EUGENE DUBNOV 89
Going home on the No.
T
J
tram, attempting to entertain his friend,
Orlik once again acted out one of his little scenes from
An Optimistic
Tragedy.
"Let us get married, comrade!" he entered into the part with partic–
ular inspiration. "We'll continue our family line and... (here he paused
and winked at Yura in a consp iratorial way) have some fun too!"
Seeing that Yura was not reacting, he tried his second part.
"Under the fragrant lilac bough," he sang, putting on a lecherous act,
standing on tiptoe and spreading out his arms like a parasol over Yura
and wiggling his whole body. He wasn't even put off by a few passen–
gers who were giving them odd looks.
"Cut it out, leave me alone!" Yura could not help bursting out, but
immediately stopped himself realizing that he might have offended the
fellow needlessly.
"Sorry," he said in a different, gentler tone of voice. "I'm just in a bad
mood. Don't take it to heart."
After a momentary hesitation he added: "And as for your dad-I'm
sure things will turn out all right."
Translated from Russian by the author and John Heath-Stubbs
What liberalism means and II1hat it standsfor
1'10111
The Betrayal of Liberalism
EDITED WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY
HILTON KRAMER AND ROGER KIMBALL
In these incisive essays which first appeared
in the
Nell' Criterion,
ten distinguished
critics and observers examine the origins and
prospects of liberalism, from its roots in
thinkers such as Rousseau and Mill to its
troubled legacy in 20th·century pursuits,
and its compromising effects in the moral
and intellectual life of our culture.
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