“It appears God has made the people of Russia his chosen
people by using us as an example. He presents us with the ideas that mankind
should avoid. I think so, my dear friend. It seems as if our job is to show the rest of
the world the things that humans should not do. Strangely enough, the people of
Russia go about doing that by hurting themselves. Look at our history. We have
revealed to the world the shortcomings of division, the horrors of feudalism
and despotism, the futility of dictatorship in the form of Stalinism, and the
inner contradictions of Marxism-Leninism vis-à-vis the changing world. And who
knows what else we are destined to show to the world tomorrow,” the Evenki had
told Boris..
The tomorrow he talked about turned out to be the today they
were living in. Boris had no recollection of the man’s last name, but the face
of the Evenki muzhik became imprinted on his mind forever. The fellow’s face
was vivacious with traces of sadness on it as
if he foresaw that the people of Russia would adopt capitalism too and
contribute enormously in giving it a bad name...
1994
Culled by Janvier Chouteu-Chando from THE UNION MOUJIK
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