Window Shopping

 The radio was turned on. Unexpectedly, it emitted loud, clear tones. The announcer was giving a report on the preparations for the Twentieth Party Congress. Everybody listened to it.

 Pyotr Kuzmich seemed to soften up. As he was going out, he said to Akulina Semyonovna:"Don't worry, there will be some wood. I'll take care of it."

And Tsipyshev came up to Sergey Shchukin and sqeezed his arm above the elbow. "Are you staying here?"

"Yes."

"well, watch out that nothing..."

When Kudryavtsev, the collective-farm chairman, and Konoplev, the field-work bragade leader, emerged from the office into the dark, muddy street, they resumed their conversation about life, about everyday doings, work - the same conversation that had been going on before the meeting.

"Now let's see what the Twentieth Congress will say!" they kept repeating. And once again they were clean, warm-hearted, straightforward people - people, and not levers.

Fifty Years of Russian Prose - Vol. 2: From Pasternak to Solzhenitsyn

THE FRIDAY CLUB - WINDOW SHOPPING ...

　むかしむかし、先輩に、スキーに連れて行ってもらった時のこと。スキーは全然すべれなかったけれど、すごく気晴らしになって、帰ってきたら町は雪どけで、カセットに録っていたラジオ番組の中のフライディ・クラブ「ウインドウ・ショッピング」が、やけに印象に残っています。スポーツをやる人は仕事や勉強が伸びる、というのは、あの時わかる気がしましたね。週末や夕刻を、抱え込んでいるものをいっとき吐き出す時間に充てる、ということなのか。

　あれは二月くらいだったと思うけど、路面がとけた雪でぐちゃぐちゃで、春が近いのかな、と思いましたね。たそがれ時にこの曲聴いてたな。

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

　熱下がらず、迷わず医者へ。念のため検査しましたがインフルエンザではなかった。でも、白血球が増えていて、副鼻腔かどこかで炎症が起こっているらしい。ボーっとして何も手につかず。