There are murder weapons and there are murder weapons, but the thing used to bludgeon Philip Asher to death was the grisliest I’d seen in more than two decades on the police force.

It was a skull – a human skull.

Ed Crane and I stood staring down at what was left of it, lying splintered and gore-streaked to one side of the dead man. It had apparently cracked like an eggshell on the first or second blow, but that had been enough to shatter Asher’s skull as well. Judging from the concavity of the wound, he had been struck with considerable force.

I pulled my gaze away and let it move over the room, a large masculine study. Well-used, leather-bound books covered two walls, and a third was adorned with what appeared to be primitive Mexican or Central American art and craftwork: pottery, statuary, wood carvings, weaponry. There were two teakwood desks arranged so that they faced each other – one large and ostentatious, the other small and functional – and several pieces of teak-and-leather furniture. It should have been a comfortable room, but for me it wasn’t, there seemed to be a kind of cold, impersonal quality to it, despite the books and art.

Crane said, „If I wasn’t seeing it for myself, I don’t think I’d believe it."

„Yeah."

He rubbed at the bald spot on the crown of his head. „Well, I’ve had enough in here if you have."

„More than enough," I agreed.

We crossed to the double entrance doors and went into the hall-way beyond. At its far end was a large living room containing more teakwood furniture and primitive art. One of the two patrolmen who had preceded us on the scene stood stoically beside a long sofa; the other officer was waiting outside for the arrival of the lab crew and the coroner. Sitting stiff-backed in middle of the sofa was Douglas Falconer – hands flat on his knees, eyes blinking myopically behind thick-lensed glasses. He was about forty, with a thin, chinless face and sparse sand-colored hair, dressed in slacks and a navy-blue shirt. He looked timid and harmless, but when he’d called headquarters a half hour earlier, he had confessed to the murder of Philip Asher. The dried stains on his right shirt sleeve and on the back of his right hand confirmed his guilt well enough.

All we knew about Falconer and Asher was that the deceased owned this house, an expensive Spanish-style villa in one of the city’s finer residential areas; that Falconer had been his secretary; that no one else had been present at the time of the slaying; and that the crime had been committed, in Falconer’s words, „during a moment of blind fury." We had no idea as to the motive, and we hadn’t been prepared at all for the nature of the murder weapon.

Falconer kept on blinking as Crane and I approached and stopped on either side of him, but his eyes did not seem to be seeing anything in the room. I thought maybe he’d gone into delayed shock, but when I said his name, his head jerked up and the eyes focused on me.

I said: „You want to tell us about it, Falconer?" We’d already apprised him of his rights, and he had waived his privilege of presence of counsel during questioning.

„I murdered Asher," he said. „I already told you that. At first I thought of trying to cover it up, make it look as though a burglar had done it. But I’m not a very good liar, even though I’ve had a lot of practice. Besides, I ... I don’t much care what happens to me from now on."

„Why did you kill him?" Crane asked.

Falconer shook his head – not so much a refusal to answer as a reluctance or inability to put voice to the reason. We would get it out of him sooner or later, so there was no point in trying to force it.

I said, „Why the skull, Mr.Falconer? Where did you get a thing like that?"

He closed his eyes, popped them open again. „Asher kept it on the shelf behind his desk. He was sitting at the desk when I ... when I did it."

„He kept a human skull in full view in his study?" Crane’s tone was incredulous. „What the hell for?"

„He had a macabre sense of humor. He claimed to enjoy the reactions of visitors when they saw it. It was his memento mori, he said."

„His what?"

„Reminder of death," Falconer said.

„That sounds pretty morbid to me."

„Philip Asher was a fearless, cold-blooded man. Death never bothered him in the least. In one sense, it was his life, he devoted his life to the dead."

Crane and I exchanged glances. „You’d better explain that," I said.

„He was an anthropologist, quite a renowned one," Falconer said. „He published several books on the Mayan and Aztec races, and was in great demand as a lecturer and as a consultant to various university anthropological departments specializing in pre-Columbian studies."

„You were his full-time secretary, is that right?"

„Yes. I helped him with research, accompanied him on his expeditions to the Yucatán and other parts of Mexico and Central America, correlated his notes, typed his book manuscripts and business correspondence."

„How long did you work for him?"

„Eight years."

„Do you live here?"

„Yes. I have a room in the south wing."

„Does anyone else live in this house?"

„No. Asher never remarried after his wife left him several years ago. He had no close relatives."

Crane said, „Did you premeditate his death?"

„I didn’t plan to kill him today, if that’s what you mean."

„The two of you had an argument, then?"

„No, there wasn’t any argument."

„Then what triggered this murderous rage of yours?" I asked.

He started to shake his head again, and then slumped backward bonelessly. His eyes seemed to be looking again at something not in the room.

At length he said, „It was a ... revelation."

„Revelation?"

A heavy sigh. „I received a letter yesterday from another anthropologist I’d met through Asher," he said, „asking me to become his personal secretary at a substantial increase in salary. I considered the offer, and this morning decided that I couldn’t afford to turn it down. But when I talked to Asher about it, he refused to accept my resignation. He said he couldn’t be certain of my continued silence if I were no longer in his employ or in his house. He ordered me to remain. He said he would take steps against me if I didn’t..."

„Wait a minute," I said. „Your continued silence about what?"

„Something that happened six years ago."

„What something?"

He didn’t speak again for several seconds. The he swallowed and said, „The death of his wife and her lover at Asher’s summer lodge on Lake Pontrain."

We stared at him. Crane said, „You told us a couple of minutes ago that his wife had left him, not that she was dead."

„Did I? Yes, I suppose I did. I’ve told the same lie, in exactly the same way, so many times that it’s an automatic response. Mildred and her lover died at Lake Pontrain, that is the truth."

„All right – how did they die?"

„By asphyxiation," he said. „It happened on a Saturday in September, six years ago. Early that morning Asher decided on the spur of the moment to spend a few days at the lodge; the book he was writing at the time was going badly and he thought a change of scenery might help. He drove up alone at eight; I had an errand to do and then followed in my own car about an hour later. When I reached the lodge I found Asher inside with the bodies. They were in bed – Mildred, who was supposed to have been visiting a friend in Los Angeles, and the man. I’d never seen him before; I found out later he was an itinerant musician." Pause.

„They were both naked," he said.

„What did Asher say when you walked in?"

„That he’d found them found just as they were. The lodge had been full of gas when he arrived, he said, and he’d aired it out. A tragic accident caused by a faulty gas heater in the bedroom."

„Did you believe that?" I asked.

„Yes. I was stunned. I’d always thought Mildred above such a thing as infidelity. She was beautiful, yes – but always so quiet, si dignified ..."

„Was Asher also stunned?"

„He seemed to be," Falconer said. „But he was quite calm. When I suggested we contact the authorities he wouldn’t hear of it. Think of the scandal, he said – the possible damage to his reputation and his career. I asked what else we could do. I wasn’t prepared for his answer."

„Which was?"

„He suggested in that cold, calculating way of his that we dispose of the bodies, bury them somewhere at the lake. Then we could concoct a story to explain Mildred’s disappearance, say that she had moved out and gone back to Boston, where she was born. He insisted no one would question this explanation, because he and Mildred had few close friends and because of his reputation. As it happened, he was right."

„So you went along with this cover-up?"

„What choice did I have? I’m not a forceful man, and at the time I respected Asher and his judgement. And as I told you, I was stunned. Yes, I went along with it. I helped Asher transfer the bodies to a promontory a mile away, where we buried them beneath piles of rocks."

Crane said, „So for six years you kept this secret – until today, until something happened this morning."

„Yes."

„These ‚steps’ Asher told you he’d take if you tried to leave his employ – were they threats of bodily harm?"

Falconer nodded. „He said he would kill me."

„Pretty drastic just to insure your silence about two accidental deaths six years ago."

„Yes. I said the same thing to him."

„And?"

„He told me the truth," Falconer said.

„That with his wife and her lover didn’t die by accident? That he’d murdered them?"

„That’s right. He found them in bed together, very much alive, his massive ego had been wounded, the sin was unforgivable and had to be punished – that was how Philip Asher was. He knocked them both out with his fists. I suppose I would have seen evidence of that if I’d looked closely at the bodies, but in my distraught state I noticed nothing. Then he suffocated them with a pillow. I arrived before he could remove the bodies by himself, and so he made up the story about the faulty gas heater. If I hadn’t believed it, if I hadn’t helped him, he would have killed me too, then and there."

„Did he tell you that too?"

„Yes."

„So when you found out you’d been working for a murderer the past six years, that you’d helped cover up a cold-blooded double homicide, you lost control and picked up the skull and bashed his head in with it."

„No," Falconer said. „No, not exactly. I was sickened by his confession and by my part in the whole ugly affair; I loathed him and I wanted to strike back at him. But I’m not a violent man. It was his second revelation that made me do what I did."

„What was it, this second revelation?"

„Something else he’d done, a year after the murders. I don’t know why he told me about it, except that he was quite mad. A mad ghoul." Falconer laughed mirthlessly. „Mad ghoul. It sounds funny, doesn’t it? Like an old Bela Lugosi film. But that’s just what Asher was, always poking around among the dead."

„Mr. Falconer –„

He let out a shuddering breath.

„Asher’s memento mori didn’t come from Mexico, as I always believed; it came from that promontory at Lake Pontrain. I killed him, using the one fitting weapon for his destruction, when he told me I’d been working in that study of his all these years, all these years, with the skull of the only woman I ever loved grinning at me over his shoulder..."

Tela homicidialia licet sint vehementer varia, sed illud, quod adhibitum est ad Philippum Aserum occîdendum, spatio plus duorum decenniorum, quibus functus sum officio astynomico, omnium quae vidi erat telum formidulosissimum.

Quod telum erat calvaria – calvaria humana.

Eduardus Craneus egoque oculis emissiciis despectabamus ad eiusdem reliquias discissas et cruentas iuxta virum mortuum positas. Apparuit ipsam hanc calvariam post ictum primum aut alterum diffractam esse tamquam testam ovariam, sed sanê suffecisse ad Aseri calvariam diffringendam. E vulneris formâ concavâ conclusimus virum summâ vi prostratum esse.

Oculis inde aversis conclave perlustravi, quae erat magna zotheca virilis. Duo parietes obtecti erant libris detritis corio colligatis, tertius artificiis primitivis, quae videbantur e Mexico aut Americâ centrali advecta esse: statuae, vasa figlina, sculpturae ligneae, arma. Fuerunt ibi duae mensae ligno sagalino confectae, una magna et conspicua, altera parva et habilis – et nonnullae supellectiles sagalino-coriaceae. Licet animo fingas hanc zothecam fuisse lautiusculam – mihi talis non fuit, immo, adversus libros et res artificiosas visa est frigida et iniucunda.

Craneus: „Nisi" inquit, „viderem oculis meis, non crederem".

„Sanê".

Calvastro vertice capitis sui scalpto collega meus dixit: „Bene, puto nos sat diu hîc fuisse?"

„Sat superque" dixi.

Per ianuas introitûs duplices transgressi in andronem vênimus. In eodem extremo situm erat magnum medianum, cui inerant plura artificia atque supellectiles sagalinae. Unus ex astyphylacibus, qui nos erat praegressus ad locum visendum, patienter stabat iuxta longum stibadium; alter vigil extra exspectabat necroscopum et technicos laboratorii. Medio in stibadio dorso recto sedebat Duglasius Falconerus. Manûs genubus planas imposuerat, oculi eius myopes crassis lentibus vitreis postpositi tremebant. Qui erat ferê quadragenarius, tenui facie, mento vix visibili, fulvis capillis, laxis bracis atque camisiâ caeruleâ indutus. Eius vultus videbatur timidus atque innocuus, sed semihorâ ante cum astynomo stationis centralis telephonans confessus erat se interfecisse Philippum Aserum. Maculis autem siccatis, quae erant in camisiae manicâ dextrâ et in dorso manûs, satis confirmabatur Falconerum esse in culpâ.

Nos autem de Falconero et Asero nihil scivimus nisi virum mortuum hanc domum possedisse, caram villam generis Hispanici in aliquâ regione urbanâ sitam, ubi habitacula erant opulentiorum; Falconerum eius secretarium fuisse; neminem praeter eos adfuisse cruento facinori; scelus commissum esse, ut dixerat ipse Falconerus, „momento caeci furoris". Prorsus nescivimus, qua de causâ factum sit hoc homicidium neque ullo modo suspicati sumus, cuiusnam generis esset telum homicidiale.

Craneo meque ipso advenientibus et utrimque secus consistentibus oculi Falconeri perrexerunt tremere, sed videbantur in nullâ re defixi esse conclavi insitâ. Putavi eum vehementer esse consternatum, sed nomine a me appellatus caput sustulit et oculos defixit in me.

Dixi: „Vin’ nobis dicere, quid factum sit, Falconere?" Idem a nobis de iuribus suis certior factus renuntiaverat iuri, quo quaestioni interesset advocatus.

„Ego" inquit „Aserum necavi". „Hoc vobis iam dixi. Primum cogitaram me conari posse hŏc occultare vosque ita fallere, ut crederetis illum occisum esse ab effractore. At equidem haud bene scio mentiri, quamvis hŏc saepe exercuerim. Praeterea,non, ... non multum curo, quid inde fiat de me."

„Quare illum necasti?" Craneus interrogavit.

Falconerus autem caput concussit – quod non fecit, quia recusavit, quin responderet, sed quia rem vix potuit verbis exprimere. Cum sciremus nos rem ab eo serius ocius accepturos esse, causae non erat, cur conaremur eum cogere, ut diceret.

„Quare" inquam „usus es calvariâ, Domine Falconere? Ubi talem rem accepisti?"

Qui oculos clausit et aperuit. „Aserus eandem collocabat in pluteo post mensam suam statuto. Idem sedebat ad mensam, cum ... cum rem feci."

„Aserus in zothecâ suâ collocabat calvariam humanam undique aspectabilem?" Craneus dixit voce incredulâ. „Quare – malum – hoc faciebat?"

„Aserus delectabatur sale nigro. Idem enim affirmabat sibi gaudio esse videre, quomodo se gererent hospites subito calvariam conspicientes. Ceterum dicebat hŏc caput hominis mortui esse suum memento mori."

„Quidnam hŏc est?"

„Sensit se calvariâ admoneri de morte."

„Aliquatenus insanus fuisse videtur."

„Philippus Aserus fuit vir animo intrepido et lento pectore praeditus. Qui morte numquam ullo modo sollicitatus est. Aseri vita aliquatenus in eo posita erat, quod devoverat morti."

Tum Craneus egoque invicem unus alterum aspectavimus. „Oportet hŏc melius explices" dixi.

„Aserus erat anthropologus îdemque perquam illustris" Falconerus dixit. „Qui publicavit nonnullos libros de gentibus Mayarum et Aztecarum necnon saepe rogabatur, ut in variis universitatibus acroases faceret et consilia daret aliis anthropologis, qui specialiter incumberent studiis praecolumbianis."

„Tu autem fuisti eius secretarius officii completi. Fuistine?"

„Fui. Eum adiuvabam in materiis scientificis investigandis, comitabar in expeditionibus, quas faciebat Yucatanum aliasque in partes Mexici Americaeque centralis, notas accommodabam, manuscripta eius dactylographabam, commercium eius epistularum curabam."

„Quamdiu pro eo laborasti?"

„Per octo annos."

„Habitasne hîc?"

„Habito. Est mihi cubiculum in alâ villae meridionali situm."

„Habitatne alius quisquam in hac domo?"

„Nemo. Aserus ab uxore relictus numquam alteram mulierem duxit. Neque ei fuerunt homines sibi genere propinqui."

Craneus interrogavit: „Esne eius mortem praemeditatus?"

„Non constitueram, ut hodie eum necarem, si hŏc sentis."

„Ergo fuit controversia inter vos?"

„Nulla fuit controversia."

„Si ita, qua re tam vehementer excitatus es, ut eum necares?"

Capite iterum concusso Falconerus tam defessus erat, ut relaberetur. Eius oculi iterum visi sunt in re extra conclave positâ defixi.

Denique idem dixit: „Excitatus sum re ... revelatâ."

„Re revelatâ?"

Falconerus graviter gemuit. „Heri" inquit, „litteras acceperam ab alio anthropologo scriptas, quem per Aserum cognoveram. Qui me rogavit, ut salario valdê exaucto fierem secretarius suus personalis. De hôc munere oblato cum deliberassem, hôc mâne constitui, ne eidem recusarem. At Aserus de eodem certior factus recusavit, ne comprobaret contractum resignandum. Qui dixit se non pro certo habere me, nisi apud se fungerer officio, servaturum esse taciturnitatem perpetuam. Iussit me remanere. Dixit autem se, nisi remanerem, contra me acturum esse..."

„Exspecta paulisper", inquam, „de qua re dixit tibi tacendum esse in perpetuum?"

„De quadam re sex annis ante factâ."

„Quae res facta est?"

Falconerus parumper tacuit. Deinde singultans: „Uxor unâ cum amasione suo mortua erat in Aseri domunculâ aestivâ prope Lacum Pontranum sitâ."

Oculis emissiciis eum aspectavimus. Craneus autem dixit: „Modo demum nobis narrasti eum ab uxore suâ relictum esse, non illam esse mortuam."

„Hŏcine dixi? Ita, puto me hŏc dixisse. Idem mendacium toties eodemque modo repetivi, ut automati instar sic responderem. Miltrada eiusque amasio mortui sunt prope Lacum Pontranum, hŏc verumst."

„Licet ita fuerit – quomodo mortui sunt?"

„Suffocati sunt" inquit, „quod factum est die quodam Saturni, mense Septembri, sex annis ante. Bene mâne Aserus praesenti affectione motus decrevit, ut nonnullos dies degeret in illâ domunculâ. Cum aegrê progressus esset in libro quodam scribendo, speravit sede mutatâ opus melius scribi posse. Horâ octavâ solus profectus est, ego, cum mandatum aliquod curassem, horâ ferê post autocineto meo proprio eum secutus sum. Domunculam cum advenissem, intra invêni Aserum illorumque corpora mortua. Quae fuêre in lĕcto – Miltrada, quam putaram Angelopoli visitasse amicam, et vir quidam. Quem numquam antea videram; postea invêni eum fuisse musicum itinerantem." – Pausa. –

„Ambo" inquit, „fuerunt nudi."

„Quid Aserus dixit tibi ingresso?"

„Se illos invenisse tales quales essent. Domunculam fuisse plenam gasi, cum adveniret, dixit, seque curasse, ut eadem aere perflaretur. Factum esse infortunium tragicum, quod in cubiculo effectum esset defecto calefactorio gasico."

„Tune hŏc credidisti?" interrogavi.

„Credidi. Consternatus eram. Semper putaram Miltradam superiorem esse quam ut moecharetur. Quae fuit pulchra, ita – sed semper tam gravis, tam digna ..."

„Fuitne Aserus quoque consternatus?"

„Qui" Falconerus dixit „visus est consternatus. At fuit animo prorsus tranquillo. Cum proponerem, ut communicaremus cum astynomis, is noluit hŏc audire. ‚Respice’, inquit, ‚scandalon factum iri, periculum est, ne auctoritas mea deminuatur et cursus honorum impediatur.’ Interrogavi, quid aliud faceremus. Non suspicatus sum, quid esset responsurus."

„Quidnam?"

„Proposuit, quo erat pectore lento et ratione validâ, ut auferremus corpora, ut eadem aliquo loco prope lacum sito sepeliremus. Deinde fieri posse, ut excogitaremus fabulam, qua explanaremus, quomodo Miltrada evanuisset; nos dicere posse eandem, cum sedem mutasset, rediisse Bostoniam, ubi esset nata. Verbis efferebat neminem hanc explicationem in dubium vocaturum esse, quia ipsi et Miltradae pauci tantum amici essent et sibi esset magna auctoritas. Nec falso cogitaverat, ut postea apparuit.

„Itaque tu assensus es huic praetextui?"

„Quid aliud facerem? Non sum vir fortis, et illo tempore respexi Aserum eiusque iudicium. Et, ut dixisti, eram animo consternato. Ita, assensus sum. Adiuvi Aserum, qui corpora transportavit ad promunturium mille passuum remotum, ubi illa sepelivimus sub acervis lapidum."

Craneus: „Itaque" inquit „per sex annos servasti hoc secretum – usque diem hodiernum, usque dum aliquid factum est hôc mâne."

„Ita est."

„Cum dixit se acturum fuisse aliquid contra te, si studuisses desistere a munere tuo, estne tibi minatus se vim allaturum esse?"

Falconerus annuit. „Aserus dixit se me necaturum fuisse."

„Nonne mirum est eum mortem tibi minatum esse, ut reticeres duo infortunia sex annis ante facta?"

„Ego quoque stupefactus sum. Quod ei dixi."

„Deinde quid fecit?"

„Deinde ille mihi dixit, quid reverâ factum esset."

„Uxorem suam eiusque amasionem non mortuos esse infortunio? Se ipsum illos necasse?"

„Haec dixit. Se illos in lĕcto invenisse vĕneris amplexu inter se coniunctos, valdê agiles; quo peccato laesus est Aseri animus superbus – qui hoc non ignovit, quod puniendum ei visum est – ut erat Philippus Aserus. Qui ambos tam vehementer colaphavit, ut animis relinquerentur. Opinor me plâgas corporibus iniectas animadversurum fuisse, si intentius aspexissem, sed, qua eram animi consternatione, nihil animadverti. Deinde Aserus illos pulvino suffocavit. Cum advenirem, antequam idem corpora ipse potuit removere, mente confinxit fabulam defecti calefactorii gasici. Nisi eandem credidissem, nisi Aserum adiuvissem, me quoque necasset, eodem loco et tempore."

„Dixitne tibi hŏc?"

„Dixit."

„Ergo, cum invenisses te sex annis proximis laborasse pro homicidâ, ut latêret duplex homicidium lento pectore commissum, tantâ irâ incensus es, ut calvariâ arreptâ caput Aseri perfringeres."

„Non" Falconerus inquit, „non, ipso hôc modo non factumst. Infirmus factus eram, cum confessione eius audita cognoscerem, quatenus ego ipse particeps fuissem totius facinoris turpissimi; rei pertaesus volui ab Asero me avertere. At ego non sum vir violentus. Alterâ demum re ab eodem revelatâ tam vehementer commotus sum, ut facerem quod feci."

„Quae fuit haec res, quam ille revelavit secundo loco?"

„Aliquid aliud fecerat, anno post homicidia. Nescio quare Aserus mihi hanc rem narraverit, nisi idem fuit vesanus. Nisi fuit vesanus vampyrus." Falconerus risit gaudii expers. „Vesanus vampyrus. Quod videtur esse ridiculum, nonne? Hŏc redolet vetustum aliquod cinema, cuius particeps est Bela Lugosi – at hŏc congruit cum indole Aseri, qui semper perscrutabatur funesta."

„Domine Falconere..."

Qui anhelavit horribiliter.

„Illud memento mori Aserianum non erat advectum e Mexico, ut ego semper putaram, sed e promunturio Lacûs Pontrani. Ego istum necavi unico telo usus ad hŏc faciendum verê digno, ... cum narravisset omnibus illis annis – omnibus, inquam, illis annis – mihi in illâ zothecâ laboranti torvum reniduisse calvariam – calvariam unicae mulieris, quam umquam amavi ..."

VOCABULA RARIORA ET RECENTIORA

*Angelopolis,-is f. orig. Los Angeles

*astýnomus,-i m. angl. commissary

*astýphylax, astyphýlacis m. angl. police-man, cop

*autocinetum,-i n. angl. car

*Aztêcae,-ârum m.pl.

Bela Lugosi fuit actor Hollywoodianus originis Hungaricae, qui propter personam Draculae gestam in claritudinem pervenit.

calefactôrium,-ii n. orig. heater

calvâria,-ae f. orig. skull

*cînêma, cînêmatis n. orig. movie

*dactylógraphô,-are orig. to type

*gâsicus,-a,-um orig. gas-

homicidiâlis,-e orig. murderous

lignum *sagalînum orig. teak.

*Mayae,-ârum m.pl. orig. Mayas, gens autocthonum Americae australis.

*Méxicum,-î n. orig. Mexiko.

+Miltrâda,-ae f. orig. Mildred.

plúteus,-eî m. orig. shelf

*vampŷrus,-i m. (vox slavicae originis). orig. ghoul (vox arabicae originis). daemon, phantasma necrophagum.

torvum renîdêre orig. to grin

Yucatânum,-î n. – orig. Yucatan.

‘I’m not very hungry.’

‘Come on and eat. You can’t fish and not eat.’

‘I have,’ the old man said getting up and taking the newspaper and folding it. Then he started to fold the blanket.

‘Keep the blanket around you,’ the boy said. ‘You’ll not fish without eating while I’m alive.’

‘Then live a long time and take care of yourself,’ the old man said. ‘What are we eating?’

‘Black beans and rice, fried bananas, and some stew.’

The boy had brought them in a two-decker metal container from the Terrace. The two sets of knives and forks and spoons were in his pocket with a paper napkin wrapped around each set.

‘Who gave this to you?’

‘Martin. The owner.’

‘I must thank him.’

‘’I thanked him already,’ the boy said. ‘You don’t need to thank him.’

‘I’ll give him the belly meat of a big fish,’ the old man said. ‘Has he done this for us more than once?’

‘I think so.’

‘I must give him something more than the belly meat then. He is very thoughtful for us.’

‘He sent two beers.’

‘I like the beer in cans best.’

‘I know. But this is in bottles, Hatuey beer, and I take back the bottles.’

‘That’s very kind of you,’ the old man said. ‘Should we eat?’

‘I’ve been asking you to,’ the boy told him gently. ‘I have not wished to open the container until you were ready.’

‘I’m ready now,’ the old man said. ‘I only needed time to wash.’

‘Where did you wash? the boy thought. The village water supply was two streets down the road. I must have water here for him, the boy thought, and soap and a good towel. Why am I so thoughtless? I must get him another shirt and a jacket for the winter and some sort of shoes and another blanket.

‘Your stew is excellent,’ the old man said.

‘Tell me about the baseball,’ the boy asked him.

‘In the American League it is the Yankees as I said,’ the old man said happily.

‘They lost today,’ the boy told him.

‘That means nothing. The great DiMaggio is himself again.’

‘They have other men on the team.’

‘Naturally. But he makes the difference. In the other league, between Brooklyn and Philadelphia I must take Brooklyn. But then I think of Dick Sisler and those great drives in the old park.’

‘There was nothing ever like them. He hits the longest ball I ever have seen.’

‘Do you remember when he used to come to the Terrace? I wanted to take him fishing but I was too timid to ask him. Then I asked you to ask him and you were too timid.’

‘I know. It was a great mistake. He might have gone with us. Then we would have that for all of our lives.’

‘I would like to take the great DiMaggio fishing,’ the old man said. ‘They say his father was a fisherman. Maybe he was as poor as we are and would understand.’

‘The great Sisler’s father was never poor and he, the father, was playing in the big leagues when he was my age.’

‘When I was your age I was before the mast on a square-rigged ship that ran to Africa and I have seen lions on the beaches in the evening.’

‘I know. You told me.’

‘Should we talk about Africa or about baseball?’

‘Baseball I think,’ the boy said. ‘Tell me about the great John J.McGraw.’ He said Jota for J.

‘He used to come to the Terrace sometimes too in the older days. But he was rough and harsh-spoken and difficult when he was drinking. His mind was on horses as well as baseball. At least he carried lists of horses at all times in his pocket and frequently spoke the names of horses on the telephone.’

‘He was a great manager,’ the boy said. ‘My father thinks he was the greatest.’

‘Because he came here the most times,’ the old man said. ‘If Durocher had continued to come here each year your father would think him the greatest manager.’

‘Who is the greatest manager, really, Luque or Mike Gonzalez?’

‘I think they are equal.’

‘And the best fisherman is you.’

‘No. I know others better.’

‘Qué va,’ the boy said. ‘There are many good fishermen and some great ones. But there is only you.’

‘Thank you. You make me happy. I hope no fish will come along so great that he will prove us wrong.’

‘There is no such fish if you are still strong as you say.’

‘’I may not be as strong as I think,’ the old man said. ‘But I know many tricks and I have resolution.’

‘You ought to go to bed now so that you will be fresh in the morning. I will take the things back to the Terrace.’

‘Good night then. I will wake you in the morning.’

‘You’re my alarm clock,’ the boy said.

‘Age is my alarm clock,’ the old man said. ‘Why do old men wake so early? Is it to have one longer day?’

‘I don’t know,’ the boy said. ‘All I know is that young boys sleep late and hard.’

‘I can remember it,’ the old man said. ‘I’ll waken you in time.’

‘I do not like for him to waken me. It is as though I were inferior.’

‘I know.’

‘Sleep well old man.’

The boy went out. They had eaten with no light on the table and the old man took off his trousers and went to bed in the dark. He rolled his trousers up to make a pillow, putting the newspaper inside them. He rolled himself in the blanket and slept on the other old newspapers that covered the springs of the bed.

He was asleep in a short time and he dreamed of Africa when he was a boy and the long, golden beaches and the white beaches, so white they hurt your eyes, and the high capes and the great brown mountains. He lived along that coast now every night and in his dreams he heard the surf roar and saw the native boats come riding through it. He smelled the tar and oakum of the deck as he slept and he smelled the smell of Africa that the land breeze brought at morning.

Usually when he smelled the land breeze he woke up and dresses to go and wake the boy. But tonight the smell of the land breeze came very early and he knew it was too early in his dream and went on dreaming to see the white peaks of the Islands rising from the sea and then he dreamed of the different harbours and roadsteads of the Canary Islands.

He no longer dreamed of storms, nor of women, nor of great occurrences, nor of great fish, nor fights, nor contests of strength, nor of his wife. He only dreamed of places now and of the lions on the beach. They played like young cats in the dusk and he loved them as he loved the boy. He never dreamed about the boy. He simply woke, looked out the open door at the moon and unrolled his trousers and put them on. He urinated outside the shack and then went up the road to wake the boy. He was shivering with the morning cold. But he knew he would shiver himself warm and that soon he would be rowing.

The door of the house where the boy lived was unlocked and he opened it and walked in quietly with his bare feet. The boy was asleep on a cot in the first room and the old man could see him clearly with the light that came in from the dying moon. He took hold of one foot gently and held it until the boy woke and turned and looked at him. The old man nodded and the boy took his trousers from the chair by the bed and, sitting on the bed, pulled them on.

The old man went out the door and the boy came after him. He was sleepy and the old man put his arm across his shoulders and said, ‘I am sorry.’

‘Qué va,’ the boy said. ‘It is what a man must do.’

They walked down the road to the old man’s shack and all along the road, in the dark, barefoot men were moving, carrying the masts of their boats.

When they reached the old man’s shack the boy took the rolls of line in the basket and the harpoon and gaff and the old man carried the mast with the furled sail on his shoulder.

‘Do you want coffee?’ the boy asked.

‘We’ll put the gear in the boat and then get some.’

They had coffee from condensed-milk cans at an early morning place that served fishermen.

‘How did you sleep old man?’ the boy asked. He was waking up now although it was still hard for him to leave his sleep.

‘Very well, Manolin,’ the old man said. ‘I feel confident today.’

‘So do I,’ the boy said. ‘Now I must get your sardines and mine and your fresh baits. He brings our gear himself. He never wants anyone to carry anything.’

‘We’re different,’ the old man said. ‘I let you carry things when you were five years old.’

‘I know it,’ the boy said. ‘I’ll be right back. Have another coffee. We have credit here.’

He walked off, barefooted on the coral rocks, to the ice house where the baits were stored.

The old man drank his coffee slowly. It was all he would have all day and he knew that he should take it. For a long time now eating had bored him and he never carried a lunch. He had a bottle of water in the bow of the skiff and that was all he needed for the day.

The boy was back now with the sardines and the two baits wrapped in a newspaper and they went down the trail to the skiff, feeling the pebbled sand under their feet, and lifted the skiff and slid her into the water.

‘Good luck old man.’

‘Good luck,’ the old man said.

‘

"Haud valdê esurio".

"Age, comedas. Ieiunus non poteris piscari".

"Cenavi" senex dixit, surrexit, acta diurna sumpta complicavit. Deinde coepit stragulum complicare.

"Stragulum tibi circumfunde" puer dixit. "Dum ego vivam, non piscaberis ieiunus".

"Si ita, vive diu et cura ut ipse valeas" senex dixit.

"Quid comedemus?"

"Fabas nigras et oryzam, musas tostas, aliquid syncerasti".

Puer haec omnia attulit metallico vasi bitabulato e cauponâ "Xysti". Pueri sacculo infuerunt cultri, fuscinulae, cochlearia, mappula chartacea omni synthesi circumvoluta.

"Quis haec tibi dedit?"

"Martinus. Possessor".

"Gratiae ei a me agendae sunt".

"Ego ei iam gratias egi" puer dixit. "Tu non debes ei gratias agere".

"Ei dabo carnem ventralem alicuius piscis magni" senex dixit. "Nonne hoc fecit iam compluries?"

"Puto".

"Ergo aliquid carius quam caro ventralis debeo ei dare. Valdê curat nos".

"Misit duas cervesias".

"Ego maximê aestimo cervesiam pyxidatam".

"Scio. Sed haec est lagoenaria, cervesia "Hatuey", referam lagoenas".

"Quod facis benignê" senex dixit. "Comedamus?"

"Te iam monueram" puer dixit leniter. "Sed nolueram aperire vas, antequam paratus eras".

"Nunc paratus sum" senex dixit. "Tempore egui, quo me lavarem".

‘Ubi tu te lavisti?’ puer cogitavit. Locus vici aquarius duabus viis transversis inferior erat. ‘Debeo ei huc afferre aquam puer cogitavit, et saponem et bonum manutergium. Quare hoc oblîtus sum? Oportet ei comparem alteram camisiam et iaccam hibernam et aliquos calceos et stragulum’.

"Syncerastum tuum est exquisitum" senex dixit.

"Narra mihi de folle basso" puer rogavit.

"In ‘Ligâ Americanâ’ vincent ‘Iancii’, ut dixi" senex hilariter dixit.

"Qui hodie sunt devicti".

"Quod nihil valet. Magnus DiMaggio iterum est talis, qualis fuit".

"Sunt alii quoque in manipulo".

"Scilicet. Sed ille facit momentum. In aliâ ligâ, si agitur de manipulis Brooklyniensi et et Philadelphianâ, praefero Brooklyni- ensem. Sed in hac re cogito de Dick Sisler eiusque ictibus longinquis in viridario vetusto factis".

"Numquam fuit melius iiisdem. Ille follem pulsat longinquissimê omnium, quos umquam vidi".

"Recordarisne illud tempus, quo is frequentabat "Xystum"? Volui eum mecum ad piscatum ducere, sed verecundior fui, quam ut rogarem. Deinde te rogavi, ut eum rogares, sed tu quoque nimis verecundus fuisti".

"Scio. In hac re multum erravimus. Fortasse nos comitatus esset. Si ita, hanc rem memoriâ teneremus in totam vitam".

"Libenter ad piscatum mecum ducerem magnum DiMaggionem" senex dixit. "Dicitur eius pater fuisse piscator. Fortasse ille fuit tam pauper quam nos et hoc intellegeret".

"Pater magni Sisleri numquam erat pauper et, cum esset meae aetatis, lusit in magnis ligîs".

"Cum ego essem tuae aetatis, nauta vectus sum nave armamentis instructâ, quae cucurrit in Africam et vidi leones vesperî in litoribus versantes".

"Scio. Narrasti".

"Loquamur de Africâ an de folle basso?"

"De folle basso" puer dixit. "Narra mihi de magno Iohanne J. McGraw". Dixit "Iota" pro "J.".

"Hic quoque prioribus diebus solebat venire ad Xystum. Sed fuit asper, sermonis inurbani et difficilis, cum potabat. Qui non minus equis delectabatur quam folle basso. Saltim semper sacculo suo secum ferebat indices equorum saepeque telephonans nomina equorum pronuntiabat".

"Qui fuit magnus dispensator" puer dixit. "Pater meus putat illum fuisse maximum omnium".

"Quia îdem plerumque huc venit" senex dixit. "Si Durocher omni anno huc venisset, pater tuus putaret eum esse dispensatorem maximum".

"Quis est maximus dispensator, verê, Lucas an Michael Gonzalez?"

"Puto eos esse aequales".

"Optimus autem piscator es tu".

"Non sum. Nôvi alios meliores".

"Nequaquam" puer dixit. "Sunt multi piscatores boni et nonnulli perquam magni. At nemo par est tibi".

"Gratias tibi ago. Me facis felicem. Spero me in nullum piscem incisurum esse tantum, ut sententia nostra refutetur".

"Talis piscis non exstat, si adhuc tam robustus es quam dicis".

"Non tam robustus sim quam puto" senex dixit. "Sed nôvi multas technas et sum animo praesenti".

"Necesse est te nunc cubitum ire, ut cras mâne sis alacer. Ego res referam in Xystum".

"Bonam noctem. Mâne te excitabo".

"Tu es excitabulum meum" puer dixit.

"Senectus est excitabulum meum" senex dixit. "Cur senes tam maturê expergiscuntur? Ut dies iis longior sit?"

"Nescio" puer inquit "Scio tantum pueros qualis sum diu et artê dormire".

"Recordor" senex inquit, "Excitabo te in tempore".

"Nolo ab illo expergefieri. Hoc facit quasi me sit superior".

"Scio".

"Bene dormi, senex".

Puer exiit. Cenaverant sine lumine ad mensam. Senex exuit bracas et in tenebris iit ad lectum. Bracas convolvit, ut faceret pulvinum, actis diurnis intersertis. Ipse se involvit stragulo et dormivit in aliis actis diurnis vetustis, quibus elateres lecti erant obtecti.

Brevi obdormivit et somniavit se puerum in Africâ fuisse et vidisse litora longa et aurea et litora candida, tam candida, ut oculi laederentur, et alta promunturia et magnos montes fuscos. Omni nocte nunc vivebat in hôc litore et in somniis suis audiebat aestûs fremitum et videbat autocthonum monoxyla per aestum navigantia. Dormiens solebat in stegâ odorari picem liquidam atque stuppam et olfaciebat odorem Africae, qui mâne aurâ terrestri illatus erat.

Solebat auram ruralem odoratus excitari et puerum expergefacere. At hac nocte odor aurae terrestris valdê maturê cum veniret, senex scivit in somnio suo horam esse praematuram et perrexit somniare de insularum culminibus albis e mari eminentibus et deinde somniavit de variis portibus et navalibus Insularum Canariarum.

Senex non iam somniavit de procellis, neque de mulieribus, neque de magnis eventibus, neque de magnis piscibus, neque de pugnis, neque de roboris tentaminibus, neque de uxore suâ. De nihilo somniabat nisi de locis et de leonibus in litore versantibus. Qui ludebant more cattarum in crepusculo et senex eos diligebat tamquam puerum. Numquam somniavit de puero. Experrectus est, per ianuam apertam aspexit lunam, bracas evolutas induit. Extra casam minxit, deinde profectus est puerum excitatum. Tremuit frigore matutino. Sed scivit se tremendo calefieri seque mox esse remigeraturum.

Senex ianuam domûs, ubi puer habitabat, clausam aperuit et tranquillê intravit nudis pedibus. Puer dormiebat in cubili in cubiculo primo et senex eum clarê conspexit in lumine lunae evanescentis. Alterum pedem submissê manui impositum tenuit usque dum puer experrectus se verteret et senem aspiceret. Senex puero annuit; qui bracas sumpsit de sellâ iuxta lectum positâ et in lecto sedens illas induit.

Senex per ianuam egressus est, puer secutus. Puer cum esset somniculosus, senex bracchio eius umeris circumposito: "Doleo" inquit.

"Quidni" puer dixit. "Vir talia debet facere".

Per viam descenderunt ad casam senis; praeter totam viam in tenebris, viri pedibus nudis movebantur, mâlos navium portantes.

Cum senis casam advenissent, puer sumpsit orbiculos linearum corbi inditos et iaculum hamatum, senex portavit mâlum cum velo convoluto umeris impositam.

"Vin’ cafeam bibere?" puer interrogavit.

"Instrumentis navi impositis sumamus cafeam".

Sumpserunt cafeam pyxidibus lactis condensati contentam, in statione, qua piscatores utebantur primâ luce.

"Quomodo dormivisti, senex?" puer interrogavit. Qui nunc paulatim expergiscebat, quamvis adhuc molestum ei esset somnum fugare.

"Optimê, Emmanuel" senex dixit. "Hodie sum animo confidenti".

"Ego quoque" puer inquit, "Nunc afferendae mihi sunt sardinae tuae et meae et escae tuae recentes. Ille affert instrumenta nostra ipse. Qui numquam vult alium quemquam aliquid gerere".

"Nos aliter agimus" senex dixit. "Ego te iam iussi res gerere cum esses quinque annos natus".

"Quod scio" puer dixit. "Tempore reveniam. Sume alteram cafeam. Hic nobis pecunia creditur".

Exiit nudis pedibus per saxa corallina, ad cellam refrigeratoriam, ubi escae conditae erant.

Senex lentê cafeam sorbillavit. Praeter eam nihil sumpturus erat per totum diem; senex scivit sibi illam esse bibendam. Ex longo tempore senem taeduit comedere nec umquam aliquid secum abstulit prandendum. Ei fuit lagoena aquae in prorâ naviculae posita et praeter eam nullâ re egebat per diem.

Nunc puer rediit cum sardinis et duabus escis, quae actis diurnis involutae erant, et descenderunt per semitam ad naviculam ; sub pedibus sentientes harenam lapidosum, navem sustulerunt et aquae invexerunt.

"Feliciter, senex".

"Feliciter" senex dixit.