Page:Alien Souls by Achmed Abdullah (1922).djvu/134
Plotkine (with a grim laugh)
What?—I should think of what my life meant to me? Of my advancement in the army, I suppose, what?—new uniforms—parties given for Lisaveta—an accolade by Tsar Ferdinand. Why, it's all over, man—and when I think of it, it seems all so horribly prosy, so horribly cheap and indifferent. Does it console you to think about your old life?
Touati
Yes. I think that I've always done my duty, in life and in death. Also I've obeyed my Faith. That's enough.
Plotkine (sneering)
All for Turkey. All for the Crescent, what?
Touati (quietly)
No. All for myself. If I learned anything, it was for myself. If I achieved anything, it was for myself. And thus it was for Turkey and for my Faith, even thus. What more could I do?
Plotkine
And—your wife?
Touati
The day I left for this war, I asked her to buy her widow-dress.
Plotkine
Do you think she'll kill herself—like Lisaveta?
Touati
No. She'll marry again. You see, we have no children. And now so many of us Turks died in this war—so we need more children, more sons—to fight