İngilizce Hikaye Turkce Cevirili
THE COLT RACING WITH HIS SHADE
The city hippodrome where the horse races were made was too crowded The grandstand was jammed with people The races would be held in which the big prize would be given to the one coming first that Sunday as it was given every Sunday The biggest candidate was a horse called Black Bomb He was the only and the unique dominant of the races which had been held in that city for nearly two years He was always the hugest of the horses with his jetblack colour, big eyes and with his like a giant It was guessed that he wouldn ’t have the championship snatched for a long time
The other racehorses were Storm, Goblin, Paw, Surprise, Strong, Rabbit and Yekta Yekta was attending a race like that for the first time and he was quite excited He had been trained well at the racehorse farm though, but his being young and inexperienced made him feel frightened What if he wouldn ’t be able to come first? He even wouldn ’t like to think that He would fall into a condition like an ordinary racehorse and then this condition might continue like that forever Becoming the first in the races; where thousands of racing tricks were made, and where was full of ruse and intrigue, was not only being fast and strong For instance, in some of the races Rabbit used to make rabbitness As soon as the race started, he would come front and speed up, and would tire the horses and would give up the race At the last plain, Black Bomb would become the first with a rashness he made The racehorse called Paw was Black Bomb ’s other helper While the race was going on, he would take care of the horses with high performance, would hit them, would come in front of them and lessen their speed and would make Black Bomb come first in the race
The horses lined up regularly at the starting point As soon as the pistol ’s sound was heard, eight strong horses ran forward Rabbit, whose start was very fast, moved front immediately Despite all his attempts, Yekta stayed at the second line “Damn it, I have missed Rabbit! Essentially nobody had been able to overtake Rabbit until the last flat place I have to overtake him before coming to the middle of the race Let ’s faster, faster, Yekta…
While the 1500 start was being passed, Rabbit was nearly 3 heights in front of Yekta, who was at the second line “Where is Bomb, it is needed to turn back and look Rabbit can ’t finish the race with this speed Oh, Bomb had been just behind me! What the hell is going on, what tricks are they playing? He had been hiding until the last flat place They certainly got uneasy about me
The middle of the race: As the 1000 start was being passed, the racehorse called Rabbit came out of the running track and gave up the race Yekta overtook him very fast and came to the first position But there were 1000 meters to the end of the race and Black Bomb was coming gradually close to Yekta
Yekta and Black Bomb entered the last flatness (the last 500 meters) with the ends only just meeting After a breathtaking struggle, Yekta ’s killing departs made him win the race with 2 heights of distance Yekta was happy now because he was able to come first in the race although it was difficult Yekta raced with Black Bomb and his group for many other times He became the first at each race he participated That city had started to become too small for him then He had to go out, had to make his name heard in broad environments and had to win bigger races When he won the region championship he participated, he increased the frequency of his trainings to take place in the country championship, which was going to be held one month later
A lot of racehorses on the race horse farm, where he was training, told Yekta about the races they had taken place at different times Yekta listened to them very carefully He increased his experience and his knowledge According to Yekta there was no end of knowledge and learning Each new knowledge would teach something new What important was to obtain “original knowledge by adding your own ideas to the ones you learnt It was possible to think correctly only by knowing yourself very well This would provide “auto control namely the talent of controlling yourself, which was necessary for personal virtue Auto control talent ’s being regular would force the limits of perfection
Days passed after each other Each passing day was adding power to Yekta ’s power He had started to run faster and cross the distances in a shorter time There had been 7 days left for the big race In the afternoon they had made Yekta get on the lorry, which was specially prepared The lorry set off after a short while to go to the biggest city of the country Just as they had passed half of the way, the lorry rolled over a ditch at the edge of the way with a big noise Then there was a deep silence Nothing had happened to Yekta by chance He waited his door ’s being opened There was nobody passing by He succeeded in breaking the lock after struggling for a long time He jumped out with fear He went to the road A few lights were able to be seen far away The place where the race would be held should be there somewhere It was also possible without the lorry He thought to himself “I can reach there even I am on my own He started to run He ran and ran…
More than an hour passed It started to get dark and Yekta started to get surprised What was happening? Why wasn ’t it sunny all the time? Was there anything more meaningless than darkness? He had the right to be surprised He used to train during the day and go inside before getting dark The lights used to be on during the day and night He had never stayed in darkness until that time Yekta shuddered immediately after running slowly for kilometres under the moonlight There was an indistinct figure on his left side and it was trying to overtake him He turned his head quickly A horse…!
Yekta thought to himself:
“Who is this? Where has he suddenly come out from? It ’s not my business who he is What important is his being about to overtake me I won ’t surely let this! Nobody has been able to make me swallow dust Let ’s see what ’s he going to do after raising my speed? Yekta ’s effort to overtake his shade lasted all night long At dawn, while darkness was leaving his place to daylight, Yekta ’s shadow was wiped away Yekta couldn ’t see it at a moment when he turned his head left He looked right, it wasn ’t there again He looked behind and looked far behind He thought that his rival couldn ’t keep in step with him and gave up the race He lessened his speed gradually
Yekta continued to run some more at a slow speed for about an hour Now the first houses of the city, where the race would be held, had started to seem Yekta asked a packhorse he came across on his way where the hippodrome of the racehorses was He continued his way as it was explained As he was crossing the main street swelled with pride and holding his head high, the cars had stopped and having seen this magnificent colt in the newspapers or magazines for many times before and about whom they had read the articles written, the people in the street were applauding crazily Making use of the hippodrome ’s open door, Yekta entered inside He had come to the running track a few minutes later The country championship, which was 6 days later, would be held there Yekta, who was touring with slow steps on the running track, was thinking of becoming certainly the first in that race
His owner, who heard that the lorry bringing Yekta turned upside down, had come to the place of incident The driver and the stableman were taken to the hospital injured Yekta ’s owner started to look for Yekta in the morning and when he heard that he had gone to the hippodrome, he went there too When Yekta ’s owner entering the hippodrome saw Yekta running with slow steps on the running track, he shouted “Yekta… Yekta… and ran to the running track He ran quickly and reached Yekta and embraced him around his neck Yekta realised the situation after a short while His owner had looked for him in this strange city and had found him
Yekta ’s owner took him to one of his friend ’s racehorse farm Yekta, who was very tired, passed that day and the following day relaxing Starting the running trainings later, Yekta became fitter than before He was ready now and he saw himself the luckiest to become the first
Yekta ran like a tornado in the race He came front with the terrible attack he made just in the first meters He was running crazily Turkey ’s best racehorses became desperate because of his speed He became the first with a great difference and record degree This championship had become by the help of his combining the theoretical and practical in the best way As a result he had achieved the perfection and had got the reputation of “unovertakeable
When the country champion Yekta returned back to the racehorse farm where he was born and grew up, he was welcomed with great excitement The racehorses on the farm had watched the race on the TV in the garden and had been very happy for Yekta ’s championship Yekta was taken to England by a private plane a few months later There was Europe Championship soon and Yekta would represent Turkey in that race Yekta was taken to a hard training programme His each training was getting him to improve his degree gradually and to run faster Before a few days to the championship, Yekta ’s being close to the Europe Record had made his owner happy However, there were some people who weren ’t pleased with Yekta ’s condition A few people watching Yekta by gnashing their teeth from the grandstands were signing his death edict:
“We said Yekta, Yekta and we ran into trouble He is like a storm as if he wasn ’t a racehorse Look at the degree he has made If he takes his last step a bit faster, it will be Europe record
“You are right This race is only training He is running alone There is no rival to force him If it were the real race, he would be impossible to be overtaken Now the best racehorse in Europe is Yekta
A third person: “Our horse can ’t overtake Yekta It doesn ’t matter whether you become the second or the last then If Yekta doesn ’t participate in the race, we will become the first If we give him an injection tonight, he will pass away We will get the championship award and spend it It will also be our country ’s advertisement Advertisement will bring lots of foreign currency to the country
“Ok, tonight we shall go where Yekta stays Each of us will have a poisonous injection If Yekta runs away from one of us, he will be caught by the other one
At the following times of the night Yekta was distressed and troubled Because he was troubled, he couldn ’t get to sleep He heard foot steps coming from deep The grooms wouldn ’t enter the stable at that time Or else were the ones coming strangers? What could their aims be? Yekta didn ’t think badly though and waited He shuddered when he saw three men with clubs and injections He was afraid The cruel men attacked suddenly and started to hit Yekta, whose only offence was being a good racehorse, with the clubs without pitying Being hurt, Yekta took a few steps backwards and his back leant to the wall The men faced a harsh reaction when they attacked Yekta Rearing up, Yekta hit one of the men over his head with his feet The men fell down like an empty sack Turning back, Yekta tried to hit with his back feet The blow couldn ’t hit the mark but two men decided to take and shoulder their friend lying on the floor and then they disappeared
Then picking up the injections and the clubs on the floor and putting them into a bag, Yekta threw them into dustbin He didn ’t want the event to be known by anyone Evil shouldn ’t be spread There was more evil than the goodness in the world It was easy to do harm, what difficult was to do kindness Yekta had succeeded in doing kindness that time The men had escaped They might not hurt anyone again Was the man kicked still alive? He wouldn ’t be able to know that People would put him under detention for a short while even the man was alive Not training for a few days meant for Yekta to lose the Europe Championship This situation made Yekta psychologically destroyed There was a huge country waiting for his championship Millions of people would be disappointed There were his close friends, who would support him with their ideas, on the racehorse farm He would give the prize of Country Championship to them The beautiful golden cups would be doubled
As a matter of tactics, Yekta ran the first 300 meters in the middle lines Gaining speed gradually, Yekta was running nearly in the first line Four horses entered the last 500 meters with the ends only just meeting Although he regressed to the fourth level just for a while, he tried his hardest while attacking with rancour as if he was treating himself cruelly when there was 50 meters to finish the race and then he won it Yekta had become the Europe Champion Yekta was welcomed enthusiastically in his country There was just Yekta ’s news on TV and radio and in the newspaper The broadcast establishments in Europe were broadcasting about Yekta We saw Yekta after months – It was him – He was brought for the World Championship that was going to be held in New York Yekta who was considered to be the champion certainly by the authorities, unfortunately was overtaken by the Australian champion and became the second Yekta was happy at the reward ceremony while the silver medal was hung It wasn ’t easy; he had won a lot of races, had always become the first and had never been overtaken Becoming the second fastest racehorse of the world wasn ’t even the other racehorses ’ dream In fact, it wasn ’t impossible to become the second of the world championship but it was too difficult Yekta had succeeded in doing this difficulty
After a few days Yekta started to get bored The passing days were getting him to consider being the second as his own and this was increasing the sorrow of not becoming the first Yekta couldn ’t stand the sorrow anymore so he ran away from the racehorse farm and went to the Appalaş Mountains He saw wild horses grazing in the meadow further while he was wandering in the Appalaş Mountains They were Mustang horses He went near them and asked: “Hello, would you mind my joining you? “ Gera, who was the head of the Mustangs, said Of course, come and join us buddy “Yekta joined the Mustangs and started to graze with them It was good and nice there; he got closer with the Mustangs immediately More than an hour had passed Gera the head said he would go to the piny wood that was 10 kilometres away, he said “Let ’s and started to run The horse herd, whose number increased to 20 with Yekta ’s joining, was running fast The one who was the strongest and who ran the fastest among the Mustang horses would become the head of the herd It was impossible to become the head by running in the middle lines Whenever the head was overtaken, he would lose being the head Gera was running forward The other horses were striving to reach him
However, Yekta always ran at the back When they arrived at the piny wood, he had overtaken only two horses, namely he had become the 18 Yekta didn ’t want to accept that He was a racehorse, so he was used to run on the grassy or sand track Gera the head had said that they would go to the piny wood and he had run forward quickly and the other horses had followed him The one who started running the last was Yekta; who even couldn ’t understand what was going on, what was happening, what the piny wood was In fact they had run on the grass but they had run on a stony place later and next they had had to run among thicket and woods The Mustangs had already known that place very well since they had passed there a lot of times before They knew where to step while running on the stony place, and they knew which the shortest way was while passing through the thicket and woods Because of that Yekta thought that if he would move backward one step each kilometre, he would move backward ten steps each ten kilometres The distance between Gera and him was already that much Yekta never returned to the racetracks He always stayed in the mountains among the Mustangs The passing time gained power to Yekta ’s and Gera was overtaken by him one day Becoming the head of the Mustangs, Yekta stayed the head for many years
THE END
Written by: Serdar YILDIRIM
GOLGESİYLE YARIŞAN TAY
At yarışlarının yapıldığı şehir hipodromu cok kalabalıktı Tribunler tıklım tıklım doluydu Her pazar gunu olduğu gibi, bu pazar da birinci olana buyuk ikramiyenin verildiği yarışlar yapılacaktı Birincilik icin en buyuk aday Kara Bomba isimli attı İki yıla yakın bir zamandır bu şehirde yapılan yarışmaların tek ve mutlak hakimiydi Simsiyah rengi, kocaman gozleri ve dev gibi uzun boyuyla o her zaman atların en irisiydi Daha uzun bir sure birinciliği kaptırmayacağı tahmin ediliyordu
Diğer yarışmacı atlar ise, Fırtına, Ak kız, Pence, Surpriz, Zorlu, Tavşan ve Yekta idi Yekta, boyle bir yarışa ilk defa katılıyordu, oldukca heyecanlıydı Gerci yetiştirildiği yarış atı ciftliğinde cok iyi hazırlanmıştı, fakat genc ve tecrubesiz oluşu onu korkutuyordu Ya birinci olamazsa?Boyle bir şeyi duşunmek bile istemiyorduO zaman, sıradan bir yarış atı durumuna duşecek ve belki bu durum hep boyle surup gidecekti Bin bir ceşit yarış hilelerinin yapıldığı, duzenin ve entrikanın bol olduğu bu yarışlarda birinci olmak sadece suratli olmak ve dayanıklılık demek değildi Mesela, bazı yarışlarda Tavşan tavşanlık yapardı Yarış başlar başlamaz one gecer, temposunu gittikce arttırır, atları yorar ve yarışı bırakırdı Son duzlukte Kara Bomba yaptığı bir atakla birinciliği kazanırdı Pence isimli yarış atı Kara Bomba ’nın diğer yardımcısıydı Yarış surerken form durumu yuksek olan atları kollar, onlara carpar, onlerine gecip hızlarını azaltır ve Kara Bomba ’nın yarışı kazanmasını sağlardı
Atlar, duzenli olarak başlama yerinde sıralandılar Start icin tabanca sesi duyulur duyulmaz, sekiz tane guclu yarış atı ileri atıldılar Cıkışı cok kuvvetli olan Tavşan hemen one gecti Yekta tum cabasına karşılık ikinci sırada kalmıştı Tuh be, Tavşan ’ı kacırdım!Bu Tavşan ’ı zaten son duzluğe kadar kimse gecemezmiş Yarışın ortasına gelmeden onu mutlaka gecmeliyim Haydi Yekta, daha hızlı, daha hızlı…
1500 startı gecildiğinde Tavşan ikinci durumdaki Yekta ’nın uc boy kadar onundeydi “ Bomba nerelerde ki, donup bakmalı Tavşan bu suratiyle yarışı tamamlayamaz Vay, Bomba hemen arkamdaymış! Ne oluyor ya, ne dumen ceviriyor bunlar? Son duzluğe kadar orta sıralarda saklanırmış bu Benden huylandılar muhakkak “
Yarışın ortası:1000 startı gecilirken, Tavşan isimli yarış atı aniden koşu pistinin kenarına cıktı ve yarışı bıraktı Yekta suratle onun yanından gecti ve birinci duruma yukseldi Fakat yarışın bitmesine 1000 metre vardı ve Kara Bomba, Yekta ile arasındaki farkı gitgide kapatmaktaydı
Son duzluğe ( son 500 metre ) Yekta ile Kara Bomba başa baş girdiler Nefesleri kesen bir mucadeleden sonra bitişe 100 metre kala başlayan Yekta ’nın oldurucu deparları yarışı iki boy farkla kazanmasını sağladı Yekta mutluydu artık cunku ilk yarışını zor da olsa birinci olarak bitirmeyi başarmıştı Yekta, Kara Bomba ve ekibiyle bircok defalar daha yarıştı Girdiği her yarışta birinci oldu Artık bu şehir ona dar gelmeye başlamıştı Dışa acılmalı, adını daha geniş cevrelere duyurmalı ve daha buyuk yarışlar kazanmalıydı Nitekim girdiği bolge birinciliği koşusunu da kazanınca, bir ay sonra yapılacak olan ulke şampiyonluğu yarışına katılmak icin antrenmanlarını daha da sıklaştırdı
Hazırlandığı yarış atı ciftliğinde bircok yarış atı Yekta ’ya değişik zamanlarda katıldıkları yarışmaları anlattılar Yekta, onları buyuk bir dikkatle dinledi Gorgusunu, bilgisini arttırdı Yekta ’ya gore, bilmenin, oğrenmenin sonu yoktu Her yeni bilgi yeni bir şeyler oğretirdi Onemli olan oğrendiklerine kendi duşuncelerinden yeni fikirler katarak “ ozgun bilgi “ elde edebilmekti Doğru duşunebilmek ancak kendini cok iyi tanımakla mumkun olabilirdi Bu da kişisel erdem icin gerekli olan “ oto kontrol “ yani kendi kendini kontrol etme yeteneğini sağlardı Oto kontrol yeteneğinin duzenli olması, mukemmellik sınırlarını zorlardı
Gunler gunleri kovaladı Her gecen gun Yekta ’nın gucune guc katıyordu Gittikce daha suratli koşmaya ve mesafeleri daha kısa zamanda aşmaya başlamıştı Buyuk yarışa yedi gun kalmıştı Oğleden sonra ozel olarak hazırlanmış kamyona Yekta ’yı bindirdiler Kamyon, biraz sonra ulkenin en buyuk şehrine gitmek uzere yola cıktı Yolun yarısı gecilmişti ki, kamyon buyuk bir gurultuyle yol kenarındaki hendeğe yuvarlandı Sonra derin bir sessizlik Yekta ’ya şans eseri bir şey olmamıştı Kapısının acılmasını bekledi Gelen giden yoktu Uzun bir sure uğraştıktan sonra kapının kilidini kırmayı başardı Korkuyla dışarı fırladı Yola cıktı Cok uzaklarda tek tuk ışıklar gorunur gibi oluyordu Yarışın yapılacağı yer oralarda olmalıydı Kamyon olmasa da olurdu Kendi başıma da olsam oraya varabilirim, diye duşundu Koşmaya başladı Koştu…Koştu…
Aradan bir saatten fazla zaman gecti Hava kararmaya,Yekta, şaşırmaya başladı Ne oluyordu? Neden ortalık hep aydınlık kalmıyordu? Karanlık kadar anlamsız şey var mıydı? Şaşırmakta haklıydı Gunduzleri acık havada antrenman yapar, hava kararmadan iceriye girerdi İcerde de ışıklar gece gunduz yanardı O, şimdiye kadar karanlıkta hic kalmamıştı Yekta ay ışığı altında, yavaş bir tempo tutturmuş olarak kilometrelerce koştuktan sonra birden urperdi Sol tarafında bir karartı vardı ve kendisini gecmeye calışıyordu Hızla başını cevirdi Bir at !
Yekta:
“ Kim ola ki? Nereden cıktı birdenbire? Neyse kim olduğu beni ilgilendirmez Onemli olan beni gecmek uzere olmasıİşte buna izin vermem!Şimdiye kadar kimse bana toz yutturamadı Tempoyu biraz arttırayım, bakalım ne yapacak? “ diye duşundu Yekta ’nın golgesini gecmek icin verdiği uğraş butun bir gece boyu devam etti Sabaha karşı karanlık yerini aydınlığa bırakırken Yekta ’nın golgesi silinip gitti Bir aralık, kafasını sol tarafına ceviren Yekta onu goremedi Sağına baktı, yine yok Arkasına baktı, gerilere daha gerilere baktı Rakibinin olağanustu tempoya ayak uyduramayıp yarışı bıraktığını zannetti Hızını yavaş yavaş azalttı
Yekta hafif bir tempo ile koşmaya bir saat kadar daha devam etti Yarışın yapılacağı şehrin işte ilk evleri gozukmeye başlamıştı Yekta yolda rastladığı bir sutcu beygirine at yarışlarının yapılacağı hipodromun nerede olduğunu sordu Tarif edildiği uzere yoluna devam etti Goğsu gururla kabarmış olarak, başı dimdik vaziyette, şehrin ana caddesinden gecerken arabalar durmuştu ve yol kenarındaki insanlar gazetelerde, dergilerde bircok defalar resmini gordukleri, hakkında yazılan yazıları okudukları bu şahane tayı cılgınca alkışlıyorlardı Hipodromun kapısının acık olmasından yararlanan Yekta, iceriye girdi Biraz sonra koşu pistine cıkmıştı Altı gun sonraki ulke birinciliği koşusu burada yapılacaktı Ağır adımlarla koşu pistinde tur atan Yekta o yarışta birinci olmayı duşunuyordu mutlaka
Yekta ’yı getiren kamyonun devrildiğini haber alan sahibi olay yerine gelmişti Surucu ile seyis yaralı olarak hastaneye kaldırıldılar Yekta ’nın sahibi sabah olunca Yekta ’yı aramaya koyuldu ve onun hipodroma geldiğini haber alınca oraya gitti Hipodromun kapısından iceriye giren Yekta ’nın sahibi Yekta ’yı koşu pistinde ağır adımlarla koşarken gorunce “ Yekta… Yekta…diye bağırarak piste fırladı Hızla koşarak Yekta ’ya yetişti ve onun boynuna sarıldı Yekta neden sonra durumun farkına vardı Sahibi onu bu yabancı şehirde aramış ve bulmuştu
THE COLT RACING WITH HIS SHADE
The city hippodrome where the horse races were made was too crowded The grandstand was jammed with people The races would be held in which the big prize would be given to the one coming first that Sunday as it was given every Sunday The biggest candidate was a horse called Black Bomb He was the only and the unique dominant of the races which had been held in that city for nearly two years He was always the hugest of the horses with his jetblack colour, big eyes and with his like a giant It was guessed that he wouldn ’t have the championship snatched for a long time
The other racehorses were Storm, Goblin, Paw, Surprise, Strong, Rabbit and Yekta Yekta was attending a race like that for the first time and he was quite excited He had been trained well at the racehorse farm though, but his being young and inexperienced made him feel frightened What if he wouldn ’t be able to come first? He even wouldn ’t like to think that He would fall into a condition like an ordinary racehorse and then this condition might continue like that forever Becoming the first in the races; where thousands of racing tricks were made, and where was full of ruse and intrigue, was not only being fast and strong For instance, in some of the races Rabbit used to make rabbitness As soon as the race started, he would come front and speed up, and would tire the horses and would give up the race At the last plain, Black Bomb would become the first with a rashness he made The racehorse called Paw was Black Bomb ’s other helper While the race was going on, he would take care of the horses with high performance, would hit them, would come in front of them and lessen their speed and would make Black Bomb come first in the race
The horses lined up regularly at the starting point As soon as the pistol ’s sound was heard, eight strong horses ran forward Rabbit, whose start was very fast, moved front immediately Despite all his attempts, Yekta stayed at the second line “Damn it, I have missed Rabbit! Essentially nobody had been able to overtake Rabbit until the last flat place I have to overtake him before coming to the middle of the race Let ’s faster, faster, Yekta…
While the 1500 start was being passed, Rabbit was nearly 3 heights in front of Yekta, who was at the second line “Where is Bomb, it is needed to turn back and look Rabbit can ’t finish the race with this speed Oh, Bomb had been just behind me! What the hell is going on, what tricks are they playing? He had been hiding until the last flat place They certainly got uneasy about me
The middle of the race: As the 1000 start was being passed, the racehorse called Rabbit came out of the running track and gave up the race Yekta overtook him very fast and came to the first position But there were 1000 meters to the end of the race and Black Bomb was coming gradually close to Yekta
Yekta and Black Bomb entered the last flatness (the last 500 meters) with the ends only just meeting After a breathtaking struggle, Yekta ’s killing departs made him win the race with 2 heights of distance Yekta was happy now because he was able to come first in the race although it was difficult Yekta raced with Black Bomb and his group for many other times He became the first at each race he participated That city had started to become too small for him then He had to go out, had to make his name heard in broad environments and had to win bigger races When he won the region championship he participated, he increased the frequency of his trainings to take place in the country championship, which was going to be held one month later
A lot of racehorses on the race horse farm, where he was training, told Yekta about the races they had taken place at different times Yekta listened to them very carefully He increased his experience and his knowledge According to Yekta there was no end of knowledge and learning Each new knowledge would teach something new What important was to obtain “original knowledge by adding your own ideas to the ones you learnt It was possible to think correctly only by knowing yourself very well This would provide “auto control namely the talent of controlling yourself, which was necessary for personal virtue Auto control talent ’s being regular would force the limits of perfection
Days passed after each other Each passing day was adding power to Yekta ’s power He had started to run faster and cross the distances in a shorter time There had been 7 days left for the big race In the afternoon they had made Yekta get on the lorry, which was specially prepared The lorry set off after a short while to go to the biggest city of the country Just as they had passed half of the way, the lorry rolled over a ditch at the edge of the way with a big noise Then there was a deep silence Nothing had happened to Yekta by chance He waited his door ’s being opened There was nobody passing by He succeeded in breaking the lock after struggling for a long time He jumped out with fear He went to the road A few lights were able to be seen far away The place where the race would be held should be there somewhere It was also possible without the lorry He thought to himself “I can reach there even I am on my own He started to run He ran and ran…
More than an hour passed It started to get dark and Yekta started to get surprised What was happening? Why wasn ’t it sunny all the time? Was there anything more meaningless than darkness? He had the right to be surprised He used to train during the day and go inside before getting dark The lights used to be on during the day and night He had never stayed in darkness until that time Yekta shuddered immediately after running slowly for kilometres under the moonlight There was an indistinct figure on his left side and it was trying to overtake him He turned his head quickly A horse…!
Yekta thought to himself:
“Who is this? Where has he suddenly come out from? It ’s not my business who he is What important is his being about to overtake me I won ’t surely let this! Nobody has been able to make me swallow dust Let ’s see what ’s he going to do after raising my speed? Yekta ’s effort to overtake his shade lasted all night long At dawn, while darkness was leaving his place to daylight, Yekta ’s shadow was wiped away Yekta couldn ’t see it at a moment when he turned his head left He looked right, it wasn ’t there again He looked behind and looked far behind He thought that his rival couldn ’t keep in step with him and gave up the race He lessened his speed gradually
Yekta continued to run some more at a slow speed for about an hour Now the first houses of the city, where the race would be held, had started to seem Yekta asked a packhorse he came across on his way where the hippodrome of the racehorses was He continued his way as it was explained As he was crossing the main street swelled with pride and holding his head high, the cars had stopped and having seen this magnificent colt in the newspapers or magazines for many times before and about whom they had read the articles written, the people in the street were applauding crazily Making use of the hippodrome ’s open door, Yekta entered inside He had come to the running track a few minutes later The country championship, which was 6 days later, would be held there Yekta, who was touring with slow steps on the running track, was thinking of becoming certainly the first in that race
His owner, who heard that the lorry bringing Yekta turned upside down, had come to the place of incident The driver and the stableman were taken to the hospital injured Yekta ’s owner started to look for Yekta in the morning and when he heard that he had gone to the hippodrome, he went there too When Yekta ’s owner entering the hippodrome saw Yekta running with slow steps on the running track, he shouted “Yekta… Yekta… and ran to the running track He ran quickly and reached Yekta and embraced him around his neck Yekta realised the situation after a short while His owner had looked for him in this strange city and had found him
Yekta ’s owner took him to one of his friend ’s racehorse farm Yekta, who was very tired, passed that day and the following day relaxing Starting the running trainings later, Yekta became fitter than before He was ready now and he saw himself the luckiest to become the first
Yekta ran like a tornado in the race He came front with the terrible attack he made just in the first meters He was running crazily Turkey ’s best racehorses became desperate because of his speed He became the first with a great difference and record degree This championship had become by the help of his combining the theoretical and practical in the best way As a result he had achieved the perfection and had got the reputation of “unovertakeable
When the country champion Yekta returned back to the racehorse farm where he was born and grew up, he was welcomed with great excitement The racehorses on the farm had watched the race on the TV in the garden and had been very happy for Yekta ’s championship Yekta was taken to England by a private plane a few months later There was Europe Championship soon and Yekta would represent Turkey in that race Yekta was taken to a hard training programme His each training was getting him to improve his degree gradually and to run faster Before a few days to the championship, Yekta ’s being close to the Europe Record had made his owner happy However, there were some people who weren ’t pleased with Yekta ’s condition A few people watching Yekta by gnashing their teeth from the grandstands were signing his death edict:
“We said Yekta, Yekta and we ran into trouble He is like a storm as if he wasn ’t a racehorse Look at the degree he has made If he takes his last step a bit faster, it will be Europe record
“You are right This race is only training He is running alone There is no rival to force him If it were the real race, he would be impossible to be overtaken Now the best racehorse in Europe is Yekta
A third person: “Our horse can ’t overtake Yekta It doesn ’t matter whether you become the second or the last then If Yekta doesn ’t participate in the race, we will become the first If we give him an injection tonight, he will pass away We will get the championship award and spend it It will also be our country ’s advertisement Advertisement will bring lots of foreign currency to the country
“Ok, tonight we shall go where Yekta stays Each of us will have a poisonous injection If Yekta runs away from one of us, he will be caught by the other one
At the following times of the night Yekta was distressed and troubled Because he was troubled, he couldn ’t get to sleep He heard foot steps coming from deep The grooms wouldn ’t enter the stable at that time Or else were the ones coming strangers? What could their aims be? Yekta didn ’t think badly though and waited He shuddered when he saw three men with clubs and injections He was afraid The cruel men attacked suddenly and started to hit Yekta, whose only offence was being a good racehorse, with the clubs without pitying Being hurt, Yekta took a few steps backwards and his back leant to the wall The men faced a harsh reaction when they attacked Yekta Rearing up, Yekta hit one of the men over his head with his feet The men fell down like an empty sack Turning back, Yekta tried to hit with his back feet The blow couldn ’t hit the mark but two men decided to take and shoulder their friend lying on the floor and then they disappeared
Then picking up the injections and the clubs on the floor and putting them into a bag, Yekta threw them into dustbin He didn ’t want the event to be known by anyone Evil shouldn ’t be spread There was more evil than the goodness in the world It was easy to do harm, what difficult was to do kindness Yekta had succeeded in doing kindness that time The men had escaped They might not hurt anyone again Was the man kicked still alive? He wouldn ’t be able to know that People would put him under detention for a short while even the man was alive Not training for a few days meant for Yekta to lose the Europe Championship This situation made Yekta psychologically destroyed There was a huge country waiting for his championship Millions of people would be disappointed There were his close friends, who would support him with their ideas, on the racehorse farm He would give the prize of Country Championship to them The beautiful golden cups would be doubled
As a matter of tactics, Yekta ran the first 300 meters in the middle lines Gaining speed gradually, Yekta was running nearly in the first line Four horses entered the last 500 meters with the ends only just meeting Although he regressed to the fourth level just for a while, he tried his hardest while attacking with rancour as if he was treating himself cruelly when there was 50 meters to finish the race and then he won it Yekta had become the Europe Champion Yekta was welcomed enthusiastically in his country There was just Yekta ’s news on TV and radio and in the newspaper The broadcast establishments in Europe were broadcasting about Yekta We saw Yekta after months – It was him – He was brought for the World Championship that was going to be held in New York Yekta who was considered to be the champion certainly by the authorities, unfortunately was overtaken by the Australian champion and became the second Yekta was happy at the reward ceremony while the silver medal was hung It wasn ’t easy; he had won a lot of races, had always become the first and had never been overtaken Becoming the second fastest racehorse of the world wasn ’t even the other racehorses ’ dream In fact, it wasn ’t impossible to become the second of the world championship but it was too difficult Yekta had succeeded in doing this difficulty
After a few days Yekta started to get bored The passing days were getting him to consider being the second as his own and this was increasing the sorrow of not becoming the first Yekta couldn ’t stand the sorrow anymore so he ran away from the racehorse farm and went to the Appalaş Mountains He saw wild horses grazing in the meadow further while he was wandering in the Appalaş Mountains They were Mustang horses He went near them and asked: “Hello, would you mind my joining you? “ Gera, who was the head of the Mustangs, said Of course, come and join us buddy “Yekta joined the Mustangs and started to graze with them It was good and nice there; he got closer with the Mustangs immediately More than an hour had passed Gera the head said he would go to the piny wood that was 10 kilometres away, he said “Let ’s and started to run The horse herd, whose number increased to 20 with Yekta ’s joining, was running fast The one who was the strongest and who ran the fastest among the Mustang horses would become the head of the herd It was impossible to become the head by running in the middle lines Whenever the head was overtaken, he would lose being the head Gera was running forward The other horses were striving to reach him
However, Yekta always ran at the back When they arrived at the piny wood, he had overtaken only two horses, namely he had become the 18 Yekta didn ’t want to accept that He was a racehorse, so he was used to run on the grassy or sand track Gera the head had said that they would go to the piny wood and he had run forward quickly and the other horses had followed him The one who started running the last was Yekta; who even couldn ’t understand what was going on, what was happening, what the piny wood was In fact they had run on the grass but they had run on a stony place later and next they had had to run among thicket and woods The Mustangs had already known that place very well since they had passed there a lot of times before They knew where to step while running on the stony place, and they knew which the shortest way was while passing through the thicket and woods Because of that Yekta thought that if he would move backward one step each kilometre, he would move backward ten steps each ten kilometres The distance between Gera and him was already that much Yekta never returned to the racetracks He always stayed in the mountains among the Mustangs The passing time gained power to Yekta ’s and Gera was overtaken by him one day Becoming the head of the Mustangs, Yekta stayed the head for many years
THE END
Written by: Serdar YILDIRIM
GOLGESİYLE YARIŞAN TAY
At yarışlarının yapıldığı şehir hipodromu cok kalabalıktı Tribunler tıklım tıklım doluydu Her pazar gunu olduğu gibi, bu pazar da birinci olana buyuk ikramiyenin verildiği yarışlar yapılacaktı Birincilik icin en buyuk aday Kara Bomba isimli attı İki yıla yakın bir zamandır bu şehirde yapılan yarışmaların tek ve mutlak hakimiydi Simsiyah rengi, kocaman gozleri ve dev gibi uzun boyuyla o her zaman atların en irisiydi Daha uzun bir sure birinciliği kaptırmayacağı tahmin ediliyordu
Diğer yarışmacı atlar ise, Fırtına, Ak kız, Pence, Surpriz, Zorlu, Tavşan ve Yekta idi Yekta, boyle bir yarışa ilk defa katılıyordu, oldukca heyecanlıydı Gerci yetiştirildiği yarış atı ciftliğinde cok iyi hazırlanmıştı, fakat genc ve tecrubesiz oluşu onu korkutuyordu Ya birinci olamazsa?Boyle bir şeyi duşunmek bile istemiyorduO zaman, sıradan bir yarış atı durumuna duşecek ve belki bu durum hep boyle surup gidecekti Bin bir ceşit yarış hilelerinin yapıldığı, duzenin ve entrikanın bol olduğu bu yarışlarda birinci olmak sadece suratli olmak ve dayanıklılık demek değildi Mesela, bazı yarışlarda Tavşan tavşanlık yapardı Yarış başlar başlamaz one gecer, temposunu gittikce arttırır, atları yorar ve yarışı bırakırdı Son duzlukte Kara Bomba yaptığı bir atakla birinciliği kazanırdı Pence isimli yarış atı Kara Bomba ’nın diğer yardımcısıydı Yarış surerken form durumu yuksek olan atları kollar, onlara carpar, onlerine gecip hızlarını azaltır ve Kara Bomba ’nın yarışı kazanmasını sağlardı
Atlar, duzenli olarak başlama yerinde sıralandılar Start icin tabanca sesi duyulur duyulmaz, sekiz tane guclu yarış atı ileri atıldılar Cıkışı cok kuvvetli olan Tavşan hemen one gecti Yekta tum cabasına karşılık ikinci sırada kalmıştı Tuh be, Tavşan ’ı kacırdım!Bu Tavşan ’ı zaten son duzluğe kadar kimse gecemezmiş Yarışın ortasına gelmeden onu mutlaka gecmeliyim Haydi Yekta, daha hızlı, daha hızlı…
1500 startı gecildiğinde Tavşan ikinci durumdaki Yekta ’nın uc boy kadar onundeydi “ Bomba nerelerde ki, donup bakmalı Tavşan bu suratiyle yarışı tamamlayamaz Vay, Bomba hemen arkamdaymış! Ne oluyor ya, ne dumen ceviriyor bunlar? Son duzluğe kadar orta sıralarda saklanırmış bu Benden huylandılar muhakkak “
Yarışın ortası:1000 startı gecilirken, Tavşan isimli yarış atı aniden koşu pistinin kenarına cıktı ve yarışı bıraktı Yekta suratle onun yanından gecti ve birinci duruma yukseldi Fakat yarışın bitmesine 1000 metre vardı ve Kara Bomba, Yekta ile arasındaki farkı gitgide kapatmaktaydı
Son duzluğe ( son 500 metre ) Yekta ile Kara Bomba başa baş girdiler Nefesleri kesen bir mucadeleden sonra bitişe 100 metre kala başlayan Yekta ’nın oldurucu deparları yarışı iki boy farkla kazanmasını sağladı Yekta mutluydu artık cunku ilk yarışını zor da olsa birinci olarak bitirmeyi başarmıştı Yekta, Kara Bomba ve ekibiyle bircok defalar daha yarıştı Girdiği her yarışta birinci oldu Artık bu şehir ona dar gelmeye başlamıştı Dışa acılmalı, adını daha geniş cevrelere duyurmalı ve daha buyuk yarışlar kazanmalıydı Nitekim girdiği bolge birinciliği koşusunu da kazanınca, bir ay sonra yapılacak olan ulke şampiyonluğu yarışına katılmak icin antrenmanlarını daha da sıklaştırdı
Hazırlandığı yarış atı ciftliğinde bircok yarış atı Yekta ’ya değişik zamanlarda katıldıkları yarışmaları anlattılar Yekta, onları buyuk bir dikkatle dinledi Gorgusunu, bilgisini arttırdı Yekta ’ya gore, bilmenin, oğrenmenin sonu yoktu Her yeni bilgi yeni bir şeyler oğretirdi Onemli olan oğrendiklerine kendi duşuncelerinden yeni fikirler katarak “ ozgun bilgi “ elde edebilmekti Doğru duşunebilmek ancak kendini cok iyi tanımakla mumkun olabilirdi Bu da kişisel erdem icin gerekli olan “ oto kontrol “ yani kendi kendini kontrol etme yeteneğini sağlardı Oto kontrol yeteneğinin duzenli olması, mukemmellik sınırlarını zorlardı
Gunler gunleri kovaladı Her gecen gun Yekta ’nın gucune guc katıyordu Gittikce daha suratli koşmaya ve mesafeleri daha kısa zamanda aşmaya başlamıştı Buyuk yarışa yedi gun kalmıştı Oğleden sonra ozel olarak hazırlanmış kamyona Yekta ’yı bindirdiler Kamyon, biraz sonra ulkenin en buyuk şehrine gitmek uzere yola cıktı Yolun yarısı gecilmişti ki, kamyon buyuk bir gurultuyle yol kenarındaki hendeğe yuvarlandı Sonra derin bir sessizlik Yekta ’ya şans eseri bir şey olmamıştı Kapısının acılmasını bekledi Gelen giden yoktu Uzun bir sure uğraştıktan sonra kapının kilidini kırmayı başardı Korkuyla dışarı fırladı Yola cıktı Cok uzaklarda tek tuk ışıklar gorunur gibi oluyordu Yarışın yapılacağı yer oralarda olmalıydı Kamyon olmasa da olurdu Kendi başıma da olsam oraya varabilirim, diye duşundu Koşmaya başladı Koştu…Koştu…
Aradan bir saatten fazla zaman gecti Hava kararmaya,Yekta, şaşırmaya başladı Ne oluyordu? Neden ortalık hep aydınlık kalmıyordu? Karanlık kadar anlamsız şey var mıydı? Şaşırmakta haklıydı Gunduzleri acık havada antrenman yapar, hava kararmadan iceriye girerdi İcerde de ışıklar gece gunduz yanardı O, şimdiye kadar karanlıkta hic kalmamıştı Yekta ay ışığı altında, yavaş bir tempo tutturmuş olarak kilometrelerce koştuktan sonra birden urperdi Sol tarafında bir karartı vardı ve kendisini gecmeye calışıyordu Hızla başını cevirdi Bir at !
Yekta:
“ Kim ola ki? Nereden cıktı birdenbire? Neyse kim olduğu beni ilgilendirmez Onemli olan beni gecmek uzere olmasıİşte buna izin vermem!Şimdiye kadar kimse bana toz yutturamadı Tempoyu biraz arttırayım, bakalım ne yapacak? “ diye duşundu Yekta ’nın golgesini gecmek icin verdiği uğraş butun bir gece boyu devam etti Sabaha karşı karanlık yerini aydınlığa bırakırken Yekta ’nın golgesi silinip gitti Bir aralık, kafasını sol tarafına ceviren Yekta onu goremedi Sağına baktı, yine yok Arkasına baktı, gerilere daha gerilere baktı Rakibinin olağanustu tempoya ayak uyduramayıp yarışı bıraktığını zannetti Hızını yavaş yavaş azalttı
Yekta hafif bir tempo ile koşmaya bir saat kadar daha devam etti Yarışın yapılacağı şehrin işte ilk evleri gozukmeye başlamıştı Yekta yolda rastladığı bir sutcu beygirine at yarışlarının yapılacağı hipodromun nerede olduğunu sordu Tarif edildiği uzere yoluna devam etti Goğsu gururla kabarmış olarak, başı dimdik vaziyette, şehrin ana caddesinden gecerken arabalar durmuştu ve yol kenarındaki insanlar gazetelerde, dergilerde bircok defalar resmini gordukleri, hakkında yazılan yazıları okudukları bu şahane tayı cılgınca alkışlıyorlardı Hipodromun kapısının acık olmasından yararlanan Yekta, iceriye girdi Biraz sonra koşu pistine cıkmıştı Altı gun sonraki ulke birinciliği koşusu burada yapılacaktı Ağır adımlarla koşu pistinde tur atan Yekta o yarışta birinci olmayı duşunuyordu mutlaka
Yekta ’yı getiren kamyonun devrildiğini haber alan sahibi olay yerine gelmişti Surucu ile seyis yaralı olarak hastaneye kaldırıldılar Yekta ’nın sahibi sabah olunca Yekta ’yı aramaya koyuldu ve onun hipodroma geldiğini haber alınca oraya gitti Hipodromun kapısından iceriye giren Yekta ’nın sahibi Yekta ’yı koşu pistinde ağır adımlarla koşarken gorunce “ Yekta… Yekta…diye bağırarak piste fırladı Hızla koşarak Yekta ’ya yetişti ve onun boynuna sarıldı Yekta neden sonra durumun farkına vardı Sahibi onu bu yabancı şehirde aramış ve bulmuştu
