Аннотация: The night before the New Year. With Vitus Bering. A drawing. (From "stories on the little sheets of paper").
The night before the New Year. With Vitus Bering. A drawing. (From "stories on the little sheets of paper").
I wake up after midnight.
It's unusual. Unusually quiet.
I'm approaching.
What if I'm wrong?
I do a phone call.
They arrive quickly. After 10-15 minutes.
The face behind the mask. Eyes sparkle.
- Cold! Did you open the balcony?!
Was the balcony door opening or wasn't? This door couldn't not to be opened from time to time. To talk about it or not to talk?
I'm talking about thrombosis.
However, not all so simple:
- Yes, but...
Again, I need to say something, argue something, prove something.
However, I need a document. In such a situation - without a document - nowhere.
I'm talking about a document. I try to reсall, to remember, something, to give as an example. Everything was simple. I come, I receive the document.
- Now the order has changed. I'll call there. They will call. They will come. Wait.
- What do you want to do with me?!
Eyes sparkle from under the mask.
I'm waiting.
I'm calling.
For example, I'm trying to get the required document in a simplified manner.
Seemingly friendly conversation. But a question that is not related to the "simplified order" ("simplified manner") slips through:
- What actions, attempts have you made?? How did you do it?
I don't have enough energy anymore:
- You know, I'm not ready to give explanations on all issues.
A microscopic pause.
A man with very intelligent eyes arrives.
What is the point of discussing the positive aspects of the "simplified order" with him? But I've already switched - partly - to automatic mode. I say something.
In response I hear:
- There are people who do bad deeds out of selfish motives. They are found and punished.
I'm trying to defend the positive aspects of the "simplified order" and say something ironic. I I quote the words of an influential person
that "someone did something (the bad deed) - but who exactly did it?"
The interlocutor, however, does not accept my irony, his gaze becomes even more attentive. He tells a story about a scoundrel who stole a cell phone and who was found and punished.
What can I say, answer to that?
Events are moving forward.
I am doing something. Something is being done at my request - in parallel with me, and even autonomously from me.
The strain on me - less.
Some issues are being resolved. In general, I demonstrate some useful activity.
Among other things, I remember the filling out of the questionnaire. Many questions. For example: "Did take care of the someone?" (in the sense: "Did you provide the ongoing assistance (care) on a long-term basis?").
I ask what to answer?
- Write "no".
I write "no".
"Were you in exile, in emigration, were you subjected to illegal repressions?"
Meanwhile, my cell phone starts ringing.
Questions, questions, questions.
I don't have enough mental strength right now. My mind is already seeing nightmares. Is it in a dream or in reality? Who is this? What is this?
The day is already over.
I spend the night in an unheated room, remembering Vitus Bering, a native of Denmark.
He was burying himself in the sand to keep warm.
Cold is useful in that it redirects the mind from horrors to the topic of cold and heat.
The night with Vitus Bering passes - on the whole - more or less tolerably.
Meanwhile, with the irresistible inevitability, the New Year is approaching and approaching.
Everyone is running, driving, hurrying on New Year's business, New Year's worries.
In my mind I see a decorated, glowing with multi-colored lights, a New Year tree.
Now you can philosophize about the difference between the living in comfortable Denmark and the attempts to keep warm by burrowing into the sand on a cold island in a distant ocean.
December 31, 2022 17:17
Translation from Russian into English: December 31, 2022 19:00.
Владимир Владимирович Залесский ' Ночь перед Новым Годом. С Витусом Берингом. Зарисовка. Из "рассказов на листочках".
{ 3253. Ночь перед Новым Годом. С Витусом Берингом. Зарисовка. Из "рассказов на листочках".
MMMCCXXIV. The night before the New Year. With Vitus Bering. A drawing. (From "stories on the little sheets of paper").
Vladimir Zalessky Internet-bibliotheca. Интернет-библиотека Владимира Залесского}