February 18
It turned out a still and peaceful day as warm as a day in late spring.
And in the preceding night dream
... it was summer with Sahtik and me having a quarrel in the Ukrainian town of Konotop and I left for the neighboring Bakhmuch town but because of a blockade and the disrupted railroad communication I had to travel in a truck whose dump was packed up with a flock of civilians and only I was wearing sea-bee's uniform and when we arrived to Bakhmuch the trucker demanded fifty monets and I searched through my pockets only to find a handful of motley nickels some of them blackened and some brand new but obviously not enough to pay the fare and I agonizing from the humiliation started to bum money from the passers-by until an unknown girl entered the room where Sahtik and I still kept quarreling and said it's merely a dream and nothing else ...
Till noon I was at the Club.
Shamir, the porter, and I discussed whether or not the Russians were going to sent troops down here.
'Not a chance!' was our unanimous conclusion.
After the lunch one page from Joyce translated.
On the landlord's advice, I took out a certain spare part from the gas oven after which modification my mother-in-law baked breads in thrice shorter time than ever before.
In the twilight getting more and more dense, I went to the downhill town carrying breads. It looked like a meek springtime evening when nice souls feel inexplicable languor, and young women and girls have a sad and dismayed look about them.
After supper the mother-in-law reached her turn to take water from the water-spring she had been queuing to from seven in the morning. I brought the water in.
Then, she and Roozahna took off to the Underground.
It must be a good night...
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