to myself that I was slowly forgetting the face of the childhood love I’d left behind. With growing panic, I tried desperately to remember her, only to realize that despite love, a face long not seen finally fades.” The geographical separation between Black and his love contributes to the repression of his memories of her. Black’s engagements are a distraction which diverts his concentration from the childhood love. Accordingly, distance is a significant factor in the endurance of love memories.
