Pogossian and I were calmly walking along. He was humming some march and swinging his stick. Suddenly, as if from nowhere, a dog appeared, then another, and another, and still another — in all about fifteen sheep-dogs, who began barking at us. Pogossian imprudently flung a stone at them and they immediately sprang at us.
They were Kurd sheep-dogs, very vicious, and in another moment they would have torn us to pieces if I had not instinctively pulled Pogossian down and made him sit beside me on the road.
Just because we sat down the dogs stopped barking and springing at us; surrounding us, they also sat down.
Some time passed before we came to ourselves; and when we were able to take stock of the situation we burst out laughing, as long as we remained sitting the dogs also sat, peaceably and Still and when we threw them bread from our knapsacks, they ate it with great pleasure, some of them even wagging their tails in gratitude. But when, reassured by their friendliness, we tried to stand up, then, “Oh no, you don’t!” - for they instantly jumped up and, baring their teeth, made ready to spring at us; so we were compelled to sit down once more. When we again tried to get up, the dogs showed themselves so viciously hostile that we did not risk trying a third time.
In this situation we remained sitting for about three hours. I do not know how much longer we would have had to sit there if a young Kurd girl had not chanced to appear in the distance with
an ass, gathering keesiak in the fields.
Making various signs to her, we finally managed to attract her attention, and when she came closer and saw what the trouble was, she went off to fetch the shepherds to whom the dogs belonged, who were not far away behind a hill The shepherds came and called off the dogs, but only when they were at some distance did we risk standing up, and all the time they were moving away the rascals kept an eye on us.
(G. I. G.)
*Limited Edition Cassette also available on Soundohm*
www.soundohm.com/product/smirne-tape
released October 16, 2020
Andrea Reali: voice
Anna Vezzosi: Kalimba
Cesare Lopopolo: prepared guitar, clarinet
Tiziano Doria: synth, noises
Recorded at Spazio Frequenze in Sept. 2019
Mixed by Paolo Romano and Cesare Lopopolo
Album art by Tiziano Doria
Text by Georges Ivanovič Gurdjieff