A History of the Island by Eugene Vodolazkin

Author:Eugene Vodolazkin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Plough Publishing House

His Brightest Futurity declared himself Chairman of the Island and Atanas, his comrade-in-arms – who had been assigned a most important post, as Minister of History and the Bright Future – was appointed his deputy. Since the Revolution had resulted in the bright future becoming the present to some degree, he proposed during the government’s first session that the present be included in his sphere of responsibilities too.

Kasyan cut off the minister’s speech and pointed out that only he was working on the present. After agreeing that the bright future had arrived, the chairman of the Island expressed confidence that this future could become even brighter and that the minister would have plenty to work on there. It is said that Atanas blushed but dared not enter into debate with the chairman.

After arriving at the Monastery with the goal of transferring it to the government, Atanas requested that A History of the Island be brought to him for a quick perusal. The history did not satisfy the minister, particularly the part describing the one-hundred-fifty-year dominion of the Apagonians.

A great people cannot have this sort of history, said Atanas. In other words, a people with a history like that cannot be great even if the people itself is obviously great. What follows from that?

I, a sinning man, did not know.

Atanas placed a hand on the manuscript.

And so it follows that history must be brought into accordance with the greatness of the people.

When I took the liberty of pointing out to him that our history was granted to us by God, he answered that God no longer exists in the previous sense. I asked Atanas what God is in the new sense and he answered:

The bright future.

A week later, the Supreme Council, which was dedicated to the past and the future, gathered at the Palace and I was brought in too. Island Chairman Kasyan was first to speak and he alerted the attendees to the fact that in the life of every people there exist past, present, and future. Unable to cope with that delight, a Supreme Council member demanded that those words be included in a history textbook and that all further historical compositions open with them.

Chairman Kasyan initially wanted to question that proposal, pointing out that he had expressed more impressive opinions that he could bring to the public before too long but the Supreme Council considered it compulsory to immortalize all the chairman’s thoughts in order that not a single one be lost to posterity. Seeing the council’s steadfastness, Kasyan was forced to agree.

Inspired by the attention of his comrades-in-arms, the chairman gave them the gift of a more impressive statement that caused a new eruption of approval: History should not only express the past. According to Kasyan’s thinking, historians henceforth should describe the future, too, since it will end up becoming the past. He called for making the future a special section of history.

In expanding on the chairman’s statement, Atanas proposed calling the section about the future prophecy. Here, however, a harsh rebuke awaited him.

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