Latest / The Scorpion by Anna Elisabet Weirauch. / 07 - The Scorpion.

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07 - The Scorpion. · The Scorpion by Anna Elisabet Weirauch.

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Myra sat on the windowsill in the bright, friendly mansard room,
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: smoking a cigarette and polishing her nails. On the white
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: cover of the sewing table which Myra had degraded or
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: advanced to a dressing table, a thick, little black book
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: lay open, the New Testament. The door was pushed ajar,
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: and her cousin Herman insinuated himself through the crack. But
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: he stopped midway and stood toying with the latch. Coming
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: down for supper, or have you still got a headache?
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: he asked laconically. Shut the door, child, Myra commanded in
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: a low voice. She did not want the cigarette smoke
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: to float downstairs and assail Aunt Antonia's sensitive nostrils. The
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: boy closed the door but continued to toy with the latch.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: Why do you hang on to the door? asked Myra, amused.
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: Come in, come in. Take a seat. The boy hesitated.
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: Of course, we're not supposed to come up here, he ventured.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: But if your headache is better, I guess you can't
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: be sick anymore. Sick, said Myra in some surprise. Are
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: you supposed not to come up here because I'm sick? Yes,
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: said the twelve-year-old, too shrewdly for his age. Because it's contagious.
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: Myra hesitated. The boy cast a covetous glance at the cigarettes.
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: He received the cigarettes and the letter and stowed them
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: so artfully in his blouse that Myra smiled. This is
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: not the first thing he's hidden from Mother's sharp eyes,
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: she thought. But he was still reluctant to go. He
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: hesitated for a while and then came out with it. Say,
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: what kind of sickness have you got? Myra wondered what
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: she should tell him. Then her glance fell on the
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: cigarette case. Well, Manny, she said after a pause, I
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: was bitten by a scorpion, and now the poison is
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: all through my blood. And you know, the only thing
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: that will cure a scorpion's bite is scorpion's poison. But
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: there aren't any scorpions here. It's all superstition that it's contagious.
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: It's only phalanges that are so poisonous you die from
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: washing in a basin that's been used by somebody who
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: has been bitten by one. Your mother has mixed them up.
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: Then it's not contagious? Asked the boy, venturing a step nearer. No.
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: Myra shook her head with a doleful smile. I believe
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: that people can die of it, but it's not contagious.
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: Young Herman, who undertook to convey the letter to the
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: post office with much secrecy and a most important air,
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: was firmly convinced that it must be a love letter
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: which had been confided to him. He would have been
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: greatly astonished could he have learned that the letter spoke
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: more of him, of little Herman himself, than of love.
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: Formerly I used to hate my uncle's children. Myra wrote
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: after a matter-of-fact recital of the events of the past
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: few days. I had no reason to hate them except
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: that they had such protruding ears. Tell me dear what
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: has changed me so completely? Now I see character in
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: every childish action. I see destinies inextricably bound up with
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: those characters. I see that little Anna is going to
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: have a hard time of it in life. Not merely
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: because her ears stand out. and I feel that I
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: would like to help her to give her something to
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: multiply the few happy hours of her life. I have
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: made a discovery, Olga. You'll laugh at me. My Aunt
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: Antonia has closed the bookcase to me and laid the
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: New Testament on my table. I have a suspicion that
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: she meant to punish me with it. A year ago,
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: at the height of my rebellion, I flung it against
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: the wall and would never have believed that I could
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: actually read it again. And yet we've made friends once more.
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: What a glorious book it is! But you'll laugh at
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: my discovery of the fact. Is there anything beautiful on
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: earth that you do not know and love? Uncle George
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: and Aunt Antonia were most agreeably surprised by Myra's behavior.
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: They had expected an unmanageable child whom it would be
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: necessary to tame, if the occasion required force. They found
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: a quite perfect and lovable young lady. Hence they disliked
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: to be always restricting and supervising her. and allowed her
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: one liberty after another. Myra took full advantage of these
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: liberties and began preparations for her flight. Day or night,
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: she had never had any other intention and her constant
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: preoccupation with such plans kept her in a state of
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: almost wantonly happy excitement. But the first problem was where
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: to find money. Myra sold everything with which she could
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: possibly dispense. Still it was not enough. She began to
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: dispose of articles from the household. but that was difficult
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: and impractical. In the first place, it might be discovered
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: before she was gone, and then all would be lost.
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: In the second place, the results did not repay the
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: trouble it required, and it hurt her to see valuable
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: things given away for a song. One day Uncle George
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: received a large sum of money by mail and locked
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: it away in the desk in Myra's presence. Myra stared
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: as if hypnotized at the locked desk. Here was all
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: she needed, but how could she get at it? She
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: lay all night without sleeping or even trying to. Her
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: mind was working feverishly. Should she break open the desk
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: that night? There was no train at that hour which
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: would be certain to bring her to the city before daybreak.
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: Should she take a wax impression of the lock? The
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: locksmith might become suspicious if she asked him to make
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: the key. Should she steal the key ring? They would
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: miss it immediately and search the whole house. Should she
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: remove the key to the desk from the ring? They
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: would immediately notice that this most important key was missing.
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: The next day Myra procured a half-dozen keys from the locksmith.
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: She told him some story about a key to the
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: bookcase which she had lost, and was delighted at the
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: assured and unembarrassed manner with which she told it. That
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: night she stole down and tried the keys. Nearly all
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: were easy to insert, but they did not unlock the desk.
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: Next day she asked for her uncle's keys in order
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: to get a book from the library. While she was
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: kneeling in front of the bookcase, she removed the key
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: to the desk from the ring. In its place she
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: attached one resembling it. She took a book from the
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: case without seeing what it was. As she handed the
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: keys back to Uncle George, she felt sure he must
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: hear the furious throbbing of her pulses. She thought her
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: face must be as white as chalk and made an
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: effort to set her frozen lips in a smile. Her
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: uncle took the keys without glancing up from his newspaper,
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: and with a brief thanks, thrust them into his trousers' pocket.
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: There was nothing left but to take a room for
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: a night at a hotel. But where would she be safe?
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: Early next morning they would be searching everywhere for her.
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: She shuddered to think of what lay ahead. She shuddered, too,
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: at the thought of a lonely night in a strange room.
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: There were moments, too, when she regarded her own actions
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: with astonishment, Terrified by her daring, suddenly feeling the bills
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: crinkling in her waist, she asked herself with amazement, Good God,
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: how did I ever manage to do it? At 11.20
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: the train arrived at the depot. The light and the
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: tumult in the buzzing hall whose vast vault was lost
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: in darkness was still more alarming than the silent night
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: of the fields. But Olgorado was there. Amidst that sea
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: of hurrying, scurrying, searching people she stood perfectly still, but
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: drawn up a little taller than usual. Surrounded by stupid, stolid,
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: deformed faces, her own pale face shone brightly. From under
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: her dark brows, which were knitted as if threateningly, her
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: dark eyes sparkled and peered along the line of coaches.
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: Myra flung open the door before the train stopped. Regardless
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: of all, she forced her way through the crowd, jabbing
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: her suitcase into people's knee-joints. She stretched out her hand, no,
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: she clutched like a falling man at a support, crying
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: between tears and laughter. Olga! Olga's face, which had turned
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: abruptly to her, remained grave. Not the ghost of a
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: smile relaxed those tense features. Myra! she said in her
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: deep voice. My child! What folly are you up to now?
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: Myra was a little taken aback. Not much. She would
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: have preferred another reception. But what difference did these words
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: make to her or the tone of these words? Olga
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: was there. She gazed into her face, held her hand,
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: listened to her voice. Now everything was all right. Are
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: you angry? asked Myra, her eyes laughing while she clung
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: to Olga's hand. If you really are angry, you old philistine,
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: I won't even dare confess all the wicked things I've done.
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: I'm not angry, said Olga earnestly. I simply refuse to
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: be in any way responsible. If you've run away, that's
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: your affair. I have not influenced you to it by
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: a single word, a single glance. I knew nothing about it.
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: I want to get that straight now and forever. Yes,
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: said Myra. But as soon as you've got it straight,
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: perhaps you'll tell me whether or not you're glad to
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: see me. If I must be candid, said Olga with
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: a vague smile and without looking at Myra, I'm not
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: unglad that you're here, but I'm a little disturbed. Have
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: you reflected at all as to what is to become
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: of you now? Myra had thought about it. But reflected?
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: No that was certainly not the right word. She had
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: thought of herself as coming to Olga in order to
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: be with Olga, to remain with Olga. She had pictured
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: herself in Olga's comfortable room, the one room in which
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: she had known happy hours, had meant to hide herself there,
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: never to go into the street, never to go home.
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: Now she was aware of the folly of the idea
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: and in not dare to declare it to the shrewd
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: eyes watching her. I don't know, she said pitifully. I
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: only know that I can never go home, never, never, never, never.
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: I'll look for a job as a nursemaid or a chambermaid. Anything.
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: Then you might just as well have remained where you were.
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: They certainly wouldn't have beaten you or let you go hungry.
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: Or do you expect that you'll have more freedom as
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: a maid? Yes, said Myra defiantly. At least I'll have
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: my Sundays free and nobody can forbid me to spend
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: them with you. Do what you like as far as
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: I'm concerned. Olga stood still and closed her eyes for
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: a moment as if in mortal terror. You are positively brutal, Myra.
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: Don't you see how you're going to incriminate me? I
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: can't accept responsibility for this, I can't. They were still
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: standing on the platform which was by then almost emptied
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: of its swarming crowds. Only a few night travelers were
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: still hurrying toward the exit. Myra felt tired and shattered.
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: The light suitcase was like a ton in her hand.
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: The draft in the vast hall made her shiver. Can't
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: we sit down in the waiting room for ten minutes?
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: She asked dejectedly. Perhaps if I think about it quietly-
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: Something will occur to me that I can do. But
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: if you feel so tired, why don't you go home? Yes,
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: said Olga, and leave you sitting here alone all night
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: in the depot. Have you gone clean crazy, my dear child?
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: They sat in the empty waiting room, warming their cold
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: fingers on their glasses of hot tea. Myra related the
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: story of her flight. She took the crinkled bills out
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: of her waist and thrust them into her pocket. Myra
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: had almost expected Olga to laugh. While she was telling
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: the story, the whole business struck her like an incredibly
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: comical adventure. But Olga's face remained intensely serious. And now,
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: she asked, I'm going to a hotel. And I... You
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: are going back to your pension. I won't leave you alone.
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: Come with me then, said Myra with a flare of hope. Yes,
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: said Olga bitterly. And the first thing tomorrow morning the
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: police will come and arrest us. No thank you. I'll
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: probably be accused of making you commit grand larceny. Then,
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: said Myra after further reflection, in that case we'll have
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: to behave like real embezzlers. That is, take the next
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: train and keep going. We'll simply get off at some
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: station or other and go to a hotel. From there
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: I'll write my father and beg him first of all
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: to straighten out the money business. Perhaps he'll be reasonable,
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: and I'll be able to come to some agreement with him.
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: In six months, I'll receive my grandmother's legacy. If my
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: father won't give me anything, I'll borrow against my legacy.
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: It can be done somehow. Myra looked at the huge schedule.
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: The next train leaves at midnight. Olga's face had lost
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: its stern expression. Her eyes were laughing with a deep joy.
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: But she still hesitated. You're absolutely crazy. she said. No nightdress,
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: no toothbrush. I have linen enough, said Myra eagerly, and
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: we can buy a toothbrush. What ideas you do have,
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: said Olga slowly. Myra saw that she was already half convinced.
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: Grand ideas, she said radiantly. Fascinating, entrancing ideas. Don't you
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: think so? Yes, but I never would have thought of it,
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: said Olga emphatically. You talked me into it. It's your
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: idea and no one's else. Absolutely. I'm much too proud
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: of it to let anybody else claim the authorship. The
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: midnight train was a passenger train. They sat alone in
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: a compartment for non-smokers that was dimly illuminated by the
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: blue-shaded light in the ceiling. They made an unsuccessful effort
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: to remove the shade in order to turn on the
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: little gas flame full force. Let it be, said Myra
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: in fun. It's better for us if the compartment is dark,
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: then our pursuers can't recognize us from outside. Myra was
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: in such high spirits that she elaborated the idea into
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: a merry comedy and even induced Olga to take part.
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: They played at flight. They stooped whenever anybody passed outside.
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: They breathed freely again as soon as the train had started.
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: Myra did her hair differently so as not to be recognized.
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: They bribed the conductor with the sum of three marks
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: not to let anybody enter their compartment and afterwards, were
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: worried lest the enormous tip might cause them to be
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: suspected as embezzlers. You know, said Myra mysteriously, we certainly
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: ought not to get off at the place our tickets
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: call for. If we do, they'll be after us immediately.
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: We'll simply get off at some other stop. Yes, Olga agreed.
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: Seven stops from here. Seven is a mystic number. Myra
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: was enthusiastic. It's beautiful, it's wonderful. We go on and
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: we don't know where. We get off and we don't
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: know where. We'll wake up early tomorrow morning in a
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: strange city and won't know the name of it. How
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: strange that sounds, said Olga, paraphrasing the words, like something
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: really profound. We live and we don't know how. We
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: love and we don't know why. We die and we
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: don't know when. No, said Myra. I don't know when.
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: Thank God. But I do know why. Also, thank God.
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: The ghost of a shadow seemed to pass over Olga's
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: face as if she wished not to hear what Myra said.
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: I used to long so dreadfully to know when I
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: would die, she said reflectively. I think it is so
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: unjust for us to know absolutely nothing about how much
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: time we have before us. We ought to have a
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: right to regulate that. I used to envy a friend
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: of mine who died of tuberculosis. She knew exactly, so
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: much of my lung is left, I can live so
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: much longer provided I economize, provided I spare myself. Or
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: I have the choice of squandering the rest, of throwing
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: away what's left. That must be beautiful. As it is,
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: you know, I never can leave my room until it
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: is cleaned up, because I suffer so from the fixed idea.
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: Who knows if I shall ever return? The thought is
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: so appalling to me that sometime I may have just
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: to step out of life and leave everything in disorder
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: behind me. Myra was on the verge of tears. She
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: wanted to conceal, to dispel the sadness that was tormenting her,
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: so she said with affected rudeness, Don't you think you're
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: really insane? Perhaps you'll be good enough to choose some
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: other topic of conversation for this dismal night journey. If
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: you don't, I'm going to sit in the next compartment
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: until you've finished your meditations. Child, said Olga, smiling and
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: clasping her hand, you are quite right. Scold me, It's
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: because of my stupid oracle. Oracle, said Myra astounded. Haven't
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: you found that out about me yet? I'm like these
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: old peasant women who, whenever they are in trouble, stick
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: a knitting needle in the Bible and fish out a quotation.
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: But you haven't got a knitting needle, said Myra laughing.
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: Nor a Bible either. The Bible must be an heirloom.
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: A new one is no good. but you really don't
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: have to have a Bible for that purpose. You can
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: take any book and open it. It's remarkable what answers
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: you sometimes find. I asked yesterday, for example, when your
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: telegram came, whether I should go to the depot. And?
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: Asked Myra in suspense. Oh, it's all silliness, said Olga
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: with a wry smile. She turned away and stared intently
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: out of the window into the black night that was
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: flitting by them. Of course it's silliness. said Myra sincerely.
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: But it worries you all the same. And you won't
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: see how really silly it is until you've told me.
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: So tell me. Then we can laugh at it together.
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: Olga turned to her again. She was trying to maintain
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: an uncertain smile. When Radamont Gozaga entered Genoa, in some
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: campaign of vengeance or other, I don't remember just what.
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: He wore a doublet on which was embroidered a scorpion.
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: Under it was the legend. Kviven slayed it, Mort Mediter.
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: One is that an answer or not? One? What life
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: wounds is healed in death? Myra seized Olga's hand. She
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: must rend some veil that the words, which had been
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: uttered with such effort, had thrown over her. You are
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: certainly insane, she said. But her voice did not ring true.
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: She had to clear her throat of a sudden huskiness.
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: The brakes ground under the coaches. The sixth stop. said
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: Myra mysteriously, her eyes big. The next is our fate.
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: I hope to heaven it isn't a large city. When
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: the train was once more in motion, they began to
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: make ready to get off. The next stop might be
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: ten minutes or an hour distant, they did not know.
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: They had placed their suitcase on the seat and were
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: standing side by side at the window, their faces pressed
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: against the pane in an effort to penetrate the darkness
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: rushing past. There are lots of woods in this country,
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: said Olga. Pine woods. Yes, Myra exulted. We'll go walking
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: in them tomorrow. The woods ended. A slate gray, clouded
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: sky hung above long, gently rolling dark fields. More trees
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: at first singly, then a thick black woods that extended
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: to the railway embankment, and above which not a scrap
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: of sky was to be seen. Again the trees grew
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: more sparsely, disappeared. Again broad fields. Then at a distance
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: they could not estimate, as though set between the gently
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: rolling furrows, a tiny light twinkled. Another and another. Look! Look!
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: cried Myra in raptures. Maybe that's our stop. Strange, said Olga.
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: Maybe one of those lights will be in our window
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: tomorrow morning. And perhaps we'll have a feeling of home
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: when we pass those lights ten years hence. But now
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: we don't even know the name of the place. A
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: watchman's shack flitted past. Now and again a section of
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: shiny rails was lit up by a lantern. Once more
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: woods grew right up to the tracks, but more open,
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: crisscrossed by numerous paths. Then a hedge ran along beside
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: them for a while. after the clipped hedge a bright
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: wooden fence. Behind it, quite close at hand, the outlines
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: of individual houses already loomed darkly. A rather smoky lantern
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: and gates that closed a dark tree-bordered highway. Other bits
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: of woods and gardens. Beyond them, little light after little light.
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: The train was slowing, creaking, puffing. Wooden columns flashed out suddenly,
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: supporting the roof of a narrow shelter. The train stopped.
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: Olga seized the suitcase, lifted the latch and sprang down
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: the high steps. Myra followed her, in a strange dreamy trance.
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: She was worn out by the two sleepless nights. Her
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: senses sharpened a thousandfold, seemed to notice everything. The thin
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: film of hoarfrost that covered the earth and the trunks
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: of the trees, the coarse faces of two women in
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: peasant's attire, who hurried past, the conductor's long-drawn shout, the
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: leisurely slamming of doors, the red hands and knitted mittens,
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: of the man at the guard gates, the little dark room,
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: its walls pasted up with bills and the worn benches,
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: the whistle of the departing train behind her. All was
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: impressed on her mind with ineradicable distinctness. Olga pushed open
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: a door, descended a flight of stone steps, and they
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: were standing on the uneven flagstones of a broad square,
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: feebly illuminated by the lights of the station. Left and
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: right pitch darkness. As far as they could see, nothing
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: but bare, twisted trees, unpaved, sodden paths slightly frozen over.
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: At a little distance there was something that resembled the
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: beginning of a street. Olga stood still and looked at
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: Myra with a smile. Well, she said, are you shivering already?
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: What would you give now to be safe at home
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: under a down comfortable, with the electric light to turn
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: on whenever you want it? Nothing at all, said Myra defiantly.
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: On the contrary, I think it's extremely pleasant right here.
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: And if we don't find any accommodations, I shall mind
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: it for your sake only. It was I who led
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: you into this excursion. Oh, for all I care, said
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: Olga deprecatingly. For all I care, we can spend the
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: night on those benches in the station. But if you're afraid,
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: we can go back and ask the man at the
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: guard gates if there's a hotel. No, Myra insisted. Don't ask.
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: Let's go on. A few hundred paces ahead of them,
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: the houses began, dark and sleeping or with an occasional
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: lighted window. They stood rather apart, surrounded by their gardens
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: and fields. The road was paved with cobbles. Presently the
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: houses stood closer together, began to form a street which
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: was illuminated by flickering lanterns. The street brought into a
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: kind of marketplace. It was a dreary polygon, without any
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: artistic embellishments, lime trees or a pearling spring. On one
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: side was a long squat gray box with a broad roof,
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: sloping low and several dormer windows. Over the broad arch
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: of the dark entrance a tin star was swaying, not
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: unlike a shaving basin, while a big blue lantern swinging
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: from a beautifully curved arm illuminated the words. At the
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: sign of the blue star. Hotel and stable accommodations. Look,
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: said Olga, even a hotel. They looked for a night bell,
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: but they could not find even a door. Beside the
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: entranceway was a handle for ringing a big bell at
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: the end of a rusty iron rod, but it was
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: difficult to reach. Myra made an attempt. Don't bother, said Olga.
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: That's not for poor pedestrians like us. Moreover, we'll wake
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: up the whole town. Let's try inside instead. They ventured
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: into the dark cavern of the entrance, but did not
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: get far. Before the passage could open into a court,
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: a huge rack wagon barred the way. But beside the
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: wagon they found a flight of steps and a little
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: wooden door in the wall. They felt a metal knob,
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: tugged at it and succeeded in evoking a shrill ring
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: that made them start, so hair-raisingly did it shatter the silence.
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: Steps' voices alight. A sleepy-looking individual appeared in the doorway,
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: slippers on his bare feet, in grayish-yellow underwear. over which
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: he had managed in some remarkable fashion to pull on
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: a jacket that he held closed under his chin with
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: his left hand. In his upraised right he carried a
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: wax candle. Olga took over the management of negotiations. She
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: told the sleep-drunk man a long tale of the train
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: by which they had just arrived, and of how the
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: blue star had had been recommended to her, and how
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: she regretted having had to disturb his slumbers, but the
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: trains arrived at such uncomfortable hours and they couldn't remain
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: on the streets, and of course the people at the
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: station had directed them here. The man rallied sufficiently to say,
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: One moment, please, vanished and left them standing there. They
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: looked at one another and laughed, waiting patiently. After some
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: time a gas lamp without a globe was lighted farther
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: up the stairs, and the man reappeared, this time in
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: black trousers. The fact that he was collarless and wore
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: neither a jacket nor stockings did not prevent a certain
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: deftness of his movements from revealing at once that he
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: was mine host. He conducted them into a big, dark,
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: cold room, jumped up on the cushion of a chair
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: and lit the gas jet. It was evidently the Blue
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: Star's imperial suite. The high, broad bed, the ponderous plush
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: sofa almost vanished in the vast room. Between the windows
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: stood a huge, gold-framed mirror before which, on the console,
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: were wax flowers under glass, while the walls were elegant
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: with numerous gay prints, most of them in heavy gold frames.
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: Mine hosts stooped and lit a gas heater. A long
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: row of little pointed blue flames puffed up, were mirrored
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: in a reflector of grooved copper that cast a warm
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: and ruddy glow on the shabby carpet. Splendid, said Olga,
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: tossing her gloves on the big, round, plush-covered table. Now
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: it will be warm here, too. That's simply ideal. No, sir,
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: we don't need another thing. We should like to have
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: breakfast here in the morning. Is this the bell splendid?
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: Thank you. Good night. The door closed behind him. Wonderful,
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: said Olga, including it all in a wide embrace. Are
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: you serious? asked Myra timidly. I was afraid your sense
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: of beauty would be in constant agony. Those pictures... and
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: those artificial flowers, and the plush upholstery. Simply splendid, said Olga.
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: It just couldn't be any different. I'd have been terribly
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: disappointed if those fighting stags were not here, or that
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: wonderful empire maiden with the apple tree in bloom. Do
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: you think I want to see Chippendale furniture or a
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: Kokoschka in the blue star? God forbid. As it is,
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: I think it's simply heavenly. Myra unpacked her suitcase, spread
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: nightgowns on the bed, set bottles and boxes on the
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: wash table. Olga walked about noiselessly, whistling with soft, sweet
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: flute tones. She stopped before each picture, studying it with
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: childish enthusiasm, while she made up long stories about it. Here,
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: said Myra, laying her silk kimono on the chair, you
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: can put that on. And you. I have my wrapper,
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: that's all right for me. Wonderful, she said. Simply wonderful.
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: Now all I need is warm feet. Then I'll be
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: absolutely happy. She rolled a chair up to the gas
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: heater and began to untie her shoes. Shall I help you?
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: asked Myra, eager to serve. I never heard of such
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: a thing, said Olga provoked. Why, I wouldn't let my
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: maid do such a thing for me. That's another matter,
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: said Myra, smiling. It's a distinction that one does not
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: confer on maids. You're certainly insane. Again that sudden deep
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: crimson pulsed into Olga's cheeks. She had drawn off her
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: thin silk stockings and was holding her bare feet toward
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: the flame. She raised her arms and slowly ran Myra's
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: brush over the hair that fell in heavy black curls
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: about her neck. Myra jumped on the chair and turned
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: out the gaslight. Now, she said with a laugh, you
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: can have a painting made of yourself or a chromo
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: and frame it in gold and hang it on the
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: walls here. title Aucoin du feu or the witch or
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: firelight or something just as good. How can anybody be
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: so shamelessly lovely? Indeed, said Olga dryly. Now you've done it.
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: We haven't any matches. In the first place, there's light
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: enough for me, said Myra, seating herself on the floor
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: in the ruddy firelight. And in the second place, we
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: can always light a spill from this. If we can't
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: find anything better, we'll use a hundred-mark note. We have
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: plenty of them. Child, what a marvelous foot you have.
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: But so cold they're always like ice. She clasped both
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: hands about Olga's foot. It was as nobly shaped, as
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: beautiful in line and color as if a master hand
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: had chiseled it out of marble. But it was as
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: heavy and as cold as stone. Myra endeavored to warm
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: it in her hands, but then she could not resist temptation.
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: She set her lips upon its cool, smooth white skin.
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: Olga broke away, sprang up and ran through the dark
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: room to the window. Olga! cried Myra, terrified and rose hesitantly.
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: What is the matter? What's wrong with you? No answer.
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: Myra went over to her. But when she reached the
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: window and stretched out her hand toward her, Olga dodged
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: as if hunted along the wall. She stood, cowering in
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: a corner Myra barring her way. Her lovely pale face
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: gleamed weirdly in the dark. Her tense features were at
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: once frightened and threatening, like a wounded animal's, that sees
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: itself surrounded and prepares to defend itself desperately. Myra shrank
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: from the expression of those compressed lips and those darkly
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: glowing eyes. Timidly she laid her hand on Olga's arms,
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: which were folded across her breast. Olga started and cowered
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: deeper in her corner. Go away, she said through clenched teeth.
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: Let me be. You must not stand in your bare
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: feet on the bare floor, said Myra on the verge
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: of tears. You'll catch your death of cold. I don't
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: want you to do anything but sit by the heater.
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: I can sleep in the hall in front of the door.
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: Or I can take another room or I can jump
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: out the window. But come out of that corner. I
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: can't bear to look at you a minute longer. She
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: seized her by both shoulders, but Olga shook her off.
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: Let me be, she said angrily. Can't you see that
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: you're torturing me to death? How can anybody be so
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: stupidly cruel? Her voice broke and suddenly her face was
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: covered with tears. Myra could control herself no longer. Her
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: eyes too brimmed over. I don't understand, she said with
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: quivering lips. If I'm so hateful to you that you
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: can't stand me, what are you here for? Why do
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: you have anything to do with me? No one can
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: like a person whose presence is a torture to him.
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: But I know why you can't stand me. Why? asked Olga, astonished.
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: Myra shook her head in silence, still struggling with her tears.
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: Why can't I stand you? Olga demanded more urgently. Answer me.
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: I want to know. Myra still avoided looking at her.
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: Because I love you too much, she said bitterly and sadly.
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: It must be dreadful to be loved by someone whom
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: you do not love. Almost disgusting. Idiot, said Olga and
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: stroked Myra's hair very tenderly. Oh, don't, said Myra and
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: disengaged herself from the hand. There's no use forcing oneself.
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: Olga let her arms drop heavily. One must force oneself,
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: she said, breathing softly but with an effort. If I
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: did not force myself, I would so smother you with
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: caresses that you'd be frightened to death and run away.
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: Myra felt the pulse throbbing in her neck so that
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: she could scarcely breathe. Don't do it, she said. Though
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: I would certainly never run away, I might go mad
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: with happiness. Then Olga slowly raised both her slender white
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: arms and laid them on Myra's shoulders. Myra felt their powerful,
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: delicious pressure grow tenser and tenser. Since Olga was barefoot,
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: their faces were almost on a level. Their eyes bored
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: into one another, gravely, unflinchingly, while they felt in every
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: vein the terrible throbbing of their hearts. Then they bent
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: toward one another, like two thirsting souls, and laid mouth
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: upon mouth. They did not release one another again. They
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: kissed one another more and more covetously. They walked through
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: the room, nestling close together. They sat on the edge
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: of the bed in one another's arms. Their clothes slipped
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: off and lay on the floor. The coarse, damp sheets
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: exhaled a chill miasma. They hardly felt it, so hot
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: was the blood in their youthful bodies. They pressed upon
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: one another as if they wanted to pass one into
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: the other, to be merged, be one. Their slender, supple
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: limbs wove one into the other. as the trees of
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: a virgin forest inextricably interpenetrate. They did not speak, but
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: like a murmuring music, they heard the droning pulse of
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: one another's hearts, and the breath that came quicker and quicker.
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: Their bodies seized each other as wild beasts seize and
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: shake the bars of their cages. They buried their nails
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: in one another's flesh, their teeth in their tensed muscles.
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: Then they lay nestling one against the other like children
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: tired with play, while their lips brushed eyelids and cheeks
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: as gently, as softly, as a butterfly a swaying flower.
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: Little one, said Olga, and all the bells pealed in
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: her voice. My beautiful, my good one. My dear, said Myra. Oh,
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: you miracle of heaven. What are you really? Are you
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: a wild creature? Or a god? Or the spirit of
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: a white orchid? I don't know, said Olga. I believe
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: I am a god. But an hour ago I was
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: a poor tortured creature. Are you not proud, little girl,
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: to be able to work such miracles? I wish I
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: could work miracles, said Myra longingly. Olga laughed a hard laugh.
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: Then you'd change me into a man, she said. God forbid,
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: cried Myra, clasping her in both arms. Never, never, never.
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: But if I could work miracles, I'd never let this
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: night end. I would make it last forever. The red
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: glow of the copper behind the gas flame filled the
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: room with the warm light. The little pointed flames trembled gently,
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: and the bright spot on the worn gay carpet trembled, too.
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: Olga leaned on her elbows, supporting her head in her hands.
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: Between her white fingers her black curls peeped. In her
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: pale face her clear dark eyes glowed in infinite majesty
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: and clarity, like twin stars. Forever, she said softly. Everything
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: that is God is eternal. Do you not feel that
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: this night belongs to God? Time is an invention of
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: the devil. Satan invented the passage of time in order
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: to make man apostate to God. But God remains eternal.
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: Satan invented much else besides sickness, pain, vermin and money.
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: Above all money. But time came in the passage of
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: time and could never be dispelled again. Now they are
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: a part of every invention of the devil. But what
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: is God's is eternal. New happiness always effaces old pain
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: as if it had never been. And happiness endures. No
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: pain can efface it. I would die of shame if
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: I thought that only the nerve endings in our skin vibrate.
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: Don't you feel that something has happened to your soul
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: that must remain with it beyond all death? Don't you
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: feel that this hour has changed you beyond any power
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: of death to change? Yes, said Myra. And more than
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: any birth. I was born today, not twenty years ago.
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: Now I can say to myself for the first time consciously.
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: I live. We live, said Olga, clasping her to her,
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: with an exultation in her voice that was like the
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: jubilant cry of a wild bird rising in flight. We live, sweetheart.
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: Forever and ever and ever we live.