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« Durov’s corner » (such a lovely
word in Russian, Ugolok) was a
little oasis of animal peace in
sixties Moscow. It had been
founded in the early part of this
century by V. I. Durov, a clown
by trade, and the inventor of a
gentle method of animal training
that won him the gratitude of cats,
elephants, and raccoons. He was
made famous by the superb Boris
Barnet film, The Westler and the
Clown.

The Durov house still exists, but
in the form of a circus, with caged
animals who seem nostalgic about
old times. Like other Muscovites
-but the animals have good reason