Down Among the Fishes

Dramatis personae

DRAMATIS PERSONAEAKSANA. Old schoolfriend of Ala and Ulia. Now the head teacher at a local school. Married to Syarhey (called Syarozhyk as a schoolboy). Has three children and two grandchildren.

ALA [ANATOLEUNA] BABYLYOVA. The narrator. On official occasions, when Russian is being spoken, the surname will be spelled ‘Bobylyova’. There are also occasions when she is addressed solely by her patronymic ‘Anatoleuna’ — most notably by the governor of the remand prison in Brest. Twin sister of Ulia [Anatoleuna] Barysevich. Daughter of Eva and Anatol [Tolik] Hadun. Granddaughter of Makrynya Hadun. One daughter — deceased.

ANATOL. First name of the governor of the remand prison in Brest.

ANATOL HADUN. Husband of Eva, father of the twins Ala and Ulia. Also called Tolik.

ANATOL HADUN. Leader of the treasure hunters. Married to Handzia. See Tolik.

ANDREY [ILICH] RUDKOVSKY. Local police officer.

ANTANINA DLUSKAYA. Singer of a kind. Girl friend, then new wife of Ala’s husband, Anton.

ANTON BABYLYOV. Ala’s husband.

DZIMA. See Sasha.

EVA HADUN. Daughter of Makrynya, wife of Anatol Hadun, mother of the twins Ala and Ulia.

FYODAR KOPATS. See Khvedzka.

GOSHA. Drug dealer in Mensk.

GRAYCHIK, E.A. Judge.

GREY TOPER. Nickname given by the villagers to one of the townies in the dachas.

HANDZIA. Wife of Anatol (Tolik) Hadun.

HARABETS. Leading opposition candidate in the upcoming presidential election. Ulia is his campaign manager in Brest province.

HENIK HADUN ‘THE URUGUAYAN’. Husband of Auntie Katsya.

HORST DAVID. American journalist in Mensk.

IVAN [DMITREVICH] KUKAL. Brest-based ‘businessman’ (racketeer).

KAZIK. Son of Ulia Barysevich.

KHVEDZKA. Employed by Lena Zarnitskaya. In a more formal situation he is referred to as Fyodar Kopats.

KULESHOV, A. T. Public Prosecutor in Brest.

KULYA (THE WORD MEANS ‘BULLET’). Nickname for Kuleyeu, a ‘businessman’ and rival of Kukal.

LENA ZARNITSKAYA. The local vet. Runs a private practice. Old schoolfriend of Ala and Ulia.

LINA. Daughter of Ulia Barysevich.

LYALKA SENIOR (UNABLE TO WALK) AND HER DAUGHTER LYALKA JUNIOR (MENTALLY RETARDED). Villagers from Dobratyche.

LYAVI. Gypsy racing driver.

LYONIKHA. The village gossip. This familiar village way of referring to her tells us that she is the wife of Lyonya (who in more formal circumstances would be called Leanid). Only local people would call her this. Outsiders, e.g. the police officer, would call her ‘Auntie Masha’ or ‘Auntie Manya’.

MAKRYNYA [LUKASHAUNA] HADUN. Grandmother of Ala and Ulia.

MARIA VAYTSYASHONAK. Ala’s rescuer.

MIKHAS YARASH. Pen name of the local poet. Grandson of Yarashykha. Also referred to very familiarly in the text as ‘Yarashyshyn Mishyk’ — Yarashykha’s grandson Mikey.

NGWAASI. Leader of a group of refugees trying to cross the frontier to get into Poland and head further westwards.

POCHTIVY. Spetsnaz officer.

PONOMARIV. Head of the Historical Documents Department of the Lviv Archives.

PYATRO KLIMUK. Belarusian astronaut.

SANALEYEU. Electronics expert, sent from the Harabets campaign HQ in Brest to debug the house in Dobratyche.

SASHA AND DZIMA. Former KBB (state security) officers, sent by the Harabets campaign to protect Ulia.

SHUSHKO. Spetsnaz officer.

STEPAN FYODOROVICH. KBB (state security) officer.

SYARHEY. Husband of Aksana. Called Syarozhyk as a schoolboy.

TARAS SLYOZKA. Ukrainian. From Lviv.

TARASENKA. President of Belarus.

TOLIK. First mentioned by the narrator as Tolik-the-alcoholic, then as ‘My Tolik’. Works for Agrovitalika Plus. Married to Handzia. Leader of the treasure hunters. Also referred to in a formal situation as Anatol Hadun.

ULIA [ANATOLEUNA] BARYSEVICH. Twin sister of Ala [Anatoleuna] Babylyova. Daughter of Eva and Anatol [Tolik] Hadun. Granddaughter of Makrynya Hadun. Her husband is Yurka, an architect. Two children — Kazik, Lina.

VALERYK. Son of Henik the Uruguayan. Home on a visit from the United States, where he now lives.

VALIK. Works for Agrovitalika plus. One of the treasure hunters. Married to Volya.

VITAL CHAROTA. An incomer to the area. Director of the private agricultural company called ‘Agrovitalika Plus’. His son is a drug addict.

VERA MIKALAYEUNA. See Yarashykha.

VOLYA. Valik’s wife.

YARASHYKHA. Village way of referring to the wife of a man called Yarash (a familiar form of Yaraslau). Grandmother of the poet who calls himself Mikhas Yarash. (By outsiders she is referred to formally as Vera Mikalaeuna).

YURKA. Husband of Ulia Barysevich.

ZOSKA. Granddaughter of Henik the Uruguayan.