198
PARTISAN REVIEW
"Okay," I said.
"And remember! The editorial competition is still open. The
best articles will win cash prizes . And the winner will be sent to East
Germany."
"Voluntarily?" I asked.
"Which is to say?"
"I couldn't even get permission to go to Bulgaria. I applied last
spring."
"You should drink less," Turonok said.
"Fine," I said. "It's not so bad here either."
I rewrote the story, gave it back to the secretariat. The next day
Turonok burst into my office holding a freshly printed newspaper.
"Are you trying to make a fool of me? Have you done this on
purpose?"
"What is it?"
"You've mixed up the countries of the people's democracies!
You've put East Germany after Hungary! Again alphabetical order?
Forget that opportunistic expression! You're a worker on a Party
newspaper. Hungary goes third! They had an uprising there ."
"And Germany fought a war against us."
"Don't argue! Why are you arguing with me? That was the
other Germany, the other one! I can't understand it-who trusted
you? Political myopia! Moral infantilism! We'll have to raise the
question . . ."
I was paid two roubles for the article . I had been sure they
would pay three.
("Evening Tallinn,"
October, 1974)
ESTONIAN ABC
On a rainy day by the edge oj the woods
m
came upon a beastie walking.
"Hello, hello!
J)
we said to him,
The beast replied politely,
"Tereh!"
And as he spoke a beam oj light
Came out and lit the clouds.
Evening Tallinn
is published in Russian. So we invented a new
column heading, "Estonian ABC," for juvenile Russian readers. I
put the first installments together. Wrote some rather nice verses.
