suddenly they hear behind their apartment door these all-toofamiliar,nterrifying steps of several men coming up the stairs.n”What are those footsteps on the stairs?” asked Koroviev,nfiddling with his spoon in a cup of black coffee.n”I guess they’re coming to arrest us,” answered Azazello,nand downed a shot of cognac.n”Ah . . . well, well …” responded Koroviev.nAnd the Soviet reader, his heart sinking in excitement, isnwaiting for the KGB with their Mausers to try to arrest twoncharming fiends.nThroughout the entire novel, there runs the refrain ofnBulgakov’s idea that “manuscripts don’t burn.” And preciselynbecause “manuscripts don’t burn,” when once, in a rainynautumn night the Master, frustrated by the attacks on his novelnabout Pilate, burns it, Margarita, appearing unexpectedly in hisnsmall basement apartment, rushes to the stove and with hernbare hands snatches the half-burned notebooks from the fire.nAnd precisely because “manuscripts don’t burn,” thosenchapters of the novel that Margarita couldn’t save are returnednto the Master by the all-powerful Woland.nAnd precisely because “manuscripts don’t burn,” Bulgakov’snwife, Elena Sergeevna, in real life rescues her husband’snnovel—which Bulgakov, frustrated by the attacks onnhim, once tried to burn—and later, after his death, protectsnand saves the manuscript, the same way as another woman,nNadezhda Mandelstam, saved (but in her case with just hernmemory) the poetry of her husband.nWhen The Master and Margarita was first published, itnastounded me. Then, for many years, I didn’t open it for fearnof being disenchanted. But my fear was unwarranted. Recentlyn”I would not want tonlive in a world that didnnot include This World.”n- Ralph MclnernynAuthoritative contributors … intelligent discourse …nwideranging subject matter … lucid, readable prose …noutspoken and often controversial… all yours in ThisnWorld: A journal of Religion and Public Life!*nMail this coupon and your cliecl< to:nThis World, 934 N. Main St., Rocl