Out of the huge city - closer to the romantic sea

Out of the huge city - closer to the romantic sea. A diary note.


In the abstract world created by Yuri Olesha and Alexander Grin (Grinevsky), Three Fat Men live in a huge city, and a ship "Scarlet Sails" sails along a romantic sea.

I remembered these two writers of East-Republican origin, residents of Russia, after yesterday, May 25, 2024, at about 17:00, I received my portrait, drawn in pencil in 10-15 minutes on a regular bus.

I was returning after a good walk (plus a visit to the water reservoir) - ten thousand steps, in total, - and after shopping.

It so happened that I took a seat right contrary of the girl who was filling out the (exam) tests. She was sitting next to the very back door of the bus.

Without pausing, the girl wielded a pen, she wrote something in a notebook. Just once she raised her head from her notebook and looked at me. Then she modestly returned her gaze back to the notebook.

The girl was wearing plaid trousers, which complemented the image of a modest and efficient girl-student.

I looked to different sides, but when my head was not turned either to the right or to the left, my gaze naturally was fixing at the hardworking girl.

The trip, by bus, took thirty to forty minutes.

The bus approached my stop and I went to the exit of the bus, to the very back door, - so I was one step away from a hardworking girl.

It turned out that the girl had - in her hand - not a pen, but a pencil, and she did not fill out the (exam) tests, but made drawings in her notebook.

I asked this hardworking girl if she could draw my portrait.

After barely noticeable reflection, the girl replied that yes, she could.

I said that in that case I would not get off at my stop, I would go on. After the portrait is ready, I will go out and come back on some bus.

The girl was quickly drawing by the pencil.

The (middle-aged) female passenger sitting next to her periodically looked at the drawing and at me, compared, and said that the drawing was very similar to the person depicted. At the same time, a smile was wandering on her face.

I asked the girl-artist several times: how much the finished portrait would cost?

At first, surprise appeared on her face, and then she replied that she would need to look at the result, and only after that talk about the price of the portrait.

I tried to be persistent, tried to get an answer, saying that I should know the approximate price, but I not received an answer.

Soon, the (middle-aged) female passenger got off the bus.

The portrait was nearing completion.

At last, I got the portrait. A sheet of paper was neatly cut off with scissors out of the notebook. On the back she wrote (at my request) her name: "Julia".

The girl asked if I liked the portrait.

I replied that I rated him about "three plus" (on a five-point scale).

I took out a bill (one thousand rubles) and handed this bill to the girl.

But at that moment I saw that in the store they gave me one of the bills with a torn corner.

I said that I did not want to give such a bill to the girl-artist as payment for her work, and I found a bill without defects.

It seemed to me that the girl was delighted with the honorarium she received.

She asked my permission to take a photo of me (by her smartphone) - with the portrait, in my hand.

I was holding a portrait in my hand and smiling: I managed to look at the portrait, and it seemed to me that in it I looked like the Main Fat Man (from among the three Three Fat Men described by Yuri Olesha).

A thick face, with almost no one individual features. What's it? The initial stage of training, of the educational process? Or a simplification, - brought to the level of genius? The Abstract World created by Yuri Olesha and Alexander Grin?

I asked the girl-artist to give me the files - photos she took. She promised.

I got off at the next stop, crossed to the opposite side of the street, and drove to my stop.

After returning home, I periodically looked at this portrait and tried to figure out what it meant.

As a result, I came to the idea that I need, - in a metaphorical sense, -  to move out of the huge city described by Yuri Olesha closer to the romantic sea created by the genius of Alexander Grin.


May 26, 2024 07:56


Translation from Russian into English: May 26, 2024 11:12
Владимир Владимирович Залесский “ Из большого города - к романтическому морю. Дневниковая заметка ”.


{3526. Из большого города - к романтическому морю. Дневниковая заметка. - 26 мая 2024 г.
MMMCDXCVII. Out of the huge city - closer to the romantic sea. A diary note. - May 26, 2024.

Vladimir Zalessky Internet-bibliotheca. Интернет-библиотека Владимира Залесского. }