A NEW YEAR'S FABLE
267
"Again an error," she told the chief softly. "This is even
worse-this lump of coal is quite black."
But I heard her.
"This error has been accounted for." I said, barely moving
my lips. "Go on with the work. Faster."
I had an acute sense of hearing. I heard the chief whisper,
covering his mouth with his hand:
"A third error will be the death of him ...." Then he
added loudly: "H'm ... I suppose it would be better to trans–
port the third installation to our laboratory. There we shall
conduct the experiment faster and more accurately."
"I have confidence in you," I replied.
Thus my wife and I were left alone in our quiet, empty
room, the two of us- and also the owl, which had very cun–
ningly managed one day to squeeze into our room through the
open vent ami which was at present slumbering on the window–
sill or wandering under the table, pecking at the floor with its
beak. My wife-she had really earned that title-sat beside me
as we softly reminisced about our brief youth.
On the third or fourth day I felt worse.
"Please open the window," I asked.
"My dear, there's frost outside. Do I have to?"
"Open it, open it," I whispered.
My wife approached the window.
"What's this? Spring in December! Can you hear? It's
thawing in the street, and there's a fly just awakened beating
against the window pane!"
"Open it!"
At first she opened the vent, then flung open the whole
window, and into the room, together with the warm spring
breeze, there burst an extraordinarily pleasant and remote
music. It flowed over the city, now fading, now gathering into
a mighty wave. I listened to it without realizing that it was the
telephone wires playing, spreading all over the world the tidings
of man's victory over cold and darkness. From time to time this
