The Final Term

“The Final Term” (Последний срок) is a novella by Valentin Rasputin, published in 1970. In the village, an eighty-year-old woman, Anna, dies routinely, as if in everyday life. She lived a long, difficult life—worked a lot, gave birth a lot—and now her allotted time on Earth has run out. For several years she could hardly get up, but in the last weeks sleep overcame her: she didn’t eat or drink.

Her son Mikhail, with whom she lived, sent a telegram to his brothers and sisters, assuming their mother would not become alive today or tomorrow. Everyone arrives—except the youngest and the beloved…