Reason on a Scaffolding

Boaz arrived before me. As soon as we had placed our orders, he told me the truth about Fischer. A few days before our trial, Boaz went to have an eye check. As he stepped into the waiting room, Fischer emerged from the ophthalmologist’s room. His eyes were still blurred and so he failed to recognise Boaz. From Fischer’s conversation with the receptionist, Boaz gleaned that Fischer was making an appointment for the removal of one of his cataracts. Dr Much was uneasy about operating on both eyes together. ...

During the next few days in Tel Aviv I attended emigration procedures. In the evenings, I skimmed through many of my old books. It soon became clear that my literary tastes had remained largely intact. Both Kafka and Joyce remained high on my priorities list. The main change was my migration from Hebrew to English. The latter had become my natural, even if acquired, medium of communications. Mother and I arrived in the airport well before the estimated boarding time. To my surprise, we ran into Ruth Schwartz. Having seen off a VIP, she was getting ready to take a bus back to Tel Aviv. Ruth, who knew that mother’s Hebrew was poor, greeted us in German. ...