（彼得·安德烈維奇用剛煮開的熱水沖泡著茶水，并將其分發(fā)給了火堆旁的伙伴們。這股來自茶水的溫暖徹底打消了來自剛才異常狀況的慌亂。）

阿爾喬姆接過一個白色搪瓷杯，里邊兒盛滿了他們車站特制的茶水，感覺一不小心就會滿溢出杯口。當然，這并不是常人所理解的“茶”，只不過是用一些干蘑菇和添加劑泡制出來的混合液而已。真正的茶葉在當時已經是極其稀少的奢侈品。這些茶葉只會在重大節(jié)日限量供應，而且它價格要高出特制茶好幾倍。然而，他們也不討厭自己的“站內特制茶”，甚至引以為傲。最初本地的和外地人一樣也不習慣這味道，喝幾口就會吐掉，但很快他們就適應了。在那之后他們的特制茶在各大車站間風靡，甚至會有販子冒著生命危險專程跑來排隊購買，特制茶的名聲很快傳遍了整個地鐵線，甚至引起了的關注，裝有這魔法般特制茶的大型篷車開始運往?，F金，貿易就此開始流動。武器、柴火、維生素等貨物也跟著流通了起來。正所謂哪里有錢，哪里就有人，這便是生活。自從國民經濟展覽館開始仿造特制茶開始，他們就開始日益富裕強大起來；站臺周邊的人紛紛沿著小路搬來這里，繁榮就此到來。在國經站，他們的肉豬也是備受歡迎的特產之一，傳說整個地鐵線中的豬肉正是源于這里：在這一切剛開始的時候，有幾個膽大的家伙找到了通往展館“豬棚”的路，并成功把它們趕進車站畜養(yǎng)了起來。

Artyom accepted a white, enamelled cup, in which some of their homemade station tea was splashing around. Of course, it wasn't really tea at all, but an infusion of dried mushrooms and other additives. Real tea was a rarity. They rationed it and drank it only at major holidays, and it fetched a price dozens of times higher than the price of the mushroom infusion. Nevertheless, they liked their own station brew and were even pround enough of it to call it 'tea'. It's true that strangers would spit it out at first, since they weren't used to its taste; but soon they got used to it. And the fame of their tea spread beyond the bounds of their station - even the traders came to get it, one by one, risking life and limb, and soon after their tea made it down the whole metro line - even the had started to become interested in it and great caravans of the magical infusion rolled towards . Cash started to flow. And wherever there was money, there were weapons, there was firewood and there were vitamins. And there was life. Ever since they started making the very same tea at VDNKh, the station had begun to grow strong; people from the nearby stations moved to the station and stretches of track were laid to the station; prosperity had come. They were also very proud of their pigs at VDNKh, and legend had it that it was precisely from this station that the pigs had entered the metro: back at the very beginning of things when certain daredevils had made their way to the 'pig-breeding pavilion' at the Exhibition and managed to herd the animals back down to the station.

“嘿，阿爾喬姆，蘇霍伊最近混得怎樣？” 安德烈輕輕吹著手中的蘑菇茶，抿了一口。

'Listen, Artyom - how are things going with ?' asked Andrey, drinking his tea with small, cautious sips and blowing on it carefully.

“和薩沙叔叔嗎？一切順利。他前陣子剛和我們站的人從軌道線回來。是一次考察項目。你應該知道的?！?/p>

'With Uncle ? Everything's fine. He came back a little while ago from a hike down the line with some of our people. An expedition. As you probably know.'

安德烈要比阿爾喬姆年長大約十五歲。簡單地介紹一下，他是一名偵察兵，作為一名前哨指揮官，他很少待在這四百五十米處的哨站。上層已經將他派往三百米處值守，那兒將會有更強大的掩護，但是安德烈仍然有著向往更深處的沖動，他常常會捏造一些借口，一些莫須有的警報，借此能夠更接近地鐵深處的黑暗，他堅信那里會有他想看到的真相。安德烈深愛著這地鐵站，對其每一個分支了然于胸，但偏偏在這站點中，混跡于農夫、工人、商人和管理層讓他覺得渾身不自在——他感覺自己不受重視。他不愿意犁地種蘑菇，更不愿意站在屎尿能沒過膝蓋的農地，用蘑菇喂豬。而且他也不想從商，他天生就跟那些做買賣的八字不合。一直以來，他都是一名士兵，一名戰(zhàn)士，他相信這才是一個男人發(fā)揮其真正價值的工作。安德烈很自豪能夠窮極一生來保護那些渾身發(fā)臭的農夫，斤斤計較的商販，對任何過錯都公事公辦的管理者，以及婦女孩童。女人們被他引以為傲的力量和自信所吸引，以及他對自己以及身邊的人的平和心態(tài)（因為他總是能夠將他們保護得很好）。女人們向他示愛，給予他應有的安慰，但是安德烈并不滿足于待在屬于他的燈火闌珊的十五米開外的小角落，他想出去闖蕩。那些只想著安穩(wěn)生活的女人才不會跟著他呢。

Andrey was about fifteen years older than Artyom. Generally speaking, he was a scout, and rarely stood at a watch nearer than the four hundred and fifteen metre, and then only as a cordon commander. And here they'd posted him at the three-hundredth metre, with good cover, but all the same, he felt the urge to head deeper, and made use of any pretext, any false alarm, to get closer to the darkness, closer to the secret. He loved the tunnel and knew its branches very well but, at the station, he felt uncomfortable among the farmers, the workers, the businessmen and the administration - he felt unneeded, perhaps. He couldn't bring himself to hoe the earth for mushrooms, or, even worse, stuff the fat pigs at the station's farms with mushrooms, standing up to his knees in manure. And he couldn't be a trade either - he'd been unable to stand traders from the day he was born. He had always been a soldier, a warrior, and he believed with all his soul that this was the only occupation worthy of a man. He was proud that he had done nothing his entire life but defend the stinking farmers, the fussy traders, the administrators who were business-like to a fault, and the women and children. Women were attracked to his arrogant strength, to his total confidence in himself, to his sense of calm in relation to himself and those around him (because he was always capable of defending them). Women promised him love, they promised him comfort, but he could not feel comfortable beyond the fifteen metre, beyond the turning point, where the station lights were hidden. And the women didn't follow him. Why not?