Isaac Rosenfeld
GEORGE
" 'Bodies bore me. A woman's body excites in me nothing
more than a vague pity. There is something pathetic in a body, the
way it looks at you-there's an expression about the navel and the
nipples, any part of a woman's body which resembles eyes (to say
nothing of their eyes). Do you see what I mean?' He pointed to her.
'What could be more absurd? No, at times like this, I tell you, I
ache, I ache all over to be a pure intelligence.'
"I remember these words, they made a deep impression on me. I
felt something extraordinary was going to happen-even after every–
thing that had already happened. And as soon as my friend George
had finished saying this, he looked about the room with that manner
he has of saying farewell-a thousand farewells to things of no con–
sequence, tables, chairs, the drinks half drunk, but not once at the
naked woman.... He cast his farewell glance about the room, and
before we could realize that he was actually taking leave of things,
he walked out of the window.
"I ran to the window at once-in time to see him land.
Fortunately, the apartment was on the first floor, he didn't hurt
himself. But there was never a chance of his hurting himself, and
had he gone out of a penthouse window, the result would have been
the same. He didn't fall, he
settled
to the ground. I was in time to see
a little of the wafting movement, as a feather, a leaf-incredibly
light!-with which he descended. Right side up, steady on his feet.
He adjusted his hat-I should say that he picked it off the table as
he was leaving the room-turned up
his
coat collar and walked off
with his characteristic air, preoccupied, eyes to the ground, just as
though nothing had happened."
"How do you account for it?" I asked, suspecting a hoax. This is
