you could do away with the
cry.
She: (reads on) This was the
voice of the careless tenant who,
when he went to bed, had for–
gotten to switch off the electric
hot-plate.
He: The what tenant?
She: Careless.
He: Do you think that care–
lessness should be popularized
in the columns of our periodi–
cals? I shouldn't think so. And
then why did you write that he
forgot to switch off the electric
hot-plate? Is that an appropri–
ate example to set for the edu–
cation of the readers?
She: I didn't intend to use
it educationally, but without the
hot-plate there'd have been no
fire.
He: And would we
be
much
worse off?
She: No, better, of course.
He: Well then, that's how you
should have written it. Away
with the hot-plate and then you
won't have to mention the fire.
Go on, read, how does it go
after that? Come straight to the
portrayal of the fireman.
She: Fireman Prokhorchuk, a
middle-aged Ukrainian . . .
He: That's nicely caught.
She: . . . with large black
mustachios, stopped in front of
the door. The fireman stood
there and thought.
517
He: Bad. A
fireman
mustn't
think. He must put the fire out
without thinking.
She: But it is a fine point in
the story.
He: In a story it may be a
fine point but not in a fireman.
Then also, since we have no fire,
there's no need to drag the fire–
man into the house.
She: But then, what about his
dialogue with the fire chief?
He: Let them talk in the fire
house. How does the dialogue
go?
She: (reads) Fire Chief Gor–
bushin approached him. "Good
boy, Prokhorchuk," he said,
"you've acted according to
regulations!" Whereupon the
fire chief smiled and added:
"You haven't noticed it, but
your right mustachio is aflame."
Prokhorchuk smiled and aimed
a jet at his mustachio. It was
dawning.
He: Why must you have
that?
She: What?
He: The burning mustachio.
She: I put it in for the humor
of the thing. The man was so
absorbed in his work that he
didn't notice that his mustache
was ablaze.
He: Believe me, you should
delete it. Since there's no fire,
the house isn't burning and
