A magnificent description of those most ephemeral of physical traits, a person’s way of speaking and the expression of their eyes.  Gorky’s grandmother was a wonderful character and I hereby nominate her for a Nuannaarpoq Award.  (Soon I will line up a handful of nominees and invite you to vote). 

And teachers, note the way she seemed to sing her words, making them take root in the boy’s memory.  Might this be a new technique for embedding lessons, like flowers, in the minds of children? 

When she spoke she seemed almost to sing her words and this made them take root firmly in my memory, like flowers – soft, bright and full of richness.  When she smiled, the pupils of her dark cherry-coloured eyes opened wide blazing with a light that was welcoming for words, and her strong white teeth were laid bare. 

Enjoy further testimonies to this luminous grandmother, including her capacity to tell enchanting stories to Gorky. 

Source: Maxim Gorky, My Childhood, trans. Ronald Wilks (Harmondsworth: Penguin Classics, 1966), pp. 19-20

Photo credit: pezibear at pixabay