Cricket201909

(Lars) #1
MASH ASSADOLLAH WAS
thegroceratourcornerstore.Standing
behindhisglassdisplaycase,hetoreouta
pagefroma book.Hetwistedthepageinto
a cone-shapedenvelopeandthenfilledit with
tobacco.Heplacedit ona brasstrayonthe
leftsideofhisscale,andthentoweighthe
tobacco,heputsmall,numberedironweights
onebyoneontherightsideofthescaleuntil
thetwotrayswereinbalance.Hefoldedthe
envelopeoftobaccoclosedandhandedit to
me.I wasalsobuyingsugarcubes,tea,and
turmeric.MashAssadollahcalculatedthe
amountsonanabacus.I paidhimandleft.
WhenI gothome,grandmothertookthe
goodsI hadpurchased,emptiedtheenvelopes
oftheiringredients,handedmethewrappers,
andaskedmetothrowthemaway.
It wassummervacation,andI didn’t
havemuchtodo.Tokeepmyselfbusy,I sat
downina corneroftheroomandstarted
toreadthewrappers,whichhadoncebeen
eightconsecutivepagesofa book.First,I

For the LOVE


of BOOKS


by Houshang Moradi Kermani

TranslatedbyCarolineCroskery
IllustratedbyEmmaShaw-Smith
text© 2019 byHoushangMoradiKermaniandCarolineCroskery
art© 2019 byEmmaShaw-Smith

Houshang Moradi Kermani is one of
Iran’s most famous writers. This story is
from The Tales of Majid, a collection of
stories about a boy named Majid who is
raised by his grandmother, Bibi, in the
rural Iran of sixty years ago.

12

Free download pdf