I met a Russian on the train who said he was from a noble line in southern Russia.
He wore a brown gown, which needless to say is not common.
Otherwise he looked quite normal, reading the Times and smoking a cigar.
Before the revolution, over a hundred years ago, his great grandfather (or something) had lived like a monarch in a countryside palace there.
-Everyone was happy, and everyone worked, he said.
I was a bit skeptical, but he went on telling me about the matriarch, his old great-grandmother, how she didn't give the workers any food or money, but they were happy nevertheless.
-How can that be? Everyone needs to eat.
He told me what a great artist the grandmother had been, so instead of money or food the workers were given little 'frescoes', effectual paintings on little stone tables and wooden objects.
How times have changed, I reflected.
So good artist was she, that the peasants and workers could sell her paintings at the markets of Astrakhan, a city known for its culture.
-They loved her so much, and they cried every day when she had to leave Russia.
I looked at the man, he had large almost black eyes and he was sweating while he spoke, as this was important for him.
He meant that it was much better in the old days, when they had people who the workers 'looked up to', people who could 'sort it all out' (his expression) and were beyond reproach.
-Everyone worked and everyone was happy, he said again.
The subway stopped and the ticket controller appeared.
The man became nervous.
He grabbed my arm with a shaking hand. Saliva was running down his mouth, dripping down on his gown.
-Do not forget me. We will come back one day.
He picked up his belongings, the newspaper and a monocle, and ran out of the subway-compartment leaving me a bit startled.
I shouted farewell, and as I walked up to the little place where I live, I felt a bit sad.
Sad that there are so many people who want the old feudal-system back, and this just because they are related to someone belonging to an aristocratic dynasty or something, people who were very wealthy at any rate.
No way anyone can believe it was better in the old days, but how can you reason with these people.
There's just no way reasoning with them.