when we were transfered to railway station
and we were being seated into train-cars.
We were brought to railway station in my native city and seated
in train-cars to be brought to east to serve in the navy.
To the east.
But according to my senses my native city is already located in the east.
That is, I had never been more to the east than my
native city before that time.
But then - in the train-car and four days to the east...
And you know what I discovered?
I discovered: it's possible to go east from my native city for four days,
three days to the west, long time to the north and long time to the south.
And all the time there will be the same landscape outside the window:
trees.
Trees!
There are trees on one side of the railway, and there are trees on the other
side of the railway,
and if to count [all trees] along this transsiberian line
there will probably be the same number on both sides.
And there is no place where they would grow thick, dense,
and there is no place where there wasn't trees.
They're somewhat evened.
Mainly birches...those white with black spots,
and aspen trees about which I can say nothing at all.
That is, you go to east and they're flashing like this...
to the west like that...
There's no difference!
What I mean is that there's such landscape outside the train window
looking at which russian man is simply obliged to say:
What beauty!
And it looks like this:
train is running, compartment cars,
second day in a row to the east or to the west, that doesn't matter...
compartment opens in the morning with a swish like this...
a man comes out, he has checquered towel on his shoulder,
toothbruth with toothpaste already on in his hand,
he came out, opened the curtain, there is this...
and he: Oh! Interesting, where are we going!
There's another man, he already has boiling water,
spoon clatters in the glass,
he's trying to walk steady and he's staggering even more because of that,
and: If someone knew!
Really? But what beauty nevertheless!
We were going to east to serve there,
and two deckhands accompanied us.
Those were the first two deckhands I saw in my life.
I mean, there was no sea in our city and deckhands were of no use.
Of course, I had seen deckhands in movies or monuments,
but what were [they] like in movies or monuments?
They were big.
They were clearly and significantly older than me.
They had such moustache.
They always had cartridge belts.
And fundaments of the state could be felt in them.
But these two deckhands were real.
They both were of small stature, about this big,
one of them really had a moustache, but such moustache that it
was possible to count how many hair there were.
You could count with precision of one hair within a minute.
Other one was called Kolya, he was from Tambow,
he had bandy legs and badge "For long way".
But main thing about these deckhands were mariner's hats.
You understand, for normal, contemporary man it's strange headgear.
Agree with me. And moreover, they were holding
on their heads like nimbuses.
And it was incomprehensible how they were holding,
that is, hair was cut short, nowhere to attach or stick,
but how?
There's only two possibilities:
a miracle or a trick.
Then I served for year and a half myself,
and it started to hold without any tricks.
Yet it should fall down!
We were staking those two deckhands with questions
and we made it look like we were not interested
in how would the service be and they made it look like
it was not pleasant for them to answer although it was very pleasant for them
and it was very interesting for us.
And we asked: how will the sevice be?
And they enthousiastically answered like this:
Well, how will (shit) the service be (shit)?
Service (shit) will be normal (shit).
Why are you sneaking before time?
Just like in pioneer summer camp, that's
how the service will be (shit).
Well, me and Kolya served (shit)...
Kolya!
Kolya knows, don't you, Kolya?