Olesha fragment :: Liompa
Thursday, 22. February 2007, 23:10:05
russian, olesha, prose
"I used to think there was no inner world," he mused. "I thought that my sight and my hearing governed all objects. I thought the world would cease to exist when I ceased to exist. But here it is… I see how everything is leaving me, even though I haven’t died yet. I am alive. Why then have objects ceased to exist for me? I thought it was my brain alone that gave them form, weight and colour – but here they have left me, and only their names – useless names that have lost their masters – are swarming in my brain. What use are these names to me?"
Sadly Ponomarev watched the child. The little boy could walk about. Objects rushed to meet him. He smiled at them, not knowing the name of a single one. He walked away and the sumptuous train of objects hurried after him.1929