“Stand up, the court is beginning!”
“Stand up, everyone. Thanks! Now sit down, please. I declare a hearing on a poet’s case opened. I would like to remind both the prosecutor and the advocate that we are dealing with an extremely dangerous social element, masking under an assumed name, and unreasonably stating about the beginning of yet not totally clear cardinal changes of all world order.”
“An earth world order, mister judge. So the accused one told us.”
“Yes, I thank you, an accuser, for this clarification. All visible earth world order. Such naivety!”
“Mister judge, shall I start?”
“Certainly. We will first listen to the prosecution. You certainly have something to tell us?”
“Indeed I have! So, well, first of all, I would like to ask jurymen and everybody in this hall to pay attention to this if it’s even possible to say so, creative individual. Just look at what mad sight he possesses, how these very eyes sparkle with some strange and daring fire! And what an unprecedented impudence it is — to write about eternal life and potential human immortality! We, both judges and admirers of classical literature, have learned since school years one simple truth: trust, but check! And this very check of his frankly crazy literature trash cannot withstand any serious criticism. Mankind has been learning this for a long time — and it’s proven by views of true representatives of Christian belief, officially fixed on a paper — that a human as a being, possibly possessing some sort of soul, still lives one and only one life and is resolutely incapable of revival in new appearances. Let us not take into consideration all that absurd, flying from mouths of those so-called spiritual leaders of the East, for they do not even worth a single bit of criticism. What complete nonsense is the statement, that a man does not die permanently, please tell, gathered Lords? Alas, by the will of God himself we were made mortal, for from the ashes we are born and to the ashes, we go. Alas, but such is the world order that we are capable to comprehend… and during seven thousands of years we, I bet, have managed to understand it up and down! And, just because man is a being essentially frankly and suddenly mortal, so, these “writings” about endless life and, as a consequence, the New World, is simply a delirium of a feeble-minded! And that very individual, facing you, is indeed a mad one, for only crazy ones are capable to create similar stuff so selflessly and disinterestedly.
I confirm, may be accused one really possesses some creative gift, but who can give a guarantee, that these are not the intrigues of enemies of the human race, desiring to ruin and destroy all our stability once and for all? We just cannot make up with his nonsense, for his statements undermine all basis of the managed statehood, which we have been building for quite a while. And, besides, — they undermine almost all our cultural beliefs, all our traditions, foundations, rituals, habits, and even prejudices, eventually! Here is before you, mister judge, and I will not escape this word, is simply and plainly a spiritual terrorist! He is the enemy of our entire society, of all our ideals, for which we have been preparing this very society for many years already. He is plainly a madman! He is capable of ruining all our tradition, our power, all that stability, which we have been trying to achieve. He just simply scoffs at people and brainwashes them… They would better watch that television, drink, and guzzle, after all, than read so mind-corrupting verses!
The past cannot come back and be returned — and this means that men cannot be revived, it’s absolutely impossible, I simply refuse to believe that, mister judge — and I hope that you share my fears, concerning similar potential sudden changes of spiritual consciousness of people, conducted by us. This change is absolutely undesired by us — as well as the world does not desire similar madmen.
Look, just take a single look at how false and pathetically accused one is now trying to look me in the face… B-r-r-r-r-g-g-g-h-h! My skin is just starting to crawl, mister judge. There is something, something really terrible in his eyes — as well as in this person. We cannot allow him to influence minds of those loyal to us, to make him pervert them and take away from a path of patriotism and holy belief — that very orthodox belief, which he tramples with each word, each hint, each appeal to break down spiritual fetters!
How is that possible to consider oneself a believing person — and not to follow all canons and rituals of orthodox church? How is that ever possible to assert, that God never lived in temples? How is that possible to deny all moral advantage of fanatical religious ecstasy? How is that possible not to recognize so democratically elected government, after all? Terrorist, he is one of the most dangerous terrorists in the entire history of our state!
All of you have seen his works, and our psychotherapists have recently also taken out their professional conclusion: this man is mad! And this statement is proven by leading country’s physicians in their official conclusions, which I am eager to present to your attention, mister judge, as well as to the attention of jurymen. Therefore, I warmly ask you, mister judge, to stop any further fatal activity of this individual and to place him where he should belong — to imprison him in a psychiatric clinic for years to come, up to that day, when a Savior himself — if he even exists, of course — in a flesh and with his entire glory will descend into our world to aid our just souls to escape the bosom of shades without any efforts from our side!
Mister judge, I have finished speaking.”
“I thank you for such a long and touching — I would even say, warm — speech. And, I believe, that all those gathered in this hall, his relatives included, are extremely touched by such boldness and frankness of yours! Well, and now, I guess, it’s still necessary to listen to the advocate, if he, of course, has something valuable to tell to those gathered in this hall today. Defense, the word is given to you right now.”
“I thank you, mister judge. You know, I am in deep love with my profession, and it’s not I who should tell you, how it’s very necessary for all of us to behave with concern to others, trying to help, but… You know, mister judge, I believe that this is just not the case. I tried to, I would really like to be humane and capable to tell something considerable and important in the justification of my defendant, but… I have no words to make that today. I… do not see sufficient reasons for the accused to be somehow pardoned or justified. As well as the prosecution I consider his isolation from society a necessity — for as long as possible. I have had my saying.”
“Well… I thank you. You can take a seat. How do you believe, the accuser, is there is a reason to ask the opinion of the accused one?”
“I… do not believe that opinion of a madman can have any sense at all, mister judge.”
“In that case, the court leaves for decision-making.”
* * *
“Everybody, stand up! Thanks. Now please sit down. Based on the indications of defense and prosecution and having taken into consideration opinion of jurymen, the court has decided: to recognize accused one as deranged and, as a consequence, incapacitated and to imprison him in a psychiatric hospital for a term of at least one year with possibility of its further prolongation, according to the independent medical expertise. This sentence is definitive and is not subject to appeal. Please escort the accused one to a place of his future settlement immediately. And may God help him!”
* * *
They laughed loudly and mocked him. They spat in his face. They frankly exulted.
“So, have they caught you, Napoleon-of-all-the-Russia?”
“Place him in the sixth chamber!”
“The author rocks behind the locks!”
“You’ve been caught, the sentence’s terse… what a funny, such cool verse!”
The first aid brigade has put an immobilizing white shirt on a person and dragged him through all area up to a car, parked nearby and howling with all voices of the underworld. The arrested person did not resist — for now, it was unnecessary.
The crowd shouted and aspired to snatch on the newly made prisoner, and a separate group of agents of national security, accompanying physicians, had to push aside those too quick. The man was needed for a regime alive — a living sign of its victory over own conscience and honor.
Still, recently solar sky suddenly began to become covered by clouds. They crept and crept one after another from the horizon, covering each other and quickly closing a firmament. After a ten-fifteen minutes time span, the sky has become almost completely black. Soon the first lightning sparkled and rain began to drum on a roadway with its large juicy drops.
The storm was almost ready to be born.
The sky conducted its own sentence to each and every living one.