to smoke I get very nervous.”
Strange, his nervousness was not apparent now. He stood next to the steaming clothes, turning them over one by one, as if they were pieces of meat on a fire. Tzili too did not take her eyes off the stained children’s clothes shrinking in the sun.
Toward evening he gathered the clothes up carefully and folded them. The coat intended for selling he put aside. “For this, I hope, we’ll be able to get some tobacco. It’s a good coat, almost new,” he muttered to himself.
That night Mark did not light a fire. He sat and sucked soft little twigs. Chewing the twigs seemed to blunt his craving for cigarettes. Tzili sat not far from him, staring into the darkness.
“I wanted to study medicine,” Mark recalled, “but my parents didn’t have the money to send me to Vienna. I sat for external matriculation exams and my marks weren’t anything to write home about, only average. And then I married very young, too young I’d say. Of course, nothing came of my plans to study. A pity.”
“What’s your wife’s name?” asked Tzili.
“Why do you ask?” said Mark in surprise.
“No reason.”
“Blanca.”
“How strange,” said Tzili. “My sister’s name is Blanca too.”
Mark rose to his feet. Tzili’s remark had abruptly stopped the flow of his memories. He put his hands in his trouser pocket, stuck out his chest, and said: “You must go to sleep. Tomorrow you have a long walk in front of you.”
The strangeness of his voice frightened Tzili and she immediately got up and went to lie down on the pile of leaves.
16
S HE SLEPT DEEPLY , without feeling the wind. When she woke a mug of hot herb tea was waiting for her.
“I couldn’t sleep,” he said.
“Why can’t you sleep?”
“I can’t fall asleep without a cigarette.”
Tzili put the coat into a sack and rose to her feet. Mark sat in his place next to the fire. His dull eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep. For some reason he touched the sack and said: “It’s a good coat, almost new.”
“I’ll look after it,” said Tzili without thinking, and set off.
I’ll bring him cigarettes, he’ll be happy if I bring him cigarettes. This thought immediately strengthened her legs. The summer was in full glory, and in the distant, yellow fields she could see the farmers cutting corn. She crossed the mountainside and when she came to the river she picked up her dress and waded across it.Light burst from every direction, bright and clear. She approached the plots of cultivated land without fear, as if she had known them all her life. With every step she felt the looseness of the fertile soil.
“Have you any tobacco?” she asked a peasant woman standing at the doorway of her hut.
“And what will you give me in exchange?”
“I have a coat,” said Tzili and held it up with both hands.
“Where did you steal it?”
“I didn’t steal it. I got it as a present.”
Upon hearing this reply an old crone emerged from the hut and announced in a loud voice: “Leave the whore’s little bastard alone.” But the younger woman, who liked the look of the coat, said: “And what else do you want for it?”
“Bread and sausage.”
Tzili knew how to bargain. And after an exchange of arguments, curses, and accusations, and after the coat had been turned inside out and felt all over, they agreed on two loaves of bread, two joints of meat, and a bundle of tobacco leaves.
“You’ll catch it if the owner comes and demands his coat back. We’ll kill you,” the old crone said threateningly.
Tzili put the bread, meat, and tobacco into her sack and turned to go without saying a word. The old crone showed no signs of satisfaction at the transaction, butthe young woman made no attempt to hide her delight in the city coat.
On the way back Tzili sat and paddled in the water. The sun shone and silence rose from the forest. She sat for an hour without moving from her place and in the end she said to herself: Mark is sad
Strange, his nervousness was not apparent now. He stood next to the steaming clothes, turning them over one by one, as if they were pieces of meat on a fire. Tzili too did not take her eyes off the stained children’s clothes shrinking in the sun.
Toward evening he gathered the clothes up carefully and folded them. The coat intended for selling he put aside. “For this, I hope, we’ll be able to get some tobacco. It’s a good coat, almost new,” he muttered to himself.
That night Mark did not light a fire. He sat and sucked soft little twigs. Chewing the twigs seemed to blunt his craving for cigarettes. Tzili sat not far from him, staring into the darkness.
“I wanted to study medicine,” Mark recalled, “but my parents didn’t have the money to send me to Vienna. I sat for external matriculation exams and my marks weren’t anything to write home about, only average. And then I married very young, too young I’d say. Of course, nothing came of my plans to study. A pity.”
“What’s your wife’s name?” asked Tzili.
“Why do you ask?” said Mark in surprise.
“No reason.”
“Blanca.”
“How strange,” said Tzili. “My sister’s name is Blanca too.”
Mark rose to his feet. Tzili’s remark had abruptly stopped the flow of his memories. He put his hands in his trouser pocket, stuck out his chest, and said: “You must go to sleep. Tomorrow you have a long walk in front of you.”
The strangeness of his voice frightened Tzili and she immediately got up and went to lie down on the pile of leaves.
16
S HE SLEPT DEEPLY , without feeling the wind. When she woke a mug of hot herb tea was waiting for her.
“I couldn’t sleep,” he said.
“Why can’t you sleep?”
“I can’t fall asleep without a cigarette.”
Tzili put the coat into a sack and rose to her feet. Mark sat in his place next to the fire. His dull eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep. For some reason he touched the sack and said: “It’s a good coat, almost new.”
“I’ll look after it,” said Tzili without thinking, and set off.
I’ll bring him cigarettes, he’ll be happy if I bring him cigarettes. This thought immediately strengthened her legs. The summer was in full glory, and in the distant, yellow fields she could see the farmers cutting corn. She crossed the mountainside and when she came to the river she picked up her dress and waded across it.Light burst from every direction, bright and clear. She approached the plots of cultivated land without fear, as if she had known them all her life. With every step she felt the looseness of the fertile soil.
“Have you any tobacco?” she asked a peasant woman standing at the doorway of her hut.
“And what will you give me in exchange?”
“I have a coat,” said Tzili and held it up with both hands.
“Where did you steal it?”
“I didn’t steal it. I got it as a present.”
Upon hearing this reply an old crone emerged from the hut and announced in a loud voice: “Leave the whore’s little bastard alone.” But the younger woman, who liked the look of the coat, said: “And what else do you want for it?”
“Bread and sausage.”
Tzili knew how to bargain. And after an exchange of arguments, curses, and accusations, and after the coat had been turned inside out and felt all over, they agreed on two loaves of bread, two joints of meat, and a bundle of tobacco leaves.
“You’ll catch it if the owner comes and demands his coat back. We’ll kill you,” the old crone said threateningly.
Tzili put the bread, meat, and tobacco into her sack and turned to go without saying a word. The old crone showed no signs of satisfaction at the transaction, butthe young woman made no attempt to hide her delight in the city coat.
On the way back Tzili sat and paddled in the water. The sun shone and silence rose from the forest. She sat for an hour without moving from her place and in the end she said to herself: Mark is sad
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