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Old Maps Rostov-on-Don, Russia The river’s the same, curving gentle and infinite from right to left across the frame. And the street grid sketched out in an age of absolutes, it’s still there—no one would dream of changing it. There’s still a square in the old town center, and the cathedral’s ancient head has been fitted with a new gold cap. But factories have filled in fields beyond the rails, and the hippodrome has shifted shape—if you believe the maps— from oval to rectangle. What used to be the town next door is now Our Town. Soon Engels Street will go back to being Garden Street, I guess; and Kirov’s bust (its nameplate comically misspelled) will be leaving the park. But they’ll keep 3 the column that marks the War, clumsy metal fins still weighing down its gilt star. A changeable wind will still moan down the streets—sharptongued , implacable— blowing the seasons right out of town. 4 ...

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