UNCLE GARABED’S NOTEBOOK
By CK Garabed
garabeds-notebook-4/
April 9, 2009
Or To Be Seen
In New York people don’t go to the theater-they go to see hits.
Attributed to Louis Jourdan
If the Truth Be Known
Our immediate predecessors in our historic homeland did not merely
profess Christianity, but practiced its exalting precepts. That’s why
the American missionaries who were assigned to Turkey found themselves
in a paradise, living among the most folk-cultured people in the world,
who were already Christian, and therefore were perfect candidates
for conversion to their brand of Christianity. All they had to do
was build compounds where they could entice young Armenian children
to come and study to become doctors and lawyers.
Many of these missionaries’ children were born in Armenia, and spoke
the language like natives. However, the cruelest betrayal of the
Armenians came at the hands of the Board of American Missions who,
fearful of losing control of their properties in Turkey, prevailed
(according to Vahan Cardashian) upon President Woodrow Wilson to hold
out for an American mandate over Armenia, in opposition to Republicans
in the U.S. Senate who were prepared to rescue an independent Armenia.
Just Desserts
A proud and pompous gentleman once asked the celebrated and
sharp-tongued actress, Mrs. Patrick Campbell, "Why do you suppose it
is that women so utterly lack a sense of humor?" Without hesitation,
she replied," God did it on purpose so that we may love you men
instead of laughing at you."
Frozen Words
This concept was applied by Antiphanes to the discourses of Plato,
as follows:
"As the cold of certain cities is so intense that it freezes the
very words we utter, which remain congealed till the heat of summer
thaws them, so the mind of youth is so thoughtless that the wisdom of
Plato lies there frozen, as it were, till it is thawed by the ripened
judgment of mature age."
What’s in a Name?
Marashian/Marashlian: Armenian in origin, identified to a location,
Marash is a city in Turkish Armenia, and the name is defined as a
native of that city.