JOSEPH BRODSKY
261
Multipurpose ro bo t. pres umabl y. N o nstop transmi ssio n plus th e defense o f th e
client's interest. The logic:t! conclu sio n of th e hidd en camera prin ciple .
As I said, th ey keep an eye.
But it's only o n the eco nomy, Petrovich .
Cecilia, pass G usta v som e wa ter.
Dallke.
I'm better alread y.
Then go ahead and fini sh o ff th e shrimp .
With beer, C ustav. T h ere is some beer left.
You too, Petrov ich. W o n 't hurt to coo l yo u off
But I already ha ve , Bas il Mod estovich.
By thc way, Petrov ich . Wh at lan guage were yo u intl' ndin g to usc in Pari s'
Well, this o ne. T here arc lo ts of o ur emi grl's. H alf o f th em still wo rking fo r me.
And where wo uld yo u put th e m o ney'
Well , in the bank , I gu ess.
Which one'
Ach, who ca res' Wh y to rture a man in vain , l3 asil Mo destov ich'
But do you have any idea w hat kin d o f taxes th ey have'
1)0
you un de rstand th at
with these taxes they would rob yo u in no tim e - espec iall y with o ut c iti zenship -
worsc than you j ust tri ed to do to
li S'
Why tormcnt a man '
Because with mo ney it is better to in vest little by little in a vari ety o f thin gs than
to
keep it all in th e bank , Petrov ich. It 's 3bo ut time fo r you to kn ow th is, sin ce
pension is not
En
o ff. l3est to bu y som e land , o r a ho use . R ea l estate, in a w ord.
And it's better to do it from here th an o n th e spo t, fo r th e same tax reasons.
Oh, Basil Modestovich . Wh at arc you do in g to me'
Ah, Petrovich. All of us arc tempo rary here , yo u and G ustav and Cecili a and
I.
And it's not beca use o f dem ocracy w ith its ele cti o ns - thi s sort o f thing we can
son out. It's simpl y th at th e age is no t th e sam e. l3 y th e yea r 2000 we w o n 't be
around and th e soda m o no po ly -
even
if it arri ves, w e won 't see it. [n th e worst
case, we' ll get o usted, lik e yo u-know- w h o in 1<) 17. [n the b est , th ey 'll issu e a
stamp, since we introdu ced dem ocracy . So o ne sho uld n 't grab everything o neself
One should think abo ut th e o th e rs also. N o t to m enti o n that on th e wh o le it's
easier to divide everythin g by fo ur som ehow th an by three.
Basil Modestovich, wh at a dea r man you are.
Yes, Petrovich, ge t som e bee r.
Petrovich , do n 't ge t soppy.
