The next meeting of the Presnensky court in the case of the artist M.O. Efremov, accused of a drunken traffic accident that resulted in the death of the auto courier Zakharov (Zakharov's van against the mighty Efremov's jeep - like a boat against a battleship) went lively and cheerfully. Efremov, who tried to grumble against his amazing lawyer Elman Maherran-oglu Pashayev and refuse his services, did not grumble for long and again handed his term to the original defender. After the meeting, some visitors shouted to Efremov "Drunk!" We had a wonderful time.

For some time, the Presnenskoe triumph of justice has been referred to only as the glyad circus. It would be both good and fun if the circus did not light the lights over the grave of the driver Zakharov.

Of course, defender Pashayev bears a fair share of responsibility for the circus performance. What he does in the courtroom and outside it, the old-timers will not remember. All right, “ablakat is a hired conscience”, but “ablakat is a pashayev’s conscience” is already on the other side of good and evil. The elder of the law firm G.P. Padva (he has been practicing since 1958, when neither Efremov nor Pashayev was in the project yet) directly named Pashayev a fraudster who discredits the legal profession. This is true, but the corporation is also responsible for its members. If she is not able to cleanse herself of them, then her price is not high.

But what are we all about Pashayev! And what about your client? 

On June 13, on the fifth day after the accident, Efremov, not afraid of violating the rules of house arrest, made an appeal on the Citizen Poet website: “I don’t understand how to continue living. I know many people think that as an artist they will excuse me. No, I am not going to and will not excuse myself, including some of my connections or acquaintances. This is not a movie, you can't rewind anything. The end, there is no longer any Efremov. I betrayed everyone. I'm sorry".

Then the artist got very excited - now in the courtroom is quite the old Efremov, who has completely forgotten about his picturesque repentance and completely denies his guilt.

And in a repentant mood, they do not resort to Pashayev's services.

There is nothing supernatural about the artist's reverse metamorphosis. With the logic “You cannot resurrect a dead man, but I still have to live. Anyway, why the hell did he get in my way and ruin my whole life? " I had to face it not only in the case of Efremov. Man is weak.

The weakness is aggravated by two additional circumstances. First, the artist is not really a human being. He lacks an inner core, since his whole profession is a constant reincarnation, which the core only interferes with. What a ceaseless reincarnation in court looks like - we were shown. 

Secondly, you don’t have to be Uglovoy’s grandfather or Onishchenko’s grandfather to know: alcoholism à la longue ends in personality decay. And firm repentance does not go well with the final stage of degradation. Yes, it is in the power of God to work miracles, but nowhere does it say that this is His immutable duty.

Drunk road accidents are often arranged by people who drink heavily and regularly, and miraculous spiritual transformations cannot be seen much. And why should it be different with Efremov?

But we were constantly convinced that an accident on Smolensky Boulevard was special.

Companion M.O. Efremova on improvisation, writer D.L. Bykov said: “We acquired Efremov of superhuman strength, who began to pay with his life. He is living a terrible role that is very edifying, which can be a very terrible lesson. This is also a kind of Doctor Faustus. I am absolutely sure that someday documentary novels and investigations, and psychological research will be written about the case of Efremov - this deserves it. "

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The statistics of the Ministry of Internal Affairs informs that there are 4-4.5 thousand drunken accidents with fatal outcomes a year. Suppose (although this is a strong assumption) that in half of the road traffic accidents, only the drunk is killed while driving - and no one else. For example, it enters a post or KamAZ, which has a lot of iron. But in the remaining 2 thousand cases, innocent strangers still perish at the hands of a drunk. 

That is, our land gives birth to 2 thousand drunken doctors Faustus a year. Since the provincial driver Pupkin, who arranged a drunken accident with corpses, and the brilliant (as his sympathizers say) artist Efremov are no different in their subsequent behavior. More precisely, Pupkin can behave more worthily, because we do not know this yet. And how our Faustus behaved is already known. 

The moral of the sad story with the glaring circus is obvious. Do not attach any importance to what the crowd is intoxicatingly broadcasting, protecting its distinguished articulate. That in the case of Efremov, that in other cases. Their words are nothing more than empty (though sometimes funny, sometimes disgusting) shaking of air. And you never know who shakes the air.

The author's point of view may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.