Later it was learned by Klimov, the scout, that the Germans were preparing to burn a child and an old gypsy woman, suspected of spying. The day before, Klimov had left the laundry to an old woman who lived with his grand-son and a goat in a cave and told him he would return the next day looking for the laundry done. He wanted to get the old information on Gypsies. Had they been killed by Soviet shells or had they had time to burn at the stake German? Klimov crawled through passages that only he knew but a Soviet bomber of night had dropped a bomb at the location of the shelter of the old and there was neither old nor grand-son, and neither boxer Klimov shirts. Among the debris of logs and rubble he found a kitten. The kitten was in poor condition, he asked nothing, expected nothing, he must believe that life on earth was this: the noise, fire, hunger.
Klimov could never understand why he had suddenly filled the kitten in his pocket.
Vasily Grossman, Life and Fate .
0 comments:
Post a Comment