576
Collins:
Yes, but
I'll
tell you one thing; he was not
Hungarian, he was English-speaking Russky.
Thomson:
Russky? But that's incredible. Wait a minute.
Fought with the wrong mob, did he?
Col/ins:
Very canny;
Something of that. But set your mind at ease:
He wasn't the butcher of Lodz or Lidice
Or ifhe was, he didn't tell me. Mostly
Fornications, blasphemies, run of the mill;
And something more, that I can't tell you.
Thomson:
Dicky,
PARTISAN REVIEW
I have to admire you, could have been hearing confessions
All your pastoral life.
Nemeth:
Excuse me, sirs.
Collins:
Pastor, come in. Can I present my colleague:
The Reverend Christopher Thomson?
Nemeth:
Ah, delighted!
Three pastors in one place, three hoodie-crows
(Your Scots might say) perched on one withered bough,
Or rather on one withered, two quite green.
Pastor Thomson, I am pleased to meet you.
Nemeth's the name. Yes, I am Pastor Nemeth.
Col/ins:
I was just brewing up a cup of tea.
Won't you join us?
Nemeth:
Why, that's very kind ...
And as for the hoodie-crows, you must forgive me:
