Final Word from Tuesday, August 5, 2008
There was always a way for an old-timer to earn a little something in a cold Siberian prison, according to Ivan Denisovich in Solzhenitsyn's classic. He could sew someone an outer lining for his mittens, sweep up this or fetch that, or collect bowls from the tables in the mess hall. But this last task exposed a prisoner to the temptation of licking up after someone else, and this - according to the law of the taiga - was a sure-fire way to bring life to an early end. It's similar in Czech politics. There's always a way for a sly old fox to earn a little something extra. He can sweep up this or fetch that. But it's when he gets greedy and starts licking from other people's bowls that the trouble begins. That's where ODS finds itself today, esp. in the city of Prague, where appetites have become unquenchable. No one is likely to go to Siberia, or even Pankrác, but the frost might come early for ODS this autumn.[Czech Republic One Day in the Life Aleksandr Alexander]
Glossary of difficult words
old-timer - a veteran, a person with considerable tenure or experience in a given place or activity;
lining - a covering or coating for a surface;
taiga - a subarctic forest of northern Eurasia;
sure-fire - certain, guaranteed;
sly - having or showing a cunning and deceitful nature;
fox - a crafty or clever person;
unquenchable - impossible to satisfy;
Pankrác - a Prague prison;
frost - a period of cold weather;
this autumn - when the Senate and regional elections are held.