Аннотация: Buran and thunderstorm. What did Oleg Baklanov recall on August 21, 1991? A literary note.
Buran and thunderstorm. What did Oleg Baklanov recall on August 21, 1991? A literary note.
In the memoirs by Oleg Baklanov, we can read the following passage:
"The elevator gently stops on the first floor, the duty officer as usual salutes, looks at the wall clock. As soon as I leave the entrance, he will make an entry in the journal: "Comrade Baklanov O.D. came out at ____ hours ____ minutes on August 21, 1991 ".
... the Kremlin yard is empty and solemn as always. ZIL is already at the entrance, one of the accompanying people is nearby ... The rain has stopped. It is fresh air now; a nice breathing ...
The guys are waiting: maybe I'm waiting for someone - no, I don't want to rush, I want to stand alone, to enjoy this air, this simple and majestic environment, manicured trees and a lawn in front of the porch, ... the wall of the arsenal with ancient bronze cannons and cannonballs ...
I remembered a strange event.
Before the next meeting of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, I was in a hurry by car from the Old Square. The path is short - a few minutes. Heavy thunderstorm. Low, black, swirling clouds, frequent lightning, powerful thunderclaps. Crossing Red Square, I feel a bright flash and at the same time a strong thunderclap, amplified by the arch of the Spasskaya Tower ...
On the left, in the direction of the car's movement, on a green lawn, opposite the central entrance to the building of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, before my eyes, as if in slow motion filming, a century-old tree was disintegrating.
The driver steeply took to the right, dodging the car from falling branches. Fortunately, there were few people around, no one was hurt ...
The picture is depressing. A strong healthy tree was broken and torn to pieces in a split second. I saw chips flying against the background of Ivan the Great, how an unknown force tears off branches from the trunk and scatters them. Luscious, with a powerful structure, leaves were flying in some kind of air vortices, like frightened night birds under the bright contrasting sunlight in the sparkles of a rare blind rain ...
When I left the building of the Supreme Soviet, only the traces of the storm remained. Several uniformed workers were removing the remains of leaves from a tree shattered by lightning and sweeping a sawdust from the lawn. The trunk of tree had already been taken away.
The stump after the tree was almost at ground level, healthy, without wormholes, wet and looked like a strange white spot on the green carpet of the lawn. The next day it was painted over with green paint.
- Let's go!
- We thought you were waiting for someone.
- No, I just looked around." [unofficial translation]
This example, this text, testifies to the Oleg Baklanov's great literary talent and his good ability to observation, to notice the nuances of what is happening.
October 22, 2021 22:05
Translation from Russian into English: October 22, 2021 22:57.
Владимир Владимирович Залесский "Буран и гроза. О чём вспоминал Олег Бакланов 21 августа 1991 года? Литературная заметка".
{ 2474. Буран и гроза. О чём вспоминал Олег Бакланов 21 августа 1991 года? Литературная заметка.
MMСCCСXLIV. Buran and thunderstorm. What did Oleg Baklanov recall on August 21, 1991? A literary note. (English). }