My cousin Dikran, the Orator

Twenty years ago, the Armenians in the valley round Fresno used to regard oratory as the greatest, the most important art. About ninety-two per cent of the farmers believed that any man who could make a speech was a cultured man.

It was inevitable under the circumstances for the Garoghlanians to produce an orator too, though the grandfather regarded speechmakers as fools.

He was always impatient with any kind of talk, except the most direct and sensible. He wanted to know what he didn’t know, and that was all. He used to go to all the public meetings, but they all sickened him.

In spite of all this, I say, it was inevitablefor the Garoghlaniansto produce an orator. This orator turned out to be my little cousin Dikran.

The Old Man was fond of this unusual boy among the Garoghlanians. He was at any rate something special. First of all he was younger than the others who imagined they had learned many things from books, and then he spoke much more clearly than the others. For these reasons he was accepted by all of us as the Garoghlanian scholar and orator. Once his school announced an evening program which included a speech by Dikran Garoghlanian — a speech entitled “Was the World War Fought in Vain?”. At the proper time the Garoghlanians seated themselves in the school room and listened to the only Garoghlanian orator — Dikran.

The speech was dramatic, well-uttered, intelligent, and the conclusion of it was that the World War had not been fought in vain, that Democracy had saved the world. Everybody in the room was greatly impressed by the speech and applauded wildly. It was really too much for the Old Man. In the midst of the thunderous applause, he burst out laughing.

That evening at home the Old Man called the boy to him and said, “I listened to your speech. It’s all right. I understand you spoke about a war in which several million men were killed. I understand you proved the war was not fought in vain. This statement sounded important and beautiful as it came from the lips of a boy of eleven — from one who believes what he is saying. Continue your study of the world from books, and I am sure that by the time you are sixty-seven you will know the awful foolishness of that remark in your speech, so innocently uttered by you tonight, in such good English.”

Ex. 1

Ճառախոս — orator

Պերճախոսություն — perch speech

Գյուղացիների 92 տոկոսը — ninety-two per cent of the farmers

Փրկել — save

Խելամիտ — intelligent

Իզուր — vain

Հայտարարել — to announce/ to be announced

Հայտարարություն — statement

Տպավորություն գործել — to make impression

Բուռն ծափահարություն — to applaud wildly

Անմեղորեն — Innocently