Творчество - Миша Самарский

«ON A SWING AMONG THE HILLS»

“Many people believe that their childhood was the happiest time of their life. But this is not so. They are in fact the most difficult years…”
Immanuel Kant

Chapter 1

I spent the summer thinking…

How do you like that for an opening sentence? I agree, it’s a bit rubbish, isn’t it. What did you expect, though? “Mr So-and-So fell in love with some bimbo and left his wife…” or “Inspector Tony was killed in broad daylight by a bullet to the back of the head…”? Or maybe “The vampire ambushed his victim in the toilets…” or “Aliens came to subjugate Earth and turn us into slaves…”? Any of those would have you glancing at the first page then quickly turning it to find out what happens next. Same old, same old. You already know how it will end: the cheating husband will find that the grass isn’t always greener, the cold-blooded murderer will be locked up, the vampire will be destroyed or turned into a harmless puppet, and the insidious aliens will be rounded up like rabbits, neutralised, preserved in formaldehyde and stuck in some museum outside Los Angeles. The museum will be burnt to the ground in a forest fire, and humanity will once again lack any evidence of cosmic invasion. Aren’t you bored of all that yet? Personally, I’m sick to death of it.

«RAINBOW FOR A FRIEND»

“The best thing a man has is his dog.”
Nicolas Toussaint Charlet

PART ONE

THE WAY HOME

CHAPTER 1

It’s a dog eat dog world… Very clever. In other words, selfish and ruthless. Oh yes, well done. You humans! I wonder what you would say if we were to start using the same phrase in reverse… Imagine the situation: I come home after a hard day at work and the dog next door asks, “So, how’s it going?” And I reply, “It’s a man eat man world out there…” What do you think of that expression, eh? I don’t think you’d like it very much. Well, same here, my dear two-legged friends. You have to agree, dogs are conclusive evidence of human ingratitude.
But never mind that, I wanted to talk about something else. This is the sort of thing I have to put up with: people grabbing my ears, ruffling my fur, shoving food in my muzzle… Can I say ‘face’? They shove all sorts of rubbish in my face… Actually, I should rephrase that: it’s not rubbish, far from it! They often offer me such tasty treats that I almost choke on my own saliva. Once I nearly succumbed.
So, I’m standing by a pedestrian crossing with my first charge Ivan Savelyevich (may he rest in peace), waiting for the lights to turn green. My task is to make sure that the cars have stopped. Not just that they’ve stopped, but that they’ve stopped in the right place. Do you think the painted lines in front of traffic lights are there just for the sake of it? I’d like to take this opportunity to ask all you drivers out there: please don’t cross this line. It’s alright for a sighted person, he can just skirt round your car bonnet and continue on his way. But my charge might not understand straight away what I want him to do: we seem to have started crossing the road, but then his guide dog starts pulling him off to one side. Do you see what I mean? I can’t explain it in words so I start to whine, I pull on the lead, sometimes I even have to bark. My charge becomes flustered and stops, trying to work out what I’m up to, going tap-tap-tap with his stick. Some drivers all but lean out of their windows to shout, “Watch it, you moron, you’ll scratch the car!” Why is he a moron? He has to figure out somehow what’s in front of him. He can’t use his hand, or he might not get it back.

«RAINBOW FOR A FRIEND»

Can you even begin to imagine what it’s like, working as a guide? If you say yes, I’m sorry but I’m going to have to bite you. Don’t be so arrogant and hasty. Don’t say yes straight away. In order to imagine and understand what my job is like, you would need to spend a couple of years strapped to a harness following one of these helpless ‘masters’ around. Did you notice how I used the word ‘masters’ in inverted commas?

Translated by Amanda Love Darragh

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Regenbogen für einen Freund

Erzählung

Illustriert und übersetzt aus dem Russischen von Hans Brunies

Das Beste, was ein Mensch hat, ist sein Hund.

Nicolas Toussaint Charlet

ERSTER TEIL

DER WEG NACHHAUSE

Erstes Kapitel

Wie unbeschnittene Hunde … Sehr geistreich. Da kann man weder liegenbleiben noch davonlaufen. Oh, ihr Prachtkerle. Oh, ihr Menschen. Was würdet ihr wohl sagen, wenn wir in unsere Hundesprache ein ähnliches Idiom einführen würden, nur umgekehrt? Stellt euch mal folgende Situation vor: Ich komme von einer von einer Ausstellung nachhause und der Nachbarhund fragt mich: „ Hast du Erfolg gehabt, mein Lieber? Haben sich viele Hunde beteiligt?“ Und ich antworte ihm: „Naja, soviel wie Menschen, die noch nichts abgekriegt haben…“ Wie ist dieser Satz? Ich glaube kaum, dass der jemanden gefällt. So geht es uns auch, meine lieben zweibeinigen Freunde. Da kann man mal wieder sehen, dass der Hund ein gutes Beispiel für die menschliche Undankbarkeit ist.

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«ON A SWING AMONG THE HILLS»

“Many people believe that their childhood was the happiest time of their life. But this is not so. They are in fact the most difficult years…”
Immanuel Kant

Chapter 1

I spent the summer thinking…

How do you like that for an opening sentence? I agree, it’s a bit rubbish, isn’t it. What did you expect, though? “Mr So-and-So fell in love with some bimbo and left his wife…” or “Inspector Tony was killed in broad daylight by a bullet to the back of the head…”? Or maybe “The vampire ambushed his victim in the toilets…” or “Aliens came to subjugate Earth and turn us into slaves…”? Any of those would have you glancing at the first page then quickly turning it to find out what happens next. Same old, same old. You already know how it will end: the cheating husband will find that the grass isn’t always greener, the cold-blooded murderer will be locked up, the vampire will be destroyed or turned into a harmless puppet, and the insidious aliens will be rounded up like rabbits, neutralised, preserved in formaldehyde and stuck in some museum outside Los Angeles. The museum will be burnt to the ground in a forest fire, and humanity will once again lack any evidence of cosmic invasion. Aren’t you bored of all that yet? Personally, I’m sick to death of it.

«12 touches to horizon»

«RAINBOW FOR A FRIEND»

“Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see”, wrote Mark Twain once. This is a statement hard to disagree with. Everyone on Earth needs love and mercy. However, kind heart and concern are particularly demanded by those who can not hear sounds, distinguish colours for various reasons, or percept this world in its entire beauty. It is really important for them to have a living being, full of love and devotion, even if it is a guide dog.

“A Rainbow for A Friend” story has been written by a thirteen-year-old teenager. This is not just the narration of a friendship between a blind boy and Labrador dog. This is a story of us, and of those who happen to be side by side with us in this busy life, and who we (alas!) just do not take notice of…

A devoted guide dog, in contrast, appears to be capable of feeling the most cherished dream of its friend, and even make it come true, presenting him with quite a real rainbow…