"This movie was made with the grant provided by the Ministry of Culture and government fund Pro Slovakia." "This country never was." "And never will be." "Nobody talks about it, nobody remembers it." "It's like it disappeared from the map forever." "Almost nobody remembers when a child was born here." "But once little lmrisko stood by a bush and stuffed himself with unripe sloes." "Until one of them got struck in his throat." "Mamma Gretka couldn't have born a child for a long time." "So she feared for her son very much." "Papa Nicholas used to be a fair sportsman." "He could run a 100 metres in well under 14 seconds more if the stopwatch had been better." "Now his speed was useful." "He's running for the doctor, but he stopped by the carpenter's and ordered a small coffin." "Doctor Roth was the fastest member of the Czechoslovak automobile club." "He hurried to help the kid even though it was a Saturday and he kept the Sabbath holy." "Imrisko had good luck." "And the doctor had a glass of wine and a sweet kiss." "After lunch the carpenter brought the coffin." "They sold it to a neighbour whose daughter had died." "They'd have given it away, but a coffin must always be bought." "This country was well out of the way." "It wasn't even on the military maps." "Nobody spoke aloud about the manoeuvres which always ended with an historic victory." "Fire!" "Only whispers recall private Cypro who with courage and tenacity battled for a pocket watch on a chain." "Cease the fire Secure the guns!" "To the targets!" "What is it?" "May I have the pleasure?" " You've got a nice timepiece." " It belonged to my husband." "He was a watchmaker." "I beg your pardon, I didn't mean to upset you." "Never mind." "It was a long time ago." "You must take care." "You'll also die soon." " How so?" " I can feel your end." "Madam Agatha lived only with her plants." "She cultivated pelargonium because no other plant could stand up to her love." "Perhaps cacti, but the other plants, that she was fond of drooped under her affections." "A soldier would indeed not droop." "Would you like to come in for a moment?" " I would if I may." " You always can, if you want to." "Since the death of my husband I haven't touched anything." "I just wind them up... so that they work." "Wonderful." "Which one do you like?" "This one." "Are you a man?" "I'm a cartographer." "If you can make love to me for one hour, it's yours." "Really?" "You're a beautiful map, madam." "Call me Agatha!" "So here is the... parish boundary." "Here... the little boundary hill." "And here is the other one." "Would you like a windmill as well?" "We've just passed the well." "We'll cross the forest... like this... through the field" "and we've reached... the harbour." "You naughty boy!" "Now show me your pharos." "Private Cypro made love to Madam Agatha for a whole hour." "He didn't think the minute of a watch could move so slowly." "But he performed heroically right up to the end." "But Mrs. Agata let him off almost 7 minutes." "Tin rattling of Cyril Polka can be heard here no more." "The orphan Cyril Polka wandered though the country as a hungry hound." "Poor Cyril." "His mother died giving birth to him and ran off to heaven." "He stayed alone and forever hungry." "He even sniffed at a rock in case it might be worth eating." "If he noticed a bacon rind lying on the ground he quickly said he'd like to eat it." "And in a flash he ate it!" "Thank you, St. Christopher." "A long night and great might!" "Life is a flower with the Lord's power!" "Couldn't there be some broth for me?" " Don't you come in here!" " What you have, you have from the Lord." "Will you give me something?" " I'm telling you, clear off!" " Just a little bit of bread..." " and some pork scratchings." " Don't you hear?" "!" "Catch him!" "You lousy beggar!" "Don't come back again!" "You'll see." "He'll show you." "Shush..." "Quite." "You're a dog and I'm a dog." "A dog knows a dog." "A dog doesn't tear another dog to pieces." "A dog is a brother to a dog." "Let's have a drink." "Cheers!" "This is what he loves." "This is what he wants." "Thief!" "Dad!" "We've got him!" "Let me go!" "We've got the thief!" "Dad!" "Leave me alone!" "Thievish filth." "You don't work..." "but you would like to eat, right?" "Give him what for!" "Run and fetch the constable!" " You'll go to prison, scoundrel!" " Give him what for!" "You'll be sorry." "Strip off!" "What for?" "So you won't run away." "Show us your chopper!" "He is shy..." "He isn't shy enough to steal, is he?" "Down to your underwear!" "Stop beating me!" "I'm a good man!" "The devil is bad as he hasn't taken you!" "Come here!" "I'll show you!" "Come on!" "You won't get out from here!" "And breathe in deeply." "Guard here." "Step aside, I can't see anything." "St. Christopher, patron of pilgrims, help him." "He needs you very much." "Bring a fire." "We'll have some fun." "St. Christopher, save him!" "They are hurting me!" "They'll roast me alive!" "St. Christopher, save him!" "Do something!" "Quickly!" "You think down there?" "Well, if you think so..." "Dad, we're here already!" " Where is he?" " In the shithouse." "We shut him in so he wouldn't run off." "Come, we have him here!" "Here he is." "Open it." "What is that supposed to mean?" "Are you joking at my expense?" "But... he was here!" "Not even my cap could get through it!" "How were you guarding him?" "!" " You let him escape!" " He didn't escape." "He called St. Christopher for a help." "I'll show you St. Christopher!" "It's a miracle." "I shit on your miracles." "You can't make a fool out of a police officer." "How could he get out of here?" "The saints always do it like this." "The farmer placated the sergeant with the sausages from the hog-killing which destiny had not allowed to Cyril." "They wished to consecrate the miraculous hut, but the priest refused when he found out what it was." "From that day on Cyril Polka was called St. Christopher and nobody doubted that he had gone straight to heaven." "To all chiefs of the assembly areas!" "In the spirit of the valid law the Jews who have been organised for work should come to the assembly point by the station in the morning." "They can bring only the permitted baggage." "First, clothing consisting of one hat and one cap, up to 2 or 3 sets of clothing, 2 overcoats, 3 sets of underwear," "2 towels, 2 pairs of shoes, one blanket and 3 pairs of stockings." "Secondly, cleaning equipment:" "A bar of soap, shaving set, a cup, a set of plates, a toothbrush, 6 handkerchiefs." "Thirdly, provisions for 3 days." "Total weight of items must be less than 50 kilograms." "Other things, mainly matches, cigarettes, watches, money and other things of value must be taken away from the Jews." "On behalf of the minister:" "Dr. Konka." "For a long time the country wasn't affected by the war." "Everywhere people had died and there was hunger." "But here nobody was complaining." "You could buy a roll for a crown and also a square of chocolate." "Give me one more..." "Peter!" "Palo!" "You little devils, where are you?" "Great bang, huh?" "Just wait until your father gets home." "You'll see a merry dance!" "Peter and Palo were terribly ashamed of their father, crippled Kamas, who neither the army nor fire brigade would take." "They didn't respect him at all." "They made fun of him and were cheerfully growing up fit only for the gallows." "Throw me one!" "Catch!" "Shall I shake you down?" "Get out of there!" "Little bastards..." " That to your bitch of a mother!" " And to yours!" "If I ever catch you, I'll cut your throats!" "The dead man they had found was the builder Valihora." "Everybody thought he was in Germany working." "Nobody knew how he had got there and who'd killed him." "And so the war began for the village." "Hungarians moved into the house by the road." "Watch me." "What are you doing over there?" "Go home!" "Now!" "Turn out your pockets!" "Idiots!" "I don't understand." "Leave me alone!" "Let me go!" "Juro, help!" "Peter and Palo couldn't forgive their father for not fighting over her." "You'll be a beau." "You'll become a cock." "Get out of there!" "Where are you?" "!" "Come out, you bloody rats!" "What are you doing?" "When I catch you, I'll break your legs!" "At the end of autumn the Hungarians vanished." "In the house the tenants had changed." "Soldiers for soldiers." "The Kamas household accommodated" "German linesmen Hans and Willy." "The boys loved the war." "They saw how machine gun nests were fortified how telephone lines were installed how a bridge can be mined." " Stop!" "At least show it to me!" " Be quiet!" "Come on!" "Watch me." "The Germans discovered very soon that a pistol had disappeared." "They thought that old Homola had stolen it." "Don't you dare set foot outside the house!" "Jesus Christ!" "Hurry up!" "My sons..." "He didn't give you enough." "Nasty bunch." "The boys forgave their father everything including the fact that he had not been the soldier nor the fireman." "The war in this region ended, The Germans left" "Great bang, huh?" "On the following day the Russians came." "They were met by silence and a few men." "The women hid from them." "They were afraid they'd be raped and lose their good names." "Only two old spinsters the Tocka sisters didn't even have that to lose." "The Russians stopped in the village just to bury their dead." "Peter and Palo felt they had won the war." "Their best prize was a German compass which they'd stolen from the linesmen." " Give me your watch!" " This isn't a watch." "I understand." "Give me the watch!" "Let me be!" "Well?" "Please, give it to him." "Please." "Pretty watch..." "Thank you, lads." "Go to hell!" "The brothers Kamas were sad when all soldiers had left." "But nobody else was sorry." "There was no time." "A new life had begun." "Eventually everything would belong to everybody." "Occasionally strange things would happen in that country." "Sometimes so strange that even eye-witnesses wouldn't believe their eyes." "The goatherd Vojto was deaf and dumb." "Nobody had heard a word from him." "He's born dumb and dumb he remained." "What happened?" "What?" "You saw a snake?" "You haven't eaten it, have you?" "You fell asleep and it slid into your mouth..." "So we'll have to get you cured." "Hot milk." "Snakes like it." "Let the snake get to your sleeve, he's reaching your armpit..." "I hope you don't have also the young ones there." "Vojto had to tell and re-tell his great adventure with his hands and legs until a night fell." "It was a story with a happy ending." "Although... what would the grass-snake say?" "You know, Mr. Kusalik, I have been on my own and my boy ought to do something with his hands." "Hard times are coming." "You're a decent man." "A Christian, a catholic." "So I thought... a craftsman will always prosper." "And the people will always need to dress themselves." "And to undress also..." "Take care of him." "Don't worry, Mrs. Perinova, he will learn." "Tailor Kusalik was a globetrotter, in French un voyageur, in Slovak an itinerant." "He crossed almost the whole Europe." "If it was necessary he sewed a man's coat for a bowl of soup or a skirt for something better and more memorable than just soup." "It's always cheerful at his place." "There were trophies from his journeys hanging on the walls, even a propeller from General Stefanik's plane." "Here you are." "But first show us how a woman lies down." "Ondras had always some guests at his place." "Most often the local upholsterer Brko and file sharpener Murin." "I got the letter yesterday." "They're closing my business." "Haven't they sent you anything yet?" "Lt'll turn out badly." "Long live the Communist party." "Who is it?" " Perhaps another cock." " Or a chicken." " Good afternoon." " Hi." "Have you got it" " ready for me yet, Mr. Kusalik?" " Just as I promised you." "Try it." "Show me." "Will it fit me?" "Mariska, dresses must be run-in first." "It must adapt to the body which irons it from the other side like an iron." "And you have some irons." "Don't you dare look." "When I die..." "I want to go to hell." "All the pretty women will be there." "Barking dogs don't bite!" " So are you satisfied?" " I won't take it off." "I'll leave it on." " It suits you." " How much do I owe you?" "As we agreed." "Here's your bill, Mariska." "The average time of the sexual act is 3 minutes." " What is it?" " Don't you know how to read?" "The standard length of a male penis is 15 centimetres." "The woman's body absorbs 6.75 metres of it during one love-making." " You pigs." " Just read, read." "The average woman makes love 3 times a week, twice a session which means 320 times in a calendar year." "So in that time she uses for her gratification about 2.1 kilometres of male penis." "If you are short of such pleasure due to any reason you're free to ask the man who has passed this note to you." "So, Mariska?" "Here you are, Samko." "You can use it." "You've chosen well." "Samko liked his master." "Every day he learnt something new." "How to cheat at cards, how to drink a beer, how to shave his first moustache." "Iron them." " Are they moving?" " They're closing down." "Go and do the ironing." " What have we got here?" " Do you know Comrade Mitchourin?" "He sends you his regards and a new sort of plant." "You've never seen such a palm." "Give it water." "Don't be stingy." "Just pour it on." "That's a weed, isn't it?" " Primeros gum..." " How did you do it?" "Baking powder..." "Don't you need it?" "Me?" "My little Willie can still lift his head." "Stop laughing." "And press them down at the creases." "They must be so sharp" " you could cut yourself on them." " They're ready now." "These?" "You mean these?" "You've learnt this from me?" "!" "Put it on the hanger and hang it here." "Now kneel down and apologize to them nicely for mucking them up so much." "Do you understand?" "!" "Kneel!" "Repeat after me:" "Dear trousers, I humbly beg you to forgive me..." "Come on!" "My dear trousers, I humbly beg you, forgive me that I have through my evil doing and shitting around that I have through my evil doing and shitting around so callously and wantonly fucked up." "...so callously and wantonly fucked up." " Amen." " Amen." "Now stand up and have a drink with us!" "All has been forgiven." "So maybe we'll make a man out of you." "Do you have my trousers ready yet?" "It's good that you've come." "We've just pressed them." "Try them." "Nobody liked Benko the barber." "During the war he collaborated and after it he nationalized." "And he was also an informer." "Are you shy?" " Are you cutting tomorrow?" " Perming, too." " And are you shaving?" " Leave me alone." " It cuts me here." " What?" "I felt good in them." " And to me as well." " You've screwed up my cloth." "Don't worry, we'll fix it." "Catch him!" "Leave me alone!" "At once!" " Do you hear me?" "!" "Let me be!" " Stop it." "Let him be." "What do you want?" "They suit you." " You're a shitty tailor." " Don't call me names." "Have a drink instead." "Yesterday I had a dream about you." "I was visiting the Pope in Rome." "We were all sitting together in a large chamber." "And after giving us his blessing he suddenly pointed just at me." "Like this, with his finger." "I was scared stiff." "Everybody turned towards me." "I asked: "Me?" The Holy Father nodded and beckoned me with his finger once more." "So I stood up and the crowd parted before me and I approached the holy throne on a lovely red carpet." "I knelt in front of the Pope and kissed his hand." "I asked the Holy Father why have I deserved this privilege?" ""What do you want from me?"" "And he said to me:" ""Nothing, my son," "I just want to know which prat gave you such a terrible hair cut."" "So I told him that it was you." "You'll pay for this!" "You forgot your trousers!" "Send us a bill!" "Here you are." "We'll alter them for you." "So Samko sewed his first trousers." "His mother liked them very much." "He had to wear them to church on Sundays." "Nobody talked of Benko other than as the Heavenly Barber." "It didn't take him long to send the master a bill." "They took Ondras his workroom and arrested him as an anti-government element." "We, workers of the Kovotvar factory, are denouncing flunkeys of Vatican, which are spreading its rotten ideas in our young republic." "Vatican use its diplomats for performing espionage." "Devoted hypocritical army of catholic priests is subverting our socialist system." "We were terrified by news that enemy agents had been hidden in monasteries and weapons had been found in churches." "That's why we appreciate actions of our security forces which destroyed this net and imprisoned the leaders of clergy." "Vatican had finished in our country." "We suggest to check-up all the churches and rectories." "The collaborative ones must be given to the working people that will change them into recreation centres." "Peace to the world!" "The workers of Kovotvar." "In the middle of the country in a small house there lived the angry Sibert and his good mother." "Everyone was afraid of him." "Once his spit struck the gravedigger so hard that it broke his nose." "Another time he shook a gypsy so hard that his tattoo fell off." "Mamma had only suffering from him and people said she already had a place in heaven." "Fucking moths." "They always gorge under the armpits." "Perhaps they like salt... the sweat is tasty for them." "Does it show?" "I'm going to confession." "Give me some change for the bell." "Sibert was very religious." "He went to confession every evening since his father had died." "Vodka he called The Lord's Prayer, plum brandy was his Hail Mary and rum was his Creed." "I'm not giving you a single crown." " Where have you got it?" " I'm not giving you anything." "As you wish..." "Stop it, you monster!" "So?" "Wait!" "You see!" "God bless you." "God help... so you can perish!" "He had inherited the motorcycle from his father and mamma gave him money for gas." "Sometimes he hit a hen and brought it home for a soup." "Well, here I am!" "We'll have a charde!" "Bang, bang, bing..." "I'll fuck everything." "Now we have jazz... for the globe!" "You're great!" "Nice work!" " You were cheating, tanner." " You're not a man anymore!" "Let him be!" "He's done you good and proper." "Sibert put his jacket on back to front when he was on his bike, so he wouldn't be blasted by the wind through his buttonholes." "He rushed from pub to pub and all men were afraid of him." "Except his mamma." "You stink." "You left your spunk in some woman again." "Women are always after me." "The best woman in my life was Zuza." "That one would pray for me." "She'd give me her last 5 crowns." "She'd show me her purse:" ""I've got nothing left."" "She was a saint, I can tell you from the bottom of my heart... life with her was fair play." "She ran away from you." "She took the furniture as well..." "It's true." "She was very greedy." "All I've got left are my ears, my balls and nationality." "Open it." "It's for you." "I've bought you something for a dress." "You bloody pig!" "You filthy toper!" "Bloody pig!" "Don't be mad... you'll die!" "You filthy pig!" "Leave me alone!" "Are you angry?" "Come on." "Don't be upset and sing to me." "Just sleep!" "Mamma... sing." "Otherwise I'll put you into the stove." "Mamma would sing, but the next day they'd see her with a bruise on her forehead." "What did I do?" "You broke down my pelargonium." "And then you ate them all up." "Oh, I'm filth, I'm rubbish." "Don't be angry, mamma." "You ran after me naked when I didn't pour a glass for you." "I couldn't sleep the whole night." "Oh, my god." "What sort of person am I?" "And you called me dirty names." "All the f-words, you know." "Mamma didn't always tell the truth to Sibert, but she liked it very much when he felt regret and wept." "You should go to work and earn some money." " I'll go." " When?" "Give me some money for gas." "They'll take me to the mine." "You think I want to be bad?" "I want to go to heaven, too!" "If only..." "Perhaps Sibert was indeed going to the mine, but the motorbike stopped in front of the pub as if it needed a drink." "Well, here I am!" "Mamma, kill me." "I haven't a single crown." "I've spent it all on booze." "You devil." "To bed at once." "I'm no good." "I'm not bad, but if somebody comes here I'll kill him with this axe!" "I'm Ilya Murometz, the giant!" "You're good." "I'll never do any harm to you." "You're like me." "Come on, go to bed." "But you don't help." "I'm alone in everything." "You don't come:" ""Please, Sibert, have a drink."" "I'm not going to beg you." "I'll pull out 7 carrots with one hand... one beer for that." "With the other hand I'll pull out 7 parsnips... that'll be a dram." "Cheers." "Jesus Christ said:" ""Wild Sibert... must stay alone."" "My speech is pure." "Good night." "In the morning Sibert promised his mother that this time he'd really go to work." "I've got toothache." "I put a drop of acid on it," " so my mouth won't stink." " It'll burn your gums." "That's the idea." "I'm a miner... who is better?" "By the pub he braked a little, but didn't stop." "Perhaps because it was still closed." "He hurried to heaven." " He's breathing." " His head is back to front." "We should put it right." "He's not breathing any more." "Thus wild Sibert, who wanted to be better, got to heaven." "He left his good mamma back on earth roasting in purgatory." "On All Soul's Day the verger would come home in the morning." "He'd got a beautiful voice and he knew it." "He sang at all the masses, funerals, weddings and christenings." "But he liked singing the pub most of all." "There he was paid best." "Christian spirit, don't you know where Adam Braxatoris lives?" " But you are Adam Braxatoris." " I know that, you calf of Christ, but I don't know where I live." "Don't be afraid." "Do you know me?" "You're Doctor Roth." "When I was 12... you took out my tooth." "In 1925." "And in 1942..." "they transported you." "For God's sake, what happened to you?" "Where have you been until now?" "Elsewhere..." "I've been looking for my wife and children." "The hospital reception of the Jews in Europe was over." "We were like a wandering theatre company which was hissed off the stage everywhere." "Jews will die out here." "There are few of us... and we have little in common with the Israel of today." "God is "my existence"" "and is inside every man." "The verger never said a word about this meeting with Dr. Roth to anybody." "But from that time he sang even more sweetly, but somehow more sadly." "Truly, nobody could remember when a last child had been born here." "But the soil of the countryside had become more populated." "One body after another was added to the cemetery." "Could you give me a light?" "Of course." "Thank you." "Aren't you Annie Kisova?" "The pretty Annie?" "Really?" "I'm Mary Horvatova." "Do you remember me?" "I was married here in 1946." "You lent us a candlestick and a complete table set for the wedding." "You must remember." "It was a long time ago." "You were married I think in May and then you went to Prague." "It's such a long time since I was here." "When I was young I was slender as a wand." "Anywhere I came they'd say:" ""Look, the coat has arrived."" "But in Prague they fed me out." "With doughnuts and beer." "I've been there 30 years." "One kilo for every year." "So you're home." " Mary, come in for a while." " I can't." "I have to go" " to my sister in Skalica." " Come, I've got some black beer." "This is Martuska Kubalova, she's no longer alive." "She drowned." "This Suzy was always strange." "She didn't speak to anybody... and then all at once she changed into a lad." "Really?" "And here is Brko, an upholsterer." "I knew him." "His father was a road-mender." "He's dead as well." "They sent him to an uranium mine." "They called him the Lord of Light." "And this is Matus Perina." "He isn't alive either." "And do you know this one?" "No." "That one is still alive." "That's me." "What a lovely hair you've got." "You were already pretty at this picture." "The black beer makes me sad." "My Simon used to drink five of these a day." "I learnt that much from him." "He was an engineer?" "Only formally." "He never managed to finish school, but he got himself a title for his whole life long." "I had to support him." "He was lazy as a pig." "And besides he was always a skirt-chaser." "I made him move up to the attic." "A flat and warm meals and that was it." " Have you got any children?" " A daughter." "Sima didn't want another one." "I take care of her children." "She only looks after her own." "I wanted her to drive me here, but she didn't have the time." "She shits on me." "I'm old now." "I couldn't turn a somersault any more for 5 crowns." "But you're still pretty." "If only I had such hair..." "But all of us have perms, every month to the hairdresser." "This is what is left." "Come, I've got something to show you." "My God, it's wonderful" "I've cut them off every 7 years." "It grows out again." "Heart." "I shouldn't have drunk that beer." "Do you need a doctor?" "Don't worry." "It'll go..." "You should sleep here." "Could I?" "Of course." "Thanks." "Thank you, Annie." "Only if it helps you..." "It's good to be with you." "I'm glad, too." "There's a smell of tobacco..." "a smoke." "Can you smell it?" " Have you been married?" " Yes." "And when did you get married?" "When I was 50 years old." "They all said that he was a good man." "You know I wanted him to live at my place." "I had a house, a farm, poultry, a lot of flowers." " After less than 7 weeks he left." " It wasn't so bad that he left..." "You didn't have children." "I haven't heard a word from him for 11 years." "I sent him a postcard from a health spa, but he never replied." "Somebody from his family let me know that he'd died," "but even so I don't know if I'm married or a widow." "It must be here somewhere here." "I remember I carved on it." " Name and date." " Perhaps it's higher up." "Try it... but be careful." "There's nothing here." "Perhaps it grew over." "Perhaps on the other side." "They searched round the tree for a long time for this carving from their childhood." "They couldn't know the old linden had dried up and this one isn't that tree." "They thought the carving had been overgrown and was sleeping under the bark forever." "This is for you." "In memory, as you liked it so much..." "Thank you." " You must come to Prague." " Certainly." "I'll come." "Annie knew that she didn't have the strength for a long journey." "But she didn't want to spoil Mary's pleasure." "I'm the last one like New Year's Eve..." "On August 21th in the morning, troops of 5 armies led by the Soviet Army treacherously crossed the borders of our state." "The intruders took over the Communist Party headquarters, the residences of the government and the President." "The political management of the state was driven away to an unknown place, later to Moscow for negotiations." "Leadership of the army was taken by collaborators." "The citizens of Prague, Bratislava and other cities resisted resolutely." "Citizens, we appeal to you not to be provoked into unnecessary action." "Keep to passive resistance." "Don't co-operate with traitors!" "We are with you." "Stay with us." "The country was abandoned." "It was losing its people - its memory." "Nobody would remember little lmrisko." "And still the same lmro stood by the bushes looking at his son Vinco." "A nice one!" " Not so tight." " What shall we do with it?" "We'll eat it." "It'll do for soup." "Imro and his son Vinco were poachers." "It was in their blood." "They sniffed out and sold everything what moved." "They spent all the money on booze." "Nothing alive escaped them." "It's nice." "You will have money for a new coat." "Hi there, Pepo." "Since Vinco's mother had died his father looked after him." "He's cooking, darning, washing and burning each new shirt with the iron." "What are you doing here?" "I'm just peeping, you peeper." " Show me your tits." " What'll you give me?" "Give me your hand." "Don't be afraid." "See you!" "I'll show you, you peeper!" "Every year father lmro looked forward to the first snow." "He poked his ears into the white silence until he went deaf." "Better?" "!" "Don't roar at me." "I can hear now." "Where are you going, skin dealer?" "Zip up your slaughterhouse." "Get on it!" "Don't be afraid!" "I'll show you, you peeper!" "Can you hear it?" "!" "It's braking." "Come." "It's cold in my ears." "A fox?" "Hold the dog." "Father had taught Vinco how to read the snow." "So he knew all the droppings in the forest." "From bloody feather he knew where a fox had savaged a pheasant, or he could get the little weasel and once even the ermine." "The gin..." "Fuck..." "A fox will come out, but with a badger you have to leave the dog behind." "A badger is a son of a bitch." "It lets the dog into its hole and then walls it in on all sides with soil." "You end up with neither badger nor dog." "The badger is a courageous fighter." "I used to sit here..." "Behind me there was Kamas and in front was Jozo Trabalka." "Once I really pissed off the teacher." "I'd seen a man at the circus who'd done everything in slow motion." "I liked that very much." "When the teacher called me up" "I began to imitate him." "I went to the blackboard like this." "Old Vodova nearly fainted." ""Stop it!" She roared at me." "But I didn't care." "I took the chalk and started to write slowly on the blackboard..." "like this." "At the end of that year I got a B for behaviour..." "It's ours." "Hi." "Give me a cigarette." "Don't smoke!" "Lt'll dry your tits up." "Where are your skates?" "I don't have any." " Pull me." " Really?" " Out of the way!" " Watch out!" "Do you know what that is?" "Do you?" "Light one..." "Don't..." "Kissing is dangerous." "One can catch tartar." "Don't be afraid, you'll survive." "About some things..." "one just don't speak." "Vinco had slept at Pavla's and returned home in the morning." "Father!" "When father hadn't returned by noon" "Vinco went looking for him." "In the snow he found his father's footprints and followed them." "He found the place where father had smoked and also had pissed." "Vsivak, come here!" "Father." "Father." "Father lmro had been struck by the train." "The train then slipped into the tunnel like a fox into its den." "You didn't close them." "This country will never be again." "Only a small landscape remains of it." "That too is disappearing in the snow which melts on the tongue like powdered sugar." "Some say that's just plain flower, others that it's a baking powder." "Anyway... everything is white." "And the landscape is a white spot on a map." "In memory of..."