And it was Aaron Marcus—at Otto’s request (nobody refuses Otto!)—who took Kazik, by then over twenty-five years old, and led him to the paths of the carnivores. The other ARTISTS [q.v.] followed in silence. It was almost daylight. Hannah had just finished her dance, and for one last moment the expression of longing and anticipation spread over her face, fluttered on her eyelids. For one last moment she listened: Would He come today? Aaron Marcus approached, a little embarrassed by the proximity of her gaily screaming nakedness. He touched her arm gently, and she trembled and froze. The little apothecary whispered that she could stop dancing now. He also said, “He has come, Mrs. Zeitrin. He has come for us all,” which to some extent was true. Hannah did not open her eyes. She turned to Kazik, her red face framed by the yellow wig like a big sunflower. Kazik was dressed only in a diaper. A tiny man, fifty-one centimeters tall, according to Fried’s estimate. Still, she did not open her eyes, but her lips moved and she asked aloud, “Is it He?” And Marcus nodded and she seemed to hear the retort of the light breeze and smiled. From a distance Munin whispered, “Nu—a-shockel, boy, run and thrust!” And Marcus said, “Do you smell him, madame?” And she smiled again as if asleep. The smell of Kazik wafted her way. The fresh, pungent smell of a wild and mighty passion. A passion that cannot be denied. Even Wasserman, lacking a sense of smell, sniffed a subtle something. “And I do not know, Herr Neigel, how Mrs. Zcitrin imagined God would look when He finally came to her, but I am certain that Kazik had the right smell.” And Hannah Zeitrin whispered, “Come.” A certain difficulty arises in describing what took place between them. The reader is invited to see under LOVE and also under SEX. Of course it is tempting to risk a “poetic” description at this point, such as: “What transpired betweenthe couple seemed to melt all memory, all reason, and the powers of imagination into a single puddle.” Nonsense! It would be safe to say that (1) For a moment it seemed the two had known each other all their lives. (2) For a moment they looked like total strangers who reviled their closeness to each other. But there is another detail: a grain of sand flew into Kazik’s eye; he bent over and blinked, and when he opened his eyes again, he accidentally looked in the wrong direction. Hannah’s eyes were still closed. Hannah and Kazik began to grope. A cloud blew over the moon, and they missed each other in the dark. According to Dr. Fried’s calculations, they lost four months of love this way. When the moon came out again, they found each other. Now they had no choice but to strike out with all the anger and senselessness of their parting, and to delude themselves that their meeting again was a miracle; that it was not so arbitrary and dreary as their parting. The inevitable quarrel was loud and venomous and took twenty-seven minutes, which according to Fried’s timetable represented a full year and a half. Kazik was suddenly angry that the other members of the band were gaping at Hannah in her nakedness. He ran up, waving his small fists to drive them away. Hannah suddenly laughed with strange delight. This angered and humiliated him. Six minutes. He returned to her, shrugging his shoulders. The passage of time had somewhat diminished his passion. Now he began to see her as she truly was—an ugly old woman. He blamed her for the wear and tear on her body, because there was no one else to blame. His body, too, was no longer as fresh and firm as it had been in his youth, and his misery over this also turned to malice toward her, because he had no one else. He desired her but was afraid she would not be the love his passion had conjured: he understood now that he would never be able to tell her the really important things. That the more he loved her, the more remote she would always be. A stranger. He thought, I am alone. Alone. Had she come to him then and held him in her arms, his faith in LOVE [q.v.] would have been restored, only Hannah, too, was caught up in the same bitter anguish, and inwardly bewailed her own LONELINESS [q.v.]. They had missed the chance to help each other and forgive. Kazik watched her hostilely. Hannah noticed the evil glint in his eye, and she drooped despairingly. Her hands fell to her sides. Her breasts hung long and limp and hollow. For some reason he was stirred, and he approached her and hugged her knees with his little arms. Then she began to sob. She trembled.Her tears washed over her and erased the obscene pictures she had drawn, the arrows and the paint. Crying had exposed her, and it touched his heart. He vaguely sensed she was crying over him as well, about the love that was taken away before it was given. Hannah Zeitrin sat down on the damp ground, and Kazik stood between her legs
