OLGA GRUSHIN
385
lifted her head, and a quick smile touched her lips. Then the echo faded,
and she sighed and folded the knotted cloth in half.
"I also sell special breezes
for
the fish," she said absently. "These are
more expensive, of course-even the simplest ones cost a sheep each–
but they are useful, they carry the fish to the boat ... "
"You can't be serious!" he exclaimed, tugging furiously at his mus–
tache. "What kind of a joke ... "
The trumpeting suddenly burst out again, very close this time and
quickly growing closer-and in the next minute a young girl in a short
white dress ran laughing into the cave. She was brown from the sun, her
strong arms and legs were plastered with sand, and in her outstretched
hands she carried a big conch shell.
"Mama, look what I have!" she cried happily. "It glows red, and
when you listen, it sings this beautiful song about Nereus, the one you
like! Amphitrite herself gave it to me, and she also let me ride her dol–
phin, and ... "
"Love, say hello to Constantine," the woman said evenly.
Startled, the girl spun around, her wet black tresses slapping her bare
shoulders, and for a few silent moments he felt suspended in the insis–
tent gaze of her elongated eyes, dark and moist as the blackest olives.
Then her face softened, and she made a small step toward him and
mutely offered him her conch. Hardly knowing what he was doing, he
took it from her. It felt warm against his skin.
"Meet my daughter Kadma," said the woman, smiling faintly.
"That's an unusual name," Constantine muttered dully.
"I was named after Kadmos, my grandfather," said the girl, and her
voice was hoarse and lilting just like the woman's. She must have been
about ten or eleven.
"She lives here with you?" he asked shakily. "I don't think I've ever
seen her at the village school."
"She doesn't go there," said the woman, putting one hand on the
girl's shoulder and drawing her closer. "All she needs to learn she learns
from me."
"But shouldn't she ... "
"Kadma must prepare for sleep now," she interrupted calmly. "But
please come back if you ever want to buy some wind. I don't take
money, but a bowl of fruit or some wine would be welcome."
The girl's eyes slid over him indifferently as the woman bent over her,
and he felt as if he had ceased to exist. Murmuring a vague good-bye,
he stumbled outside. Immediately he sensed a shift around him: the air
grew fresher, the light brighter, and his mind less oppressed the instant
