Two brothers
Timur and Anvar grew up in the same house, but nobody would call them alike. Timur is ambitious, sociable and outgoing: he knows everybody's name and is passionate about everything he starts. He is also generous and considerate — and, when it matters, modest about his own results.
Anvar is quieter. He is intelligent and shrewd, sometimes sensitive, and his teachers call him creative. He can be stubborn, though, and after a bad week he becomes pessimistic and even a little bad-tempered. He is never selfish or cruel, but he is not gullible either.
Their grandmother, who brought them up, says the difference is simple. Timur turns up when something is happening; Anvar thinks up the thing that happens. When a problem comes up, Timur makes up a plan in a minute; Anvar reads it twice, then improves it.
She is a warm person and she never lets them give up. “Be funny if you like,” she says, “but never arrogant, never untrustworthy, never cold-hearted. If you look up to somebody, learn from them; if somebody is hot-tempered, stay cool and put up with it for one day. And when a friend is sad — cheer them up.”
Their grandmother has a shorter list of what a person must never be. “Don't be unkind, don't be unfair, and never be dishonest or disloyal,” she says. “Being impolite costs you nothing today and everything tomorrow. An impatient man is only immature; an inconsiderate one is worse. And a person who is unreliable — who says yes and then disappears — is the hardest to forgive.”
She is not judgemental about small things. A jacket can be unattractive, an answer can be irrelevant, a neighbour can be unfriendly on a bad morning. But she has no patience for anything illegal, for people who are incapable of saying sorry, or for irresponsible promises. “Be stingy with your words if you like,” she smiles, “but never with your help.”
Savollar: 1. Which three adjectives describe Timur best? · 2. What happens to Anvar after a bad week? · 3. How does the grandmother explain the difference between them? · 4. What does she tell them never to be?
