Мой первый журнал SUNRISE November № 1 2018 | Page 62
LITERARY SKETCH
The Guardian of Wisdom
the story written on the side of a bookcase
Anastasia Kutsenko
BSPU
Blagoveschensk (Russia)
The French writer Adrian Decourcelle
once said “A book is a vessel which fills us but
never gets empty itself” and his words are
perfectly true for me as I realized the value of
the hold of knowledge long ago and since then
I have never doubted that.
Today an academic week has begun
again and the comprehension of this phrase
comes to me when I hear doors scraping,
shoes clattering on the floor and young voices
whispering quietly. Students from schools and
universities endeavouring at knowledge can
find textbooks in human, natural and technical
sciences on my old solid oaken shelves but
their professors will come in search of
t u to r i a l s . I l ove s e e i n g a tte nt i ve a n d
interested faces, eyes full of a strong wish to
understand what has been read and to find
out some new facts, to learn them by heart.
These are the people who will write books like I
have been keeping carefully and what`s more
they will have the right and enough experience
to teach future generations. Just reach out
for the book you need, flick the thick dust from
the volume, open the first page and start
soaking up the knowledge. Don`t stop
studying and nourishing your mind and soul
with wisdom belonging to great philosophers,
61
SUNRISE
mathematicians and litterateurs. I have been
living in the library named after the greatest
s c i e nt i s t w h o I d e e p l y re s p e c t , M . V.
Lomonosov, for a long time. In Moscow reading
hall of the multiyear wisdom I perform the role
of a book guardian like a great many alike me.
There is no feeling of solitude or uselessness
as we help people to find the source of
knowledge and inherit wisdom of the great
minds. Among the tramp, gritting of the chairs
moved away and the rustle of pages I am
standing alone but all of a sudden I catch the
same clattering that`s heading straight to
me. Eh! The same young lady with an ocher-
colored bag on her thin shoulder came up to
scan attentively my wooden shabby shelves to
take the second volume of Leonid Vasiliev`s
textbook The History of the East. Then she is
likely to close accurately the glass door and
disappear in the depth of the corridor. Some
time later, the student of a highbrow look with
red wavy hair approaches and takes the book
on bioradiolocation. A lot of people appear in
front of my eyes. They all are eager to read
about the past, about Literature, Psychology
or Philosophy. They all study something again
and again, looking through the printed pages.
To tell the truth, this fact can`t help making
me happy.
By the end of the day the bright light
of the lamps flickers out, the whisper dies off,
chairs are not moved anymore and everything
is getting into darkness. I start waiting
impatiently for a new day to come and I dream
of presenting somebody with the opportunity
to widen his outlook on life and to get to know
everything that is going on in the world and in
the soul.
November 2018 №1