Fima - Amos Oz [55]
Suddenly he felt disgusted with his linguistic niceties. Gulping down thick slices of bread and jam, sipping his second coffee, he said to himself: When the whole planet has been destroyed by atom bombs or hydrogen bombs, what difference will it make whether we describe it as a conflict, holocaust, doomsday, or a bloody war? And who will be left to decide which is the most appropriate description? So Baruch was right when he used the expressions "a handful of dust," "a putrid drop," "a fleeting shadow." And the Likud member of parliament was right to recommend playing for time. Even the orgiastic radio announcer was right when she said that there were lessons to be drawn.
But what lessons? What precious light, for heaven's sake?
The snows of yesteryear. The bones of yesteryear.
I'd hang the pair of them.
Look what they've done to you, stupid.
Your problem, pal.
So surely that is the root of all evil, Fima suddenly shouted, alone in his kitchen, as though he had received a dazzling revelation, as though a simple solution to the problem of jet propulsion on land had flashed into his head. That is the original sin. The Other Side is the source of all our misfortunes. Because there is no such thing as your problem, my problem, her problem, his problem, their problem. It's all our problem. There, the Korean kettle's boiling again, and if you don't switch it off, it'll go exactly the way of its predecessor. Who asked for coffee anyway? I've had two cups already. Instead of drinking coffee you'd better go back to the shopping center, because although you remembered to put a stamp on the envelope with the article in it and to put it in your pocket, you forgot to take it out of your pocket and mail it when you bought the kettle. What's going to become of you, mister? When arc you going to be a mensch?
14. DISCOVERING THE IDENTITY OF A FAMOUS FINNISH GENERAL
ONE FRIDAY EVENING THE MUSE DESCENDED ON FIMA, AND HE entertained the company with the story of how he was called up for reserve duty during the Six Days' War and dumped on a barren hilltop just outside Arnona with a painter and a couple of university professors. They were given a pair of binoculars and a field telephone and told not to fall asleep. On the next hill some Jordanian soldiers were setting up mortars and a machine gun; they were going about it calmly, like boy scouts at a camp. When they had finished all their preparations, they Jay down and started firing at Fima and his pals. "Can you guess," Fima asked, "what my first thought was? No, it wasn't to run away. It wasn't to fire back, either. No. It was simply to phone the police and complain that there were some madmen shooting at us. Even though they could see perfectly well that there were people here on this hill. What did they take me for, a friend or acquaintance? Had I seduced their wives? What did they know about me anyway? I had to get the police to come right away and take care of them. That was how I felt."
There was a news item in Ha'arets that seemed to hint at a slight softening in the government's position. A kind of sign of readiness to rethink at least one element in the official line. Fima saw in this a confirmation of his theory about tiny movements. He therefore convened the Revolutionary Council for a short morning meeting in Tsvika's seminar room at the Mount Scopus campus. He announced that he had changed his mind and decided to put off flying to Tunis. This time the peace process must begin not with an operatic overture, in the style of Begin and Sadat, but with an