Barwy ochronne Page #3

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It's not so obvious.

He wont be pleased.

I expect so. Too bad.

And you'll tell him

only you voted differently?

Of course.

Quite right.

Sooner or later someone

would tell him anyway.

So you plan to go on pretending

you don't understand?

Understand what?

Must you keep acting

as though you were naive?

Don't you know

what the Chief thinks about Torun?

Yes, of course.

But I can't see how that affects

the quality of that paper.

I don't know about you,

but I think we needn't

always respect his tastes.

Bravo!

And that's the first major issue.

True. Everyone's entitled

to disagree. Up to a point.

It depends on your position.

My margin's a little wider than yours.

So I wouldn't like to be you

when he gets here.

Why?

- Have you signed the contract already?

- Yes, the temporary one.

The yearly one is due in the autumn.

Done your army service?

Yes. A year down the drain.

There you are. They're better off.

The Chief is sure to offer a post

to the prizewinner.

Had it been a man,

he'd wangle him out of the army.

You've ignored the paper itself.

You've achieved a lot as it is.

I acted on my beliefs.

If you like...

I'd say you were fighting for

your so-called justice.

I doubt the paper itself

impressed either of us.

I happen to know a litte Japanese.

Take "yama" for instance.

In Polish it means "a pit,"

in Japanese "a hill."

So it's really a bit of a fiddle-faddle.

But you acted high-mindedly,

if none too wisely.

What about you?

Meaning you acted badly,

but consciously.

Was it out of nonchalance

or from lack of character?

You're pushing your luck.

Perhaps...

Very well. I'll tell you.

I hope you've earned this talk.

I behave as I do

because I find it convenient.

You should now observe

that I'm cynical.

- That's obvious.

- Bravo!

And what's wrong with that?

It depends from whose point of view.

Let's say, mine.

As follows from my previous statement,

I don't care about

my fellow men, right?

- You're losing something.

- In what way? Be more specific.

It seems pointless.

You often talk about it.

This is sheer sophistry.

Now who's avoiding to talk?

But I'll gladly continue this discussion

some other time.

For the moment run along.

And keep a lookout for the Rector.

It's a good policy to be

the first in the welcoming committee.

Stand here! Behave!

- The weather's cleared up.

- Today of all days.

Any glasses here?

Yes, I have some.

I seem to have left my camera inside.

If you come across it, let me know.

Do you live in the village?

- No. Here.

- That's fortunate.

Everyone's saying

you've brought the weather.

How's it been going?

Well enough.

We've just finished the conference.

I was the jury secretary.

And for your information, sir,

I accepted a paper

which perhaps I shouldn't have,

since it came a day late.

I see you've got the pool in commission.

- Yes, we managed to.

- And how?

The students helped.

Splendid. I can take a dip.

Go ahead, sir.

Right. Where was this paper from?

It came from Torun.

I must also advise you, sir,

that I voted for giving it an award;

the others abstained.

Send it over to me.

It may be interesting.

Assistant Ciszewski! Hello there!

I'll send it tomorrow.

As for your English grant,

we'll consider it in October.

I haven't forgotten but keep in touch.

- Now let's have that swim.

- Thank you, it's too cold for me.

As you wish.

Back up! I can't see you.

I want no part of this.

Zip up and relax!

Excuse me a second, sir.

We've found a camera.

I think it's the Assistant's.

Expensive.

Could you return it?

Glady.

- Thanks.

- Forget it.

- Is this yours, sir?

- I've been looking for it.

- Where was it?

- Some students found it.

Where will you develop the film?

At the institute.

They do a good job.

Well?

Over and done with.

He didn't say a thing?

It may suit him.

The guy from Wroclaw heard him.

I mean, both of them

are scheming against Torun.

Maybe.

But why lose sleep over it?

I couldn't care less

what the Chief thinks of Torun.

Wrong!

Soon you'll be fooling yourself

and lying.

And that is dangerous

without sophistry.

Ask any doctor.

Ulcers, heart condition...

Let's get things straight.

I don't need to lie.

I want to devote myself

to the borderlands of linguistics

and information theory,

artificial languages.

Must I also bother

about the Prorector's machinations?

Of course!

Otherwise you'll end up

teaching in school.

Teaching children Polish.

You did Polish?

No, English.

In that case, English. Same thing.

You're no longer too young

to know what's what.

You've simply grown too much

of a phoney to admit it.

Look, sir, my feet are on the ground

and I know the score.

But there are limits.

Why should I worry about things

I'm not responsible for?

You're not reponsible

for famine in lndia.

Or the Chief's foibles.

But in Poland he alone

can give you a chance.

The only thing is to realize

it's not all that simple or honest.

Anyone else?

What? Only me?

- Careful!

- I'll take a chance!

Why isn't it honest?

Because, for a start,

your Prorector is a bastard.

He finished people

in all manner of ways.

He fixed his professorship

and he's still poison.

And you'll become his puppet

for the sake of your artificial

languages and academic career.

That's pure assumption.

Yos. But you don't want to know.

No, I'm merely surprised

by what you're saying.

No one's spoken of him

so badly before.

Not to you, no.

Because you're his man.

What am I supposed to do?

start an official inquiry?

- I didn't appoint him.

- True.

There are others to make sure

the right people are appointed.

And very efficient they are.

But sometimes

they make mistakes.

For example, our Prorector...

...cribbed his doctoral thesis,

but it seems no one knows about it.

- You know that?

- Yes.

And now, so do you.

Anyway, you can check

before signing your contract.

The original is in Wroclaw.

The author's name is Kurek.

He went abroad and stayed there.

The Rector pinched his thesis.

- Without destroying the original?

- Why should he?

Who'd stick his head out?

- What about you?

- Me?

I've already explained my principles.

Yes. but you were kidding.

Essentially, I wasn't.

You sea, I'm a watchful

observer of nature.

As we know, it's governed

by survival of the fittest.

Endure and you win.

Perish and you're proved wrong.

What I'm saying shouldn't, of course,

be understood crudely.

After all...

people do have the gift

of deeper feelings.

Though so do animals.

They often defend their young,

the weak, the small...

Thay can be faithful,

monogamous, altruistic...

But there the analogy ends.

Human groups form value systems,

which only make sense

as long as they enable surival.

They're encoded

in our subconsciousness in childhood

and form what we call conscience.

Fortunately,

we also have self-consciousness

which enables us to modify conscience.

And become independant

of various bans and orders.

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