Vol. 51 No. 3 1984 - page 439

STANISLAW BARANCZAK
439
Warsaw with a broken skull and partial amnesia. This is similar to
the philosophical parables of the eighteenth century, where cultural
strangeness
(Persian Letters
by Montesqieu) or the status of a simple
man provided such a point of view.
In
The Polish Complex
things are different. The narrator is neither
a naive simpleton nor a visitor from another land . He knows his
world like the back of his hand . Nothing can astonish him any more,
not even the French anarchist who came to Poland to seek true free–
dom, or the black man who speaks Warsaw cockney and discusses
Lithuanian dishes. And yet he is up against the wall of the Great
Nonsense, the only thing he cannot cope with . He can only try to
rise spiritually above the wall and regard our moron planet from the
cosmic perspective of an alien. It is only then , perhaps , that he might
ascertain the real proportions between the meaningful and the ab–
surd in the life of the Earthlings and in his own life.
9.
They've started selling the carp . The line creeps forward , and
this limited movement brings consolation. At least something is hap–
pening; the line is not as senseless as it was before; we are approach–
ing some goal . But at the same time anxiety grows. The basic feature
of attractive merchandise is its scarcity. Since the carp is being sold,
sooner or later the supply will run out , and therefore, we may not be
able to get it. Symptoms of panic appear; the line becomes even
more shapeless. Not only do the queuers push forward, some try to
bypass the line , and others lean out so as to have at least a glimpse of
the objects they desire . My well-trained eyes register the common
phenomena: an elderly man, with great dignity and little confidence,
produces his handicapped citizen's card. He meets an unyielding
wall of arms and elbows and angry comments , "Cripples, stay at
home!" From the front of the line , where taller heads can already see
the counter, furious cries are heard , "One fish per customer! Look at
that! She's stuffing her shopping bag!" The lucky ones who've already
made their purchase push laboriously towards the exit, fighting the
reverse current of people. They are especially disdainful of the
crowd. They loudly complain about the lack of common courtesy
and , reaching the street, show each other their torn buttons . We re–
gard them with genuine hatred.
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