Yes, he was exactly there. However, Andrey was sitting fastened at the working table and reading a thick book… but this was surely better than gloating the reactor.
Instead of saying hello, Svetka asked: Can you tell me how to get to the library?
Well… several million kilometers to Mars… and then it's not far to the Earth – there are libraries on every corner there. If you get lost, ask the first humanoid you meet and he is sure to show you something! – said Andrey, looking at Sveta over his book.
You yourself are a humanoid… And what’s that about – “show you something”? Are you again with your erotic fantasies and platitudes?
No fantasies, no platitudes… how shall I know what he may show you? Maybe he will show you where you get off, – laughed Andrey.
All right there, local wanton. What are you reading there?
I suddenly remembered of Kipling and decided to read him over again.
Are you in your second childhood – decided to read “Mowgli” again? – Sveta started to laugh.
No, it’s not about “Mowgli”… I read it probably when I was 6–7 years old. There was such a cartoon, too – probably the whole country remembers, I remembered the surname of Kipling… And I am ashamed to say that I thought he did not write anything else.
Later I found out that he was a military correspondent in Africa in the times of Anglo-Boer War, wrote articles, sketches and stories about India where he was born and lived, and once also wrote a lot of stories…
I read “Indian Stories”, too, – Sveta put in. They are well written, but there were few of them, I found them in some collection along with other authors.
Just the same – I read them in a collection, Andrey continued:
“English Poetry in Russian Translations, 20th century”, and you see, first there is an English variant, then a Russian translation, and there are even 2–3 variants of translation for the most interesting poems… The poems are stunning, but the main surprise is ahead… – So Kipling was a poet as well? – Yes, and a great one! I still remember some of his lines by heart:
Yes, this poem is really great… There are few words and it is even short, but very succinct, said Sveta sadly.
He has a lot of poems, but he received the Nobel Prize in 1907 for stories… and he refused to get it! You know, during his whole life he refused all kinds of titles, – remembered Andrey, now distracted from poems, – even the most prestigious one in England: Poet Laureate.
Yes, people were much more modest before… Remember? It seems that Pushkin wrote: What is glory? – A patch on the poet’s sackcloth, said Sveta thoughtfully.
All right, let’s put aside the materialistic side. The saddest thing is that there are no more such poems, – added Andrey.
Besides the poems themselves, many authors in this collection have interesting and tragic lives, full of events… Many of them went to the First World War, some died, and some died later but from the wounds of war anyway, Andrey continued.
It’s sad but it’s life… You’d better recite something else, asked Sveta.
One of Kipling’s best – “If”. There are a lot of translations, but Lozinsky probably did best of alclass="underline"
It looks like a motto of the whole generation, said Sveta thoughtfully.
Andrey continued:
This is Belloc, – Andrey finished reciting.
Yes, the style is quite different and it is more philosophical, – summarized Sveta.
You know, it’s sad… The beginning of 20th century was the golden age of poetry as an art, but now it’s gone… There is poetry and there are poets, but there is no art, and I am afraid there will not be, he said thoughtfully.
All right, Andrey, we have held a social event, even though between us, now let’s go and do something for the society, – said Sveta.
-5-
At the beginning of 70s USSR officially rejected a manned flight to Mars, concentrating on interplanetary automatic stations.…
There were surely many variants of a manned flight to Mars, but they were developed in a more optional way, as a long-term perspective.
The coordinator analyzed both national and western projects, taking something from them and adding something new.
So he decided to do without unnecessary fuss of preparation for the flight, the flight itself and the rest.
The plan was quite simple: secretly prepare an expedition to Mars, fly there, take as many samples as possible and return.
And then, having analyzed the information and the samples, announce unintentionally: we have recently returned from Mars and received very interesting results which we will soon reveal…
It seemed like a simple and ordinary affair, it was day-to-day work in terms of USSR – well, the Russians flew to Mars and came back… It’s almost the same for us as for some people, especially in the West, to go to a restaurant or the nearest Disneyland.