Treść książki

Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
22
DAVIDKOLBAIA
wasthefirstone,whounderstoodmeandprovidedmewithcertainhelp.
Sincethen,hehasoccupiedahugeplaceinmyheart.Indeed,towinone’s
trustyouneedjustalittle,so,yesterdayIwroteandinquiredafterhim.
We,thepeopleoftheSouth,nowadaysaresoshortoffrequentendear-
ments,caressesandwarmsunshinethatevenasinglepalesunbeamgives
usdelightinthischilly,freezingperiod.
Svimonishvili’ssisterdiedtoday,andtocompoundhishardshipshe
hadhisfingerterriblyhurt.Iamverydissatisfiedwiththecurrentday.
PoorMochiashvilipleadsandbadgersmeinterminably,nearlycryingbut
whatshouldIsaytohim?HowcanIhelphim?Ionlyfeelpityforhim.
TodayIwasprintingonaRemington32andthemajorwasimpressedsay-
ingthatthemilitaryservicehastaughtmetypingonthemachine.Not
typingbutlearningGermanwillmakemereallyhappy!Iwillfinishwrit-
ingTheWhiteIrisintwoweeks.
Wednesday,8December
Ihavelearnttodaythatfromnowon,theyshallmakemilitaryservice
lastfortwoyears.33Ihaveoftenheardaboutitbefore,butdidnotbelieve
it.Now,assomanypeopleareshoutingaboutitandeventhewhole
countrytalksaboutthissubject,thatmeansitistrueandIhavebecome
convinced.Tobefrank,itmakesnodifference;itdoesnotbothermeat
all.Ihaveacertainbenefitinthearmyservice:IlearnttypingonaRem-
ington,whichisonebenefit;thereareotherbenefitsaswell:Iunderwent
somepersonalchangesandbecameacquaintedwithmanydifferentpeo-
ple:especiallythose,connectedwithnewspapers,journalsandpublish-
ingandbecamereallybusyandhecticinthesphere.Itistooearlyasyet
tosayanything,thepropertimetolistallthatwasgoodandoppositeto
badhasnotcomeyet.Thisisamatterofthefuture.WhenIreachtheend
ofthisperiodandbecomeabitolder,thenIshallturnabouttofacemy
nearestpast,tolookatthelegendsthatatonetimeexitedandarousedme,
thrilledandarousedmeoninsuchawaythatIcouldnotevenfallasleep;
toobservethedayswhenIcriedalot,justhowmanytantalizingminutes
didIgothrough,andthen,andonlythenIwillbestunnedandwonder
abouthowmiserableIhappenedtobebefore!
32TypewriterproducedintheUSAbyRemingtonandSons,releasedfirstin1873.
33Thisinformationwasnottrue.UnderthethenexistinglawonCompulsoryMilitaryServiceand
theReplenishmentoftheArmedForces,thesoldiersweredraftedintotheinfantryfor16monthsand
totheothermilitarystructuresfor20months.ThanksforthisinformationtoMr.DimitiSilakadze.