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Jaroš, Peter: Tisícročná včela

Portre of Jaroš, Peter

Tisícročná včela (Slovak)

O Samovi Pichandovi však treba povedať, že to bol tiež murár vyberaný. Robotu mal čistú a peknú. Neulieval sa, aj keď mohol, radšej druhému pomohol. „Sme ako tie včely,” hovorie­val, „iba robota nás spasí. Nič nám nezostáva len robiť, aby sme vyžili, ako sa patrí. Veru, sme my ako tie včely! Pozrite na ne, celé leto usilovne znášajú med, aby zachovali rod, a my nie sme onakvejší a nič iné nás nečaká len robiť a robiť ako tie včely, keď chceme zachovať rod!” Blúznil niekedy o včelách vo dne i v noci, prirovnával sa k nim a všernožne ich chválil. Vyzeralo to tak, že sa ich bojí, keď ich toľko chváli, hoci mu doteraz nijakú ujmu nespôsobili. Prischla mu len prezývka Včela, ale z tej si nič nerobil. Všade zvedavo navštevoval včelíny, nazeral do úľov a viedol s včelármi dlhé rozhovory.

Popoludní pred odchodom sa celá murárska partia zišla u Sama Pichandu na dvore. Posadali si na drevo a radili sa, čo zobrať, na čo nezabudnúť a kam sa pobrať. Keď sa už skoro dohodli, prisadli si k nim obidvaja miestni železničiari Ján Anosta a Bíro Tolký. Pokukávali očkom po murároch a tvárili sa, akoby im závideli, že sa vyberajú do sveta na múračky.
- Čo závidíte? - zabŕdol do nich Ľavák. - Vy mátec robotu doma, a ak vás nezahluší vlak, môžete na štreke robiť do haleluja!!
- Vari ti závidíme? - zasmial sa Bíro Tolký. - Choď si do psej matere krky lámať...!
- Radšej by som vylihoval doma ako ty, - ozval sa Pichanda. - Nájdi mi robotu na štreke a nepohnem sa odtiaľto!
- Neprijímajú, bratku! - povedal vážne Anosta. - Ešte dlho nebudú! - dodal. - Ba ani s našou robotou to nemáme isté, - obrátil sa k Ľavákovi. - Povráva sa, že čoskoro začnú prepúšťať robotníkov aj od štreky.
- Kde sa podeje chudobný človek, - ozval sa mladý roľník Peter Slabič, ktorý počúval rozhovor murárov a štrekárov. - Postavili železnicu a roľníkom odpadli furmanky, odvážky soli a rudy. Stratili sme poslednú možnosť ako zarobiť mizerný groš...
- Treba urobiť to, čo radí Orfanides, - ozval sa Pichanda.
- Zo stromov a včiel nevyžiješ! - odporoval Mudrc. - Pätoro či sedmoro detí nemôžeš po celý rok kŕmiť ovocím a medom. Toľko ho ani nemáš.
- Nemyslím len na stromy a včely, - povedal Samo Pichanda. - Orfanides radí zakladať u nás nové fabriky, aby chudoba mala z čoho žiť.
- A kto ich založí? - zasmial sa Anosta.
- Chudoba!
- Hehe, a má chudoba kapitálik? Máš ho ty? No vidíš, tebe aj mne, všetkým nám chýba na založenie fabriky kapitálik, - roz­vravel sa Anosta. - Kto má kapitálik, ten si môže založiť fabriky a sám z nej zbohatnúť.
- Vari ju založí?! - pochyboval Mudrc. - Kto by tu čo zakladal? A čo by vo fabriky vyrábal? Vari len nie hlinené hrnce? Na to stačia aj naši hrnčiari. Či vari rudy na kapustu? Kde by ich predal? Kto by ich kúpil? Každý má svoj súdok v pivnici... Alebo pálenku? Tej je tiež na svete dosť!
Chlapi sa nesmiali, len zmĺkli. Akoby ich trápilo, mrzelo, omínalo kdesi v útrobách voľačo nedopovedané. Kývali hlavami, dumali, hmkali.
- Keby boli fabriky, boli by aj groše! - skôr vystonal, ako vypovedal zo seba Benedikt Viliš.
- Dreva jesto okolo, - ozval sa Matej Švanda. - Možno z neho by sa dalo voľačo...
- Ste vy len blázni, - vysmial obidvoch Mudrc. - Kapitálik na fabriku nemáte, drevo okolo vám nepatrí, a staviate si tu div nie vzdušné zámky... Drž sa svojej kelne, kamarát, tá jediná ťa nesklame! S nami už inakšie nebude, len ako je. My už zostaneme na poli a pri remesle do smrti. A vy by ste chceli byť odrazu fabrikantmi, hehehe!

(...)

Vyrazili presne o siedmej. Siedmi chlapi a ósma žena. Nedeľné ráno ich nesmelo potískalo na západ slnečnýrni lúčmi. Pustili sa ovešaní všetkým možným hore Hlbokou cestou a na Kameni zastali. Murársky majster Žufanko zhodil z chrbta ruksak.
- Patrí sa rozlúčiť s obcou a krajom! - povedal vážne, obradne.
Siahol do ruksaka, vytiahol fľaštičku pálenky a nalial do pohárikov. Jeden za druhým vypili. Lúčili sa s rodným krajom, ktorý bolo odtiaýto vidieť ako na dlani. Obec im kľačala priam pod nohami. Okolo nej sa rozprestieral veličizný chotár, ktorého okraje oblizovali na východe úpätia tatranského Kriváňa.
- Taký chotár, a nevie nás uživiť! - ozval sa Melchior Vicien Mudrc. - Pekný, krásny kraj, pokochať sa móžeš v ňom pohľadom, ale čo z toho? No povedzte, čo z toho? Robíme na poli, a keď nám zvýši čas, utekáme do sveta, ale na jar nie sme bohatší ako pred rokom...!
- Prečo nemírrate tu v Liptove? - ozvala sa nečakane Stázka Dropová, ale hneď aj zmĺkla, akoby sa bola zľakla, či zahanbila za svoju otázku.
- To nie je také jednoduché! Tu murársku robotu ťažko nájdeš, - povedal Žufanko pomaly a rozvážne. - Pozri sa okolo! Vo Východnej, vo Važci, v Štrbe, na Kokave, v Pribyline, v Dovalove, vo Vavrišove i v Jamníku, v Petre, v Jáne i v Uhorskej Vsi, v Okoličnom, v Závažnej Porube, v Iľanove i v Ploštíne, všade je plno murárov, a to som spomenul len horný Liptov. O murársku robotu sa tu treba pobiť, a ešte ti za ňu zaplatia skoro o polovicu menej ako inde. Preto, Stázka moja, si musíme hľadať robotu vo svete.



PublisherTisícročná včela, Slov.spisovateľ, Bratislava

The Millennium Bee (English)

 Of Sam Pichanda, however, it must also be said that he was an excellent bricklayer. His work was neat and tidy. He didn't shirk, even when he could have, but he preferred to help others. "We are like the bees," he used to say, "only work can save us. We've no choice but to work if we're to make a reasonable living . Upon my soul, we really are like the bees! Look at them, they work hard the whole summer making honey in order to keep their families alive, and we are no different, we must just work and work like the bees if we wish to keep our families alive!" Sometimes he would to rave on about bees day and night, comparing himself to them and praising them to the skies. Someone nicknamed him Bee and the name stuck, but he didn't let that worry him. He would visit apiaries far and wide, peer into the hives and carry on long discussions with the bee-keepers.

The afternoon before their departure, the whole group of bricklayers gathered in Sam Pichanda's yard. They sat on logs and discussed what to take and what not to forget and where to go. When they had almost agreed, they were joined by two of the local railwaymen, Ján Anosta and Bíro Tolký. They ran their eyes over the bricklayers and pretended to envy them going out into the world to look for building work.
"What have you got to envy?" Ľavák snarled at them. "You've got work at home and so long as you don't get run over by a train, you can work on the track to kingdom come!"
"Who said we envied you?" Bíro Tolký laughed. "You go and break your necks if you like…!"
"I'd rather lounge around at home like you," Pichanda spoke up. "Find me work on the track and I won't budge from here."
"They're not taking anyone on, mate," Anosta said seriously. "They won't be for a long time to come," he added. "We can't be sure of our work, either," he turned to Ľavák. "I've heard they'll soon be sacking workers on the track."
"You should do what Orfanides suggests," Pichanda spoke up. "He is for founding new factories here, so the poor can make a living."
"And who would found them?" laughed Anosta.
"Who'd do that!?" Mudrc spoke up. "Who'd found one here? What would he make in the factory? You don't mean clay pots? Our potters can manage that. Or barrels for sauerkraut? Where would they sell them? Who'd buy them? Everyone's got their own barrel in their cellar… Or spirits? There's plenty of that around, too!"
The men didn't laugh, they just fell silent. As if something that hadn't been said worried them, troubled them, irked them deep down inside.
"You're fools," Mudrc ridiculed them. "You haven't got the capital for a factory, the timber around here doesn't belong to you, and you're building castles in the air… Keep to your trowel, mate, that's the only thing that won't betray you. It'll never be any different for us than it is now. We're stuck with the fields and with our trade for the rest of our lives. And you want to be factory owners all of a sudden, ha ha ha!"

(...)

They set out at seven sharp. Seven men and the eighth a woman. The rays of the Sunday dawn pushed them timidly towards the west. Loaded down with all kinds of things, they climbed the hill road until they reached Kameň. Here master bricklayer Žufanko slipped his rucksack off his back.
"We should say goodbye to the village and this land," he said gravely, ceremoniously.
He reached into his rucksack, pulled out a bottle of spirits and poured it into some little glasses. One after another they drank.
"Such a big district and it still can't feed us!" said Melchior Vicien Mudrc. "A lovely, beautiful land, you can feed your eyes on it, but what does that give you? …"
"Why don't you build here in Liptov?" Stázka Dropová spoke unexpectedly.
"It's not that simple! It'd be hard to find building work here," Žufanko said slowly and deliberately. "Look around you! In Východná, in Važec, in Štrba, in Kokava, in Pribylina, in Dovalovo, in Vavrišovo and in Jamník, in Iľanovo and in Ploštín, everywhere there are plenty of bricklayers, and I've only mentioned upper Liptov. You have to fight for bricklaying work here, and then they pay you almost half what they pay elsewhere. That's why, Stázka dear, we have to go out into the world to look for work."


Source of the quotationSlovak Literary Review / SLR 2003/05 (EN/DE) /

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