Well, Brodsky told [Czesław] Miłosz something about Lithuania since Miłosz was himself from Lithuania. He had graduated from the University of Vilnius when it was still within the borders of Poland and was very interested in what was going on in Lithuania. Since Brodsky had spent time in Lithuania, he could talk about that. And Brodsky said, ‘There’s a certain poet, a friend of mine, by the name of Tomas Venclova’. Miłosz... found my book – a small book of my poems had already been published in Vilnius – and translated one of those poems. And he had it published in Paris in the journal Kultura. Polish migrés were then publishing a journal in Paris, a very interesting, very notable one, called Kultura, which found its way into Poland – but with difficulty since it was, without a doubt, anticommunist. Well, all of a sudden an acquaintance of mine from Poland wrote to me to say, 'Congratulations, I read your poem translated by a great poet'. I wrote back immediately. I probably could guess who that great poet was but I was interested in where that poem was published. And I went on to write that I suspected that it was in a certain cultural city. In other words, this was a reference to it being Paris, a city of culture, since the journal Kultura was published there. Well, Paris is pretty cultural but this was a clear reference to the journal. Then this Polish friend of mine wrote back, ‘Yes, yes, you’re quite right, it was published in a certain city of culture’. And then a Lithuanian tourist brought that issue of Kultura back to Poland – secretly, of course – and made me a present of it. And I felt like I had been knighted, that if such a famous poet as Czesław Miłosz has translated something by you then that means that your writings are worth something.

Na ir Brodskis Milošui papasakojo šiek tiek apie Lietuvą, nes Milošas pats kilęs iš Lietuvos, baigęs kažkada, dar lenkų laikais, Vilniaus universitetą, labai domėjosi kasgi toje Lietuvoje vyksta. Brodskis būdavęs Lietuvoje galėjo apie tai papasakoti. Ir Brodskis pasakė: štai yra toks poetas, mano bičiulis, Tomas Venclova. Milošas... rado mano knygelę, tuomet jau buvo išleista mano maža eilėraščių knygelė Vilniuje, ir vieną eilėraštį išvertė. Ir išspausdino Paryžiuje žurnale “Kultūra”, Lenkų emigrantai leido Paryžiuje tada žurnalą – labai įdomų, labai vertingą, pavadinimu “Kultūra”, kuris prasiskverbdavo ir į Lenkija, bet sunkiai, kadangi jis, be abejo, buvo antikomunistinis. Na, ir staiga man iš Lenkijos vienas pažįstamas rašo: Sveikinu, skaičiau tavo eilėraštį, kurį išvertė didis poetas. Aš atrašiau iš karto: Aš turbūt atspėjau, kas tas didis poetas, bet mane domina, kur tas eilėraštis išspausdintas. Ir aš toliau rašau: Įtariu, kad viename kultūringame mieste. Reiškia, čia tokia užuomina, Paryžius, miestas kultūringas, kadangi jame leidžiamas žurnalas “Kultūra”. Na ir šiaip jau Paryžius pakankamai kultūringas, bet cia buvo aiški užuomina į žurnalą.Tada man tas lenkų bičiulis atrašė: Taip, taip, tu visiškai teisus, tai išspausdinta viename kultūringame mieste. Ir paskui iš Lenkijos vienas lietuvis turistas parvežė tą “Kultūros” numerį, slaptai, žinoma, ir man įteikė. Ir aš pasijutau tarsi įšventintas į riterius, kad jeigu jau tave toks žymus poetas kaip Česlovas Milošas verčia, reiškia, tavo rašiniai kažko verti.