TARKOVSKY
recited by the author
Playing in the film music by
J.S. Bach, Pergolesi, Purcell
MIRROR
The road from the station
passed through lgnatievo,
then swerved near the farm
we had lived on each summer
before the war,
and through a dense oak forest
went on as far as Tomshino.
Usually we spotted our people
as soon as they appeared from
behind a bush in the mid-field.
If he turned from the bush
towards our house, then it's father.
If not, it meant it was not father
and that father would never come.
Am I going the right way
to Tomshino?
You shouldn't have taken a turn
at the bush.
- And this...What's this?..
- What?
Why are you sitting here?
- I live here.
- Where? On the fence?
Are you interested in the way to
Tomshino or where I live?
I brought all the instruments,
but forgot the key.
Do you happen to have a nail
or a screw-driver?
I don't have any nails.
Why are you so nervous?
Give me your hand. I'm a doctor.
You're bothering me.
Do you want me to call my husband?
You haven't got any husband.
There's no ring.
Though people don't wear rings
nowadays. Maybe only old people.
May I have a cigarette?
Why do you look so sad?
And why do you look so happy?
It's a pleasure to fall down
with an attractive woman.
You know, I fell and found
strange things here - roots, bushes...
Has it ever occurred to you
that plants can feel, know,
even comprehend...
The trees, this hazel-nut bush...
- This is the alder-tree.
- It doesn't matter.
They don't run about.
Like us who are rushing, fussing,
uttering banalities.
That's because we don't trust
nature that is inside us.
Always this suspiciousness,
haste,
and no time
to stop and think.
Look, you seem to be a bit...
It's no problem for me.
I'm a doctor.
And what about "Ward Number Six"?
Oh, Chekhov had made it all up!
Come to Tomshino sometime.
We often have a good time there.
You've got blood!
- Where?
- Behind your ear.
Each moment of our dates, not many,
We celebrated as an Epiphany.
Alone in the whole world.
More daring and lighter
than a bird
Down the stairs, like a dizzy
apparition,
You came to take me on your road,
Through rain-soaked lilacs,
To your own possession,
To the looking glass world.
As night descended
I was blessed with grace,
The altar gate opened up,
And in the darkness shining
And slowly reclining
Was your body naked.
On waking up I said:
God bless you!
Although I knew how daring
and undue
My blessing was: You were fast
asleep,
Your closed eyelids
with the universal blue
The lilac on the table
so strained to sweep.
Touched by the blue, your lids
Were quite serene, your hand was
warm.
And rivers pulsed in crystal slits,
Mountains smoked, and oceans
swarmed.
You held a sphere in your palm,
Of crystal; on your throne
you were sleeping calm.
And, oh my God! -
Belonging only to me,
You woke and at once transformed
The language humans speak and think.
Speech rushed up sonorously formed,
With the word "you" so much
reformed
As to evolve a new sense meaning
king.
And suddenly all changed,
like in a trance,
Even trivial things,
so often used and tried,
When standing 'tween us,
guarding us,
Was water, solid, stratified.
It carried us I don't know where.
Retreating before us, like some
mirage,
Were cities, miraculously fair.
Under our feet the mint grass spread,
The birds were following our tread,
The fishes came to a river bend,
And to our eyes the sky was open.
Behind us our fate was groping,
Like an insane man with a razor
in his hand.
Oh, good heavens! Dounya!
What is it, Pasha?!
A fire! But be quiet.
He'll get it coming to him!
And what ifVitya is in there?
What if he's burned?
Where's Klanya?
What?
Dad!
- Alexei?
- Hello, ma!
What's wrong with your voice?
Nothing serious.
I guess it's just a sore throat.
I haven't spoken to anyone
for three days.
I even liked it. I think it's good
to keep silent for a while.
Words can't