Читать книгу Dado Island. The Superstitious Democracy - Саша Кругосветов - Страница 3

The author of this book is Sasha Krugosvetov, a mathematician, philosopher and master of martial arts. All his conscious life he has been fascinated by and researched the journeys of the famous Captain Alexander, who lived in the late 19th – early 20th century. Alexander used to sail wooden sailers and remained faithful to these vessels even when the first ships with metal hulls and steam engines became available.

Only a few written documents about his life have been preserved, and as a result Sasha Krugosvetov himself has followed the famous captain’s itineraries in search of people who know something about Captain Alexander, or whose relatives or friends told them about him. Over the course of his many travels the author of this book has managed to collect a wealth of informative and instructive material about the voyages and adventures of Captain Alexander. I know Sasha well through my friend, the submarine captain Misha Lipnitsky. Sasha is married to Lipnitsky’s daughter, the beautiful Irina, and I have been to their house many times, together with Misha.

When I think about this book I have the impression of sitting in a large concert hall in the last row of the balcony, in the gallery. Far below me I can see a small stage. It is brightly lit. On the stage there is a cosy room with a fireplace. Sasha is sitting in an armchair in front of the fireplace. His six-year old son is sitting on his knees.

‘Dima, it is very late. You must go to bed now. When mum comes home we’ll both be in trouble.’

‘No, no. Please. I want to stay up a bit longer. Please tell me about Captain Alexander’s adventures.’

‘But I’ve already told you about his adventures – I told you yesterday, and the day before yesterday, and three days ago.’

‘But I want to hear more of his adventures. You know so much about him. And I want to hear new adventures you haven’t told me yet.’

‘Alright, alright. Listen: ‘Once upon a time there lived a famous captain called Alexander. Grown-ups and children knew about him because… ‘and a new tale of Alexander begins; we don’t know how many have gone before.

Dima takes a more comfortable position on his father’s knees, taking his hand and putting his own head on his shoulder.

Some time passes, and Irina steps into the circle of light. To the surprise of her husband and son, she doesn’t demand that the boy wash, brush his teeth and go to bed straight away. She brings a small tape recorder, one of those that were in use during the 1980s and exclaims: ‘Boys! I heard through the open kitchen door what an interesting conversation you are having. Let’s record these tales. So when Dima grows up, we will remember the times when he was little. Carry on, Sasha. I am also going to listen. And you, Dima, don’t drum on the tape recorder with your fingers and don’t rustle, or all we’ll hear instead of a story of Captain Alexander’s voyage will be your fingers.

Now I see a different scene on the stage. Sasha is sitting at his desk and working by the light of a desk lamp with a green shade. A slightly more grown-up Dima comes into the room. He is ten years old. He sits down in the armchair next to his father.

‘What is it, son?’

‘Let’s sit together before bed, as we used to do. You can tell me of Captain Alexander’s adventures once again. But only new adventures! And bear in mind that I’m no longer six and almost a grown-up.’

‘Of course, I can talk to you as to a grown-up. I’ll tell you about Captain Alexander’s encounters with Moby Dick, the white whale…’ and again, often, although not every day, Sasha would tell more new adventures of Captain Alexander.

Well, and one more image. This happened really recently. Dima is an adult now. In their brightly lit living room Sasha and Irina are sorting through old audio– and video recordings. I see myself on the stage next to them. Somebody pulls a dusty tape from the pile of old recordings. What is it? The label is blank. Where can we listen to this? Oh! We still have grandpa’s old tape player. Dear old thing! We listen. Through the white noise and the background of rock music that come through from the adjacent track we can hear the barely audible voice of the narrator. Guys! This is really very interesting! You can believe me, an old salt, a serving admiral, who has spent nearly 30 years at sea and knows first-hand what a sea journey is like. I convinced Sasha that he had to write these stories down or type them up on the computer.

You have one of these tales in front of you. Dear reader, if you are fourteen or close to that age, you might find the story of the very unusual life of the animals on Dado Island interesting. This story was written, or rather recorded on tape, more than fifteen years ago, yet its topic, which is the ‘feral democracy’ on Dado Island and its protagonists, is strangely reminiscent of our contemporary ‘human’ life, and of what we see done to death on TV.

This book is the third of three books on the journeys of Captain Alexander. The first is for children of around six years, the second for children of ten, and this third one, which consists of one story only, is for readers of fourteen years and older. Perhaps their parents, too, will find it interesting. I hope, my young reader, that you will like this book.

Lev Chernoy, a family friend of the Krugosvetovs