SERGEI DOVLATOV
113
more or less reasonable possibilities. Fearlessly and imperturbably hold
out your lit cigarette to the hooligan. Quickly pass by or, better, run
like hell. Or finally, knock out the nearest one and beat a fast retreat.
Busch chose the most nonstandard, most self-destructive possibility. In
reply to the crude request, he elegantly demanded, "What does that
mean, 'Gimme!'? Have you and I drunk
BruderschaJt
together?!"
It would have been better if he had spoken in poetry. He might
then have been taken for a dangerous madman. As it was, they beat him
half
to death. Probably the hooligans had been enraged by the mysteri–
ous word
BruderschaJt.
As he lost consciousness, Busch whispered, "Be
happy, you peasants. I see in your faces the nasty triumph of the flesh!"
He spent a week in the hospital. He had broken ribs and a dislocated
thumb. And he was left with a romantic scar on his forehead....
Busch worked at
Soviet Estonia.
For a year and a half he had been
kept on as a part-time correspondent. There had been talk about giving
him a permanent position. The editor-in-chief would smile whenever he
glanced in Busch's direction. The full-time personnel got along well
with him - especially the older women. They would whisper and blush
whenever they saw him. An official position meant a lot, especially in a
republic newspaper. First of all, stable wages. And a multitude of social
advantages besides. Finally, a notorious degree of personal impunity - the
most important gift the regime can offer to those who have entered the
Party
nomenklatura .
Busch waited impatiently for his permanent assign–
ment. I want to say again that he had a dual personality. Rebellion co–
existed peacefully in his heart with a complete absence of all principles.
Busch would say, "In order to overthrow the regime, I must become
one of its pillars. And then the whole structure will begin to
disintegrate.... "
The seventh of November was drawing near. The newspaper editor
called Busch into his office and said, "It has been decided, Ernst
Leopoldovich, to give you a responsible assignment. Get a pass from the
secretariat. Go to the commercial shipping port. Talk with several
Western sea captains. Pick out the one who's most sympathetic to so–
cialist ideals and ask him all sorts of questions. Try to get some more or
less appropriate answers. In other words, interview him. It's desirable that
this seaman should congratulate us on the sixty-third anniversary of our
October Revolution. This does not mean he has to shout political slo–
gans. Not at all. A restrained, respectful felicitation will be fine. That's
all
we need from you. Got it?"
"Got it," answered Busch.
"Remember, it has to be a Western captain. A Swede, an
Englishman, or a Norwegian - a typical representative of the capitalist
