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In a Boxcar (C on tin u ation) In th e f ir s t m om en ts th e p eo p le in th e fr e ig h t car a cted a s i f h ypn otized. In th e g en era l d e sp a irin g b u stle each person seem ed to revolve so lely around h is own a x is. N o t look in g around, se e in g nobody, each one con cen tr a ted fe v e r is h ly on s e ttlin g h im se lf and h is fa m ily . W hen th e doors o f th e b oxcar w ere locked w ith a cla n g fro m th e outside, th o se in sid e seem ed n ot to ap praise th is b asic fa c t. T h ey turn ed ra th e r to p e tty m a tte r s: w h eth er all th e bundles w ere th ere, w h ere to fin d a place to sit. Som e in stin c t in th e su b con sciou s acted to e x a g g e r a te sm all p h y sica l concerns, so th a t th e esse n tia l, th e o v erw h elm in g i s su es b ecam e su bm erged in th em . T h is b u sy b ustle, th is an xiou s a c tiv it y w as probably th e r e su lt o f an inner need to d em o n stra te th a t alth o u g h w e w ere deprived o f our freed om , w e w ere s till fr e e to d irect ou row n action s. B u t th e p o ssib ility o f action w ith in th e crow ede co n fin es o f th e . narrow boxcar w ere fe w u list w eep in g over th e p lig h t o f h is h eroes — th e U k rain ian p o v er ty strick en p ea sa n ts ? — or w a s he a p o litica lly conscious w r ite r w h o w an ted to exp ose th e ex p lo ita tio n o f th e p ea sa n t cla ss? N e ith e r o f th e tw o co m m on in terp re ta tio n s o f S te fa - n yk is correct, according to Da- n y lo Struk, a y o u n g liter a ry scholar o f th e U n iv e r sity o f T o ronto. H is b ook -len gth stu d y of V a sy l S te fa n y k (b ased on h is Ph.D . d isse rta tio n ) is th e fir s t m onograph on S te fa n y k in th e E n g lish lan gu age. S te fa n y k ’s in te r e st, according to S tru k “lay prim arily in an a r tistic p o rtr a y al o f hum an a n gu ish . A nd a l th o u g h th e an g u ish o ften r e s u lt ed d irectly or in d irectly from ad verse econom ic and social con ditions, S te fa n y k ’s a r t is t ic _ e y e fo cu sed n o t on th e s e conditions, nor on th e ir am elioration, b u t on th e profound, o fte n d ev a sta t- ULYANA LIUBOVYCH T ransl. b y O. D ragan F ir s t e v e r y th in g w a s f it t e d in, som ehow . T hen it appeared t e r rib ly im p ortan t to so r t th ro u g h th e b elo n g in g s in our bundles. A lm o st everyon e b u sied h im se lf w ith ch ec k in g to se e w h a t h e had b rou ght. B u t w h en th is, too, w as done, th er e w a s n o th in g else to do. T here w a s n o fu r th e r d e fe n s e a g a in st th e a w fu l f a c t o f th e locked doors. Torn up b y th e roots from our liv es, w e b egan to create a n ew social en tity , th a t o f a group o f people locked up in a b oxcar. Out in th e w orld m an y th in g s had sep arated or u n ited us, fo r am on g us w ere people o f variou s a g es, n a tio n a litie s, p ro fe ssio n s, con viction s. H ere e v e r y one w as u n ited sim p ly b y th e s in gle h ope o f s e t tlin g in to our com m on q uarters as w ell as possible. T h is sam e hope also divided us, fo r in th e cram ped sp ace one p er son w as o ften p erforce in an o th er’s w ay. W hen th e f ir s t b u stle had died down, ev e ry o n e’s m ain concern w as t o g e t th ro u g h to th e one sm all w in dow fo r a fin a l look a t th e world, a t L viv. A t th e tr a in ing, p sych ological dram as in th e liv e s o f h is h eroes. A lth o u g h th e s e h eroes w ere fo r th e m o st p a rt com m on p ea sa n ts fro m h is n a tiv e P o k u tty a , in th e d ep ic tion o f th eir an g u ish S te fa n y k m an aged to p o rtra y th e u n iv e r sal p ain th a t lies a t th e h ea rt o f e x iste n c e .” (p. 1 1 ). T h e 140-p age stu d y is su p p le m ented n ot only w ith an im p res siv e b ib liograp h ic ap paratus, b u t also w ith an appendix co n ta in in g th ir te e n S te fa n y k ’s n ovellas in S tru k ’s tr a n sla tio n esp ecially selected to illu str a te th e p oin ts m ade in th e critical stu d y. E x ce p t fo r a fe w a tte m p ts a t col loqu ialism s, S te fa n y k ’s d ialect is rendered in norm al liter a ry E n g lish . T he tr a n sla tio n s h a v e a m odern fla v o r and seem , on th e w hole, superior to th o se i s su ed in 1971 in a collection e n title d The Stone Cross, sta tio n th e r e w ere m an y su ch fr e ig h t tr a in s as ours. T hrough our narrow w indow w e could see, on th e one side, th e tra ck s o f th e load in g sta tio n and m an y, m an y b oxcars, w ith people lik e u s p e e r in g out o f th e ir w in dow s. On th e o th er sid e w e could se e th e top s o f brick ap artm en t b uild in gs. W e rem ained a t th e sta tio n in L v iv fo r a day, m ayb e m ore. T im e in th e fr e ig h t car h ad an unreal q u ality. A s lo n g as w e could g lim p se a b it o f th e sk y over L v iv w e s till f e lt th a t th ere w a s a glim m er o f hope. S o m e t h in g w ould happen, som eone would in terv e n e in our b eh a lf, th e y would le t u s go, m ayb e th er e w as a ch an ce o f escapin g. B u t w e w ere gu ard ed b y arm ed soldiers. A t n ig h t th e boxcars w ere lit up b y b r ig h t sp o tlig h ts. T h is m ade th e w h ole scen e u n ea rth ly , eerie. O ccasionally w e heard a s h o t — p erh ap s som eone had tried to escape. T hen a gain w e would h ear som eone craw l un der our car, from th e d irection o f th e city , and call th e n am e o f a fa m ily m em ber or frien d s, sea r ch in g fo r th em . T h e n am e would be rep eated fro m car to car, fro m tr a in to train . B u t th e gu ard s soon ch ased su ch “v i s i t o r s’ aw ay. S uddenly a cry arose, follow ed b y loud w ailin g. One tr a in a fte r an oth er b egan to m ove. T he w eep in g o f th e p rison ers in th e b oxcars w as echoed b y th a t o f th e people w h o stood alon gsid e th e track s, in th e str e e ts and on th e em bankm ent. In m y dream I o fte n hear, a s g h a s tly b ack ground m u sic to th e n ig h tm a r ish v isio n o f n ig h t in our boxcar, th is groan in g, d esp a irin g w eep in g w h ich accom panied our transp ort. I alw ays dream o f th e boxcar shrouded in d arkness. I supp ose i t ’s b ecau se p h y sica l s u ffe r in g s lik e hunger, a ir le ssn e ss, crowded conditions, f ilt h and cold, a l th o u g h p a in fu l a t th e tim e, do n o t lea v e scars a s deep a s th o se le f t b y th e p ain o f p artin g, b y fe a r and despair. A nd th is m e n ta l a n g u ish w a s fie r c e s t w h en t h e dark w in g s o f n ig h t covered th e people in th e boxcar. 28 НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ — : ЛИПЕНЬ-СЕРПЕНЬ, 1973 Видання C оюзу Українок A мерики - перевидано в електронному форматі в 2012 році . A рхів C У A - Ню Йорк , Н . Й . C Ш A.
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