100 292
Mircea Cartarescu
100
for, never worked. It was
the greatest disillusion and
defeat in the inventor’s life.
He had started the machine
on the first evening. Besides
thegreat coil, it also included
several engines, as well as
other machineries, partly
invented by him. The air
started humming, the floor
was vibrating lightly, but the
miracle (the old man, with
unexpected stubbornness
after so many disclosures,
refused to give me the least
indication about it) did not
occur. So he advised me to
forget about the coil and,
if I still wanted the house,
to enjoy it as if it were an
ordinary one, although…
Although,
he
added
resentfully, it’s a shame…
Mikola hadn’t even enjoyed
the
ordinary
house.
Immediately
after
the
regimechangehewas locked
up for political reasons
(former
Legionnaire
9
?
member of a historical
party?) and not released
until 1964. The property
rights on his house were
restored to him with great
difficulty, only after a friend
intervened with high party
authorities.
Fortunately,
it hadn’t attracted the
greediness of any of the new
hot shots because it was in
a miserable and ill-famed
neighbourhood.
After
having stayed empty and
being gradually consumed
by rain and snow, the old
man had leased it to this
guy and the other, but he
hadn’t found tenants for
a while. Now, when he
9 Member of the Legion of Arch-
angel Michael, Nazi organization and
later political party in interwar Roma-
nia