"The Big Cart" by Max Fry, summary Automatic translate

This book is a collection of twenty-two stories, written in 2009. The author transferred the outline of the Ursa Major constellation onto a physical map of Europe, and the stars pointed to random European cities. It is in these settlements that the events of the work unfold. Each story corresponds to a specific star and is named after a letter of the Greek alphabet. The text is imbued with magical realism, where the everyday is closely intertwined with the miraculous. The boundaries between dream and reality blur imperceptibly. The characters constantly move through space, finding strange interlocutors in unfamiliar places. Small details guide them on the right path.

Signs of fate on city streets

In the city of Nancy, the hero receives a mysterious text message in Russian. The message leads him to the neglected garden of the Citadel. There, he meets art historian Birgit, who is searching for a mythical mailbox. Birgit is studying the work of Émile Galle and hopes to receive news that could change her bleak life. They help each other and find an old mailbox high in the branches of a maple tree. Birgit retrieves a long-awaited letter for herself and regains lost hope. The hero, meanwhile, finds a crumpled note on the ground with the hopeful promise of a new beginning.

Zurich greets the traveler with organ music. On the embankment, an old accordionist imitates a broken instrument. Johann Sebastian Bach’s music is playing on a recording from a suitcase hidden nearby. The traveler pays the old man in coins for the marvelous performance. Afterward, the cunning accordionist, with a wave of his hand, causes the melody to pour forth from the sky, deafening the audience. In Digne-les-Bains, another hero tries to verify rumors of children constantly wearing golden masks. In the square, a frighteningly dark woman approaches him. She hands him an old postcard with a strange message on the back. The inscription reads: "The Demiurge should not wander through his gardens."

Winds and invisible messages

In Marvejol, a girl named Luce enters a small café. The owner, who turns out to be the southwest wind Mendoza, treats her to a delicious dinner. He then takes her to a nighttime performance. There, various werewolves put on a spectacular circus show. This takes place every night to restore joy and vitality to the old town. In the morning, these wonderful companions vanish into thin air, leaving Luce with a light heart. She decides not to return to her former boring life and remains in Marvejol.

Toulouse presents the hero with an unusual quest. He finds fragments of an old cardboard puzzle on the cobbled streets. At the local puzzle shop, a red-haired woman informs him that the assembled picture is unique. It was created by a mysteriously missing artist named Michel Méru. Having assembled an image of the French town of Hauterives, the hero boards a commuter train. At a small station, he finds the final puzzle piece, a drawing of the sun. Disembarking in Hauterives, he sees the painting come to life, is terrified by this miracle, and immediately returns to Toulouse.

Spanish Travels and Old Tales

Zaragoza tests the traveler with its icy wind and gloomy monumental architecture. He finds a talking black-and-white cat, who forces him to listen to local legends. She recounts in detail the story of a city of nightmares and the merchant Kronos, who sells spare time. The hero feeds the cat ham and strolls through the narrow streets. Eventually, he decides to take the furry storyteller with him, giving her the strange name Manuscrita. He calls a friend in Barcelona to inquire about the rules for transporting animals across borders.

In the Spanish province of Elche de la Sierra, blonde Masha finds herself in a difficult situation. The town seems dead, there are no buses, and a madman with headphones wanders at the bus stop. She hires an elderly local, Antonio, to help her escape. The man, driving a silver car, drives her to Albacete and leaves a note. It turns out Antonio has been waiting his whole life for a blonde foreigner. An old gypsy woman prophesied: "Only a woman with white hair will help you leave your home province." The girl unwittingly helps the old man find freedom.

Forgotten castles and living statues

In Walbrzych, Poland, two friends are escaping the unbearable cold. They spend a long time searching for hot coffee in the dreary city. Once warmed up, they invent a story about Prince Bolko and a cunning demon. According to legend, the demon built an invisible castle to punish the greedy ruler. The travelers then visit the real-life Książ Castle, where they see a deformed man making money from his appearance. In Warsaw, a lone traveler wanders the morning streets, enjoying the solitude. In Castle Square, one hundred and thirty-eight painted bear figures suddenly come to life. They form a column and give chase. The man flees in panic.

Krakow introduces us to a former student working as a living statue. Tourists mistake his silver demon for a powerful miracle worker. Sick people from all over Europe come to him for healing and help. Tired of the involuntary responsibility, the young man invites a random listener to take his place on stilts. The man happily accepts, hoping to find his true calling in this craft. He dons a silver suit and mask, preparing to perform new miracles in the Market Square.

Games with time and old friends

In the French novel by Entrevaux, a Croatian woman named Jolka confesses an incredible fact to a fellow traveler. She can move through space, contemplating old paintings and children’s drawings. The woman claims that her grandfather passed this secret down to her as an inheritance. Jolka disappears right before the hero’s eyes, so she can make soup for her sons. All that remains on the stone is a drawing of a crooked house, drawn by her youngest child.

In Paris, a casual interlocutor shares a tragic story. His father died in Bosnia many years ago during the war. The young man recently saw his father’s exact replica among the street jazz musicians on the Pont Saint-Louis. The musicians hinted that they cast no shadows and played the music of eternity. The hero offers the young man the right words of consolation, firmly asserting: "There is no death."

In Brindisi, Italy, Rita photographs strange wall drawings. The pencil sketches remind her of old friends, Lyuska and Sasha. Rita calls them and rekindles a relationship broken many years ago. It turns out Lyuska works as a bartender in a café in Erfurt. Sasha lives in Montenegro and writes children’s books. Rita promises to visit her old lover soon, ready to change her comfortable but lonely life.

Ghosts and Ancient Translations

Otranto welcomes the traveler with a lengthy conversation with the Englishman William Marshall. He speaks enthusiastically of ghosts, miracles, and the local winds. It soon becomes clear that William and his wife are simply bored actors, constantly playing pranks on gullible tourists for their own amusement. The traveler learns of this from a strange local boy, but decides to play along with the old men. Later, he meets a sullen boatman who transports people to their true destinies.

In Moscow, editor Irina Ruvimovna laments the disappearance of the brilliant translator Oleg. He sailed away on a lifeboat into the North Sea, seeing land where there shouldn’t have been any. Oleg left behind translations of unique Icelandic sagas about the inhabitants of the Valley of Cats. The texts tell of Vikings receiving mysterious gifts from Valhalla itself. Oleg’s sister in Christiania unexpectedly receives a sack of precious stones from her missing brother.

Painted bridges and wooden fish

Bremen gives the artist the gift of meeting his ex-wife, Galka. She asks him to go to Rothenburg and draw the old bridge over the Wümme River from life. Fulfilling her request, he mechanically sketches their embracing shadows on the water with a silver marker. Returning home, he realizes Galka was a mystical vision. Nevertheless, he is prepared to believe in her return and awaits a miracle.

In Nordhausen, a young man named Felix stalks the protagonist. He is absolutely certain that the protagonist is capable of performing true miracles and saving him from impending madness. Felix found the protagonist’s calling card in a deck of Tarot cards. The protagonist leads the young man to the locked gate of an abandoned restaurant. He leaves Felix to find his way through the strange courtyard and resolutely walks away.

Haven of the Northern Winds

The Czech castle of Křivoklát is closed to visitors due to bad weather. However, the souvenir shop in the courtyard is open. A curly-haired polyglot sells wooden fish, birds, and angels there, silently revealing the secrets of the world. He claims his creations bring joy back to the castle. With his work, he attempts to erase the dark memory of the former royal prison. The narrator’s daughter, Vasilisa, absentmindedly sorts through a box of buttons, immersing herself in childhood memories.

The finale takes place in the Italian town of Civitanova Marche. The hero arrives there, having been randomly assigned a room in a huge atlas. On a deserted, hot beach, he meets the green-eyed Signora Bora. She turns out to be the personification of the north wind. She explains in detail that the boring resort serves as a secret resting place for winds from all over Europe. She invites the hero to become a real wind himself. He agrees and bursts into happy laughter, forever abandoning his familiar human form.