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DAVIDKOLBAIA
IstartedlearningGermanandquitmynovelTheWhiteIristhatIcom-
mencedinordertotestmywritingabilities.Ihavenottoucheditforthree
days.
Whatishappeningtome?Ifoundmyselfinawritingmoodbutnow
Iamtotallyunabletomasterthepen.AsAndreevputsit,itisa“tyranny
ofmerenothing.”7
Itakethesecondpenasamatteroffactandcontinuetowrite.Ido
notknowhowtodealwithmelancholyandhypochondria.8Godsaveme!
HowbeautifulisFinckel’s9translation!—намогилусрозами...
WhenIfinishmyWhiteIris,Iwillstartalittlestorytitled“Please,Adorn
theGravewithRoses.”10
Sunday,28November
ItisSundaybutIamondutytodaysoIamintheofficeandIcannot
goanywhereIjusthavetobeonwatchandnothingmore.Butwhaton
earthamIdoinghererightnow?Nothing!
Iamnotfondofwalking,whatapleasureistherewalkinginsuch
cold?!Soitisstillpreferabletositintheofficeand,forlackofanything
better,readandwrite.
IwroteatelegramforMochiashvili.
HowIloveandpitythispoorsoldier!Hehasnotreceivedanynews
fromhislovedonesforfivemonthsandeverytimeIpromisehimtotrack
downsomeinformation.Alas,Ifailtomakegoodonmypromiseand
insteadofbeingfrankwithhimIconstantlylietohim.Iamashamed...
HowcanItellhimthetruth?!
OhGod!Justgivemeconsiderablestrengthandcouragetobeofany
helptothesehopelesspeople:those,whohavestillnothadanyletter
fromhome;thosewhoreceiveonlyterriblenewsofcoldandcalami-
ties,whichmakethemdevastatedandmakethemlosetheirsincerityand
7
“Самаяужаснаятирания‒этотираниямелочей”—quotefromthecoloumn“TheTy-
rannyofMereNothingandTheCrimeofTheIndividualism”[Тираниямелочейипреступность
индивидуальности]byRussianlawyer,journalist,andwriterLeonidAndreev(1871-1919),whois
consideredthefoundingfatherofRussianexpressionism.HecouldnotaccepttheBolshevikrevolu-
tionsohequicklymovedtoFinland,wherehediedat48yearsofage.
8
Hypochondria—abnormalchronicanxietyaboutone’shealth.
9
Finkel,AlexandrMoiseevich(1899-1968)—afamouslinguist,professor,andtranslatorfrom
severalEuropeanlanguages.Heistheauthorofschoolanduniversitytextbooksaswellasarticleson
Russianlanguageandtranslationtheory.Untiltheendofhislifeheworkedonacompletetranslation
ofWilliamShakespeare’sSonnets.
10GrigolPeradzeneverpublishedastorywithsuchatitle.
