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my name is red-我的名字叫红-第88章

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bridges;  rowboats;  candlesticks;  churches  and  stables;  oxen  and  carriage 
wheels; as if all of them were of the same importance to Allah。 
“Was there ever a time when you visited him unannounced as you had with 
the others?” 
“Whosoever  looks  upon  Butterfly’s  work  will  quickly  sense  that  he 
understands  the  value  of  love  as  well  as  the  meaning  of  heartfelt  joy  and 
sorrow。 But as with all lovers of color; he gets carried away with his emotions 
and  is  fickle。  Because  I  was  so  enamored  of  his  God…given  and  miraculous 
talent; of his sensitivity to color; I paid close attention to him in his youth and 
know everything there is to know about him。 Of course; in such situations; the 
other miniaturists quickly bee jealous and the master…disciple relationship 
bees  strained  and  damaged。  There  were  many  moments  of  love  during 
which Butterfly did not fear what others might say。 Recently; since he married 
the neighborhood fruit seller’s pretty daughter; I’ve neither felt the desire to 
go see him; nor have I had the chance。” 
“Rumor  has  it  that  he’s  in  league  with  the  followers  of  the  Hoja  from 
Erzurum;” Black said。 “They say he stands to gain a lot if the Hoja and his men 
284 
 
declare  certain  works  inpatible  with  religion;  and  thereby;  outlaw  our 
books—which depict battles; weapons; bloody scenes and routine ceremonies; 
not to mention parades including everyone from chefs to magicians; dervishes 
to  boy  dancers;  and  kebab  makers  to  locksmiths—and  confine  us  to  the 
subjects and forms of the old Persian masters。” 
“Even if we returned skillfully and victoriously to those wondrous paintings 
of  Tamerlane’s  time;  even  if  we  returned  to  that  life  and  vocation  in  all  its 
minutia—as  bright  Stork  would  best  be  able  to  do  after  me—in  the  final 
analysis;  all  of  it’ll  be  forgotten;”  I  said  mercilessly;  “because  everybody  will 
want to paint like the Europeans。” 
Did I actually believe these words of damnation? 
“My Enishte believed the same;” Black confessed meekly; “yet it filled him 
with hope。” 
 
The Attributes of Stork 
 
I’ve seen him sign his name as the Sinning Painter Mustafa Chelebi。 Without 
paying any mind to whether he had or ought to have a style; whether it should 
be identified with a signature or; like the old masters; remain anonymous; or 
whether  or  not  a  humble  bearing  required  one  to  do  so;  he’d  just  sign  his 
name with a smile and a victorious flourish。 
He  continued  bravely  down  the  path  I’d  set  him  on  and  mitted  to 
paper  what  none  before  him  had  been  able  to。  Like  myself;  he  too  would 
watch  master  glassblowers  turning  their  rods  and  blowing  glass  melted  in 
ovens to make blue pitchers and green bottles; he saw the leather; needles and 
wooden molds of the shoemakers who bent with rapt attention over the shoes 
and  boots  they  made;  a  horse  swing  tracing  a  graceful  arc  during  a  holiday 
festival;  a  press  squeezing  oil  from  seeds;  the  firing  of  our  cannon  at  the 
enemy; and the screws and the barrels of our guns。 He saw these things and 
painted them without objecting that the old masters of Tamerlane’s time; or 
the legendary illustrators of Tabriz and Kazvin; hadn’t lowered themselves to 
do so。 He was the first Muslim miniaturist to go to war and return safe and 
sound; in preparation for the Book of Victories that he would later illustrate。 He 
was  the  first  to  eagerly  study  enemy  fortresses;  cannon;  armies;  horses  with 
bleeding  wounds;  injured  soldiers  struggling  for  their  lives  and  corpses—all 
with the intent to paint。 
285 
 
I recognize his work from his subject matter more than his style and from 
his attention to obscure details more than his subject matter。 I could entrust 
him with plete peace of mind to execute all aspects of a painting; from the 
arrangement of pages and their position to the coloring of the most trivial 
details。 In this regard; he has the right to succeed me as Head Illuminator。 But 
he’s  so  ambitious  and  conceited;  and  so  condescending  toward  the  other 
illustrators  that  he  could  never  manage  so  many  men;  and  would  end  up 
losing   them   all。   Actually;   if   it   were   left   to   him;   with   his   incredible 
industriousness;  he’d  simply  make  all  the  illustrations  in  the  workshop 
himself。 If he put his mind to such a task; he could in fact succeed。 He’s a great 
master。 He knows his craft。 He admires himself。 How nice for him。 
When I visited him unannounced once; I caught him at work。 Resting upon 
folding worktables; desks and cushions were all the pages he was working on: 
illustrations for Our Sultan’s books; for me; for miserable costume books that 
he dashed off for foolish European travelers eager to belittle us; one page of a 
triptych he was making for a pasha who thought highly of himself; images to 
be  pasted  in  albums;  pages  made  for  his  own  pleasure  and  even  a  vulgar 
rendition  of  coitus。  Tall;  thin  Stork  was  flitting  from  one  illustration  to  the 
next  like  a  bee  among  flowers;  singing  folk  songs;  tweaking  the  cheek  of  his 
apprentice who was mixing paint and adding a ic twist to the painting he 
was working on before showing it to me with a smug chuckle。 Unlike my other 
miniaturists; he didn’t stop working in a ceremonial show of respect when I 
arrived;  on  the  contrary;  he  happily  exhibited  the  swift  exercise  of  his  God…
given talent and the skill he’d acquired through hard work (he could do the 
work  of  seven  or  eight  miniaturists  at  the  same  time)。  Now;  I  catch  myself 
secretly  thinking  that  if  the  vile  murderer  is  one  of  my  three  master 
miniaturists; I hope to God it’s Stork。 During his apprenticeship; the sight of 
him at my door on Friday mornings didn’t excite me the way Butterfly did on 
his day。 
Since  he  paid  equal  attention  to  every  odd  detail;  with  no  basis  of 
discrimination except that it be visible; his aesthetic approach resembled that 
of the Veian masters。 But unlike them; my ambitious Stork neither saw nor 
depicted  people’s  faces  as  individual  or  distinct。  I  assume;  since  he  either 
openly or secretly belittled everyone; that he didn’t consider faces important。 
I’m certain deceased Enishte didn’t appoint him to draw Our Sultan’s face。 
Even when depicting a subject of the utmost importance; he couldn’t keep 
from situating a skeptical dog somewhere at some distance from the event; or 
drawing  a  disgraceful  beggar  whose  misery  demeaned  the  wealth  and 
286 
 
extravagance of a ceremony。 He had enough self…confidence to mock whatever 
illustration he made; its subject and himself。 
“Elegant Effendi’s murder resembles the way Joseph’s brothers tossed him 
into a well out of jealousy;” said Black。 “And my Enishte’s death resembles the 
unforeseen murder of Hüsrev at the hands of his son who had his heart set on 
Hüsrev’s wife; Shirin。 Everyone says that Stork loved to paint scenes of war and 
gruesome depictions of death。” 
“Anyone who thinks an illuminator resembles the subject of the picture he 
paints doesn’t understand me or my master miniaturists。 What exposes us is 
not the subject; which others have missioned from us—these are always 
the same anyway—but the hidden sensibilities we include in the painting as 
we render that subject: A light that seems to radiate from within the picture; a 
palpable hesitancy or anger one notices in the position of figures; horses 
and trees; the desire and sorrow emanating from a cypress as it reaches to the 
heavens;  the  pious  resignation  and  patience  that  we  introduce  into  the 
illustration   when   we   ornament   wall   tiles   with   a   fervor   that   tempts 
blindness…Yes; these are our hidden traces; not those identical horses all in a 
row。 When a painter renders the fury and speed of a horse; he doesn’t paint 
his own fury and speed; by trying to make the perfec

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