See Under by David Grossman (famous ebook reader TXT) 📕

many ways, sometimes in this way and sometimes in that, and we find in the Cabala that gluttony is but the divine spark in us seeking to couple with the divine spark found in food, meaning that down in the pricker stick, begging your pardon, is that same passion, so even in a lesser one than I, a spark may spark off another spark and cleave to the sparks from on high, ah, oh, may it be …” Fried, who understood little but sensed that something disgusting was being alluded to by the foul-smelling old man, stormed off in the middle of his monologue, to Otto’s office, where he demanded an explanation. Paula was there, andshe agreed with Fried. Otto felt their fury and fear, considered a moment, and decided to disclose his secret. He told them that he intended to fight the Nazis. Fried stifled a groan and told Otto through clenched teeth that if Otto really wanted to fight, let him bring rifles and real fighters and Fried would join up, too. Otto listened and then explained gently that they lacked the power. “You’ve got to be realistic,” said Otto, and Fried stared at him and shook his head in shock and rage and helplessness. Where, he wanted to know, had Otto found this latest zoo burn “fighter” Zeidman, and Otto replied that the Nazis had released all the inmates from the insane asylum on Krochmalna Street, and they were standing naked in the street, shivering in the cold and utterly bewildered, Fried: “Nu, and out of all of them you chose yourself this winner!” Otto, happily: “Right! Ah … you laugh. Listen, Fried, a man like that on his own, perhaps not, but three like him, ten like him, might save something. Might make a difference.” Fried asked what Zeidman knew how to do, and Otto in grave wonder told them that Zeidman was a biographer who stole across the frontiers that separated people and understood them from the inside. Fried, with loathing: “And maybe he has something to use against the Germans, too?” Otto: “But ‘this’ is what he has to use against the Germans, don’t you see?” And Fried thought about it, and with painful irony said: “You’ve got to be realistic, hey?” By the way, at this point Neigel ordered Wasserman to refrain from “anti-German propaganda” and to get on with the story. Neigel was about to depart on his forty-eight-hour LEAVE [q.v.] that night to his family in Munich, and he pressed Wasserman to tell him something about Kazik’s life. Only, Wasserman stubbornly insisted on telling Neigel about the early days of the Children of the Heart instead. There was no logical reason for this, outside of his desire to annoy the German. And when Neigel asked him to stop his provocations and get on with the story, Wasserman said, “Forbear, Herr Neigel,” and promised that if Neigel allowed him to continue weaving the thread of the tale, he would soon tell him about Kazik. Neigel glanced with annoyance at his watch and agreed with an angry nod. Wasserman thanked him. He told the German that a long silence fell upon the three. That Fried and Paula understood for the first time how deeply the war had infiltrated their lives, and how it chilled the subtle intimacy that had been formed between them over the years and made them icy strangers to one another. Wasserman: “This I experienced in my own flesh, HerrNeigel, when Sarah, my soul, sewed the yellow star on our Tirzaleh’s birthday dress … ai, the child wept so bitterly! You see, Herr Neigel: the star spoiled her pretty dress …” Neigel: “Damn you, Wasserman, I’m losing patience! My driver will be here in half an hour and you’re just avoiding the story of Kazik!” [see under: TRAP]. Wasserman, who had not yet realized why Neigel wanted so badly to know what happened to Kazik, and why he was so adamant about it, perspired with fear. But he could tell that Neigel’s eagerness was a good sign, and that he must not under any circumstances give in now. Consequently, Otto whispered, “Noah’s ark.” That is, he didn’t whisper, he said it with deep reluctance, as though he had decided to yield a small portion of his secret so they would let him keep the more important part. Neigel stared at Wasserman. Fried and Paula stared at Otto. Otto explained to all three: “It’s like the Bible story, only the other way around. Here the animals will save the people, you understand? It’s so simple, don’t you see?” Neigel: “What’s simple?” Otto: “We’ll band together again and take in new members. We’ll need a lot of fighters this time. It won’t be easy. That much is clear. And after our victory over this flood, we can go back to normal life, all right?” Fried and Paula looked at him and felt their hearts break. Otto’s eyes shone infinitely blue. Fried stood up, pale and exhausted, by the window of their pavilion, just in time to notice the mythological beast outside, its forequarters sheep, its hindquarters man, crossing the path with loathsome bleats and groans. Despairingly, feeling the whole world had gone mad and collapsed on his shoulders, Fried hurried out after the ravished animal. It was only as he ran that he finally grasped Otto’s meaning, and was even more distressed. He had no doubt that the age of children’s stories was past.

LEIDA

BIRTH

The act of bringing forth a living creature.

The birth of Paula’s imaginary baby. Otto was thinking of it in his pavilion while Kazik, Fried, and the ARTISTS [q.v.] were making their way to see him [see under: LUNATICS, VOYAGE OF THE]. Otto woke up and lay in bed, thinking about the baby he had brought to Fried a few hours before. He then recalled the night he and Fried took Paula to give birth in Dr. Wertzler’s ward at the hospital, which