Excuse me.
- We're running late, aren't we?
Yes, we are. Don't worry.
We'll catch up at night.
Yes.
- Excuse me. Can you bring me tea?
- l will.
You're all packed too early. We'll be
there in an hour or two. Some tea?
- No, thank you.
- We'll be there on time.
Comrade, is your name Tolik?
- Yes, it is. Why?
- I'm about the ad, about Black Ear.
Black Ear? Bim!
- Good morning!
- Good morning.
No, the local paper. Thank you.
l haven't read it for quite a while.
- ls that your dog missing?
- The dog?
lt's on the last page.
- Give that note to the guard.
- And the paper?
Here.
Hurry up. There you go.
- Take them to the quarantine station.
- Will do.
Good luck!
Anybody here?
Anybody here?
Why all this racket?
No one's here. lt's everybody's
day off.
Any dogs brought here
in the last three days?
They didn't catch any on Thursday and
Friday. There're only yesterday's.
- Not many though.
- May l have a look?
Tomorrow.
The doctor will come and say which
for science and which for its hide.
Sometimes they bury them with a hide,
or burn them. The doctors know better.
- Do they bring hunting dogs too?
- Not often.
Those are not killed, nor given to
science. First they wait for the owner
or call the Hunters' Union.
We got one right now though. lvan
said the owner herself gave him up.
Sure! Maybe her husband died.
Let me in, please.
l'm looking for my dog.
Don't you see what's written?
Authorized personnel only.
lt's their day off.
Wait! Wait. Are you a man or some
fiend? He's just from hospital.
Had a fragment in him since the war
and was operated on. His dog's missing.
lt's such a wonderful dog.
Perhaps it's here.
They don't put wonderful dogs in here.
Only infectious ones.
Chief, come here.
Here's a ruble, let him in.
What? Get out of here!
You know how many wounded l carried
on my back? And you with your ruble!
Come in, comrade.
Thank you.
- Didn't l tell you!
- No, not you.
Fiend! You fiend yourself.
He'll never stop now!
Hey! lt's here, in the van.
Can l take him?
What's the use now? Come tomorrow.
l've overstepped my authority as it is.
What? Done in?
Thank you.
Alyosha, l think it's lvan lvanych.
lvan lvanych!
- lvan lvanych, is it you?
- Yes.
l'm Tolik. Do you remember?
l sent you Bim's photos and the letter.
Tolik?
And this is Alyosha. Bim lived
with him in the country.
We're looking for Bim. We were sent
here.
ls Bim here?
No, boys.
Bim isn't here.
Tell us the truth, please.
Bim isn't here.
We should look for him, boys.
Look for him.
Why three shots?
That's the hunters' tradition.
As many shots as the dog's age.
What a bitch! Take him, she says,
l'm the owner.
Everybody will be only grateful.
And we believed that viper.
lf we have only known!
What can we do now?
What? Nothing.
l'm quitting! That's it!
Come here. Come, shaggy.
- Run for your life.
- What are you doing?
- So what?
- They know there were two dogs.
One died, the other ran away.
Give it to me. l've got an owner
for it.
l don't think l would have been able
to outlive that day
if it were not for the boys
to whom l had lied.
l didn't want to deprive them of hope.
Lies can be sacred, too.
And life goes on
because there is hope,
without which despair would have
killed life.
lt's winter now, but spring
will come for sure.
And there will be snowdrops.
We have winters and springs in Russia.
That's what our Russia is like.
Winters and springs for sure.
l know and l have faith.
Life goes on.
Bim!
Bim!
THE END