From Sokrat Shyti
Part fifty-four
Memorie.al / The writer Sokrat Shyti is the “great unknown” who for several years has shown the tip of the iceberg of his literary creativity. I say this based on the limited number of his published books in recent years, mainly the voluminous novel “The Ghost Night” (Tirana 2014). The novels: “BEYOND MYSTERY,” “BETWEEN TEMPTATION AND WHIRLPOOL,” “THE DIGGING OF NIGHTMARES,” “THE SHADOW OF SHAME AND DEATH,” “COLONEL MAIN HAND,” “THE FADING HOPES,” “THE TWISTS OF FATE” I, II, “SURVIVAL IN THE COWSHED,” as well as other works, all novels with 350 – 550 pages, are in manuscripts waiting to be published. The dreams and initial enthusiasm of the young novelist, returning from studies abroad full of energy and love for art and literature, were cut short early by the harsh blade of communist dictatorship.
Who is Sokrat Shyti?
Having returned from studies at the State University of Moscow right after the rupture of Albanian-Soviet relations in 1960, Sokrat Shyti worked in “Radio-diffusion” (which at that time was located on Kavaja Street), in an editorial office with his journalist friends – Vangjel Lezho and Fadil Kokomani – both of whom were later arrested and subsequently executed by the communist regime. Besides the radio, 21-year-old Sokrat had passionate literary interests at that time. He wrote his first novel “Madam Doctor” and was on the verge of publication, but… alas! Shortly after the arrest of his friends, to fill the cup, one of his brothers, a painter, escaped abroad.
Sokrat was arrested in September 1963, and in November of that year, he was interned along with his family (his mother and little sister) in a place between Ardenica and Kolonje of Lushnje. For 27 consecutive years, the family lived in a cowshed made of reeds, without windows, while Sokrat was subjected to forced labor. During those 27 years, he was legally obliged to report three times a day to the local authority. He had no right to leave the place of internment, was deprived of any kind of documents, etc. In these conditions, amid a cowshed, he gave birth to and raised his children. Precisely from this event, or more accurately a very long story of persecution, he based his writing of the book “Survival in the Cowshed”!
Agron Tufa
Continued from the previous issue
EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK “SURVIVAL IN THE COWSHED”
At the General Military Hospital, the division doctor was warmly welcomed by his closest friends, as well as some beautiful nurses, who hugged him longingly, asking him how many days he would stay in Tirana, hoping to meet him somewhere.
– “What are you taking this handsome boy with you for?” a plump blonde asked, looking at me with her blue eyes. “Since you will have him in your ward for a few days, I want you to treat him with the utmost care,” the doctor replied with a smile.
– “Don’t worry about that at all,” the blonde with blue eyes added. “We know how to treat charming, handsome boys…”!
– “Here are the accompanying documents. Take care to put him in a privileged room. Or do you need my help?” the doctor asked, addressing the plump blonde.
– “We’ll take care of the bed. But on condition that you keep your promise: to meet me somewhere later today…” – the blonde replied with a seductive smile.
– “Even if you hadn’t asked me, I would have made the proposal, since old friendships retain their sweetness for a long time, new acquaintances cannot fade it. There’s no point in comparing the milky beauties of the capital with the primitive girls of the province”, – said the doctor, hugging and kissing them once more, before leaving.
– “From now on you are in our confidence,” the blonde with blue eyes told me, fixing her gaze with a searching curiosity on my little toes. “Don’t be so timid, because when you go to the operating room, we will see even the most hidden parts of your body. So put your shame aside and accept our sincere friendship…”, she added as we climbed the stairs to the second floor, to enter the ward.
We went to the head nurse’s corner, a middle-aged woman, around forty, who gave importance to herself, with an authoritative attitude, to show that without her participation, no activity could be carried out. – “But why didn’t the doctor come?” – she asked the blonde in a harsh tone, to express her dissatisfaction that he didn’t go up to hug and kiss her, like he did with them! (She had been jealously following all their kisses and hugs from the window, so she was curious to know how he would behave towards her when he found himself in front of her).
– “As always, the most passionate part of the hugs belongs to our boss…” the blonde replied, winking at her friends. – You will receive these kisses and hugs when you return, when it is just the two of you…! She ordered us to tell her to put the patient in a room with a beautiful view and as much space as possible…”, – she added in a whisper near the head nurse’s ear.
– “I have it in mind!” – she replied in a stern tone. – You go to your places, because I will deal with the patient”.
– “As you order, boss”! – the blonde said with a ready stance, saluting with her right hand, and before leaving, she winked at me.
After filling out the admission card, we went to the store and got underwear, pajamas, and towels. Then, in a separate alcove, I took off my military uniform, shoes, and hat, put on my pajamas, and headed to the showers. During the minutes she accompanied me, the head nurse asked me where I was from, and if I was single or engaged. She breathed a sigh of relief when I told her that a month ago, I got engaged to the girl I loved.
– “A beauty like you!” she said with a deep sigh. – It rarely happens among us that lovers get married. Because among us, engagements and marriages are always arranged. Have you known the girl you got engaged to for a long time? – she asked with great curiosity.
“Since childhood. But only after many years, we saw each other.”
– “Does she know that you are going to have surgery?” – she added with interest.
– “Only after the surgery, when you have fully recovered, will I let her know. Or I will go straight to her house,” – I said.
– “Are you excited about having surgery?” – she asked.
– “I have so many other thoughts that are confusing me, that they leave no room for the emotions of the surgery…” – I replied.
– “For me, this shows maturity,” she pointed out. – I am glad that you are engaged, for two reasons…! – You said the first a little while ago: I got engaged to the girl I love. What about the second?
– “The second: as soon as our single women find out that you’re caught, they’ll give up hope and won’t be able to get married. Did you see how that blonde looked at you? She almost ate you with her eyes”!…
– “It’s not their fault. They’re old. Then there are very young patients who come here. Anyway, now that I’ve recovered, I’m going to my work. Here’s your room,” she added, opening door number seven. “The bed is by the window, with a view all the way to the end of the street.” If you have any requests, feel free to knock on my door…”!
The ward was spacious, with plenty of light. There were four beds in total. But only two were occupied. In one bed, an artillery officer was leaning against a pillow, who, although he was only going to be operated on for hemorrhoids, felt quite stressed, as if he were going to undergo a rather complicated surgery that would last for hours! The other, an infantry officer, had a fracture in his right shoulder, so he was being treated very carefully, so as not to injure it during movement. Both of them were quite surprised when I told them that I was not an officer! But after a while the artillery officer seemed to come to his senses when I told him my name and surname.
– “Are you related to General Tanush Shyti?” – this rather curious man asked me.
– “Maybe we are,” – I replied with a smile, remembering that it was a question of for one of the deputy ministers of defense. The three of us soon became friends, and the conversation focused on the concerns that awaited us. I encouraged the artillery officer, explained to him calmly and patiently that hemorrhoid surgery is a simple surgical procedure, without side effects, a wonderful opportunity to remove from the body some boils that cause pain and infections.
– “That’s why you’re so calm?!… – he asked quite surprised.
– “Even though I have them in the initial stage, I want to get rid of them, so that they don’t bother me later. But you have them quite irritated, with pronounced bleeding, and you are forced to operate on them a moment ago. It is enough to look at yourself in the mirror, how pale you are, to understand how the bad hemorrhoids have reduced you. Don’t you feel that you are going into anemia”?!
– “I feel it, how can I not feel it”! – he replied to me insulted and complaining.
– “Then what did you expect that dragged it on until today? Why this reluctance”?!
– “I don’t know how to explain it. Every time I thought about coming here, to the hospital, an inner fear prevented me…! I have used all kinds of folk remedies, but to no avail.”
– “That’s exactly what the division doctor explained to me when he visited me: these can be cured temporarily. But the best thing is to have surgery.”
After two days, the charming blonde came to the bed, with a syringe in her hand, and with a smile told me to roll up my sleeve, “because in an hour, we’ll go to the operating room together.”
– “Does it hurt?” – she asked with a seductive look, when she removed the needle.
– “You have hypnotizing eyes! The boy who will mate with you will have a hard time adjusting.”
– “Why?” – she asked quite curiously.
– “Because inside, your eyes hide a mysterious enigma, which in itself causes gnawing jealousy…”!
– “No one I know has ever told me this”!…. – she said in surprise.
– “Perhaps your acquaintances have not been keen observers, or have not known how to see beyond the retina of your blue eyes…”!
– “How beautifully you know how to express yourself in front of a girl”! – she said with a look of gratitude.
– “I did not express anything superfluous, except what I see in front of me”! – I replied.
– “But this statement so shocking, revealed to me a wonderful feature, which I did not know and which had never occurred to me! – she said with a fixed gaze on my pupils. – I would love to continue this interesting conversation, but we can’t right now, due to the inconvenient time, since you’re about to have surgery and you need to be completely undisturbed… – he added with a smile. – Maybe after the operation, when you come to your senses, and if we are given the opportunity, we will continue our research into the mysterious enigma of my blue eyes…”!
In the operating room, after partial anesthesia, I did not lose consciousness, so I could see and follow all the movements of the surgeon’s hands, the incisions of the hemorrhoids with a scalpel, without feeling any pain or irritation, because that part of my body, from the waist down, did not transmit any nerve sensation. I noticed the nurses in the operating room around me, who worked with skill and attentiveness to the surgeon’s requests, and one of them rubbed my head from time to time with her hands, to keep me awake. The operation lasted about forty-five minutes.
– “We removed a total of four large tonsils. But you didn’t tire us much, because you had them outside, on the edge of your anus. Fortunately, you removed them in time. “Because over the years, the tonsils swell, blocking the exit of the anus,” the surgeon explained to me at the end, before they wheeled me to my bed. Then he ordered me to lie as still as possible, and not to make any forced movements.
– “When you come to urinate, don’t get up from the bed. The nurse will bring a bottle for you to pour your urine into, and with the electric bell, notify them to take the bottle immediately. Today and tomorrow, you will eat only soup, no bread. In the morning you will drink milk, so that feces do not form in the anus. Try to stay silent, do not talk to your roommates. According to the analysis parameters, your flesh has a good regenerative capacity, so the wound will close very quickly. Spend your time reading. The daily press comes to us regularly. So, use the time to get as much information as possible”.
When they wheeled me to my bed, I noticed on the bedside table some newspapers “Zëri i Popullit”, “Zëri i Rinisë” and “Bashkimi”. At first, I took a suitable position, so that I would have as little pain as possible, after the stretching of my limbs. But the artillery officer, who was very curious, could hardly wait for the nurses to leave so that he could ask me questions about the operation: how did I feel? How bearable was the pain?
But at the moment he was being measured, he was restrained, prevented by the warning of the head nurse, who said in a strict tone to the room attendants; “do not disturb your operated comrade, at least for four hours”.
– “During this time, only read the daily press, without whispering among each other! Even though you are officers, in my ward I am your commander! – Silence heals”! – she repeated before leaving.
After a while I did not even understand how sleep overtook me. I slept for about two hours. When I woke up, my thighs and legs had completely regained sensitivity. The artillery officer craned his neck to see if I had my eyes closed or open, to ask me how I felt, how bearable the pain was after the operation.
– “I believe you must have experienced the pricking sensation of a thorn. In fact, at first it feels as if several thorns are pricking you at once. Then they become rarer and rarer. In the end, the sting of the pricking remains. That concludes the whole operation…”, – I replied.
– “The way you explained it so simply seems excessive to me, and you are probably doing this only to calm me down”, – he said. But he did not prolong it with other questions, as he realized that it would become ridiculous and annoying.
After two days of the operation, I had completely recovered: I could get out of bed without effort, go to the bathroom, and even take two or three brisk walks along the corridor.
In one of these walks and collars, I accidentally noticed that a man with a compact body, about fifty years old, wearing a cloth coat and a collar embroidered with gold thread, a broad face and a large forehead, came out of the bathroom of the senior officers, at the end of the right wing. – “You must be my cousin”, – he said with a smile when I passed him.
– “If you are General Shyti, perhaps we are cousins …”, – I replied humorously, realizing that someone had whispered the initial conversation in his ear, when I entered the room.
– “I would certainly feel pleasure to have a family of artists as relatives! – said the general. – Your older brother, and Ndue Shyti the rhapsodist, have made our surname known. We will have the opportunity one of these days, to drink coffee of acquaintance in my ward”, – he added, shaking my hand.
At that moment I didn’t know how to evaluate this meeting, a sign of good luck, or an expected tease. While I was dealing with these guesses, I noticed that the blonde nurse with a slim body and blue eyes was coming towards me with her graceful smile.
– “I deserve a good reward for the gift I will give,” she said in a sweet voice. – But not worth a penny. I want a reward in kind”!… – she added with an absorbing look.
– “If it is as I guess, I will give it with pleasure”!… – I replied.
– “Keep your word”! – she said, laughing lightly.
– “My fiancée has arrived”?!… – I asked her quite surprised. (She nodded). – The most untrustworthy gift! How did you find out”?!
– “As soon as I entered the outer gate, a shy girl asked for my help, when she saw me in a white blouse: ‘Excuse me for disturbing you! Can you tell me, who or which one should I ask, if a soldier from Burrel’s division is lying here’? and she told me your name and surname. – “You hit the mark,” I said with a smile. – “Come with me. If your fiancée comes, I’ll give you a piece of advice that you should keep in mind: Don’t squeeze her too hard when you kiss her”! She blushed.
– “You didn’t bother to ask her who told her I was hospitalized in the military hospital”? – I wanted to know.
– “You men, when you secure the trophies of love, start looking for details and details”! – she warned me.
– “Did you explain that I had surgery for hemorrhoids”? – I asked her further.
– “We didn’t hold a press conference, with questions and answers. She was so excited to meet you after so long, she was even afraid to ask me why she was hospitalized and how she was being treated. Now come with me, and don’t delay! You’ll get the information from her herself. I am giving you a very important message: be careful, don’t be stingy with your kisses! At the same time, I am reminding you to keep your promise: don’t forget to take a nap in nature”,…- he added with a smile, going down the stairs.
– “Since you have such perfect eyesight, like a camera, tell me without exaggeration: do I look weak enough to worry your fiancée”?… – I asked her for a sincere impression.
– “For me, even though you are dressed in pajamas, you are a king!” – she replied. – Once again, I am pointing out the first warning: both of you should be restrained, of course as much as you can, because you are being watched everywhere, and your fiancée will need time to recover. See how confused she is waiting…?! It is up to you to behave like a dignified, sweet and restrained boy! I’m going back to the ward, as you know the head nurse is notorious for being late… – he added in a whisper. – Have a pleasant meeting…”, – he wished, blowing a kiss with his hand.
The sudden arrival of my fiancée at the General Military Hospital was, without a doubt, a mysterious surprise: first of all, it is not known who had notified her, and, secondly, how they had informed her of my health condition. But the news of my urgent hospitalization is enough to alarm and create panic in anyone, especially when the news comes directly from someone who swears that he has seen it with his own eyes. Therefore, after we hugged and kissed (to make up for seven weeks of separation from each other), I was the first to ask her; “where did the news come from in Lushnje, when the departure was made in complete silence, I did not tell anyone that I would be hospitalized”!
But she didn’t answer, she just looked at me with longing and surprise, she walked around me as if she wanted to find out what part of my body I had been operated on, since there were no bandages tied over the wound anywhere, especially on the most suspicious part, my head! Only after she had silently turned around me twice, did she speak, standing in front of me with a reproachful look:
– “You know you froze my blood”?! – she warned me.
– “And to thaw your blood, you came here to spoil my blood?!… – I replied humorously to bring her to her senses. – And what did you discover after the checkup”?
– “I don’t understand that!… – she said confused. – He only told me: I saw him in passing…”!
– “Who is he?” – I interrupted. Memorie.al
Continued in the next issue
