210
PARTISAN REVIEW
page 87 it is written, 'He had a very strong appetite.' - It should have
said, 'He went to see his former wife in Vilna.' On page 379, 'They
took the train to Lublin.' -
It
should have been, 'The chicken was not
kosher .' How a typesetter can make mistakes ofthis kind will always
be a riddle to me. Another article was written about bacteria, 'which
are so small that they can be seen only with the help of a telescope.'"
Dr. Gottlieb paused, trying to revive his extinguished cigar,
sucking at it violently. Then he said, "My young friend, I tell you all
this just to prove to you that one should not be in a rush to decide
that Mother Nature has given up her eternal laws . As far as rm con–
cerned , the goblins and sprites have not taken over, and the laws of
nature are still valid, whether I like them or not. And when I have to
convey a message to myoId wife, or to my not-much-younger
girlfriend, I still use the telephone, not telepathy."
Translated from the Yiddish
by
the Author
THE LAST GAZE
The news of Bessie's death came as a shock from which he
knew he would not easily recover. It was fifteen months since he'd
last seen her, and only now did he realize how much she meant to
him. That very night he went to the funeral parlor, but the girl at the
window told him, "She isn't ready. Come back tomorrow morning."
He returned home and began a chess game with himself, mak–
ing the moves for both sides. He tried smoking, but the tobacco
tasted bitter. Although he hadn't eaten since breakfast, he felt
bloated, as if he'd consumed a heavy meal. He stretched out on the
sofa, leaving the lights on, and covered himself with his overcoat.
."If
there is a hereafter," he mused, "let her appear before me
now. Let her face become visible in the mirror, let her voice
be
heard, let some sign of her presence manifest itself. " The lights shone
with a midnight glare. The telephone on the nightstand remained
silent. The radiator hissed and gurgled its last bit of steam. He imag–
ined that he heard the movement of the earth as it rotated on its axis .
That very second, as the earth spun amid the planets and fixed stars,
