"LENFILM" "FIRST ARTISTIC UNION 1976" "Everything is burning..." "Tell me, Major," "What were you thinking about, back then, before the landing?" "I don't remember." "I bet you were afraid." "Nobody wants to die." "Not even that dog Hitler." "But what can you do?" "Either you get them or he gets you." "Who the hell knows," "Lopatin was thinking afterwards." "Why do I remember this incident and not another?" "Even though after that landing I lived through Don and Stalingrad," "I was wounded twice..." "But what comes to my mind is that fog spread over the winter sea, that morning before our return trip to mainland, that soldier with his comment about Hitler," "Pasha Rubtsov in his cap looking like a German POW." "Why does all this come back to me now?" "Maybe because a year has passed and I am still alive, but he isn't?" "Because I am now taking his things to his wife in Tashkent, and not the other way around?" "Why?" "Hey, Lopatin, what if the war lasts another year, soldiers may get leaves..." "I'm thinking more about the next day, Pasha..." "I have to type up an article about the landing." "East!" "East!" "...your bag's burned through  it fell in the fire and got burnt up..." "Starshina!" "Starshina!" "The kid didn't make it." "Hurry up!" "Medic!" "Starshina!" "Pardon me, Major." "Such a small shell fragment!" " Help you with the boot?" " No need." "TWENTY DAYS WITHOUT WAR written by KONSTANIN SIMONOV directed by ALEKSEI GERMAN" "starring" "Lopatin" " YURII NIKULIN Nina Nikolaevna" " LIUDMILA GURCHENKO" "I take mine this way, he's there," "I go this way, he goes that way," "I try here, he's there again," "I go low, he goes through and turns back." "I go even lower, he turns again," "I'm like that, he goes past and makes a turn..." "I'm like this, he's like that," "I see a clearing and go for it, he goes too low and BAM!" "right into the pine trees." "Familiar places?" "No, I'm looking at the lights." "Haven't seen them in a while." "I spent a week in a village." "Not much light there, all kerosene." "All the time I kept looking at the lights in the windows." "It really gets you." "Were you there for our advance at Stalingrad?" "I was for a bit." "Why now to Tashkent?" "Duty or leave?" "Duty and leave." "Twenty days for it all." "You're trash, always were!" "You are like that yourself and you think it of other people!" "Why can't you understand anything!" "What people..." "Hocus-pocus!" "Where are you going?" "This way!" "You like jokes, Major?" "When they're funny." "No more tea..." "you're on your own." "In the summer I get a letter from her," "Forgive me, Yura, I have done wrong." "I send a telegram:" "what sort of wrong?" "I feel something is bad." "Turns out, the school teacher came back, had lost three fingers." "She was renting a room from his mother, and, you know..." "That he had three fingers missing didn't get in the way." "I run to the pay office, sign a petition, to annul the marriage certificate," "I can't sleep, can't eat," "I'm just imagining them, you know... making love..." "amongst themselves." "I start throwing myself under bullet fire." "But it doesn't work, like I'm cursed." "I started going savage, four months like that." "It just keeps gnawing at my heart," "I want to tear it up and toss it away." "After four months the commissar calls me up, says, you're going to receive the new planes, a week of official leave, you can go see your wife." "I say, no more wife." "He says, Yeah, I read your stupid petition, the certificate's annulled, she's got it..." "I'm thinking, let them choke on that certificate..." "OK, I say, I'm going." "I get to the district council there, an officer meets me, says how do you do nothing but dust, no coal at all..." "Says, I got a telegram from your superior it's 22km to your place, why don't you spend the night with us?" "A nice lad." "Come spend the night, says," "I'll get you a horse in the morning, you'll be on your way." "We get there, his wife sets the table, we sit down, drinking, not talking." "Then he says, I know your whole story..." "I say, that's fine..." "I didn't get what he was talking about." "I'm like a deaf-mute." "He's a good drinker, me too." "So, we're drinking..." "He says, I have a favor to ask you." "But you give me your word that you'll do it." "I say, sure, not really following him..." "He says, you do what you have to, but I don't want to see no dead bodies." "And he knocks on the table." "Well, what can I do?" "At night I'm sleeping, thinking, he didn't knock for nothing..." "I can't run away." "So, I get to the village." "My son runs out to meet me." "Where's your sister, I tell him." "In the hospital, he says, she's sick." "He says, is your gun loaded, dad?" "I say, hold up there boy." "Where's mama?" "At work, he says, she'll be back late." "I come in..." "She was working at a lumber mill..." "You understand, that big man is doing 2+3 with kids, while a woman is moving lumber." "Anyways..." "I go into the teacher's house and sit down at the table." "His mother, she's this tiny woman, you see..." "Just a minute, just a minute, and runs off screaming." "Help!" "Help!" "There's a murderer with a gun at my house." "My son was friends with his, he runs over and says," "My daddy's back, he's got a big gun, he'll kill your daddy." "The teacher locks up the school and runs off to the city council." "To hide from me." "What a hero!" "I'm still sitting." "People start milling about the house, looking into the windows here and there," "I was really mad then." "Lord save us!" "I was scared of myself." "Late in the evening, it was long after sunset, she comes back." "She comes in." "Says, hello." "Chirp, chirp, the cricket's chirping, and it's just crushing my head," "I don't say a word." "She says, don't you recognize me?" "I'm like paralyzed, can't open my mouth." "Just can't get my jaw to open." "She sits down, we had some food, put the son to bed, all in silence." "Finally, she couldn't take it anymore." "She says, Yura, since you sent me that letter," "I didn't have no relations with him no more." "Ask anybody." "She's crying." "I love you, she says," "I still can't say anything." "The lamp was burning." "In the morning I went to see my daughter at the hospital, came back, she's still crying, then she says," "Yura, sweetheart, forgive me, for christ's sake, and crying." "That "sweetheart," it really got to me." "I grabbed the table." "Silence, I say!" "I'm clutching the table just to keep in check." "I started saying all kinds of things." "Calling her a whore, cursing!" "I'll kill you, murder you!" "I held back, though." "She fell silent, and that was it." "And since then I had no relations with her." "I clenched my teeth at night, that's how." "Sure I looked at other women, but they belong to someone else." "I'm no saint that I don't look." "But it's the truth, I didn't touch her no more." "Sure, the last night..." "I couldn't take it." "I went for it, thought she'd push me away." "No, she just lay there, real quiet like, not making a sound." "She just says, you forgive me, Yura?" "I say, no, no I don't." "I got up early, didn't even say goodbye to my son." "Left there, and that's it." "Major, Major, do you hear me?" "Sure I do." "I have a favor to ask." "Just promise me you'll do it." "Just like to the officer in your story?" "Can you please write a letter to my wife?" "So she feels what it's been like." " In your name?" " Right, as if I wrote it." "I'll copy it into my handwriting afterwards." "You don't even know yourself how to live going forward." "No, I don't." "Sure, I should forgive her." "I believe that she did not live with that clown no more." "People told me so." "But it's hard for me." "How can I write your letter instead of you?" "What if you don't like what I say?" "I will like it." "I read your other works and I liked them." "I have a notepad here and a pencil." "I have my own." "No, please take mine." "It wasn't just for the children that I came." "It was for her sake too." "So that she would feel what she had done to me." "What's her name, anyway?" "Valentina Stroganova." "Valya." "I won't bother you." "I'll just sit here." "...beneath great weeping willows the poor rifleman laid himself down..." "About time..." "You think, Major, that I won't be able to control myself?" "I'm not thinking anything." "We all do stupid things, isn't that right, Major?" "Right." "...bread-bearing fields will sing him sinless dreams." "The sultry sun, not the fiery candle, beams down upon his motionless face." "Right." "I see a clearing and go for it, and that's the end of him." "BAM!" "right into the pine trees." "Excuse me, please." "The lighter is Austrian, but it works well." "Vasya!" "Lopatin!" " Hello, Vassily!" " Hello!" " What you've got there - gold?" " Give that here." "Take the suitcase." "How is your mother?" "Mother died a month ago." "Heart disease." "You'll be sleeping in her bed." "Must be the local climate didn't suit her." "Long journey?" "The devil knows." "About 7 days, I guess." "That's pretty fast." "Your wife came by today, her new husband... was transferred here." " As a theater director." " I know." "Here's a letter for you." "And an address." "The address is separate." "Don't lose it." "Do as you like." "Petya!" "Petya, Petya!" "Mom!" "Ma, I'm alive..." " I'm looking for Rubtsova." " That's me." " I'm Lopatin." " Nice to meet you." "The boys got some things together and sent them with me." "This is what was left at the newspaper office." "Who's there?" "What do you want?" "A camera, etc." "There's food in the bag, cans, etc." "There's also money:" "4,550 rubles." "Edy, stop it, you hear me?" "There's no place to sleep here." "We're packed like sardines." "This is a friend of Pasha." "He brought his belongings." "Any sugar?" "What the devil do you want?" "What do you need sugar for?" "Calm your child." "Listen to me." "Why did you come?" "What for?" "What are you waiting for?" "What did you come for?" "Get out of here." "Please leave." "Why are you standing there?" "What did you come for?" "Please go." "And take the cans with you!" "Lord, how will I live?" "Will you leave or not?" "Please calm the child." "She cries when her mother cries." " Which room?" " There down the hall." "Will you have some tea with us?" "Sure, thanks." "Forgive me..." "forgive me..." "Excuse me, how do I get to Beshegach?" "Sorry..." "Not this way, turn right!" "Go straight!" "So I should go back?" "Thanks." " Is this No. 13?" " It is." " Hello." " Who are you looking for?" " Ksenia Segeevna." " Come in, I'll get her." " Do glasses get in your way in battle?" " Sometimes." " And what do you do?" " Take them off." " Pardon." "Get to bed." " Mama..." "Vadik, go to bed now." " Well, hello." " Hello." "I smudged you." "You lost weight." "Not looking so good." " Probably the haircut." " Right, that's it." "Don't worry, it's not mine." "I hate to say it, but I am awfully happy with him." "It happens." " Vedeneev." " Lopatin." "Take off your coat." " How was the journey?" " Good." "This way." "Listen:" "I'm not a plaintiff, you're not defendants." "We'll sit, stand and drink vodka..." "if you have any." "The locksmith won't come for less than half a loaf." "The locksmith has children too." "So, I killed him." "You understand me?" "As a soldier, you can..." "I'm not a soldier, to be precise." "My duties sometimes take me into battle." " But it's not the same thing." " Nonsense." "You shot at Germans." "You killed them." "Sure, once or twice at the beginning." "This year I fired a machine gun... once." "I doubt I killed anyone." "I wasn't the only one shooting, and they're far away." "I have bad eyesight." "My husband is a chief military medic." "He says it's safe." "That's a lie, right?" "Sometimes it is." "None for me." "It hardens me up." "Rather give me the rice, it softens me up." "Lida here plays a sniper." "I'm the director." "We need to understand..." "Not so much... what it feels like to kill a man." "Is it delight, satisfaction, rapture?" "Satisfaction?" "Sure." "Delight or rapture don't go well with war, really." "But the poet said, "The intoxication of battle..."" "What do we make of that?" "How should I know?" "Nobody knows." "Same as with any poetry." " To your health!" " Thank you." "I remember going to your plays when I was a kid." " You mean Macbeth?" " Not just Macbeth." "One moment." "What about the will to die?" "The will to die is good for suicide." "In war you need the will to act under the peril of death." "But the will to live remains." "Always." " Do you want a splash of hot tea?" " Sure." " Lida, some tea?" " I don't want tea." "So, what are the right words?" " You know all the wrong ones." " Lida!" "I want to understand." "What words?" "I see you don't like prose." "So hear this:" "It is hard for me to reach you, but death is only 4 steps away." "Those are the right words." "As I see it." "Don't be angry." "Your eyes look angry." "She's foolish, and I'm old." "I know very well how people suffer and die." "How they learn of others' deaths." "But I don't know how they kill." "I have to know, you see?" "First we invite him over, then we make him work." "Some of our kids followed a unit, now they're enlightening everyone." "And Zinaida with her usual tactfulness..." "Nonsense, I listen to them because it is the sound of war." "Go on, Vadik..." "That's ours room." "I'm so glad your writings are being made into movies." "Me too." "Do you need anything?" "Our daughter doesn't write me at all." "It's understandable, children prefer writing to the front." "She will understand in time." " You have something to tell me?" " Yes." "Your telegram about the divorce got delayed." "And in order to get the apartment..." "You signed it for me." "Yes, and there's nothing wrong with that." "But Evgeni thinks you should do it yourself." "He's right." "Give me the paper." "Here." "It's all there." "Here are the keys to the Moscow room." "I don't need them." "What date should I write?" " If you mind..." " What date, Ksenia?" "I don't care." "The 11th." "Here." "Oh god..." "It's your own..." "your own fault!" "It's all your fault!" " It's embarrassing." " No it's not!" "All you cared about was your writing." "People laughed at you..." "You hated my friends!" "And I was getting old!" "I've lost taste for such scenes..." "I'll get going." "I'm going too." "The gates are locked and you won't find the back way." "Say good-bye for me, OK?" " I'll come by tomorrow." " OK." "Goodbye." " Mister, what time is it?" " 9:30." "Ksenia showed me some photos of you, but I didn't recognize you on the train." " Must have been the haircut..." " Why were you crying?" "My father is dying." "I was coming from the hospital." "He is wounded and paralyzed." "He's in one piece, but... it's hopeless." "I saw you standing there with all your patches and thought, why did he survive and my father..." "Why is this man perfectly fine?" "Happy, decorated, probably coming home to his family." "Turns out it's you and there's nothing waiting for you." "Pardon, what did you say?" "I said, you're not totally happy either." "Why, things are perfectly fine for me." "Fine..." "I think many women here may think so, looking at you." "That's my tram." "He's sending the certificate to you, so she can't do anything..." "I pictured you with dark hair and a mustache." "This is our set of the basement." "Were the women at Stalingrad post beautiful?" " Meet our consultant." " Pleasure to meet you." "I think they were beautiful." "That basement was more like a boiler room." "With pipes." "And not so many lamps." "And no cots." "We ate and slept on boxes." " I see." " Otherwise it looks similar." "Bring boxes." "Get rid of the cots." "No, no, I won't part with my boxes." "I am responsible for them." "Move the stuff into the barrel." "Please take care of this." "I think I'll go." "I shouldn't have asked you to work on New Year's Eve." "Hello." "Hello." "I've been waiting for you." "Me?" "At your service." "Let me walk you back." "Sure." "What for?" "See, I'm working here as a costume seamstress..." "I see..." "Can I carry your bag?" "It's not heavy, just a dress... and a half." "Why half?" "It's not finished." "Did I say something wrong the other night?" "This is the old part of town." "They thought of paving it before the war..." "But the sewage system will happen anyway." " Is your son five?" " Six, is he small?" "Want to know about the husband?" "He ran off before the war." "This belt is all that's left of him." "My father left my mom too, it's probably hereditary." " Don't be sad, the best is yet to come." " I'm not sad, just curious." "For you, is the best also still to come?" "Doubt it." "My daughter is already of marriageable age." " So what?" " Nothing." "Bastard." "What's that you have?" "Better now." "Can I ask you to wait around for a bit?" " I just have to drop this off." " No problem." "Hold this..." "So you won't run off." "I'll be right back." "You're a slob, not a soldier, and I'll teach you a lesson." "Fix it." "Get that truck out of the way." "Ho, ho, ho, I come from far off lands..." " They didn't take it?" " On the contrary, I got a bonus!" "Now we're rich and almost free." "Cold?" "No, we're in the south here." " Bread!" " Why almost?" "I still have to drop off some money." "I borrowed for my trip." "It's close by." " Feet cold?" " I have two pairs of socks." "Don't you wear foot wraps?" "I figured you would not know how to wrap them." " Vassily Nikolaevich, may I take your arm?" " Of course." "Sure." "Does fear make you want to smoke more?" "The two are not related." "I smoke when I want to..." "and have something to smoke." "And I fear when there is something to fear." "When was the scariest time?" "The scariest... at the start of the war..." "Then at Kerch..." "Stalingrad too." "Hard to explain." "You feel it in the back of your neck." "Do people go to the theater?" "Sure." "Big lines for it too." "You can imagine domestic life here." "Theater is after all bright lights, as if there were no war." "Why in the back of your neck?" "Every person probably has his own geography of fear." "My ever present fear is always back there." "A sudden fear is in the stomach." "Like I am hungry." "What's so funny?" "Just funny." "Hot here in this dump." "I don't mind." "The sun came out." "That's good." "I'm the actress Lyubov Orlova!" "They don't have normal New Year's parties here." "What did you do last New Year?" "I slept through it." "Look here." "You see the turn there?" "Where the tracks make a cul-de-sac, that's my house there at that stop." "You have 4 more stops." " That right?" " Right." "There by that sign." "That fence is the only one in town." "You're very funny in glasses." "How does one sleep through the New Year?" "It was a crazy day." "Germans were bombing, a ship caught fire." "We had to put it out." "They didn't wake us till 4 am." "We had a drink of course." "Then we talked about Tashkent the rest of the night." "His wife was evacuated to this city." "Careful, fellas!" " It's nothing." " No?" "This is where you're staying?" "Maybe I can walk you home now?" "Damn, broke my heel." " Vassiliy Nikitich..." " It's Nikolaevich." "Sorry..." "I have a very important question for you..." "You see an associate of my husband passed through here..." "They were on an equestrian team before the war..." "He said my husband went behind the enemy lines, and he sent me his watch for some reason..." " Yes, his watch..." " So what?" "He knew it would be tough..." "But he hasn't written for four months!" " I'm beginning to think..." " Don't think." " Just wait." " Really?" "Four months is nothing." "These missions last a long time." "Yes, Vadik also thinks so..." "I told her a thousand times, but she doesn't get it!" "Horses don't need fuel..." "She's stupid!" "I get it!" "But the watch..." "doesn't he need it?" "So what?" "I sent mine to my daughter too." "It happens all the time." " Really?" " Really." "I totally agree with you." "I just needed to hear it from you." " Thank you very much." " My pleasure." "Good-bye." "I brought her to you." "You've seen it all." "So, can I walk you home?" "No, thanks." "I'm going straight to the theater." " Happy New Year!" " You too!" "Vadik, how can you talk to your mother like that!" "That's you." "See the resemblance?" " What time is it, Major?" " 12:30 am." "Back in Russia the sergeant brought dinner in a thermos, they're all chomping down concentrate, no need to pay!" "I left for the front on the 2nd day of war." "Army paper - The Western Front." "When our train got shelled in Minsk" "I crawled out from under pieces of torn bodies." "I vomited until I had nothing left in me." "Pardon me." "Kill the light." "I didn't say anything to anyone." "But the command office sent for me." "Vassiliy Nikolaevich..." "it's for you." "From the command office." " I'll be back a minute." " Go on, go on." "I'll go have a drink to victory in the new year 1943." "All my life I wrote about war." "Wore a uniform." "Did god knows what." " Permit me to speak." " Go on." "Let's go over there." " Thanks." "A real favor." " Don't mention it." "So your leave fell through." " May I go?" " Go on." "To hell with the leave." "I don't know anything about movies anyway." "I think it's going to start in the Caucasus." " Where to?" " Out for a walk." "I don't want to hear it." "Off to bed." "...In this weather you cannot trust the sea." "And why not, my dear?" "In the long-past life recall, o treacherous fiend, how I trusted you." "This is the only wooden fence next to tram tracks in town, Major." " I'll get out here." " Should I wait for you?" "Don't bother." "I'd wait, but I'll get in trouble." "Vassiliy Nikolaevich, what's your sense?" "My sense is that it's fake." "Fake?" "She didn't set the tank on fire." "She simply didn't leave that basement during Stalingrad battle." "And we all, soldiers, knew that we cannot leave either." "You think we can take your sketch word for word, and make a film?" "Not word for word." "But your additions are unfortunate." "Burn a tank!" "An anti-tank weapon is heavy, it's made for two people..." "It's a movie." "We can't have a movie without a heroic act." "My aim is to make a film, and it is a noble aim." "But it's a lie." "Did the woman die?" "Why didn't you write that?" "And everyone is dressed like it's the runway." "We didn't wear helmets 24 hrs a day." "And nobody wears gas masks anymore." "But there are regulations, Major, or are they gone too?" "Gas masks are still prescribed by regulations." "Comrade, were you at the front?" "What difference does it make?" "Here it makes all the difference." "I saw action back in the civil war." "Now I serve where the country needs me." "And I did ask to be transferred." "And when I get there I will serve from start to finish, not here and there, gathering materials for another sketch." "Any soldier posing for a photograph is clean and polished." "This is a movie." "Still, a consultant should have first-hand knowledge." "Pardon." " Comrades, the lights are on." " You are right about some things." "Get rid of the gas masks and helmets." "Are we gonna film today or not!" "The shutter sticks sometimes!" "Lord, what trouble..." "Let's give it a go." "Get the tractor, right away!" "It won't budge, Major!" "Get ready!" "Camera!" "Action!" "Why did you refuse to evacuate?" "Is it so hard to understand?" "This is our house!" "Our daddy is buried here." "Where should we go?" "If we're meant to die, we'll die all together." "When you chase the Germans out, we won't need to leave." "Isn't that right?" "That's right." "But what if a bomb falls?" "We're used to it, Comrade Major." "I can be useful too, I know how to fire a gun." "Comrade Major, Ivanova is correct." "She has fought in two battles and damaged an enemy vehicle." "I was walking alone when I saw these children." "I couldn't leave them behind." "So I took the kids along with me and walked all the way to Stalingrad." "Weren't you waiting for our troops?" "Of course I dreamed of seeing our boys." "That would be our victory." "I couldn't bear the German anymore." "It was getting frightening." " Did you believe our men would come?" " Of course." "The whole time." "When the planes flew by I always thought those planes are flying low, our boys must be near." "If the planes are low, our troops are near by." "When they're far, the planes get higher up." "Did you see them?" "Of course." " And?" " First we were afraid." "Then we barricaded ourselves in that basement and sat there quietly." "No, when you saw our men, what was it like?" "Then we were really happy." "We laughed and hugged them." "Where'd you get that?" "Dug up in the garden, basically stole it." "Fearlessly they charged at the enemy, and a bloody battle was fought." "Suddenly the young soldier lay down his head - his heart had been pierced." "Is it better now?" "He fell at the legs of his horse and closed his bright eyes." "Your product is very special." "It destroys all fascists." "To make our product for the front you work like you are at the front." "We know that first you fired up your machines and only then put a roof over your head." "We remember comrades who were ill but worked to the very end." " Do you have any medals?" "Yes." "Then please take off your coat." "Here you go." "We know all about your labor." "We would have liked to write about your heroism to your fathers, brothers and sons at the front." "But in war we can only do one thing:" "send your product to the front and maybe they will know who made it." "These are our heroes!" "They beat the production schedule." "I would like to introduce Major Lopatin." "He was at Stalingrad!" "Comrades!" "Comrades..." "Comrades, what are people thinking about back there in Stalingrad?" "About you." "Who are they fighting for?" "For you." "What are you thinking about?" "Who are you laboring for here in Tashkent?" "For them." "I have seen your production in Stalingrad." "It doesn't just kill fascists, it... these boys here, who work overtime, they had saved somebody's life over there." "Maybe even their own fathers' lives." "Day and night your production batters the Germans at Stalingrad." "Batters them." "Batters!" "And it will finish them off!" "Be sure of that!" "Thank you, comrades, for your production." "Death to German occupiers!" "Victory will be ours!" "They thought it would be theirs." "But it will be ours." "The assembly is over." "Back to work, comrades!" "There's no time to waste!" "I've had enough of this!" " Hello." " Hello." "Do you mind that I dropped by?" "I'm off tomorrow..." "that's about it." "I thought you still had a few days left." "That was yesterday." "Lydia Nikolaevna, Romanova has a hole in her shoe." "She has to dance the waltz in the second act..." "Lyuba, could you take over for me today?" " Nice boys." " Heroes!" "They're off to the front tomorrow." "Mama, I dreamt of the crow again." " It went away now." " Who's that?" "Shh, go to sleep." " Ma, could you take him?" " I have an extra pillow." "Go to sleep." "I love you." "There you are." "You don't have to do my laundry." "I just soaked it, then I thought it may not dry in time." "You wouldn't understand." "Raining again." "You know what I was thinking about the whole time?" "Remember the woman who saw me off that time?" "Sure." "With a funny hat." "Zoika, my father's wife." "I hated her my whole life." "She got a cleaning job at a hospital and had my father moved there." "She's looking after him." "I asked her if we could help?" "She cursed me out." ""I didn't share him when he was healthy..."" "I got upset, started to cry." "Now I see I was a fool." "How could I be so blind." "Put your arms around me." "You have strong arms." "Shh, the floor is creaking." "You're crazy." "One second..." "one second." "I probably can't see you off." "You're taking the Ashkhabad train?" "Right." "I wonder what the weather's like there..." "Will you go back to Moscow after or some other place?" "I don't know." "Wherever they send me." "Of course." "It's very wet." "You'll get your feet wet, do you have spare socks?" "It's nothing." "I'll get some." "You could get sick." "I don't get sick." "Very rarely." "I had something very important to tell you." "OK, let's say goodbye." "I'm coming, coming!" "OK, off you go." "Go on, go on." "I dreamt of mother last night, she was feeding us dumplings." "It bodes well for you." "I caught a bullet in the civil war and shrapnel in this one." "Men, the train is about to move." "End all farewells!" "To your cars!" "When you get to Moscow you'll see my letter." "I'll try to set you up with a publisher..." "I'll try to..." "Would you like some food, Major?" " From the 214th?" " Yes, Major." "But you can't go farther by car." "They'll fire at you." "The car's going back." "Colonel Efimov asked me to take you to him." "We were here earlier, but now about a kilometer off." " So you're alive?" " Alive." "I was in a hospital for a spell." " Shall I take your bag?" " It's OK." "I got a letter from a neighbor:" "Germans burned my house." "Otherwise all OK." "So you're back with us?" " Permit me to speak." " Go ahead." "I'm assigned to 214th." "Is this the right way?" "The sergeant here knows the way." " May I come along?" " Sure." "I like your epaulets, lieutenant." "Address me properly." " A new assignment?" " Yes sir, first day." "I'm still trying to catch up with my men." "It's pretty rowdy here." "So where are you coming from?" "I'm here two days." "In Tashkent before that." "I had a 20 day leave, but it was cut short." "Lucky, Tashkent is nice these days." "If it's three shots and then quiet, then everything in my life will turn out well." "In her life too." "1... 2..." "The lieutenant got hit." "Are you hurt?" "Does it hurt?" "I can't hear." "Can't hear!" "Get your hands down!" "Try to blow it through!" "Clamp your nose and blow!" "The water is earthy here." "Drink, don't worry." "I thought that was it." "That's just the beginning." "That's not the end, lieutenant!" "You'll live a hundred years..." "OK, let's get going." "Nobody will believe it's shrapnel." "They'll think I got a moth hole." "I couldn't believe it either." "I'll marry a widow after the war." "God's truth I will." "I saw an American magazine," "I don't know how women agree to pose like that." "A widow with a house." "I'll just join in." "If I get out alive." "So much for your 20 days without war." "Now you have to face the truth." "Many things will happen to you and to others." "Though we're plodding forward but we're only in Kuban so far, and Berlin is a long ways away." "Such a long ways away..." "THE END"