It was during the anarchic days when Russian invaders had put the Turkish army to flight and filled the roads of eastern Turkey with a horde of desperate, famished refugees that the Kurdish Ismail Agha, fleeing to Cilicia with his family from his village on the shores of Lake Van, picked up a child left to die by the roadside with atrocious, maggot-infested wounds. Thus did Salman become the adopted son of Ismail Agha who, after many reversals of fortune, achieved a considerable prosperity in his new home. Salman grew up to worship the very ground on which his "father" trod, and to stand armed guard at his gate in all weathers. Change came with the eventual birth of a son, Mustafa, to Ismail Agha, who had reached an age to despair of ever having an heir of his own flesh from his yet too young wife. Now the green-eyed serpent, Jealousy, entered the household: Mustafa grew up to be terrified of his adoptive brother, a man of unpredictable mood-swings - and impeccable marksmanship. But Jealousy chose a different and quite unexpected target when finally the knives came into play.The story of Salman, Mustafa and their father is set against the rural cycle of tilling, planting and harvesting, but also of chronic turbulence - raids, vendettas, abductions, arson, inter-tribal quarrels and, as a constant undertone, the vicious village gossip forever choosing a new mark for its persecution. Read Less