80
PARTISAN REVIEW
He made his way to the middle. Someone touched one wing with a
finger. Stung, he turned around. A small boy, hideous looking - glasses,
crossed eyes, no front teeth - was looking at Serafim's luxurious, swan–
like feathering. His whole body winced: the snotty freak! ... with dirty
hands!
Yes and here's the result of the blood test: aqua distillata (sic!). What
did you think it would be? ... Swine!
The day was ending. The sweaty din, sticky dirt, stench, the human
swarm - everything was loaded onto wagons and carted away. The deep
blue evening, brandishing a broom, nodded to Serafim as it advanced
from the east. A gentle silvery sheen set in on high. On the emptying
streets each black silhouette was individually underlined. Swinish snouts
dared to smile at Serafim, to look into his face. "Annihilate them all,"
thought Serafim. "Incinerate every one of them. Yes, my face shines. Not
for you! How dare you look!"
By the time he approached his building, it was completely dark. A
temptingly empty bench. I'll have a breath of fresh air. And tomorrow -
the flight!
He spread his wings, looked upward. The starry wheel turns slowly,
slowly. Berenice's Hair, Virgo, the Herdsman, the Hunting Dogs - clean,
cold, April diamonds. That was the place for Serafim. A sexless, shining
body, he would glide in silvery raiment through the resonant heights, let
the streaming cold of the constellations run between his fingers, dive into
ethereal currents. Dling Dling! - the starry threads jingled like the strings
of a harp. He would drink his fill of the clean, sparkling bubbles of the
twenty-star Cup ... And burn up the filthy earth. He'd pluck out the
double, transfusing star from the Hunting Dogs constellation - the Heart
of Charles ... And he'd scorch the earth with fire.
Behind the bench, in the thick, bare bushes, something rustled,
crackled, yapped - the white dog ran out, spun around, waved its tail,
jumped on Serafim's lap - joyfully, joyfully, as if it had found a long lost
friend. It jumped about noisily, trying to lick his face.
Serafim fell from the sky, jerked away, screamed, thrust out his arms.
The dog jumped back, sat on it hind legs, tilted its head and looked at
Serafim endearingly. From the sight of the affectionate muzzle and dark
dog eyes, something hot and dirty rose in his chest, filled his throat.
Silently, gritting his teeth, trembling, hating, Serafim moved toward the
dog. It didn't understand and was overjoyed, wagged its tail, grinned,
and ran to meet him. Serafim kicked at the dog's eyes with his heel, lost
his footing, kicked, kicked, kicked! There we go.
He stood for awhile. The dog lay stretched out. Quiet. The stars
dripped. A woman's voice called:
"Sha-arik, Sharik, Sharik! ... Sha-aaaarinka, Sharinka, Sharinka! .. "
