Burnt by the Sun Page #5

...a very merry and, of

course, very happy home.

Like ours.

Like yours.

But one day, it all came to an end.

No more coffee drunk from cups like these.

No more charades and afternoon croquet...

...no more reading,

disturbed only by a cricket...

No more arguments,

laughter and all the rest.

It all ended because...

...war came to the land.

War against whom?

The nobles?

That doesn't matter, Nadine.

What does matter...

...is that Yatim

left for the front...

...and that all the time,

in the frenches, in the hospital...

...in the lands he crossed...

...every day...

...and I mean every day,

Nadine...

...he would think of the big house, the garden...

...those faces, and even the old cricket...

...that everyone moaned about.

We've got a cricket, too.

He's over there.

That's not the same one.

This one sings happy songs...

...the other one

sang sad songs.

You want some vodka, Nadya?

- You're crazy!

- Come on, come on!

Yes! And so, for ten years he roamed...

Good health!

...he roamed far and wide.

He tried all trades...

taxi driver...

...bar pianist...

...street singer...

...cabaret dancer...

He even sewed slippers.

Thank you.

And all the time...

...he was fretting...

...as he thought of that house...

I mean the house where he had lived.

Then he came back ten years later.

His parents had died during the war...

...against the nobles.

He had nowhere to go...

...and, from the station, he went

straight to his master's home.

It was winter...and, apart from the snow,

he recognized nothing...

...of his land.

It had changed so much.

Only the house was there,

like before.

He trembled...

...as he rang...

...the doorbell.

A young girl came to the door.

Yatim had never seen anyone...

...so beautiful.

Even though he had traveled a lot.

"Who are you?"

Yatim asked in surprise.

"Yassuram", answered the beauty.

"Good Lord, are you

the same Yassuram who peed..."

"...in her panties and fell asleep..."

"...on her father's knees when

he was teaching me music?"

"Yes, I am she. Come in."

"We've been waiting for you

for a long time..."

"...even though our father is very ill."

Yatim stood there, astounded...

...looking at the beautiful Yassuram...

...and unable to say a word.

I know how it ends!

Tell us.

They got married... and...

Well... no.

They didn't get married.

Why not?

Because they didn't have time.

One day, a very important and

distinguished man sent for Yatim.

Who was it?

Mr. Bogeyman?

No. He wasn't quite that important.

An ogre?

Not him either

I've forgotten his name, Nadya.

He summoned him

to the Big House and said...

"Comrade, my gentle Yatim!"

"Go to some place, I don't know where..."

"...and do this there..."

I don't know what!

Exactly.

And Yatim said...

"Why, most distinguished Sir..."

"...I mean, comrade. I've

already traveled so much..."

"...fought so hard..."

"...that I want to live in peace with my folks."

And he said...

"Those ideas, my dear Yatim,..."

"...are middle-class..."

"What does that mean?"

"It means bad, bad ideas, Yatim."

"You weren't allowed to return to your home..."

"...to turn it into a middle-class nest."

"Pack your bags..."

"...and write it down for me."

"I'll give you a week

to think about it, or else..."

Beheaded!

Exactly.

So Yatim went home...

...very saddened.

He walked in circles.

He was down in the dumps.

He thought a lot...

...packed up his bags

and left.

Without a word to anyone.

Why?

Because he had

nothing to say, Nadine.

He had seen too much blood

and misfortune...

...and he didn't want...

...to bring them

to the house he loved so much.

And also, Nadine...

...because he was only 27...

- the age your mother is now -

...he really wanted to live.

What about the princess?

The princess?

The princess cried a great, great deal...

...a great, great deal...

...and then got married.

To whom?

To the ogre?

To the other one...

...whose name I can't remember.

"As the crimson sea did run"

"I heard you say, my dove"

"That there would be no love."

"As the crimson sea did run"

"I heard you say, my dove"

"That there would be no love."

"Let's leave one another now"

"I won't hold it against you..."

Marussya, wait!

Wait!

Wait, Marussya!

Stay there, or I'll jump out the window!

Marussya, be reasonable!

There are people downstairs.

Marussya! There are people.

It would look bad...

Come on.

I'll say it again. Stay there!

Marussya!

Come here.

Come here, my love.

Come here.

Come here, my love.

After the siesta we'll play soccer.

- Where?

- On the croquet lawn.

Soccer, you say...

And why not croquet, like before?

Because Daddy says...

...that croquet and tennis are bourgeois games.

Whereas soccer isn't.

He's nice.

Who is?

Your daddy.

Very, very nice.

Yes, he's always very nice.

You know, tomorrow Daddy's taking us...

...to the zoo.

But you know...

...in winter I've already been

there lots of times.

But in summer...

...never, because we spend it

at the dacha.

MITYA, 1916

MARUSSYA, AGE 14

One day, in Moscow...the grandmothers were

brought home on stretchers.

They had fainted.

Just like that.

Because it smelled so bad...

...that no one could breathe.

It's the wild animals.

I can't stand the polar bears and the seals.

"...Far off on Lake Chad..."

"...roams a majestic giraffe."

YATIM 36

I'm there, too.

Where?

There.

Look.

What's "Yadan"?

Yadan is... Think carefully.

You're the one who smells of wine!

- I do not.

- You do.

Nadya!

Isn't Grandmother sleeping?

He's the one who smells of wine.

You're eating because you've been drinking.

You do the same.

You'd better obey.

Go and play with the children.

Do you want a spanking?

Mitya, you understand?

Do you want some?

No.

Is it true that you're married?

No.

So, you lied.

Well, yes.

Well, yes.

They're all asleep.

It's the realm of dreams.

Do you want a candy?

Do you remember?

You smoke now.

You vanished...never a word...

Where do you work?

For the political police.

Stop teasing.

I'm serious.

Where do I work?

I performed in a restaurant near Paris.

Now, here, near Moscow.

You could have said so.

That, I remember.

And you?

Me...

I'm a projectionist

in the nearby holiday camp.

- Go outside.

- No.

...you smoke,

but you have nice hair.

Not like me.

When did you get back?

Six months ago.

Why didn't you come sooner?

I had no reason sooner.

Are you joking, or what?

Do you know what she did?

Have you seen her wrists?

She slit her veins.

She waited for you a whole

year. No...more.

It wasn't until later...that the colonel turned up.

With flowers...

Concerts, restaurants...

What do you expect? A hero!

Are you back for good?

Yes.

So? And she?

Then again, my colonel

would look good with horns.

You're crazy. That hurts.

I'm sorry.

I didn't mean to.

Mitya... Mitya!

Stop.

Tonight I'm going to work!

Wait, wait...

Wait...

Come on. Come on...

My love!

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