And Hrant Matevossian Said

There was neither the mood, the intention nor the hope for a long, substantial, carefully wrought interview. But there was a wish to talk, and I put short questions to him, expecting short answers. He entered the game and began to “play” himself, giving answers suited to an impromptu interview.

— Your zodiac sign?
— Aquarius.
— Your favourite animal?
— At one time I used to ask my friends to draw a lamb, a kid, a calf, a foal, a little tree, and a little boy beside it.
— That was then. What about now?
— Sadly, my ties with animals have been broken. Perhaps the cow. I am going to write a long, beautiful story.
— Your favourite television programme?
— In the World of Animals.
— Your favourite newspaper?
— I have none now.
— Before?
— Grakan Tert.
— Your favourite sport?
— Gymnastics.
— Your favourite city?
— Yerevan in the fifties.
— Your favourite actor?
— Jean Gabin.
— Your favourite actress?
— Anna Magnani.
— Your favourite male singer?
— Chaliapin, Caruso, Komitas, Shahmuradyan.
— Your favourite female singer?
— Haykanush Danielyan, Maria Callas.
— The most handsome man?
— Marlon Brando.
— The most charming woman?
— Anouk Aimée.
— The historical figure most worthy of respect?
— Mikhail Loris-Melikov.
— Your favourite political figure?
— Mossadegh.
— Your shortcomings?
— Forgiveness.
— Your virtues?
— An enduring wish to communicate with people.
— Your greatest disappointment?
— Hamo Sahyan used to say: I do not become enchanted, so that I do not have to become disenchanted. Even in the greatest love I still have a reservation. I am not sincere enough to suffer great disappointments.
— Your greatest success?
— It is already in the past, sadly unfinished. I left it with grand promises of writing under good conditions, of seeing everything from hidden recesses to the whole panorama.
— Your greatest failure?
— That too is in my drawer, begun in the wrong rhythm, in the wrong manner of telling. But I cannot bear to burn what I have done, and I am trying to save it.
— Your favourite food?
— Bread and cheese.
— Your favourite drink?
— Pure cornelian cherry vodka.
— Your favourite tobacco?
— A thin Dutch cigar.
— You have the chance to be born again. Where and when would you choose?
— Scandinavia. But if it were Armenia, then at the beginning of the century, a little before Tumanyan, the same age as Varuzhan, so that in 1915 I would either perish or…
— Your favourite season?
— Early spring, the beginning of May; a clear, full autumn.
— Sea or forest: which do you prefer?
— The sea, but the forest is dear and familiar. The sea as freedom, as power. The sea is wealth, character. Look: coastal peoples are adventurous, bold, daring, while a people shut within mountains tends to be downtrodden.
— Your question to yourself?
— Hrant, you have drunk all your cognacs, enjoyed all your pleasures. What do you want from the world?
— Your answer to yourself?
— Myself.
— Your question to me?
— Who are you?
— Who knows?

That is all — and not only that.
And what comes next comes later.

Anahit ADAMYAN
Yerkir Nairi, 2–8 June 1995.