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

to overlook. He was furious with Wasserman for pretending to have made a purely arbitrary choice to write about the war all of a sudden, “when you know that’s not the type of thing you wrote about in the old days! You used to write about American Indians and floods in India and Beethoven and Galileo—a different type of story! With different settings! You never used to write about real things! I already know about our lousy life here! That’s what I want to forget when I hear a story! What do you think we have stories for, anyway?” Wasserman, who listened angrily but with great interest,replied into the palms of his hands covering his mouth, “It is always the same war. Always. And my tales are its written history. Indeed.” Neigel stamped his foot, as though trying to level the wooden floor, and screamed at the writer to “get rid of those Nuremberg provocations!” He hurled the word “trap” at the crack in the wooden wall before him. Wasserman, of course, did not understand which trap the German was referring to, but as they swelled and contracted in a kind of ludicrous pantomime of rage at the various objects in the room, never for a moment at each other, the Jewish writer felt that Neigel was not referring to the trap he had set for him, the trap of humanity. No, Neigel was not yet thoroughly enough infected with humanity to satisfy Wasserman. Neigel feared something far more immediate and tangible, and Wasserman could not imagine what it was. It made him nervous that the German was suddenly relating to the story with such fateful seriousness, when only a few days before he had told Wasserman that he was deluding himself about the power of words!

The second time Neigel yelled “Trap!” was on the night before his LEAVE [q.v.]. The train to Berlin was due to depart from Warsaw at 0600 hours. His driver had made all the necessary arrangements with the car. But Neigel refused to set off before Wasserman told him the rest of the story of Kazik’s life. And here Wasserman, with great cunning, insisted on telling the German the story of the revival of the Children of the Heart [see under: HEART, REVIVAL OF THE CHILDREN OF THE] instead, and drew it out all night, like Scheherazade in her day. When the story was finally told, Neigel demanded that he keep his promise and give him “just the outline, Scheherazade, it’s very important!” of the remainder of Kazik’s life. Wasserman refused. He was pale with fear, but he knew he must say no. Neigel felt betrayed. “BETRAYAL!” [q.v.] he screamed, pounding his desk, and again demanded to hear the rest of the story. At this point Wasserman suddenly caught on [see under: PLAGIARISM] and refused all the more adamantly. He smiled and said that, if Neigel wished, he could tell the rest of the story himself. Ncigel glanced at his watch with alarm and proceeded to beat Wasserman. This was the first and last time he struck him. Wasserman: “He grabbed my poor throat and pounded me with his fists, and I uttered not a sound, and made myself small in the hope that my end was near, because like this, at close range and with the hands, they had not yet tried to kill me, they always did it from afar.”But Neigel suddenly collapsed on the floor beside Wasserman, panting and groaning, and then clambered to his feet, washed his face, handed the Jew a towel, and told him to wash himself off. Wasserman: “My Scbeissemeister’s gown was covered in blood. Teeth jiggled in my mouth, and when I touched them with the tip of my tongue, three fell out on the floor. Oh well. Less money to pay Dr. Blumberg.”

MAZPUN

CONSCIENCE

When—during the course of their conversation—Neigel said, “Conscience is the invention of the Jews, the Fuhrer himself said so,” the Jew at once replied, “Indeed yes, it is a grave RESPONSIBILITY [q.v.], and a heavy burden we have never forgotten, never … Sometimes we were the last remaining souls on earth who remembered what a conscience is, and we were so lonely, we and it, so forlorn, that one forgot who the inventor was and who the invention …” [Editorial comment: Wasserman’s words here should be viewed indulgently, inasmuch as a Jew like him, “doomed” to a lifetime, of absolute values of morality and conscience, especially since he bad no other kind of weapon at hand, cannot be expected to understand the complexity and multifacetedness of the question of conscience. It should be recalled that for the weak, without any means of defense and the ability to express power, there is only one possible course of action: to react to situations created by others. They are never able to recognize the cruel and common choice between two just courses. The strong have power, and when power demands to be actualized, it creates complex situations in which sometimes a decision must be made between two flawed, alternative approaches to justice, leading of necessity to relative injustice. Ob, the good innocent Wasserman!]

MERED

REBELLION

An act of insurrection against authority.

The only rebellion in Neigel’s camp took place one morning while Wasserman was out working in the garden. A new transport train had just come in from Warsaw and the arrivals were already running naked through the Heavenly Way, a common enough sight, as it happenedfour times a day and twice at night. Only this time something unusual occurred: A dire-looking youth attacked one of the Ukrainian guards and grabbed his weapon. He began shooting and screaming as he ran blindly in Wasserman’s direction. His eyes bulged with fear, like the eyes of a crab. It took the Ukrainians a few seconds to organize and begin shooting. There was a terrible commotion. The Jews ran helter-skelter into the line of fire. Hearing the tumult, Neigel peered