Bapašaba

Rastislav Dobos (About Sitting Presidents)

And there were five of them sitting and sucking on pacifiers, and one of them was the smartest. The one, who was the dumbest, pulled the pacifier out of his mouth and said: “I´m sorry I can´t help you.“ And he put it back in his mouth again.

Ever since the dumbest one has returned from a maze, the smartest one was seriously conversing with him although it did not even cross his mind to listen to him. Why learn something new? The dumbest added a few more silly sentences, and the smartest felt like singing a merry tune. He started: “Hoopla, hey, this is fun for everyone ...“

The other three have not said anything for several days already. They were waiting when the smartest enters the maze. Now it was clear that he will manage to return without any harm since nothing, except for some scratches, had happened to the dumbest.

The smartest finished singing. One of the three, who had the right to the first word and was a president just a couple of days ago, was still quiet. That is why the other one, who had the right to the second word, was also quiet even though he would have liked to ask whether there is something in the maze that makes them want to enter it. The one, who had the right to the third word, was raking through ashes with his hand and thinking about grub again. All of them have had growling stomachs for several days already.

“By principle, I pretend that I don´t remember anything,“ mumbled the dumbest. He was afraid not to have to go into the maze again. It was dark, cold and full of ash there. Like everywhere else. “There ain´t a diddley thing there anyway,“ said he and spat.

“Hoopla, hey, this is fun for everyone ...“

“Ah, the hell with you all,“ murmured the dumbest.

The saliva soaked into ash. The dumbest kneaded a small ball out of the moist mass. Afterwards, he ritualistically pulled the pacifier out of his mouth and focused on chewing on the ash ball. The smartest became happy. A dummy sees unlimited possibilities in everything, he thought.

„Ah, the hell with you all!“

„Hoopla, hey, this is fun for everyone ... “

The smartest stood up and started laughing out loud before entering the maze. The others were laughing too, and they were spitting into ash. The dumbest swallowed another small ball, and the smartest finally got the courage and entered.