I Wanted to Read Something About the Happy Life

      There was a thread of light under Romachkin’s door. Kostia went in. Romachkin was reading — in bed, because of the cold. Gray Heather covered the windowpanes. “What are you reading, Romachkin? It’s cold in here. It’s wonderful outdoors, you have no idea!”
      “I wanted to read something about the happy life. But there are no books on the subject. Why have none been written? Don’t writers know any more about it than I do? Don’t they want to know what it is, as I do?”
Kostia was amused. What a man!
      “All I could find was this — in a secondhand bookstore. It’s a very old book and very beautiful . . . Paul and Virginia. It happens on an island full of happy birds and plants; they are young and pure and love each other . . . it’s unbelievable.”