Tesla
Authors: Vladimir Pistalo
A NOVEL
Vladimir Pištalo
Translated from the Serbian
by Bogdan Rakić and John Jeffries
GRAYWOLF PRESS
Copyright © 2008 by Vladimir Pištalo
English translation copyright © 2015 by Bogdan Rakić and John Jeffries
This publication is made possible, in part, by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund, and through a grant from the Wells Fargo Foundation Minnesota. Significant support has also been provided by Target, the McKnight Foundation, Amazon.com, and other generous contributions from foundations, corporations, and individuals. To these organizations and individuals we offer our heartfelt thanks.
A Lannan Translation Selection
Funding the translation and publication of exceptional literary works
Published by Graywolf Press
250 Third Avenue North, Suite 600
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55401
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States of America
ISBN 978-1-55597-697-2
Ebook ISBN 978-1-55597-332-2
2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 1
First Graywolf Printing, 2015
Library of Congress Control Number: 2014948533
Cover design: Scott Sorenson
This translation was done after the publication of the 2008 edition (second edition) of Vladimir Pištalo’s novel. As we had the pleasure of frequently discussing the novel’s main points with the author, he decided to make a few minor additions to the original text in order to better accommodate it to the spirit of the English language. This is why the text of this translation differs slightly from its Serbian original. The epigraph to chapter five from
The Republic
by Plato was translated by Benjamin Jowett. The quote from
Fasti
by Ovid that appears on page 42 was translated by James G. Frazer. We want to dedicate this translation to Svetlana Rakić and Elizabeth Weiss-Jeffries.
PART I. Youth
17. In the City of Styrian Grand Dukes
22. And the Moon Is Your Neighbor
27. Do You Want to See Golden Prague?
41. The Transformations of Athena
46. The Blind Say That the Eyes Stink
49. Put the Hands in Jars of Water
50. Through Our Sister Bodily Death
58. The Midsummer’s Night Dream
78. Zeus Commands the Thunderbolt
79. Tesla Toasts the Twentieth Century
90. The Swan, the Bull, and the Shower of Gold
95. The Night Train to Wardenclyffe
98. They Shall Take Up Serpents
101. East of the Sun, West of the Moon
102. On the Too-Merry Carousel of the Merciless Sunset
103. Millions of Screaming Windows
106. The Nose and the Parted Hair
107. Choose the Best Possible Life
109. Only Pains Hear, Only Needs See
110. Did We Live the Same Life?
118. The Bride of Frankenstein
127. Pain, Time, and the Importance of All Things Cease to Be
CHAPTER 1
Father
What is this world?
What is the purpose of existence?
Such thoughts played in Milutin Tesla’s head like kittens until he settled on the ultimate, frightening question:
What is “what”?
At this point the priest’s thoughts died out and he started to feel dizzy.
The human mind is pragmatic—it’s basically a tool
, Milutin concluded.
A saw cuts trees. One can take a bow and play music on it, but that’s not what a saw’s made for.
He advised his students to stop dithering and make up their minds. “I, for example, was about to graduate from a military academy,” he told them, “but I quit and became a priest.”
Milutin’s first parish was in Senj, the windy city mentioned in many Serbian epic songs. There he kept telling his parishioners: “So I ask a favor and advise you for your own good: Don’t be uncouth—you are folks endowed with common sense. Therefore, embrace the spirit of progress, the spirit of the people. Focus on liberty, equality, and brotherhood.”