According to some who adhere to this version, he deliberately bumped into a handsome young sailor (Ivan); according to others who believe this story, it was involuntary, an accident.

Some swear that the officer wasn’t high-ranking and that he went down to the crew’s quarters with the express intention of visiting a young man (Ivan) with whom he had been having his way, and young Ivan, the object of his desire, wanted to get rid of him and raised the alarm.

As the story goes, in the middle of the night an officer awakens a sailor, exhausted from his long workday. The gravelly voice of another crew member, Vakulenchuk, galvanizes the others to take action against the transgressor.

“Comrades, it’s time to make a move.”

He makes a little speech (neither as long nor as moving as Father Gapon’s, it’s improvised and has a touch of fury that the reverend’s didn’t when we heard him speak that Saturday). When he finishes, the sailors respond in unison, as if they’ve rehearsed.

“We’re not gonna eat rotten stew anymore.”

The instigator, Vakulenchuk, starts speaking again, invigorated by their unanimous reply.

“The Japanese feed their Russian prisoners better!”

Only one of the sailors on the Potemkin, Matyushenko, a deep sleeper, remains in Morpheus’s arms, though he’s not completely oblivious to what’s going on. He’s dreaming of Claudia. Perhaps he doesn’t recognize her in his dream, but he knows her well; Matyushenko is the husband of the young woman who works for Anya, Valeria, the one who wants to know how to avoid having children. Claudia is telling him, “Sailors should take a vow not to eat.”

She’s sitting at a table that looks like it’s made of glass, laden with plates and glasses and glass bottles, too, overflowing with food and drink. She takes a spoonful (he can’t see what it is because the spoon isn’t made of glass) and puts it in her mouth, continuing to speak while she splatters him with food. “You should renounce it, sailor. All sailors who are going to sea should renounce food!”

Claudia eats and eats, spewing food; the sailor feels an uncontrollable desire to grab the spoon from her and devour the food. When he tries to, a fence of huge knives springs up between them, their sharp points facing him. But young Matyushenko is oblivious to danger: he’s mad with hunger.

As soon as he takes a step toward the fence of pointed knives, the fear of impaling himself awakens him; he becomes conscious of his hunger and the surrounding commotion of his shipmates, who are starving like him, and all worked up, as we’ve seen.

36. Claudia’s Regrets

36. Claudia’s Regrets