murmuring
anyway, there was special sound coming from the ships.
I didn't see anything, all was as if...
well, it was fog and everything was in the fog.
And Vladivostok, as I've already said, I never saw in daylight
because after about two hours
when it still wasn't completely visible, I was already
being brought to Russian Island.
And that happened so very simple...
Absolutely simple!
There was no conspiracy against me, no mystics,
the was no sly plot...
There just came a man, normal, common man,
only he was in uniform, that's all.
By the way, his uniform was very smooth while
man himself was very crumpled.
He came, he looked at us twice.
And he was dissatisfied.
He came, he was smoking like this...
looked [at us] right away...looked [at us]...
I think this decision was made beforehand, he simply
said it out aloud. He said...
he looked [at us]...
Where to [send] them?
To Russian Island.
I heard this
and cold shiver ran down my spine.
I didn't say a thing. It sounded with some dull echo
in my brain and in all me.
But I didn't say a thing, imagine, absolutely nothing.
Until that I always said something,
Granny tells me: eat your soup!
I say: I won't!
Or dad says: take out the garbage.
[I say]: later!
There I said nothing. I didn't even say:
Excuse me...I just want to say it so that you knew,
just to inform you and nothing more.
I just want to say that...
I am not satisfied with this decision.
Or: can you come here for a moment?
Perhaps, we could find some other option?
I didn't say anything.
I let to put new uniform on me...
and to bring me to Russian Island.
Why did I allow to do this to me?
Why did I allow that? I don't understand,
until this day I don't understand why I let to do this to me.
I didn't feel myself guilty, I hadn't done anything bad,
I hadn't offended anyone seriously, I hadn't done any crime
requiring legal punishment so that I could be punished for real.
Sure, I had deceived my parents in some small matters,
I had corrected marks in my reportbook,
I had ripped out some pages and some other,
some...twaddle, there were some lies.
Once I even stole pasty in the shop.
But one are not sent to Russian Island for this!
Why did I let to do that to me?
We were brough to port, to a motorboat.
Motorboat was small.
I thought: how will we go to Russian Island
on such small motorboat?
Probably we must go to Russian Island several hours
overcoming storm?
??? there is Russian Island.
In mild, just opening morning Russian Island was seen.
I saw it...it turned out to be completely different from cartoons!
Well, how does island in cartoons look like?
Island in cartoons is always like this:
sea...
exatly in the middle of the sea is an island...
a hill,
exactly in the middle if this hill there's always a palm-tree...
and a parrot!
This island was absolutely nothing alike.
It was big, it was near, and there were not palms on it
because it was Russian Island.
Motorboat started moving,
it departed...
Such silence set in...everybody fell silent...
Until this we unexperiencedly cursed, we enlivened each other,
laughed in unnatural voices...
then motorboat departed and everybody fell silent
because those who were escorting us fell silent first.
Right after that we fell silent
and it became so frightful.
There was a feeling as if motorboat was standing still
only water...
as if motorboat was standing
but island was coming towards [us].
It was so frightening.
It's like...
when boy is brought to first grade for the first time.
In the morning he has put on
this new school form,
he's standing and he doesn't recognise himself.
His hair are being tidied out,
grandmother has cut gladiolus in the summer cottage,
she gave gladiolus to him. Gladiolus are so juicy,
so thick, they don't go in his hand,
boy holds them...granny looks at him...
Our Sashenka is such a big boy...
and she went weeping to her room.
But Sashenka was taken by hand and brought..