Florin Lazarescu – The Lamp with the Cap

Florin Lazarescu's short story, The Lamp with the Cap (trans. Jim Brown and Ehren Schimmel) opens during the exact moment when the boy begins to realise that his father does not in fact know everything. It's an important period for both boy and father, and neither are comfortable with it. The boy wishes to know everything, asking endless questions on every topic he can think up while his father struggles to answer and remain calm with the nonsense coming from his son, and all the while they are walking to the repair man to have their television fixed and, oh yes, it's raining.

”Dad, do you know how to swim?” the boy interrupted him.
His father stopped and looked at the kid in his plastic bag.
“What kind of question is that? Of course I can swim. I can swim across the pond, from one side to the other, with only one hand.”
“But can you swim under water?”
“Of course, I can swim like a fish, for as long as you want.”

It's bravado, but the boy only half recognises it as such. He believes in his father, but he is beginning to learn that the older man doesn't have all the answers and can't fight all the battles. Much of their relationship remains under the surface, rising up when the father becomes irritated over a particularly ridiculous question. He wants to remain the hero in his son's eyes, but it's getting harder for him, now that his son is stronger and more helpful, now that he asks questions he doesn't know the answer to, now that he is sometimes wrong.

Lazarescu inserts some local (Romanian) colour into the story as the two travel into the city to fix the television, but it's merely window dressing and is treated as such. The focus remains upon the father and his son, never delving deeply into their thoughts but paying attention to the cadence of their sentences, the small gestures and inflections of speech which make up a relationship. They love each other but they are at a crossroads, and every now and again we glimpse the father's knowledge of, and sadness concerning, his son's burgeoning maturity.

The fondness of their relationship is shown at its best during a conversation concerning ants, their antennas, and by extension the antennas of televisions. The boy begins by telling a fanciful tale, weaving technology into the little brains of the ants, and the father, instead of being irritated as he has now for some time (they were, after all, walking through the rain dressed in plastic bags while carrying a heavy television set), instead tells his son the story of a recent fright he had had concerning the rain and electricity. It's a touching story, revealing vulnerability while at the same time, it serves to reinforce the father's capacity as mentor and teacher. From this point the conversations are friendlier and more comfortable in their roles. The boy wanted to be taken seriously and was, the father wanted to be looked up to and was.

The ending to the story is sweet. Whether or not the television is fixed (it is) is really beside the point. It's a story about a relationship threatening to teeter that became righted through affection and care. There's a strong sense that the boy will break out and become forcibly independent soon anyway, but for now they are still two soldiers battling the world together, one the grizzled commander, the other the youthful infantry. For now, the boy looks up to his father, and the adventure to fix the television set is already imprinting itself into his heart as he falls asleep. For now, his father remains the strong and important and significant man he so very much wishes to be. For now.

Author	Florin Lazarescu
Title	The Lamp with the Cap
Translators	Jim Brown and Ehren Schimmel
Nationality	Romanian
Publisher	The Dalkey Archive Press
Availability: ---Amazon (US) ---Amazon (UK) ---Fishpond (AU)

See Also

Other stories from the The Review of Contemporary Fiction Vol. XXX, #1 Writing From Postcommunist Romania issue include:
---Adameşteanu, Gabriela - The Hour Commute
---Blandiana, Ana - The Open Window
---Petrescu, Răzvan - Wedding Photos
---Suceavă, Bogdan - Daddy Wants TV Saturday Night

Also of interest:
---Other titles under review from The Dalkey Archive Press
---Index of short stories under review