582
PARTISAN REVIEW
"And wha t do you think should be done for those in p rison ?"
" I think th a t ever yone sho uld be LOld about them . Except tha t
peopl e who haven 't had simil ar experiences will find it hard to
understand.... "
" Thank you , goodbye."
T he first ordea l is over. A man o f about thirty-five is approaching.
I repea t my introduction and ques ti on . T h e repl y is brusque: " I don 't
know an ything and I don 't want to know an ything. I've troubles
enough of my own ." I fini sh with him as briefl y and bru squely. I walk
away qui ckl y, turn , and walk rapidl y along a parall el stree t. There are
a lo t of people about, and I don 't want two to stop at once. I don 't want
an y witnesses.
A g irl is standing in front of a shop window . Small, slim , smartl y
dressed , twenty-two, a t the mos t twenty-six-years -o ld. I greet her and
put m y ques tion LO her. She looks at me in amazement, thinking it
over. I assure her she need not be afr aid of me.
Suddenl y she bursts out : " I'll tell you briefl y. It's an injusti ce, a
terribl e injusti ce. They are all excell ent, courageous p eople. I don 't
know an y of them personall y, but I know their fri ends well and I hear a
lo t about them . Wha t should be done? Talk
to
people so tha t they
know what th e tri al is about. Yo u know, apathy is widesp read here.
People have pulled down the shullers. Politics is a dirty word , any kind
o f po litics. Peop le who are acti ve in public affa irs are regarded as
p ro fiteers; those who go aga inst the current, who criti cize, like the
Char ti sts, are considered crazy, Don Quixotes . And yet it can 't go on
like thi s. Something's go t
to
happen. Something's go t to change. After
a ll we' ve got
to
live mos t of our lives in this situa tion
I "
I as k, "Do you Iisten to foreign radi o sta tions?"
" From time
to
time. But I ge t angr y when frequentl y I learn
no thing about our affa irs. T hey g ive p ri ority
to
their own affairs. First
o f all Zimba bwe, Rhodes ia, then other thin gs, and yet o thers, and then
us. Wh at interes ts us mos t they say in two minutes, in the tenth p lace."
I take a tram . I can 't stay on it long. I get
0 ((
a t the third stop . I
enter a res ta urant and order tea. T here are a few customers. It 's ten
o'clock. I sit a t the same ta ble as an elderl y man. He's waiting for
fr iends. He starts talking, jo kin g a bit. I tell him I'm sad. He asks
what's the ma tter, and I as k him , "Do you know anything about the
po litical tri al on Spalena Street ?"
" Yes, I read something about it, there was something on our radio.
But I take it with a pinch o f salt. Do you know an ything?"
I tell him wha t I think a bout it.
