Oybek. “Fanorchi ota” (The Old Lamplighter)

Oybek (Musa Toshmuhammad o‘g‘li) was born on 10 January 1905 in Tashkent into a weaver’s family and died in 1968. His first collection, “Tuyg‘ular”, appeared in 1926; later he wrote the novels “Qutlug‘ qon” (1940), “Navoiy” (1944) and “Quyosh qoramas” (1958). His works fill 20 volumes. In the story “Fanorchi ota” the neighbourhood boys keep breaking the glass of a street lantern, and the old lamplighter, without anger, goes on fitting new glass. One day he gently tells the boys how much old people need the light and how he once rescued an old man who had fallen into a ditch on a dark night. His kindness touches the boys’ conscience: they decide not to break the lantern again and to stand by the old man. The story is about the power of treating people with kindness and patience.