386
"Do tell us of travailing in Tibet," Tina said.
"Traveling, dear," Ursula said.
PARTISAN REVIEW
"Above all ," Venolio said, "I am an outdoorsman. My heart is
always in it, no matter where I am. So Tibet was inevitably the place
for me. Just as"-he thumped down on his knees before Tina and took
her hand in his-"it was inevitable that I shou ld pluck this prize and
take her for my own."
I ran up and jumped on his back. I hoped to send him down face
first to the floor and pummel his head, bash it in if I could-and if I
couldn't, I would try to steer him down the lawn and into the creek. I
pictured myself straddling his neck and holding hi head as we sank
into the depths.
But when I leaped onto him, he merely hunched slightly and
didn't miss a beat of his spiel. As he stood, I climbed onto his
shoulders.
Now Venolio was gibbering in Tibetan. He did a little jig from the
hills, knocking my head on the ceiling. Then he taught the ladies a
Sherpa nursery rhyme:
Hup tappa yurka
Puka pow, puka pow.
Which he translated
If
you 're good, when the yak dies we'll eat him, eat
him. Venolio then had them dancing with him in a circle. When they
sat panting, I climbed off his shoulders.
On the terrace rain dripped from the eaves, but the storm was over.
Ursula's dogs came running across the lawn and skidded on the wet
marble, surprised to find me out here, their big ears pricking, their eyes
round and questioning. "It's all right;" I said. I glanced into the
parlor: he had brought out a Maori game, and they were chasing him
with feathers and bones.
We found the cart. Ecstatic, they faunched and gamboled and I
could hardly get them in the traces. I checked and still had the address
card, and with a click of my tongue we were off.
It was slow going, across the lawn, but at the bridge we took to the
road and made excellent time. They fairly flew, their ears down, their
long bodies stretching into the smooth rhythm that promises eternity.
