Page 50 - The Mirror of My Soul. Vol. 1

Nicolai Levashov. The Mirror of My Soul. Vol. 1. Born in the USSR

(including me). Soon the rumors about my “political studies” spread among soldiers,
ensigns and officers. Many of them asked me to show them something.

At that time every night there was an officer or ensign on duty in the quarters to
prevent activities not provided by the service regulations. I also had to be on duty in
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quarters several times a month. The task was simple—to sit in the Lenin’s room and to
oversee the observance of service regulations. After that officers and ensigns went to
their houses, a duty detail and duty officers (whose duties I just mentioned) remained in
the unit. Before going to bed, soldiers often gathered in groups and asked me to
demonstrate something. In the course of time first-class “stars” appeared among soldiers,
sergeants, ensigns and officers.

I invented new experiments and checked them in practice immediately. I never
humiliated anyone and never forced anyone to do anything abusive when I used my
abilities on people. There-fore everyone agreed to participate in my experiments with
great enthusiasm. It always was fun without any offense and everyone, both audience
and participants, got a healthy charge of merriment. Besides, my experiments enlivened

the soldiers and officers’ everyday routine.

I took over the duty first as an assistant to the duty officer and then as a duty officer.
We had to do almost ten duties a month. They lasted 24 hours—from 18.00 till 18.00
the next day, however, we usually came home after duty much later. Usually we
managed to sleep for four hours maximum during these duties. A bed was right there in
a small room behind a plywood partition. The assistant duty officer had his rest-time at
night, so he could get some rest. The duty officer had his rest-time after morning parade
and he had to “rest” among the staff’s bustle, continuous phone calls and loud orders
from the unit commander, the chief of staff and other officers. Those, who served in the
army then, would understand me perfectly, especially those, who had heard the unit
commander ordering someone to bring his car and his strong language, if the latter failed
to appear in five minutes... The main responsibility of the duty officer and his assistant
was to stay permanently in the duty room and attend phone calls. During the night there
were almost no calls, but in the morning and till noon there was no respite.

One day, when I was on duty, several officers and ensigns came to me and asked
me to show them my “miracles”. As it was a “dead season” for phone calls, I called my
“stars”, chose from among officers and ensigns the most sensitive ones, and began my
show in the duty room. This time I decided to invent something new. I created brick
walls in front of them and asked to pass through; the result was the same as if I had asked
them to walk through real walls. I imagined that I cut off my head and held it under my
armpit. I created my doubles and sent them in different directions. I did a lot of other
things, both very funny and not so funny (cutting off my head!).

When then I asked the participants in my “show”, what did they see, their answer
surprised me. When I imagined that I cut off my head—they saw everything down to the
smallest detail. They saw, how I separated my head from my body, took it under my
armpit, saw how my blood flowed and how the eyes and lips of my “severed” head
moved. I could not have foreseen such reality and was glad that none went crazy because
of it. But most often I did something funny like “gluing” feet to the floor, hands to the

12 Every organization or institution, be it industrial plant, country school or prison, was obliged to have the so-called Lenin’s
room with portrait of Lenin, his books, red flags and other communist paraphernalia.
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