586
PARTISAN REVIEW
waging h ere is a struggle to preserve a European cu lture in this
country.... "
I take my leave. I'm sorry no t to be able to accept hi s in vi tation to
visit his house. I'll write to the who le famil y before I leave.
I proceed along the embankment. I stop th ree more people. T heir
replies are vague, uneasy. I return to Spalena Street. T here's more li fe
there now. The po lice are driving away some young men and gir ls.
Probabl y they weren 't allowed to enter the court building. Bystanders
look on , mos tl y in silence.
I overhear a con versa ti on between two young men. " T hey've
arres ted Anna Sabatova, Petr Uhl 's wife. She was trying to take no tes
during the tria l. T he po lice dragged her ou t of the courtroom . She's in
Barto lomejska po lice sta tion apparentl y. I hope she doesn 't end up like
her fa ther ... Otka refused to have an y part in the farce, on moral
grounds, she said . Petr was very brief too. So they wound it u p p retty
fas t. ... There were a lo t o f people in the foyer this morning, and
police. T he Charter. Journ alists ... some foreign . I'm surprised they
let them in . .. . So cheerio, un til tomorrow.... "
I like to Iisten to people talking. I 'd like to stay h ere for a bit and
listen . A woman addresses me : "Do you know wha t 's going on here
today?" I expl ain to her.
" Tha t's terribl e. They just won 't leave these people alone. T hey'd
do better to look after the economy and stop it from going downhill !" I
nod in agreemen t.
At the tram stop are two g irls. One says: " I wanted to go too, but I
was scared . T hey'd have th rown me ou t. But it's awful. T ha t Mrs.
Nemcova! And Itta Bednarova l Such wonderful women .. . . T hey
punish people for speaking the truth , and liars cl imb into high pos ts."
T hey speak very quietl y. It 's safes t.
It
must be over. People are coming out.
" They've go t it all worked out an yway. T he verdict will be given
tomorrow," I overhear someone say as I board the tram .
T he sky is brightening, but a cl oud has settl ed on the faces of those
who have boarded the tram .
