Invitation to execution
“In accordance with the law, Cincinnatus Ts.’s death sentence was announced in a whisper.” The unforgivable fault of Cincinnatus is his “impenetrability”, “opacity” for the others, who are terribly similar (the jailer Rodion every now and then turns into the director of the prison, Rodrigue Ivanovich, and vice versa; the lawyer and the prosecutor by law must be half-brothers, but if this does not work out to pick them up - they are made up so that they look alike), “souls transparent to each other.” This feature has been inherent in Cincinnatus since childhood (inherited from his father, as his mother, Cecilia Ts., who came to visit the prison, tells him, puny, curious, in an oilcloth waterproof and with an obstetric bag), but for some time he manages to hide his difference from the others . Cincinnatus begins to work, and in the evenings he revels in old books, becoming addicted to the mythical 19th century. Moreover, he is engaged in making soft dolls for schoolgirls: “there was little hairy Pushkin in a bekesh, and a rat-like Gogol in a flowery vest, and old Tolstoy, thick-nosed, in a zipun, and many others.” Here, in the workshop, Cincinnatus meets Marfinka, whom he marries when he turns twenty-two and is transferred to a kindergarten as a teacher. In the first year of marriage, Marfinka begins to cheat on him. She will have children, a boy and a girl, not from Cincinnatus. The boy is lame and angry, the fat girl is almost blind. Ironically, both children end up in the care of Cincinnatus (he is entrusted with “lame, hunchbacked, squinty” children in the garden). Cincinnatus stops taking care of himself, and his “opacity” becomes noticeable to others. So he finds himself imprisoned in a fortress.
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After hearing the verdict, Cincinnatus tries to find out when the execution is scheduled, but the jailers do not tell him. Cincinnatus is taken out to look at the city from the fortress tower. Twelve-year-old Emmochka, the daughter of the prison director, suddenly seems to Cincinnatus as the embodiment of the promise of escape... The prisoner whiles away the time by looking at magazines. He makes notes, trying to comprehend his own life, his individuality: “I am not simple... I am the one who is alive among you... Not only are my eyes different, and my hearing, and my taste, - not only my sense of smell, like that of a deer, but my sense of touch, like that of bat, - but most importantly: the gift of combining all this at one point ... "
Another prisoner appears in the fortress, a beardless, fat man of about thirty. Neat prison pajamas, morocco shoes, blond hair parted in the middle, wonderful, even teeth whitening between her crimson lips.
The meeting with Marfinka promised to Cincinnatus is postponed (according to the law, the meeting is allowed only after a week after the trial). The director of the prison in a solemn manner (on the table there is a tablecloth and a vase with cheeky peonies) introduces Cincinnatus to his neighbor - M'sieur Pierre. Monsieur Pierre, who visited Cincinnatus in his cell, tries to entertain him with amateur photographs, most of which depict himself, card tricks, and anecdotes. But Cincinnatus, to the offense and dissatisfaction of Rodrigue Ivanovich, is closed and unfriendly.
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The next day, not only Marfinka, but also her entire family (father, twin brothers, grandparents - “so old that they were already visible”, children) and, finally, a young man with an impeccable profile - the current Marfinka's gentleman. Furniture, household utensils, and individual wall parts also arrive. Cincinnatus is unable to say a word alone with Marfinka. His father-in-law never ceases to reproach him, his brother-in-law persuades him to repent (“Think how unpleasant it is when your head is chopped off”), the young man begs Marfinka to put on a shawl. Then, having collected their things (the furniture is carried out by porters), everyone leaves.
While awaiting execution, Cincinnatus feels even more acutely his difference from everyone else. In this world, where “matter is tired: time sweetly slumbered,” only a small part of Cincinnatus wanders, perplexed, in the imaginary world, and the main part of it is located in a completely different place. But even so, his real life “comes through too much,” causing rejection and protest from those around him. Cincinnatus returns to the interrupted reading. The famous novel he reads has the Latin title “Quercus” (“Oak”) and is a biography of a tree. The author talks about those historical events (or shadows of events) that the oak tree could have witnessed: now this is a dialogue of warriors, now a resting place of robbers, now the flight of a nobleman from the royal wrath... In the intervals between these events, the oak tree is considered from the point of view of dendrology, ornithology and other sciences , provides a detailed list of all monograms on the bark with their interpretation. Much attention is paid to the music of the waters, the palette of dawns and the behavior of the weather. This, undoubtedly, is the best of what was created by Cincinnatus’s time, nevertheless it seems to him distant, false, dead.
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Exhausted by waiting for the executioner to arrive, waiting for the execution, Cincinnatus falls asleep. Suddenly he is awakened by tapping, some scraping sounds, clearly audible in the silence of the night. Judging by the sounds, this is a tunnel. Until the morning Cincinnatus listens to them.
At night the sounds resume, and day after day M’sieur Pierre appears to Cincinnatus with vulgar conversations. The yellow wall cracks, opens up with a roar, and M’sieur Pierre and Rodrigue Ivanovich crawl out of the black hole, choking with laughter. M'sieur Pierre invites Cincinnatus to visit him, and he, seeing no other possibility, crawls along the aisle ahead of M'sieur Pierre into his cell. M'sieur Pierre expresses joy at his newly established friendship with Cincinnatus - this was his first task. Then M'sieur Pierre unlocks a large case standing in the corner with a key, in which there is a wide ax.
Cincinnatus climbs back along the dug passage, but suddenly finds himself in a cave, and then through a crack in the rock he gets out into freedom. He sees a smoky, blue city with windows like hot coals, and hurries down. Emmochka appears from behind the ledge of the wall and leads him along. Through a small door in the wall they find themselves in a darkish corridor and find themselves in the director’s apartment, where the family of Rodrigue Ivanovich and M’sieur Pierre are drinking tea at an oval table in the dining room.
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As is customary, on the eve of the execution, M'sieur Pierre and Cincinnatus pay a visit to all the main officials. A sumptuous dinner was held in their honor, and the garden was illuminated with the monogram “P” and “C” (not quite published, however). M'sieur Pierre, as usual, is the center of attention, while Cincinnatus is silent and absent-minded.
In the morning, Marfinka comes to Cincinnatus, complaining that it was difficult to get permission (“Of course, I had to make a small concession—in a word, the usual story”). Marfinka talks about her date with Cincinnatus’s mother, that her neighbor is wooing her, and ingenuously offers herself to Cincinnatus (“Leave me alone. What nonsense,” says Cincinnatus). Martha is attracted by a finger stuck through the slightly opened door, she disappears for three quarters of an hour, and Cincinnatus, during her absence, thinks that not only has he not begun an urgent, important conversation with her, but now he cannot even express this important thing. Marfinka, disappointed with the date, leaves Cincinnatus (“I was ready to give you everything. It was worth trying”).
Cincinnatus sits down to write: “This is the dead end of life here, and it is not within its narrow confines to seek salvation.” M'sieur Pierre and her two henchmen appear, in whom it is almost impossible to recognize the lawyer and director of the prison. A bay nag drags a peeling stroller with them down into the city. Having heard about the execution, the public begins to gather. The scarlet platform of the scaffold rises in the square. Cincinnatus, so that no one touches him, has to almost run to the platform. While preparations are underway, he looks around: something has happened to the lighting, the sun is not doing well, and part of the sky is shaking. One after another, the poplars that line the square fall.
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Cincinnatus himself takes off his shirt and lies down on the block. He begins to count: “one Cincinnatus was counting, and the other Cincinnatus had already stopped listening to the receding ringing of an unnecessary count, stood up and looked around.” The executioner has not yet completely stopped, but the railing is visible through his torso. The audience is completely transparent.
Cincinnatus slowly descends and walks along the unsteady debris. Behind him the platform collapses. The much smaller Rodrigue unsuccessfully tries to stop Cincinnatus. A woman in a black shawl carries a small executioner in her arms. Everything spreads and falls, and Cincinnatus walks among the dust and fallen things in the direction where, judging by the voices, people like him are standing.
Nabokov V. Invitation to execution read a summary, retelling
“In accordance with the law, Cincinnatus Ts.’s death sentence was announced in a whisper.” The unforgivable fault of Cincinnatus is his “impenetrability”, “opacity” for the others, who are terribly similar (the jailer Rodion every now and then turns into the director of the prison, Rodrigue Ivanovich, and vice versa; the lawyer and the prosecutor, by law, must be half-brothers, but if this fails to pick them up - they are made up so that they look alike), “souls transparent to each other.” This feature has been inherent in Cincinnatus since childhood (inherited from his father, as his mother, Cecilia Ts., who came to visit the prison, tells him, puny, curious, in oilskin waterproof and with an obstetric bag), but for some time he manages to hide his difference from the others . Cincinnatus begins to work, and in the evenings he revels in old books, becoming addicted to the mythical 19th century. Moreover, he is engaged in making soft dolls for schoolgirls: “there was little hairy Pushkin in a bekesha, and Gogol, who looked like a rat in a flowery vest, and old Tolstoy, thick-nosed, in a zipun, and many others.” Here, in the workshop, Cincinnatus meets Marfinka, whom he marries when he turns twenty-two and is transferred to a kindergarten as a teacher. In the first year of marriage, Marfinka begins to cheat on him. She will have children, a boy and a girl, not from Cincinnatus. The boy is lame and angry, the fat girl is almost blind. Ironically, both children end up in the care of Cincinnatus (he is entrusted with “lame, hunchbacked, squinty” children in the garden). Cincinnatus stops taking care of himself, and his “opacity” becomes noticeable to others. So he finds himself imprisoned in a fortress. After hearing the verdict, Cincinnatus tries to find out when the execution is scheduled, but the jailers do not tell him. Cincinnatus is taken out to look at the city from the fortress tower. Twelve-year-old Emmochka, the daughter of the prison director, suddenly seems to Cincinnatus as the embodiment of the promise of escape... the prisoner whiles away the time by looking at magazines. He makes notes, trying to comprehend his own life, his individuality: “I am not simple... I am the one who is alive among you... Not only are my eyes different, and my hearing, and my taste, - not only my sense of smell, like that of a deer, but my sense of touch, like that of bat, - but most importantly: the gift of combining all this at one point...” Another prisoner appears in the fortress, a beardless, fat man of about thirty. Neat prison pajamas, morocco shoes, blond hair parted in the middle, wonderful, even teeth whitening between her crimson lips. The meeting with Marfinka promised to Cincinnatus is postponed (according to the law, the meeting is allowed only after a week after the trial). The director of the prison in a solemn manner (on the table there is a tablecloth and a vase with cheeky peonies) introduces Cincinnatus to his neighbor - M'sieur Pierre. Monsieur Pierre, who visited Cincinnatus in his cell, tries to entertain him with amateur photographs, most of which depict himself, card tricks, and anecdotes. But Cincinnatus, to the offense and dissatisfaction of Rodrigue Ivanovich, is closed and unfriendly. The next day, not only Marfinka, but also her entire family (father, twin brothers, grandfather and grandmother - “so old that they were already visible”, children) and, finally, a young man with an impeccable profile - the current Marfinka's gentleman. Furniture, household utensils, and individual wall parts also arrive. Cincinnatus is unable to say a word alone with Marfinka. His father-in-law never ceases to reproach him, his brother-in-law persuades him to repent (“Think how unpleasant it is when your head is chopped off”), the young man begs Marfinka to put on a shawl. Then, having collected their things (the furniture is carried out by porters), everyone leaves. While awaiting execution, Cincinnatus feels even more acutely his difference from everyone else. In this world, where “matter is tired: time sweetly slumbered,” only a small part of Cincinnatus wanders, perplexed, in the imaginary world, and the main part of it is located in a completely different place. But even so, his real life “comes through too much,” causing rejection and protest from those around him. Cincinnatus returns to the interrupted reading. The famous novel he reads has the Latin title “Quercus” (“Oak”) and is a biography of a tree. The author talks about those historical events (or shadows of events) that the oak tree could have witnessed: now this is a dialogue of warriors, now a resting place of robbers, now the flight of a nobleman from the royal wrath... In the intervals between these events, the oak tree is considered from the point of view of dendrology, ornithology and other sciences , provides a detailed list of all monograms on the bark with their interpretation. Much attention is paid to the music of the waters, the palette of dawns and the behavior of the weather. This, undoubtedly, is the best of what was created by Cincinnatus’s time, nevertheless it seems to him distant, false, dead. Exhausted by waiting for the executioner to arrive, waiting for the execution, Cincinnatus falls asleep. Suddenly he is awakened by tapping, some scraping sounds, clearly audible in the silence of the night. Judging by the sounds, this is a tunnel. Until the morning Cincinnatus listens to them. At night the sounds resume, and day after day M’sieur Pierre appears to Cincinnatus with vulgar conversations. The yellow wall cracks, opens up with a roar, and M’sieur Pierre and Rodrigue Ivanovich crawl out of the black hole, choking with laughter. M'sieur Pierre invites Cincinnatus to visit him, and he, seeing no other possibility, crawls along the aisle ahead of M'sieur Pierre into his cell. M'sieur Pierre expresses joy at his newly established friendship with Cincinnatus - this was his first task. Then M'sieur Pierre unlocks a large case standing in the corner with a key, in which there is a wide ax. Cincinnatus climbs back along the dug passage, but suddenly finds himself in a cave, and then through a crack in the rock he gets out into freedom. He sees a smoky, blue city with windows like hot coals, and hurries down. Emmochka appears from behind the ledge of the wall and leads him along. Through a small door in the wall they find themselves in a darkish corridor and find themselves in the director’s apartment, where the family of Rodrigue Ivanovich and M’sieur Pierre are drinking tea at an oval table in the dining room. As is customary, on the eve of the execution, M'sieur Pierre and Cincinnatus pay a visit to all the main officials. A sumptuous dinner was held in their honor, and the garden was illuminated with the monogram “P” and “C” (not quite published, however). M'sieur Pierre, as usual, is the center of attention, while Cincinnatus is silent and absent-minded. In the morning, Marfinka comes to Cincinnatus, complaining that it was difficult to get permission (“Of course, I had to make a small concession—in a word, the usual story”). Marfinka talks about a date with Cincinnatus’s mother, that a neighbor is wooing her, and ingenuously offers herself to Cincinnatus (“Leave me alone. What nonsense,” says Cincinnatus). Martha is attracted by a finger stuck through the slightly opened door, she disappears for three quarters of an hour, and Cincinnatus, during her absence, thinks that not only has he not begun an urgent, important conversation with her, but now he cannot even express this important thing. Marfinka, disappointed with the date, leaves Cincinnatus (“I was ready to give you everything. It was worth trying.”). Cincinnatus sits down to write: “This is the dead end of life here, and it is not within its narrow confines to seek salvation.” M'sieur Pierre and his two henchmen appear, in whom it is almost impossible to recognize the lawyer and director of the prison. A bay nag drags a peeling stroller with them down into the city. Having heard about the execution, the public begins to gather. The scarlet platform of the scaffold rises in the square. To avoid anyone touching him, Cincinnatus has to almost run to the platform. While preparations are underway, he looks around: something has happened to the lighting, the sun is not doing well, and part of the sky is shaking. One after another, the poplars that line the square fall. Cincinnatus himself takes off his shirt and lies down on the block. He begins to count: “one Cincinnatus was counting, and the other Cincinnatus had already stopped listening to the receding ringing of an unnecessary count, stood up and looked around.” The executioner has not yet completely stopped, but the railing is visible through his torso. The audience is completely transparent. Cincinnatus slowly descends and walks along the unsteady debris. Behind him the platform collapses. The much smaller Rodrigue unsuccessfully tries to stop Cincinnatus. A woman in a black shawl carries a small executioner in her arms. Everything spreads and falls, and Cincinnatus walks among the dust and fallen things in the direction where, judging by the voices, people like him are standing.
