History lessons

On clear Thursday evenings our physics teacher takes the star club up to the school roof with the old school telescope, which wobbles, so two children hold the tripod. Last week I went up too, in my coat, to see what the fuss is. Saturn. A small yellow pea with a ring, sitting in the black, perfectly calm.

A girl next to me said, "Saltanat eje, it was there at the time of the Kokand khans also." Yes. I thought: this is the only history lesson in which nobody argues about the dates. I climbed down very slowly.