No Bread Today

kha-yuma bakhtet malla marela ka-goro marela kat khush khachcha lakhma melan. chun-ana blegten b-bashule, khush khachcha lakhma taza melan.

One day the wife of the mullah says to her husband, she says ‘Go and bring some bread. Since I am busy with cooking, go and bring some fresh bread.’

malla berrekhshele kat-lakhma mayye. bekhzayele ina … sapa sapet nashe kelyele emma-gane zodela. merre ana hal … azen maten tamma lakhma parek. hal nobet diyyida mate khina kheshka vayele. tukhmenne tukhmenne mu aved. kheshle kamay puchpechle men-kha-menne atkha nikha puchpechle.

The mullah goes to bring bread. He sees a queue, people are standing in a queue, which consists of more than one hundred people. He said ‘Before I go and arrive there, the bread will run out. Before my turn arrives, it will be dark.’ He thought and thought what he should do. He went forward and whispered to one of them, he whispered softly like this.

merre kat … beddayet kat … o-nasha khisheva haj, Abdul-Hassan khisheva haj? men-haj tiyyele PziyaratP khisheva Makka, haj. tiyyele adi lakhma vele palluye ka-kul-nashe har-atkha khurray. let shemya? merre la len shemya. merre anada adi-shmili bayyen azen tama.

He said ‘Do know that that man has gone on the pilgrimage, Abdul-Hassan has gone on the pilgrimage? He has come back from the pilgrimage, the pilgrimage, and went to Mecca, the pilgrimage. He has come back and now [he?] is distributing bread to everybody completely free. Have you not heard?’ He said ‘No, I have not heard.’ He said ‘I also have just now heard. I want to go there.’

anne nashe khine kha-ka-do-khina merrun kulle kheshlun. kulle kheshlun peshle akhchi malla. kheshle kamay kat-lakhma shakelva. tre-dan lakhme … shkelle. merre kat … khamshi dinare. merre pah! at khina muivet? pellan nasha vele pellan dukta yavele … lakhma khurray. men-haj tiyyele. aten lakhkha yavet tre-dane lakhme b-kha-akhcha tima!

The other people told (this) to each other and all went. They all went and only the mullah remained. He went forward to take bread. He took two loaves of bread. He (the seller) said ‘Fifty dinars.’ He said ‘Oh, who (do you think) you are? Such-and-such a person in such-and-such a place is giving bread away free. He has come back from the pilgrimage. You here are selling two loaves of bread for such a price!’

merre khob khush-shkul men-tama. anada adi t-azen p-shaklen men-tama en-av yavele. berkhata berrekhshel tama gashshukele ina … nashe tama kelyena an-nashe kat-men-gu-sap kheshlun tama vena tama al-gan-malla kat-makhile. merre a-nasha hala lele tiyya men … haj men-Makka. a-m-ika ka-diyyan tunilukh kat lakhmada prekle. peshlan d-la-lakhma. malla berrakele berrekhshel beta lakhmada lele bashure zaven.

He said ‘Fine, go and take from there. I also shall now go and take from there, if he is giving it away.’ He runs and goes there. He looks and sees people standing there. The people who were in the queue and went there come up against the mullah in order beat him. One said ‘This man has not yet returned from the pilgrimage, from Mecca. Why did you say that the bread was finished? We are now left without bread.’ The mullah runs and goes home, and cannot buy bread.