WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.310 align:middle line:90%


00:00:01.310 --> 00:00:04.640 align:middle line:84%
And then I'm going to close
with a section from my new novel

00:00:04.640 --> 00:00:08.360 align:middle line:84%
and I'll describe the novel
for 30 seconds or less

00:00:08.360 --> 00:00:10.250 align:middle line:84%
and then go right
into the section.

00:00:10.250 --> 00:00:13.780 align:middle line:84%
My novel is about a
woman named Irena,

00:00:13.780 --> 00:00:17.990 align:middle line:84%
who is a Polish refugee
living in Chicago, taking care

00:00:17.990 --> 00:00:22.130 align:middle line:84%
of an elderly man
who is a former jazz

00:00:22.130 --> 00:00:24.860 align:middle line:84%
musician, a Black man who
is a former jazz musician.

00:00:24.860 --> 00:00:28.610 align:middle line:84%
She lives in a high rise
where her closest friend

00:00:28.610 --> 00:00:33.530 align:middle line:84%
is an American woman who's
kind of sleazy, who's

00:00:33.530 --> 00:00:37.520 align:middle line:84%
taking care of an ex-Chicago
kind of gangster person, who's

00:00:37.520 --> 00:00:38.600 align:middle line:90%
now in real estate.

00:00:38.600 --> 00:00:42.920 align:middle line:84%
And they all become friends and
eventually they all go to Poland

00:00:42.920 --> 00:00:46.310 align:middle line:90%
and have an adventure.

00:00:46.310 --> 00:00:50.570 align:middle line:84%
Anyway, this chapter, though,
involves the Polish cast

00:00:50.570 --> 00:00:52.460 align:middle line:90%
of my international novel.

00:00:52.460 --> 00:00:57.110 align:middle line:84%
It involves her ex-boyfriend and
her mother, Irena's ex-boyfriend

00:00:57.110 --> 00:00:57.620 align:middle line:90%
and mother.

00:00:57.620 --> 00:00:59.690 align:middle line:84%
And the problem really
is that her mother loves

00:00:59.690 --> 00:01:00.857 align:middle line:90%
her more than her boyfriend.

00:01:00.857 --> 00:01:03.350 align:middle line:90%
That's the issue here.

00:01:03.350 --> 00:01:05.690 align:middle line:84%
And this particular scene
that I'm going to read

00:01:05.690 --> 00:01:09.590 align:middle line:84%
has to do with the boyfriend
getting rid of her cat,

00:01:09.590 --> 00:01:14.030 align:middle line:84%
trying to bring it to her
mother and the problems that

00:01:14.030 --> 00:01:16.740 align:middle line:90%
befall this adventure.

00:01:16.740 --> 00:01:18.960 align:middle line:84%
So let me just take a sip
of water and we'll do it.

00:01:18.960 --> 00:01:21.940 align:middle line:90%


00:01:21.940 --> 00:01:22.750 align:middle line:90%
OK.

00:01:22.750 --> 00:01:25.780 align:middle line:84%
"Only Irena leaves Poland
for political reasons

00:01:25.780 --> 00:01:27.850 align:middle line:84%
after the communists
have resigned,

00:01:27.850 --> 00:01:30.100 align:middle line:90%
Joszef is telling himself.

00:01:30.100 --> 00:01:32.410 align:middle line:84%
Only Irena leaves
me like this, he

00:01:32.410 --> 00:01:36.010 align:middle line:84%
says, kicking a bedroom
slipper aside, one of the pairs

00:01:36.010 --> 00:01:37.960 align:middle line:90%
she gave him last Christmas.

00:01:37.960 --> 00:01:40.750 align:middle line:84%
It lands near a pile
of old journals.

00:01:40.750 --> 00:01:44.620 align:middle line:84%
Sentences about Irena have been
his lament since her departure

00:01:44.620 --> 00:01:45.520 align:middle line:90%
in March.

00:01:45.520 --> 00:01:47.770 align:middle line:84%
Only Irena leaves
me these problems,

00:01:47.770 --> 00:01:50.260 align:middle line:90%
this life, this damned cat.

00:01:50.260 --> 00:01:54.040 align:middle line:84%
How does the cat sense that
Joszef is trying to capture him?

00:01:54.040 --> 00:01:57.430 align:middle line:84%
Kitty, kitty, he croons,
stooping to look under the bed,

00:01:57.430 --> 00:01:59.440 align:middle line:90%
trying to lure Chopin out.

00:01:59.440 --> 00:02:03.250 align:middle line:84%
Come here you fucking cat, he
says in a seductive whisper.

00:02:03.250 --> 00:02:05.410 align:middle line:84%
When he catches
Chopin, he'll place him

00:02:05.410 --> 00:02:08.740 align:middle line:84%
in a pillow case for the ride
to Irena's mother's house

00:02:08.740 --> 00:02:10.449 align:middle line:90%
near Lazienki Park.

00:02:10.449 --> 00:02:14.260 align:middle line:84%
She has agreed hesitantly to
take the cat, which Joszef

00:02:14.260 --> 00:02:17.410 align:middle line:84%
constantly forgets to
feed, which shits and pees

00:02:17.410 --> 00:02:20.290 align:middle line:84%
on his two good bath
towels, which startles him

00:02:20.290 --> 00:02:23.950 align:middle line:84%
at night with its iridescent
eyes, steady as paperweights.

00:02:23.950 --> 00:02:27.760 align:middle line:84%
If it were larger, it would eat
him, he has begun to imagine,

00:02:27.760 --> 00:02:30.850 align:middle line:84%
as the cat wakes him with
sudden movements and stares

00:02:30.850 --> 00:02:34.210 align:middle line:84%
grudgingly at Joszef in the
morning until he is fed.

00:02:34.210 --> 00:02:36.370 align:middle line:90%
Sometimes he is more stealthy.

00:02:36.370 --> 00:02:38.920 align:middle line:84%
He creeps onto
sleepy Joszef's chest

00:02:38.920 --> 00:02:41.140 align:middle line:90%
and massages him with its paws.

00:02:41.140 --> 00:02:43.480 align:middle line:84%
What can you be thinking,
my tits are dry,

00:02:43.480 --> 00:02:46.000 align:middle line:84%
I'm not your mother, he
shouts intermittently.

00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:48.100 align:middle line:90%
But do cats understand?

00:02:48.100 --> 00:02:51.550 align:middle line:84%
Their brains, the size of
walnuts, or acorns, perhaps,

00:02:51.550 --> 00:02:53.440 align:middle line:90%
know very little.

00:02:53.440 --> 00:02:56.650 align:middle line:84%
Maybe Irena's mother will
let him roam as cats should,

00:02:56.650 --> 00:02:59.170 align:middle line:84%
hunting for birds,
filling his mouth

00:02:59.170 --> 00:03:02.440 align:middle line:84%
with blue and brown feathers
and entrails and rodent ears,

00:03:02.440 --> 00:03:04.090 align:middle line:90%
taking care of himself.

00:03:04.090 --> 00:03:05.770 align:middle line:90%
Try to tame a cat.

00:03:05.770 --> 00:03:09.580 align:middle line:84%
But on this busy residential
street with its cafes and pastry

00:03:09.580 --> 00:03:12.430 align:middle line:84%
stores, a cat can
hardly survive.

00:03:12.430 --> 00:03:14.980 align:middle line:84%
What was our Irena thinking,
to bring a cat here?

00:03:14.980 --> 00:03:15.790 align:middle line:90%
What would it eat?

00:03:15.790 --> 00:03:17.110 align:middle line:90%
A Napoleon?

00:03:17.110 --> 00:03:20.380 align:middle line:84%
Maybe he should send the animal
to his brother in the country.

00:03:20.380 --> 00:03:23.320 align:middle line:84%
But then he would have to phone
his brother, to whom he rarely

00:03:23.320 --> 00:03:32.080 align:middle line:84%
speaks, and sell him on the
idea of this bothersome pet.

00:03:32.080 --> 00:03:35.600 align:middle line:84%
No, he would not wish this
cat even on his brother.

00:03:35.600 --> 00:03:37.600 align:middle line:84%
It seems that Irena
should have to keep

00:03:37.600 --> 00:03:41.770 align:middle line:84%
this nuisance by some divine
law, but cats don't emigrate.

00:03:41.770 --> 00:03:45.700 align:middle line:84%
It seems that she, who
found Chopin as an infant,

00:03:45.700 --> 00:03:47.950 align:middle line:84%
crying in a rainy
park, should have had

00:03:47.950 --> 00:03:49.930 align:middle line:90%
to stuff him in her suitcase.

00:03:49.930 --> 00:03:52.060 align:middle line:84%
Be that as it may,
Irena's mother,

00:03:52.060 --> 00:03:55.390 align:middle line:84%
bearing proper responsibility
for her reckless daughter,

00:03:55.390 --> 00:03:58.660 align:middle line:84%
has agreed to inherit this
dreadful, shedding, peeing,

00:03:58.660 --> 00:04:00.730 align:middle line:90%
shitting legacy.

00:04:00.730 --> 00:04:02.620 align:middle line:84%
To lure the cat
from under the bed,

00:04:02.620 --> 00:04:04.840 align:middle line:84%
Joszef has placed some
slivers of chicken

00:04:04.840 --> 00:04:06.580 align:middle line:90%
directly onto the floor.

00:04:06.580 --> 00:04:10.700 align:middle line:84%
This is how he feeds the
cat whenever he remembers.

00:04:10.700 --> 00:04:13.790 align:middle line:84%
Improvised islands of food
spring up momentarily,

00:04:13.790 --> 00:04:15.410 align:middle line:90%
but Chopin is ravenous.

00:04:15.410 --> 00:04:18.200 align:middle line:84%
Joszef could be a food
cartographer, designing

00:04:18.200 --> 00:04:20.730 align:middle line:90%
such a map 24 hours a day.

00:04:20.730 --> 00:04:22.550 align:middle line:84%
And when he buys
himself milk, which

00:04:22.550 --> 00:04:24.770 align:middle line:84%
he does now and then
for his putrid coffee,

00:04:24.770 --> 00:04:26.480 align:middle line:90%
he leaves some for Chopin.

00:04:26.480 --> 00:04:29.450 align:middle line:84%
But this ungrateful cat
is not fond of milk.

00:04:29.450 --> 00:04:32.630 align:middle line:84%
He probably misses the chicken
livers that Irena lovingly

00:04:32.630 --> 00:04:35.570 align:middle line:84%
cooked for him in butter
when it was available.

00:04:35.570 --> 00:04:39.380 align:middle line:84%
Saucers of yellowing solid milk
decorate the marooned birds

00:04:39.380 --> 00:04:43.730 align:middle line:84%
of paradise and graying
flowers of the Oriental rug

00:04:43.730 --> 00:04:45.740 align:middle line:90%
that Irena has left behind.

00:04:45.740 --> 00:04:48.500 align:middle line:84%
Staring at the cat, who's
seated on the bed now,

00:04:48.500 --> 00:04:51.020 align:middle line:84%
looks past him with
foolish disinterest,

00:04:51.020 --> 00:04:53.300 align:middle line:90%
Joszef's anger grows at Irena.

00:04:53.300 --> 00:04:56.210 align:middle line:84%
She has left too much
for him to tidy up.

00:04:56.210 --> 00:04:58.550 align:middle line:84%
Like a child with
a messy room, Irena

00:04:58.550 --> 00:05:00.680 align:middle line:84%
has gone out in
the world to play

00:05:00.680 --> 00:05:03.230 align:middle line:90%
and left him with the debris.

00:05:03.230 --> 00:05:05.750 align:middle line:84%
And who's to find
the time for her cat,

00:05:05.750 --> 00:05:08.780 align:middle line:84%
and her pot of rotting
ivy, and her letters.

00:05:08.780 --> 00:05:12.590 align:middle line:84%
This constant flow of sad and
hopeful letters and postcards,

00:05:12.590 --> 00:05:15.830 align:middle line:84%
which he supposes he's
to answer cheerfully.

00:05:15.830 --> 00:05:18.170 align:middle line:84%
How can he appreciate
Irena's postcard

00:05:18.170 --> 00:05:21.950 align:middle line:84%
of the tall, ugly, rusting,
Picasso statue resembling

00:05:21.950 --> 00:05:25.760 align:middle line:84%
an Afghan hound, when each day
has been a slow, hellish dream

00:05:25.760 --> 00:05:30.680 align:middle line:84%
since Lot flight 422 took off
and deposited Irena in Italy,

00:05:30.680 --> 00:05:33.530 align:middle line:84%
then New York, then
Chicago, then a high rise

00:05:33.530 --> 00:05:35.090 align:middle line:90%
with an old Black man.

00:05:35.090 --> 00:05:37.130 align:middle line:84%
He has so much to
do with her gone.

00:05:37.130 --> 00:05:39.740 align:middle line:84%
Shopping, laundry,
haphazard cleaning.

00:05:39.740 --> 00:05:41.750 align:middle line:84%
How to whiten his
aging underwear

00:05:41.750 --> 00:05:44.540 align:middle line:84%
or find the right coffee,
the one with hazelnuts

00:05:44.540 --> 00:05:48.260 align:middle line:84%
that she made every
morning they were together.

00:05:48.260 --> 00:05:51.950 align:middle line:84%
How to complete the passionless
crossword puzzle on Sunday.

00:05:51.950 --> 00:05:55.400 align:middle line:84%
He can barely keep up with his
academic journals and students

00:05:55.400 --> 00:05:57.710 align:middle line:84%
and scholarly work,
this cat nearly

00:05:57.710 --> 00:05:59.780 align:middle line:90%
pushes him over the brink.

00:05:59.780 --> 00:06:02.120 align:middle line:84%
No one ever suggested
to him that losing

00:06:02.120 --> 00:06:05.090 align:middle line:84%
a girlfriend is so much like
losing the part of your mind

00:06:05.090 --> 00:06:07.970 align:middle line:84%
which you usually forget
exists, the part that

00:06:07.970 --> 00:06:10.580 align:middle line:84%
keeps phone numbers
and bus routes in order

00:06:10.580 --> 00:06:14.630 align:middle line:84%
and makes shopping lists and
holds infinitesimal instructions

00:06:14.630 --> 00:06:18.290 align:middle line:84%
for useless, annoying
objects he now must master.

00:06:18.290 --> 00:06:21.170 align:middle line:84%
What good is a clock radio
that doesn't wake him?

00:06:21.170 --> 00:06:23.750 align:middle line:84%
He might as well throw
it out the window.

00:06:23.750 --> 00:06:26.570 align:middle line:84%
He now has captured
the mewling, foul cat

00:06:26.570 --> 00:06:28.550 align:middle line:84%
and pushed it into
the pillow case.

00:06:28.550 --> 00:06:30.830 align:middle line:84%
It's dug its nails
into him twice

00:06:30.830 --> 00:06:33.050 align:middle line:84%
and snagged yet
another good sweater.

00:06:33.050 --> 00:06:35.270 align:middle line:84%
He can feel its
bones and muscles

00:06:35.270 --> 00:06:38.510 align:middle line:84%
and claws working inside
the bag to escape.

00:06:38.510 --> 00:06:42.320 align:middle line:84%
Do cats have natural fears
of pillow cases, of drowning?

00:06:42.320 --> 00:06:44.600 align:middle line:84%
He remembers hearing
that baby apes are

00:06:44.600 --> 00:06:46.580 align:middle line:90%
afraid of snakes from birth.

00:06:46.580 --> 00:06:49.970 align:middle line:84%
Chopin is now pushing his
hard little doorknob head

00:06:49.970 --> 00:06:51.620 align:middle line:90%
toward the top of the bag.

00:06:51.620 --> 00:06:54.230 align:middle line:84%
He is about to spill
over like lava.

00:06:54.230 --> 00:06:56.690 align:middle line:84%
Joszef tightens his
grip and fights off

00:06:56.690 --> 00:06:59.060 align:middle line:84%
the notion to peer
inside and give the cat

00:06:59.060 --> 00:07:01.460 align:middle line:90%
a spiteful, victorious look.

00:07:01.460 --> 00:07:03.620 align:middle line:84%
You are going to live
with Irena's mother,

00:07:03.620 --> 00:07:06.350 align:middle line:84%
he tells the straining,
muscular lump.

00:07:06.350 --> 00:07:09.950 align:middle line:84%
With grandma, who will
feed you, maybe, he laughs.

00:07:09.950 --> 00:07:13.700 align:middle line:84%
You deserve this, he says,
releasing his bottom hand that

00:07:13.700 --> 00:07:18.080 align:middle line:84%
supports the bag and swinging it
slightly recklessly by the top

00:07:18.080 --> 00:07:21.500 align:middle line:84%
and with his free hand reaching
under the bed where he has found

00:07:21.500 --> 00:07:25.250 align:middle line:84%
many pieces of memorabilia
since Irena departed,

00:07:25.250 --> 00:07:29.300 align:middle line:84%
he locates yet another souvenir,
a loose velvet hair ribbon

00:07:29.300 --> 00:07:30.950 align:middle line:90%
and ties the bag shut."

00:07:30.950 --> 00:07:34.520 align:middle line:84%
OK, now what happens is, he goes
on the bus and he loses the cat.

00:07:34.520 --> 00:07:36.830 align:middle line:84%
Someone takes it
while he's asleep.

00:07:36.830 --> 00:07:40.910 align:middle line:84%
So then, two days
later, he finally

00:07:40.910 --> 00:07:43.550 align:middle line:84%
gets to Irena's mother's
house, he's so embarrassed,

00:07:43.550 --> 00:07:44.808 align:middle line:90%
he doesn't go that day.

00:07:44.808 --> 00:07:46.850 align:middle line:84%
And I'll read you what
happens when he gets there

00:07:46.850 --> 00:07:48.960 align:middle line:90%
and that will end the reading.

00:07:48.960 --> 00:07:52.730 align:middle line:84%
"How can it be, Mrs. Bozinska
is asking her daughter's friend.

00:07:52.730 --> 00:07:54.890 align:middle line:90%
How can you lose a cat on a bus?

00:07:54.890 --> 00:07:57.590 align:middle line:84%
Tousled, red-faced,
poor Joszef is

00:07:57.590 --> 00:07:59.450 align:middle line:84%
standing at her
door with his hands

00:07:59.450 --> 00:08:01.310 align:middle line:90%
in his pockets like a child.

00:08:01.310 --> 00:08:04.460 align:middle line:84%
He is two days late and has
arrived with nothing to say,

00:08:04.460 --> 00:08:06.380 align:middle line:90%
no excuses to offer.

00:08:06.380 --> 00:08:09.050 align:middle line:84%
And then you didn't call,
she says with a sneer

00:08:09.050 --> 00:08:10.850 align:middle line:90%
distorting her plump cheeks.

00:08:10.850 --> 00:08:14.490 align:middle line:84%
I wait and wait that day, I
am worried sick about you.

00:08:14.490 --> 00:08:16.820 align:middle line:84%
But I called that
night and you didn't

00:08:16.820 --> 00:08:18.530 align:middle line:90%
have the heart to tell me.

00:08:18.530 --> 00:08:19.880 align:middle line:90%
It was too foolish.

00:08:19.880 --> 00:08:22.040 align:middle line:84%
I felt humiliated
that it happened.

00:08:22.040 --> 00:08:24.410 align:middle line:90%
And what shall we tell Irena?

00:08:24.410 --> 00:08:26.330 align:middle line:90%
I don't know, Mrs. Bozinska.

00:08:26.330 --> 00:08:28.610 align:middle line:90%
She makes an angry face.

00:08:28.610 --> 00:08:32.750 align:middle line:84%
Why does it seem to annoy her
that he calls her Mrs. Bozinska?

00:08:32.750 --> 00:08:34.490 align:middle line:90%
After all, that is her name.

00:08:34.490 --> 00:08:37.760 align:middle line:84%
Lena Bozinska, wife of the
late Professor Bozinska,

00:08:37.760 --> 00:08:41.360 align:middle line:84%
mother of Irena, future
owner of the lost cat.

00:08:41.360 --> 00:08:42.559 align:middle line:90%
And why, Joszef?

00:08:42.559 --> 00:08:43.600 align:middle line:90%
Why didn't you watch?

00:08:43.600 --> 00:08:46.670 align:middle line:84%
She asks, wringing her
hands dramatically.

00:08:46.670 --> 00:08:48.050 align:middle line:90%
He is not a child.

00:08:48.050 --> 00:08:50.390 align:middle line:84%
Is he supposed to stand
in her chilly doorway

00:08:50.390 --> 00:08:53.690 align:middle line:84%
with the yellowed photographs
all day and take this abuse?

00:08:53.690 --> 00:08:57.230 align:middle line:84%
Soon he will fall asleep on
his feet, lulled by the chiding

00:08:57.230 --> 00:08:58.830 align:middle line:90%
rhythms of her voice.

00:08:58.830 --> 00:09:01.370 align:middle line:84%
The whole situation
is so ridiculous.

00:09:01.370 --> 00:09:04.460 align:middle line:84%
He who knows the square roots
of negative numbers having

00:09:04.460 --> 00:09:07.310 align:middle line:84%
to stand here, endlessly
being harangued.

00:09:07.310 --> 00:09:09.770 align:middle line:84%
Who would think that a
pillow case would get stolen?

00:09:09.770 --> 00:09:14.710 align:middle line:84%
Who would know that one must
watch pillowcases like a hawk?

00:09:14.710 --> 00:09:15.730 align:middle line:90%
Well, come in.

00:09:15.730 --> 00:09:19.510 align:middle line:84%
She nods abjectly and turns
her squat frame away from him.

00:09:19.510 --> 00:09:22.390 align:middle line:84%
He sees the uneven hem of
her old, flowered house

00:09:22.390 --> 00:09:24.850 align:middle line:84%
dress and her floppy,
worn-out slippers.

00:09:24.850 --> 00:09:28.360 align:middle line:84%
Her ankles are swollen and her
hair is in a tight gray bun.

00:09:28.360 --> 00:09:32.020 align:middle line:84%
He proceeds to her old, gold
sofa, which probably predates

00:09:32.020 --> 00:09:35.230 align:middle line:84%
Irena, and sits
erectly at one edge,

00:09:35.230 --> 00:09:37.720 align:middle line:84%
keeping his distance from
the decorative pillows

00:09:37.720 --> 00:09:41.080 align:middle line:84%
and doilies and embroidery
that is tossed haphazardly

00:09:41.080 --> 00:09:44.830 align:middle line:84%
over the edge and spills
onto the dark carpeted floor.

00:09:44.830 --> 00:09:46.990 align:middle line:90%
No wonder Irena is so untidy.

00:09:46.990 --> 00:09:49.630 align:middle line:84%
Look at the example
her mother has set.

00:09:49.630 --> 00:09:52.450 align:middle line:84%
Mrs. Bozinska-- Call
me Lena, she says.

00:09:52.450 --> 00:09:53.260 align:middle line:90%
Lena.

00:09:53.260 --> 00:09:54.520 align:middle line:90%
Here are some pastries.

00:09:54.520 --> 00:09:57.190 align:middle line:84%
She points to a rose
covered China plate, already

00:09:57.190 --> 00:09:58.090 align:middle line:90%
on the table.

00:09:58.090 --> 00:09:59.320 align:middle line:90%
Please eat.

00:09:59.320 --> 00:10:02.890 align:middle line:84%
Lena, he repeats, filling his
mouth with a buttery raspberry

00:10:02.890 --> 00:10:03.610 align:middle line:90%
cookie.

00:10:03.610 --> 00:10:06.130 align:middle line:84%
I do not know what
we should tell Irena.

00:10:06.130 --> 00:10:06.820 align:middle line:90%
We?

00:10:06.820 --> 00:10:09.760 align:middle line:84%
She asks, eyes
large with contempt.

00:10:09.760 --> 00:10:12.220 align:middle line:84%
We did not lose
the little thing.

00:10:12.220 --> 00:10:15.460 align:middle line:84%
You have a problem,
Joszef, not we.

00:10:15.460 --> 00:10:17.800 align:middle line:84%
I was thinking,
Joszef continues,

00:10:17.800 --> 00:10:21.310 align:middle line:84%
in the way of philosophers,
linguist, semioticians,

00:10:21.310 --> 00:10:24.700 align:middle line:84%
people who ignore the evidence
of the world for the evidence

00:10:24.700 --> 00:10:27.190 align:middle line:84%
of their own minds,
that we could simply

00:10:27.190 --> 00:10:28.930 align:middle line:90%
keep the myth alive.

00:10:28.930 --> 00:10:30.430 align:middle line:90%
How is little Chopin?

00:10:30.430 --> 00:10:31.690 align:middle line:90%
Irena will ask.

00:10:31.690 --> 00:10:35.740 align:middle line:84%
And we-- I-- he cleared
his throat nervously,

00:10:35.740 --> 00:10:38.080 align:middle line:90%
will offer various reports.

00:10:38.080 --> 00:10:39.400 align:middle line:90%
Chopin is well.

00:10:39.400 --> 00:10:41.050 align:middle line:90%
He is happy at his new home.

00:10:41.050 --> 00:10:42.880 align:middle line:90%
He chases birds regularly.

00:10:42.880 --> 00:10:43.900 align:middle line:90%
He eats heartily.

00:10:43.900 --> 00:10:46.420 align:middle line:84%
He sleeps bundled at your
mother's feet at night.

00:10:46.420 --> 00:10:48.910 align:middle line:90%
I think he is content.

00:10:48.910 --> 00:10:52.780 align:middle line:84%
Then several months from now, I
can report that Chopin is gone.

00:10:52.780 --> 00:10:55.750 align:middle line:84%
He went out at night and
didn't return in the morning.

00:10:55.750 --> 00:10:58.030 align:middle line:84%
Perhaps he chased
a female cat, I

00:10:58.030 --> 00:11:00.520 align:middle line:84%
saw a little tabby near
your mother's house,

00:11:00.520 --> 00:11:03.010 align:middle line:84%
to the other side of
the park and got lost.

00:11:03.010 --> 00:11:05.290 align:middle line:90%
It is very tragic.

00:11:05.290 --> 00:11:08.050 align:middle line:84%
Then we must find
him, Lena responds.

00:11:08.050 --> 00:11:10.660 align:middle line:84%
Her voice is assured,
lacking irony.

00:11:10.660 --> 00:11:13.630 align:middle line:84%
We must find
Irena's beloved cat.

00:11:13.630 --> 00:11:15.070 align:middle line:90%
Joszef is puzzled.

00:11:15.070 --> 00:11:17.410 align:middle line:84%
Is Irena's mother
not understanding?

00:11:17.410 --> 00:11:20.930 align:middle line:84%
How can we do this when
this is a story, he asks.

00:11:20.930 --> 00:11:22.870 align:middle line:90%
How can we make Irena worry so?

00:11:22.870 --> 00:11:24.760 align:middle line:90%
She asks, raising her voice.

00:11:24.760 --> 00:11:26.080 align:middle line:90%
Don't you see, Joszef.

00:11:26.080 --> 00:11:28.420 align:middle line:84%
This all leads to
the same conclusion.

00:11:28.420 --> 00:11:30.910 align:middle line:90%
Poor Irena, no cat.

00:11:30.910 --> 00:11:35.080 align:middle line:84%
Then we say, Joszef suggests,
stuffing another apricot morsel

00:11:35.080 --> 00:11:37.900 align:middle line:84%
in his mouth and slurring
his speech with tea,

00:11:37.900 --> 00:11:39.730 align:middle line:90%
that the cat is still fine.

00:11:39.730 --> 00:11:41.050 align:middle line:90%
It is spring now.

00:11:41.050 --> 00:11:43.870 align:middle line:84%
It sits in the sun and
looks happy as a king.

00:11:43.870 --> 00:11:47.440 align:middle line:84%
It chases a bird now and
then and sometimes succeeds.

00:11:47.440 --> 00:11:50.170 align:middle line:84%
We hate to see the
results, so many feathers,

00:11:50.170 --> 00:11:52.540 align:middle line:84%
but what a full,
round stomach he has.

00:11:52.540 --> 00:11:55.000 align:middle line:90%
And after all, he is only a cat.

00:11:55.000 --> 00:11:57.970 align:middle line:84%
Then you must bring
me Chopin, she says.

00:11:57.970 --> 00:12:00.460 align:middle line:84%
He regards her broad
forehead for a moment,

00:12:00.460 --> 00:12:03.610 align:middle line:84%
her small blue eyes, her
hard little mouth, buttoned

00:12:03.610 --> 00:12:05.500 align:middle line:90%
in defiance or stupidity.

00:12:05.500 --> 00:12:06.970 align:middle line:90%
But how can I?

00:12:06.970 --> 00:12:08.290 align:middle line:90%
You can, Joszef.

00:12:08.290 --> 00:12:10.330 align:middle line:90%
You can bring me a new Chopin.

00:12:10.330 --> 00:12:11.710 align:middle line:90%
An impostor?

00:12:11.710 --> 00:12:13.510 align:middle line:90%
A replica.

00:12:13.510 --> 00:12:15.550 align:middle line:90%
But Irena will know.

00:12:15.550 --> 00:12:16.570 align:middle line:90%
How will she know?

00:12:16.570 --> 00:12:18.460 align:middle line:90%
Will we tell her?

00:12:18.460 --> 00:12:20.740 align:middle line:90%
They exchange cautious smiles.

00:12:20.740 --> 00:12:23.740 align:middle line:84%
Josef snorts a thin
laugh out of his nose

00:12:23.740 --> 00:12:25.840 align:middle line:90%
and Lena actually giggles.

00:12:25.840 --> 00:12:28.990 align:middle line:84%
Should they shake hands,
he wonder, sign contracts,

00:12:28.990 --> 00:12:32.590 align:middle line:84%
mingle blood to seal
their treachery?

00:12:32.590 --> 00:12:34.420 align:middle line:90%
I need a real cat, Joszef.

00:12:34.420 --> 00:12:35.980 align:middle line:90%
I am not a fiction writer.

00:12:35.980 --> 00:12:38.890 align:middle line:84%
I must know what this
cat does day to day.

00:12:38.890 --> 00:12:42.430 align:middle line:84%
I must be able to tell
Irena he eats so delicately,

00:12:42.430 --> 00:12:44.740 align:middle line:84%
he sleeps on the green
pillow near the window

00:12:44.740 --> 00:12:47.260 align:middle line:84%
bench in the afternoon
sun, he seems

00:12:47.260 --> 00:12:50.170 align:middle line:84%
to like the painting of
father in the hallway,

00:12:50.170 --> 00:12:53.710 align:middle line:84%
the pink rug in the lavatory
is accumulating his fur,

00:12:53.710 --> 00:12:55.030 align:middle line:90%
I must wash it.

00:12:55.030 --> 00:12:59.260 align:middle line:84%
But what if Irena says, this
is not what my Chopin does,

00:12:59.260 --> 00:13:00.710 align:middle line:90%
Joszef says.

00:13:00.710 --> 00:13:01.660 align:middle line:90%
How will she know?

00:13:01.660 --> 00:13:03.370 align:middle line:90%
Has the cat ever stayed here?

00:13:03.370 --> 00:13:05.740 align:middle line:84%
Can she predict
all of its actions?

00:13:05.740 --> 00:13:09.280 align:middle line:84%
Really, Joszef, for a
mathematician, I'm sorry to say,

00:13:09.280 --> 00:13:11.710 align:middle line:90%
that you lack imagination.

00:13:11.710 --> 00:13:14.320 align:middle line:84%
And where should I
procure such a cat?

00:13:14.320 --> 00:13:16.540 align:middle line:90%
Where did you procure Chopin?

00:13:16.540 --> 00:13:18.400 align:middle line:90%
Irena found him in the park.

00:13:18.400 --> 00:13:20.080 align:middle line:90%
He was a little wet thing.

00:13:20.080 --> 00:13:24.640 align:middle line:84%
Then I would suggest that
you wait for a heavy rain,

00:13:24.640 --> 00:13:27.550 align:middle line:84%
Lena laughs, or that
you look at a shop

00:13:27.550 --> 00:13:29.620 align:middle line:84%
or ask friends at
the University.

00:13:29.620 --> 00:13:32.350 align:middle line:84%
But remember, it
must resemble Chopin.

00:13:32.350 --> 00:13:34.210 align:middle line:90%
Black and white, correct?

00:13:34.210 --> 00:13:36.790 align:middle line:90%
But why is that necessary, Lena?

00:13:36.790 --> 00:13:40.000 align:middle line:84%
Can I say to my only
daughter, my dear only child,

00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:42.190 align:middle line:84%
your cat's lovely
gray fur heats up

00:13:42.190 --> 00:13:45.070 align:middle line:84%
in the sun, your cat's
round blue eyes--

00:13:45.070 --> 00:13:46.750 align:middle line:90%
Green, Joszef mutters.

00:13:46.750 --> 00:13:48.670 align:middle line:84%
--Your cat's round,
green eyes grow

00:13:48.670 --> 00:13:51.430 align:middle line:84%
small with pleasure when
I stroke his black belly--

00:13:51.430 --> 00:13:55.330 align:middle line:84%
white belly --white belly,
if I can't see the cat?

00:13:55.330 --> 00:13:58.150 align:middle line:84%
I must have the cat
in front of my eyes.

00:13:58.150 --> 00:14:01.120 align:middle line:84%
Remember, Joszef, you
didn't want the cat, the cat

00:14:01.120 --> 00:14:02.830 align:middle line:90%
that our Irena left you.

00:14:02.830 --> 00:14:05.050 align:middle line:84%
You brought it to me
and what happened?

00:14:05.050 --> 00:14:07.510 align:middle line:90%
She serves up a spiteful look.

00:14:07.510 --> 00:14:10.370 align:middle line:84%
Now you must find me
a cat just like him,

00:14:10.370 --> 00:14:13.400 align:middle line:84%
and her voice explodes
in indignation,

00:14:13.400 --> 00:14:15.020 align:middle line:90%
and you bring him to me.

00:14:15.020 --> 00:14:17.300 align:middle line:84%
You are an intelligent
man, Joszef,

00:14:17.300 --> 00:14:19.520 align:middle line:90%
and the world is full of cats.

00:14:19.520 --> 00:14:22.580 align:middle line:84%
On the streets I see
yellow cats, gray cats,

00:14:22.580 --> 00:14:25.820 align:middle line:84%
cats with one ear and no
tail, cats with kittens,

00:14:25.820 --> 00:14:27.830 align:middle line:90%
squashed cats on the Boulevard.

00:14:27.830 --> 00:14:31.790 align:middle line:84%
You find me this Chopin, you
bring him here by next week.

00:14:31.790 --> 00:14:35.390 align:middle line:84%
And don't breathe a word to
Irena about what's happened.

00:14:35.390 --> 00:14:39.080 align:middle line:84%
If you dare tell her, Joszef,
if you write and say, Irena,

00:14:39.080 --> 00:14:42.740 align:middle line:84%
my lovely Irena, I have
misplaced little Chopin,

00:14:42.740 --> 00:14:45.470 align:middle line:84%
who I was trying to
dump at your mother's,

00:14:45.470 --> 00:14:49.350 align:middle line:84%
who was too much trouble for
an important man like myself,

00:14:49.350 --> 00:14:51.170 align:middle line:90%
I will never forgive you.

00:14:51.170 --> 00:14:54.560 align:middle line:84%
And she looks thoughtful, wipes
some crumbs from her bodice,

00:14:54.560 --> 00:14:56.270 align:middle line:90%
and continues.

00:14:56.270 --> 00:14:59.720 align:middle line:84%
Irena will tell me, Joszef,
don't think that she won't.

00:14:59.720 --> 00:15:02.090 align:middle line:84%
And if you do this,
if you confess,

00:15:02.090 --> 00:15:04.520 align:middle line:84%
I will come to the
University every day.

00:15:04.520 --> 00:15:08.210 align:middle line:84%
I have so little to do
these days, a lonely widow.

00:15:08.210 --> 00:15:11.030 align:middle line:84%
And I will remind you of
how you were so careless.

00:15:11.030 --> 00:15:14.790 align:middle line:84%
I will remind you in
front of your colleagues.

00:15:14.790 --> 00:15:17.600 align:middle line:84%
Thank God my Irena never
had children with you,

00:15:17.600 --> 00:15:21.530 align:middle line:84%
I'd be missing several
grandchildren by now.

00:15:21.530 --> 00:15:24.290 align:middle line:84%
Oh, I left one on
the bus, Nani Lena.

00:15:24.290 --> 00:15:27.680 align:middle line:84%
I just fell asleep for
an hour and she was gone.

00:15:27.680 --> 00:15:31.490 align:middle line:84%
Oh, I just had one at the
zoo near the lion cage,

00:15:31.490 --> 00:15:33.920 align:middle line:90%
but somehow he disappeared.

00:15:33.920 --> 00:15:35.690 align:middle line:90%
A whole generation lost.

00:15:35.690 --> 00:15:38.060 align:middle line:90%
How can it be, Joszef?

00:15:38.060 --> 00:15:41.960 align:middle line:84%
And for a minute, he
doesn't know if she

00:15:41.960 --> 00:15:43.790 align:middle line:90%
is about to laugh or cry.

00:15:43.790 --> 00:15:46.610 align:middle line:84%
But instead, she takes
the best pastry left,

00:15:46.610 --> 00:15:49.370 align:middle line:84%
a large slab of white
powdery substance,

00:15:49.370 --> 00:15:51.440 align:middle line:90%
and pops it into her mouth.

00:15:51.440 --> 00:15:55.080 align:middle line:84%
A frenzy of dainty chewing
follows and silence.

00:15:55.080 --> 00:15:57.890 align:middle line:84%
So by next Sunday,
a cat, he promises.

00:15:57.890 --> 00:15:59.090 align:middle line:90%
Chopin.

00:15:59.090 --> 00:16:03.350 align:middle line:84%
A replica of Chopin
delivered here, no excuses.

00:16:03.350 --> 00:16:05.720 align:middle line:84%
Well, I must be
going, he is saying.

00:16:05.720 --> 00:16:06.380 align:middle line:90%
Wait.

00:16:06.380 --> 00:16:08.300 align:middle line:90%
Lena heads toward the kitchen.

00:16:08.300 --> 00:16:11.490 align:middle line:84%
After what seems like
many minutes, she returns.

00:16:11.490 --> 00:16:13.700 align:middle line:84%
She is carrying a
variety of objects

00:16:13.700 --> 00:16:16.580 align:middle line:84%
in an old military
green cardboard box,

00:16:16.580 --> 00:16:18.590 align:middle line:90%
with funny stiff handles.

00:16:18.590 --> 00:16:21.410 align:middle line:84%
Joszef sees his favorite
hazelnut coffee.

00:16:21.410 --> 00:16:22.820 align:middle line:90%
Where do they find it?

00:16:22.820 --> 00:16:26.210 align:middle line:84%
A small ham, a box of
imported British cookies,

00:16:26.210 --> 00:16:27.470 align:middle line:90%
some fruit preserves.

00:16:27.470 --> 00:16:29.690 align:middle line:84%
Yes, he is delirious
with pleasure.

00:16:29.690 --> 00:16:32.570 align:middle line:84%
And a mottled red
rubber hot water bottle,

00:16:32.570 --> 00:16:36.990 align:middle line:84%
fill [AUDIO OUT] under
the other provisions.

00:16:36.990 --> 00:16:39.060 align:middle line:84%
Maybe he'll find
a taxi back home.

00:16:39.060 --> 00:16:41.820 align:middle line:84%
Maybe that's the one lesson
of this whole ordeal.

00:16:41.820 --> 00:16:46.470 align:middle line:84%
No matter the chaos at the
taxi stand, always key up.

00:16:46.470 --> 00:16:49.890 align:middle line:84%
All right, he says again, and
takes Lena's hand and kisses

00:16:49.890 --> 00:16:51.300 align:middle line:90%
her on either cheek.

00:16:51.300 --> 00:16:53.760 align:middle line:84%
By next Sunday, she
says in parting.

00:16:53.760 --> 00:16:57.030 align:middle line:84%
And now Joszef is back on the
street in the suddenly frigid

00:16:57.030 --> 00:16:58.650 align:middle line:90%
late-October evening.

00:16:58.650 --> 00:17:01.170 align:middle line:84%
The swirling sky
looks full of trouble.

00:17:01.170 --> 00:17:04.079 align:middle line:84%
And he wonders if he'll ever
locate his muffler and winter

00:17:04.079 --> 00:17:07.319 align:middle line:84%
cap, which have disappeared
since Irena departed.

00:17:07.319 --> 00:17:09.420 align:middle line:84%
It would be too
convenient if that thing

00:17:09.420 --> 00:17:13.140 align:middle line:84%
he sees in the shadows of the
bushes adjacent to Lena's house,

00:17:13.140 --> 00:17:16.050 align:middle line:84%
were a cat, a cat
resembling Chopin.

00:17:16.050 --> 00:17:17.849 align:middle line:90%
Some kind of rodent, he says.

00:17:17.849 --> 00:17:19.619 align:middle line:84%
And without
observing it further,

00:17:19.619 --> 00:17:23.069 align:middle line:84%
begins his long cold trek to
the taxi stand on the other side

00:17:23.069 --> 00:17:23.819 align:middle line:90%
of the park."

00:17:23.819 --> 00:17:25.669 align:middle line:90%
Thank you.

00:17:25.669 --> 00:17:45.405 align:middle line:90%