One of friends, John Hamilton, wrote me the following:
“Hi Serge:
I am surprised that you would send someone a book for money. Actually he was asking you to do him a favor, and he would pay you for it. I do not do that sort of thing. I do not trust people. But you do, and has he paid you?
John”
I answered as follows.
“Dear John:
You should know me better. I was not going to spend any money on that guy. But I can spend some money on some people, on those whom I respect and with whom I sympathize. If I corresponded with some poor boy in Africa, I would think nothing of sending him a few roubles, if they were any good for him. But roubles are almost worthless money, not accepted outside of Russia. Also, if I corresponded with a colleague (a translator) who genuinely loved the language, I would help him with dictionaries, some at my expense if I could afford. Such is my approach. That young guy (a former Soviet Jew) wrote that he is very fond of his job and that he loves translating. I thought we could be friends. We exchanged a few mails.
It didn’t take me long to realize that he is NOT interested in the communication and languages. Writing to him was like throwing used toilet paper into the toilet pan. No, I’m not looking for somebody’s love or sympathy. But I thought I could help him professionally. I know for a fact that I am one of the most knowledgeable and experienced translators in Russia with a vast and solid background of work with half a dozen languages. I know ALL about dictionaries and have nearly all Russia-published ones in my library plus quite a lot of foreign stuff. I have a perfect command of Russian and can write it adequately. At various times I spoke various languages, including Japanese, one of the world’s most difficult languages (I learned it all on my own). A specialist of my caliber could be a boon to a young translator. Once I learned he got an assignment of translating a book about Russia’s underworld, I sent him a COMPLETE list of dictionaries he might need. And I could buy some of them here in Russia. Ah… he is NOT interested. He is interested in money that the translating can provide. I informed him that such and such dictionaries (excellent ones) are on sale over here. Their strong points are such and such. They cost so and so much. Are you interested? Yes, he hollered. Send! I’ll pay everything! Don’t worry! I did send, presuming I was dealing with a decent person (one dictionary was quite big and costly).
I suppose he ought to have paid me IMMEDIATELY. Without waiting till the books arrive. And he ought to have paid me even if the books did not arrive at all. Because it would be none of my fault, and I had done it following his request. No, first he waited till the books arrived (I didn’t remind him that it was indecent) and after he received the books I had to remind him SEVERAL times that he must pay. I can afford losing 40 dollars. But I don’t want to. More importantly, I want him to realize that his behavior is swinish. He never once said “thank you” to me! And said he could get those books cheaper in the States. Rubbish! One dictionary alone costs 57 pounds sterling, or roughly 80 dollars. I sent him TWO dictionaries (the other one was small + a disc as a personal present). He paid less than half of what it would cost him in the States! And not a sound of gratitude... Yep, some people are queer… The distressing thing is that MANY people behave so. They just grab and go happily. I don’t like it. So it goes.
Regards,
Serge”.