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Tango of Death
himself to his scholarly work.
To earn a living and to pay
for his monthly alimony he
published literary reviews
and translations. For a not
overly wealthy, yet not
miserable existence two or
three publications a month
were enough. And the most
important thing was that no
one get on his case.
From Yarosh’s family his
mother’s elder old maid sister
Aunt Lucia was still alive; her
fiancé had gone missing in
the war, and she continued
to wait for him even after the
declaration of independence,
when all those who survived
Siberia returned home. She
had a spacious house in
Kryvchytsi and repeatedly
called for her nephew to
live with her, but in every
possible way he made up
excuses, knowing that auntie
will give him no peace, she
will yearn for conversation,
attention, and finally the
desire to take care of him
will appear, but Yarosh had
no need of care, he sought
only privacy. On the other
hand, he often visited auntie,
bringing her food. He even
supplied her with interesting
books and patiently listened
to her stories. Auntie was
an enormous woman with
a sagging neck. She had
thick legs, and she walked,
waddling like a duck. She
smelled of Validol, although
in her youth she used to look
very attractive.
She received the greatest
satisfaction
when
she
managed to sit down her
nephew at the table and feed
him something. Then she sat
down across from him and
looked at him with adoring
eyes, gratified that themeal or
cake with berries were tasty
for him. Every August she
set about cooking preserves
from different berries and
fruits, although she very