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Bai Velichkov!102 Good for you, Bai Velichkov! That’s the way to go! Why should we deceive the younger generation? Let’s put our cards right on the table. Ideals? Nonsense! Our very own personal satisfaction, right here on this earth, that’s the ideal we should pursue. I’m glad that you’ve finally figured it out. Why should we work up a sweat for this contemptible nation? When we were young, it was no big deal, but now that we’re over forty, it’s time to think of ourselves. We’re through roughing it! And especially you, poor guy, you really wore yourself out in those Constantinople alleys and Italian lanes, and wasn’t that a deed of derring-do! When you saw that Stambolov had blown his top, you snuck out of Bulgaria, you ditched those slaves; let them rot in slavery.They’re used to it.You’re not used to pulling your weight, and like any fine gentleman, you tried to cut and run. And how you suffered on Khalki! Sometimes, you didn’t even have enough money for medicine. Bobchev and Madzharov fell silent.103 Enough with the heroics, already!  Letter from Bai Ganyo to Konstantin Velichkov  102. Konstantin Velichkov Petkov (–) was a writer and social activist. He was arrested during the April Uprising () and spent four months in Turkish jails. In  he went into voluntary exile as a protest against the Stambolov regime, but his exile, which lasted eight years, was interpreted by some as flight, hence Aleko’s sarcastic remarks. In  Petkov went from Italy to Constantinople, where he worked for the Exarchate (see n) for three years. In  he went to Khalki, an island in the Dodecanese west of Rhodes, where he lived among the fishermen, worked hard, and painted pictures. In his letters to friends he complained of poverty and illness. 103. Stefan Bobchev (–) was a prominent activist in the National Party. He held various public offices and was professor of the history of Bulgarian law at Sofia University. Mihail Madzharov (–) was a leader of the Unitarist Party and also held numerous important public offices. Bobchev and Madzharov were the editors of the journal Bûlgarska sbirka (Bulgarian Collection), with which Aleko was involved. And you know what? Chuck your damned poetry, too. That stuff is OK when the wind is blowing through your empty wallet. But now, thank God, we’ve fixed things up! Now all kinds of lowlifes, nasty little socialists and idealists, are going to start bashing you, but don’t you bat an eye. Just you turn a deaf ear and take it easy—take it easy and laugh in their faces. Of course! And why are they bashing you? I mean, really, is it for some treachery of yours, for some deception, out of disillusionment? Nope! It’s envy! Of course! There’s no doubt about it; they’re envious! And why is that? Simply because they’ve been beaten black and blue and coughed their lungs out, and then you (what a devil you are, damn you!), you go and land yourself the cushiest job.104 So, do you see now? Do you agree? Wasn’t I the one who told you that in this world the best thing to do is to take it easy? This social struggle , ideals, and I don’t know what all other foolishness—it’s all hot air! And now, look, when you hold out your moneybag at the end of the month, they shovel fifteen hundred big fat levs into it. It’s a beautiful thing, goddamn it! Hang in there now! If you dig yourself up a tasty bone, hold on to it! Don’t you give a thought to whose hide those levs are coming out of. You squeeze that blood out of that turnip, goddamn it! Squeeze away! It’ll keep dripping. But maybe you’re wondering why I’m writing to you. I’m writing to praise you for your speech the other day in the National Assembly.105 Good for you, Kocho! Well, to tell you the truth, I wept for joy. I almost came right up to you and kissed you in front of all those deputies. But they would have started to kick me—I mean, raise objections. Do you remember the speech I’m talking about? Of course you do! Everybody is talking about it. And you’re right,Kocho! No way twenty...

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