Talking in the Summer Rain

7/30/2019 Talking in the Summer Rain

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TALKING IN THE RAIN

j NINA CHUGUNOVA

WE WERE WALKING IN A GUIET RAIN, THE KIND IF IT STARTSAT THIS TfIME OF THE YEAR,i ~ I L L CONTINUE FOR A DAY AND FORTWO DAYS AND THE GARDEN WILL BECOME ALL DAMP AND THE

S O ~ C E R FIELD BEHIND THE SCHOOL BUILDING WILL BECOME WETAND MUDDY . . . WE WERE PASSING BY SMALL VILLAGES WITHTENDER NAMES AND IN ONE OF THEM THERE WAS A WOMAN AMONGMANY OTHER PEOPLE MEETING US. SHE HAD FIELD FLOWERS AND ALITtLE BOOK FOR CHILDREN ~ M A S H A AND THE B E A R ~ IN HERHANDS. WHEN I SAW THE BOOK I THOUGHT WHO WOULD READ ITCONSTANTLY LOOKING NEW WORDS UP IN THE DICTIONARY IN ORDERTO UNDERSTAND HOW MASHA IS SMART BEING ABLE TO OUTWIT THEBEAR AND AT THE SAME TIME TO REMAIN FRIENDS WITH HIM. BUTTHE EYES OF AN AMERICAN BOY, WHO GOT THIS BOOK AS A GIFTCLEARLY SHOWED THAT HE WO -ULD READ IT BY ALL MEANS. LATER IN MOSCOW READING THEAMERICAN TALES THAT HAD BEEN PRESENTED TO ME I THOUGHTTHAT EXCHANGING THE FAIRY TALES, STORIES AND IDEAS ABOUTLIFE AND ALL DIFFERENT THINGS, PEOPLE CAN BECOME MUCHWISER THAN IF SEVERAL FAMOUS PERSONS WOULD GET TOGETHERAND EACH OF THEM WOULD PRONOUNCE ONE PREVIOUSLY WELLPRERARED WISE THOUGHT.IT IS REALLY WONDERFUL IF YOU WOULD EXCHANGE THESESTORIES AND IDEAS ON YOUR WAY WALKING ALONG THE ROAD AND THE PEOPLE AROUND WOULD SMILE TO YOU. BUT THIS HAPPENS NLIFE NOT SO OFTENIN ORDER TO WALK FROM LENINGRAD TO MOSCOW STAN SMITH,A TEACHER FROM A TOWN WITH THE NAME MOSCOW IN IDAHO STATE,TEMPORARILY LEFT HIS HOME, FAMILY AND STUDENTS. l HEJOURNALISTS HAD AN OPINION IN COMMON THAT THE GRATEST

THING ABOUT STAN WAS THE FACT THAT HE WAS FROM AN AMERICANTOWN OF MOSCOW. BUT I WAS ATTRACTED BY HIS FACE UNDER ALEATHER HAT. HIS FACE SEEMED VERY FAt1ILIAR. THIS WAS THEFACE OF MY TEACHER IN PHYSIC tS WHO HAD ONCE TOLD ME--WHAT A PITY IF THIS HEAD WILL BE LOST FOR PHYSICS!AND ~ T H A N K F U L TO HIM FOR A GLIMPSOF HOPE,THOUGH THE HOPE HAS NEVER BEEN REALIZED.I CAME UP TO STAN AND WE CONTINUED OUR WALK UNDER THERAIN TOGETHER.-WHY DO PEOPLE NEED EACH OTHER,STAN?


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- T(I TALlo{.I THINK THIS IS THE ANSWER OF THE CENTURY.STAN WAS TELLING MEQ

-I/M A TEACHER, MOREOVER I/M A HISTORIAN. IT/S A VERY RISKYOCCUPATIO N THE RISK IS TO TURN INTO ANALWAYS-IN-EVERYTHING-RIGHT-SUPERVISOR. I HATE BEING ASUPERVISOR WHO ALWAYS KNOWS EVERYTHING BUT I/D BE HAPPYTO BE A SUPERVISOR WHO IS WALKING BY YOUR SIDE. PERHAPSJUST A LITTLE BIT BEING AHEAD~ ~ ..... s -I L I ~ ~ I E I t . " ~ I ~ = ; 1 \ f I F ~ - ( \JHE I . ~ " - ( PEC\fILE ~ I ~ . ) E ~ . ' J T ~ E I ~ :C ~ I L [ : I 0(1[: THA TH IR F ' P l r ~ ~ = ; E ; ~ J [ ) GMEF ~ ( l l j ~ I ] I A l t . J ~ I ..T ~ ~ G (I EAC:H ...1"( ~ _ J L I [ : I ' J T ~ ;


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gne has to 1 ive in h is to ry the way people 1 ive inthere own chi ldhood: tha t there happiness and g r i e f bethe i r own. / m t ry ing to teach my s tuden t s to be 1 iKeth.:..t , [In the o t he r- h an d IJ , d 1 iKe to 1e arn tCI tie 1 it h .:c. t f rClrfl the ITI t ... rn r- e c .Er. i 1 i n Id : , ... ITI f CIIJ r tee n .:..nd , ... ITI .:c.v ic to re r a t the or-ator compet i t ion . I gave a pass ionatespeech in f ron t of a huge audience. f don/ t r-emember- thesense of my speech ,bu t the b r i l l iance ' o f my speech i ssometimes shining to me, though t / m over four ty now and Ihave my own grown-up ch i ld ren- what do you think a small man needs? May be one inthe 1 i fe . t ime but a s t r iK ing success , and a freedom toexplore l i f e ? . - 'Oh, youshould not thinK aboout the success . I t / s enough toorganize as many d i f f e r en t compet i t ions as poss ib le andthen everyone wil l be a success a t l e a s t once. But i t i sthe idea of freedom tha t r e a l l y bothers me, fo r here a::rc1ung man on l be q i nn i hi .=. 1 i fer f inds h i rnse l f in fu l ldependence on us, grown-ups.

I th i t ha tlacK of freedom to explore 1 i fe which i s so thoroughlyt ught to our ch i ld ren has grown up in to a problem of theex ten t we are ab le to spoi l our- own l i f e , our r e l a t i on swith the people and the world around us, the view of thefu tu re , to blocK the ways to mutual unders tanding and

t r u s t ~ A man blocKs h is own way himsel f . And the1.1.I0r E tel.}eli n CfU r 1 i f e i s the e I..J e 1 clf an tende vel op ed ,n CIn d. C C CirriP1 i s.h e 1:1, f -3. ide d hurn a n 1 i f e . This. e I.} e 1 J -:. as te reo type th inKing . I am sure we 1 ive in the cen tury of-:. t e re CI t ::r..p e s Never before the s t rugg le with the s t e reo types of ourth inking was so impor tan t fo r a manOne of my s tudents wrote a composition deserving a zerograde . Following a s te reo type thinKing and act ion I mustgive him the grade. Or anothe r example:I inv i t ed to my c l a s s r ep resen ta t ives of very d i f f e r en tpoints of view on one event tha t worr ied everybody in mys t a t e . I asKed them to f r ee ly express the i r opinions . ThenI asKed my s tudents to wr-ite a composition on tha t sameeven t . I rece ived th es e c ompo si tio n s: only a few s tudentsin the whole c l a s s were able to thinK. A f e w ~ The r e s twere unable to thinK, d idn / t want to thinK, they had noidea tha t i t was poss ib l e . The poin t of view they accepted......1a s the -:. i rn p 1e s t CIne , i f nCI t p r i mi t i ve

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Ster otype i s a widely Known, pr imi t ive poin t of view.The world ge t s us ,peop le , c lose r and c loser to eachothe r . We have such t echn ica l achievements as a sputniKcommunication. We a lso have such t h rea t s as a nuclear war,environmental po l lu t ion . And we push each other away,hiding behind the s t e reo types . This i s not a defenceweapon. And t h i s i s not an assau l t ing weapon. This is theweapon of s e l fd i s t r uc t ion , because sooner or l a te r thes te reotypes wil l stop serv ing us. And "al l we/l1 have wil lbe a sicK, wounded, with no ab i l i t y to worK, mind I thinK tha t the problem of communication among thepeoples s t a r t s with the problem of communication amongchi ldren "a nd between ch i ld ren and grown-ups, with thep reb 1ern of s i l l } ~ r e': t r' i c t j on .:. , 1 i rn i 1:.:a. t i on s. an d

1a tile s : II Th is i s. i rnpCI:.s. i tile I I , II T h i -:. i -:. us.e f u 1 I I , e t c .HCIn e s t ~ " " , .:s.b i 1 i t ;r" t CI t a 1 lI.1 i t h p e CIp 1e , a.b i 1 i t v t CI1 i sten t 1:1 CIthe r-s.:' CIP i n i on Ii." i t h CIU t i rnp .:s. t i e nc e an d Ij i s.l iKe tha t i s the global problem of the bringing up of thefu ture gene "a t i on s . I s communism bad? I don/ t Know. I haveto thinK. I don/ t a t t r i bu t e myself to communists onlytie c au :e I .:..:r. :"F": n I h .:C. i.} e t CI t h i n i f C ornrnu n i srn i s. ba dn. I .:C.ITai nc l in ed to consider tha t your people car r ied out a nobleexperiment in the sca le of the whole na t ion .No I don/ t thinK we should be sa t i s f i ed with t h i sII n o t o f f e n s i I.Je f or- bo t h s. i de s II I:IP i n i on But 1e t ..' s.inves t iga te the s i tua t ion on t h i s ground, forge t t ing aboutthe -:. t e r-e CIt ).,Pe II C CIITarn U n i ::ITI i s :.orn e t h i n9 t h f' e .:c. ten n i n 9 thec i v i 1 i z a t i ern II I s a Russian bad? We can ta lk fo r a long t ime why andhow t h i s s te reo type or ig ina ted , the s te reo type tha t hasdone so much evel to many genera t ions of Americans . I ,m ys elf , b efo re my coming here was sure as many othe rsabout what was awai t ing me the very f i r s t con tac t withthe Sovie t person WQuld be an attem pt to pour propQgandaon me. I also thought tha t Russians would g ree t our walKac c ord i n q tC I the d i re c t i on s f rorn Il .a b o l.}e l l By now I /ve made ha l f of the way.There were l o t s of women.chi ldren , old people coming up togree t us. There were fewer men and I understand - they1Jor

Then i t s t a r t ed r a in ing . I was looKing around everytime we were approaching a small v i l l age I was turning myhead examining the smi les around me. And I to ld myself : noo f fe r s , th rea t s or orders can maKe an old woman ande -:.p e c i a l 1y .:a. 1 i t t 1e i d C orne CIU tin t o the r- .:t. i n an f j pic upf i e ld f lowers fo r unKnown s t r ange r s , unless they do i ts ince re ly . So, here is t h i s s i l l y , mindless assumptionthat Russians are not peace lov ing . But only a fewAmericans bel ieve t h i s i s so and they don/ t need anyp roo f .


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I/m a t eacher . I know how a man is t ry ing to be amember of a soc ie ty , ~ 4 a group, to belong to a companyof f r i end':" tCI tie II n o t i c ab l ell t l : " F ~ s.ome on e . Th i s i s in thehuman nature and, again , i t comes from the love to t a lk .There are ~ 600 s tuden t s in my school . But we haveII rne t .:t. 1 1 i s t .:. II and II b f' .:to i ns n, i , e a gf' CI U P 1:1 f r- ea ll )-., srno. f' t A';lr' ade r ~ . . 1).Je h .8.1.... e II I: CII.J. I t I C f ~ r S . I I , f or- t...h CIITI Arne r' i c a i s thec oun t rv :14 1 . 1.s:.Ie h av e II re d n e c k s " f on d clf t obac oII C:Clp e nhage nil. t...le ha e t hCI:.6' ......th CI t .:'.1 k: or i l :"F" .:C.tICIU t b a :.e b a l 1 And we even have Marvel lous Si l l y Blonds .All th i s is. ne i there gCfc,d n or- b a d un t i l i t tll?CCIITIE':. acha rac te r ' i s t i c fea ture of a person Pat r io t i sm of thel ov e r- s clf. IIC:clpenhal;lenll, their ' c o n s e r-:r ;a t i srn , their 'out rageous pra i s ing o f America. t h e i r mal ice in r e spec t ofthose who think d i f f e r en t l y . And even tua l ly thes te reo type is being formed. A s t e reo type , being the onlyway a man develops h is mind and t h i s way is harmful onlyf CI r- t h i s ITIanun t i l i t be C CIITI e s a. n .:t. g 1;1re s s i 1..1 e f CI r-c e . A t t h i spoin t a s te reo type becomes dangerous fo r everybody.I love America very much. I am an American. But Idon ... t 1 i e II red ne c S. II an d 1 CII .... e r-s. elf t ob ac CI n Cop e n h .8.Ile nil.This war i s in ev ita ble .This is one of the most dangerous s t e reo types , whichis d i f f i cu l t to f i gh t with . fo r i t has al ready cap tured avast t e r r i t o ry of human minds.Th e ::-.;r 1I1....le c an s u r I.} i ve nuc 1e a.r l.a.f I I . tJ ice bCI}"':' an d9 i rL s I;lrcd...... up in tCI a he 1p 1es s gener.B- t i on , 1I1"'le c ansur-v i I}e II -the:y' -:.a.;'-. Horr- i t i l e! The 1..1 i C t orv o f a. s t s r-e o t vp eover the m i n d ~ When was i t s t a r t ed? Who was the f i r s t tos av II Th i s. i s. i t ! II'?When I learned a b ~ t the Walk, I sen t a l e t t e ~ to the

o ~ g a n i z e r s and began to wai t . I had to be with t h i s W a l K ~I had to walk. And I do WalK. I have 121 iminated somes te reotypes in myself . I won/t be pesuaded any more tha t a~ = ; C I I ..J ietc r- 12 s.p on de n t , t a l i ng I.J.) i t h me on the 1).1.8.1 k , i st ry ing to achieve sec re t aims. I have Kil led i t in myself .

I/m walK ing and th inKing what we are to do in thenea r e s t f u t u ~ e . P e ~ h a p s we s hould o rg an iz e a j o i n teducat ional course giving informat ion about thepar t i c ipa t ion of our coun t r i e s in the s t rugg le with Hit le rand about our vic t ims . I could t ry to do i t . But someonet CI 1 d IT. e : II T h i s i s h i s t CI r' )., nots:! II I think: I,,')e nev e r- h av e II h i s t orv nCII.JJ u EI..Jen AncientEir- e e Ce': top s t CI tie .:-. f ar- aJ.J...:C.)' II h i s t clr ) .. 11 a. S :CICln as Ir e ca l l t h a. t the f i gh t o f the .:. t e r-e CI t ~ r " p e I.J..Ii t h the man h a ds t a r t ed then. I f you remember. from the poin t of view ofAnC i e n t Gr- e e k s the r e i....)12 r' e II Gr'e e k s II a nd It Ba r-ba r- i .C.n -:. It , i e the r e s t of the world I don/ t s ta te any th ing . I/m only th ink ing . Perhaps,


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don ... t 1ook 1 iKe a. II s t e r-e o t yp e ArrJer i c an I I , I jCI I?- No, you don/ t - I s a id - You don/ t have t h i s chemicalsmi le . And you don/ t pesuade anybody t h a t every th ing i sCI-- t< Il-.I i t h ::"-CIU lr- Real ly? - Stan sa i d - , You Know what Idea has come to myhea.d-?- What? - asKed.- We were passing by v i l l a g e s , v i l l a g e s ... And I thought ,there must be so many exce l l en t t eachers in your smallv i l l ag e s and towns.- Te ac h e r s ?- Yes, I mean exce l l en t t e ach e r s , l o t s of them.- Stan , - I s a i d , - Now an idea crossed my mind, tha t inh i s t o r r we have an example) a t e r r i b ly m fac t of thece l eb r i t y of s te reotypes over the mind of the en t i r enat ion - Nazi . And looK how s t rong i t is ! And Where arethe examples of complete and f ina l vic tory of mind over a'S. t e re CI t } 'P e-?- I thinK I Know,- Stan s a i d , - I am a teacher and I cananswer t h i s ques t ion . SlavarYa Nobody today w ill co nsiders lavary a common th ing, s ometh in g tak en fo r gran ted ,c ap ab l e to ex i s t a l on q t.'..l i th h i qh s.p i r-L t ua l Lt y , Bu t qui ter e C e n t 1 ~ r - II h i 1;1h 1 ::r-- -:-p i r- i t u .:c. 1 p e CIp 1e II d id n _.. t -:.e e d.n ::r- t h i n g bs din s i ava ry . But mind has won the manKind wil l never gobacK to i t . I/m sure the t ime wil l come when the gost of1..1a. r- 11._i l l : . t CIP f o o l i n 1;1 u -:- 1..1 i t hi t 'S . II i ne Ie} i t ab i 1 i t v n an dII n .:c. t u r d. 1 i t 'r II - We must t r y , - I sa id .

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Talking in the Summer Rain