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TOMORROW,
EARLY IN THE MORNING
From
"Stories from America" by Mikhail Fomin
Tomorrow,
early in the morning we are leaving New York for our native country.
"Unfortunately,
we haven’t found any information concerning the family of your
country man, whom you are searching for," Miss Parker said on the
phone. "But please, don’t be upset. There is some hope," added
Miss Parker.
"Thank
you for your support, Miss Parker!" I said.
"Oh,
don’t worry. Everything will be O.K.! Maybe, tomorrow, early in the
morning we’ll get some message!" Miss Parker’s voice was
optimistic.
"Tomorrow,
early in the morning…" It seemed to me that the popular Yakut
folk song was ringing slowly over the huge city where the evening
lights were being switched on. Maybe my country man I was
searching for was very eager to hear this song, living too far from
his native land… Now it’s time to be picking wild strawberries in
the woods near his native village.
In
my mind’s eyes I saw a scene from the remote past: a young man is
sitting at the round table near the Yakut fire place in the
traditional Yakut House. He has come from abroad unexpectedly. The
domestics are looking at him worriedly.
"I
have been suffering from homesickness. I can’t live in America any
more. I have hardly spent a year!" - his voice was trembling with
agitation.
"Dear
nephew, tomorrow, early in the morning I deliver you by horse to the
coast of the Okhotsky Sea. From there you’ll leave for America. Your
father is in prison. A lot of people are in prison. The reprisals are
taking place everywhere! You don’t realize the danger of the Soviet
regime! You must go back to America by all means!" - the old man’s
voice was very resolute…
Many
years had passed. Once a letter from America arrived to a Yakut
family in Siberia. The old man wrote that he wanted to see his
relatives, his native village before his death. But in those times
the law of "Iron Certain" was still very strong…
"Tomorrow,
early in the morning we are going to Russia, to our native land.
Tomorrow, early in the morning we’ll enjoy a happy moment!" I
thought shutting the window before going to bed.
At
that time I didn’t know that man had published twenty books in
English, and four of them had been translated into Russian and known
in Russia. Tomorrow, early in the morning… The Yakut people will
discover many interesting thing in the future…
Translated
by Nadya Matveeva
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