SUMMER OF THE BEAUTIFUL WHITE HORSE

By William Saroyan
About the author
William Saroyan was an American - Armenian author.
Saroyan was born in Fresno, California to Armenian
immigrants from Bitlis, Turkey.

His stories
1.were set in Fresno, California (the center of Armenian-
American life in California) where he grew up.

2. were based on his childhood experiences among the

Armenian-American fruit growers of the San Joaquin Valley,

3. dealt with the rootlessness of the immigrant.

The short story collection My Name is Aram (1940), an

international bestseller, was about a young boy and the
colorful characters of his immigrant family. It has been
translated into many languages.
 The Armenian Genocide (also known as the Armenian
Holocaust) was the systematic mass murder and expulsion of 1.5
million ethnic Armenians carried out in Turkey and adjoining regions
by the Ottoman government between 1914 and 1923.

Survivors fled and settled in various parts of the world.

Do read up about the Armenian Genocide. There’s plenty on the internet.

The Setting of the Story …
The story is about two cousin
brothers from the Armenian tribe
settled in California, USA.

The name of the tribe is

GAROGHLANIAN (you’ll have to
learn to spell it)

The tribe lived in extreme poverty

but has been known for its
honesty for 11 centuries.
THEY COULD NEVER STEAL!!

Yet, one of the boys gets a

beautiful white horse they could
never afford.
Read the story and find out what
happens…
Meaning of some words and phrases to help you

I stared first at my cousin and then at the horse. There

was a pious stillness and humour in each of them
which on the one hand delighted me and on the other
frightened me.

Pious – virtuous (as if what they did was morally

correct)
Stillness- quiet and peaceful
Humour- state of mood (here- good mood)

Both Mourad and the horse looked extremely calm

and pleased with each other. This was strange since
the horse did not belong to Mourad. This made Aram
feel extremely happy and scared at the same time.
trot (verb)
If a horse or similar animal with four legs trots-
it runs at its slowest speed

Descendant (noun)
a person who is related to you and who lives after
you, such as your child or grandchild

capricious (adjective)
changing mood or behaviour suddenly or
unexpectedly.

vagrant (noun)
wandering from place to place, moving in random
ways
rear (verb)
to rise up or to lift something up
The horse reared up ( suddenly rose onto its back legs) when
heard the gun shot.

snort (verb)
to make an explosive sound by forcing air quickly up or down
the nose.

Alfalfa (noun)
a plant grown as food ,especially for farm animals

Surrey (noun)
a small carriage with four wheels and a roof pulled by
a horse/horses.