Where the Jackals Howl by Amos Oz

Author:Amos Oz [Oz, Amos]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

The two elderly men continued their stroll without finding anything further to add to the harsh words they had heard and spoken before. They passed by the Prime Minister’s office on the corner of Ibn Gabirol Street and Keren Kayemet Street, passed the buildings of the secondary school, and paused at the corner of Ussishkin Street. This crossroads is open to the west and exposed to the blasts of cold wind blowing in from the stony fields. Here Yosef Yarden took out another cigarette, and again Dr. Kleinberger gave him a light and shielded it with both his hands like a sailor: this time it would not go out.

“Well, next month we shall all be dancing at the wedding,” said the doctor playfully.

“I’m on my way now to see Lily Dannenberg. We have to sit down and draw up a list of guests,” said Yosef Yarden. “It will be a short list. His mother, may she rest in peace, always wanted our son to be married quietly, without a great show, and so it will be. Just a modest family ceremony. You will be there, of course, but, then, to us you are like a member of the family. There’s no question about that.”

Dr. Kleinberger took off his glasses, breathed on them, wiped them with a handkerchief, and slowly replaced them.

“Yes. Of course. But the Dannenberg woman will not agree to that. Better not deceive yourself. She’s certain to want her daughter’s wedding to be a spectacular event, and the whole of Jerusalem will be invited to bow down and wonder. You will have to give in and do as she wishes.”

“It isn’t that easy to make me change my mind,” replied Yosef Yarden. “Especially in a case where the wishes of my late wife are involved. Mrs. Dannenberg is a sensitive lady, and she is certainly aware of personal considerations.”

As Yosef Yarden said that it would not be easy to make him change his mind, he began inadvertently to squeeze the cigarette between his fingers. Bent and crushed, the cigarette still did not go out but continued to flicker. Dr. Kleinberger concluded:

“You’re mistaken, my friend. The Dannenberg woman will not do without the big spectacle. Certainly she’s a sensitive lady, as you so admirably express it, but she’s also an obstinate lady. There is no contradiction between these two qualities. And you had better prepare yourself for a very tough argument. A vulgar argument.”

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