Читать книгу The Village on Horseback - Jesse Ball - Страница 50

I stand by the pump with a deaf girl.

She is on the verge of a breakthrough.

I am very earnest and sedulous.

I am possibly the best teacher

who has ever lived. I lever the pump’s

arm, and water begins to flow.

Meanwhile, in my days as a

snake-charmer, a great painter

is sketching me. He’s on holiday

and has inserted a slight grin

onto this quiet face.

I wasn’t grinning. You mustn’t

suppose I was grinning.

I’ve always known day by day

my real work approaches.

Not for anything would I grin,

not even once.

The work means too much.