The Idol: читать начало книги онлайн

Sumyatov. Please, tell me the truth, do you have a feeling that our world has gone mad?

Alla. Oh yeah! And everybody would agree with that. All you can hear at every corner is “oh, this crazy crazy, crazy world”!

Sumyatov. Are you feeling good in such a world?

Alla. Yes, I can tell you. I must be also crazy?

Sumyatov. As for me to be honest I am not quite myself in this world…

Alla. Are you married?

Sumyatov. Yes. But what’s the matter?

Alla. What makes you feel uneasy then?

Sumyatov. A loss of self-esteem, I would say.

Alla. It is nonsense!

Sumyatov. Just look around!

Alla. Okay…

Sumyatov. What do you see?

Alla. Frankly speaking, nothing interesting.

Sumyatov. That’s it! However, they try to persuade us – you and me in the opposite.

Alla. Who tries? Persuade of what? It’s bullshit!

Sumyatov. Bullshit?! Just switch on the radio. I am sure at this moment some feeble-voiced pop diva is trying to imitate a nightingale or maybe they are talking about some boxing champion. And let’s take TV….

Alla. So, what do you have against TV?

Sumyatov. It is flooded with show-business stars and politicians of various types. I am not even mentioning newspapers!

Alla. Are you afraid to find an inferiority complex in yourself?

Sumyatov. I feel offended for my country. It looks like we really can not live without either God, tsar, or hero. And it would be better to have three of them at once.

Alla. What are you talking about? A Tsar was overthrown a long time ago, the God is terribly far from people, only a hero has remained. Please, don’t deprive us of our last consolation!

Sumyatov. I can’t understand, what are you driving at?

Mikhalych enters.

Mikhalych. All bon appetit!

Levan. \speaking with a Georgian accent\ Come in dear! We’ve been waiting for you for a long time. Do you believe me or not?

Mikhalych. I am like a clock – precise and inevitable.

Levan. What’s new in the world, eh?

Mikhalych. Every minute something is happening in the world. How can I know about all?

Levan. But you know something anyway…