[Alexander Givental]

This post is inspired by Ralph's previous one - I haven't found my double, but there will be mirrors.
Here is a math challenge for Sphereans which I sometimes use with little kids as well as with college math majors (all fail at their first try):

Walking with an iPhone in my hand through a modern art museum, I come to an installation at the corner of the hall: the floor and both walls are made of mirror. How many iPhones will I see?

A hint for the Sphereans is in the following poem, by Russian poet and translator Dmitry Usov (1896-1943), and in its English translation (by Elysée Wilson-Egolf and myself):

Translator

A peaceful evening with a book in hand.
The clock's tick tocks do not resemble racing.
Before me, figments from a poet's head
Lie represented in their author's phrasing:

“At dusk, the silence is more vibrant yet,
And streets before the night are growing quiet,
The moon puts on its windowpane lorgnettes,
But greets me through the looking-glass in private.”

From these four lines, I pull a guiding thread;
They're given – neither narrower, nor wider,
I cannot say directly what they said,
And nonetheless all four will be recited:

“In evening hours, utterings reverb,
And city noises, fading, disappear.
I'm facing – not the shining lunar orb,
But its representation in the mirror.”


Переводчик

Недвижный вечер с книгою в руках,
И ход часов так непохож на бегство.
Передо мною в четырех строках
Расположенье подлинного текста:

«В час сумерек звучнее тишина,
И город перед ночью затихает.
Глядится в окна полная луна,
Но мне она из зеркала сияет».

От этих строк протягиваю нить;
Они даны — не уже и не шире:
Я не могу их прямо повторить,
Но все-таки их будет лишь четыре:

«В вечерний час яснее каждый звук,
И затихает в городе движенье.
Передо мной — не лунный полный круг,
А в зеркале его отображенье».

15 февраля 1928