Today we want to present another very topical phrase. The phrase is by Ričardas Gavelis (1950 - 2002), author of one of the most famous Lithuanian novels, Vilniaus Pokeris. written in Vilnius between 1979-1987, first published in 1988.
There is a good English translation by Elizabeth Novickas.
Turbūt dar visai anksti, bet Vilnius tuščias. Vilnius kasdien vis tuštesnis – juo tuštesnis, juo didesnė gatvėse spūstis. Apmiręs miestas, o viršum jo kybo nuolankios, šleikščios baimės rūkas. Vilnius, kurį myliu, Vilnius, kuris esu aš pats, palaidotas tarsi Pompėja po lava, tarsi Atlantida po vandenimis. O mudu su Lolita esam šešėliai: gyvieji vilniečiai, ta skruzdžių minia, drumzlina upė, neklajoja vakaro gatvėmis, nešneka taip, kaip mes
"It's probably still early, but Vilnius is empty. Vilnius is getting emptier day by day - and the emptier it gets, the more congested the streets. The city is dead, and above it hangs a fog of obedient, sickening fear. The Vilnius I love, the Vilnius that is me, buried like Pompeii under lava, like Atlantis under the oceans. And Lolita and I are shadows: the living people of Vilnius, the crowd of ants, the murky river, are not wandering the evening streets, are not speaking as we do."
This sentence is in a way prophetic. During the so-called pandemic, if you were wandering along the street of Vilnius you simply had the same feeling. Above all at the beginning of this presumptive pandemic.
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