Dog Squabble by Osip Mandelstam. Short summary

5 seconds

A popular rage erupts in Paris. Ordinary citizens take part in the battle, while the pampered intellectuals refuse to fight. But freedom loves only the brave and courageous who can fight for their people.

1 minute

Popular fury erupts in the streets of Paris. All around, the sound of the alarm bells can be heard, and the air is riddled with bullets. In those days there were no hordes of golden uniforms, ordinary citizens took a carbine in their grubby fingers. Swearing and calls for death were everywhere.

The pampered intelligentsia did not participate in this battle. In the days of terrible saber losses, they hid, refusing to fight and «carpeting the fear of their pink ears…»

Liberty, according to the writer, is not the frail Countess of Saint Germain. She is a large and very strong woman with a gruff voice. She favors a brave and mighty people, she likes the rattle of drums, the smoke of gunpowder and the chime of bells. Freedom belongs only to the strong, to those who are not afraid of power and hands not washed clean of blood.