She stood in her shorts next to six baskets of cherries she had picked during the juicing season. She came forward from the hut, took a bowl from it, then removed the cover of the well, and pulled out a bucket filled with fresh water. She raised her hands, pulled down her blouse, which was stained with cherry juice, and unbuttoned her shorts. The blouse moved up, and the pants down, she shook her body, slipped out of her clothes, walked naked, then took a bath in a clearing in the middle of the orchard, while the old man who had been talking since noon walked by S, in amazement, places his folded knees between his joined palms, and looks through them into emptiness, petrified. , staring into emptiness, immersed in his thoughts, while she guided him, which is the best a woman can guide a man: she bathes in the afternoon to quench the water from his thirsty eyes.

"(1914- 1997)
يُعتبر أبرز أديب تشيكي في القرن العشرين. وُلِدَ في مدينة Brno، تزوَّجَت أُمُّه من فرانتيشك هرابال -محاسب مصنع «البيرة»-. وانتقلوا إلى مدينة Nymburk على نهر Elbe. ظهرت تجارب هذه المرحلة في ثُلاثيَّته القصصية ""بلدة على شاطئ النَّهر"" (1962) وفي ""البلدة التي توقَّف فيها الزَّمن"" (1963).
اهتمَّ بالحياة الملوَّنة في معمل ""البيرة"" وبچوزيف (العم پيپن Pepin)، والذي أطلق هرابال على أسلوبه في الحديث صفة ""النهر المتدفِّق"" واتَّبعه في معظم كتاباته، ولا سيَّما في قصَّته الطويلة ""آلام العجوز ڤرتر"" التي غيَّر عنوانها ونشرها في عام 1964 بعنوان ""دروس في الرقص للمُسِنِّين"" التي صدرت عن مركز المحروسة.
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