oneday（johncalcuederhaimushavebeensoonaferhiswelfhbirhday）hecamehomeandfoundabookhahehadneverseenbeforelyingonhefloorinhebedroomiwasahickbookandlookedveryoldhebindinghadbeeneaenbymice；someofispageswerelooseandcrumpledhepickediup，lookedaheilepage：hebookwascalledhecompleeworksofwilliamshakespeare

lindawaslyingonhebed，sippinghahorriblesinkingmescalouofacup“popébroughi，”shesaidhervoicewashickandhoarselikesomebodyelse’svoice“iwaslyinginoneofhechessofheanelopekivai’ssupposedohavebeenhereforhundredsofyearsiexpeci’srue，becauseilookedai，andiseemedobefullofnonsenseuncivilizedsill，i’llbegoodenoughforyouopraciceyourreadingon”sheookassip，sehecupdownonhefloorbesidehebed，urnedoveronherside，hiccoughedonceorwiceandwenosleep

heopenedhebookarandom

nay，buoliveinheranksweaofanenseamedbed，sew’dincorrupion，honeyingandmakingloveoverhenasysy…

hesrangewordsrolledhroughhismind；rumbled，likealkinghunder；likehedrumsahesummerdances，ifhedrumscouldhavespoken；likehemensinginghecornsong，beauiful，beauiful，sohayoucried；likeoldmisimasayingmagicoverhisfeahersandhiscarvedsicksandhisbisofboneandsone–kiahsilusilokwesilokwesilokwekiaisilusilu，sihl–bubeerhanmisima’smagic，becauseimeanmore，becauseialkedohim，alkedwonderfullyandonlyhalfundersandably，aerriblebeauifulmagic，aboulinda；aboulindalyingheresnoring，wihheempycuponhefloorbesidehebed；aboulindaandpopé，lindaandpopé

hehaedpopémoreandmoreamancansmileandsmileandbeavilinremorseless，reacherous，lecherous，kindlessvilinwhadidhewordsexaclymean？heonlyhalfknewbuheirmagicwassrongandwenonrumblinginhishead，andsomehowiwasashoughhehadneverreallyhaedpopébefore；neverreallyhaedhimbecausehehadneverbeenableosayhowmuchhehaedhimbunowhehadhesewords，hesewordslikedrumsandsingingandmagichesewordsandhesrange，srangesoryouofwhichheywereaken（hecouldn’makeheadorailofi，buiwaswonderful，wonderfulallhesame）–heygavehimareasonforhaingpopé；andheymadehisharedmorereal；heyevenmadepopéhimselfmorereal

oneday，whenhecameinfrompying，hedoorofhei

erroomwasopen，andhesawhemlyingogeheronhebed，asleep–whielindaandpopéalmosbckbesideher，wihonearmunderhershouldersandheoherdarkhandonherbreas，andoneofhepisofhislonghairlyingacrossherhroa，likeabcksnakeryingosrangleherpopé’sgourdandacupweresandingonhefloornearhebedlindawassnoring

hishearseemedohavedisappearedandlefaholehewasempyempy，andcold，andrahersick，andgiddyheleanedagainshewalloseadyhimselfremorseless，reacherous，lecherous…likedrums，likehemensingingforhecorn，likemagic，hewordsrepeaedandrepeaedhemselvesinhisheadfrombeingcoldhewassuddenlyhohischeeksburnwihherushofblood，heroomswamanddarkenedbeforehiseyeshegroundhiseeh“i’llkillhim，i’llkillhim，i’llkillhim，”hekepsayingandsuddenlyhereweremorewords

whenheisdrunkasleep，orinhisrageorinheincesuouspleasureofhisbed…

hemagicwasonhisside，hemagicexpinedandgaveordersheseppedbackinheouerroom“whenheisdrunkasleep…”heknifeforhemeawaslyingonhefloornearhefirepcehepickediupandipoedohedooragain“whenheisdrunkasleep，drunkasleep…”heranacrossheroomandsabbed–oh，heblood！–sabbedagain，aspopéheavedouofhissleep，lifedhishandosaboncemore，bufoundhiswriscaugh，heldand–oh，oh！–wisedhecouldn’move，hewasrapped，andherewerepopé’ssmallbckeyes，veryclose，saringinohisownhelookedawayherewerewocusonpopé’slefshoulder“oh，lookaheblood！”lindawascrying“lookaheblood！”shehadneverbeenableobearhesighofbloodpopélifedhisoherhand–osrikehim，hehoughhesiffenedoreceiveheblowbuhehandonlyookhimunderhechinandurnedhisface，sohahehadolookagaininopopé’seyesforalongime，forhoursandhoursandsuddenly–hecouldn’helpi–hebeganocrypopébursouughing“go，”hesaid，inheoherindianwords“go，mybraveahaiyua”heranouinoheoherroomohidehisears

“youarefifeen，”saidoldmisima，inheindianwords“nowimayeachyouoworkhecy”

squaingbyheriver，heyworkedogeher

“firsofall，”saidmisima，akingalumpofheweedcybeweenhishands，“wemakealilemoon”heoldmansqueezedhelumpinoadisk，henbenupheedges，hemoonbecameashallowcup

slowlyandunskilfullyheimiaedheoldman’sdelicaegesures

“amoon，acup，andnowasnake”misimarolledouanoherpieceofcyinoalongflexiblecylinder，roopediinoacircleandpressedionoherimofhecup“henanohersnakeandanoherandanoher”roundbyround，misimabuiluphesidesofhepo；iwasnarrow，ibulged，inarrowedagainowardsheneckmisimasqueezedandpaed，srokedandscraped；andhereasisood，inshapehefamiliarwaerpoofmalpais，bucreamywhieinseadofbck，andsillsofoheouchhecrookedparodyofmisima’s，hisownsoodbesideilookingahewopos，hehadough

“buhenexonewillbebeer，”hesaid，andbeganomoisenanoherpieceofcy

ofashion，ogiveform，ofeelhisfingersgaininginskillandpower–hisgavehimanexraordinarypleasure“a，b，c，viamind，”hesangohimselfasheworked“hefa’sinheliver，hecod’sinhesea”andmisimaalsosang–asongaboukillingabearheyworkedallday，andalldayhewasfilledwihaninense，absorbinghappiness

“nexwiner，”saidoldmisima，“iwilleachyouomakehebow”