2#
VLADIMIR DUDINTSEV
"Our bandit acquired a set of impeccable papers
and became a new man. Within three years he had completed
courses at two Institutes. At present, he is nearing his objective.
He has conceived an important mission and would like to bestow
a gift on humanity . . ."
"That's all very well," I interrupted him, because he kept
looking at me all the time. "But what does this have to do
with our conversation? With the notion that time can stand still
and fly? Or with what was inscribed on the slab: 'And his age
was nine hundred'?"
"It is directly related. The executioners are now after him.
They are close on his trail. They are bound to get him. The man
has very little time left. Very little
time-do
you understand?
And this man is determined to relive the whole of his life within
a year or two. But what would have happened if he had lived
all his years in this way? His life might have added up to nine
hundred years or perhaps even more."
"You have in mind, of course, the content of his life rather
than its span?" the chief suggested.
"It's very clear you're not very economical with your
time !" my neighbor angrily replied. "Yes, yes, yes! The content!
That with which we fill the vessel of time. This should be filled
only with the strongest satisfactions, with the sensations of the
most potent joys ...."
"You're certainly laying it on thick!" the personnel man–
ager could be heard exclaiming. "You're preaching the purest
form of egoism. You want only to enjoy and satisfy yourself!
But it seems to me that we also have to work for the benefit
of the people. Ah? What do you think?"
"You're behind the times, that's what I think. You should
be taken in tow. You assume that enjoyment and satisfaction are
a sin-something you indulge in secretly within the four walls
of your room. And working for the benefit of the people is your
public duty. Compared with you, my bandit is an advanced
man. He has tried all your pleasures and is fed up with them.
