An Afghanistan Picture Show: Or, How I Saved the World Read Online Free Page B

my door?” I said.
    “Yes, please,” my friend said.
    We walked over to the ornamental fountain where the demonstration was scheduled to begin, and children came up to give us pamphlets. The man with the bullhorn said that if we were united we would never be defeated. The shouting procession began. Nobody saw us. Sweat was in our eyes. My friend and I walked listlessly. We were both feeling very tired. After two blocks we went back to the car.

The red hill [3]
     
    I t is part of the fragmentation of life that after the Soviets invaded Afghanistan I wanted to go there. It sounded like a treasure-trove of nightmares. Allow me to quote briefly from the
Encyclopædia Britannica
to set my expectations’ scene:
    A kingdom in … For information about border disputes … great central range of mountains … a series of deep ravines and broken ridges … more than 115°F in the summer, while in the highlands of Kabul … to -15°F in February … the influence of the southwest monsoon hardly extends beyond Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan … a dry, invigorating atmosphere … periodic blizzards … large forest trees … The lowest terminal ridges, especially toward the west, are naked in aspect … Wild animals include the wolf, fox, hyena, wild dog, wildcat, common leopard, mongoose, wild sheep, mole, shrew, hedgehog, bat, several species of jumping mouse, jerboa and pika hare. Bears are found in the forests and the Mongolian tiger is said to inhabit the thick reed country of the Amudarya … The Pathans, i.e., the Afghans proper … dark hair and … The Tajiks … The Hazaras, also, are part of the far-flung Mongolian race. They are glabrous, short-haired … Different forms of the vendetta exist … the protagonist hops on one leg … involves the attempt to retrieve a decapitated calf’s body from a ditch, on horseback, and carry it to the goal, hundreds of riders participating in the contest … singing in a chorus accompanied by native instruments … an Iron Age settlement at Balkh with plain buffware … few remains of the early Muslim invaders … the Hephthalite domination … when already Arab armies … descended upon the city … Mongol hordes … no living thing was to be spared. The beautiful city of Balkh was utterly … The horrors of the Mongol invasion were then repeated, though on a lesser scale … peace and prosperity … was parceled between the Mughals of India and … were slaughtered … The Russians … Internal strife … Meanwhile … blinded and imprisoned … indolent ruler … Napoleon … but instead the Sikh ruler robbed him of the famous Koh-i-Nor diamond … the unfortunate minister to be cut to pieces … holy war in 1836 … A British army … honorably treated … who killed him with his own hands … a speedy but peaceful settlement of the Afghan question … annihilated … evacuated … machinery and othermodern appliances … assassinated … the national awakening … independence … a group of reactionaries who … a reign of terror … Unfortunately, this steady progress was interrupted by … Internal peace was maintained, and steady progress … neutrality … friction between Afghanistan and Pakistan … agreements with certain foreign governments … a motorway and … the new constitution … rioting by students … the assembly … social welfare centers … a military academy at Kabul … facilities for jet bombers.
     
    It all sounded quite interesting, especially since I had just realized that open space was not in fact the life-pervaded medium which I had imagined. The softness of blown grass or willows or evergreens is not a genuine softness, because gravity and death make all living things hard. We do not all have skeletons, of course, for in marine environments particularly, where both of these rather stern considerations are harder to keep