"MOSFILM" "NINE DAYS OF ONE YEAR" "We will be telling you about the events which might have never been in reality." "We can even admit that the specialists in nuclear physics would say that those events just couldn't happen." "We can't argue with them." "However, the people we're going to tell you about, their relationships, their approach to science, to life - that is all true." "The film's action spans a period of one year." "It could be a much longer time." "We'll select only nine days from that year." "Why these particular days, you will understand later." "In any case, these events begin far from the capital, in a small town consisting ofjust two or three streets that surround a large institute of physics." "DAY ONE (early autumn)" "DANGER!" "Sintsov?" "Sintsov?" "Who else?" "Screenplay by M. ROMM D. KHRABROVITSKY" "Directed by Mikhail ROMM" "Cinematography by G. LAVROV" "Production Designer G. KOLGANOV" "Music by D. TER-TATEVOSYAN" "English Subtitles by T. Kameneva" "Starring" "A. BATALOV I. SMOKTUNOVSKY" "T. LAVROVA" "N. PLOTNIKOV S. BLINNIKOV" "Ye." "YEVSTIGNEYEV M. KOZAKOV" "I. GRABBE" "V. NIKULIN P. SHPRINGFELD" "A. PELEVIN Ye." "TETERIN" "N. SERGEYEV" "A. VOITSIK V. BELYAYEVA" "L. OVCHINNIKOVA Yu." "KIREYEV" "B. YASHIN I. DOBROLYUBOV" "A. SMIRNOV" "A. PAVLOVA R. ESADZE" "G. YEPIFANTSEV L. DUROV" "N. BATYREVA Z. CHEKULAYEVA" "I. YASULOVICH" "Narrated by Z. GERDT" "It's a real success!" "A real success!" "Pavel Demyanovich, you can kiss me!" " What have you done?" " All right if you don't want to." "What have you done?" "We got a fully ionized plasma." "I've waited 5 years for this moment!" "And what happened to the reactor?" "They're building a new one." "Come on." "Tell me what happened there?" "Well, something has happened." "Victors need never explain." "Sergey Ivanovich, you owe me a bottle." "I prefer cognac." "Well, let it be cognac." "Mitya, what has he done?" "He killed himself." "Tanechka, why don't you dance?" "It's our victory day!" " Was he standing by the peephole?" " I think so." " You think so or he was?" " I think he was." " And what about Goosev?" " I don't know." "Who's going to tell me the truth?" "What happened there?" "The reactor was working at the red line." "Konstantin Ivanovich wanted to get plasma." "He kept increasing, got carried away and miscalculated." " And?" "!" " The reactor took a dead run." "Excuse me." "And Goosev?" "MOSCOW" "Thank you." " It's always unsettling." " What?" " Don't you hear?" " The planes?" "A usual association:" "The aviation always reminds you of the war." "Where shall I have my ticket to Novosibirsk registered?" "Does this finger gesture of yours mean over there, in the hall?" "Thank you." "Itjust disgusts me to think that about 5 or 6 men on the other side of the planet decide..." " Pretty girl." " Very pretty." "Decide whether I live or not, whether I have my dinner tomorrow." "A month ago I met those people - nothing special." "They're pretty boring, each of them is not as smart as you and I." "But they don't decide anything." "We're physicists and we know perfectly well that liquid can be heated up to a very high temperature if we simultaneously increase pressure." "But you can't do it infinitely." "There'll be an explosion." "Don't you think that our planet's temperature has reached a critical level?" "I think we've passed it." "Let's go back." "Why are you trying to scare me all the time?" "Atavism." "Apparently, the Stone Age man was supposed to inspire horror." " Am I?" " You are." "Boarding time for Flight 18 from Moscow to Novosibirsk." "All right." "Straighten up your muffler and button up." "What shall I tell Mitya?" "You start it again." "Explain it to him." "Tell him I've proposed to you." "You haven't lost the letter, have you?" " No, it's here." " I wrote everything in it." "Tell him that I got tired." "All right." "I'll tell him we've decided to get married." "I'll tell him you got tired." "What did you get tired of?" "Mostly of him." "And partly, of you." "Listen..." "May I ask you, what was it between you and Mitya?" " Everything." " What do you mean, everything?" "Stop it, don't be a fool." "All right..." "And what exactly did you get tired of?" "I got tired of what's been going on for 6 years." "Of the fact that he came to Moscow only 4 or 5 times in those years." "Of the Ukraine or Tourist Hotels, of my friend's room while she goes to the movies." "And then he disappears." "Don't you think one can get fed up with it?" "Is he in love with you?" "What difference does it make?" "You and I decided to get married." "Well, we did, of course." "All right." "I'll go myself." "Give me your ticket." "I'll find the right words." " Stop playing a fool." " Give me your briefcase." " What's in there?" " My pajamas and a razor." " It'll do." " Stop it, Lyolya." "Mister!" "Lyolya!" "Can I fly instead of Mr. Kulikov?" " Mr. Kulikov's not flying." " What do you mean, not flying?" "You'll have to take the next flight." "We got one passenger in excess." "Why am I in excess?" "Maybe I'm the most indispensable one." "Your ticket was bought last." "I see, they suddenly got some bigwig flying." " Tell him who you are." " It doesn't matter." "Excuse me." " Professor Pokrovsky?" " I hope I'm not late?" "No." "Come onboard, please." " Comrade Kulikov?" " What brings you here?" "A special plane will be waiting for us in Novosibirsk." "Oh?" "So you're the culprit?" " Are they together?" " As you can see." " Lyolya." " Yes?" "Please meet Professor Pokrovsky." "Pleased to meet you." "How are you?" "This way, Professor." " Are you flying or not?" " He's flying!" "Flying!" "Lyolya." " Zoya, take one more passenger." " All right." "Ilya, come here." "There's some trouble there." "It's a government commission, and Pokrovsky's with them." " Closer." " What?" "Come closer." " I don't understand." " Still closer." " Yes?" " Closer." "That's all." "Go now." "What are you drawing there?" "What's the point?" "Thank you." "Oh, those doctors..." "Just think what he and I have done!" "We've got a fully ionized plasma." "It means we've paved the way to a controlled thermonuclear reaction." "Do you understand what a controlled nuclear reaction means?" "Please lie down." "All right." "Mitya." "She doesn't understand." "I've completed the work of my life." "All the rest is his specialty." "I'm a reactor man, and he's a thermonuclear man." "By the way, Goosev stood not here, but right here." "This is a big difference." "Mitya, let's figure out what we should do next." " Where's the pencil?" " It's not the right time." "Nonsense, it's just the right time." "I'm in excellent form." "Where's the pencil?" " I'm asking you again to lie down." " All right." "I'm sitting already." "This is not my pencil." " Where's mine?" " It must be in your suit." "Please, bring it to me." " Please lie down." " All right, I will." "I assure you that no one has yet got irradiated with a pencil." "Please, bring it to me." "Dusya, go look for his pencil." "Thank you." "Let's think, Mitya." "Let's start with this, look..." "Watch, Goosev, watch." "This one?" "Yes, thank you." "This is a real pencil!" "It's notjust a good pencil, it's a lucky pencil." "With this pencil I wrote down my most brilliant thoughts." "And brilliant thoughts, Goosev, come to mind very rarely." "Einstein was right." "I won't be able to name even 3 days in all my life when I got... some sensible idea." "Don't come in, we're naked." "Oh, it's you, Masha." "Can you imagine?" "We got plasma!" "Didrt I tell you?" "I was telling you all my life!" "I knew it!" "Watch, Goosev." "Don't pay any attention." "But he never listens!" "All he's doing is shouting!" "A savage!" "I begged him a thousand times..." "Masha, stop making a scene, I'm working." "I begged him..." "We'll talk when we're home." "I mean, we'll have plenty of time to say goodbye." "Let's get out of here." "What do you mean, to say goodbye?" "You can't stay here, let's go." "Maria Tikhonovna, calm yourself." "Come to my office, lie down and have a rest." "How is it?" "Sintsov is very bad." "About 800 roentgens." "And Goosev?" "Goosev got much less." "I think, about 200." "Oh, what a misfortune!" "It's a real misfortune!" "And this to have happened at our institute!" "Not a single accident for years, and there you are!" "Pavel Demyanovich, the plane will be here at 6 a.m." "Damn it, such a strange death." "Nothing to see, nothing to hear, no color, no smell - nothing." "And everything's healthy." "Arms, legs, chest, and that foolish head of mine!" "It's a pity, isn't it, Goosev?" "Please lie down." "Yes." "No, I can't." "Where's Butov?" "I've got zero time left and the director's not here!" "Why are you yelling?" "I am supposed to yell at you." "Speed up the installation of a new reactor." "Goosev knows everything." "Goosev is going to hospital." "Why?" "He was standing the hell knows where, at the back of beyond." "He could get enough in any place there." "I'm absolutely well." "Without the doctors' permission I won't allow him to work." "What about Tereshchenko standing in for him?" "How about promoting Vasenka?" "Maybe you want Maria Tikhonovna come in?" "Where's she?" "In my office." " Mitya." " I'm here." "Come closer." "Listen." "Give it all up for God's sake!" "Go fishing, gather mushrooms, marry a beautiful girl." "Or it'll be too late." "And where's Masha?" "She's here." "Call... her." " Ilya, you've come to see me?" " Yes." " And they're taking me to Moscow." " I know." " Did you see Lyolya?" " I did." "Is she planning to come here?" "You'd better think about yourself now." "Come on, I'm all right." "Goodbye." "Thank you." " Help him." " No, I'm all right." "Take care, guys, see you soon." " Ilya..." " Hold him!" "Mitya!" "DAY TWO (two months later)" "At the start of our story Goosev got in a hospital." "Today he's being released." "Thank God, I made it." "I've been here since 3 o'clock." "And where's..." "Oh, you got them too?" " And where's Mitya?" " That's what I'd like to know." "Nurse, where's patient Goosev?" "He was released long ago." "How cute." "I bet he's flirting with nurses." "I can't wait for him, I must be at a conference." "Give him my regards and tell him we'll see each other soon." " You won't see him." " Why not?" " He has a flight at 5 in the morning." " Wish him a good flight." "Ilya." "You're not going anywhere, the three of us need to have a talk today." "Just tell him about the contents of your letter." "What about you?" "Listen, I need to be at that conference." "Tsitelman delivers a report." "I must put two questions to him, two short, polite questions." "Tsitelman will arch his brows, then he'll go crimson, then he'll pale, all those present will exchange glances, and that's all." "There's been no report." "There's no Tsitelman." "I simply must do it." "Don't you agree?" "Coward!" "Why am I a coward?" "I flew there in bad weather, carrying your letter." "You never gave it to him." "I knew you won't give it to him, and you didn't." "All right, I'm staying." "Nurse, where's patient Goosev?" "We're waiting for him." "He went to the professor." "This dog's name is Jack." "You can pat him, he won't bite." " You must sign it." " Permission to work?" "All right." "Enough!" "Jack has a radiation sickness, he got about 800 roentgens." "But he looks quite optimistic." "He had a spleen implanted and a transplantation of bone marrow from a healthy dog." "And this one is a control dog." "He will surely die." " Judging by Jack, there's a way out." " For dogs." "So far we operate only on dogs, and not always successfully." "Goosev, tell me, between us, how many roentgens have you got?" "Two hundred." "So is written in my case history." " Have you got any before that?" " No." "You're lying." " Too bad I can't catch you red-handed." " What for?" "They didn't count it in those times, but I have a feeling..." "Don't trust your feelings." "Patient Goosev, you think your model is this one?" "No, this one." "Yevgeny Grigoryevich, it's rude to compare me with a dog." "I'd prefer to be rude now." "You still can live a long life and work, but only on one condition." "No risk and no neutrons." "To be irradiated with neutrons, you got to have them." "You don't have them?" "Not even a hint of them." "Don't make a fool of me." " A reaction won't work out." " It will one day." "When it does, the whole world will know, and you'll be the first." "Oh, those saintly eyes!" "All right." " How did you get here then?" " Out of stupidity." "It was not even my installation, it was Professor Sintsov's reactor." "And that reactor doesn't exist any more." " Here." " Thank you." "I'm warning you:" "One more irradiation and that'll be the end." "And don't come back, I won't be able to help you." "I won't come back." " Good luck." " Thank you." "Cheer up, Jack, we'll wag our tails yet." "Tsitelman is placing his argumentation on a Marxist foundation now." "In a few minutes he'll get to antiparticles." "Tsitelman gets down to antiparticles, and I'm not there." "I'm going to burst into tears and leave." "It's me who will burst into tears." "Comrade Kulikov?" "What are you doing here?" "Waiting for Goosev." "Where's Goosev?" "He's recounting "The Three Musketeers" to the nurses." "That's it!" "Let's go, Ilya." "Here I am!" "Hi!" "Oh, you both are here!" "Why are you together and look so gloomy?" "I've been here since 3 o'clock." "Sorry, I didn't know." " You did know." " Well, perhaps I did." "I have a plane at 5 in the morning." "Let's do something outstanding." "I have a great idea." "There's a conference going on now." "Oh God!" "Tsitelman delivers a report on antiparticles!" "I guarantee it will be an unforgettable spectacle." "No unforgettable spectacles." "I simply want to eat." "Comrade!" "Comrade!" " Can you come to us?" " Just a minute." "We've been waiting 40 minutes, comrade!" "It's just outrageous!" "I hate Moscow restaurants." "You can't imagine how I was feasted in some lousy Tangier!" "Pass me the salt, I'm going to eat bread." "Ilya, you're not in Africa." " Excuse me, are you the maitre d'?" " Yes." "We've a guest at that table over there, the nervous one eating his plate." "Incidentally, he's a three-time laureate, Doctor of the Academy." "He's leaving for Tangier." "The lady is accompanying him." "Make an order yourself, for 3 persons." "Serving promptly, but with no haste." "This is not the place for that kind of explanations." " There will be no other place." " There're people all around." "What difference does it make?" "Everything will be fine now." "What were you scheming here?" "Good evening." "Well, there you go!" "Why don't you say something?" "What's eating you?" "No, nothing." "You want to tell me something?" "Yes." "We need to talk." "Go ahead." "I'm listening." " May I?" " Leave it, we'll do it." "Well?" "Listen, Mitya..." "Look, it's Tsitelman!" "He came to celebrate his triumph with his cretins." "I simply must spoil his celebration." "Oh, Ilya..." "Oh Ilya what?" "Nothing." "Hello..." "Goosev." "Hello." "Let's drink, shall we?" "Let's drink." "To you." "What did you want to talk about?" "How are you?" "Fine." "So what was it about?" "Have you ever thought of me?" "Is that important?" "It is." "So what's the talk about?" "You haven't answered me." "No, I haven't thought about you." " Do you recognize me now?" " No." "I'm looking at you and see a stranger." "Really?" "Does it worry you?" "It hurts a bit." "You'll survive." "Certainly I'll try to." "And you?" "Look me in the eyes." "Are you going to cry?" "Let go!" "Are you drinking?" "How can you without me?" " How is your Tsitelman?" " It was a flop." "Can you imagine?" "I tried to console him." " Where're you going?" " To wash up." "Did you tell him?" "What was I supposed to tell him?" "What?" "That we've decided to get married, so to speak." "When?" "I don't remember it." "Stop it." "It won't work, I'm used to your... whims." "You should know better." "Scheming again?" " So you leaving?" " Yes, leaving." "For your reactors?" "No reactors, just an electric discharge." "Really?" "Mitya, I have a business proposition for you." "Come to work with me." "We're getting 12 apartments..." "What do I need an apartment for?" "For living in it." "I need to finish what I've begun." " Why 'need'?" " I don't understand." "Who needs it?" "Mankind." "Will it do?" "Why does mankind need it?" "Mankind got enough of everything." "Man has reached such level of excellence that he can destroy everything on earth in 20 minutes." "Don't be an idiot." "What I'm working on has nothing to do with war." "My dear, it would be impossible to keep it within one country." " The whole world will know about it." " So what?" "Science has created the most sophisticated chemistry and the Germans have produced poison gas." "As soon as we got the internal- combustion engine, the British built tanks." "With the discovery of chain reaction the Americans dropped a bomb on Hiroshima." "Doesrt it lead you to some conclusions?" "All right, let's assume there'll be no war." "What then?" "People need energy." "Do you realize that energy is everything?" "It's light, heating, transport, prosperity, communism, if you want." "And so, my dear Ilya, I want very much to try and find that energy." "I'm afraid mankind won't have time to take advantage of your good deed." "Nonsense!" " Are you counting on common sense?" " Precisely!" "Do you really believe that man has got any smarter in the last 30,000 years?" "No." "Our brain has got no larger, it hasn't got more convolutions." "He who invented the wheel was a genius, like Einstein." "The first man to strike fire was more talented than the discoverer of quantum mechanics." "Oh God, how clever those two are." "Itjust makes me sick." "I wonder where it will lead them." "Remember the portrait of Pharaoh Akhenaton who lived 4,000 years ago?" "Or Queen Nefertiti." "What delicate, intelligent, inspired faces!" "And now look around you." "The Neanderthals." "Look, look." "Look over there." "Those, I think, are the Danes." "These are ours." "The Americans." "Just look at this Australopithecus." " Would you like something?" " No, nothing." "Yes, a pharaoh could exterminate 5, 10 thousand people." "From today's point of view, it's just a trifle, nothing." "He loves me." "He still loves me." "I can see it now." "Mitya, look at me." "He won't." "And Ilya will." "Besides, no Genghis Khan could ever have thought of concentration camps and gas cameras." "He just couldn't have got the idea of fertilizing soil with human ashes, of stuffing mattresses with womers hair and making lampshades from human skin." "I look at you, Ilya, and I envy you." "One has to be a very happy man to be able to afford the luxury of taking such a gloomy view of the world." "I see you're doing pretty well." "Why this exchange of glances?" "There was a custom in our village:" "If you dated a girl 3 times - marry her." "Watch out - she can make quick work of you." "Those jokes of yours, they're always..." "awkward." " Let's get out of here." " No, I'm going to eat." "This is, too, my friend, mankind walking." "Yeah..." " Come here, Ilya." " What?" "Buttermilk and yogurt regulate the functioning of your alimentary canal." "There you are." " All right, let's say goodbye." " All right." "I got a plane to catch." "We need to talk." " Didrt we talk?" " No." "I think we said more than enough." "And still we need to talk." "It's not the time and the place." "It's cold." "Let's go to the telephone station." "Remember we used to go there?" " Ilya dear, wait for us, please." " All right." "I understand you needed that talk to clear your conscience." "You may rest assured it's clear now." "What about yours?" "He's a good physicist, he'll become a great theoretician." "He's a fine man, honest and comfortable." "He's kind, very kind." "And you, Mitya?" "Do we have nothing to remember?" "I would have never married you anyway." "Why not?" "Just wouldn't have, that's all, with no whys." " You want to hurt me even more?" " Why should I hurt you?" " Why, then?" " That's enough." "Let's go." "No, I want to know." "Believe me, you have nothing to do with it." "Take my word for it." " That's enough." " No, it's not enough." "All right." "When did we first meet?" "In 1954." "You were directing our practical work." "Yes... about 7 years before that, something happened." "We had to determine the critical mass of liquid uranium." "At those times we did everything with our bare hands on sheer enthusiasm." "I had plenty of enthusiasm, much more than brains..." "Mitya!" "I don't even know how much I've got then." "I was as strong as a bull." "So this was the second time?" "No one knows about it." "And they shouldn't." "Goosev." "Yes, I'm Goosev." "Admit that you're inventing this." "Right, I've just invented this." "Oh, how stupid you are!" "Don't bury me yet." "I got away with it this time." "Another hundred roentgens, and that's the end?" " I must be careful not to get them." " With your character?" "Sintsov has completed his work." "I must complete mine." "I need one year." "And after that?" "I don't want to think about after." "It's absurd." "Goosev, will it be easier for you if I'm with you that year?" "No." "It's an unnecessary luxury." "But you need a woman." "I'm better than any other, at least for you." "Let's say I've fully appreciated your noble impulse." "But it's a quarter to two already, I've had enough." "What a boor you are!" "Comrades, I want to go to bed." "We've already decided everything." "We're getting married and I'm flying with him." "Are you kidding?" "DAY THREE" "Just look at the bride." "What a charming creature." "She's not a creature, she's a physicist." "Too good to be true." " Do physicists come like that?" " No, they don't." "I feel so silly being a bride at my own wedding." "I haven't married you yet, so you have an opportunity to change your mind." " Honest?" " Honest." " All right." " What?" "Friends!" "We're not getting married, we were never going to." "It was a joke." " And the cost of the dinner..." " Will be deducted." "From your salary." "Not funny!" "What is Goosev doing?" "Uniting regulated reactions of synthesis and decay." "Oh, I see." "No, you don't see." "Do you have any idea of what a hydrogen bomb is?" "Yes, I do." "Goosev wants to take that energy and make it work." "A bomb?" "Not exactly." "Have you ever heard of deuterium?" " Of course I have." " And what is it?" "How shall I explain it...?" "Roughly speaking, it's heavy water, it exists in every liquid." "This glass of mineral water contains about 30 mg of deuterium." "You can drink it, it's not poisonous." "Comrades, may I have your attention, please?" "Quiet, comrades!" "Quiet!" "He has a special toast." "Comrades!" "This wedding is a momentous event for our House of Scientists and for our entire town which isn't on the map yet." "However, I'd like to drink now not to Mitya personally, and not even to his success." "I'd like to drink to the great component that he's introduced to his installation." "Unfortunately, the time limitation of a toast won't allow me to give you a detailed description of its construction, but nonetheless I'll try to catch its very essence." "Don't try to catch the essence when drinking." "Then I'll let myself dwell on the effect..." "Don't dwell on the effect." "All right, then perhaps you say something instead of me?" "I will." "To the bride and the groom!" "I think it's a very original toast!" "In all the liquid absorbed at this wedding there's no less than 15 grams of deuterium." "That would be enough to heat, illuminate and provide with electricity our town and institute for 2 weeks." " With wine and mineral water?" " With regular water." "Spring, river, sea water, whatever." "My goodness, how simple it is!" "Very simple." "Mitya, may I leave the table for a minute?" " Are you out of your mind?" " I need to." "You must be patient." "No one will notice." "Be patient." "Dear friends!" "Comrades!" "Allow me to hold your attention for a few minutes." "We're looking at our typical young scientist." "An ordinary Soviet man." "With his ordinary Soviet bride." "And yet the problem" "Dmitri Alexeyevich is working on does not only have gigantic energy prospects." "Don't be nervous, eat your salad, I'm not going to reveal any secrets." "This problem goes beyond economic or industrial..." "Eat your salad." "What Dmitri Alexeyevich is working on brings us closer to the realization of the mankind's age-old dream." "You see, everything's all right." "You shouldn't have worried." "Perhaps our contemporary will break out beyond the Solar system and head for the depths of the Galaxy!" "Why should he break out of the Solar system and what does he need the Galaxy for?" " Are you kidding?" " Not at all." "I'm admiring the feat of our cosmonauts." "Not long ago I would've been happy to fly to Venus." "But why Galaxy?" "You don't understand why man needs to go out of the Solar system?" " No, I don't." " You don't?" "I don't understand it either." "It's just narrow-mindedness." "I'm not even drinking to that." "You're right." "It's not narrow-mindedness, it's sober-mindedness." "Oh, Nikolai Ivanovich!" "And I'm backing up Valery Ivanovich." "Why Venus?" "Only the Galaxy!" "The size of our Galaxy is 100,000 light-years." "Tell me, how deep are you going to get in there?" "For starters, I'd say as deep as 500 light-years." " Not far, just the edge, so to speak." " Precisely." " At what speed?" " Close to the speed of light." " The ship's weight?" " 100,000 tons." " Fuel?" " State of the art." "Let's make calculations." "Be so kind, give me a napkin." "Let's calculate how much fuel you'll need." "It was a great idea to throw in the fuel." "They seem to be aflame already." "They won't be finished soon." "We're for the Galaxy!" "The farther, the better!" " Well, how is it?" " Great." "Why are you staring at me?" "You're my property now." "How do you find me?" "Could be better." " Was it all right leaving the table?" " They're arguing about the Galaxy." "What?" "What is it, my dear?" "Everything's all right, yes." "Thank you." "Valery Ivanovich, if they fly a thousand years, how are you going to compute their per diem?" "He's sending them for 500 light-years." "Let him do it." "If they're accelerated up to the speed of light..." "They will turn to elementary particles." "Valery Ivanovich, no more questions!" "Have you finished your calculations?" "Yes, we have." "There you are." "For a spaceship weighing 100,000 tons at a speed close to the speed of light to fly over a part of the Galaxy in a reasonable for a human life time, it will take you 10 in the 22nd power tons" "of the state of the art fuel." "For your information:" "Our planet weighs a little bit less." "Bon voyage!" "When Tsiolkovsky was designing his rocket, some learned skeptics like you sat at the Yar Restaurant and tried to prove on napkins that he was crazy." "And yet we fly." " But not to the Galaxy." " Not yet." "DAY FOUR (winter)" "Nothing special happened on that day." "We've chosen it because it was a carbon copy of many others like it." "I must get up and fix him a breakfast." "Breakfast every day, breakfast every day..." "Oh, how I want to sleep!" "Why do men eat?" "It's just that I'm a bad wife." "I should repeat it 7 times each morning:" ""I'm a bad wife, I'm a bad wife, I'm a bad wife."" "I'm a bad wife." "Mitya, are you asleep?" "He is." "I'm getting up!" "What shall I cook for him?" "He hates scrambled eggs." "I forgot to buy sausage." "I'm a bad wife." "I'm getting up." "Why was it so wonderful to be simply in love?" "Why does everything change when you become man and wife?" "I'm sick and tired of those pi mesons!" "Perhaps I'm a bad physicist." "A bad physicist and a bad wife." "And what's good about me?" "All the rest is pretty good, I think." "Mitya, get up!" "It's time." "Mitya, you'll be angry again!" " I'm awake." " No, you're asleep." "No, I'm not." "All right, all the rest is fine." "Mitya." "You must be fed up with eggs?" "Do you want me to cook something else tomorrow?" "Yes, buckwheat porridge." "I don't know how." " What nonsense!" " I've never cooked it." "I didn't mean you." "Your Ilya is some wise guy." "He's no longer mine." " Whose is he now?" " No one's." "Why is he a wise guy?" "Mankind gets stupider with each day." "I think it's us who's getting stupider with each day." "We don't go out, we don't see anyone..." "Put on your coat, let's go." "I'm not dressed." " Why not?" " I didn't have time." "Why did I have time?" "What the cheek!" "I was heating water for your car, I was frying eggs." "You drive in that car too." " I'll dress while you're starting it." " Hurry up." "Normal people walk." " Do they really?" " Yes." "Very interesting information." "I wonder why women are so crazy about getting married?" "What's good in it?" "Absolutely nothing." " All right, I'll be there." " Be sure to come." "Don't forget about the party meeting at 5." "I can't." "Tomorrow's an academic conference." " I need 15 minutes." " After 2 o'clock." " It's very important!" " After two." " If you don't..." " Quiet, quiet." "If what?" "If you don't come today at 3 for a blood transfusion," "I'll be asking the director to ban you from work." "I'll come today for a blood transfusion." "What are you talking about?" "It was the war that had destroyed the world's greatest civilizations." "There was time when war did not need science." "And now it supports it because it needs it." "So we ought to thank war." "Very clever!" "Stop smirking!" "What do you think has promoted the advancement of aviation, rocketry and modern physics in general?" " War?" " Yes, war." "Good morning." " What's the dispute about?" " Nikolai's singing a paean to war." "Don't try to place a political bomb under me." "Seriously now, can you lend me a fiver till the payday?" "Of course!" "Curie-Sklodowska herself moved over 20 tons of uranium ore." "We've 300 people for one experiment, and nobody's limiting us." "Why?" "What do we have to do with war?" "Ours is the most peaceful institute." "Today you can't promote only one field, everything's interconnected." "The world's on the brink of catastrophe and you're trying to be witty about it." "On the brink of catastrophe?" "It means something doesn't work in Sector 6." "What will happen to mankind if the entire stockpile of hydrogen bombs is blown up?" "Why only mankind?" "Even no lice will be left." "Then who needs your cybernetics and radio electronics?" "And, nonetheless, modern warfare accelerates the development of science." "And this is the most poisonous paradox of our time." "You're an amazing man!" "Yeah..." " Good morning, Dmitri Alexeyevich." " Good morning." "Sector 6 is trying to prove that they have everything under control." "Leave the chronotron alone." "I know more about it than you." "It's no way to solder." "I'm a physicist, not a tinsmith." "Put the soldering iron down." "A physicist, by the way, should solder better than a tinsmith." "We're starting it up in 2 hours." "I'll have everything ready." " Dmitri Alexeyevich." " Yes, coming." "He came home late at night, when she was already asleep." "They saw each other only in the morning when she served him breakfast." "DAY FIVE (spring)" "What's going on between us?" "What is it?" "Obviously, he doesn't need me." "He almost doesn't notice me, as if I'm not here..." "It's all so stupid." "Can I really make porridge out of this?" "No..." "It's just that you're a cold, shallow, spoiled, conceited, unkind woman." "With whims." "Some bungler!" "Oh, what a bungler!" "What else?" "And not very clever." "People believe you're clever, because you're a woman." "And if you were a man, they would've taken you for a fool." "And what else?" "No, it's enough." "Mitya!" "Get up, it's time." "Thanks." "Is the porridge good?" "It's all right." " Mitya." " What?" "Mitya, tell me the truth." "Am I stupid?" "What?" "Well..." "I'm mean, I'm..." "Lyolya, why all this?" " Why don't you eat?" " I'm not hungry." "You must eat." "Where did you get this frock?" "I've been wearing it every day for a month now." "Really?" "Very nice frock." "All right, get ready, let's go." "I'm not dressed." "Lyolya, I can't wait for you today." "I'll walk." " Sorry, but I really..." " I understand." "You can go." "He's come back after all." "But I won't hurry." "Lyolya!" "I was afraid I won't catch you." "Mitya!" "It's me, Ilya!" "Where are you?" "Mitya's at the institute." "How are you, Ilya?" "Sorry, but I'm in a hurry." "I'm going to the institute too." "I won't even take my coat off." " Will you be here long?" " Three days." " Mitya wanted me here." " Mitya?" "He needs something." "He called Ilya here and didn't tell me!" "No, that's too much!" "Why did he do it?" "What does he need Ilya for?" "Arert you glad I'm here?" "Yes, I'm glad, I'm happy!" "I feel wretched as it is, and here comes Ilya." "So happy, so satisfied, smelling of a barbershop." "Lyolya, I've brought you some perfume." "Thank you." "Put it on the table." "To call Ilya here and never tell me about it." "As if I'm a cat..." "Come on, Dmitri Alexeyevich, that's nothing." "Better look at this." "It's no better." "It's not won'th looking at with a microscope." "It's clear there's nothing." "Not clear." "Good morning, comrade alchemists!" "Ilya!" "So good of you to come!" "You don't even know how I need you!" " Everybody needs me." " Me more than anybody else." "You have to help me to sort out one devilish thing." "Let me at least cross myself." "Turn on the installation in 3 minutes." "Where are you staying?" "You'll stay with us." "Why?" "There're hotels." "Yes, of course..." "Let's go." "Remember our conversation at the restaurant?" "Of course." "Do you still hold that hopeless view of the world?" "Mitya, I've already reached the age when people don't change their convictions with every issue of a newspaper." "In the name of what are you working then?" "It's interesting." "I'm exercising my brain." "I cannot but think." "Here it is, my saucepan." "As you can see yourself, these are vacuum pumps." "Plasma is sprinkled in there." "Everything's done as it should be, but it's stubborn as a bull:" "Not a single neutron, no matter what." "Well, I did suspect it though." "You did?" "Today we want to try one combination, though it's absolutely absurd." "The installation will be started up in a minute." "Out of harm's way, step out through that door." "You're our guest, after all." "You know, I'm like a child." "I'm hoping every time - what if!" "Dmitri Alexeyevich!" " Dmitri Alexeyevich!" " What's up?" "It's a stream!" "The neutrons, 10 in the 12th power!" "You're lying!" "Dmitri Alexeyevich, the neutrons, a stream!" " Get ready." " I'm ready." "Attention!" "Five..." "Four..." "Three..." "Two..." "Go!" "Once again." " I'm ready." " Attention!" "Five..." "Well?" " I'm ready." " Yes, yes." "Five..." "Four..." "Three..." "Two..." "Go!" " Have you seen it?" "!" " Quiet." "We do it once again." "Are there really neutrons?" "Sure!" "You can see it for yourself." "The neutrons..." "It still has to be chewed over." " Is it true?" " It looks like it." " 10 in the 12th." " Look for yourself." "Pavel Demyanovich, come to the oscillograph." "Yelena Mikhailovna!" "Dmitri Alexeyevich got neutrons!" "Attention!" "Quiet!" "Quiet!" " Ready?" " Just a minute, I'll be ready now." " What is it?" " I'm ready." "Five..." "Four..." "Three..." "Two..." "Go!" "Have you seen it?" "Absolutely!" "Absolutely..." "You've got neutrons?" "Don't worry, Doctor, the neutrons are there, and we're here." "Has anybody been there?" "No one." "Quiet." "Quiet." "Once again." "Five..." "Four..." "Three..." "Two..." "Go!" "Lyolya, congratulations!" "Vassily, I'm bowing down!" "If it proves to be a thermonuclear reaction, if it's thermonuclear..." "It's the dawn of the new century!" "The thermonuclear one is in our hands!" "You don't understand what it means!" "Why don't I understand?" "To the hero!" "What a celebration!" "Just a sec, I'll go wash my hands." " Why didn't you tell?" " Close the door." "I've calculated it." "Ten in the twelfth." "You got about 200 roentgens." "It's no joke." "Why didn't you tell?" " Mitya!" " Coming." "You must tell." "Wait, Ilya." "Listen, my dear." "In this situation I don't give a damn about what you think of the world." "I need your head." "You're not leaving." "You'll stay here." "All right, but why didn't you tell?" "It's none of your business." "You should tell." "It can wait." "We must tell you that modern science, and particularly physics, means a persistent, painstaking work." "The first seeming success is followed by months, sometimes years, of checking, repeated tests, disappointments, achievements and failures." "DAY SIX which begins in the evening" "I'm ready." "Attention!" "Four..." "Three..." "Two..." "Go!" "What a lousy game!" "Simply disaster." "Your Central Army Club." "What do you do on Sunday?" "I've got something brewing." "Oh, you ladies' man." " Have you fallen asleep or what?" " I was ready long ago." "Attention!" "Four..." " He's lying." " Three..." "Two..." "Go!" "You could've switched off the radio, just for appearances' sake." "It's the same thing." "Is he gone?" "I'm ready." "Attention!" "Four..." "Three..." "Two..." "Go!" "Interesting." "We increase the current in a discharge." "We increase the magnetic field." "The stream of neutrons should grow accordingly." "But it doesn't." "It doesn't..." "Mitya." "I think I've seen this photo already." "And not once." "That idiot, Fyodorov, has muddled it up again." "What is he thinking about?" "The guy's in love, so to speak." "Tomorrow I'll kick him the hell out of the laboratory!" "Don't you have any pity for the guy?" "I'm fed up with your kindness." "Incidentally, communism should be built by kind people." "Business-like people." "Kind and tolerant." "The kind ones will get everything stolen from under their noses." "Only kind people, and only tolerant." "I can imagine what kind of communism you'll build." "All right, let's go." "You've been educated on the positive examples of modern literature." "And you, what are you?" "A good or a bad guy?" "I'm a good guy." "And this is a great delusion of yours." "First of all, you're ideologically unstable." "In old times, any of your utterances..." "In old times I kept mum." "Look, it's funny: "Discover a new particle in the current quarter!"" "Oh, come on." "No!" "Don't you see how delightful it is?" "The discovery of a new particle is a momentous event." "Does it really matter if it happens in the current quarter or the next?" "Nothing interesting." "It was just a fool who wrote it." "Mitya, a fool is always interesting." "A fool is a social phenomenon, so to speak." "I just adore observing fools." "If we didn't have them, the picture of the world wouldn't be complete." "To begin with, a fool is the precise reflection of the time he lives in." "A clever man may find himself ahead of his time or on its sidelines." "But it will never happen to a fool." "And mind you, Mitya, the world of fools is incredibly diverse." "A foreign fool is nothing like our native fool." "A fool in the science has nothing to do with an administrative fool." "Oh, what splendid fools we can still come across!" "Persevering and lasting fools." "A clever man may err, a fool will never do, and that's amazing!" "No social formation, even the most perfect one, can guarantee itself against fools." "They're indestructible." "You're... pure gold, Ilya." "Anyway, let's drop by the new installation." "What for?" "Just to take a look." "All right." "Well, all my hopes are put in it now." "Are you sure that it's principally different from the old one?" "Absolutely." "First, it's more powerful." "And besides, it's a little bit cleverer." "Ilya." "What if it wasrt thermonuclear?" "Ask me this question tomorrow morning." " Good evening." " Good evening." " Where are they going?" " To dance." "Shall we go too?" "If it were thermonuclear..." "Stop torturing yourself." "You'll test the new installation and you'll see." "Let's go to dances." "When will the pumps start working?" " At the new one?" " Yes, at the new installation." "They were started today." "And how long will they pump?" "For about two months." " Mitya..." " I know, you may leave even tomorrow." "I'm not sleeping." "Go back to sleep." " What are you looking for?" " Coffee." "It's in the lower drawer." "Why do you need coffee at night?" "I still need to think." "Why don't you move to the institute?" "You can put a folding bed there." "That's possible." "Look, Mitya, tell me frankly, what do you need me for?" "That's a silly question." "You see, I thought it would be easier for you with me beside you." "Apparently I was wrong." "I have an impression I'm in the way all the time." "No, you're not in my way." "Listen, Goosev, let's be honest." "I see that I'm a nuisance for you," "I'm demanding your attention, I'm annoying you with my idiotic moods." "But what can I do?" "I'm not some pet, I'm a woman." "I told you on the first day you'd regret it." "I don't regret anything!" "If I could feel just for a minute that you need me, I would be happy." " I need you." " It's not true!" "It's simply not true." "Your coffee's going to boil over." "Not true?" "You..." "A delicate, intellectual creature..." "What do you know about life?" "Back in Moscow, I thought you loved me." "I love you." "All right then." "Sit down and eat." "I'm again in your way." " Mitya, are you asleep?" " No." "Are you all right?" "What is it?" "Did something happened?" " Yes." " Today?" "A month ago, the day Ilya came." "Oh, my God!" "I knew." "I knew it would happen!" "Goosev!" "My poor Goosev!" " It's the beginning of the end." " No!" "I don't want!" "I don't want!" "I don't want!" "Don't you dare!" "Don't you dare!" "I'm sorry." "I'm just a vulgar fool." "Mitya." "Why don't you say anything?" "Say something!" "Didrt I?" "DAY SEVEN" "He spent that day in the place where he was born." "Nyura, I didn't recognize you." "And I recognized you right away, Dmitri Alexeyevich." " Why so official?" " I don't know." "Come on, meet someone." "Come on, come on." "This is my wife, Lyolya." " Hello." " Hello." "There you go..." " Dad went to the store to buy bread." " Let's go." " Don't call me by patronymic." " Sorry, I won't." "We were expecting you yesterday." "We did expect you, but not today." "I came out to the water well not properly dressed and saw them coming." "First, let's drink to Mother." "May her memory live forever." "She was waiting for this day, but didn't live up to it." "Everything's here like it was when she was alive, I didn't change a thing." " You hurt her, Mitya, very much." " Please don't, Father." "Our house will be pulled down soon." "Almost all the rest are gone already." "They say we stand on iron." "The irors under us." "What?" "Did I say something wrong?" "No, everything's right." "A new village has already been built at Zimogorye." "If you came a month later, you wouldn't have found us here." "Where are we?" "We're gone." "Well, to your health." "And for me, Grandpa?" "Want some sauerkraut?" " No." " Just look at him!" "Remember Sashka Golovin, Styosha's youngest one?" "Got five years, he drank too much." "And Vitka Voronov, their eldest, is already a general." "We're doing pretty well, have plenty of everything." "I've brought you some money, Dad." "No, Mitya, we don't need anything." "Thanks for coming yourself." "You better tell me what." "Are you satisfied with your life?" "I am." "Why don't you stay?" "You could live here and work at the mine." "How about it, Mitya?" "No, Dad." "Everyone should do his own thing." "That's right." "I want to ask you one more thing." "Go ahead." "People say all kind of things about this stuff, I mean the atoms." "Tell me, are they won'th of giving one's life for them?" "Yes, they are." "Perhaps they discovered them for nothing?" "Who needs it?" "No, it's not for nothing." "Some day people will be grateful to us." "And besides... you can't stop mars thinking." "Even if we suddenly forget everything that has been done, anyway... those who will live after us will go the same route." "Were you making the bomb?" "I was." "If we hadrt made it, we would never have had this talk, Dad, neither a half of mankind." "I see." "Are you going to stay long?" "No, Dad, we're leaving in the morning." "Well, goodbye, Dad." "Take care." "All tight." "Thank you." "Yes." " Good evening." " Good evening." "The same thing." "Just like with the old installation." " Good evening." " Good evening." "Good evening." "I don't know what to do." "I can't go home." "I don't know what lies to tell him." "Well, it's science..." "Good night." " Shall I see you home?" " No, thanks." "Good night." "Good evening." "DAY EIGHT (autumn again)" "Perhaps it was the most important day in their lives." "It's quarter to nine, I got to go." "Are they going to postpone the test again?" "Why are they dragging out?" "I'll drop by and find out." "Do it." " Lyolya." " Yes?" "We must call up Ilya." "Send him a telegram." "No, never mind." "Go." " Lyolya." " Yes?" "Perhaps they've already run a series?" "All right, go." " Good morning." " Good morning." "Good morning." "Look at these." "It's more accurate." "When did you come?" "The day before yesterday." "Who called you?" "I did." "How many tests have you run?" "Six series." "Give me the photos." "What?" "And you didn't tell me." "Trying to be delicate?" "You pitied me, didn't you?" "We're getting a very interesting effect." "I can see." "I can see." "Mitya!" "Mitya!" "Please, forgive me." "Stop it." "Stop it, Lyolya!" "Do you hear?" "Lyolya!" "Come on, stop it." "I wanted to, but I couldn't." "I'll have to start all over again." "Remember what day it is?" "Do you remember?" "A year ago we had that conversation at the telephone station." "We've lived a whole year." "And we've lived it well." " I'm pleased." " Really?" "Really." "The experiment failed." "It's normal." "But one of a hundred possible ways to the truth's been tested and dropped." "So only 99 are left." "I love you." "I love you so much!" " Tomorrow I'm flying to Moscow." " I'm going with you." "No, don't." "I must cope alone with what I'll have to go through." "What about me?" "You'll meet me in the hospital's hall, like a year ago." "So all over again?" "Yes, all over again, 99 times so." "DAY NINE" "Here comes the ninth day of our story." "You proved a prophet." "I'm here again." "I see." "What can I say?" "I've warned you." "We'll accept you, of course, and do what's necessary." "I didn't come here to die." "I need an operation." "We don't do operations." " Why this table then?" " It's for the dogs." "I agree to the dogs' table." "I'm not proud, I can live with it." "You can live with it?" "And if not?" "If not, no one will blame you." "There's such thing as a court of justice." " How is it?" " Normal." "Incidentally, half of the dogs dies." "I'm from the other half." "I have no right to experiment on humans." "You must start sometime." "Start with me." "I can't." "You can." "If there's a slightest chance, I'm ready for it." "There is no chance!" "Almost no chance." "I must live." "Hello." "It's me." "My name is Mitya, too." "What a rare coincidence." "What are you ill with, Mitya II?" "Who, me?" "I'm absolutely well." "So don't worry." "Why should I worry?" "I'm your donor." "My bone marrow will be transplanted to you." " Don't you grudge it?" " What?" "Your bone marrow." "You see..." "I have an ulterior motive." "You're the theme of my dissertation." " You have a visitor." " Me?" "Bring him in." "A simultaneous fractional irradiation and particle-beam shock is very rare." " It's just great!" " Yes, wonderful." "But as a scientist, you are to give us detailed information." " Ilya?" " You didn't expect me?" "No, I didn't." "Lyola and I just decided to come." "Thank you." "We'll talk later." "I'll go out for a smoke." "Don't be long, we got a very important conversation." " Are you talking to me?" " Yes." "I got an important conversation, too." "Go, Mitya II, we'll have plenty of time to talk after the operation." "How are you?" "So the operation is tomorrow?" "Yes, at 8 a.m." "You look great." "Mitya, I think I understood the nature of that phenomenon." "I understood it, too." "It's not thermonuclear." "But, nevertheless, it's the greatest discovery." "Perhaps for the astrophysicists." "I even thought of the title of an article for The Youth's Technology." ""The Mystery of Magnetic Storms and Northern Lights Solved"." "I think you're underestimating the enormity, so to speak..." "Where's Lyolya?" "What?" "She's downstairs." "I think she'd better not look at me today." "Yes, I think so too." "Why did you get scared?" "Mitya, the institute is preparing a report." "We want to call it the Goosev effect." "The Goosev effect." "Not bad." "And yet, Ilya, it's not thermonuclear." "Stop it." "Not many people could achieve this in their lifetime." "Besides, my name isn't up to the mark." "Volta, Ampere, Curie - those were the names!" "500 volts - it's impressive!" "1,000 amperes - it's impressive!" "850 roentgens!" "Sounds impressive too, though not very cheerful." "And here we have Goosev." "We'll have to call the unit of radiation intensity "goose"." "A fifty-goose installation." "It's silly." "Even funny." "I don't know." "I don't find it funny." "You've always lacked sense of humor." "What if the mankind consisted of Goosevs..." "If it consisted of Goosevs..." "You lack sense of humor again." "Just imagine 3 million Goosevs - black Goosevs, white Goosevs, yellow Goosevs..." " What?" " Cone on, calm down." "Everything is all right." "Everything's all right." "Calm down." "Tomorrow at 8 a.m." "How is he?" "Well, how is he..." "Cheerful, joking, laughing." "Sending you his love." "All right." " Shall we go home?" " No." "You'll sit here all night?" "Are you visiting Goosev?" " What?" " A note for you." "Lyolya, if Ilya can get me some pants, we'll still have time to drop at Aragvi Restaurant." "The End"