VASILY GROSSMAN
25
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"Pavel Andreyevich, that's the wrong song,"he interrupted
gently.
Andreyev fell silent, looked at hill} and said:
"I'd never have thought it. I must have been dreaming."
The Georgian sentry was showing Krymov where he had
rubbed the skin off his hand.
"That's from digging out my friend, Seryozha Vorobyov."
His black eyes glittered. Then, rather breathlessly, he said:
"I loved that Seryozha more than my own brother."
The words were almost a scream.
Meanwhile the grey-haired night-watchman, covered in sweat
and a little the worse for drink, had fastened onto Nikolayev.
"No, you listen to me now! Makuladze says he loved Seryozha
Vorobyov more than his own brother. I once worked in an anthracite
mine. You should have seen the boss we had there. He really did
love me. We drank together and I used to sing. He said straight out:
'You're just like a brother to me, even if you are only a miner.' We
used to talk, we used to eat our lunch together."
"A Georgian, was he?" asked Nikolayev.
"What do you mean? He was Mr. Voskresensky, the owner of
all the mines. But you'll never understand how much he respected
me. A man who had a capital of millions. Is that clear?"
Nikolayev and Krymov exchanged glances. They both winked
and shook their heads.
"Well, well," said Nikolayev. "Now that really is something.
You live and learn."
"That's right," said the old man, apparently unaware that he
was being made fun of.
It
was a strange evening. Late at night, as people were begin–
ning to leave, Spiridonov said to Krymov: "Don't start looking for
your coat, Nikolay. You're staying here for the night."
He started preparing a place for Krymov to sleep. He did this
very slowly, thinking carefully what to put where: the blanket, the
padded jacket, the ground sheet. Krymov went outside; he stood for
a while in the darkness, looking at the dancing flames, then went
back down again. Spiridonov was still at it.
Krymov finally took off his boots and lay down.
"Well, are you comfortable?" Spiridonov asked. He patted Kry–
mov on the head and smiled a kindly, drunken smile.
