Three Apples Fell From The Sky Quotes
"Death hits everyone differently: it will stop one person’s heart but steal another’s mind with a sneer."
"She rooted around in the linen trunk, took out an old sheet, cut it into several pieces, and made herself something akin to sanitary pads."
"Despite her downcast and anxious condition, she went to sleep easily and slept through until morning."
"Anatolia assessed the state of her body and established that the condition of her health was completely tolerable."
"Before departing for the next world, she thoroughly watered the kitchen garden and scattered food for the chickens."
"She gave a deep sigh and closed her eyes before getting right back up to fling both sashes of the window wide open."
"The cotton wool threatened to run out very soon, so Anatolia took apart the edge of a quilt and pulled out several clumps of sheep’s wool."
"She rose cautiously, went to the privy, and confirmed with a wicked sort of satisfaction that there was even more blood than before."
"Once Anatolia had forbidden herself to cry and fret, she calmed down and resigned herself to the inevitable surprisingly fast."
"Anatolia was the youngest of Kapiton Sevoyants’s three daughters and the only one in his entire family who had managed to live to an advanced age."
"She didn’t remember her mother well because she had died when Anatolia was seven years old."
"She swallowed her tears and confided her intense feelings in her husband, lamenting that Tatevik must not have forgiven her."
"The library was now reminiscent of a reading room in a well-tended conservatory."
"Anatolia sincerely believed the children’s love was nothing less than heaven’s consolation for her own childlessness."
"In the mornings she made her way out to the chicken coop to scatter grain for the birds and collect eggs, then she fed the goats."
"The room smelled of evening freshness with a slight scent of bitter chamomile."
"Anatolia lay on the pillows, clasping the album with photographs of her loved ones to her chest, and wept."
"‘When God wants to punish mankind, the first thing He does is take away their intelligence,’ said Ovanes, shaking his head."
"‘It’s better to think a hundred times and then speak once than to circulate all this blather unthinkingly,’ Ovanes would grumble in annoyance."
"Was there anything good in my first husband that would lead me to expect anything good from a second?"
"‘She’s smart and well-read, so what would she want with an ignorant dunce like me?’ he said, sharing his doubts."
"The main thing is that we have nothing to fear. Do as he advised you and everything will be fine."
"It seemed to be hinting that this was retribution being sent down because she had been unable to fulfill her primary destiny: giving birth to children."
"If you raise a hand against her again I’ll kill you, no questions asked. Is that clear?"
"Today there’s one thing on their mind, tomorrow it’s the opposite. Give her time to get her head around the idea gradually. Then we’ll see what happens."
"It’s raining enough that it seems to be washing away all her troubles."
"There’s nothing more destructive than idleness."
"Life does, indeed, lose its purpose at the very instant a person ceases bringing benefit to those around him."
"Life was a gift, not something to take for granted."
"Why are you refusing an opportunity to make someone at least a tiny bit happier?"
"If you’re not going to think of yourself, then at least think of him."
"Let him fall, that’s why he’s a boy, he needs to fall and get back up."
"Being a sensible person who regarded anything that seemed inexplicable with skepticism, Vano attempted right then and there to find some sort of rational interpretation for what had happened."
"After meeting defeat, though, he waved it off and gave in, coming to terms with the fact that there are things that ordinary words cannot explain and the human mind cannot comprehend."
"Out of deference to the peacock, Vano decided to display his gratitude using all the resources he had available."
"He supposed the peacock’s arrival was somehow connected to Tigran but he didn’t want to speak with his wife about that lest she start gasping again."
"The money, however, hardly worried Vano; he was just bothered that he might not have done everything he could to thank his grandson’s savior."
"He had been planning to marry, but the war started so he didn’t get around to it."
"Valinka cried her eyes out and prayed every hour of every day, wearing down the threshold at the old chapel."
"For some reason, he had taken it upon himself to do some calculations the night before and discovered that exactly thirty-three years had passed since the day the peacock had appeared in his home."
"The peacock responded to Vano’s care with absolute disinterest and paid no attention to anyone but Tigran."
"The packages had no return addresses, so they went off and didn’t return the way other correspondence came back to Maran homes in lieu of death notices."
"By the time he graduated from high school, he had shot up in height and matured dramatically."
"Living up north was difficult, but he neither complained nor became downhearted."
"Vano died shortly before Pentecost. He ate lunch, lay down to rest, and didn’t wake up."
"Valinka buried her husband in his old tweed suit and worn-out shoes."
"The story took a further, completely sudden new direction, like the wag of a tail."
"The envelope was large, very wrinkled, and covered in numerous colorful stamps."
"It was Wednesday, the sun had risen before the roosters, and the morning dew had fallen so you could scoop it up by the fistful."
"Valinka realized instantly what had happened and kept walking a few more steps out of inertia before stopping."
"The air was as clear as a bell, streaming and flowing like a spring thaw."
"The village kept silent, cherishing the boundless sorrow it held within its stony embraces."
"A moment of human happiness does not become days or weeks without God's knowledge and desire."
"A real man has to rise to the occasion. He may be unsure of himself, but he can't retreat."
"Life is like the ripples left by raindrops on the surface of a pool of water, where every event is a consequence of what came before it."
"This story is about how exactly one year and one month ago, on a Friday just past noon, after the sun had rolled past its lofty zenith and begun sliding sedately toward the western edge of the valley, Anatolia Sevoyants had lain down to breathe her last, not knowing how many wonderful things awaited her."
"May it be thus for a long time and may it always be thus, so the night will cast spells, protecting her happiness."