a weekly obligatory survey of all population. And survey not superficial. Besides, hygienic knowledge and even serious medical knowledge became property if not everything, then many. Clinics are available at each house commune. Out-patient clinics on each street, and hospitals… Let’s look at them!
We took seat on bicycles again and rushed off on a path which turned to the left. It was the city border, behind our path there was still an avenue for pedestrians, and further, leaving to the horizon, fields on which waves of speyushchy wheat in human height waved turned green.
Perhaps, suburbs of this city were most amazing. I remembered fetid, dirty, stuffy, close suburbs of our cities with shabby hovels and the collapsing houses where the working poor huddled. What can be more sad than the suburb of a big industrial capitalist yurod! And what contrast with the center where there live owners. And here on the suburb of the socialist city I see the same parks, grieve the greens, the same lamps placed at identical distance, at least, than in the center. The same houses scattered in greens of gardens and parks.
We went round nearly a half of a circle of the city when we uvidat several white buildings which were standing apart a little and separated from the city by the big park. From three sides of these white two-storeyed buildings there were also parks, and one party, with open verandahs on the South, came to the square set with a low English garden to give perhaps bigger access to sunshine.
– Hospitals! – Nick told, pressing pedals.
Some time we went well shossirovanny road among ears across the field. Ahead the green island the massif of densely dense pyramidal poplars rose. Between them the beautiful white building was seen.
“The island of death” – in the head reminiscence of Beklin’s picture for some reason flashed. I was not mistaken.
– A crematorium – Nick told.
I wanted to indulge in sad reflections about caducity of all terrestrial (alas! the German sensitivity still lives in me), but Nick did not allow me to make it. A nickname still the young man, but this young man notices for the years much. That it: result of communistic education, life by collective? The right, it represents for me a riddle.
So, Nick looked at me, grinned and cheerfully exclaimed:
– I do not want at all that you finished survey of the city by this place where the fulfilled human car returns the material borrowed from the nature. Let’s go to life sources, there, where circulation of substances is started anew!
– Where it? – I asked, having not absolutely understood.
– Well, in maternity hospital, of course! I will show you the little, krasnenky, just born Communards. You will see them through the glass wall separating newborns from visitors. You will see “The island of life” and will stop thinking about “The island of death”. Live has to think only about live, in particular if life is so fine and interesting!
And we turned the bicycles and drove in the opposite end of the city. There, where life is born…
My friend, I wrote you the whole message, but did not exhaust also the 100-th share of what saw and learned in only several hours of stay in the socialist city. Next time I will write to you how I moved from hotel to the house commune it is possible to learn more stoutly as there live new people of the new world. I will tell that I saw and learned new there.
Good-bye. Hi your lovely Marte.
Fit”.
CORRESPONDENCE ENGINEER
(story)
One river in Kazakhstan ran away. It is necessary to tell you that these Asian rivers crazy. Directly, one may say, mentally ill people. Where yesterday there was a bank, on that place a whirlpool today. The river flowed to the right, look – turned to the left. In one day of meters twenty otgryzt coast together with kishlaks. Shalit, in a word. There are also such rivers: goodness knows where from begins and not particularly where vanishes. Not dries, not in sand buries, from the sun hides – and flows to itself under sand, known to nobody. And people on sands go and are parched with thirst. No cards will keep up with these rivers. On the card – one, and in practice absolutely another. Though every day redraw the card.
There are also absolutely funny stories. The river flows to itself, irrigates edge, gives to drink to people and animals and herbs steppe, and then suddenly as will break loose: towards it threw. The river dug the new course and to other river connected, and that flows into the lake. And the river was gone. Ran away. And the edge perishes from a drought. Here we should have caught such run-away river – to return it to the old course. Interesting it is piece, but only now the conversation will be not about the run-away river. About how we caught it, I somehow another time will tell.
And I began about the river because it brought together me with the old acquaintance Mishka Sinitsyn. It is necessary to tell you that Sinitsyn was an inventor. But person unstable. Threw it here and there as the Central Asian river. Terminated a semiletka in Moscow, arrived on knitting factory the carrier of wool. Then got to All-Union electrotechnical institute and there invented something like that. Simplified an attachment of neon lamps to a socle, so, it seems. Then threw it on speedboats. I received the letter from it from Nizhny Novgorod – participated in a glisserny run. Assured, as brought some improvement in a speedboat. And then and absolutely I for a while lost it. And here was brought to meet in Kazakhstan, near Balkhash, on copper mines of Kounrad. It is necessary to tell that near Kounrad and there was this incident to the river. And waters of this river just supplied the mine. Up to One Balkhash farther. On camels of water you will not be brought in. The whole company the river – all young people of hydraulic engineering, and I went to catch us including. We drive up on cars to Kounrad in the evening. For us the sun sits down. Before us already the mine is seen. Also we see, on a hillock something shines is dazzling as a beacon. What could it be? Began to guess. One speaks: aero beacon. But why to it to shine when still the sun did not set? Yes at the sun beacon light will also not be such bright. Another speaks: this sun from something is reflected. As if from a mirror. Perhaps, the solar station was established? Them a little in Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan was under construction. Perhaps, and so.
We approach closer, we see that “mirror” has the rhombus form. On a brilliant background some black point. As if moves. “Solar spot!” – someone from our company jokes. “A mirage in the desert!” – picks up another. Truly, a mirage in the desert!
– Yes the person on a roof climbs! – my neighbor Trofimov told. – And the roof burns as Isaakiya’s dome on sunset.
– Oh, you look. Departed! Fell! From a roof fell…
And really, “the solar spot” slid off down and crashed down on the earth. And house two-storeyed. Below people began to move, noise, laughter, voices, shouts are heard. We approach.
– What at you happened here? – I ask. – Whether long ago gold roofs on houses began to do?
– The correspondence engineer from a roof fell!
– Roof not gold, but copper! – I hear in reply.
What else such correspondence engineer? I look at the person who sits on the earth and the knee rubs. Near it the bucket and a brush roll. Young man, snub-nosed such. Screws up the face and smiles. Yes it is Mishka!
– Bear! –
