Third Rome

The Krylatskoe line of the Metro имени Ленина - in the name of Lenin - ran above ground most of the way, and it was not heated. I lived at the end of the line. In the winter, I always hoped to sit or stand between two furred women. The rounder, the more generous and maternal, the better.

There was a man who walked from вагон (car) to вагон, selling invisible ink pens. "For state secrets, or cheating on exams," he said in the high point of his pitch. Another man sold a pamphlet called Правила движения - the rules of movement, literally, but more specifically, the rules of driving. He said the passages that had changed since the previous edition were highlighted in yellow. A third man sold glass cutters. He carried pieces of glass with him in a suitcase, and demonstrated the power of the glass cutter there in the middle of each вагон. At the end of his rounds he was left with shards.