Sam Becket? You want to challenge your grade?
No, by no means, sir, the boy said, breaking into a broad smile. Its just, well today is the last day, and maybe well never see each other. I mean, as a teacher and student He blushed even harder. And Id like to present you with a parting gift.
Tiberius took the scroll, and without even removing the paper, he understood what was inside. He shot a surprised look at his student, who was returning his gaze with even more adoring eyes.
A book? A real paper book? Sam, youre crazy. This must have cost you a fortune!
Its not just a book! Its Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy. When you told us about it, I understood that the story was like, interesting for you, from a historical standpoint, of course.
And, Tiberius said, looking incredulously at the boy, where did you buy it?
At the antique store!
Legally?
Yes, and so what? said Sam, somewhat at a loss for words. We live in a free empire
Of course, of course, said Tiberius, and, still not believing his luck, tore open the wrapping. At the last second a fearful suspicion crept into his mind the book was so small and light, probably published after 42, when editors were given carte blanche to make corrections. And the result was usually a fairly drastic reduction in the text. Anything that was unnecessary, extraneous, or forbidden, anything that could tire out the reader or cause boredom was thrown out, leaving only the very essence. And if the essence, so to say, was lacking something, then that something was added, at the publishers discretion. So as Tiberius removed the wrapping, he was somewhat mentally prepared. But not for this. The entire sleeve, except for the gold vignettes, of course, was covered with an eye-grabbing photo illustration. He didnt expect a hand-drawn scene, of course, but this one gave Tiberius a migraine. In an alcove, on rumpled silk sheets frolicked Bronsky and Karenin (the latter Tiberius recognized by the outrageous, crookedly pasted-on sideburns), and Anna stood over them, holding a candle, shedding light on the scene, literally. Realizing how much money Sam must have paid for this abomination, Tiberius politely flipped through the pages. The book was not very heavy. Of course, the Creation Myth was written with five hundred words, and this work focused on a subject that was much less substantive, but still, at least twenty of the sixty pages were used for illustrations. And the subject matter of these illustrations was not very different from the cover. It took an immense effort for Tiberius to summon a smile of thanks.
Thank you. Something like this I never expected.
Accepting his teachers painful grin for an expression of joy and gratitude, Sam happily bid him farewell, and Tiberius finally gained his freedom. Looks like I have to bring this atrocity into my house. If I throw it into the trash, he might find it.He placed the book into his briefcase, like a Christian martyr bearing the full weight of his cross, and departed the auditorium. Passing a trash can whose opening was grinning widely in the elevator lobby, Tiberius noticed something brightly colored, with red spots. Nearly the entire volume of the trash can was occupied by a leopard-skin jacket, with a torn white handbag resting on top. Apparently Normann had tried to correct his fashion faux pas by removing the bags decorative leopard-skin triangle. His clumsy efforts were aggravated by his foul mood, and he ended up ruining it completely. Imagining how tough it would be for the poor guy to go around today with countless lipsticks, creams, eyeshadow and other mens accessories stuffed into his pockets, Tiberius marched cheerfully to the parking lot.
A battle in paradise
A beautiful, unnatural rose-colored sunset was painted across the evening sky. Tiberius, forced to kill time on the back seat, absent-mindedly looked out at the multicolored stream of cars, carefully and safely carrying their passengers home or to their usual evening entertainment.
I wonder how many of them know that above their heads is a fake sky? The creation of the all-powerful designers, the modeled illusion conveys the most eye-pleasing shades of color. There, at the top, above the spherical cupola maybe its raining and an icy wind is blowing, but people dont know about this. True, we have a few overcast days each month, but they were created because according to sociological data, many people like moderately bad weather. When its cloudy outside, one can get cozy under a fleece shawl, imitation Scottish wool, and, sitting in front of an electric fireplace, drink a cup of decaffeinated coffee. None of these accessories would be necessary if there were no overcast days, and no one would buy them for a modern, warm apartment, and obviously the more unnecessary things a person buys, the better it is for production. Everything in our time has become a surrogate virtual games instead of wars, aspartame in place of sugar, false windows in the workspaces of office clerks, fake-brick wallpaper hung on drywall modestly covering up a real brick wall. Or holidays One time, in a joking mood, he asked his students Why do we celebrate Christmas? And their answer was a noisy cocktail of plastic Santa Clauses, the tradition of giving presents, the celebration of the middle of winter and someone called Jesus who smiles in the illustrations on greeting cards.
But then, an ideal world should not be otherwise. If we had real honey, that would mean taking it from poor bees, real meat is the flesh of slaughtered animals, and natural childbirth is fraught with illness and imperfections. Lets take control of everything and well be more merciful than God. And i Pre-RaphaelitesPre-Raphaelitesf we have become like God, what is he to us now? Amen. We have become lilies of the Lord which are neither sown nor reaped; we commit no evil, for all of our needs are satisfied beyond measure.
We have arrived at our destination, Eden, sir, the cars voice spoke delicately, interrupting his thoughts.
Tiberius grinned. The car slowed down at the checkpoint, waiting for the pass to be scanned.
Eden. I wonder if the creators of this residential sector were simply guided by the inviolable standards of management, compelled to paint a picture of paradise for the imagined consumer, or did they have a subtly warped sense of humor? The endless rows of buildings, straight as arrows, identical on both the outside and the inside. Well, OK, not completely identical on the inside; otherwise how would the army of interior designers earn enough to eat?
He recalled a conversation with a designer that Laura had imposed on him, who showed up to try to give his bachelors den some dignity. At first the young man gave a long and impressive monologue on the importance of combining comfort, modernity and originality in his then-virgin interior (Tiberius, having just obtained [bought] the apartment, didnt have the slightest intention of creating some kind of design, but alas). Although when he saw that he might as well be speaking with the colossus of Abu Simbel, trying to explain to it the latest trends in modern design, he got more specific: What color shall we paint the bedroom? I recommend choosing between the shades sparkly snow, mountain lily, and cloud white. Here are the samples. Tiberius looked at the three completely identical white pieces of paper, then asked: