The Cartographer
Xaritachi
Sarlavha va pastdagi so‘zlarga qarang. Matn nima haqida bo‘lishi mumkin? Bir daqiqa o‘ylab ko‘ring — bu miyani o‘qishga tayyorlaydi.
Keksa xaritachi va uning shogirdi o‘rtasidagi xaritalar, xotira va haqiqat haqidagi hikoya.
Kalit so‘zlar
Bu so‘zlar matnda uchraydi va matnda ajratib ko‘rsatiladi. Bosing — talaffuzini eshitasiz.
⏱ O‘qish boshlanganda vaqt o‘lchanadi — oxirida tezligingizni ko‘rasiz.
👆 Istalgan so‘zni bosing — tarjimasi yoki lug‘atga havola chiqadi.
For forty years, Ilhom Saidov had been the chief cartographer of the province, and in all that time he had never once allowed an error to leave his office. He measured, checked and measured again; he walked the boundaries himself when the surveyors’ reports seemed doubtful; he could recite from memory the height of every pass and the course of every river. When the young graduate Zarina was sent to assist him in his final year before retirement, he greeted her with the polite suspicion of a man who did not expect to be impressed.
Qirq yil davomida Ilhom Saidov viloyatning bosh xaritachisi bo‘lgan va shu vaqt ichida bironta ham xatoning idorasidan chiqib ketishiga yo‘l qo‘ymagan. U o‘lchar, tekshirar va yana o‘lchar edi; o‘lchovchilarning hisobotlari shubhali tuyulganda chegaralarni o‘zi piyoda aylanib chiqar edi; har bir dovonning balandligi va har bir daryoning oqimini yoddan ayta olardi. Nafaqaga chiqishidan oldingi oxirgi yilida yosh bitiruvchi Zarina unga yordam berish uchun yuborilganida, u hayratga tushishni kutmagan odamning xushmuomala shubhasi bilan uni kutib oldi.
Zarina had grown up with satellite imagery and digital mapping software, and at first she found the old man’s methods almost comically slow. Why spend three days walking a valley when the satellite could photograph it in a second? Saidov listened to her arguments without interrupting, then handed her a pair of boots. “The satellite sees the roofs,” he said. “It does not see who lives under them.”
Zarina sun’iy yo‘ldosh tasvirlari va raqamli xaritalash dasturlari bilan ulg‘aygan edi va dastlab cholning usullarini deyarli kulgili darajada sekin deb bildi. Sun’iy yo‘ldosh vodiyni bir soniyada suratga ola olsa, nega uni piyoda aylanib chiqishga uch kun sarflash kerak? Saidov uning dalillarini gapini bo‘lmasdan tingladi, keyin unga bir juft etik uzatdi. “Sun’iy yo‘ldosh tomlarni ko‘radi, — dedi u. — U ularning ostida kim yashashini ko‘rmaydi.”
That spring they walked together through the eastern districts, where a new road was to be built. Zarina learned to read the land as he did: the faint line of an abandoned irrigation channel, the way a path bent to avoid a grave, the names that villagers gave to places which appeared on no official map. She noticed that Saidov wrote these names carefully in a small notebook, though they never appeared in the maps he submitted to the ministry. When she asked him why, he shrugged. “The ministry wants coordinates,” he said. “These are for me.”
O‘sha bahorda ular yangi yo‘l qurilishi rejalashtirilgan sharqiy tumanlar bo‘ylab birga yurishdi. Zarina yerni xuddi u kabi o‘qishni o‘rgandi: tashlab ketilgan sug‘orish arig‘ining xira chizig‘i, yo‘lning qabrni aylanib o‘tish uchun egilishi, qishloq aholisi hech qanday rasmiy xaritada ko‘rinmaydigan joylarga bergan nomlar. U Saidov bu nomlarni kichik daftarga ehtiyotkorlik bilan yozib olishini, lekin ular u vazirlikka topshiradigan xaritalarda hech qachon paydo bo‘lmasligini payqadi. U sababini so‘raganida, chol yelkasini qisdi. “Vazirlikka koordinatalar kerak, — dedi u. — Bular men uchun.”
The trouble came in early summer. Comparing her satellite data with Saidov’s measurements, Zarina found a discrepancy: a village called Oqtepa, which appeared on every map the office had produced for forty years, did not seem to exist. Where the maps showed houses, the images showed only an empty hillside. She checked the coordinates three times, then, with a sense of dread, took the evidence to Saidov.
Muammo yoz boshida yuzaga keldi. Sun’iy yo‘ldosh ma’lumotlarini Saidovning o‘lchovlari bilan solishtirib, Zarina nomuvofiqlikni topdi: idora qirq yil davomida chiqargan har bir xaritada ko‘rsatilgan Oqtepa degan qishloq mavjud emasdek tuyulardi. Xaritalarda uylar ko‘rsatilgan joyda tasvirlarda faqat bo‘m-bo‘sh tepalik bor edi. U koordinatalarni uch marta tekshirdi, keyin qo‘rquv bilan dalillarni Saidovga olib bordi.
He studied the images for a long time without speaking. Then, to her astonishment, he smiled. “Oqtepa was abandoned in the earthquake of 1984,” he said quietly. “The families were moved to the new settlement by the river. I was told to remove it from the map. I never did.” He opened his notebook and showed her a page covered in names: not of places, but of people, with small sketches of houses beside them. “My mother was born there,” he said. “As long as it was on the map, it still existed somewhere.”
U uzoq vaqt gapirmasdan tasvirlarni o‘rgandi. Keyin, uni hayratda qoldirib, jilmaydi. “Oqtepa 1984-yilgi zilziladan keyin tashlab ketilgan, — dedi u ohista. — Oilalar daryo bo‘yidagi yangi manzilgohga ko‘chirilgan. Menga uni xaritadan olib tashlashni buyurishgan. Men buni hech qachon qilmadim.” U daftarini ochib, unga nomlar bilan to‘la sahifani ko‘rsatdi: joylarning emas, odamlarning nomlari, yonida uylarning kichik chizmalari bilan. “Onam o‘sha yerda tug‘ilgan, — dedi u. — Xaritada ekan, u qayerdadir hali ham mavjud edi.”
Zarina did not know what to say. Professionally, the error was indefensible; the new road would be planned using these maps, and engineers needed to know what was really there. Yet she understood, in a way she could not have explained a few months earlier, that the old man’s maps had always recorded something more than terrain.
Zarina nima deyishini bilmadi. Kasbiy jihatdan xato oqlab bo‘lmaydigan edi; yangi yo‘l shu xaritalar asosida rejalashtirilardi va muhandislar u yerda haqiqatda nima borligini bilishlari kerak edi. Biroq u bir necha oy oldin tushuntira olmagan tarzda cholning xaritalari doimo joy relyefidan ko‘proq narsani qayd etganini tushundi.
In the end they reached a compromise. The official map was corrected, and Oqtepa disappeared from the ministry’s records. But on the day of Saidov’s retirement, Zarina presented him with a gift: a single hand-drawn sheet, made with his own old instruments, showing the village exactly as it had been, every house labelled with the name of the family who had lived there. At the bottom, in small letters, she had written: “Not to scale. Accurate in every other respect.”
Oxir-oqibat ular murosaga kelishdi. Rasmiy xarita tuzatildi va Oqtepa vazirlik hujjatlaridan g‘oyib bo‘ldi. Lekin Saidov nafaqaga chiqqan kuni Zarina unga sovg‘a taqdim etdi: uning eski asboblari bilan qo‘lda chizilgan, qishloqni xuddi avvalgidek ko‘rsatadigan, har bir uy unda yashagan oilaning nomi bilan belgilangan bitta varaq. Pastida kichik harflar bilan u shunday yozgan edi: “Masshtabga mos emas. Boshqa barcha jihatlardan aniq.”
Tushundingizmi?
Javob topa olmasangiz, «O‘qish» bosqichiga qaytib, matnga qarang — bu ham mashq.
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Asosiy g‘oya
1 What is the central theme of the story?
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2 What did Zarina initially think of Saidov’s methods?
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3 What did Saidov mean by “It does not see who lives under them”?
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4 Why had Oqtepa remained on the maps?
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5 What does the inscription on Zarina’s gift suggest?
True / False / Not Given
True — matnda aynan shunday deyilgan. False — matn aksini aytadi. Not Given — matnda bu haqda ma’lumot yo‘q.
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1 Zarina checked the coordinates of Oqtepa three times.
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2 Oqtepa was abandoned after an earthquake.
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3 Saidov cried when he received the gift.
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4 Saidov’s mother still lives in the new settlement.
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5 Zarina was sent to replace Saidov immediately.
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6 The new road was planned for the eastern districts.
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7 Zarina had studied abroad.
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8 Saidov included the villagers’ place names in his official maps.
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9 Saidov had been the province’s chief cartographer for forty years.
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10 Saidov was angry when Zarina showed him the evidence.
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11 Saidov sometimes walked the boundaries himself.
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12 Oqtepa was removed from the official records in the end.
So‘zni ma’nosi bilan juftlang
Chapdan so‘zni, o‘ngdan uning ma’nosini tanlang. Hammasi juftlansa, natija chiqadi.