This is an old Russian tale, by an author from Kyrgystan when it was part of the Soviet Union.
I remember first reading this story as a young boy, when due to stoppage of funds after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian library at our place had closed up, and russian classics published in nice russian paper, were getting sold out on the roadside at cheap prices. Over the years, I somehow lost my copy of the book. Now, after two decades, I felt thrilled at finding an online link to this touching story.
http://www.angelfire.com/rnb/bashiri/Stories/Haveandlose.html
Quote from the book..
“The only thing I'll never have is what I have lost for ever and ever... As long as I live, until I draw my last breath, I shall remember Asel and all those beautiful things that were ours. The day I was to leave I went to the lake and stood on the rise above it. I was saying good-bye to the Tien Shan mountains, to Issyk-Kul. Good-bye, Issyk-Kul, my unfinished song! How I wish I could take you with me, your blue waters and your yellow shores, but I can't, just as I can't take the woman I love with me. Goodbye, Asel. Good-bye, my pretty poplar in a red kerchief! Good-bye, my love, I want you to be happy...”
― Chingiz Aitmatov, " To Have and to lose and other stories"
I remember first reading this story as a young boy, when due to stoppage of funds after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian library at our place had closed up, and russian classics published in nice russian paper, were getting sold out on the roadside at cheap prices. Over the years, I somehow lost my copy of the book. Now, after two decades, I felt thrilled at finding an online link to this touching story.
http://www.angelfire.com/rnb/bashiri/Stories/Haveandlose.html
Quote from the book..
“The only thing I'll never have is what I have lost for ever and ever... As long as I live, until I draw my last breath, I shall remember Asel and all those beautiful things that were ours. The day I was to leave I went to the lake and stood on the rise above it. I was saying good-bye to the Tien Shan mountains, to Issyk-Kul. Good-bye, Issyk-Kul, my unfinished song! How I wish I could take you with me, your blue waters and your yellow shores, but I can't, just as I can't take the woman I love with me. Goodbye, Asel. Good-bye, my pretty poplar in a red kerchief! Good-bye, my love, I want you to be happy...”
― Chingiz Aitmatov, " To Have and to lose and other stories"
Last edited: