Solovyov and Larionov
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the craftsman costumes had an ineradicably foreign air to
them (they had been sewn in Italy). Furthermore, they
were tidy in a nonlocal way. After some thought, the
general refused them, instead requesting tuxedoes with
top hats; the props for The Merry Widow were checked, as well, while searching for those. Several chimneysweeper
costumes were found, too, along with ethereal prop-room
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not encouraging superfluous theatricality. He also asked
if the theater had any costumes for paupers but all they
found were tatters for a holy fool ( Boris Godunov); this was unacceptably light-weight for the month of November.
The general took individual pieces from the theater’s wardrobe—including a dozen sashes and hats—to have in
reserve. He ordered that everything he set aside be loaded on a cart and brought to the Oreanda Hotel. Written in
the notebook’s margin in the general’s hand, opposite the
story of visiting the theater, was ‘a good idea.’
Not everyone, however, thought it was a good idea. That
became obvious when the tardy detachment formed up by
the Oreanda Hotel at dawn. The soldiers heard out the
general’s explanations and glumly confirmed their readiness to submit to his orders. These were essentially neither explanations nor orders. The general did not explain anything
and, even more so, did not order anything. He simply spoke about what, in his opinion, would be best to do at the given moment. The soldiers understood little of what was
happening and one can only guess exactly what thoughts
were slinking around in their heads regarding their military commander’s condition. Their sullenness was, as the saying goes, written all over their faces, but the inertia of their esteem for the general kept them from insubordination. In
the end, they, too, lacked plans for how to save themselves.
The general headed toward the Yalta city limits with a
group of horsemen dressed in Tatar costumes. The
horsemen swayed beautifully in their saddles, as befits those who grew accustomed to horses in childhood. The general
reminisced about how, many years ago, a horse had pawed
at the ground, bringing down a rain of pebbles in a gorge.
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He then noticed one of his cavalrymen making his horse
paw at the ground and he nodded approvingly. He recog-
nized the Petersburg dressage school. Pebbles bounced off
ledges in the gorge and flew even better than in the gener-al’s childhood. The other horsemen kept to a steady trot
and the general listened carefully to their hoofbeats.
Resonant clopping on the stony road blended with dull
thudding on ivy growing over the road. The rhythm should
not betray any anxiety. It was the rhythm of people far from war. Someone needed to fetch kumys from the nearest Tatar
village. The general said he wanted them to ride with kumys.
He thought he had made provisions for everything, down
to the smallest details. They looked at him with undisguised surprise. After the general had ridden off, Captain Kologrivov explained to the soldiers: ‘What has occurred once before
carries a seal of approval. Do as he orders.’
‘One cannot step into the same river twice,’ objected
warrant officer Sviridov.
He had left his third year of philosophy studies to go to
war.
‘It doesn’t matter what river we’re stepping into,’ said
Captain Kologrivov. ‘The main thing now is to not drown.’
Spurring his horse, he galloped off after the general. They had much to accomplish in the day ahead. To begin with,
they placed some brand-new shoeshine booths on the
corners of several streets (the ones that had stood there
previously had been dismantled for firewood by residents
during a cold spell). The general ordered that the booth on Morskaya Street be moved fifty meters away from the corner since it had stood on that very spot during his childhood.
Housed in the booths were shoe shiners who mastered
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their profession in short order. Remembering his cadet
training, the general personally showed them how to shine
shoes properly. He urged them not to misapply the polish
since too much polish would not allow you to attain the
necessary shine. It should be taken from the jar with the very edge of the brush. The general demonstrated to the trainees the proper methods for brush-handling and for rubbing a
cleaned shoe with velvet. They shined shoes pretty decently for people who had held nothing but rifles in their hands for two years.
The general placed a group of men on Autskaya Street
to repair the roadway. At his request, city officials sent two cartloads of cobblestones to Autskaya (across from the St.
Theodor Tiron Church). The general asked that they not
send round and rough cobblestones (the kind called cats’
heads). He ordered the highest quality paving stones: cut granite blocks.
At the city council, they attempted to draw the general’s
attention to the fact that the roadway in the area around
the St. Theodor Tiron Church had recently been repaired;
they proposed repairing a lower, thoroughly worn, part of
Autskaya Street. The general’s childhood memories,
however, pointed to his chosen spot, which essentially did not permit him to agree with the city officials’ arguments.
He recommended pulling up the old stones to install the
new ones.
The general also reopened two stores abandoned by their
owners: a shoe store and a sweet shop. All told, ten people were dispatched to staff them. Thanks to the breakdown
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them for, either, since money was swiftly becoming simply
paper. In a brief parting address, the general emphasized
that the absence of wares was a temporary phenomenon
since both sweets and shoes were in demand under any
regime. He did not know if there would be money under
the new regime. In honor of opening the sweet shop, they
gave the general a lollipop that appeared, upon close examination, to be in the shape of a rooster. It was the only ware they discovered in the store. The rooster smelled of burnt sugar and had no color. When the general went outside, he
gave it to a newspaper delivery boy.
A barbershop opened up after noon. In giving brief
instructions to the future barbers, the general announced
to them that under no circumstances should they stop
making cutting motions, even when they were lifting the
scissors over the client’s hair. According to the general’s observations, it was customary among genuine barbers to
cut air, too. He sharpened a razor on a leather strop and
neatly wiped the blade on a towel while shaving one of the trainees. In so doing, he showed several characteristic
gestures he had notice
d as a child—barbering mastery is
judged based upon their accuracy. He cautioned against
approximating a barber’s actions, saying that every little bit counts in this field. He advised taking a cigarette out of an ashtray with the ring and little fingers because only those fingers remain free of lather. The top of the head should
be scratched, if necessary, with those same fingers. He
recommended discussing city news during haircuts and
shaving, because that is the usual practice in barbershops.
He depended on their intuition for everything else.
The general lodged soldiers Shulgin and Nesterenko in
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a vacant two-apartment house. He was concerned the
soldiers’ bachelor life might provoke inquiry into their past and ordered that two women who agreed to simulate
marriage be brought to them. On top of all that, the general vaguely recalled that two families truly had lived in a house like this. The families were friends for many years. It was already impossible to decide if it was this house or not
because the general remembered nothing but the front
stoop.
He and his father had walked up a stoop like this to go
into a house at one time. Two men were playing chess in
the living room. They represented families on friendly terms.
One of them held a knight (the future general could never
have mistaken that figure for anything else) in his hands, touching it to his lower lip from time to time. The knight’s ears rode fully into the chess player’s puffy lip. The other man repeated some phrase, in a reverie. He had uttered the phrase many times but the general could not remember it,
try as he might. Had they played here?
The general warned the reestablished families (he was
certain of the resemblance between the present and past
families) about the emphatic need to be friends. It was noted in the margin across from this statement that friendship did occur, as was to be expected, and eventually both couples
had children as a result of simulating marriage. Boys:
Shulgin junior and Nesterenko junior.
The general gathered both families in the living room of
one of the apartments and proposed that the men play
chess. He sat Shulgin and Nesterenko on chairs opposite
one another. A chessboard was placed on a stool between
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was requested to press his hands into his knees. This lent a naturalness to the game that had begun. They played briskly but were not in much of a hurry. Sometimes the women
would appear behind the players’ backs and cast contented
gazes at the board, not understanding anything. The general advised the women to wipe their hands on their aprons
during those moments. Or wrap themselves in a shawl, as
if chilled. Crockery clinked ever so slightly in the sideboard when the women trod on the plank floors. The general
delighted in the coziness that had come about.
‘Someone should say,’ he requested of the players, ‘“We’re bringing in the minor pieces.” That’s what they say in similar situations.’
‘Is that obligatory?’ Shulgin was curious.
The general thought and answered, ‘No, it’s not obliga-
tory. You can just press the knight to your lower lip and say something of your own. The main thing is to utter it
pensively. Several times.’
Then they left for the church, where the general seated
paupers in the necessary order. One of them very much
resembled Maxim Gorky, which was a definite plus in this
particular situation. The similarity was so great that this person later even posed for Yalta’s monument to the proletarian writer. Another pauper, who did not resemble Gorky, was ordered to simulate not having a leg. Only this, in the general’s opinion, could ensure him certain immunity when
the Red Armymen appeared.
The general instructed five musicians by the fence at
the Tsar’s Garden. One of them could not play any instru-
ment at all but had, so it seemed to the general, a good
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was to listen carefully, conveying the essence of the performance through facial expressions when possible. This
musician had long gray bangs that he should toss from his
eyes with a sharp head motion. He was also given a violin
and asked to draw the bow near the strings. But not to
touch them.
Toward the end of the day, the general ordered that a
cabinet be taken out of his house. A big oak cabinet with
a two-headed eagle. The general ordered a cart be brought
and he positioned loaders to look after it. The loaders had just returned from Perekop and did not quite imagine how
they ought to handle such a heavy item. Furthermore, they
still did not understand where or why it should be moved.
Recalling a famous social-democratic slogan, the general
announced to them that the ultimate aim is nothing, but
movement is everything. The cabinet’s aimless motion did
not contradict the new ideology, making this pursuit rela-
tively safe. As he was walking away, the general advised the loaders not to be shy about using coarse language; when in contact with the Reds this could create an atmosphere of
similarity in social class.
Only late in the evening, when the entire detachment
had jobs, did the general and Captain Kologrivov approach
the pharmacy. The general leaned wearily against an electric streetlamp (in previous times it had used gas) by the
entrance. He rummaged around in his pockets, fetched the
keys, and began searching for the lock in the dying yellowy light. A minute later the door opened and a little bell jingled.
The general enjoyed feeling the edges of the beveled glass on the door. The prisms reflected the evening’s last lights.
They reflected the soundness of a previous life. As it
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happened, in those November days, it had already been
three years since that kind of glass had been made.
The general and Kologrivov entered the pharmacy and
looked around. Unlike many abandoned places, the phar-
macy had not been ransacked. Everything remained in place
there. The general took Kologrivov by the shoulders and
sat him down in a chair.
‘The main thing is inner calm. Speak in a soft voice. The
scrape of a little oak door, the smell of mint drops: nothing more is required here. That is the only way you will be able to exist organically in a pharmacy.’
‘I’m calm,’ said Kologrivov. ‘And I speak in a soft voice.’
The general uncorked one of the little vials and stirred
its contents with a glass pestle.
‘I placed observers on the Alushtinsk road. They’ll shoot
a blank from a cannon when they sight the Reds. That will
be the signal to start a new life. I won’t be able to give further instruction because I’ll be busy with my own
matters. That, basically, is everything.’
The st
reetlamp was no longer burning when the general
went outside. A cold autumn rain had begun. The pharmacy
windows were all that prevented Morskaya Street from
plunging into darkness.
The cannon struck at 9:30 in the morning. With that
shot, they began playing Oginsky’s Polonaise by the fence at the Tsar’s Garden. A detachment of Tatars rode out to the
Alushtinsk Road and energetic paving work began on
Autskaya Street by the St. Theodor Tiron Church. Shoeshine booths opened in various parts of Yalta during those same
minutes. The quantity of staff as well as the abundance of brushes and polish allowed them to shine shoes for the
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entire coastline but Yaltans preferred not to leave their
homes that day. Even the shops did not open that morning,
with the exception of a shoe store and a sweet shop. Yalta was at a standstill, awaiting the entrance of the Reds.
First to enter the city was an armored vehicle with the
uneven inscription Antichrist. It did not notice the Tatar detachment and drove past at top speed. Shots were fired
into the air from the armored vehicle. To the detachment’s surprise, the armored vehicle did not notice a curve in the road, either. It did not brake until the place where the road’s shoulder turned into a steep slope. The vehicle’s front wheels went down and a belated reverse gear could no longer rectify anything. The vehicle rolled into the gorge, topsy-turvy, its armor knocking along the cliff ’s overhangs. Moans resounded in the gorge after the last echo had finished rumbling. Local residents—simple, god-fearing people—surrounded the
vehicle. They had no love for the Reds but they did not plan to refuse them help. The residents began conferring when
they saw the inscription on the armored vehicle. They did
not know who lay ahead for them to save. Withered grass
rustled in the wind. Nobody could bring themselves to come closer to the vehicle with the eschatological inscription. The moaning soon stopped.
The Reds’ primary troops entered the city at that same
time. Comrades Zhloba, Kun, and Zemlyachka were out
front on well-fed horses. They met a Tatar detachment and
even received kumys from them. Zemlyachka poured out
kumys for representatives of the commanding personnel