I wanted to believe that this Russian, this man of unbreakable will, would stick it out, and that the boy would grow at his father's side into a man who could endure anything, overcome any obstacle if his country called upon him to do so.
I felt sad as I watched them go. Perhaps everything would have been all right at our parting but for Vanya. After he had gone a few paces, he twisted round on his stumpy legs and waved to me with his little rosy hand.
And suddenly a soft but taloned paw seemed to grip my heart, and I turned hastily away.
No, not only in their sleep do they weep, these elderly men whose hair grew grey in the years of war.
They weep, too, in their waking hours.
The thing is to be able to turn away in time.
The . important thing is not to wound a child's heart, not to let him see the unwilling tear that burns the cheek of a man.