so courage under the royal mode? What worth the “Inspector” had!
– I was considered a fool, I could say anything not being taken to jail.
– I felt like a miserable person in society. I demonstrated a rebellion in my heroes, an uprising, I was a revolutionary. There was a plan in one of my letters; one more “Evenings on the Farm…”
– Where is the first tome now?
– In America, in the library.
– The second tome was about alien languages, what is it about?
– Sanskrit and Russian are the only terrestrial languages, all the rest of the unearthly, were brought in.
– Were you left-handed or right-handed?
– I was left-handed at first, but retrained, could not quickly write, when one hand got tired, I began to write with the other.
– What happened to your health?
– They could not make a diagnosis, in those days there was no such
some diagnoses, something with the coronary vessels, I had an advanced bipolar disorder, had malaria since childhood.
– But I wasn’t out of my mad! They thought a lot about me. I was not going to die, I expected to live till my 98 years.
– And what are the fears about being buried alive and where are the fears
about your death come from?
– I had a meeting with Turgenev, we were talking about “between life and death”, that’s where I turn it on and fears appeared. There were only four meetings, and he
all the time freaked out and ran away from me.
– Have you really seen the Devil?
– Yes. He shook hands with me.
– What for?
– It’s better not to talk about it if we cheer up the parallel hierarchy, we now will have to finish our talk.
– And where were all your things, which had been located there, at the moment of your death?
– There was no death, I fell into a deep catalepsy, if I had stayed longer, he would have remained alive. I was sagacious, so I knew about my death. My things are in archives of Switzerland.
– Why was the act of exhumation classified?
– Then everything was classified so that there would be no uprising with various topics, because the Russian people were fair. There were different riots, I often fell into a riot, there was a strange anti-alcohol one and was some kind of salty and bread ones. I was a rebel by nature, but I did not come too close to others. My head was in place, my body was turned sideways.
– And the fact that the walls of the coffin were scratched?
– Well, that’s right, they buried me alive.
– Why haven’t you ever had your own property?
– I lived on a visit all the time, I had no time for this. The maid of honor, Smirnova, her family, Mr. Alexei Tolstoy always helped me, supported me and my way abroad. Tolstoy took care of me; I appreciate the cook of his wife. I couldn’t imagine myself as Tolstoy, as a person with a bunch of kids.
– You wrote many letters to Tolstoy. Which one is of those was important for you?
– It was the penultimate letter, I wrote it in the winter.
– What did you read?
– When I was a librarian, there was a base, I read all: biblical, secular, depraved, so I worked out my vocabulary. It was the knowledge of the initial letter in our time.
– What kind of music did you like?
– Symphonic, with timpani.
– Why didn’t you admit then that “Alov” was yours alias?
– It had to do with religion.
CEMETRY
I had my way to Novodevichie cemetery the next day, I heard the same phrase each moment: “Oh, I want something sweet so hardly”. It wasn’t difficult to find the second section, but I had to look for the 12 line, I’ve found it from the third time. The gate was open near by the grave of Gogol, it was just a huge stone and a gilded cross on it. It immediately catched the eye that many people visit and
read Gogol in our difficult times. A strange retired woman picked up with me, Tatyana from Mytishchi, she didn’t want to let me to be alone to listen to Gogol’s prayer. There were many questions from her side, for example, what is the name of Gogol.
– Why do you need Gogol?
– A friend told me that she often goes to Gogol and he helps her, I sprained my leg before the New Year. Could you guide me to Tolstoy’s grave?
I answered unwillingly all her questions, I took her to Tolstoy’s grave through a couple of rows. An interesting observation: Gogol’s grave is one of the most visited there. I was pleasantly surprised. There were flowers, lamps, and icon, something written on the tombstone, I could not see it, because there was ice on it. I placed lilies of the valley on the snow, next to the famous and mystical stone, I put uncovered jar filled with cherry jam, poured various sweets with truffles and dates.
It seemed to me Tatyana wanted to eat, she said: “What did you do this for?
Would you rather hand it out to someone?
I got a feeling that she’s about to take over all that I brought, so I stayed there until
she won’t leave. And then I went to Novodevichy and ordered forty-day memorial about the rest for Gogol
ACTION II
– Did you eat the jam that I brought you yesterday?
– I was not alone, we had a feast.
– Feast?
– Yes.
– Who else was there with you?
– Two more lie next to me, so we gathered, we figured for three.
– Was the jam tasty?
– Delicious, I would prefer dogwood one, but with cherry it also approached.
– Last time you said that many magical people come to your grave, what do they ask for?
– They solve ordinary life problems, they want someone to be punished, and vice versa. Many of those who come are suing.
– Are
