ever been jealous?
- Must think.
Are you inclined to forgive people
their weaknesses?
- Depends on the weaknesses.
- You answer yes or no.
- Then no. Alik, I'm very glad to see you.
It's mutual, Lena.
- You've already met?
- I'm Vladik today.
- Only today?
- Are you always Lena?
In some African tribes people change their names
to confuse the evil spirits.
Have you known envy?
- What's new over the elapsed period?
- Toiling...
- For love or money?
- Money's been scarce.
I'm working on a paper.
- Incidentally, can you bail me out?
- Certainly.
- What's the paper about?
- The problem of fresh water.
No, seriously.
I'm going to shake the foundations.
- That's not well paid.
Please allow me.
- You are not bored?
- At your place? Never.
- You alone?
- My woman is dancing.
Her name is Regina.
She is a water-skiing champion.
- And who are you supposed to be?
A cosmonaut? - A jokey.
But then I confessed that I was a priest.
- Your companion dances beautifully.
- You are welcome.
Independence is relative. A pal of mine
devised an experiment.
He kicked all his habits at once.
- Stands to reason.
Our habits are what
we are most dependent on.
E.g., I refuse to own a car so as not to become
its slave. What about you?
Me? I refuse to own a car
because I love the tram.
It's my weakness. - By the way,
traffic is becoming humanity's nightmare.
In London, the Parliament
tries to relieve traffic jams.
He's dangerous to argue with.
He knows everything.
Vladik, what's the matter
with the tape recorder?
- Your success, Volodya.
- What success?
- Don't be modest.
- Why not, it's my nature.
What's the matter
with the tape recorder?
Do you know how many people will die
this year in traffic accidents?
- Three million.
- Is it known beforehand?
- Everything is known beforehand.
- Here's the guitar!
How on earth did you manage to find one?
I asked the neighbours across the hall,
they didn't have one.
The people downstairs told me to ask upstairs.
I started begging.
I said I had to sing for a man so that
he finally pays attention to me.
And this lady went from door to door,
and the world does not lack good people.
Hurray.
You are reserved and withdrawn,
nobody knows what you think.
Some people find you arrogant,
but it is only a mask.
- All true.
How can one help singing
in the country of Youth.
- Who is that man?
- Where?
It's the host.
The hostess's husband.
- Seriously? I thought it was that one.
- Please sing another one. Are they yours?
- Almost.
They are my friend's, Vadim Brusnikin's.
- Sing the one about the white birches.
- No, Alik, the one about Mondays and Tuesdays.
- Which Brusnikin, the artist?
- The very same.
- Let's go somewhere.
- Let's stay a while.
- No, I mean, for a vacation.
Ten days or so.
In the daytime he paints
academic subjects.
Combine harvesters and stuff. And nights,
he writes these songs. A hobby.
- It's a new trend. Everybody
has a hobby these days.
My friend, a physicist, goes for deep diving,
collects cacti and matchboxes.
- A philocarpist? - No, a phillumenist.
- Vladik, can you think of a hobby for me?
- In your place I would collect friends.
- Fine, I'll take you for my collection.
You're a singular person.
- Why are you laughing?
A pal of mine calculated
that a modern man has
300-400 acquaintances.
That's much more than in the last century.
Phones and airplanes bring people together.
So? Let's do it.
Anywhere, for ten days.
Just you and me.
You see how many acquaintances
a modern man has?
Don't you believe... the weather
when the rains linger on.
Don't you believe the infantrymen
when they sing gallant songs.
Don't you believe it, don't
when nightingales strike up their tunes;
Life and Death have not yet
settled their accounts.
The times taught us
to live as on a campaign trail,
with the door open.
You are a man, my friend,
and yours is an enviable lot, after all.
And just one thing