"I always hated in-store signing sessions." "I mean the ones readers really came to." "At least no journalists came this time." "It'd be embarrassing if they'd ask about my next book because I didn't know myself." " Can I have your autograph?" " Of course, with pleasure." "Here you go." "Now it's worthless, but once you die..." "Czech Television presents" "Starring" "BRINGING UP GIRLS IN BOHEMIA" "Based on the novel by" "Written by" "Director of Photography" "Directed by" "Hello." " Hi." " Hi." "I finally got the page proofs." "Anything for me?" "I was offered a lucrative part-time job with easy hours." " Is Bára at her lesson?" " I'm about to pick her up." "It looks..." "It looks like the job is coaching a seventh grader." "And it's supposed to be well paid?" "'Very well." The parents want straight A's." "Some Císar is offering it." " The Císar?" " That's typical..." "He invites me but suggests only one time for me to meet him." "It's like the Godfather - an offer you can't refuse." "'The assumption was that on Sunday I had nothing better to do."" " He said that?" " Honey, that's a quotation." "Will you take it?" "If you don't mind I'd rather write." "We don't know how much he'd pay you anyway, or what for." "So..." "So..." ""A well written life is almost as rare as a well-lived life." Oscar Wilde" "I was giving up an easy and well paid job and thinking about life, full of missed opportunities." "Private teaching in a modern millionaire's family..." "I realized I'd never find a better theme for my new book." "I imagined how it'd be if I walked in." "It was quite strange to picture myself as the hero..." "The real millionaire was named Císar." "Maybe I'd call him..." "Král." "In the end it's like a fairy tale." "King Karel Král." " Don't you try that on us again!" " 'Cos we're not stupid!" "Or maybe you think we are?" " Mr. Král is expecting me." " Oh, then sorry..." "Why didn't you ring the bell?" "'Cos you're not stupid." "So you're the next one?" " Good luck." " Next time, the bell, remember!" "Good bye." "Hi there." "Take a seat." "I'll be right with you." "My name is Král." "Thank you for coming." "Hello." "Hi there." "Agáta..." "You want some chips or a Coke?" "Go ahead..." " I read your book..." " Really?" "I liked it although I don't read much." " My daughter writes a bit too." " Really?" "It may compliment her self-awareness." "You think so..." "To tell the truth that's something she could use." "She's going through a difficult time at the moment." "I'd say it's fairly normal." "She's good at gymnastics..." "Wait." "I'm talking about Beáta." "Oh, I see." "I didn't know." "What about a creative writing course?" "You would come here Monday through Thursday." "For two hours a day." "Weekends free, of course." "But that's an awful lot of time, eight hours a week." "Which brings us to the question of payment." "How much do you have in mind?" "I suggest 20,000 a month cash plus a productivity bonus." "Is it a deal?" "And buy yourself a new jacket." "It was pretty easy to think of Král's family, but I had no clue how my family would act in my novel." ""It's not an autobiography." "Ijust lend my heroes anything from my life they might need." Saul Bellow." "I thought they'd feed you." "They offered me chips and a Coke." "And you refused that regal offer?" "I refused chips and Coke." "I don't know about the rest." "This is my school." "I've been teaching here." "My colleague Chvátalová-Suková is hunting worms." " You mean earthworms." " Earthworms..." "Anything for our principal, isn't that right?" "Let me tell you about our school's new bold gesture." "I was the first to react to the U.S. Embassy's offer to cheaply buy equipment the U.S.Army left behind in Germany." "Among other things our school acquired a used jeep." "So finally I can go fishing without all that embarrassing walking." "I hope you noticed my enterprise was mentioned in the press." "Hello." " Your shirttail is out." " That's hip now." "Dad says hello." "Thank you." "Did you start your own business?" "Let's play a game that uncovers that uncovers the language possibilities of our tongue." "With a bit of imagination it will be embarrassingly easy." "Marcela..." "Replace the verb with a suitable interjection." "The frogjumped into the water." "The frog went plop into the water." " Radek, you start." " The deerjumped over the fence." "The deer went plop over the fence." " What was for lunch?" " Tomato soup... yu-u-uck!" "Okay, let's discuss details over lunch." "I know how a secretary feels when her boss takes her to lunch." " Oh yeah?" "How?" " Awful." "At least you don't have to worry about sexual harassment." "If your daughter has problems why do you think writing can help her?" "She wrote at college, but quit after her freshman year." "She passed her exams and then quit." "Is that normal?" "I think it's not normal to send a car to pick up Agáta." "Perhaps I'm too soft, but I don't want her to come home alone." "You see if you have a bit of money, people are a bit envious, but if you are really rich, then you have real enemies." "Listen, I rely on you." "I'd have another, but I have a tennis match." "It's business." "I thought you'd introduce me." "I've never met Beáta." "If I don't count the time she almost ran me over." "I'd wait." "I haven't prepared her for it yet." "Okay." "Let me know." "You had no time to write and now you don't know what to do." "Maybe it's an experience that'll pay back." " Maybe not." " But you don't know that." " If it really bothers you..." " You promised already." "I can still cancel it." "And die with the feeling you may have missed an opportunity?" "Don't ask that of me." "Back then I thought she was just jealous." "Now I sometimes think that in some feminine intuition she saw what would happen." " How often will you go there?" " I don't know." "Maybe once, maybe several times." "Because poverty sprawls across our threshold..." " Are we really that poor?" " Have you met a rich teacher?" " But you will." " That's a quotation." " Do you get along with Beáta?" " Which nails?" "How can I get along with her when she doesn't talk to me?" " She doesn't talk to you?" " She doesn't talk to anyone." " Why doesn't she talk?" " Because she's a bitch." " With or without milk?" " Without, please." "Would?" "Would you like some?" "My daughter packed them for me." "She wouldn't be happy if I brought them home." "Agáta, come try one." "She packed them all by herself?" "." " Really?" " All by herself." "That's amazing." " Go ahead." " She's almost twenty." "She should be working." "She should get married." "A coffee pot and two cups are all that's needed, then a quiet chat about literature may begin..." "Hi there." "So I'm here." "Only because you failed to run me over." "Maybe she's deaf, but for God's sake they'd have told me." ""Suddenly she started to be poorly and ill, growing paler and weaker, grieving and sighing."" "That was Karel Capek, The Princess of Soliman." "Your father told me that you do a bit of writing." "He wants us to discuss it in a creative writing course." "I accepted because he offered me a lot of money at least from my perspective." "But now I wonder if you care about talking at all." "A poisonous spider..." "Should I leave?" "Your writing means a great deal to your father but I can quit and my family'll stick to meat loaf on Sunday." "I'm going." "I don't need the money." "The pest can take wing." ""The evolution ofthe female brain is different and farless explored." F. Koukolík." "Listen, Beáta, I've been married for nine years, and I can't stand theatrical scenes like this one." "Let's open the window and have a calm non-committal chat." "Or do you want to sit in those chairs in the hallway?" "Am I bothering you?" "Why are you sitting in the dark?" "Which nails?" "Yes, you are!" "Sorry, but you have to leave us alone!" "Jeez!" "Beáta, can we try it at least?" "I don't want to teach you anything for God's sake..." "Your hair's a bit greasy, have you noticed?" "Jesus, this is going to be hard-earned cash." "You can bet on that." "Fine." "Let me take a shower and I'll be right with you." "So how did it go?" " It didn't go at all." " What do you mean "at all"?" " Not at all." "I'm packing up." " But you haven't even started." "I managed to get one sentence out of her in two hours." "One sentence?" "That's great!" "What did she say?" "That it was going to be hard for me." "She said that out loud?" "Yeah." "Out loud, and all by herself." "She'll give in, you'll see." ""One becomes a writer the same way one becomes a prostitute." "First he does it forhis own pleasure, then for the pleasure ofothers, and then finally for the money." Oscar Wégh" "Eighth graders chased me to the teacher's lounge." "You must keep your distance." "But how?" "Would you believe nine boys out of ten don't know the basics." "I gave them a mute map of a woman's genitals and they didn't know what it was." "A blank map." "Jaromír, do you have a second?" "Did you ever teach Beáta Králová?" " How was she as a student?" " Beáta?" "She didn't need school, straight A's." "Teacher's loved her, and I did too." "Hi!" "She isn't ashamed of me yet." "Otherwise she'd look around." "Does Ríha still love you, or is he dating a Ninja turtle?" "I bought an issue of Bravo." " It even has songs in English." " Aside from other things." "Well..." "she's got to learn it somewhere." "Jackson dropped from second place to nine." "And you tell it to me just like that?" "I shouldn't say anything." "You just make fun of me." "The alacrity with which she shifted from defence to attack reminded me of her mother." "Have you seen that Bravo yet?" "You mean the pages on love, sex and tenderness?" "Knowing that ten year old kids read this..." "You weren't into in it back then?" "I was, but there was no Bravo back then." "I have to introduce you to my colleague Trakarová." "She was furious when seventh grade boys had no clue where the clitoris was on an unmarked anatomical map." "Hers?" "Let them study it." "When their times comes it won't be marked for them either." "Bára thinks I only make fun of her, but I feel like you're making fun of me." "Stop reading." "You know you want to sleep..." " Me?" "Go to sleep?" " I don't mean sleep." "You just want to go to bed..." "Wait Andela... wait..." ""Wouldyou ratherbe loved foryourbeauty, foryourinner values or for yourmoney?" F.S.Fitzgerald" "A creative writing course should start with some good advice." "This is from A.P.Chekhov. "It's easy to become a writer, every cripple will find a partner and all nonsense a suitable reader."" "Capek said almost the same." "'The field of spirit bears every nonsense."" "I assume you've already written something." "Can I read it?" "Fuck off." "These ironic thoughts were from exchanged letters between Anton Chekhov and Olga Knipperova who was drinking champagne in Moscow while he..." "It went great." "She told me to fuck off." "How much do I get?" "I wasted two afternoons here." "During that time your daughter said two things." "She gave me a hard time and you gave me ten thousand." "Why?" " What can I say?" " At least think of something." "Something!" "She went out with a guy." "Good looking, but a bit of a crook." "A wacko." "Try to explain that to a girl in love." "I talked him into leaving her, but keep that to yourself." " So it's not about writing." " Maybe." "You're the expert." "Sorry... am I a psychologist?" "I meant to say psychiatrist." "You're a teacher, a writer." "You also have a daughter." "You don't know that you've won my secret contest." "I have?" "I just don't want her to destroy herself this way." "She can go swimming or act up in front of McDonalds" "I just don't want her to be unhappy." " But I can't teach her that." " Take yourself, are you unhappy?" "Not really." "I just repeat Bergman to myself:" ""Happiness is the art of being satisfied."" "You see." "Show her how you do it." "If you make the sad princess laugh will you get to marry her?" "I'm married already." "I'll ask for the entire kingdom." " Can I listen to my walkman?" " No." "Listen to your teacher." "Mozart created clear, playful and often humorous music." " But I don't like Mozart..." " I do." "Cosy fun titties." "Jirka, stop..." "I don't like Mozart either." "It's just scraping." "What other Praguers do not understand the Master?" "Fine." "Listen to what you like." " Can we have them, then?" " Not until the lights go out!" " Janácek?" " Mozart, but that was enough." "I let them have their walkmans after the lights went out, but they didn't." "So half of my class" "Iistened to the educational concert with headphones on." "Even worse, Stríbrny hung for 40 minutes on the gymnastic rings." "Fifth graders?" "He made them mad." "He gave them a test about bats and squirrels." "Oskar, you asked about Beáta Králová." " Are you working for Král?" " Just coaching." " I felt stupid refusing it." " That mafioso?" "Him?" "Mafioso?" "I didn't think that." "You didn't think that?" "Then how come he has two hotels, two bars and a brothel..." " He has a brothel?" " Oh yeah." "Agáta could use some tutoring." "She's not like Beáta." "But I'm coaching Beáta." "How about talking about happiness?" ""I don't want to bore you by repeating sensible things."" "That was Saul Below." "You know one has to really want to do it." "There were a few smart things said about this matter." "For example Dostoevsky..." ""I strive to love life more than its meaning."" "Amen." "I thought you were sleeping." "I would be if you didn't give me all that teacher's bullshit." "Get out!" "Wait, don't go, wait, come to me, do you hear me?" "Come here." "You teamed with them against me, you coward." " I need to speak to you." " Again, so soon?" " Three minutes." " No can do." " Two minutes." " Not even a minute, I'm sorry." "I'd like to go to Egypt." "Slow down." "I think myjob at Král's is over." "Wait, you think that or you finished?" "I just had no chance to tell him." " What's up?" " You wanted to talk to our boss." "But not at two in the morning..." "You can't do that to us." " Who do you mean "us"?" " To her and to me." "I don't think she'd miss me." "I start teaching at eight." "If nothing worse happens in your life..." "My beard is getting scruffy and wolves are coming" "Their howls are nearing..." "That's about me." "If you are scared of wolves why don't you tell yourself that you've had enough and quit?" "I wish it'd work that way, but it doesn't." "If you stop adding to the pile, it shrinks." "And you'll get run over." "I have a metal tin, golden nuggets lie within above me the northern lights shine..." "It's not about me, but you wouldn't leave her like this." "Of course it was blackmail." "As if he knew I wanted to quit, but also didn't want to, and that this was going to get me." "Look at this." "Can I call you by your first name?" "Call me Karel." "Am I supposed to know them?" "Don't look at her." "He's the one." " He is...?" " Yeah." "Beáta's man." "Eros for women." "How do you say it properly?" "You're the writer." "Eros?" "Or Eroson?" "That's a good one." "Ero-son..." "How are you involved?" "I let him keep half the money he earns." "Good, huh?" "I don't get it." "He only gives you half his money?" "Well, he screwed us over, Beáta and me." "My guys look like they're fun, but they can be tough too." "You don't need to know the details." "Only if you'd want it for the book you'll write about me, and you'll write it, right?" "Is it true you sell everything in your books?" "Everybody's misfortune and finally your own too." "Even the most intimate stuff?" "." "Well?" " Depends on who it is." " So it's true." "And you preach the morality of others arbitrarily." " Does Beáta know about it?" " That I have it on tape?" "No, why he dumped her, and about your money split." "Are you crazy?" "She'd be twice as furious." "At that moment I realized that she knew everything." "Too bad that you didn't say so earlier." "Karel..." "Because passing off handling your family neuroses as a creative writing course is ..." "She doesn't deserve to be unhappy because of him." "I worry about her." "My beard is getting scruffy, and wolves are coming" "Their howls are nearing." "They follow my tracks, they smell me digging my grave and nailing my cross." "The northern wind's cruel, count on that my love..." "I'll shower you with golden ingots..." ""When teacherrides a bicycle, what can one expect ofthe pupils?" "They'll be walking on theirhands." A.P. Tzechov" "I won't pretend this quotation came to me in the morning" "I didn't get on a crowded bus full of kids and adults." "I took Bára's bike instead." "I felt I wouldn't die on a bike as quickly." "You should be in bed, not riding a bike." "They found high cholesterol." "And physical exertion is good for it." "Yeah sure, cholesterol." " What was it?" " Whisky, whisky, whisky.... and then more and more whisky..." " But it was pure." " So it should be okay." "The artist has to drink because he sees more than others." "Sometimes even twice." "Don't smell it." "Great." "You're out of the woods." "I'll go clean it up." "Are you crazy?" "Just keep your head down." "I can't go teach in this state." " Why not." "Just keep moving." " What?" "Moving?" "Keep walking." "Walk between the desks the whole time." "The second rule is have the windows open." "And don't talk." "Have them write something." "Too much oxygen can be fatal." " Someone puked under your window." " Go to your classroom!" "I'd like to know if this is because of the guy from the tape." "It's not because of you." "As luck would have it I can't think of a suitable quotation." "Great." "Beáta, I understand it hurt you." "But sorry, this is exactly what Proust writes." ""It's not surprising that a small germ can kill a big human but we should suffer only for those who are worth it."" "Quit lecturing!" "I don't give a damn about the smart things you read." "I don't give a damn about your non-traditional methods!" "And fuck your voice work too!" ""The Czech schoolmaster is not a dead myth."" " P. Pit'ha" "Either she's hit rock bottom or she's spying on a cricket." "How did it go?" "As soon as it goes anywhere I'll let you know." "I didn't like my teacher either." "Try to overcome your aversion toy the parent-teacher conference." "I need to go there anyway." "Agáta needs her school report earlier." " Go and see the Principal." " Is he someone you can talk to?" "No." "Buy him a fishing net." "Yeah, talking about money..." "Why so much when it isn't working?" "Maybe he's an optimist." "And it's not big money for him." "He invests it in his own daughter in the end." "Maybe he wants to have a good conscience." " Hi." "What are you doing here?" " It's busy work." "We're dusting for points." "Stupid, huh?" " Why are you whispering?" " What's going on down there?" "I wanted to tell you something but I don't know..." "Come on, tell me." "Just speak quietly, we're friends." "It's silly though." "In case it doesn't work out with Beáta..." "What shouldn't work out?" "You know that..." "Dad wanted to throw you out." "That's why Beáta did a U-turn." "But I didn't notice any U-turn." "She pretends you bug her but she enjoys being with you." " Are you sure about your dad?" " I hope you won't tell on me." "I wanted to tell you that I'm not a little girl anymore." "A little girl..." "I would never say so." "Never." "Thanks." "I'm good at this." "Bullshiting and flirting with those who can't see through me." " Hi." "You're already acquainted?" " We've already been introduced." "I was sitting next to Mr. Nadany at one desk." "He gave me a few special lessons." "Karel was my first and worst student ever, right?" "He did his best to hold that title." "Petty bourgeois hypocrites!" "Blinkered philistines!" "Hello." "Our colleague." "She teaches sex education." "I assume she left her sex toys at home." "I was thinking if it goes too slow with Beáta we can stop it." "The Principal is pretty cool." "Did he ask for a fishing boat or a whole lake?" "He wanted forty cages." "There are thirty-six of us on the staff plus four spares." "No." "He wants them for his minks." "I hate waiting more than anything." "That's nice of you to miss me." "You, huh?" "I even hate waiting for the metro." "You are either quiet or arguing." "These must be yours, right?" "You're right, I apologize." "We had parent-teacher conferences." "They still exist?" "They do." "Just like lots of other things." "Such as summertime, the sun..." "And hay and strawberries." "Shove it up your ass." "It must be hard to make sure you aren't into something." "Why don't you take a break from it?" "Just between you and me..." "Your father said that you're going to Spain, on vacation so we won't see each other for a while." "I'd like to say goodbye to you." "Beáta!" "So I got up and started to leave." "Had I turned I might have seen her eyes." "They weren't empty." "There was something in them..." "What was it?" "Promise of what was going to happen in a few days?" "Hello, sea." "It's been nine years since we last saw each other." "Hello, sea." "We've never met." "My name's Bára." "The sea looked like it couldn't care less." "I had a similar experience with Prague's Educational Office." ""A short cut's helpful in several ways." "It relieves the monotony of familiar terrain."" " W. Kerr" "In case Král needs to launder more money I could go to... to the Riviera next time..." "Or to Florida..." "Or to the Bahamas." "No." "Thailand is hip." "Okay." "Next time we go to Thailand." " And the vacation's over." " A friend of yours?" "Hello." "I'm a Mr. Král's assistant." " Petr, my wife." " The wife." "Hello." "Mr. Král is very sorry and asks if your husband could come back with me today." "But it's our vacation." "I hope you take no offence, on behalf of my boss I offer you a small financial compensation." "Will you manage here without me?" "Will I get your ice cream?" "And peaches?" " But leave my wine for mom." " It was nice here with you... and this is lots of money, but I don't want it at any price." "Then we agree on that." "I just wanted you to know." " What happened?" " Nothing." "They came home early." "The princess is bored." "This is the way you wake up princesses in fairy tales." "Hello." "We missed you." "What have they done to you in Spain, miss?" "Did you get my postcard?" "Did your wife mind?" "Hi nails." "I have a present for you." "From Barcelona." "From a rare book shop." "A present?" "For me?" "From a rare book shop?" " It must be something valuable." " Yes, it is." " Or deep?" " That too." " Something scientific?" " Getting warmer." " Comenius in Latin." " You had to give it away, huh." "Well, thank you." "So you were riding a small colourful train." "Yeah, and I liked it." "What does that train have in common with your real life?" "Don't argue..." "I thought the argument could still save me, but I knew I don't like arguing." "I live a real life all year around." "I go to work, funerals..." "Can't I have seven days off?" "." "What real things did you do?" "She went to a bullfight, with an American." " Bullfighting is for real." " God, essence of Hemingway!" " Did you ever go to a bullfight?" " Never." "I haven't been to a bullfight and I'll never go see one." "You're jealous." "Aside from the bullfight..." "And the American..." " Have you written anything?" " Hmm." " Will you let me read it?" " No." "But I'm being paid for it." "Make sure your money doesn't fuck you up." "Hey you, wait." "My name is Oskar." "In case you forgot." "I didn't." "I just didn't have the opportunity to use it." "Here you go, and I'd like to read a part of your new book." "If you have anything..." "Today, now that it's all over" "I regret I didn't keep that short story." "After all the poses she kept giving me" "I suddenly saw that Beáta was funny and had a sharp eye." "She was more sensitive than I imagined." "That room'd be nicer with a cabinet or curtains to divide it optically." "You really left college just because you hated going through the piss passage?" "I knew I shouldn't have given it to you to read." "Did you notice that some things said aloud sound stupid?" ""An artist does not need criticism, an artist needs praise." "Ifhe needs riticism, he's no artist." Gertrude Stein" " I knew you'd manage it." " I feel differently about you." "I may have been a bit impatient." "You know, a loving father." " I already got paid this month." " Take it." "It's a special bonus." "The cross-country champion." "I didn't know you were that good." "I've seen him somewhere." "But he had no underwear on." "Beáta..." "Are you okay, honey?" "I used my favourite American film line and you didn't react." "Beáta." "Come on." "You smell like smoke." "Well, girls." "A different light and a different bed and it's done." "I hope Oskar will help you with it." "Just like a fairytale." "You're a magician." "But the silent princesses were saved by Simple Simon." "Why do you always try to be funny?" "I don't get it." " It's my fear of being boring." " I see." "You know what comes to my mind if you say "pile it on"?" "I imagine a soldier dying in a trench, eaten by lice and writing to his mother that everything is fine." " He's just lying." " Because it's his holy duty." " When would you kill yourself?" "." " Are you serious?" "Definitely if I tried to use an acetylene welder." "Wisecracks." "You can't speak seriously anymore." "They're not wisecracks." "It's Romain Gary:" ""A way of neutralising reality when it's about to go for your throat."" "Wisecracks and quotations." ""Modern humoris sometimes hidden despair."" " B. Russell" "Will we get that lamp tomorrow?" "Something prevented me from uttering the word 'bed"." "We'll go first thing in the morning." "You can sleep here." " Dad will pay you overtime." " I see, oh yeah..." "Thanks but there's ajob I still have to do at home." "Bye..." " You coward." " You coward." "I woke up with this idea more often now." "God, as if it wasn't a dream anymore..." " Hi." " Hi." "I'm here." "Show me." "Waist 159, no 59, that's good." "That's pretty good." "Are you silly?" "We're going swimming and have a picnic." "Swimming?" "But I don't have my swimsuit here." "Wait..." "Do this to Beáta instead." "I treated you terribly." "I'm sorry." "I thought you teamed up with them against me." "What?" " Come..." " I can't..." "Finally..." "Do you think people should use their opportunities?" "Opportunities for what?" "For being somewhere, meeting someone, taking something." "They're always different." "There's no one answer to that." "Not even when the opportunity might never repeat?" "Luckily we don't know that most of the time." " Or do we?" " We don't and we do." "Liz Taylor once said that she regrets sins she committed, but those she hadn't, even more." "Poor thing." "What first comes to your mind when you wake up?" "Usually nothing, but sometimes I awake full of anticipation." "Like today maybe?" "What does your wife do when you're writing?" "She sings because sometimes I get paid for writing." "I see." "And why do people get divorced?" "Maybe because they got married." "When you married. were you terrified it'd be forever?" "And sometimes you felt like you hated everybody." "She asked more than a thousand questions." "But I didn't want to understand her" "I wanted to sleep with her." "You know what I like?" "You don't try the "my wife doesn't understand me" line on me." ""My wife understands me" is also just a line." "I know." "Jesus... hi..." "I have a beautiful wife." " Wait." "Where's Bára?" " She's asleep." "I don't know..." "When I think about that time now" "I have the embarrassing feeling of complete emotional insanity." "I lived two lives." "In one I didn't stop loving my wife in the other one I loved Beáta just as much but differently." " Cheese." " Cheese." " What's wrong?" " Nothing." "You keep looking at your watch." "Sorry, I didn't realize..." "Král asked me if I could help choose furniture for Beáta." "You will be an expert in so many areas!" "So..." "Stop frowning." "The bus was really late." "What's important is that you were happy to see each other." "Young lady, you can try it out." "Do it properly." "Just like at home." "Don't be scared." "Sir, do you want to try it too?" "When you move on it you'll feel like you're at sea." "Once you catch the right rhythm you'll understand about being excited to go to bed." "I'll leave you alone for a minute to try it." "Come on, let's go, come on..." "Now?" " How did it fit you, sir?" " Great." ""My heroes live my own chances that have yet to be accomplished." L. Klíma" "That's another bonus?" "If you coached the young one too you could stop teaching." "And just keep on writing." "That wouldn't be so bad." "Did you choose it yourself?" "." "A young shop assistant helped me." "My first true lie." "I was surprised how easy it was." "I hope she was pretty." "You chose furniture with Beáta, a suit with a young helpful shop assistant, tomorrow shoes with an even prettier one, then a shirt... be careful or you'll take on too much." "Andela forgot to mention underwear." "I bought 5 pairs, and five pairs of socks, and for the first time ever, dental floss." " At least lock the door." " No way, Agáta would kick it." "While this way she can walk straight in." "Loving Beáta was joyful and at the same time scary." "I was afraid it would end, and I was afraid it wouldn't end." "Do you sometimes reproach yourself when you come home in the evening?" " Do you have an easier question?" " Just asking." "Because I do." "But my conscience doesn't concern you." "Everything about you concerns me." "I felt sorry for her suffering on my account and" "I felt sorry for Andela, and myself, for doing that to her." "Love always causes wrinkles..." "Old songs suddenly brought tears to my eyes." "Leave it..." "Don't bother your dad, he's reminiscing about old times." "Or young times?" "What's correct, author?" "I recall similar episodes." "Otherwise, aside from Beáta, it's a foggy haze of memories without beginning or end." "I remember taking my family on trips." "Are you hungry?" "Stop fooling around..." " Dad, how does a bear sound?" " Woof, woof." " Come here." "Are they married?" " Let's go see the monkeys." "In the evening I sat at my computer pretending to work." "I wasn't able to do anything..." "My hankerchief smelled of Beáta." "Have you extracted honey, dad?" " We'll call each other." " That would be nice." "That's allowed, I'll find ajob there..." "Eat Bára, eat..." " Why are you scolding her?" " She isn't eating at all." "Eat like you should." "Daddy is writing." "He's a bit absent-minded from too much work." "I didn't react to some comments." "I didn't know how." "I spilled and broke more glasses and cups than ever before." "My klutziness was turning me into a conspiratorial slave." "It'd would be amusing under different conditions." "Jesus mom..." "What are you doing here." "Visits that I didn't like before were suddenly dear to me because they gave me more time." "Honey..." "I've got forty minutes." "Possibly fifty." "Go to Strakonice road." "I'll be there in four minutes." "She called dates in her car varient A." "Love making at her house was varient B. Bedroom or a bed?" " Hi." " I wanted to kill myself." ""When a couple spends time tenderly embracing, they can't have a meaningful talk at the same time." Young People's Questions and Practical Replies." "Watch out." "Wait..." "Mushroom pickers in the woods bother you..." "That's different." "What is the position of our course?" "Things have greatly improved." "She even communicates with me pretty well." "I've noticed." "What about her writing?" "She's making a start." "I'd say it looks pretty promising." "Making a start?" "I've been paying you since June and she's just making a start?" "You were thrilled when she said 3 words." "You wanted her to be happy." "Why does that bother you now?" "Because she only thinks she is happy." "When she realizes she was wrong she'll feel even worse." "Can I read what she's written?" "Then he called me a risky investment and fired me." "Surprisingly he didn't sic his bodyguards on me." "Come on." "Take your revenge on the daughter of that capitalist pig." "Come..." "That was no love making." "It was a populist uprising." "Where will we meet in the winter?" "There is still the H variety." "I hope you mean hotel." "I mean double H as in an hourly hotel, if we find one." "Or come teach in our school." "I wanted to be with her." "And apres nous le déluge." "Did you hear?" "Stríbrny was taken to an asylum." "He realized the school year began and went on his way." "Manic-depressive anxiety states or what." " Hello." " Hello." "Sorry, this chair is taken." "Who are you holding it for?" "Let me introduce Beáta Králová." "She used to study here." "Now she'll teach Czech and English part-time which will also be taught by an American teacher later." "Thank you." "I hope you are well rested after the summer." "We have to face a lot of educational and academic tasks" "like re-lining the chimneys, constructing a third greenhouse and making structural changes for mink raising." "In addition to this I'd like to remind you that we mustn't neglect our own teaching." "And I was looking forward to just growing cabbage." "I'd like to point out the meaning of educational concerts." "It's an important part of the educational process." "I insist on hanging bags on their hooks." "Make sure desks aren't shifted from their marked positions, otherwise they move out of alignment and it's just awful." "We should put a condom vending machine in the cloak rooms." "Trakarová..." "you share an office with her." "You mean it was her idea?" " No." "It was mine." " And why?" "It's better than sitting at home thinking about herself." " That's true." " I read a nice adage somewhere:" ""If you want to save yourself, try to save someone else."" "That's nice." "In case you need to save someone, ask me." ""I'm tired ofmyself." "I'm tired ofmy own lying, ofsecrets that I must hide" Chamfort" "What hero did I create?" "Luckily I can still say it's not me and it will be true." "I've come to give you a hand." " Can I look?" " No." " Autumn's on its Way?" " No." " Or School Beckons?" " No." "Yuck..." "Holiday Memories!" "I wouldn't think of that one." "Do you need a hand?" "Soon it'll be broadcasted all over, like on the radio." "She's teaching with you as part of your health program?" "Is she supposed to have coffee in your office?" " I sense jealousy in your voice." " I sense evasiveness in yours." "I admit that she comes on her coffee break," "but I swear I've never given her a nibble." "Why isn't she in her office with Trakarová and Tauferová?" "They talk about metastases and vaginal secretions while eating." "What are metastases?" "Would you like to know more?" "How about vaginal secretions?" "I know what they are." "I read about them in Bravo." "In Bravo." ""Never, never, never confess." Dr. Plzák" "I have an urgent dispatch from the Ministry for your teacher." " If you'd be so kind." " Be quiet, children." " Shut the door." " The kids will hear us." "Forgive me, Minister." "I have several other mental pictures from our teaching days." "Hi." "Don't be crazy." "Andela is on duty on Saturday." "I can't, I invited kids over for tea." "Tidy yourself." "I shouldn't have been surprised she took school as seriously as her previous silence and our love-making, which was now rarer these days." "You repeat over and over and they don't know a single word." "I sign the class register, and then a book to say I signed it." "You finally start to understand the charms of Czech schools." " Don't let it get to you." " I don't get it." "You don't have to." "I remember we couldn't decide where to stand." "Apart or next to each other?" "Both were conspicuous." "Agáta..." "She said I shouldn't keep you for myself, and bring you over." "Cheese." "Why do my boys have to sing in the choir if they don't want to?" "Do you know how many years I've been in this profession?" "Seventy, I surmise..." "I don't see what that has to do with this?" "I'm asking why one has to sing against his will." "Who doesn't?" "Give me their names." "You stay out of it!" "It's none of your business." "Yes it is." "My boys don't want to sing in the choir either." "I won't argue with you." "We can discuss it with the Principal." "Don't be sad, Man-child." "Thank you, Baloo." "We be of one blood, thou and I." "Ah, Baloo." "Teach me the Master Words for this people." "I've never understood her more." "That was the first time I seriously worried about her." ""I don't want to create my own happiness." "I want to create my own work."" " Nietzsche" "That was when I thought I'd let my Beáta die when the time came." "She'll freely choose her own death." "It'll be as quick as a flash." "Just like our trips to the woods." "You are thinking about something terrible." "Just like you... about death." "Beáta please..." "I was meaning to ask you something." "Are we still dating?" " Beáta..." " Are we still dating?" " We are still dating." " Yeah?" "We're still together." "Yes." "We are." "Beáta..." "Stop it!" "Were you ever into anything else?" "Let's stop this..." "It's not worth it." "I didn't mind your having a wife and daughter." "I didn't think about that at all." "Then I waited for them." "Your wife was so sweet to her." "You would have to be different for me to take it." "Different?" "How?" "Just different." ""All the misfortunes ofmen derive from an inability to be alone in their rooms" Pascal" "Well, what happened?" "I had an interesting phone call." "Anonymous?" "You're supposidly cheating on me with Beáta." "And you believe it?" "I'm just asking." "My answer is that it's not true." "We are just friends that's all." "I met her on Strakonice road only once last month." "So I wasn't really lying, and it might be over after today." "You work on your friendship in the gym?" ""The keyhole also serves to open the eyes." S.J. Lec" "Andela..." "Please..." "Come on, honey." "If you want to hear an angel cry, tell a nine year old girl her Daddy is screwing around." "By the way I got an interestingjob offer." "I could get an editor's job beginning next month." "Everything else is just an epilogue." "I don't know if I'll make it." "Good luck..." "This is Steve Burns." "We'll share English lessons." "Good luck." "Not that I know English well, but she introduced me as a writer, not as her lover." ""Never, never, never confess." Dr. Plzák" "My students gave me a teddy bear and a bottle of whisky." "Sorry." "Hi." " Shouldn't you be studying?" " I'll turn fifteen next month." "I wanted to invite you over." "Mom would like to see you too." "Okay." "I'll stop by." "But it's not that we'll call each other, right?" "!" "Oskar?" "Beáta is crazy, forget about her." "I'm trying to write a bit, so far nothing that great." "But I thought if you wanted to read it..." " God, she could be my daughter." " You coward." "Did she really say that, or was it my imagination?" "A few days ago, I was explaining possessive subordinate clauses, eating in the cafeteria, worrying about educational concerts." "Now I was editing Ivan Klíma, eating with Pavel Kohout and even flying to Germany." "A Czech teacher flying Lufthansa!" "Excuse me..." "I rarely met Beáta." "It happened only by chance." "Hello." "How are you?" "I'm with Steve now." "We hang out at McDonalds, go to parties." "I feel better than ever before." " Really?" "That's great." " And Steve's the best." "There is something in him he might not even know of." " A tumor?" " Wisecracks.." " And quotations." " You'll never change." "He's writing a novel and thinks Prague's like Paris in the 20's." "I'm translating it." "Publish it." "We'll go to America this Xmas." "Bye then." "Don't forget about the book." "That meeting definitely confirmed that she was history." "I was such a coward it made me happy." "Such a coward..." "I was so brave it made me happy." "Why am I telling you all this?" "Did you read this?" "Action of animal protectors." "A group of young animal protectors released all the minks raised in a local school." "Among the culprits, the daughter of Karel K., a local businessman." "Until recently she was teaching in that school." "Poor little girl." "She doesn't realize that within a week they'll all be dead." "She felt superior over her young rival for the first time." "Which I was happy to see." "Sorry..." "Hi." "This is my new boyfriend Jakub." "We're getting married." " Congratulations." " Thanks." "Let me introduce you." "No, I have leather shoes, my bag." "He wouldn't like that." "I see nothing has changed." "See you, bye." "So it's Jakub, and not America with Steve." "Later I found out Steve left alone and never came back." "He couldn't take the fact Beáta had her belly tatooed." "Then I didn't hear about her for awhile." "Just that Jakub went to the woods to think things over." "Then he went to Norway to save the whales." "She tried almost everything except spiritualists." " Hi." " Hi." "I brought you something." "I think it would help you a lot if you read it." " Are you serious?" " Don't try to proof-read it." "Try to open up to it." "I hope you don't mean it literally." "Jesus, is the only one who cares for me and doesn't ask of me." "He would care for you if you wanted it." "Fifteen year old Lilian admits that..." "When you're done reading it." "You'll see the world differently." "Are you crazy?" "One day you'll believe it and become one of Christ's children." ""A story has been thought through to the end ifit contains a turn for the worse."" " F. Dürrenmatt" "In a book that was supposed to open my eyes" "I read stories about young girls called Melany, Daphne etc." "They overcame their depressions by getting something nice." "Beáta may have wanted to believe there was an easy way for her too." "Though assured a friendship with God helps overcome depression," "Beáta failed to overcome hers." "Like Melany and Debby she knew that suicide was no solution, still she got in her black convertible and drove into a concrete pillar at a 180 kilometers an hour." ""The heroes I created are must as important to me as living ones." A. Dürer" "As always Andela was my first reader." "I knew an artist does not need criticism but praise." "I just wasn't sure if my wife knew that too." "You really think highly of yourself." "You can't take literature so seriously." "Do you have a title for it?" "What if I called it..." ""Bringing up girls in Bohemia"?" "Maybe you should have taken that job at Císar." "I'd be interested what would happen in real life." "My wife and I like it, Mr.Wégh." "Especially my wife." "So could you dedicate it to us?" " Your name..." " Jana..." "To Jana..." " Thanks." " No problem." " Can you tell me your name?" " Císarová." "Alzbeta." "But since I started writing I call myself Beáta." "I wanted to ask you if you could read this." "I don't have much time these days." "Well, you can't refuse me twice." "My father wants to offer you an interestingjob." "And I'd be interested how we'd be in real life." " At least lock the door." " No way, Agáta would kick it."