The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse

William Saroyan

DESCRIPTION OF THE GAROGHLANIAN FAMILY

This is a story of two poor Armenian boys who belong to a tribe which is popular for its
trust and honesty. They cannot steal anything. No member of the Garoghlanian family
can be a thief. They were famous for their honesty. They were proud first, honest next
and after that they believed in right and wrong.

Their Garoghlanian family was living in the most amazing and comical poverty in the
world. No one knew how they got money, enough to keep them alive.

There was a pious stillness and humour in each of them which on the one hand
delighted me and the other frightened me, said Aram.
Pious- having or showing a deep belief in religion

Garoghlanian- an Armenian tribe

DESCRIPTION OF MOURAD
1. Elder cousin of Aram
2. Daring and fun loving
3. Smart and boastful
4. Bold and confident
5. Crazy

Mourad was considered crazy by everybody who knew him except Aram.

DESCRIPTION OF ARAM
1. He was nine years old
2. Calm and quiet
3. Simple and innocent
4. Timid and obedient
5. Dominating
6. Used staple words and phrases
7. Riding a horse was the most awful fear for Aram

WHEN MOURAD CAME TO ARAM’S HOUSE TO SHOW THE WHITE HORSE

One day Mourad came to Aram’s house at four in the morning and woke him up by
tapping on the window of his room. Mourad was sitting on a beautiful white horse. Aram
couldn’t believe his eyes. Aram loved horse riding but they were very poor. Their whole
tribe was poverty stricken.
That year, they lived at the edge of the town, on Walnut Avenue. Behind their house was
the country:- vineyards, orchards, irrigation ditches, and country roads.

JUSTIFICATION GIVEN BY MOURAD FOR STEALING THE HORSE

Mourad said that stealing a horse is different from stealing something else, such as
money. If one is crazy for horses, the way we (Aram and Mourad) both are, then it's not
stealing. It cannot be called stealing if they are not selling the horse.

Aram wore some clothes and leaped up onto the horse behind Mourad. In less than 3
minutes, they were on Olive Avenue, and then, the horse began to trot.
Trot- Run

The feel of the horse running was wonderful. Mourad began to roar. Mourad was
considered the natural descendant of Uncle Khosrove, although his father was Zorab
who was practical.

DESCRIPTION OF UNCLE KHOSROVE

1. He was a crazy and enormous man
2. He had a powerful head of black hair
3. Dominating
4. Homesick
5. He had the largest moustache in the San Joaquin Valley
6. Used staple words and phrases
7. He was very furious in temper, irritable and impatient
8. He stopped anyone from talking by roaring saying, “It is no harm, pay no
attention to it.”

San Joaquin Valley- one of the long interior valleys of California

One day, Khosrove’s son, Arak, ran to the barber shop where his father was having his
moustache trimmed to tell him that their house was on fire. Khosrove sat up in the chair
and roared, it is no harm; pay no attention to it.

A man could be the father of his son’s flesh, but that did not mean that he was also the
father of his spirit.
➔ The implication here is that Mourad, in terms of his personality, is not at all
similar to his father. There is a biological connection, but not a spiritual one.
Khosrove is described as a crazy character, and in this way, he is much more
similar to Mourad than Mourad's biological father is as he was a practical person.

WHEN ARAM AND MOURAD WERE RIDING THE HORSE

They let the horse run as long as it felt like running.
At last, Mourad asked Aram to get down as he wanted to ride alone. He said that he has
a way with the horse. Aram said he also has a way with the horse. Mourad asked him to
get down for the sake of his safety. Aram got down but asked him to let him try to ride
alone some other time.

Mourad kicked his heels into the heels and shouted, Vazire, run. He raced the horse
across a field of dry grass to an irrigation ditch and five minutes later, he returned.
Vazire- an Armenian word for run

WHEN ARAM WAS RIDING THE HORSE

Now it was Aram’s turn to ride the horse. He did not know how to ride a horse. It was
the most awful fear for Aram.
First, the horse didn’t move, then Mourad said to kick the horse. The horse didn't run in
the irrigation ditches, but on the road to the vineyard of Dikran Halabian. There he
began to jump and Aram fell down but he continued to run.

FINDING AND HIDING THE HORSE

It took half an hour for Mourad to find the horse. He said they will either take him back
or hide him until the next morning but he did not want to return it. He said he knew a
place where they could hide the horse.

Aram asked Mourad when did he steal the horse. Mourad said he has been taking
morning rides for some time and had come for Aram this morning as he knew much he
longed to ride. He was not telling the truth. Mourad said that if anyone finds out then
they have to say that this morning was their first ride as he did not want both of them to
be considered liars.

Quietly, Mourad walked the horse to the barn of a deserted vineyard, which was once
the pride of a farmer, Fetvajian. There were some oats and dry alfalfa in the barn. Then
Aram and Mourad went back home.

MOURAD HAD A WAY WITH HORSE

It wasn't easy to get the horse to behave so nicely. First, it wanted to run wild but as
Mourad had a way with the horse, he could make it do anything he wanted. Horses
understand him. He has a simple and honest understanding with the horse.

THAT AFTERNOON
Uncle Khosrove came to Aram’s house for coffee and cigarettes. He remembered his old
country.

Then, a farmer named John Byro arrived. He was an Assyrian but had to learn Armenian,
because of loneliness.
Aram’s mother brought coffee and tobacco for the farmer. At last sighing sadly, he said
that his white horse which was stolen last month is still gone. He was the owner of the
horse that Mourad stole and he had been riding the horse for many days.

Khosrove became very irritated and shouted, It's no harm and said, “Haven't we all lost
the homeland? What is this crying over a horse?”

John Byro said that it might be right for a city dweller to say this but what of his surrey
as what good is a surrey without a horse.
Surrey- a horse driven carriage

He said he walked ten miles to get there and his left leg hurts. Khosrove said that he has
legs so pay no attention to it. That horse cost him sixty dollars and Khosrove said that
he spits on money. The farmer went away slamming the screen door.

Aram ran to Mourad’s house. Mourad was sitting under a peach tree repairing the hurt
wing of a young Robin bird which could not fly. Aram told Mourad about John Byro and
said to keep the horse for a year so that he could learn to ride it but Mourad denied and
said, “Are you inviting a member of the Garoghlanian family to steal? So the horse
must go back to its true owner in six months at the latest.
➔ This describes the irony of the statement as Mourad himself stole the horse
which was owned by John Byro.

THEY DECIDED TO KEEP THE HORSE FOR SIX MONTHS

Every early morning, for two weeks, they both took the horse out of the barn of the
deserted vineyard where they hid the horse.

When it was Aram’s turn, the horse leaped over grape vines and then threw him and ran
away but Aram was still hopeful that he would learn to ride the horse, the way his cousin
rode.

THEY FOUND JOHN BYRO ON THE WAY

One morning, when they both were on the way to Fetvajian’s vineyard after riding the
horse, they saw John Byro who was on the way to town. Mourad said he has a way with
farmers.

John Byro asked the name of the horse to which Mourad replied, “My heart”. He said
that it was a lovely name for the lovely horse. He examined the horse and suspected that
it might be his so he asked Mourad if he could look into his mouth.

Byro examined the teeth of the horse. He said that every tooth was exactly like his
horse’s tooth and he could swear that it’s his horse as he looked like a twin of his horse.
But he knew his parents and the fame of his family for their honesty is well known. So he
believed that they could not steal the horse.

A suspicious man would believe his eyes, instead of his heart.

➔ John Byro said this as he could have believed his eyes because the horse looked
exactly the twin of his horse but he believed his heart that Aram and Mourad did
not steal the horse because they belonged to the Garoghlanian family which was
well known for their trust and honesty.

MOURAD AND ARAM DECIDED TO RETURN THE HOUSE

Aram and Mourad decided to return the horse because John Byro trusted them and they
did not want to spoil their families’ reputation. So they took the horse to John Byro’s
vineyard and put it in the barn. Some dogs followed them, without making a sound.
Aram was worried the dogs would bark but Mourad had a way with dogs.

Mourad put his arms around the horse, pressed his nose into the horse’s nose, patted
him, and then they went away.

JOHN BYRO REACHED ARAM’S HOUSE

As they had returned the horse to John Byro’s vineyard undetected, John Byro came to
Aram’s house. He reached there with his surrey and told Aram’s mother that he got his
horse back. Aram’s mother asked who stole his horse. John Byro said he did not know
what to think but his horse is stronger than ever and better tempered too. He thanked
god.

Khosrove asked Byro to be quiet and said that his horse had been returned so now pay
no attention to it.