3. The honest uncle, beyond reproof“You should read this letter,” said his mother, holding out the envelope.
“Just read what the General writes,” said his father.
It was a letter from his mother’s elder brother, a colonel or lieutenant-colonel, who had retired long before the collapse of the Soviet Union and bought a house in some village, where he still lived. All Eugene could remember was that this uncle once came to stay in their house a long time ago, and he had no particular recollection of him. Except that Eugene had been put to bed on a small sofa in the kitchen, as the visitor was given his bedroom. Actually no, he didn’t spend the night with them, apparently. He just visited, staying somewhere else. But for many years now greeting cards sent by him have turned up in their mailbo
